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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Whirlpools, 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: Whirlpools
+       A Novel of Modern Poland
+
+Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
+
+Translator: Max A. Drezmal
+
+Release Date: September 15, 2011 [EBook #37426]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHIRLPOOLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://www.archive.org/details/whirlpoolsnovelo00sien
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               WHIRLPOOLS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                WORKS OF
+
+                           HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ
+
+                               *   *   *
+
+      Whirlpools
+      "Quo Vadis"
+      With Fire and Sword
+      The Deluge
+      Pan Michael
+      Children of the Soil
+      Hania, and Other Stories
+      Sielanka, a Forest Picture and Other Stories
+      The Knights of the Cross
+      Without Dogma
+      On the Field of Glory
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               WHIRLPOOLS
+
+                        A Novel of Modern Poland
+
+
+
+                                   BY
+
+                           HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ
+
+             Author of "With Fire and Sword," "The Deluge,"
+                  "Quo Vadis," "Children of the Soil,"
+                         "Without Dogma," Etc.
+
+
+
+                    _TRANSLATED FROM THE POLISH BY_
+                             MAX A. DREZMAL
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 BOSTON
+
+                       LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+
+                                  1910
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                           _Copyright, 1910_
+
+                     By Little, Brown, and Company
+
+                               *   *   *
+
+                         _All rights reserved_
+
+                          Published June, 1910
+
+
+
+
+
+
+               THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+
+                              WHIRLPOOLS.
+
+
+
+
+                              PART FIRST.
+
+
+
+                                   I
+
+Gronski arrived at the Jastrzeb manor-house about midnight. In the
+house all were asleep excepting an old servant and the young heir,
+Ladislaus Krzycki, who awaited his guest with supper and greeted him
+with great cordiality, for notwithstanding the disparity in their ages
+they were bound by ties of an old intimacy. It continued from those
+days when Gronski, as a university student, surrounded with a tutelary
+friendship the youthful Krzycki, who was attending the gymnasium. Later
+they met frequently and the closer friendly relations between Gronski
+and the Krzycki family did not undergo any interruption.
+
+Therefore when, after the first greetings, they repaired to the
+dining-room the young heir of Jastrzeb again began to embrace Gronski.
+After a while, having seated him at the table, he shook from his eyes
+the remnants of drowsiness which had oppressed him, became thoroughly
+animated, and said with sincere happiness:
+
+"How immensely fortunate I am that at last we have you at Jastrzeb; and
+Mother, how she has been expecting you! I, whenever I am in Warsaw,
+always begin with you, but a year has passed since your last visit
+here."
+
+Gronski inquired about Pani Krzycki's health and that of the younger
+members of the household, after which he said:
+
+"It is, indeed, strange that I have not been out in the country, not
+only with you but elsewhere. In summer time they dispatch me every year
+to Carlsbad, and after Carlsbad one strays somewhere in the west.
+Besides, in Warsaw matters are now seething as in a caldron, and it is
+difficult to tear one's self from all this."
+
+The conversation, which started with a lengthy discussion of public
+affairs, was afterwards turned by Ladislaus towards private matters:
+
+"Did you," he said, "besides the notification of the death of Uncle
+Zarnowski, receive a letter from Mother? I ask for this reason: I
+mailed first the notification, and later in the day Mother decided to
+write the letter."
+
+"I received both and for that reason I am here. I tell you candidly I
+would not come merely to attend your uncle's funeral. It is true that a
+year ago, when he was in Warsaw for medical treatment, we dined
+together for several months at the same club, but that was all; though
+people were astonished that such a misanthrope, who avoided everybody,
+did not somehow run away from me. How were your relations? Were they
+cool to the end?"
+
+"Rather, there were none. He would not receive anybody and did not wish
+to see any one, not even his parish-priest. Extreme unction was
+administered by the Canon of Olchowa. When he became seriously ill, we
+visited him in Rzeslewo, but he received us with blunt discourtesy.
+Mother did not mind it and repeated her visits, though at times he was
+disagreeable towards her. As for myself, I confess that I did not call
+there again until he was in a very critical state."
+
+"Did he leave a large estate?"
+
+"Rzeslewo is a huge patch of that kind of soil in which you can
+anywhere plant at least onions. There is not one copper coin of
+indebtedness. At one time Uncle had a house in Warsaw, to which he
+removed the entire equipment from Rzeslewo, which was not, by any
+means, despicable. We thought that he would reside permanently in the
+city, but he later sold everything; from which I infer he must have
+left funds. Some, as is customary with people who are fond of
+exaggeration, say hundreds of thousands. The Lord only knows. But this
+much is certain: he inherited a great deal from his brothers. I do not
+know whether you have ever heard that there were three of them. One
+perished, while yet a student, in a duel at Dorpat; the other died,
+also young, from typhoid fever, and Uncle Adam got everything they
+left."
+
+"It is said that he lived very poorly."
+
+"He stayed a great deal in Warsaw and abroad for his health. How he
+lived there I do not know, but, after his return to Rzeslewo, very
+wretchedly. I think, however, that this was more due to whimsicality
+than to greed, for he was not greedy. You would not believe how that
+manor appeared; how everything was denuded and abandoned. In every room
+the roof was leaky, and if some unexpected guests or unknown relatives
+arrive for the funeral, I will have to invite them to Jastrzeb, for
+there I would not know where to house them."
+
+"Do you know of any other relatives?"
+
+"Yes, there are Pani Otocka and her sister; also Dolhanski, who
+undoubtedly will come, and ourselves. I have not heard of others,
+though in all probability they will be found, as in Poland everybody is
+related. Mother insists that we are the nearest, but, to tell the
+truth, we are not very close; as the deceased was a distant cousin of
+Mother's."
+
+"And Pani Otocka and Panna Marynia?"
+
+"Better ask Mother about that; yesterday for an hour she was expounding
+to me as to who was born to whom; what he was to whom; whom did who's
+sister marry, and what was who's relation to the deceased. I could not
+grasp it all. Those ladies will be here to-morrow at one o'clock, and
+with them an English lady, their friend."
+
+"I know; they told me about that in Warsaw, not knowing that they would
+chance upon the funeral. But that English lady speaks Polish almost as
+well as we do."
+
+"What? How is that?"
+
+"Her father owned a factory in which he employed many Polish workmen.
+The young lady, while a child, had a Polish nurse, and later some
+emigrant taught her Polish."
+
+"And that she should care for it!"
+
+"Among the English people you will find many odd characters, and this
+Mr. Anney was an odd character in this respect, that he could, like
+Lord Dudley, select for his heraldic device: '_Causas non fata
+sequor_,' because, like him, he also loved Poland, Polish history, and
+the Poles. The workmen were sometimes turbulent and caused him much
+annoyance, but this did not dishearten him. He established schools for
+them, procured priests, took charge of the orphans, etc."
+
+"That was a righteous man. But Miss Anney, is she pretty?--young?"
+
+"About Pani Otocka's age--a year younger or older--and they are very
+fond of each other. How long is it since you have seen Pani Otocka and
+Marynia?"
+
+"It is six years. Pani Otocka was not yet married and Panna Marynia
+Zbyltowska was a girl, perhaps ten years old, in short dresses. I well
+remember her because even then she played the violin and was regarded
+as a child-wonder. My mother drew nearer to them last summer in Krynica
+and has become extraordinarily captivated with them. She insisted that
+this winter I should renew their acquaintance, but they left Warsaw for
+the winter. Even then she commanded me to invite them in my own name to
+Jastrzeb, and a few days before the death of Uncle, she wrote to them
+to come for a lengthy visit. Day before yesterday we received a
+dispatch that they will come. You are on intimate terms with them?"
+
+"Yes, on intimate and very sincere terms," answered Gronski.
+
+"Because I wanted to speak with you a little about them, but the hour
+is late and you are after a journey. Perhaps it would be better to
+defer it until to-morrow."
+
+"I slept on the train and it is not far from the station to your place.
+Besides, I have the bad habit of not retiring to sleep before two
+o'clock."
+
+Ladislaus' countenance bore slight traces of perplexity. He poured out
+for himself a glass of wine, drank it, and then said:
+
+"The matter is somewhat delicate. I am certain that Mother has
+concocted some scheme. Perhaps she may have written to you about this
+and, if not, she will speak about it, because she is much concerned
+about your opinion, and in a certain contingency will ask your
+assistance. Several times she incidentally spoke about your influence
+with Pani Otocka. I believe that you have influence with everybody, not
+excluding my mother. For that reason I would like to ask a favor of
+you."
+
+Gronski glanced at the young nobleman and afterwards at the servant, as
+if he wanted to say: "Why is this witness here?" Ladislaus understood
+and said:
+
+"He is very deaf, so we can speak quite freely. He wheezes because he
+has the asthma."
+
+Afterwards he continued:
+
+"Mother for the past two years has been bent upon my getting married,
+so she bustles about, writes voluminous letters, and sends me every
+winter to Warsaw, and I am certain that last summer she was in Krynica
+not so much for her own health, which, God be praised, she preserves so
+well, but to look over the young ladies and make a selection. And there
+these cousins of mine have so bewitched her that she returned, as I
+surmise, with a prepared project."
+
+"I must give you warning," interrupted Gronski, "that so far as Panna
+Marynia is concerned you are building an edifice upon ice, as in the
+first place she is but sixteen; and again she will, at the end of
+autumn, return to the conservatory in Brussels; and thirdly her whole
+soul is wrapped up in her violin and in all probability will always
+remain there."
+
+"May it stay there. You say 'you are building,' but I not only am not
+building, but would prefer that Mother would not build, as it will be
+unpleasant for her. After all, my dear mother is the most upright soul
+in the world, and beyond doubt all she desires is that I should have a
+good and estimable woman for a wife; but I would prefer that my future
+spouse should not resemble too much a Grecian statue."
+
+"Well then?"
+
+"Well then, Panna Marynia is not involved but only an ideal and, at the
+same time, a warm young widow: to which arrangement I cannot by any
+means assent."
+
+"I will answer with a Lithuanian anecdote, according to which an old
+woman, to a peasant's assertion that he did not fear the master,
+replied, 'Because thou hast never seen him.' Likewise, you have never
+seen Pani Otocka, or have forgotten how she looks."
+
+But Ladislaus repeated:
+
+"Not for the world, even if she looked like a sacred painting."
+
+"Then perhaps you love another?"
+
+"Why, you yourself tormented me last winter about Panna Rose
+Stabrowska, and I admit that she has made an impression upon my heart.
+But I did not permit myself to fall in love with her, because I know
+her parents would not give her to me. I am not and will not be rich
+enough for them. For that reason I escaped from Warsaw before the close
+of the carnival. I did not wish to envenom with vain feeling my life or
+hers, if she should love me."
+
+"But in case of a will in your favor? Would you not rush into the smoke
+like a Uhlan of old? Is it not true?"
+
+"Most assuredly; but as I cannot depend upon that, and as that will not
+happen, there is no necessity of talking further about it."
+
+"You spoke, however, of asking a favor of me. In what can I serve you?"
+
+"I wanted to beg you not to fortify my mother in her designs as to Pani
+Otocka."
+
+"How queer you are! Why, when your mother perceives your disinclination
+towards her, she will banish the thought."
+
+"Yes, but there will remain a little regret for herself and for me. A
+person is always disappointed when his plans miscarry, and Mother is so
+eternally worried, though often without reason, because, after all, no
+ruin is threatening us. But she has so much confidence in your judgment
+that if you will explain to her that it is better to abandon those
+thoughts, she will abandon them. However, you will have to contrive it
+so that it will appear to her that she herself came to that conclusion.
+I know you can do it, and I rely upon your friendship."
+
+"My dear Laudie," said Gronski, "in these affairs I have less
+experience, and therefore less judgment, than the first female neighbor
+on the border of your estate. In your mother's letter there appears,
+word for word, the same expression: 'I rely upon your friendship.' In
+view of this, there remains only one thing to do, and that is not to
+meddle in the affair at all,--especially as I will candidly state to
+you that I entertain for Pani Otocka no less friendship than I do for
+you. Considering the matter from another light, it is peculiar that we
+should speak of Pani Otocka without considering her. It is allowable
+for your mother to believe that every woman, if you would but stretch
+out your hand towards her, would grab it with alacrity; but not for
+you. For you renounce things in such a way as if everything depended
+upon you, and I assure you that it is not so, and that if Pani Otocka
+should ever decide to marry, she will be exceedingly particular in her
+choice."
+
+"You are perfectly right," answered Krzycki, "but I am not, of course,
+so foolish or so vain as to imagine that the whole thing depends upon
+me. If I have expressed myself in an unsuitable manner, it is because I
+thought only of Mother and myself and not at all of Pani Otocka. All
+that I care about is that Mother should not urge me to seek her hand,
+as I conjecture I might, after all, get the mitten."
+
+Gronski scanned the shapely figure of the youth and answered with a
+certain benevolent petulance:
+
+"That is well, although I do not know whether you are talking
+sincerely; for men like you, the deuce knows why, have great luck with
+women and they know it perfectly well. What have you against Pani
+Otocka? Why, you hardly know her. Let me tell you that both of those
+ladies are of such high quality as you rarely find."
+
+"I believe it, I believe it; but, in the first place, Pani Otocka is
+fully three years younger than myself, which means that she is
+twenty-four, and yet she is a widow."
+
+"Then you have a prejudice against widows?"
+
+"I confess that I have. Let matrimony give me everything that it can
+possibly give, but a marriage with a widow will not give me all that. A
+widow!--To think that every word which the maiden blushingly and with
+palpitating heart whispers, the widow has already told to some one
+else: and that which in a maid is, as it were, a sacrifice to love, in
+a widow is but a repetition. No, I thank you, for a flower which
+somebody else has previously plucked. Good fortune is not inherited
+with a heritage, nor procured at second hand. Let not only matrimony,
+but also love, give me all they can give, and, if not, then I prefer
+remaining an old bachelor."
+
+"My dear," answered Gronski, "between the heart and a bag of money
+there is, however, a vast difference. Money, after you once part with
+it, you have no more, but the heart is a living organism which
+regenerates and creates new forces."
+
+"That may be,--in every case, however, the memory of the past remains.
+Finally, I am not enunciating any general theories, but merely my
+personal views. Plainly, I could not love a widow and I do want to love
+my wife, even though slightly. Otherwise what enjoyment would I have in
+life? A rural estate? Good! I am an agriculturist and I agree to plough
+and sow until death. But whoever imagines that this will give peace and
+happiness, simply has no conception of the load of care, bitterness,
+affliction, deception, self reproach, and strife with the bad will of
+mankind and nature which one must endure. There are, it is true,
+brighter moments, but far oftener one must defend himself against
+downright loathsomeness. Now I want at least this: that I shall return
+willingly home from the field or barn; that in the home there shall
+await me fresh, rosy, and tempting cheeks which I crave to kiss, and
+eyes into which I would long to gaze. I want to have some one on whom I
+can bestow all that is best in me. I speak of this, not as one who is
+infatuated with the romantic, but as a sober man who can keep accounts
+of expenditures and receipts, not only in husbandry but also in life."
+
+Gronski thought that in reality every matured masculine life should
+bear two faces; one with wrinkled brow, expressive of intense mental
+strain, turned towards the problems of humanity, and the other calm and
+peaceable at the fireside in the home.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I would be delighted with such a home as a refuge from
+care and in it 'fresh, rosy and tempting cheeks' as an attraction."
+
+Ladislaus, in his laughter, displayed his sound, shining teeth and
+answered joyously:
+
+"Ah, how it does delight me! the soul almost squeaks."
+
+And they both began to laugh.
+
+"But," said Gronski, "one must be lucky enough to find that and
+courageous enough to win."
+
+To Krzycki there suddenly came the recollection of a certain ball in
+Warsaw; of Panna Rose Stabrowska, her pensive eyes, and her white,
+half-childlike shoulders protruding from the net-lace like watery foam.
+He therefore sighed quietly.
+
+"Sometimes," he said, "courage also is necessary to bridle one's self."
+
+In the chamber for an interval could be heard only the measured
+tick-tack of the cumbrous clock and the wheezing of the asthmatic
+servant, who dozed, leaning against the sideboard.
+
+The hour was late, Gronski rose and, having roused himself from a
+momentary revery, said, as if speaking to himself:
+
+"And those ladies will be here to-morrow."
+
+Afterwards he added with a touch of sadness:
+
+"Ah, at your age it is not permissible to bridle one's self."
+
+
+
+                                   II
+
+The ladies did actually arrive at Jastrzeb the next day about noon,
+followed immediately afterwards by Dolhanski, who did not, however, see
+them on the road, because at the station he became occupied entirely
+with the receipt of the baggage and therefore arrived in a separate
+conveyance. The guests did not find Krzycki at home. As the burden of
+the funeral, and all cares connected with it, fell upon him, he left an
+hour earlier for Rzeslewo. The obsequies were to take place at three
+o'clock. Ladislaus' mother arrived at the Rzeslewo church with Pani
+Otocka, Panna Marynia, and their friend Miss Anney. In the second
+carriage Gronski and Dolhanski came, while the third and last one
+brought the younger members of the Krzycki family,--eleven-year-old
+Anusia and Stas, who was a year younger, together with their French
+instructress and the tutor, Laskowicz. Pani Krzycki reminded her son of
+his feminine relatives and introduced him to Miss Anney, but he barely
+had time to bow and cast a glance at her when he was summoned away on
+some matter relating to the final funeral arrangements. Alighting from
+the carriage, the ladies could scarcely press their way into the
+church, although an effort was made to clear a path for them, for in
+the church and adjacent enclosure an unusual throng held sway. The
+greater landed gentry were represented in extremely scant numbers, as
+the deceased Zarnowski did not associate with any one, and besides
+Jastrzeb, Gorek, and Wiatrak, did not visit any of the manors in the
+neighborhood. In their place, the Rzeslewo peasantry appeared as one
+man, with their wives and children. The reason for this was that from
+some unknown source and for some inexplicable reason, a rumor
+circulated among them that the deceased had bequeathed to them his
+entire fortune. Quite a number stood outside the church fence, and
+their loud voices and anxious faces indicated the impression which the
+rumor of the bequest had made upon them.
+
+After chanted vigils and a sufficiently long mass, white surpliced
+priests, preceded by a cross, appeared at the church doorway. After
+them the coffin was borne. The hearse stood ready to receive the
+remains, but peasants, in implicit faith of the bequest, lifted it upon
+their shoulders to carry to the cemetery, which was a verst distant and
+in which was located the tomb of the Zarnowskis. Gronski gave his arm
+to Pani Krzycki, Dolhanski to Pani Otocka, while the duty of escorting
+the light-haired Miss Anney fell to Krzycki. After an interval, the
+funeral cortege slowly proceeded in the direction of the cemetery.
+
+From under the shade of church lindens it soon advanced upon the
+field-road, flooded with sunshine, and extended itself in a long line.
+At the head went the priests; after them the coffin, swung high up on
+the shoulders of the peasants; the relatives and guests followed, and
+after them came swarms of gay peasant national dresses and feminine
+handkerchiefs gaudily spotted with yellow and red colors, which
+glaringly contrasted with the green, sprouting spring corn. Church
+flags, with skulls and pictures of saints, floated heavily in the
+golden air and at times heaved with a flap when assailed by the wind.
+In this manner, glistening in the sun, the crowd approached the poplars
+which shaded the cemetery. From time to time the chant of priests
+resounded, breaking out suddenly and with great sadness. Nearer the
+cemetery the peasants commenced the litany and gusts of wind seized
+these Polish and Latin songs and carried them with the odor of candles,
+which were continually blown out, and the scent of the drippings of the
+torches to the forests.
+
+Krzycki, who escorted Miss Anney, observed that her hand, which rested
+upon his arm, trembled considerably. It occurred to him that she
+probably had tired it, holding her parasol on the road from Jastrzeb to
+Rzeslewo, and he paid no more attention to it. In the conviction that
+such a solemnity as a funeral exempted him from starting the usual
+social conversation, he walked in silence. He was fatigued and hungry.
+Disordered thoughts rushed into his head. He thought of his uncle,
+Zarnowski, of his inability to mourn for him, of the funeral, of his
+newly-arrived cousins, and of yesterday's conversation with Gronski.
+At times he would gaze, abstractedly, at the near by fields and
+half-consciously would note that the winter-corn on the fertile
+Rzeslewo soil, as well as the spring grain, gave promise of a bountiful
+harvest. After a certain time he recollected that it would be proper
+for him to devote a little more attention to his companion.
+
+Somehow, after a few stealthy glances, his curiosity, which thus far
+had been deadened by fatigue, hunger, and ill-humor, was awakened. The
+proximity of a woman, young and, as he observed, stately, began to
+affect him. It seemed strange to him in the first place that he was
+conducting over the Rzeslewo highway an Englishwoman, who came, the
+Lord knew from where; that a short while before he was unacquainted
+with her and at present felt the warmth of her arm and hand. He
+observed also that her hand, tightly incased in a glove, though
+shapely, was not at all small; and he thought that the reasons for this
+were the English sports--tennis, rowing, archery, and the like. "Our
+Polish women," he thought, "look differently." Under the influence of
+these reflections upon English sports, it seemed to him that from this
+quaintly attired form some peculiar power, healthiness, and energy
+emanated. His companion began to interest him more and more. Leading
+her on his arm, he could see only her profile, upon which he bestowed
+increased attention. As a consequence of more exact observation, his
+curiosity intensified. In the first moments he conceded only that she
+was a comely and buxom person, but later he soliloquized in this
+fashion: "How vastly more stately and, sincerely speaking, more
+beautiful she is than Pani Otocka or that child, whose dresses reach to
+her ankles and whose soul, as Gronski says, is in the violin!" But
+this, however, was not the strict truth, for Pani Otocka, a slender
+brunette with the expression of a blonde, was of a type more exquisite
+and racial, and the "child" had a countenance simply angelic. But at
+that particular moment, if a secret ballot had been taken upon this
+question, Krzycki, owing perhaps to his opposition to his mother's
+designs, would have cast his vote for Miss Anney.
+
+After a certain time, it seemed to him that Miss Anney also was casting
+stealthy glances at him. He determined to catch her in the act and
+looked at her more openly. And then he saw something which astonished
+him in the highest degree. On the cheeks of the young Englishwoman tear
+after tear coursed. Her lips were compressed as if she desired to
+stifle her impressions and her hand, supported on his arm, did not
+cease to tremble.
+
+"Either this is affected sensibility," Krzycki thought, "or else her
+English nerves are jangled. Why the deuce should she weep over a man
+whom she never saw in her life? Unless it reminded her of her father's
+burial or that of some near relative?"
+
+Miss Anney did not look at all like a person with jangled nerves.
+Somehow, after a time, her emotion passed. She began to gaze with
+particular interest and attention upon the throng of people, the
+neighborhood, the fields, and the distant fringe of the forest as if
+she desired to retain them all permanently in her memory.
+
+"She should have taken a kodak with her," thought Ladislaus.
+
+They were already not far from the cemetery gates. But in the meanwhile
+a wind stronger than the former gusts broke loose. It swept suddenly
+across the field of sprouting grain, raised a cloud of dust on the
+highway, snuffed out the mendicant candles which were not extinguished
+before, and entwined Krzycki's neck with Miss Anney's long boa.
+
+She relinquished his arm and, freeing him from his ties, said in Polish
+with an almost imperceptible foreign accent:
+
+"I beg your pardon. The wind--"
+
+"That is nothing," answered Ladislaus. "Perhaps you would prefer to
+take a carriage, for the squalls are breaking out more frequently."
+
+"No, thank you," she replied; "I believe we are near the cemetery. I
+will walk alone, because I must hold my boa and dress."
+
+During this conversation they stood opposite each other for a moment
+and, although that moment was brief, Ladislaus made a new discovery.
+Not only did he confirm his previous opinion that Miss Anney was, in
+reality, very beautiful and had an extraordinarily transparent
+complexion, set off with light hair, but above all else that her blue
+eyes did not radiate with two separate beams, but rather with a single,
+gentle, blue, slightly misty, soulful light. He was unable to explain
+to himself in what lay the distinct and peculiar charm of that look,
+but he felt it perfectly.
+
+In the meantime, they reached the cemetery. A short prayer detained all
+at the gates, after which the funeral cortege moved between the
+poplars, swung by the winds, and crosses overgrown by luxuriant grass
+on the mounds, under which slept the Rzeslewo peasantry. The Zarnowski
+tomb stood in the centre. In its front walls could be seen an opening,
+knocked out for the reception of a new member of the family. At the
+side there were two masons, with whitened aprons, having at their feet
+prepared cement and a pile of new bricks. The coffin was placed upon
+the sand near the opening and the priests began a long chant over it.
+Their voices rose and then fell, like waves, in a rolling and dreamy
+rhythm, which was accompanied by the roar of the poplars, the flapping
+of the flags in the air, and the hum of prayers uttered, as if
+mechanically, by the peasants. Then the parish-priest of Rzeslewo began
+a discourse. As he did not live on good terms with the deceased, he
+commended his soul to the divine mercy rather than praised him. About
+could be seen the faces of the Zarnowski relatives, grave and
+appropriately grouped for the occasion, but no grief, not a tear. They
+were rather indifferent, with an expression of expectancy, and even
+tedium. The coffin appeared to be only awaiting the close of the rites,
+as if it was anxious to enter that vault and darkness, for which it was
+appropriately designed. In the meantime, after the sermon, songs began
+to ring. At moments they subsided, and then could be heard only the
+revelry of wind among the poplars. At last a high voice, as if
+startled, intoned "requiem aeternam" and fell suddenly like a pillar of
+dust twirled by the storm; and after a momentary silence "eternal
+repose," full of solace, resounded and the ceremony was over.
+
+On the coffin they threw a few handfulls of sand, and then pushed it
+into the opening which the masons began to wall up, laying brick upon
+brick and coating them with mortar. The barrier, which was to forever
+separate Zarnowski from the world and light, grew with each moment.
+Groups of peasants slowly left the cemetery. Two female neighbors from
+Gorek, a Pani Wlocek, an old and pathetic dame, and her daughter, who
+was not young, approached Pani Krzycki and felt it incumbent upon them
+to offer a "few words of consolation," which nobody expected and which
+were absolutely unnecessary. Gronski began to converse with Ladislaus:
+
+"Observe," he quietly said, looking at the work of the masons, "yet a
+few more bricks and then, as Dante says, 'Aeterna silenza.' No sorrow,
+not a tear; no one will ever come here expressly for him. Something
+similar awaits me, and you remember that thus they bury old bachelors.
+Your mother is quite right in wanting to have you married."
+
+"To tell the truth," answered Krzycki, "the deceased was not only an
+old bachelor, but also was unsocial. But finally, is it not all the
+same?"
+
+"After death, certainly. But during life, when you think of it, it is
+not at all the same. This 'lust for posthumous grief' may be illogical
+and foolish, but nevertheless it exists."
+
+"Whence does it come?"
+
+"From an equally unwise desire to outlive self. Look, the work is
+finished and Zarnowski is sealed up. Let us go."
+
+At the gates the rattle of the approaching carriages was heard. The
+party moved towards the exit. The ladies now were in the lead; after
+them the priests and guests walked, with the exception of Dolhanski,
+who was talking to the Englishwoman.
+
+Suddenly Ladislaus turned to Gronski and asked:
+
+"What is Miss Anney's Christian name?"
+
+"While we are in the cemetery you might have thought of something else.
+Her Christian name is Agnes."
+
+"A beautiful name."
+
+"In England it is quite common."
+
+"Is she rich?"
+
+"And that question you could defer to another time, but if you are in a
+hurry, ask Dolhanski. He knows those things best."
+
+"I ask you because I see him with her and hear him chattering in
+English."
+
+"Oh, that is a play within a play! He is after Pani Otocka."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Equally as old as it is fruitless. For it is yet difficult to
+ascertain with any exactness how much Miss Anney possesses, while the
+amount which the late Director Otocki left his wife is perfectly
+known."
+
+"I have a hope that my beautiful cousin will give him the mitten."
+
+"Which would increase a beautiful collection. But tell me, what do you
+think of your cousins?"
+
+"Certainly--Pani Otocka--certainly--both have what the Galicians call
+'something ennobling.' But Panna Marynia is still quite a child."
+
+Gronski directed his eyes at the slim and slender figure walking before
+them and said:
+
+"That is a child who could as well fly in the air as walk on earth."
+
+"An aëroplane or what?"
+
+"I warn you that she is the object of my highest adoration."
+
+"So I have heard. It is already known to all men."
+
+"Only they do not know that that adoration is not of a red color, but
+heavenly blue."
+
+"I do not understand that very well."
+
+"When you are better acquainted with her you will understand me."
+
+Krzycki, who was more interested in Miss Anney, wanted to turn the
+conversation to her, but they passed the gates, before which the horses
+waited. The young man proceeded to assist the ladies to their seats, in
+which operation he saw directed towards himself for a moment the
+soulful eyes of the Englishwoman. Preparatory to her departure, his
+mother asked him whether he had finished his duties connected with the
+funeral and whether he would return immediately to Jastrzeb.
+
+"No," he answered; "I have made an arrangement with the parish-priest
+that he should permit me to invite the priests to the rectory, and I
+must entertain them there. But as soon as I greet them and eat
+something, I will excuse myself to the guests and return as soon as
+possible."
+
+Here he bowed to the ladies, after which he removed his hands from the
+carriage, cast a glance at the chestnut thill-horse to see if he did
+not overreach, and shouted:
+
+"Go ahead!"
+
+The carriage trundled over the road on which the funeral cortege had
+passed. Of the participants who were dressed in surtouts, besides
+Ladislaus, only Dolhanski remained. He felt that, as a relative of the
+deceased, it was also his duty to entertain the priests who officiated
+at the obsequies; and besides, he had other reasons which induced him
+to remain in Ladislaus' company.
+
+They had barely settled in the britzska, when he began to look around
+among the peasants, who still stood here and there in groups, and then
+asked:
+
+"Where is the notary Dzwonkowski?"
+
+Ladislaus smiled and replied:
+
+"He rode ahead with the priests, but to-night you will see him at
+Jastrzeb, for he invited himself there."
+
+"So; then I regret that I did not return with the ladies. I wanted to
+wring from him some information regarding the will, and I thought that
+later that might not be possible."
+
+"Patience. The notary told me that the will is to be opened the day
+after to-morrow in his office and that we will have to drive over there
+for that purpose."
+
+"But I wished to know to-day whether it will be worth while for me to
+wait until to-morrow or the day after. If this precious uncle of ours
+has let us drift, as the saying is, upon a swift current of water, then
+Pani Wlocka was right in offering us words of consolation. I, at least,
+will need them for a long time."
+
+"How can you talk that way?"
+
+"I am saying aloud what you all secretly think. I am very anxious about
+that will. I care more for Dzwonkowski at the present moment than for
+the entire terrestial globe together with the five parts of the world;
+and more particularly since I have seen that he brought a bundle of
+papers with him."
+
+"As to that you may rest at ease. He is the greatest musico-maniac that
+I have ever met. He worships Panna Marynia, with whom he became
+acquainted at Krynica. From Gronski I have learnt that in the moonlight
+sonata, in the Benois arrangement for the violin, he arranged the notes
+for the flute and sent them to her in Warsaw. Today he wants to see how
+they will go. Therefore he invited himself to Jastrzeb, and he brought
+with him, besides the sonata, a bundle of other notes. I assure you
+that he will not want to talk or speak of anything else."
+
+"In that case, may the devils carry off Dzwonkowski's flute, Panna
+Marynia's violin, your Jastrzeb piano, and music in general."
+
+On this Ladislaus looked at him spitefully and said:
+
+"Be careful about our Jastrzeb piano, because if you hear a trio
+to-night, you will find Pani Otocka at the piano."
+
+"I have a hope that it will be, at least, as much out of tune as I am
+at present and, in that case, I will not envy either her or the
+auditors. But I see that Gronski has filled you with idle gossip.
+Good! Unlike him, I do not have an old bachelor's hankering after
+boarding-house misses and I like young teals only on a platter. Let him
+feast his eyes with his Marynia; let him pray to her, but let him leave
+me alone. They all have gone crazy on music there, and are ready to
+infect you in Jastrzeb. Only Miss Anney does not play on anything, and
+has a little sense."
+
+"Ah, Miss Anney does not play on anything?"
+
+"Yes. But that does not prevent her from playing, in a certain case,
+upon me or on you, but much more easily upon you than me."
+
+"Why more easily upon me?"
+
+"Because I am that particular kind of instrument that wants to know in
+advance how much the concert will bring."
+
+Ladislaus, accustomed of old to Dolhanski's cynicism, shrugged his
+shoulders, but did not have time to reply as they had in the meantime
+arrived at the rectory.
+
+
+
+                                  III
+
+Dolhanski, in fact, could not extract from the notary, anything but
+testy replies. Immediately after his reception at the rectory the old
+notary became very garrulous, but spoke with Ladislaus only about
+Marynia, for whom he had an unbounded admiration. At present he feared
+that Pani Krzycki might not consent to an evening musicale on the day
+of the funeral of a relative, and that fear did not cease to disturb
+him. Under this impression he began to demonstrate that music may as
+well be associated with death as with life; that impressive music
+always attends funerals, and that as mankind has not devised anything
+better than music, not even for the worship of God, therefore it may be
+taken for granted that music facilitates the flight of the soul to
+heaven, and even salvation. Ladislaus bit his mustache and, without
+qualification, concurred in this reasoning, knowing that the amiable
+old gentleman was wont to berate his opponents unmercifully. With this
+kind of talk, in which, to Dolhanski's great irritation, there was no
+mention of the will, they passed their time on the way to Jastrzeb.
+There they were served with tea. As the wind had subsided entirely
+before the setting sun and the evening was delightful, the ladies, with
+Gronski, were in the garden. When Ladislaus and his companions followed
+them, they found Pani Krzycki and Pani Otocka on the bank of the pond,
+while Miss Anney and Marynia were in a boat on the pond. A ruddy lustre
+permeated the whole air; the scent of elders, which grew near the
+water's edge, blended with the odor of the turf, duck-weed, and fish.
+The water was dark green on the border from alders and willows which
+hemmed it in, but in the centre, on the overflow, it was golden, with
+reflections of purple and peacock feathers. The boat floated towards
+the point, whose narrow girdle from the garden side served as a
+landing-place. Marynia sat in the middle of the boat, but Miss Anney,
+standing at the stern, manipulated it with a single oar, propelling and
+at the same time steering with uncommon skill. On the background of
+water and sky she loomed up from head to foot with strong and graceful
+form, her rounded bosom moving in unison with the movements of the oar.
+At moments she ceased to paddle and when the boat, gliding each moment
+more slowly, at last stood still upon the smooth water, there could be
+seen in the mirrored pellucidness another boat, another Marynia, and
+another Miss Anney. In this picture there was great pastoral calm. The
+lustre in the heavens grew ruddier as if the entire western world had
+been embraced in a conflagration. High above the pond, under the
+flaming cupola of heaven, strings of wild ducks appeared as if tied
+together by black crosses.
+
+The trees stood motionless and the silence was broken only by the
+sounds of the windmill, coming from the direction of the dam.
+
+After a while Miss Anney touched shore. Gronski, who was anxious that
+his "adoration" should not wet her feet, hastened to assist her out of
+the boat, while the Englishwoman leaped unassisted upon the sand and,
+approaching the company, said:
+
+"How charming it is here in Jastrzeb!"
+
+"Because the weather is fine," said Ladislaus, drawing nearer.
+"Yesterday it was cloudy, but to-night it is beautiful."
+
+And having scanned the heavens, he, like a true husbandman, added:
+
+"If it will continue thus, we will start mowing the hay."
+
+And Miss Anney gazed at him, as if she discovered something unusual in
+the sounds of those words, and began to repeat them in the same fashion
+that one repeats words which he desires to firmly implant in the
+memory.
+
+"The hay--the hay."
+
+The party turned towards the house, which was being bleached, or rather
+rouged, amidst the lime-trees, conversing a little about the funeral
+and the late Zarnowski, but more about the village, the spring evening,
+and music. Pani Krzycki assured the newly-arrived ladies that in
+Jastrzeb before their arrival music was not wanting, as there were so
+many nightingales in the park that at times they would not let any one
+sleep. At this Gronski, who was a man of great erudition, began to
+discourse upon country life; that, in truth, it was, from time
+immemorial, considered the only real and normal life. He mentioned
+incidentally the Homeric Kings, "who rejoiced in their hearts, counting
+sheaves with the sceptre," and various Roman poets. In conclusion he
+announced, as his opinion, that socialism will shatter to pieces upon
+agriculture and the soil, because it considers them only as a value,
+while they are also an affection, or, in other words, not only is a
+price placed upon them, but they are also loved. Men know what cares
+are coupled with country life, but in truth it is the only life they
+prize, as if in it "even bird's milk was not lacking."[1]
+
+To Pani Krzycki, who, next to her children, loved, above everything
+else in the world, Jastrzeb, the words of Gronski appealed very
+convincingly, but Dolhanski, recalling a village he once owned and
+squandered, replied, drawling his words as usual:
+
+"Bird's milk may not be lacking, but money is lacking. Besides, it is
+amusing to hear these eulogies upon country life pronounced by a rich
+man who could buy for himself a tract of land and settle in the
+country, but whom it is necessary to pull out of the city with hooks."
+Then addressing Gronski:
+
+"Apropos of your Homeric Kings, and with them your Virgils and Horaces,
+why, in their days there certainly were not such hotels on the Riviera
+and such clubs in Nice as at present."
+
+But this observation was passed in silence, or rather it was
+interrupted by a musical passage intoned to Marynia in an old wooden
+voice by the notary who wanted in this manner to illustrate the
+junction of two phrases in Bruch's concerto. Afterwards various other
+phrases incessantly resounded until the party returned to the house.
+Gronski knew the mania of the old man and envied him for having found
+something in life which filled it out so completely for him. He was a
+highly educated dilettante, but had settled upon nothing permanently in
+life and did not consecrate all his spiritual powers to anything
+exclusively. This was partly due to his environment, and partly to his
+own fault. The profoundest essence of his soul was a sad scepticism.
+One of his friends, Kloczewski, called him "an ecclesiastic in a
+dress-suit." Somehow, the final result of Gronski's meditation upon the
+future and human life, individual as well as collective, was the
+conviction that the future and the human life may, with time, become
+different, but never better. So he thought that it might be worth while
+not to spare efforts to make them sometime better, but it would not be
+worth while that they should be different only. This thought protected
+him, however, from the bordering pessimism, as he understood that the
+measure of happiness and misfortune rested not on the external, but in
+the man himself, and that as long as otherwise did not mean _better_,
+then by the same reasoning it did not also mean _worse_. At bottom he
+was persuaded that the one and the other were only a mistake and a
+delusion, and that everything, not excluding life, was one great
+vanity. In this manner, he revered, across the sea of ages, the true
+Ecclesia.
+
+But, being at the same time a man of sentiment, he fell in a continual
+clash with himself, his sentiment always craving for something, while
+his sad scepticism iterated that it was not worth while to desire
+anything. His feelings were preyed upon by the thought that his views
+were in conflict with life, while life was an imperative necessity.
+Therefore, whoever with doubts corroded its roots injured humanity, and
+Gronski did not desire to injure anybody, much less his own people. For
+this reason the ecclesiastic, contending that all was vanity, wrangled
+within him, with the patriot who said, for instance, that national
+suffering was not in vain. But this state of affairs bred within him
+such incessant discord that he envied men of action who journey through
+life without any whys or wherefores, as well as people who absolutely
+succumb to one great feeling.
+
+For the old notary and Marynia, such a great feeling was music; so that
+as often as Gronski saw them together, so often did he have before his
+eyes a living example that things do exist with which one can fill out
+his life from dawn until the last moments,--if only one does not
+subject them to a too close analysis.
+
+
+
+                                   IV
+
+At the supper the aged notary was occupied solely with music and
+Marynia. To the others, with the exception of the lady of the house,
+upon whom permission for the concert depended, he replied irascibly;
+especially to Dolhanski, who several times tried to elicit from him
+some information about the will. His angry and apoplectic face cleared
+up only after Pani Krzycki announced that she would have no objections
+to devoting the remainder of the evening to decorous music, and that
+she herself would be glad to listen to Marynia, whom she had not heard
+since the last charitable concert in Krynica.
+
+Towards the close of the supper the old gentleman again began to get
+impatient, remarking that it was a pity to waste time in eating, and
+discussing even music, if light and frivolous, with profane individuals
+who had no conception of the real art. He became more interested after
+listening to the reasonings of Gronski, who began to talk about the
+origin of music and refute the Darwinian theory that songs and the
+sounds of the primitive string instruments arose in some misty era of
+the human race from the amorous declarations and calls of men and women
+in the forests. Gronski shared the opinion of those who against these
+views cited the fact that among the most savage tribes no traces of
+love-songs exist, but in their place are found war-songs and martial
+music. The theory of calling through the forests appeared to the ladies
+more poetical. Gronski placated them with the statement that this did
+not lessen the civilizing importance of music, that it, with the dance,
+was one of the first factors which promoted among the scattered tribes
+of men a certain organization.
+
+"The Papuans," he said, "who gather together for the performance of a
+war or ceremonial dance in accordance with the rhythm of even their
+wildest music, by that act alone submit to something, introduce some
+kind of order, and form the first social ties."
+
+"That means," observed Dolhanski, "that every nation owes its origin to
+some primitive 'high-diddle-diddle, the cat and the fiddle.'"
+
+"Of course it is so," angrily answered the old notary.
+
+Afterwards turning to Gronski, he said: "Please proceed. We can at
+least learn something."
+
+"Yes, please proceed," repeated Marynia.
+
+So Gronski began further to speak of the history of music; how through
+the entire course of ages it served war, ceremonies of state, as well
+as religious and secular, and how considerably later it outspread its
+own wings, on which it soars as at present, like an eagle, over the
+entire human race.
+
+"A strange art," he concluded; "the most primitive; yet to-day resting
+more than any other upon science; the most precisely confined within
+certain technical requirements, as if bound by dams and dykes; yet the
+most illimitable, the most mystical; overflowing the borders of
+existence and life. Perhaps this gives it such incomprehensible power
+over the human soul; speaking the least expressive of tongues and at
+the same time the most idealistic. It is the most powerful spur to
+action. Yes, to the Polish regiments in the battle of Gravelotte the
+Prussian bands played 'Poland is not yet lost,' and everywhere you may
+behold the same. Play to the Frenchmen the 'Marseillaise,' the Germans
+'Wacht am Rhein,' how their hands begin to quiver! Even the eyes of
+phlegmatic Englishmen and Americans sparkle when they hear 'Rule
+Britania' or 'Yankee Doodle.' Strange art!--the most cosmopolitan and
+at the same time the most national,--universal and individual."
+
+"One thing you did not say and that is that of all arts it is the
+purest," added Pani Otocka.
+
+"Attempts have been made to illegitimatize it," answered Gronski, "but
+licentiousness never can be rhythmical nor harmonical, and for that
+reason from these attempts there was born an antichrist of music."
+
+But Ladislaus, who was a trifle bored and would have preferred to talk
+with the light-haired Miss Anney, spoke out with the evident desire to
+close the discussion.
+
+"Yes, it is plain that not only every nation but every man has his own
+music. I, for instance, am always willing to hear a concert or an
+opera, but I admit, that when sometimes the boys and girls at work in
+the field sing until the pitchforks and harrows ring, that is the only
+music for me."
+
+"Slavonian, Lechite, Piast--come to my arms," drawled Dolhanski.
+
+Ladislaus blushed a little from fear that the young Englishwoman and
+his refined female relatives might judge him too rustical, but they
+glanced at him with a certain sympathy. Only the beard of the old
+classical notary drooped with his nose in a manner boding no good, and
+from his lips he mumbled a half-distinct grumble:
+
+"To some folks it is sufficient, when anything jingles in their ears."
+
+But recollecting that it would not be agreeable to Pani Krzycki if
+caustic remarks were directed against her son, he cast an uneasy look
+at her and became silent.
+
+The supper was finished. The company went to the salon in which
+prevailed coolness and the slight scent of jasmine blown in from the
+garden by the light evening breezes before the windows were closed. In
+the glass doors appeared the big full moon, which but recently arose
+slowly in the heaven, still ruddy after a bath in the evening twilight.
+Pani Otocka sat at the piano; beside her the notary began to blow, as
+if with anger, into the flute; while behind them stood Marynia with a
+violin at her shoulder. Gronski with rapture gazed at her luxuriant
+dark hair; her peaceful, arched eyebrows under a forehead plainly
+immaculate; her small countenance; her slender, growing, childlike
+form, and thought that this sight alone would suffice for music, or at
+least that such a violinist might pass for its incarnation and symbol.
+Ladislaus, although he had previously enlisted in the ranks of the
+English faction, could not remove his eyes from her. After completing
+his university education, he had accompanied his mother on a journey to
+Italy. He visited various galleries and, though he lacked solid
+artistic culture, nevertheless the thought crossed his mind that this
+maiden with the bright and peaceful countenance, bending over the
+violin, might have served the old masters as a model for Saint Cecilia
+or for one of those angelic violin-players which he had seen in the
+paintings of Fra Angelico.
+
+The other listeners, like Pani Krzycki, her children, the instructress,
+and Miss Anney, gazed at her as if at a miracle-working image. Only
+one, Laskowicz, young Stas' tutor, did not share in the general
+rapture. He was a medical student who, owing to the closing of the
+university, was earning money by teaching for the further pursuit of
+his studies, and he found himself, together with his inexorable hatred
+for the "pampered" of this world, like Pilate in Credo, in this country
+home. His convictions by this time were not a secret to anybody in
+Jastrzeb; he was tolerated, however, with that improvident indulgence
+of which the Polish nobility is only capable, upon the principle that
+"the greatest radical must eat," and also in the hope that Stas was yet
+too young to be infected with the "evil spirit" by his tutor.
+
+To Laskowicz, when he looked at the gentle young lady, it seemed that
+she was a flower which grew higher than the hands of a proletaire could
+reach; therefore she was bred to the injury of the proletariat. This
+was sufficient for him to look on both sides with reluctance and a
+readiness to hate.
+
+But, in the meanwhile, the moment for beginning the concert had
+arrived. For some time Marynia had been drawing the bow over the
+chords, turning the ringlets of the violin, and passing her fingers
+over the notes, indicating something to her sister and the notary;
+afterwards silence ensued, interrupted only by the indistinct talk of
+the servants, assembled beyond the windows, who for the first time in
+their lives were to hear the young lady play on the violin.
+
+
+
+                                   V
+
+The first chords of the moonlight sonata are sounded and a vision
+begins. Lo! a pale ray creeps stealthily through a crevice and touches
+the forehead of a sleeper, as if it wanted to arouse thought;
+afterwards the lips, as if it wished to waken words, and later the
+bosom, as if it desired to stir the heart. But the weary body slumbered
+in a heavy sleep. In its place the soul emerges from its embrace, like
+a butterfly from a cocoon, and flies into space. The night is bright
+and silent. Below, alders are dimly wrapped in muslin mists. On the
+sylvan meadows nymphs dance their rites, accompanied by the playing of
+a faun on a flute. About, stand with flaming azure eyes, stags, crowned
+with antlers. On the heath, glow-worms glimmer; on the moss,
+phosphorate toadstools, under whose canopies tiny elfs watch the
+gambols. From the decaying vegetation and fens rise Jack-o'-lanterns
+which flit about lightly and mysteriously, as if seeking something in
+vain. The moon ascends each moment higher and higher, and bounteous dew
+falls.
+
+Over the vast fields rivers wind in silvery ribbons and tracks of the
+roadways can be seen leading to towns and castles. Through the narrow
+Gothic windows the moon's lustre invades silent castle-halls, where
+lurk the ghosts of dead knights and maidens. At the feet of the
+castles, cities slumber. In the calm light the roofs of houses whiten
+and crosses on the towers glitter. From the blossoming orchards, with
+the vapors rises the fragrance of flowers and grass. But lighter than
+the fragrance and the moonlight the winged soul soars higher and
+farther. The lowly habitations of men vanish; likewise vanish the
+forests, vales, sparkling shields of ponds, and the white threads of
+streams. Gradually lofty regions are attained.
+
+
+And lo, the mountains! Amidst the crags sleeps the translucent buckler
+of the lake. In the chasms lies concealed cool dusk. The needles of the
+glaciers shine verdantly. On the declivities and rocky nests rest the
+weary clouds and mists; and on the peaks, on the eternal snow the
+moonlight reposes. Even the wind has fallen asleep. How still,
+ethereal, and immense! Here the moon is the only sentinel of silence
+and the human soul the only living entity. Free as a mountain eagle,
+detached from the flesh, enamoured with the expanse, desolation, and
+silence, happy, and sad with a supernal sorrow, dissolved in the
+stillness, she hovers and courses above the precipices; and again flies
+farther on, entirely abandoned to pleasure, flight, and speed.
+
+
+And the mountains have already disappeared beneath her and lo! some
+voices rise and reach from below as if summoning her to them. It is the
+sea. It, alone, never sleeps; restless and vast, it dashes wave after
+wave against the shore, as if it were an immense pulsation of life. Its
+monstrous lungs heave and fall eternally and at times groan in
+complaint of endless toil.
+
+The ruffled expanse of the sea throbs with the opalescent lunar lustre
+and the silvery laces of stars, and on those illuminated tracks, in the
+distance appears, wakeful as the sea itself, a ship with sails and a
+sanguinary light in the rounded windows.
+
+
+But thou, oh soul, mountest higher and higher. Already the earth is
+left somewhere at the bottom of the abyss. Thou, light as down, dost
+pass feathery clouds, which have strayed upon the heights and dost
+pierce space flooded with splendor--empty and cool. There thou liest
+upon thine own wings and floatest about in luminous nothingness; higher
+and higher; and now doth scintillate and change color over thee, in
+gold and purple, the jewels of heaven, and thou dost frolic and swing
+in the unattainable ether, serene, freed from the dross of matter as
+if, beyond the limits of time and space, thou wert already partly
+admitted into heaven.
+
+
+The firmament of heaven grows each moment darker, but the moon, great
+as the world, shines more and more brightly. Already we behold her
+glistening plains, mangled, wild, studded by mountain peaks, perforated
+with the blackness of craters, bleak, frosty, and lifeless. Thus in the
+abyss of space appears this silvery, corpse-like wanderer, who speeds
+around the earth as if condemned by a divine command to a perpetual
+race. Above and about her, an immensity which the swooning brain is
+incapable of comprehending. A new galaxy of stars twinkle sanguinarily
+and powerfully, like distant fire-places. The music of spheres is
+heard. Here Eternity fans with her breath and a supernal chill
+prevails.
+
+
+Return, over-indulged swan, return, oh soul, before some occult rapids
+and whirlpools seize thee and tear thee forever from the earth.
+
+
+Thou returnest from the pinnacle of all-existence, bathed in the waves
+of infinity, purer and more perfect. Lo, thou furlest thy wings! Look,
+in the depths beneath are those downy, light clouds, which now thou
+greetest as thine own and kin. Below, the earth. The protuberances of
+the mountains flash to the moon; at their feet sobs the sea. And now
+lower, the vague outlines of forests, enveloped in mist. Again whiten
+the cities, silent towers and roofs of villages sunk in sleep. The
+night grows pale. On the moors, ostlers build fires and play on fifes.
+The roosters crow. The day breaks. It is dawn.
+
+
+The strains subsided and silence ensued. Marynia stood near the piano
+with a countenance, composed as usual, but seemingly, awakened from a
+dream.
+
+The aged notary sat for a while with bowed head, moving his toothless
+jaws; afterwards he rose, and when the young maid placed the violin
+beside the key-board, he ardently kissed her hands; after which he
+threw a challenging look at those present as if he sought the person
+who would dare to protest against that mark of homage or deem it a
+superfluous act. Nobody, however, protested because under the
+enchantment of that music that happened with the listeners which always
+happens with mankind, when fanned by the breath of genius. As sometimes
+in a dream it seems to a person that having shoved himself off the
+earth with his feet, he afterwards reels a long time in the air, so,
+too, their bodies became lighter, less material, as if deprived of
+those heavy and gross elements which bound them to the earth. Their
+nerves became more susceptible and subtle and their souls more
+volatile, approaching more closely those boundaries on which eternity
+begins. It was an unconscious feeling; after the passage of which the
+daily life was to encompass and drag them down. But during this
+momentary exaltation there awakened within them, unknown to themselves,
+a power of apprehending, appreciating, and feeling beauty, and in
+general such things as in their customary moods they had not felt and
+did not know that they could have felt.
+
+Even the young and unfledged physician, Laskowicz, notwithstanding all
+his prejudices, could not resist this influence. The moment when
+Marynia stood up to play, he began to scrutinize her from his dark
+corner in the salon and examine her form as an anatomist. He was
+conscious that there was something brutal in this, but such a viewpoint
+gave him satisfaction, as being proper for an investigator and a man of
+his convictions. He started to persuade himself that this young lady of
+the so called higher spheres was for him merely an object which one
+should examine in the same manner as a corpse on the dissecting-table
+is examined. So, when tuning her violin, she bent her head, he took a
+mental inventory of the Latin names of all her cranial bones, repelling
+the thought which, against his will, rushed to his head that this was,
+however, an extraordinarily noble skull. Afterwards, during the first
+moments after the beginning of the concert, he became occupied with the
+nomenclature of the muscles of her hands, arms, breast, limbs, outlined
+under her dress and whole figure. But as he was not only a medical
+student and a socialist, but also a young man, this anatomical review
+ended in the conclusion that this was a girl, not yet sufficiently
+developed, but exceedingly pretty and attractive, resembling a spring
+flower. From that moment he began, to a certain extent, to forgive her
+connection with spheres living "from the wrongs of the proletariat,"
+and could not get rid of the thought that if, as a result of some
+unheard-of social upheaval, such "a saintly doll" became dependent upon
+his favor or disfavor, then such a state of affairs would bring to him
+an indescribably coy delight.
+
+But when Beethoven placed his hands upon his head, there awakened
+within him better and higher instincts. He saw during the performance
+the lips and eyebrows of the young lady contract, and began to concede
+that "she, however, felt something." In consequence of this, his
+ill-will towards her began to melt away, although slowly and with
+difficulty. He half confirmed, half conjectured that not only the hands
+but also the soul played. He did not have sufficient culture for music
+to appeal to him as it did, for instance, to Gronski, nevertheless
+there awakened within him a certain dismal consciousness that this was
+something, like the air, which all breasts can breathe, regardless of
+whether they love or hate. Amazement seized him at the thought that
+there were things lying beyond the swarm of human passions. At the
+conclusion he so identified music with the figure of the playing girl
+that when the old notary, at the end of the concert, kissed her hands,
+he almost felt inclined to do the same.
+
+In the meanwhile, Ladislaus said to Miss Anney:
+
+"As long as Jastrzeb has been Jastrzeb, never yet has such music been
+heard. I am not a connoisseur, but must admit that this has captivated
+me. Besides, though I am often in the city, it has always so happened
+that I never have had an opportunity of seeing a woman play on the
+violin. And this is so beautiful that I now have an impression that
+only women should play the violin."
+
+"One gets such an impression when he hears Marynia play."
+
+"Assuredly. I even begin to understand Pan Gronski. You, of course,
+know that she is his adoration?"
+
+"The greatest in the world. And mine and everybody's who knows
+her,--and soon she will be yours."
+
+"I do not deny that she will be, only I doubt whether she will be the
+greatest."
+
+A temporary pause in the conversation followed, after which Ladislaus,
+not desiring that Miss Anney should take his words as an untimely
+compliment, added:
+
+"In any event, I owe her gratitude for music which is slightly
+different from that which we hear every evening in spring and summer."
+
+"What kind of music is that?"
+
+"From dusk to moon-rise the orchestra of frogs, and afterwards the
+concert of nightingales, which, after all, I do not hear, as, after
+daily toil, I am sound asleep. The frog band has already commenced.
+This also has its charm. If you care to hear it, let us go out upon the
+veranda. The night is almost as warm as in summer."
+
+Miss Anney rose and together they went on the veranda, which the
+servants, who listened under the windows to Marynia's performance, had
+already left, and only in the distance the blooming jasmines, shaded by
+the dusk, whitened. From the pond came the croakings of the
+confederation of frogs, drowsy and, at the same time, resembling choral
+prayers.
+
+Miss Anney for a while listened to these sounds and afterwards said:
+
+"Yes, this also has its charm, particularly on a night like this."
+
+"Are not nights the same in England?"
+
+"No, not as quiet. There is hardly a corner there to which the
+whistling of locomotives or the factory noises do not reach. I like
+your villages for their quiet and their distance from the cities."
+
+"So, then, this is not the first time that you have seen a Polish
+village?"
+
+"No. I have passed the last month with Zosia Otocka."
+
+"I wish that our Jastrzeb would find favor in your eyes. It is too bad
+that you chanced here upon a funeral. That is always sad. I saw that
+you were even affected."
+
+"It reminded me of something," answered Miss Anney.
+
+Whereupon, evidently desiring to change the subject of the
+conversation, she again began to peer into the depths of the garden.
+
+"How everything blooms and smells agreeably here!"
+
+"Those are jasmines and elders. Did you observe on the forest road,
+riding to Jastrzeb, that the edges of the woods are planted with
+elders? That is my work."
+
+"I only observed it at the bridge, where an old building stands. What
+kind of building is that?"
+
+"That is an ancient mill. At one time there was a great deal of water
+in the stream beside it, but later my uncle, Zarnowski, drained it off
+to the fish-ponds in Rzeslewo and the mill stood still. Now it is a
+ramshackle building in which for over ten years we have stored hay
+instead of keeping it in hayricks. Folks say that the place is haunted,
+but I myself circulated, in its time, that myth."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"First, so that they should not steal the hay, and again because it was
+of much concern to me that no one should pry in there."
+
+"What an invention!"
+
+"I told them that near the bridge during night-time the horses get
+frightened and that something in the mill laughs; which is true,
+because owls laugh there."
+
+"Perhaps it would have been better to have told them that something in
+there weeps."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"For greater effect."
+
+"I do not know. Laughter in the night in the solitude creates a greater
+impression. People fear it more."
+
+"And nobody peeps in there?"
+
+"Not a soul. Now, if they only would not steal the hay, it would be all
+the same to me, but at that time I was anxious to screen myself from
+the eyes of men--"
+
+Here Ladislaus bit his tongue, observing in the moonlight that Miss
+Anney's eyebrows frowned slightly. He understood that in repeating
+twice that it was important to him that no one should pry into the
+mill, he committed a breach of etiquette and, what was worse, had
+presented himself to the young English lady as some provincial boaster,
+who gives the impression that often he has been forced to seek various
+hiding-places. So desiring to erase the bad impression, he added
+quickly:
+
+"When a student, I wrote verses and for that reason sought solitude.
+But now all that has passed away."
+
+"That usually passes away," answered Miss Anney. And she turned to the
+doors of the salon, but without unnecessary haste, as if she desired to
+show Ladislaus that she accepted as good coin his explanations and that
+her return was not a manifestation of displeasure. He remained a while,
+angry at himself and yet more angry at Miss Anney for the simple reason
+that the indiscretion was committed solely by him and he could not
+blame her for anything.
+
+"In any case," he said to himself, "that is some deucedly penetrating
+Puritan."
+
+And he began to repeat, with some indignation, her last words:
+
+"That usually passes away."
+
+"Did she," he thought, "intend to give me to understand that from such
+grist as is in me nobody could bake any poetry. Perhaps it is true, and
+I know that better than anyone else, but it is unnecessary for anybody
+to corroborate the fact."
+
+Under the influence of these thoughts he returned to the salon in not
+quite good humor, but there the duties of host summoned him to his
+feminine cousins and that evening he did not converse any more with
+Miss Anney.
+
+
+
+                                   VI
+
+The notary left the same night because his official duties required his
+presence in the city the following morning. On the day after, Gronski,
+whom Pani Otocka requested to act as her representative, with Ladislaus
+and Dolhanski departed for the notarial bureau. All three were troubled
+and curious about the will, of which the notary did not drop a single
+hint. Dolhanski feigned a jocose mien and displayed more sangfroid than
+he really possessed. He was most anxious that something should "drop
+off" for him. He was a man who had squandered a large fortune, but, not
+having changed his habits, kept on living as if he had not lost
+anything. Therefore he sustained himself upon the surface of life by
+the aid of extraordinary, almost acrobatic, efforts, of which after all
+he made no secret. In general, he was a sponger and possessed a million
+faults, but also certain social qualities for which he was esteemed.
+Belonging to an aristocratic club, he played cards with unusual good
+luck, but irreproachably. He never borrowed money from people in his
+own sphere; never gossiped, and was a tolerably loyal friend. Lack of
+education he supplied with cleverness and a certain intellectual grasp.
+He jested about himself, but it was unsafe to jest at him, because he
+possessed, besides wit, a certain candor which bordered upon cynicism.
+So he was not only countenanced but willingly received. Gronski, for
+whom Dolhanski had such high regard that he permitted him alone to jest
+about him, said that if Dolhanski only had as great a gift of making
+money as he had of spending it, he would have been a millionaire.
+
+But while waiting for such a change, heavy moments fell upon Dolhanski,
+particularly in spring when the play at the club slackened or when the
+outing season began. Then he felt fatigued after the winter struggles
+and sighed for something to turn up which would not require any labor.
+The will of Zarnowski might be such a gratuity, although Dolhanski did
+not expect much, as during the lifetime of the deceased he did nothing
+to deserve it. He even frankly repeated that his precious uncle bored
+him. He reckoned, however, that something might be sliced off for him;
+enough for the temporary pacification of his creditors or, better
+still, for a trip to a fashionable, aristocratic French seaside resort.
+
+Before leaving Warsaw he announced in the club that he would return
+sitting upon a pillow stuffed with pawn-tickets. At present he
+attempted, with a certain affected humor, to convince Gronski and
+Ladislaus that by rights neither Pani Otocka with her sister, nor the
+Krzyckis, but himself ought to be the chief beneficiary.
+
+"One of the female cousins," he said, "is a warm widow, who has a fat
+fortune from her husband, and the other is a budding muse, who ought to
+be satisfied with ambrosia. What a pity, that I am not the sole
+relative of the deceased!"
+
+Here he addressed Ladislaus:
+
+"The Krzyckis, I think, need not be considered, because you have had,
+as I heard, a dispute about the Rzeslewo boundary. I hope that you will
+not get anything."
+
+"What is the use of your hoping?" said Gronski. "Limit, above all
+things, your wants."
+
+"You remind me of my lamented father," answered Dolhanski.
+
+"He certainly must have repeated that to you often."
+
+"Too often, and besides, he set himself up as an example, but I
+demonstrated to him, as plainly as two times two are four, that I could
+and ought to live on a higher scale than he."
+
+"What did you tell him?"
+
+"I spoke to him thus: Firstly, Papa has a son, while I am childless,
+and again, I am a better noble than he."
+
+"In what respect?"
+
+"Very plainly, since I can count one generation more in my line of
+nobility."
+
+"Bravo!" exclaimed Krzycki. "What did your father say to that?"
+
+"He called me a dunce, but I saw he was pleased with it. Ah, if my
+conceits would only please Pani Otocka as they once did Papa. But I am
+convinced that my constancy and my appetite will avail me naught. My
+dear cousin is after all more practical than she seems. You would
+imagine that both sisters live only on the fragrance of flowers; and
+yet when they learned of a possible inheritance, they hastily arrived
+at Jastrzeb."
+
+"I can assure you that you are mistaken. Mother invited them last year
+while in Krynica and now, at least a week before the death of Uncle
+Zarnowski, she reminded them of their promise. They wrote back that
+they could not come because they had a guest. Then mother invited the
+guest also."
+
+"If that is so, it is different. Now, not only do I understand your
+mother, but as you are a shapely youth and, in addition, younger than
+myself, I begin to fear for Cousin Otocka's fortune, which more justly
+belongs to me."
+
+"You need have no fear," answered Krzycki drily.
+
+"Does that mean that you prefer pounds to roubles? Considering the rate
+of exchange, I would prefer them also, but I fear that too many of them
+might have sunk in the Channel on the way from England."
+
+"If you are so much concerned about that," said Gronski, "you might ask
+Miss Anney about the precise amount. She is so sincere that she will
+reply to a certainty."
+
+"Yes, but it is necessary that I should believe her."
+
+"If you knew a little of human nature, you ought to believe her."
+
+"In any case, I would fear a misunderstanding; for if she answered me
+in Polish, she could make a mistake, and if in English, I might not
+understand her perfectly."
+
+"She speaks better Polish than you do English."
+
+"I admit that this astonishes me. Whence?"
+
+"Haven't I told you," answered Gronski, with some impatience, "that she
+was taught from childhood, because her father was an Englishman who had
+great sympathy for the Poles?"
+
+"De gustibus non est disputandem," answered Dolhanski.
+
+And afterwards he again began to speak of the deceased and of the old
+notary, mimicking the movements of his toothless jaws and the fury of
+his look; and finally he announced that if something was not "sliced
+off" for him he would either shoot himself upon Pani Otocka's threshold
+or else would drive over to Gorek and offer himself for the hand of
+Panna Wlocek.
+
+But Gronski was buried in thought about something else during the time
+of this idle talk, while Ladislaus heard him distractedly as his
+attention was attracted by the considerable number of peasant carts
+which they were continually passing by. Supposing that he had forgotten
+some market-day in the city, he turned to his coachman.
+
+"Andrew," he asked, "why are there so many carts on the road to the
+city?"
+
+"Ah, those, please your honor, are Rzeslewo peasants."
+
+"Rzeslewo? What have they to do there?"
+
+"Ah! please your honor, on account of the will of the deceased Pan
+Zarnowski; it is to give them Rzeslewo."
+
+Krzycki turned to Gronski.
+
+"I heard," he said, "that somebody circulated among them such a story,
+but did not think that they would believe it."
+
+And afterwards again to the coachman:
+
+"Who told them that?"
+
+The old driver hesitated somewhat in his reply:
+
+"The people gossip that it was the Tutor."
+
+Ladislaus began to laugh.
+
+"Oh, stupid peasants!" he said. "Why, he never in his life saw Pan
+Zarnowski. How would he know about the will?"
+
+But after a moment of meditation he said, partly to his companions and
+partly to himself:
+
+"Everything must have some object, so if Laskowicz did that, let some
+one explain to me why he did it."
+
+"Do you suspect him of it?" asked Gronski.
+
+"I do not know, for heretofore I had assumed that one could be a
+socialist and keep his wits in order."
+
+"Ah, so he is a bird of that nest? Tell me how long has he been with
+you and what manner of a man is he?"
+
+"He has been with us half a year. We needed an instructor for Stas and
+some one recommended him to us. We were informed that he would have to
+leave Warsaw for a certain time to elude the police and, in fact, for
+that reason received him more eagerly, thinking that some patriotic
+matter was involved. Later, when it appeared that he was of an entirely
+different calibre, mother would not permit his dismissal in hope that
+she might convert him. At the beginning she had lengthy heart-to-heart
+talks with him and requested me to be friendly with him. We treated him
+as a member of the family, but the result has been such that he hates
+us, not only as people belonging to a sphere which he envies, but also,
+as it seems, individually."
+
+"It is evident," said Dolhanski, "he holds it evil of you that you are
+not such as he imagined you would be; neither so wicked nor so stupid.
+And you may rest assured that he will never forgive that in you."
+
+"That may be so. In any case, he will shortly despise us from a
+distance, for after a month we part. I understand that one can and
+ought to tolerate all convictions, but there is something in him,
+besides his principles and hatreds, which is so conflicting with all
+our customs, and something so strange that we have had enough of him."
+
+"My Laudie," answered Dolhanski, "do not necessarily apply this to
+yourself, for I speak generally, but since you have mentioned
+toleration, I will tell you that in my opinion toleration in Poland was
+and is nothing else than downright stupidity, and monumental stupidity
+at that."
+
+"In certain respects Dolhanski is right," answered Gronski. "It may be
+that in the course of our history we tolerated various ideas and
+elements not only through magnanimous forbearance, but also because in
+our indolence we did not care to contend with them."
+
+To this Ladislaus, who did not like to engage in general argumentation,
+said:
+
+"That is all right, but all that does not explain why Laskowicz should
+spread among the peasants the news that Uncle Zarnowski devised
+Rzeslewo to them."
+
+"There is, as yet, no certainty that he did," answered Gronski. "We
+will very soon learn the truth at the notary's."
+
+
+
+                                  VII
+
+The hour was five in the afternoon. The ladies sat on the veranda, at
+tea, when the young men returned from the city. Miss Anney rose when
+they appeared and, not wishing to be present, as a stranger, at the
+family conversation, left on some pretext for her room. Pani Krzycki
+greeted them with slightly affected calm, because in reality the
+thought of the will did not leave her for a moment. She was not
+greedier than the generality of common mortals, but she was immensely
+concerned that, after her demise, at the distribution of the estate,
+Ladislaus should have enough to pay off the younger members of the
+family and to sustain himself at Jastrzeb. And some respectable bequest
+would in a remarkable manner facilitate the making of such payments.
+Besides, at the bottom of the noble soul of Pani Krzycki there lay
+hidden the faith that Providence owed, to a certain extent, greater
+obligations to the Krzycki family than to any ordinary family. For that
+reason, even if the whole of Rzeslewo fell to the lot of that family,
+she would with readiness and willingness submit to such a decree of
+Providence. Finally, descending from the blood of a people who in
+certain cases can sacrifice fortune, but love extraordinarily to
+acquire it without any effort, she fondled all day the thought that
+such an easy acquisition was about to occur.
+
+But in the countenances of Ladislaus and Gronski she could at once
+discern that they brought specific intelligence. Dolhanski, who was the
+first to alight from the carriage, was the first to begin the report.
+
+"I anticipate the question, what is the news?" he said, drawling his
+expressions with cold irony, "and I answer everything is for the best,
+for the Rzeslewo Mats and Jacks will have something with which they can
+travel to Carlsbad."
+
+Pani Krzycki grew somewhat pale and, turning to Gronski, asked:
+
+"What, in truth, gentlemen, have you brought with you?"
+
+"The will in its provisions is peculiar," answered Gronski, "but was
+executed in a noble spirit. Rzeslewo is devised for a peasants'
+agricultural school and the interest of the funds is to be devoted to
+sending the pupils of the school, who have finished their courses, for
+a year's or two years' practice in country husbandry in Bohemia."
+
+"Or, as I stated, to Carlsbad, Marienbad, Teplitz, and other places of
+the same character," explained Dolhanski.
+
+A moment of silence followed. Marynia, who was pouring the tea, began,
+with teapot in hand, to gaze with inquiring look at those present,
+desiring evidently to unriddle whether they praised or condemned it and
+whether it gave them pleasure or annoyance. Pani Otocka looked at
+Gronski with eyes which evinced delight; while Pani Krzycki leaned with
+both hands upon the cane which she used owing to rheumatism in her
+limbs, and after a certain time asked in a slightly hoarse voice:
+
+"So, it is for a public purpose?"
+
+"Yes," answered Gronski, "the organization of the school and afterwards
+the division of the funds for the stay in Bohemia is to be assumed by a
+special Directory of the Trust Society of this province, and the
+designated curator of the school is Laudie."
+
+"Too bad it is not I," interposed Dolhanski. "I would arrange it very
+quickly."
+
+"There are specific bequests," continued Gronski, "and these are very
+strange. He bequeaths various small sums to the household servants and
+ten thousand roubles to some Skibianka, daughter of a blacksmith at the
+Rzeslewo manor, who in his time emigrated to America."
+
+"Skibianka!" repeated Pani Krzycki with astonishment.
+
+Dolhanski bit off the ends of his mustache, smiled, and started to
+grumble that the nobility was always distinguished for its love of the
+common people, but Gronski looked at him severely; after which he drew
+from his pocket a memorandum and said:
+
+"That provision of the will is worded as follows: Whereas the parents
+of Hanka Skiba or Skibianka emigrated during my sojourn abroad for
+medical treatment, and I have not had the opportunity of ascertaining
+where they can be found, therefore I obligate my relative, Ladislaus
+Krzycki, to cause to be published in all the Polish newspapers printed
+in the United States and in Parana, advertisements. If the said legatee
+does not within two years appear to receive the bequest, the entire sum
+with interest becomes the property of the said Ladislaus Krzycki."
+
+"And I already have announced that I do not intend to accept that
+specific bequest," cried the young man excitedly.
+
+All eyes were turned toward him; he added:
+
+"I would not think of it; I would not think of it."
+
+"Why not?" asked his mother after a while.
+
+"Because I cannot. Let us suppose that the legatee appears, say for
+instance, within three years instead of two, what would happen? Would I
+pocket the bequest and drive her away? No! I could not do that.
+Finally, there are other considerations of which I do not wish to
+speak."
+
+In fact, only by these "other considerations," could such a
+considerable bequest to a simple village girl be explained; therefore
+Pani Krzycki became silent. After a while she said:
+
+"My Laudie, nobody will coerce, nor even try to persuade you to
+accept."
+
+But Dolhanski asked:
+
+"Tell me, is this some mythical disinterestedness or is it ill humor
+caused by your not receiving a greater bequest?"
+
+"Do not judge by yourself," answered Krzycki; "but I will tell you
+something which you certainly will not believe; since this estate is to
+be devoted to such an object as a peasants' agricultural school, I am
+highly delighted and have much greater esteem for the deceased. I give
+you my word that I speak with entire sincerity."
+
+"Bravo!" exclaimed Pani Otocka, "it is pleasant to hear that."
+
+Pani Krzycki looked with pride first upon her son, then upon Pani
+Otocka; and, though a feeling of disappointment lingered in her heart,
+said:
+
+"Well, let there be a peasants' school, if only our Jastrzeb peasants
+will be permitted to send their sons to it."
+
+"That does not admit of any doubt," explained Gronski. "There will be
+as many pupils as accommodations can be provided for. They may come
+from all parts, though preference is to be given to Rzeslewo peasants."
+
+"What do they say about the bequest?"
+
+"There were more than a dozen of them at the opening of the will, as
+they expected a direct gift of all the manor lands to them. Somebody
+had persuaded them that the deceased left everything to them to be
+equally divided. So they left very much displeased. We heard them say
+that this was not the genuine will and that they do not need any
+schools."
+
+"Most fully do I share their opinion," said Dolhanski, "and in this
+instance, contrary to my nature, I will speak seriously. For at present
+there is raging an epidemic of founding schools and no one asks for
+whom, for what, how are they to be taught in them, and what is the end
+to be attained. I belong to that species of birds who do not toil, but
+look at everything, if not from the top, then from the side, and,
+perhaps for that very reason, see things which others do not observe.
+So, at times, I have an impression that we are like those children, for
+instance, at Ostend, who build on the sea-shore forts with the sand.
+Every day on the beach they erect them and every day the waves wash
+them away until not a trace of them remains."
+
+"In a way you are right," said Gronski; "but there, however, is this
+difference: the children build joyfully and we do not."
+
+Afterwards he meditated and added:
+
+"However, the law of nature is such that children grow while the adults
+rear dykes, not of sand, but of stone upon which the weaves dash to
+pieces."
+
+"Let them be dashed to pieces as quickly as possible," exclaimed
+Ladislaus.
+
+But Dolhanski would not concede defeat.
+
+"Permit me then," he said, "since we have not yet grown up and have not
+yet started to build of stone, to remain a pessimist."
+
+Gronski gazed for a while into the depths of the garden like a man who
+was pondering over something and then said:
+
+"Pessimism--pessimism! We hear that incessantly nowadays. But in the
+meanwhile if there exists anything more stupid than optimism, which
+often passes for folly, it is particularly pessimism, which desires to
+pose as reason."
+
+Dolhanski smiled a trifle biliously and, turning to the ladies, said,
+pointing to Gronski:
+
+"Do not take this ill of him, ladies. It often happens for him in
+moments of abstraction to utter impertinences. He is a good--even
+intelligent--man, but has the unbearable habit of turning over
+everything, examining it from all sides, pondering over it, and
+soliloquizing."
+
+But Marynia suddenly flushed with indignation in defence of her friend
+and, shaking the teapot which at that moment she held in her hand,
+began to speak with great ardor:
+
+"That is just right, that is just sensible; that is what everybody
+ought to do--"
+
+Dolhanski pretended to be awe-stricken and, bowing his head, cried:
+
+"I am vanquished; I retreat and surrender arms."
+
+Gronski, laughing, kissed her hand, while she, abashed at her own
+vehemence and covered with blushes, began to ask:
+
+"Is it not the truth? Am I not right?"
+
+But Dolhanski already recovered his presence of mind.
+
+"That does not prove anything," he said.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because Gronski once promulgated this aphorism: It is never proper to
+follow the views of a woman, especially if by accident she is right."
+
+"I?" exclaimed Gronski. "Untangle yourself from me. I never said
+anything like that. Do not believe him, ladies."
+
+"I believe only you, sir," answered Marynia.
+
+But further conversation was interrupted by Pani Krzycki, who observed
+that it was time for the May mass. In the Jastrzeb manor-house, there
+was a room especially assigned for that purpose and known as the
+chapel. At the main wall, opposite the windows, stood an altar with a
+painting of the Divine Mother of Czestochowo. The walls, altar,
+painting, and even the candles were decorated with green garlands. On
+the side tables stood bouquets of elders and jasmines whose fragrance
+filled the entire room. Sometimes, when the rector of Rzeslewo arrived,
+he conducted the services; in his absence the lady of the house. All
+the inmates of the house, with the exception of Laskowicz, during the
+entire month of May met every evening in the chapel. At present the
+gentlemen followed the ladies. On the way Ladislaus asked Gronski:
+
+"Is Miss Anney a Catholic?"
+
+"To tell you the truth, I do not know," answered Gronski, "but it
+seems--but look, she is entering also. So she must be a Catholic.
+Perhaps her name is Irish."
+
+In the chapel the candles were already lit, though the sun had not
+entirely set and stood in the windows, low, golden, and ruddy, casting
+a lustre on the white cloth which covered the altar and on the heads of
+the women. At the very altar the lady of the house knelt, behind her
+the lady visitors; after them the female servants and the old asthmatic
+lackey, while the gentlemen stood at the wall between the windows. The
+customary songs, prayers, and litanies began. Their sweetness struck
+Gronski. There was in them something of spring and at the same time of
+the evening. The impression of the spring was created by the flowers,
+and of the evening by ruddy lustre entering through the windows, and
+the soft voices of the women who, repeating the choral words of the
+litanies, reminded one of the last chirp of birds, subsiding before the
+setting of the sun. "Healer of the sick. Refuge of sinners, Comforter
+of the afflicted," repeated Pani Krzycki; and those soft, subdued
+voices responded, "Pray for us,"--and thus did that country home pray
+on that May evening. Gronski, who was a sceptic, but not an atheist,
+like a man of high culture, at first felt the æsthetic side of this
+childlike "good-night" borne by these women to a benign deity.
+Afterwards, as if desiring to corroborate the truth of Dolhanski's
+assertion that he was wont to turn over every subject on every side and
+to ponder over every phenomenon, he began to meditate upon religious
+manifestations. It occurred to him that this homage rendered to a deity
+was an element purely ideal, possessed solely by humanity. He recalled
+that as often as he happened to be in church and saw people praying, so
+often was he struck by the unfathomable chasm which separates the world
+of man from the animal world. As a matter of fact, religious
+conceptions can only be formed by higher and more perfect organisms;
+therefore he drew the conclusion that if there existed beings ten times
+more intelligent than mankind, they would, in their own way, be ten
+times more religious. "Yes, but in their own way," Gronski repeated,
+"which perhaps might be very different." His spiritual drama (and he
+often thought that there were many people like him) was this: that the
+Absolute appeared to him as an abyss, as some synthetic law of all the
+laws of existence. Thus he presumed that according to a degree of
+mental development it was impossible to imagine that law in the form of
+the kindly old man or in the eye on the radiant triangle, unless one
+takes matters symbolically and assumes that the old man and the eye
+express the all-basis of existence, as the horizontally drawn eight
+denotes infinity. But in such case what will this all-basis be for him?
+Always night, always an abyss, always something inscrutable; barely to
+be felt by some dull sensation and not by any clear perception, from
+whose power can be understood the phenomenon of existence and an answer
+be made to the various whys and wherefores. "Mankind," mused Gronski,
+"possesses at the same time too much and too little intelligence. For,
+after all, to simply believe one must unreservedly shut the blinds of
+his intellectual windows and not permit himself to peer through them;
+and when he does open them he discovers only a starless night." For
+this reason he envied those middle-aged persons, whose intelligence
+reared mentally edifices upon unshaken dogmas, just as lighthouses are
+built upon rocks in the sea. Dante could master the whole field of
+knowledge of his time and yet, notwithstanding this, could traverse
+hell, purgatory, and paradise. The modern man of learning could not
+travel thus, for if he wished to pass in thought beyond the world of
+material phenomenon, he would see that which we behold in Wuertz's
+well-known painting, a decapitated head; that is, some element so
+undefined that it is equivalent to nothing.
+
+But the tragedy, according to Gronski, lay not only in the
+inscrutability of the Absolute, in the impossibility of understanding
+His laws, but also in the impossibility of agreeing on them and
+acknowledging them from the view point of human life. There exist, of
+course, evil and woe. The Old Testament explains them easily by the
+state of almost continual rage of its Jah. "Domine ne in furore tuo
+arguas me, neque in ira tua corripias me," and afterwards "saggittae
+tuae infixae sunt mihi et confirmasti super me manuo tuum." And once
+having accepted this blind fury and this "strengthening of the right
+hand," it is easy to explain to one's self in a simple manner
+misfortune. But already in the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes doubts
+whether everything in the world is in order. The New Testament sees
+evil in matter in contraposition to the soul; and that is clear.
+However, viewing the matter, in the abstract, as everything is a close
+chain of cause and effect, therefore everything is logical, and being
+logical it cannot per se be either evil or good, but may appear
+propitious or unfavorable in its relation to man. Besides, that which
+we call evil or misfortune may, according to the absolute laws of
+existence, and in its profundity, be wise and essential principles of
+development, which are beyond human comprehension, and therefore
+something which in itself is an advantageous phenomenon.
+
+Yes, but in such case, whence does man derive the power to oppose his
+individual thoughts and his concrete conceptions to this universal
+logic? If everything is a delusion, why is the human mind a force,
+existing, as it were, outside of the general laws of existence? There
+is this something, unprecedented and at the same time tragical, that
+man must be subjected to these laws and can protest against them. On
+earth spiritual peace was enjoyed only by the gods, and is now only by
+animals. Man is eternally struggling and crying veto, and such a veto
+is every human tear.
+
+And here Gronski's thoughts assumed a more personal aspect. He began to
+look at the praying Marynia and at first experienced relief. There came
+to his mind the purely æsthetic observation that Carpaccio might have
+placed such a maiden beside his guitar-player and Boticelli should have
+foreseen her. But immediately afterwards he thought that even such a
+flower must wither, and nothing withers or dies without pain. Suddenly
+he was seized with a fear of the future, which in her traveling-pouch
+carries concealed evil and woe. He recalled, indeed, the aphorism which
+he had uttered, a short time before, about pessimism; but that gave him
+no comfort, because he understood that the pessimism which flowed from
+the exertions of the intellect is different from the worldling's
+pessimism which Dolhanski, by shrugging his shoulders at everything,
+permitted himself to indulge in when free from card-playing. He
+moreover propounded to himself the question whether that debilitating
+pessimism could in any manner be well founded, and here unexpectedly
+there stood before his eyes another friend, entirely different from
+Dolhanski, though also a sceptic and hedonist,--Doctor Parebski. He was
+a college-mate of Gronski and in later years had treated him for a
+nervous ailment; therefore he knew him perfectly. Once, after listening
+to his various reflections and complaints about the impossibility of
+finding a solution of the paramount questions of life, Doctor Parebski
+said to him: "That is a pastime for which time and means are necessary.
+If you had to work for your bread as I have, you would not upset your
+own mind and the minds of others. All that reminds me of a dog chasing
+his own tail. And I tell you, look at that which environs you and not
+at your own navel; and if you want to be well, then--carpe diem!"
+Gronski at that time deemed these words somewhat brutal and more in the
+nature of medical than philosophical advice, but now when he recalled
+them he said to himself: "In truth the road on which, as if from bad
+habit, I am continually entering leads to nowhere; and who knows
+whether these women praying this moment with such faith are not,
+without question, more sensible than I am, not to say more at ease and
+happier?"
+
+In the meantime Pani Kryzcki began to speak: "Under Thy protection we
+flee. Holy Mother of God," and the women's voices immediately
+responded: "Our entreaties deign not to spurn and from all evil deign
+to preserve us forever." Gronski was swept by an intense longing for
+such a sweet, tutelary divinity who does not deign to scorn entreaties
+and who delivers us from evil. How well it would be with him if he
+could enjoy such peace of mind, and how simple the thought!
+Unfortunately he already had strayed too far away. He could, like
+women, yearn, but, unlike them, he could not believe.
+
+Gronski mentally reviewed the whole array of his acquaintances and
+noted that those who fervently believed, in the depths of their souls,
+were very few in number. Some there were who did not believe at all;
+others who wanted to believe and could not; some acknowledged from
+social considerations the necessity of faith, and finally there were
+those who were simply occupied with something else. To this latter
+category belonged men who, for instance, observed the custom of
+attending mass as they did the habit of eating breakfast every morning,
+or of donning a dress-coat each evening or wearing gloves. Through
+habit it entered into the texture of their lives. Here Gronski
+unwillingly glanced at Ladislaus, for it seemed to him that the young
+man was a bird from that grove.
+
+Such, in fact, was the case. Krzycki, however, was neither a dull nor
+thoughtless person. At the university he, like others, philosophized a
+little, but afterwards the current of his life carried him in another
+direction. There existed, indeed, beside Jastrzeb and the daily affairs
+connected therewith, other matters which deeply interested him. He was
+sincerely concerned about his native land, her future, the events which
+might affect her destiny, and finally--women and love. But upon faith
+he reflected as much as he did upon death, upon which he did not
+reflect at all, as if he was of the opinion that it was improper to
+think of them, since they in the proper time will not forget anybody.
+
+At present, moreover, owing to the guests, he was more than a hundred
+miles from thinking of such questions. At one time, while yet a
+student, when during vacation time he drove over with his mother to
+Rzeslewo to attend high mass, he cherished in the depths of his soul
+the poetical hope that some Sunday the rattle of a carriage would
+resound without the church doors and a young and charming princess,
+journeying from somewhere beyond the Baltic to Kiev, would enter the
+church; that he would invite her to Jastrzeb and later fall in love
+with her and marry her. And now here unexpectedly those youthful dreams
+were in some measure realized, for to Jastrzeb there came not one but
+three princesses of whom he could dream as much as he pleased, for
+behold, they were now kneeling before the family altar, absorbed in
+prayer. He began to gaze--now at Pani Otocka and then at the form of
+Marynia, which resembled a Tanagra figurine, and repeated to himself:
+"Mother desires to give one of them to me as a wife." And he had
+nothing against the idea, but thought of Pani Otocka, "That is a book
+which somebody has already read, while the other is a fledgeling who
+can play a violin." Ladislaus was of the age which does not take into
+calculation any woman under twenty years. After a while, as if
+unwillingly, he directed his eyes towards Miss Anney,--unwillingly
+because she formed the most luminous object in the room, for the
+setting sun, falling upon her light hair, saturated it with such lustre
+that the whole head appeared aflame. Miss Anney from time to time
+raised her hand and shaded her head with it as if she desired to
+extinguish the lustre, but as the rays each moment became less warm,
+she finally discontinued the action. At times she was hidden from view
+by the figure of some dark-haired girl, whom Ladislaus did not know,
+but who, he surmised, must be a servant of one of these ladies. Towards
+the close of the services the girl bowed so low that she no longer
+obscured the view of the light hair or the young and powerful
+shoulders.
+
+"That," he said to himself, "would be the greatest temptation, but
+mother would be opposed, as she is a foreigner."
+
+But suddenly, as if to rebuke his conscience, there came to his memory
+the pensive eyes and slender shoulders of Panna Stabrowska. Ah! if only
+Rzeslewo and the funds had fallen to his lot! But uncle bequeathed
+Rzeslewo for educational purposes and the funds for trips to Carlsbad
+by the Mats, as Dolhanski had said, and a few thousand for Hanka
+Skibianka. At this recollection his brow clouded and he drew his hand
+across his forehead.
+
+"I unnecessarily became excited before mother and the ladies," he said
+to himself, "but I must explain this matter to Gronski."
+
+Accordingly, at the close of the mass, he turned to him:
+
+"I want to speak with you about various matters, but only in four eyes.
+Is that satisfactory?"
+
+"All right," answered Gronski, "when?"
+
+"Not to-day, for I must first go to Rzeslewo to question the men, look
+over the estate, and then attend to the guests. It will be best
+to-morrow evening or the day after. We will take our rifles with us and
+go to the woods. Now there is a flight of woodcocks. Dolhanski does not
+hunt, so we will leave him with the ladies."
+
+"All right," repeated Gronski.
+
+
+
+                                  VIII
+
+The very next day, towards evening, they strolled with their rifles and
+a dog in the direction of the mill, and on the way Ladislaus began to
+narrate all that he had learned the previous day.
+
+"I was in Rzeslewo," he said, "but there you hear nothing good. The
+peasants insist that the will was forged and that the gentry twisted it
+about so that they could control, for their own benefit, the money and
+the lands. I am almost certain that Laskowicz is pouring oil upon that
+fire. But why? I cannot understand; nevertheless, that is the case. The
+landless, in particular, are wrought up and say that if the fortune is
+divided among them, they, themselves, will contribute for a school. In
+reality, they have no conception of the kind of school Zarnowski
+wanted, nor of the cost of establishing it."
+
+"In view of this, what do you intend to do?" asked Gronski.
+
+"I do not know. I will see. In the meantime I will try to convince
+them. I also begged the rector to explain the matter to them and spoke
+with a few of the older husbandmen. I seemed to have persuaded them;
+but unfortunately with them it is thus: that everyone, taken singly, is
+intelligent and even sensible, but when you talk to them together, it
+is like trying to smash a stone wall with your head."
+
+"That is nothing strange," answered Gronski; "take ten thousand doctors
+of philosophy together and they become a mob which is ruled by
+gesticulations."
+
+"That may be," said Ladislaus, "but I did not wish to speak of the will
+only. I also saw the old Rzeslewo overseer and learned a great many,
+intensely curious things. Figure to yourself that our guesses were
+wrong and that Hanka Skibianka is not the daughter of Uncle Zarnowski."
+
+"And that seemed so certain! But what kind of proof have you of this?"
+
+"Very simple. Skiba was a native of Galicia and emigrated to Rzeslewo
+with his wife and daughter when the latter was five years old. As
+Zarnowski, while well, stayed in the village like a wall, and at that
+time for at least ten years had not travelled anywhere, it is evident
+that he could not have been the father of that girl."
+
+"That decides the matter. I cannot understand why he bequeathed to her
+ten thousand roubles."
+
+"There is an interesting history connected with that," replied
+Ladislaus. "You must know that the deceased, though now it appears that
+he loved the peasants, always kept them under very strict control. He
+managed them according to the old system; that is, he abused them from
+morning till night. They say that when he cursed in the corridor you
+could hear him over half the village. A certain day he went into the
+blacksmith's shop and, finding something out of order, began to berate
+the blacksmith unmercifully. The smith bowed and listened in humility.
+It happened that little Hanka at that time was in front of the smithy
+and, seeing what was taking place, seized a little stick and started to
+belabor Zarnowski with it all over the legs. 'You will scold Tata, will
+you?' It is said that the deceased at first was dumbfounded, but
+afterwards burst into such laughter that his anger against the
+blacksmith passed away."
+
+"That Hanka pleases me."
+
+"So did she please Uncle. The very same day he sent a rouble to the
+smith's wife and ordered her to bring the child to the manor-house.
+From that time he became attached to her. He commanded the old
+housekeeper to teach her to read, and attended to it himself. The child
+likewise became devoted to him, and this continued for a number of
+years. In the end people began to say that the master wanted to keep
+the smith's daughter entirely at his residence and have her educated as
+a lady, but this, it seems, was untrue. He wanted to bring her up as a
+stout village lass and give her a dowry. The Skibas, whose only child
+she was, declared that they would not surrender her for anything in the
+world. Of course, I know only what the overseer told me, for our
+relations with the deceased were broken on account of the mill from
+which he drained the water for his ponds."
+
+"And later the Skibas emigrated."
+
+"Yes, but before that time Zarnowski began to fail in health and moved
+to Warsaw, and subsequently resided abroad; so that their relations
+relaxed. When the Skibas emigrated, the girl was seventeen. Uncle, on
+his return to Rzeslewo to die, longed for her and waited for some news
+of her. But as he had previously removed even his furniture from
+Rzeslewo to the city, she evidently assumed that he never would return
+and did not know where to write."
+
+"The bequest proves best that he did not forget her," said Gronski,
+"and from the whole will it appears that he was a man of better heart
+than people thought."
+
+"Surely," answered Ladislaus.
+
+For an interval they walked in silence; then Krzycki resumed the
+conversation.
+
+"As for myself, I prefer that she is not the daughter of the deceased."
+
+"Why? Has that any bearing on the bequest?"
+
+"No. Under no circumstances will I accept that bequest. Never!"
+
+"That is all very well, but tell me, why did you renounce it with such
+vehemence that everybody was astonished?"
+
+"There is one circumstance which neither Mother nor anybody else even
+suspects, but which I will sincerely confess to you. In the proper time
+I seduced that girl."
+
+Gronski stood still, gazed at Ladislaus, and ejaculated:
+
+"What's that?"
+
+As he was not prone to treat such matters with levity and, besides, the
+previous narrative of Krzycki had awakened within him a sympathy for
+Hanka, he frowned and asked:
+
+"For the fear of God! You seduced a child? And you say it was done in
+the proper time?"
+
+But Ladislaus replied quite calmly:
+
+"Let us not stop, for the dog has gone too far ahead of us," and here
+he pointed at the white spaniel running before them. "I did not seduce
+a child, for at that time she was sixteen. It happened more than seven
+years ago, while I was still a student and came to Jastrzeb on a
+vacation."
+
+"Were there any consequences?"
+
+"As far as I know there were none. You will understand that having
+returned the following vacation and not finding either her or the
+Skibas, I did not ask about them, for on the thief's head the cap
+burns.[2] But to-day I casually asked the overseer whether the Skibas
+had not probably emigrated because some mishap had befallen their
+daughter. He answered, 'No.'"
+
+"Then it is better for her and for you."
+
+"Certainly it is much better; for otherwise the matter would have been
+brought to light and would reach Mother's ears."
+
+"And in such case you would suffer much unpleasantness."
+
+There was irony in Gronski's voice, but Ladislaus, absorbed in his own
+thoughts, did not notice it and said:
+
+"In such case, I would have unpleasantness because Mother in such
+matters is exceedingly severe. So, to-day, after mature deliberation, I
+am like a wolf, who will commit no injury in the neighborhood where he
+keeps his nest, but at that time I was more headstrong and less
+careful."
+
+"May the deuce take you!" exclaimed Gronski.
+
+"For what?"
+
+"Nothing; speak on."
+
+"I have not much more to say. Recurring to the will, you now understand
+why I could not accept it."
+
+"Perhaps I do, but tell me 'thy exquisite reason,' as Shakespeare
+says."
+
+"Well, as to the seduction of a girl, that does happen in villages, but
+to seduce a girl and appropriate to one's own use that which had been
+provided for her,--why, that would be too much. And perhaps she may be
+suffering, in want, somewhere in America."
+
+"Everything is possible," answered Gronski.
+
+"So that if the advertisements, which I will make, do not reach her
+notice, in such case, I would be using her money, while she would die
+of starvation. No. Everything has its limits. I am not extraordinarily
+scrupulous, but there are some things which I plainly cannot do."
+
+"Tell me, but sincerely, do you entertain towards her any sentiment?"
+
+"I will tell you candidly that I completely forgot her. Now I have
+recalled her and, in truth, I cannot have any ill-will towards her. On
+the contrary, that kind of recollection cannot, of course, be
+disagreeable, unless it is linked with remorse. But we were mere
+children--and a pure accident brought us together."
+
+"Then permit me to ask one more question. If the deceased bequeathed to
+her the whole of Rzeslewo, and the funds, and if she did not within two
+years appear to claim them, would you renounce such a bequest?"
+
+"I cannot answer a question to which I have not given any
+consideration. I would not want to represent myself to you any better
+or any worse than I am. But this much is certain: I would publish the
+advertisements, and would publish them for the two years. But after
+all, of what importance to you can my answer be?"
+
+And here he abruptly paused, for from the direction of the adjacent
+birch grove some strange sound reached them, resembling a snort, and at
+the same time, above the tops of the birch and the lime-trees, there
+appeared upon the background of the twilight a gray bird, flying in a
+straight line to the underwood on the opposite side of the meadow.
+
+"Woodcock!" cried Krzycki, and he bounded forward.
+
+Gronski, following him, thought:
+
+"He certainly never read Nietzsche, and yet in his veins, together with
+the blood, there courses some noble super-humanity. If anybody betrayed
+his sister, he would have shot him in the head like a dog, but as a
+village girl is concerned, he does not feel the slightest uneasiness."
+
+Later they stopped at the edge of the birch grove. For a time intense
+silence prevailed; after which a strange voice resounded again above
+their heads and another woodcock appeared. Gronski fired and missed;
+Krzycki bettered--and they saw how, with descending flight, the fowl
+fell in the underwood farther off. The white dog for a while lingered
+in the dusk of the thicket and returned carrying the dead bird in his
+mouth.
+
+"She was already wounded when I fired," said Ladislaus. "It is your
+bird."
+
+"You are a gracious host," answered Gronski.
+
+And again silence ensued, which even the rustle of leaves did not
+disturb, as there was not a breath of air. But after a time two
+woodcocks snorted above their heads, one following the other, at which
+Gronski could not shoot, but Ladislaus winged both cleanly. Finally a
+more reckless one took pity on Gronski for she flew accommodatingly
+over him, as if she desired to save him any inconvenience. He himself
+felt ashamed at the thrill of pleasure he experienced when, after
+firing, he saw the bird hit the ground; and agreeable to his
+incorrigible habit of meditation upon every phenomenon, he came to the
+conclusion that his strange sensation could be attributed to the
+aboriginal times, when man and his family were dependent for
+subsistence upon skill in hunting. Thanks to this reasoning, he did not
+shoot at another bird that flew nearer the edge of the underwood and
+with which the flight evidently ended, as they waited for others in
+vain. In the meanwhile it grew dark, and after an interval the white
+spaniel emerged from the nightfall, and after him came Ladislaus.
+
+"We had a bootless chase," he said, "but that is nothing. In any case,
+there are four morsels for the ladies. Tomorrow we will try for more."
+
+"This was but a slight interruption in your confessions," answered
+Gronski, slinging his rifle over his shoulder.
+
+"My confessions?" said Ladislaus. "Aha!--yes."
+
+"You said that a mere accident brought you together."
+
+"That actually was the case. But we must now go ahead and you will
+kindly follow in my footsteps, as it is damp here in some places. This
+way we will reach the bridge and at the bridge we will have the road."
+
+Not until they were on the road did he commence his narrative:
+
+"It all began and ended in the mill, which even at that time served as
+a storage place for hay; and it did not continue more than a fortnight.
+It occurred thus: I once went out with a rifle to hunt for roebucks,
+for here roebucks come out in the evening at the clearing on the
+stream. It was very cloudy that day, but as it appeared to be clear in
+the west, I thought that the clouds would pass away. I took a position
+of a few hundred--and even more--steps from the mill, for nearer there
+was lying on the meadow, linen, which might scare the bucks; and about
+a half hour later I actually killed a buck. But in the meanwhile it
+began to rain, and in a short while there was such a downpour as I had
+never seen in Jastrzeb. I seized my buck by the hind legs and began to
+scamper off with all my might for the mill. On the way I noticed that
+some one had carried away the linen. I rushed into the mill and buried
+myself up to the ears in the hay, when I heard somebody breathing close
+by me. I asked: 'Who is that?' A thin voice answered me, 'I.' 'What
+kind of an I?' 'Hanka.' 'What are you doing here?' 'I came for the
+linen.' Then it began to thunder so much that I thought the mill would
+fall to pieces;--and not until it had subsided somewhat did I learn by
+the aid of continuous questions that my female companion was from
+Rzeslewo; that her family name was Skibianka, and that she finished her
+sixteenth year on St. Anne's Day. Then, and I give you my word, without
+any sinister will or intent, but only as a jest and because it is
+customary to talk that way with village maids, I said to her: 'Will you
+give me a kiss?' She did not answer, but as at that moment a thunder
+clap pealed, she nestled closer to me--perhaps from fright. And I
+kissed her on the very lips and, as I live, I had the same impression
+as if I had kissed a fragrant flower. So I repeated it twice, three
+times, and so on, and she returned the tenth or twentieth. When the
+storm passed away and it became necessary for us to part, I had her
+arms about my neck and at the same time my cheeks were wet with her
+tears,--for she cried, but I do not know whether from the loss of
+innocence or because I was leaving."
+
+Here, in spite of himself, the song of Ophelia, when insane, flitted
+through Krzycki's memory.
+
+Ladislaus continued:
+
+"On our departure she said that she knew I was the young lord of
+Jastrzeb; that she saw me every Sunday in Rzeslewo and gazed upon me as
+upon some miracle-working painting."
+
+"Ah, you certainly are handsome to the point of nauseousness,"
+interrupted Gronski, with a certain irritation.
+
+"Bah!--I have already three or four gray hairs."
+
+"Surely, from birth. How often did you meet thereafter?"
+
+"Before I left her, I asked her whether she could not slip away the
+following evening. She answered that she could, because in the evening
+she always gathered the linen, which was being bleached upon the
+meadow, for fear that some one might steal it, and that besides, in
+summer time she did not sleep in the cabin with her parents, but on the
+hay in the barn. After that we met every day. I had to conceal myself
+from the night watch, so I slunk out of the window into the garden,
+though this was an unnecessary precaution, for the watch slept so
+soundly that one time I carried off the trumpet and staff belonging to
+one of them. It was amusing also that, seeing Hanka only in the night
+time, I did not know how she really looked; though in the moonlight she
+appeared to me to be pretty."
+
+"And in church?"
+
+"Our collator's pew is near the altar, while the girls knelt in the
+rear. There are so many of the same red and yellow shawls, studded with
+so many flowers, that it is difficult to distinguish one from the
+other. At times it seemed to me that I saw her in the distance, but I
+could not see her perfectly. The vacation soon ended, and when I
+returned the following season the Skibas were gone."
+
+"Did you bid her farewell?"
+
+"I admit that I did not. I preferred to avoid that."
+
+"And did you ever long for her?"
+
+"Yes. In Warsaw I longed for her intensely, and during the first month
+I was deeply in love with her. After my return to Jastrzeb, when I
+again saw the mill the feeling revived, but at the same time I was
+content that everything should drop, as it were, into the water and
+that Mother should not know anything about it."
+
+Conversing in this manner, they turned from the side road to the shady
+walk leading to the manor-house, whose low lights, from a distance of
+about a verst, at times glistened through the boughs of the linden, and
+then again hid themselves, screened by the thick foliage. The night was
+starry and fair. It was, however, quite dark, for the moon had not yet
+risen and the copper glow upon the eastern sky announced its near
+approach. There was not the slightest breath of air. The great
+nocturnal stillness was broken by the barks of dogs, barely audible,
+from the distant slumbering village. Involuntarily, Gronski and
+Ladislaus began to speak in lower tones. However, everything was not
+asleep, for a few hundred paces from the walk, on the meadow near the
+river, firelights were intermittingly flashing.
+
+"Those are peasants pasturing the horses and catching crawfish by the
+lights of the resinous wood," said Krzycki. "I even hear one of them
+riding away."
+
+And in fact at that moment they heard on the meadows the clatter of the
+horse's hoofs, deadened by the grass, and immediately afterwards the
+loud voice of a herdsman resounded, who, amidst the nocturnal quiet,
+shouted in a drawling tone:
+
+"Wojtek--Bring with you some more fagots, for these are not
+sufficient."
+
+The night rider, having reached the road, soon passed by the chatting
+friends like a shadow. He, however, recognized the young heir, as in
+riding by them he pulled off his cap and saluted:
+
+"Praised be the Lord!"
+
+"Now and forever."
+
+And for some time they walked in silence.
+
+Ladislaus began to whistle quietly and to shout at the dog, but
+Gronski, who was cogitating upon what had occurred in the mill, said:
+
+"Do you know that if you were an Englishman, for instance, your idyl
+would have ended, in all probability, differently, and you would
+throughout your life have had a chaste remembrance, in which there
+would be great poetry."
+
+"We eat less fish, therefore have a temperament differing from the
+Englishmen. As to poetry, perhaps there also was a little of it in our
+affair."
+
+"It is not so much different temperament as different usages, and in
+that is the relief. They have a soul, healthier and at the same time,
+more independent, and do not borrow their morality from French books."
+
+After which he meditated for a while and then continued:
+
+"You say that in your relations there was a little poetry. Certainly,
+but looking at it only from Hanka's side, not yours. In her, really,
+there is something poetical, for, deducing from your own words, she
+loved you truly."
+
+"That is certain," said Ladislaus. "Who knows whether I ever in my life
+will be loved as much?"
+
+"I think that you will not. For that reason, I am astonished that this
+stone should drop into the depth of your forgetfulness and that you
+should have so completely effaced it."
+
+These words touched Krzycki somewhat, so he replied:
+
+"Candidly speaking, I related all this to you for the purpose of
+explaining why I do not accept the bequest, and, in the naïveté of my
+soul, I thought that you would praise me. But you are only seeking sore
+spots. Indeed, I would, after all, have preferred that this had not
+happened, but, since it happened, it is best not to think of it. For if
+I had as many millions as there are girls seduced every year in the
+villages, I could purchase not only Rzeslewo, but one half of the
+county. I can assure you that they themselves do not look upon it as a
+tragedy, neither do such things end in misfortune. It would plainly be
+laughable if I took this to heart more than Hanka who in all
+probability did not take it to heart and does not."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"That is usually the case. But if it were the reverse, what can I do?
+Surely I will not journey across the ocean to seek her. In a book that
+might perhaps appear very romantic, but in reality I have an estate
+which I cannot abandon and a family which it is not permissible for me
+to sacrifice. Such a Hanka, with whom, speaking parenthetically, you
+have soured me by recalling, may be the most honest girl, but to marry
+her--of course I could not marry her; therefore what, after all, can I
+do?"
+
+"I do not know; but you must agree that there is a certain moral
+unsavoriness in the situation in which a man, after committing a wrong,
+afterwards asks himself or others, 'What can I do?'"
+
+"Oh, that was only a façon de parler," replied Krzycki, "for, on the
+whole, I know perfectly. I will publish the advertisements and with
+that everything will end. The penance, which the priest at the proper
+time imposed upon me, I have performed, and I do not intend to make any
+further atonement."
+
+To this Gronski said:
+
+"Sero molunt deorum molæ. Do you understand what that means in Polish?"
+
+"Having assumed the management of Jastrzeb, I sowed all my latinity
+over its soil, but it has not taken root."
+
+"That means: The mills of the gods grind late."
+
+Krzycki began to laugh and, pointing his hand in the direction of the
+old mill, said:
+
+"That one will not grind anything any more; I guarantee that."
+
+Further conversation was interrupted by their meeting near the gates
+two indistinct forms, with which they almost collided, for though the
+moon had already ascended, in the old linden walk it was completely
+dark.
+
+Ladislaus thought that they were the lady visitors enjoying an evening
+stroll, but for certainty asked, "Who is there?"
+
+"We," answered an unknown feminine voice.
+
+"And who in particular?"
+
+"Servants of Pani Otocka and Miss Anney."
+
+The young man recalled the young girl whose dark head obstructed his
+view of the lustrous hair of the English woman during the May mass.
+
+"Aha!" he said. "Do not you young girls fear to walk in the darkness? A
+were-wolf might carry off one of you."
+
+"We are not scared," answered the same voice.
+
+"And perhaps I am a were-wolf?"
+
+"A were-wolf does not look like that."
+
+Both girls began to laugh and withdrew a few steps; at the same time a
+bright ray darted through the leaves and illumined the white forehead,
+black eyebrows, and the whites of the eyes of one of them, which
+glittered greenishly.
+
+Krzycki, who was flattered by the words that a werewolf did not look
+like that, gazed at those eyes and said:
+
+"Good-night!"
+
+"Good-night!"
+
+The ladies, with Dolhanski, were already in the dining-room, as the
+service of the supper awaited only the hunters who, after their return,
+withdrew to change their apparel. Marynia sat at one end of the table
+with the children and conversed a little with them and a little with
+Laskowicz, who was relating something to her with great animation,
+gazing all the time at her with intense fixedness and also with
+wariness that no one should observe him. Gronski, however, did observe
+him and, as the young student had interested and disquieted him from
+the time he learned of his agitation among the Rzeslewo peasants, he
+desired to participate in the conversation. But Marynia at that moment
+having heard the conclusion, joined the other ladies, who, having
+previously heard from the balcony the shooting in the direction of the
+old mill, inquired about the results of the hunt. It appearing that
+neither Miss Anney nor the two sisters had ever seen woodcocks except
+upon a platter, the old servant upon Krzycki's order brought the four
+lifeless victims. They viewed them with curiosity, expressed tardy
+commiseration for their tragic fate, and asked about their manner of
+life. Ladislaus, whom the animal world had interested from early years,
+began to relate at the supper the strange habits of those birds and
+their mysterious flights. While thus occupied he paid particular
+attention to Pani Otocka, for he was, for the first time, struck by her
+uncommonly fine stature. On the whole, he preferred other, less subtile
+kinds of beauty, and prized, above all else, buxom women. He observed,
+however, that on that night Pani Otocka looked extraordinarily
+handsome. Her unusually delicate complexion appeared yet more delicate
+in her black lace-stitched dress, and in her eyes, in the outlines of
+her lips, in the expression of her countenance, and in her whole form
+there was something so maidenly that whoever was not aware of her
+widowhood would have taken her for a maid of a good country family.
+Ladislaus, from the first arrival of these ladies, had indeed enlisted
+on the side of Miss Anney, but at the present moment he had to concede
+in his soul that the Englishwoman was not a specimen of so refined a
+race and, what was worse, she seemed to him that day less beautiful
+than this "subtile cousin."
+
+But at the same time he made a strange discovery, namely: that this
+observation not only did not lessen his sympathy for the light-haired
+lady, but in some manner moved him strongly and inclined him to a
+greater friendship for her; as if by that comparison with Pani Otocka
+he had done an undeserved wrong to the Englishwoman, for which he ought
+to apologize to her. "I must be on my guard," he thought, "otherwise I
+will fall." He began to search for the celestial flow in her eyes and,
+finding it, drank its dim azure, drop by drop.
+
+In the meantime Pani Krzycki, desirous of learning the earliest plans
+of the sisters, began to ask Pani Otocka whether they were going to
+travel abroad, and where.
+
+"The doctor," she said, "sends me to mineral baths on account of my
+rheumatism, but I would be delighted to spend one more summer with you
+somewhere."
+
+"And to us your sojourn at Krynica left the most agreeable memories,"
+replied Pani Otocka; "particularly, as we are in perfect health, we
+willingly would remain in the village and more willingly would invite
+Aunt to us, with her entire household, were it not that the times are
+so troublous and it is unknown what may happen on the morrow. But if it
+will quiet down. Aunt, after her recovery, must certainly pay us a
+visit."
+
+Saying this, she ardently kissed the hand of Pani Krzycki who said:
+
+"How good you are and how lovable! I would with all my heart go to you,
+only, with my health, I must not obey the heart but various hidden
+ailments. Besides, the times are really troublous and I understand it
+is rather dangerous for ladies to remain alone in the villages. Have
+you any reliable people in Zalesin?"
+
+"I do not fear my own people as they were very much attached to my
+husband, and now that attachment has passed to me. My husband taught
+them, above all things, patriotism, and at the same time introduced
+improvements which did not exist elsewhere. We have an orphanage,
+hospital, baths, stores, and fruit nurseries for the distribution of
+small trees. He even caused artesian wells to be sunk to provide enough
+healthful water for the village."
+
+Dolhanski, hearing this, leaned towards Krzycki and whispered:
+
+"A capitalist's fantasy. He regarded his wife and Zalesin as two
+playthings which he fondled, and played the rôle of a philanthropist
+because he could afford it."
+
+But Pani Krzycki again began to ask:
+
+"Who now is in charge of Zalesin?"
+
+And the young widow, having cast off a momentary sad recollection,
+answered with a smile:
+
+"In the neighborhood they say Dworski rules Zalesin.--He is the old
+accountant of my husband and is very devoted to us.--I rule Dworski,
+and Marynia rules me."
+
+"And that is the truth," interjected Miss Anney, "with this addition,
+and me also."
+
+To this Marynia shook her head and said:
+
+"Oh, Aunt, if you only knew how they sometimes twit me!"
+
+"Somehow I do not see that, but I think that the time will come when
+somebody will rule you also."
+
+"It has already come," broke out Marynia.
+
+"So? That is curious. Who is that despot?"
+
+And the little violinist, pointing with a quick movement of her little
+finger at Gronski, said:
+
+"That gentleman."
+
+"Now I understand," said Dolhanski, "why, after our return from the
+notary, he had a teapot full of hot water over his head."
+
+Gronski shrugged his shoulders, like a man who had been charged with
+unheard-of things, and exclaimed:
+
+"I? A despot? Why, I am a victim, the most hypnotized of all."
+
+"Then Pan Laskowicz is the hypnotizer, not I," answered the young miss,
+"for he himself at supper was telling me about hypnotism and explaining
+what it is."
+
+Gronski looked toward the other end of the table, in the direction of
+the student, and saw his eyes, strained, refractory, and glistening,
+fastened upon Marynia.
+
+"Aha!" he thought, "he actually is trying his powers upon her."
+
+He frowned and, addressing her, said:
+
+"Nobody in truth knows what hypnotism is. We see its manifestations and
+nothing more. But how did Laskowicz explain it to you?"
+
+"He told me what I already had heard before; that the person put to
+sleep must perform everything which the operator commands, and even
+when awakened must submit to the operator's will."
+
+"That is untrue," said Gronski.
+
+"And I think likewise. He claimed also that he could put me to sleep
+very easily, but I feel that he cannot."
+
+"Excellent! Do such things interest you?"
+
+"Hypnotism a little. But if it is to be anything mysterious, then I
+prefer to hear about spirits; especially do I like to hear the stories
+which one of our neighbors relates about fairies. He says they are
+called sprites, and indulge in all kinds of tricks in old houses, and
+they can be seen at night time through the windows in rooms where the
+fire is burning in the hearth. There they join hands and dance before
+the fire."
+
+"Those are gay fairies."
+
+"And not malicious, though mischievous. Our aged neighbor piously
+believes in them and quarrels about them with the rector. He says his
+house is full of them and that they are continually playing pranks:
+sometimes pulling the coils of the clock to make it ring; sometimes
+hiding his slippers and other things; making noise during the night;
+hitching crickets to nut-shells and driving with them over the rooms;
+in the kitchen they skim the milk and throw peas into the fire to make
+them pop. If you do not vex them, they are benevolent, driving away
+spiders and mice, and watching that the mushrooms do not soil the
+floor. This neighbor of ours at one time was a man of great education,
+but in his old age has become queer, and he tells us this in all
+seriousness. We, naturally, laugh at it, but I confess that I very much
+wish that such a world did exist;--strange and mysterious! There would
+be in it something so good and nice, and less sadness."
+
+Here she began to look off with dreamy eyes and afterwards continued:
+
+"I remember also that whenever we discussed Boecklin's pictures, those
+fauns, nymphs, and dryads which he painted, I always regretted that all
+that did not exist in reality. And sometimes it seemed to me that they
+might exist, only we do not see them. For, in truth, who knows what
+happens in the woods at noontime or night time, when no one is there;
+or in the mists during the moonlight or upon the ponds? Belief in such
+a world is not wholly childish, since we believe in angels."
+
+"I also believe in fairies, nymphs, dryads, and angels," answered
+Gronski.
+
+"Really?" she asked, "for you always speak to me as to a child."
+
+And he answered her only mentally:
+
+"I speak as with a child, but I idolize."
+
+But further conversation was interrupted by the servant, who informed
+Ladislaus that the steward of Rzeslewo had arrived and desired to see
+the "bright young lord" on a very important matter. Krzycki apologized
+to the company and with the expression, customary with country
+husbandmen, "What is up now?" left the room. As the supper was almost
+finished, they all began to move, after the example of the lady of the
+house, who, however, for a while endeavored in vain to rise, for the
+rheumatism during the past two days afflicted her more and more.
+Similar attacks occurred often and in such cases her son usually
+conducted her from room to room. But in this instance Miss Anney, who
+sat nearest to her, came to her assistance and, taking her in her arms,
+lifted her easily, skillfully, and without any exertion.
+
+"I thank you, I thank you," said Pani Krzycki, "for otherwise I would
+have to wait for Laudie. Ah, my God, how good it is to be strong!"
+
+"Oh, in me you have a veritable Samson," answered Miss Anney in her
+pleasant, subdued voice.
+
+But at that moment Ladislaus, who evidently recalled that he had to
+escort his mother, rushed into the room and, seeing what was taking
+place, exclaimed:
+
+"Permit me, Miss Anney. That is my duty. You will fatigue yourself."
+
+"Not the least."
+
+"Ah, Laudie," said Pani Krzycki, "to tell the truth, I do not know
+which one of you two is the stronger."
+
+"Is it truly so?" he asked, looking with rapt eyes upon the slender
+form of the girl.
+
+And she began to wink with her eyes in token that such was the fact,
+but at the same time blushed as if ashamed of her unwomanly strength.
+
+Ladislaus, however, assisted her to seat his mother at the table in the
+small salon, at which she was accustomed to amuse herself in the
+evenings by laying out cards to forecast fortunes. On this occasion he
+unintentionally brushed his shoulder against Miss Anney's shoulder and,
+when he felt those steel-like young muscles, a violent thrill suddenly
+penetrated through him and at the same time he was possessed by a
+perception of some elementary, unheard-of, blissful power. If he were
+Gronski and ever in his life had read Lucretius' hymn to Venus, he
+would have been able to know and name that power. But as he was only a
+twenty-seven-year-old, healthy nobleman, he only thought that the
+moments in which he would be free to hug such a girl to his bosom would
+be worth the sacrifice of Jastrzeb, Rzeslewo, and even life.
+
+But in the meanwhile he had to return to the steward of Rzeslewo, who
+waited for him in the office upon an urgent matter. Their talk lasted
+so long that when Ladislaus reappeared in the small salon, the young
+ladies had already withdrawn to their rooms. Only his mother, who was
+purposely waiting, desirous of knowing what was the matter, remained,
+with Gronski and with Dolhanski, who was playing baccarat with himself.
+
+"What is the news?" asked Pani Krzycki.
+
+"Absolutely nothing good. Only let Mamma not get alarmed, for we are of
+course here in Jastrzeb and not in Rzeslewo; and eventually we can
+brush this aside with our hands. But nevertheless, strange things are
+occurring there and Kapuscinski, in any event, did right to come here."
+
+"For the Lord's sake, who is Kapuscinski?" exclaimed Dolhanski,
+dropping the monocle from his eye.
+
+"The steward of Rzeslewo. He says that some unknown persons, probably
+from Warsaw, appeared there and are acting like gray geese in the
+skies. They issue commands, summon the peasants, incite them, promising
+them the lands and even order them to take possession of the stock.
+They predict it will be the same in all Poland as it is in Rzeslewo--"
+
+"And what of the peasants? what of the peasants?" interrupted Pani
+Krzycki.
+
+"Some believe them, while others do not. The more sensible, who attempt
+to resist, are threatened with death. The manor farm-hands will not
+obey Kapuscinski and say that they will only pasture and feed the
+cattle, but will not touch any other work. About fifteen of the tenants
+are preparing to go to the woods with hatchets and they declare that,
+if the foresters interfere with their right to cut wood, they will give
+them a good drubbing. Kapuscinski has lost his head completely and came
+to me, as one of the executors of the will, for advice."
+
+"And what did you tell him?"
+
+"As he declared to me that he was not certain of his life in Rzeslewo,
+I advised him by all means to pass the night with us in Jastrzeb. I
+wanted first to consult Mother and you, for in fact, advice under the
+circumstances is difficult to give and the situation is grave. Of
+course such a situation cannot continue very long, and sooner or later
+the peasants themselves will suffer the most by it. This we must
+positively prevent. I will candidly state that for the past two days, I
+have been considering whether it would not be better if I renounced the
+curatorship of the new school and Rzeslewo matters in general. I
+hesitated only because it is a public service, but in truth, I have so
+much work to attend to here in Jastrzeb, that I do not know on what I
+shall lay my hands first. But now, since it is necessary to rescue the
+peasants, and since a certain amount of danger is connected with it, I
+cannot retreat."
+
+"I will fear about you, but I understand you," said Pani Krzycki.
+
+"I think that by all means, I should drive over to-morrow morning to
+Rzeslewo, but if I do not secure a hearing there, then what is to be
+done?"
+
+"You will not get any," said Dolhanski, not pausing in his distribution
+of the cards.
+
+"If you go, I will go with you," announced Pani Krzycki.
+
+"Ah, that would be the only thing needful! Let Mamma only think that in
+such a case I would be terribly hampered and certainly would not gain
+anything."
+
+After which he kissed her hand and said:
+
+"No, no! Mamma does not understand that matters would be worse and, if
+Mamma insists, then I would rather not go at all."
+
+Gronski propped his head upon his hand and thought that it was easier
+to analyze at a desk the various phases of life than to offer sound
+advice in the presence of urgent events. Dolhanski at last stopped
+playing baccarat with himself and said:
+
+"The position we are placed in passes all comprehension. But were we in
+any other country, the police would be summoned and the matter would
+end in a day."
+
+To this Ladislaus replied with some anger:
+
+"As for that, permit me! I will not summon the police; not only not
+against those peasants, but not even against those forbidden figures
+who now haunt Rzeslewo. No, never!"
+
+"Very well; long live an epoch of true freedom!"
+
+"Who knows," said Gronski, "but that the summoning of the police would
+just suit these gentlemen?"
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"Because they themselves, at the proper season, would disappear, but
+later would incite the people again and would cry all over Poland,
+'Behold! who appeals to the police against peasants.'"
+
+"That is a pertinent observation," said Ladislaus; "now I understand
+various things which I did not comprehend before."
+
+"From the opening of the will," said Dolhanski, "Rzeslewo and its
+inhabitants did not concern me in the least. However, one thought
+occurred to me while dealing the cards. Laudie will drive over to
+Rzeslewo to-morrow on a fruitless errand. He may receive only a sound
+beating, without benefiting anybody--"
+
+"It has never yet come to that, and that is something I do not fear.
+Our family has lived in Jastrzeb from time immemorial, and the peasants
+of this neighborhood would not raise their hands against a Krzycki--"
+
+"Above all, do not interrupt me," said Dolhanski. "If you do not get a
+sound thrashing--and I assume that you may not--then you will not
+secure a hearing, as you yourself foresaw a little while ago. If we
+two, that is, Gronski and myself, went over there, we would not effect
+anything because they have seen us at the funeral, and the estimable
+Slavonians of Rzeslewo look upon us as men who have a personal interest
+in the matter. It will be necessary that some one unknown go there, who
+will not argue, but who will act as if he had the right and power and
+will command the peasants to behave peaceably. Since you are so much
+concerned about them, that will be the only way. So, then, since by
+virtue of the unfathomable decrees of Providence there exist in this
+beloved land of ours National Democrats, whom, parenthetically
+speaking, I cannot endure any more than the seven-spot of clubs, but
+who, in all probability, have fists as sweaty and as heavy as the
+socialists,--could you not settle this matter with their assistance?"
+
+"Of course, naturally, naturally!" exclaimed Gronski; "the peasants,
+after all, have great confidence in the National party."
+
+"I also belong to that party with my whole heart," said Krzycki, "but,
+sitting, like a stone, in Jastrzeb, I do not know to whom to apply."
+
+"In any case, not to me," said Dolhanski.
+
+But Gronski, though he did not belong to any faction, thoroughly knew
+the city and easily suggested the addresses and the manner in which the
+party could be notified. He afterwards said:
+
+"And now I will give you one word of advice, the same which you,
+Laudie, gave Kapuscinski, namely, that we go to sleep, for you,
+especially, madam,"--here he addressed the lady of the house--"were
+entitled to that long ago. Is it agreed?"
+
+"Agreed," answered Ladislaus; "but wait a few minutes. After conducting
+Mother, I will accompany you upstairs."
+
+Within a quarter of an hour he returned, but instead of bidding his
+guests the promised "good-night" he drew closer to them and resumed the
+interrupted conversation.
+
+"I did not wish to relate everything before Mother," he said, "in order
+not to alarm her. But in fact the matter is much worse. So, speaking
+first of what concerns us, imagine for yourself that those strangers
+immediately after their arrival asked first of all about Laskowicz, and
+that Laskowicz was in Rzeslewo this afternoon and returned here an hour
+before we came back from the hunt. Now it is positively certain that we
+have in our midst an agitator."
+
+"Then throw him out," interrupted Dolhanski. "If I were in your place,
+I would have done that long ago, if only for the reason that he has
+eyes set closely to each other, like a baboon. In a man that indicates
+fanaticism and stupidity."
+
+"Unquestionably I will be done with him to-morrow, and I would end with
+him even to-day, notwithstanding the late hour, were it not that I
+desire first to calm down and not create any foolish disturbance. I do
+not like this, and I would not advise those apostles to peer into
+Jastrzeb. As I live, I would not advise it."
+
+"Have they any intention of paying you a visit?"
+
+"Certainly. If not to me personally, then to my farmhands. They
+announced in Rzeslewo that they would cause an agrarian strike in the
+entire vicinity."
+
+"Then my advice, to drive out one wedge with another, is the most
+feasible."
+
+"Assuredly. I will adopt that course without delay."
+
+"I know," said Gronski, "that they want to inaugurate agrarian strikes
+throughout the whole country. They will not succeed as the peasant
+element will repel their efforts. They, like most people from the
+cities, do not take into account the relation of man to the soil.
+Nevertheless, there will be considerable losses and the confusion will
+increase, and this is what they chiefly care for. Ah! Shakespeare's
+'sun of foolery' not only shines in our land, but is in the zenith."
+
+"If we are talking of that kind of a sun, we can, like a former king of
+Spain, say that it never sets in our possessions."
+
+But Gronski spoke farther:
+
+"Socialism--good! That, of course, is a thing more ancient than
+Menenius Agrippa. That river has flown for ages. At times, when covered
+by other ideas, it coursed underground, and later emerged into the
+broad daylight. At times it subsides, then swells and overflows. At
+present we have a flood, very menacing, which may submerge not only
+factories, cities, and countries, but even civilization. Above all, it
+threatens France, where comfort and money have displaced all other
+ideas. Socialism is the inevitable result of that. Capital wedded to
+demagogism cannot breed any other child; and if that child has the head
+of a monster and mole, so much the worse for the father. It
+demonstrates that superfluous wealth may be a national danger. But this
+is not strange. Privilege is an injustice against which men have fought
+for centuries. Formerly the princes, clergy, and nobility were vested
+with it. To-day nobody has any; money possesses all. In truth, Labor
+has stepped forth to combat with it."
+
+"This begins to smell to me like an apology for socialism," observed
+Dolhanski.
+
+"No. It is not an apology. For, above all things, viewing this matter
+from above, what is this new current but one more delusion in the human
+chase after happiness? For myself, I only contend that socialism has
+come, or rather, it has gathered strength, because it was bound to
+grow. I care only about its looks and whether it could not have a
+different face. And here my criticism begins. I do not deem socialism a
+sin in the socialists, but only that the idea in their school assumes
+the lineaments of an malignant idiot. I accuse our socialists of
+incredible stupidity; like that of the ants who wrangled with and bit
+the working ants, while the ant-eater was lying on the ant-hill and
+swallowing them by thousands."
+
+"True," cried Ladislaus.
+
+"And, of course," concluded Gronski, "on our ant-hills there lie a
+whole herd of ant-eaters."
+
+Here Dolhanski again dropped the monocle from his eye.
+
+"That you may not retire to sleep under a disagreeable impression," he
+said, "I will tell you an anecdote which will illustrate what Gronski
+has said. During the last exposition in Paris, one of the black kings
+of French Congo, having heard of it, announced his wish to see it. The
+Colonial government, which was anxious to send as many exotic figures
+as possible to Paris, not only consented, but sent to this monarch a
+few shirts with the information that in France such articles of attire
+were indispensable. Naturally the shirts excited general admiration and
+surprise. The King summoned ministers, priests, and leaders of parties
+for a consultation as to how such a machine was to be put on. After
+long debates, which undoubtedly could not be held without bitter
+clashes between the native rationalists and the native nationalists and
+progressionists, all doubts were finally set at rest. The king pulled
+the sleeves of the shirt over his legs, so that the cuffs were at his
+ankles. The bottom edge of the shirt, which in this instance became the
+top, was fastened under his arm-pits by a string in such a manner that
+the bosom was on his back and the opening was at his neck--somewhat
+lower. Delighted with this solution of the difficulty, the ruler
+acknowledged that the attire, if not entirely, was, at least in certain
+respects, very practical and, above all, extraordinarily striking."
+
+"Good," said Gronski, laughing, "but what connection has that with what
+I had previously said?"
+
+"Greater than may appear to you," replied Dolhanski; "for the fact is
+that the various Slavonians are prepared to bear liberty and the
+socialists socialism in the same manner as that negro king wore his
+European shirt."
+
+Saying this, he replaced the monocle in his eye and announced that as
+in virtuous Jastrzeb and in such company there could not be any talk of
+a "night card party," he would take his leave and go to sleep. The
+others decided to follow his example. Ladislaus took the lamp and began
+to light the way for the guests. On the stairs he turned to them with a
+countenance which depicted ill humor and said:
+
+"May the deuce take it, but all these disturbances must occur at a time
+when we have in Jastrzeb such lovely ladies."
+
+"Beware," answered Dolkanski, "and know that nothing can be concealed
+from my eyes. When you assisted Miss Anney to conduct your mother, you
+looked like an electrical machine. If anybody drew a wire through
+you, you could illuminate not only the mansion but the adjoining
+out-buildings."
+
+Ladislaus raised the lamp higher so that the light would not fall upon
+his countenance, for he felt at that moment that he blushed like a
+student.
+
+
+
+                                   IX
+
+Ladislaus Krzycki possessed such a happy nature that, having once lain
+down to sleep, he could a few minutes later fall into a deep slumber
+which would continue until the morning. That night, however, he could
+not fall asleep because the impressions of the day, together with the
+parting words of Dolhanski, had led him into a state of exasperation
+and anger. He was angry at Rzeslewo; at the disturbances which were
+taking place there; at Dolhanski because he had observed the impression
+which the young girl had made upon him--and particularly because he
+himself had afforded him an opportunity to comment upon it--and finally
+at the innocent Miss Anney. After a time, rolling from side to side, he
+opened an imaginary conversation with her, in which he assumed the rôle
+of a man, who, indeed, does not deny that he is deeply under the spell,
+nevertheless, can view matters soberly and sanely. Therefore he
+admitted to Miss Anney that she was handsome and amiable; that she had
+an immensely sympathetic voice, a strange, fascinating look, and a body
+like marble--ah, what a body! Nevertheless, he made the explicit
+reservation that she must not think that he loved her to distraction,
+or was even smitten with her. He would concede anything to her that she
+desired, but to admit that he was in love with her was as far removed
+from his thoughts as love is from matrimony, of which, of course, there
+could not be any talk. Above all, she was a foreigner, and Mother in
+that respect had her prejudices, justly so; and he himself would prefer
+to have at his side during the remainder of his life a Polish soul and
+not a foreign one. True, there was something homelike in her, but after
+all, she was not a Pole. "Identical blood has its own meaning; it
+cannot be helped," he further told Miss Anney. "So, since you are an
+Englishwoman, marry some Englishman or Scotchman, provided, however,
+you do not require me to form the acquaintance of such an ape and
+become intimate with him, for that is something I can dispense with
+perfectly." And at that moment he was seized with such a sudden,
+unexpected antipathy to that eventual Englishman "with projecting jaw"
+and Scotchman "with bare knees," that he felt that upon a trivial
+misunderstanding he could flog them. But through this attack of rage he
+roused himself completely from that half-drowsy, half-wakeful condition
+in which whimsical fancies mingle, and having recovered his senses, he
+experienced a great relief in the thought that the betrothed person
+beyond the sea was only a figment of his imagination, and at the same
+time a wave of gratitude towards Miss Anney surged in his heart. "Here
+I am, quarrelling with her and making reservations," he thought, "while
+she is snugly nestling her bright head upon a pillow and peacefully
+slumbering." Here again his blood began to frisk, but soon the perverse
+musings vanished. This became easier for him, as he was encompassed by
+a yearning for honest affection and for that future being, yet unnamed,
+who was to share his life. Again he resumed his imaginary conversation
+with Miss Anney, but this time in a meek spirit. He assured her, with a
+certain melancholy, that he was not solicitous about her, as he well
+knew that even if there were no obstacles she certainly would not have
+him, but that he was anxious that his future life-companion should
+resemble her a little; that she should have the same look and the same
+magnetic strength to which, if he did not succumb it would be a
+miracle. As to Miss Anney personally, plainly speaking, he owed only
+gratitude. Of course, nowhere was it so well with him as at his beloved
+Jastrzeb, but nevertheless he could not deny that in that exclusive den
+it became lively and bright after her arrival; and that after her
+departure it would become darker, more dreary and monotonous than ever
+before. So for those bright moments he would willingly kiss her hand
+and, if that seemed insufficient to her, then her feet. In the meantime
+he begged her pardon for the mad thoughts which passed through his
+brain when he brushed against her shoulder in the salon, for though he
+was always of the opinion that responsiveness upon her part was worth
+the sacrifice of life, yet at the same time he had to contend that
+Dolhanski was a blockhead and cynic who meddled with matters which did
+not concern him and who was unworthy of notice. Here renewed rage
+against Dolhanski possessed him, and he continued for some time to toss
+from side to side until finally the late hour, youth, hungry for sleep,
+and weariness sprinkled his eyes with poppy.[3]
+
+There was, however, in the Jastrzeb manor-house another who did not
+sleep and who talked with a person not present, and that was Laskowicz.
+After all that had taken place and what had been revealed in the past
+few days, he was prepared for his farewell parting with the Krzycki
+family, as he well knew that his further presence in Jastrzeb would be
+intolerable. And nevertheless he desired at present to stay in it, even
+though for a few days, in order that he might gaze longer upon Panna
+Marynia and, as he called it, "further narcotize himself." Somehow,
+from the first moment he had heard her play, she actually absorbed his
+thoughts in a way that no woman up to that time had done. Foremost
+among the prepared formulæ which he, with dogmatic faith, had adopted
+to judge mankind with, was the precept that a woman belonging to the
+so-called pampered class was a thoughtless creature. In the meantime he
+had to dissent at once from that formula as a soul had spoken to him
+through the violin. Later he was astonished to find in that young lady
+two entities, one of which manifested itself in music as a finished
+artist, concentrated, filled with exaltation within herself, dissolved
+in the waves of tones and playing as if she drew the bow over her own
+nerves; the other appeared in every-day life in her customary relations
+with people. The latter seemed at the first glance of the eye, if not
+an insignificant, a common girl, full of simplicity and even gaiety,
+who screamed like a cat when Dolhanski, for instance, said things
+disagreeable to her; who jested with Gronski, telling him absurdities
+about spirits or, to the great alarm of Gronski and her older sister,
+fled into the garden for a boat ride on the pond. Laskowicz did not
+fully comprehend the world and was not a subtle person; nevertheless,
+he observed in the "common girl" something which made her, as it were,
+a little divinity, haloed with a quiet worship. Evidently she herself
+did not appear to be conscious of this and, viewing such a state of
+affairs as something which was self-understood, she lived the life of a
+flower or a bird. Confident that she will not suffer any harm from any
+one, gentle, bright, living beyond the misery and wretchedness of life,
+beyond its cares, beyond its chilling winds which dim the eyes with
+tears, beyond the dust which defiles, she resembled a pure spring which
+people look upon as blessed and whose translucency they fear to muddy.
+It seemed that the environment did not exact of her anything more than
+that she should exist, just as nothing more is demanded of a
+masterpiece.
+
+To Laskowicz, as often as he gazed at her, there came recollection of
+his childhood days. He and his older brother, who, a few years before
+falling into consumption had committed suicide on the Riviera, were the
+sons of a woman who conducted near one of the churches in Warsaw a shop
+for the sale of consecrated wax candles, medals, rosaries, and
+pictures. Owing to this, both brothers were, in a way, bred upon the
+church portals and were in constant relations with the priests. Once it
+happened that the aged canon, the rector of the church, bought at an
+auction an alabaster statuette of some saint, and for an unknown reason
+took it for granted that it was not only the work, but the masterpiece
+of Canova. The statuette, which, in reality, was pretty and finely
+executed, after consecration, was placed in a separate niche near one
+of the altars under the name of Saint Apollonia and from that time the
+gentle old rector surrounded it with great worship as a holy relic and
+with more particular care as the greatest church rarity. He led his
+guests and more pious parishioners before it and commanded them to
+admire the work and got angry if any one ventured to make any critical
+observation. In fact, the admiration of the canon was shared by the
+organist, the sexton, the church servants, and both boys. The thought
+that Panna Marynia amidst her environment was such a Saint Apollonia
+unwittingly suggested itself to Laskowicz. For that reason, after the
+first impression he called her "a saintly doll." But he also recalled
+that when in the course of time he lost his faith--and he lost it in
+the gymnasium where, speaking parenthetically, he completed his studies
+with the aid of the venerable canon--he often was beset with a desire
+to demolish that alabaster statuette. At present he was consumed with a
+greater desire, for it bordered upon a passion, to destroy this living
+one. And yet he did not in the least bear her any hatred. On the
+contrary, he could not resist the charm of this maiden, so loved by
+all, any more than one can resist the charm of dawn or spring. It even
+happened that what vexed and exasperated him also at the same time
+attracted him towards her with an uncontrollable force. Consequently he
+was drawn to her by her appurtenance to this world, the existence of
+which he deemed a social injustice, crime, and wrong; she attracted him
+in spite of his internal anguish, and even by the thought that beside
+such a flower the proletariat was but manure. A lure for him was her
+refined culture and her art, though he regarded such things as
+superfluous and unnecessary for people of deflorated life; the
+fascination was her utter dissimilarity to the women whom he met up to
+the time of his arrival at the village, and her whole form was an
+intoxication. Never before was he under the same roof with a being like
+her; therefore he forgot himself and lost his head at the sight of her,
+and though he had not yet familiarized himself with the power which
+began to play in his bosom and had not christened it with the name of
+love, the truth was that during the past few days he was aflame like a
+volcano and loved her to distraction. He vaguely felt, however, that in
+this passion there was something of the lust of a negro for a white
+woman, and what was more, that in that particular love there was
+apostasy to principles. So then in the same germ he poisoned her with
+the virus of hatred and the wolfish propensity of annihilation.
+
+And now he was summoning this "saintly doll" to come to him. Accepting,
+indiscriminately, and also with all that exaggeration peculiar to
+fanaticism and youth, everything which the books published as the
+results of the latest researches or phenomena in the domain of science,
+he believed that hypnotism was a secret and gigantic power which, when
+applied, would become invincible. Holding himself on the strength of
+experiments tried among his classmates as a hypnotizer, and considering
+the delicate and impressionable young girl an excellent medium, he was
+most firmly convinced that he could put her to sleep and command her
+from a distance. Conscience, indeed, whispered to him that what he
+contemplated doing was an abuse of science, but he silenced that voice,
+persuading himself that it would at the same time be a triumph of a
+proletaire over this world, for which it is not permissible to have any
+pity, and that a man belonging to the camp which had declared a war of
+life and death on the entire social structure and "had appraised at
+their true worth" all current ideas has the right to and must be
+heedless.
+
+Above all, however, he yearned to subjugate this elegant and immaculate
+maiden, to dominate not merely her body and soul, but also her will; to
+transform her into something like himself; to draw her to himself, to
+awaken within her the slumbering feminine instincts, to open before her
+the closed doors of passion; to inflame her, to embrace her, to toy
+with her, and afterwards keep her forever close to his bosom. And at
+that thought he was beset by a strange joy like that which madmen feel
+while profaning objects held in reverence and fear, and,
+simultaneously, lust and love within him intensified. He felt that
+after all that and for all of that, he would love this booty of his,
+this sacrifice, to distraction.
+
+But as he was a madman only about the heart of a maid, and not a
+depraved man, he was at times possessed by a tenderness so great that
+if his summons were productive of any results he might not pass the
+bounds of transgression. But these were transient moments; after which,
+straining the whole strength of his will and the sight of his closely
+set eyes in the direction of Marynia's sleeping chamber he said and
+commanded: "Rise!--do not light the candles--do not awaken your
+sister--open the door quietly and walk in darkness on the path of my
+thoughts until you come to me, to my arms, to my bosom!" And he
+imagined that at any moment he would behold her, resembling that
+alabaster statuette, entering with the mechanical step of a
+somnambulist in a single gown, silvery, dreamy, with head tilted
+backward, with closed eyes and opened lips drinking the lustre of the
+moon which shone in the windows. Afterwards he listened in the silence
+and, concentrating yet more powerfully his will, he repeated again with
+emphasis as if each word was chiselled out of stone: "Rise! do not
+light the candles--do not waken your sister--open the door--go on the
+path of my thoughts--and come!"
+
+Horrible indeed would have been the fate of the young lady were it not
+for one fortunate circumstance, and that was that she never dreamt of
+rising, opening the door, going on the path of his thoughts, etc. On
+the contrary, she slept as peacefully as if an angel had bent over her
+and with the movements of her wings had driven away from her
+disquieting and feverish dreams. The little household fairies of
+Jastrzeb, such as those about which she spoke to Gronski, also did not
+disturb her repose. Perhaps some of them chased the moths from the
+windows in order that they might not make any noise by striking the
+window-panes; perhaps others, climbing the curtains and window sashes,
+gazed at her from a distance with their keen little eyes and whispered
+to each other: "Sleep, little maiden, who played for us on the
+violin--sleep--hush--let us not waken her." And though a desire to turn
+the pins of the violin and touch the chords with their tiny fingers may
+have taken hold of them, they did not, however, do so, through honesty
+and hospitality. Through the openings of the shutters the moonlight
+streamed in, brightening the interior and slowly advancing on the
+opposite wall. The silence was great; only somewhere beyond the house
+the night-watch on the premises whistled; while within the house the
+old standing clock, which measured the lives of several generations,
+continued to speak with resignation the "Tick!--Tack!--Tick!" of the
+seconds sinking into the past.
+
+And Laskowicz in the course of time issued further commands from his
+room which reached no one's knowledge. A strange thing! Inwardly
+something was telling him with sober, almost absolute certainty that
+the maid would not come and he nevertheless believed that she ought to
+have come. Not until a long time elapsed, did the consciousness dawn
+upon him that if she did not come, then he, together with his
+hypnotism, played the rôle of an addle-pated fool. Finally fatigue,
+disaffection, and anger at himself gripped him. Sleep irrevocably left
+him. Hour flew after hour. In the east the sky was deepening and it was
+becoming green. Soon the rosy lower border was striped with the
+transparent riband of dawn. The young student, not undressing himself
+at all, opened the window to breathe the bracing morning air. In the
+garden the first chirp of the birds began, and from the direction of
+the not distant pond, with the odor of the acacias, came the cries of
+herons and the subdued, as if yet sleepy, quacks of the wild ducks.
+After a while the sweep of the well creaked in the village.
+
+It then occurred to Laskowicz that this was the last daybreak he was to
+behold in Jastrzeb; that on the morrow he would wake in the city and
+would not see either Panna Marynia or little Anusia whom only, of all
+the inmates of that Jastrzeb mansion, he liked; and he felt a little
+sorrow. But as he understood that, after the arrival of his party
+associates at Rzeslewo and yesterday's visit of the steward Kapuscinski
+to Krzycki, it was unavoidable, he preferred to tender his resignation
+rather than suffer a dismissal. With this intention, he decided to
+write a letter to Ladislaus and inform him that he had enough of
+pedagogical work. He foresaw that eventually they would have to see
+each other, if only at the payment of the salary, and as a dispute
+about principles might arise which might go very far, he had a revolver
+ready for certain contingencies. He deemed that, before that happened,
+a dry, peremptory letter would be a step more consonant with his pride;
+therefore, when it was quite bright, he sat down immediately to write.
+
+Krzycki awoke, though not in the dusk, nevertheless with the rise of
+the sun, for in the country he thus habituated himself to wake,
+regardless of whether he retired to bed early or late. He felt in his
+bones that he had had too little rest and, stretching out his arms, he
+said to himself that he would be repaid only in case Miss Anney at some
+time would learn that he lost that sleep for her sake and would pity
+him, though slightly. Meanwhile he recalled to his mind all that he was
+to do that day and formulated the following plan; he would rouse
+himself, drive out the lassitude in his bones; afterwards, before
+breakfast, would drive over to Rzeslewo and "look a little in the eyes
+of those worthies;" and if possible talk with the peasants; later he
+would return; after breakfast he would finish with Laskowicz and send
+him away with the team which was to bring the physician; the balance of
+his time, he would devote to the guests, to writing letters, and to the
+farm. He positively determined to go to Rzeslewo, because, though he
+agreed in his heart with Dolhanski that for the nonce he would be
+unable to accomplish anything, nevertheless, he did not wish the ladies
+to think that he stayed away through fear.
+
+Having arranged everything in this manner, he carelessly put on his
+clothes and, slipping his feet into his slippers, repaired to the
+bath-room, without any foreboding that he would meet with an unusual
+accident and that he was soon to see, not in truth such an alabaster
+statuette as the one Laskowicz was raving about all night, but, at any
+rate, something resembling Diana in a fountain. In the second in which
+he opened the door he saw streams of water splashing and beheld under a
+shower-sprinkler a nude, female figure, strewed with pearls of azure,
+with head somewhat inclined, and hands raised to her hair, whose black
+waves concealed her face. This lasted only a twinkle of the eye. A
+suppressed scream and the slam of the closed door resounded
+simultaneously. Krzycki rushed like the gale for his room; excited and
+at the same time shocked, he clutched with shaking hand a decanter,
+filled a glass of water, gulped it, and began to repeat confusedly:
+"What has happened? Who is she? For God's sake, what has happened?" In
+the first moments he conjectured that she might have been Pani Otocka,
+or Marynia, and in such a case the misadventure would be appalling.
+Those ladies would undoubtedly leave Jastrzeb at once and it would
+perhaps be incumbent upon him to propose marriage to the one whom he
+had seen in such paradisiacal shape. "But was it my fault?" he thought.
+"Why didn't she lock the door? There was a bolt." He drank another
+glass of water to cool his agitated blood and to think more calmly of
+what he was to do and who that nymph was. Somehow after an interval he
+reached the conclusion that she could not have been either of the
+sisters. Firstly, why should they rise so early? and again, both were
+slim, while this form was stouter and on the whole was built so,
+that--Oh! Oh! Finally, he became satisfied that it surely must have
+been no other than the brunette who obstructed his view of Miss Anney
+during the mass and whom he met on the dark walk when returning with
+Gronski from the hunt. If such was the case, nothing terrible had
+happened, but rather the contrary. It occurred to his mind that those
+blue window-panes were an excellent device, for in such a light the
+spectacle was delightful. At the thought of this, he felt the necessity
+of drinking a third glass of water. This, however, he did not do, but
+instead, after an interval, went again to the bath-room, which now was
+vacant, and after a cool bath dressed himself and hastened to the
+stable. There he ordered a horse to be saddled and sped away on a
+gallop for adjacent Rzeslewo.
+
+The day was mild; the hour very early. But all nature was already awake
+and bedewed, bathed in the sun, she appeared to simply cry out with
+joy, just as village maids from an excess of life and health sing unto
+forgetfulness, "Oj dana! Oj dana!" Birds carolled until the leaves on
+the trees trembled. In the distant oak grove resounded the coo-cooing
+of the cuckoo; yellow thrushes whistled amidst the boughs of lofty
+trees; from the depths of the forest, sounding like the noise of a
+sawmill, came the outcries of an old raven, watching a crowded nest,
+while from time to time the shrieks of a jay, resembling a laugh, burst
+forth.
+
+Ladislaus rode out of the woods onto the open roadway. Here on one side
+was a stretch of waving grain; on the other a meadow--from which odors
+of turf and spring were wafted,--all overgrown with marigold and
+rose-campion, quivering in the solar warmth and under the gentle breath
+of the wind, as if in delight. This delight, this widespread joy and
+luxuriance of life overflowed in the breast of Ladislaus. He felt
+within himself such a vigor of youth and strength that he was prepared
+to challenge to a hand-to-hand combat full hundreds of socialists and
+at the same time press the whole world to his heart, especially women
+under the age of thirty. The white vision of that Diana, enveloped in a
+shell of blue pearls, again began to glide before his eyes, but he now
+thought that if, instead of dark tresses on the bowed head of that
+goddess, he had seen golden, he would have probably toppled over.
+
+Amidst such sights and impressions he arrived at Rzeslewo, where,
+however, in conformity with Dolhanski's prediction, he was unable to
+accomplish anything. The "worthies" whom he wanted to look in the eyes
+had left during the night time for the city; the husbandmen were in the
+field, each upon his own patch of ground; the blinds of the rectory
+were shut, as the rector for the last few days was feeling unwell. In
+the manor out-building where the laborers dwelt there was not a sign of
+a living soul. Later the old keeper of the stockyard informed him that
+the hired help, after watering the stock, drove it out into the pasture
+and went without asking the permission of any one to a church festival
+at Brzesno, whither many of the husbandmen and tenants had also gone.
+
+So, then, here was a strike of farm-hands and open contumacy, but
+Krzycki was helpless. He only ordered the aged keeper of the stockyard
+to tell the hired help that there would come to Rzeslewo to establish
+order certain gentlemen before whom the vagabonds, who were there the
+previous day, would abscond as soon as they heard of them; after which
+he turned back and in half an hour was in Jastrzeb.
+
+A servant told him that all were still asleep, excepting Laskowicz, who
+had charged him with the delivery of a letter. Krzycki took it and went
+with it to the office. Having read its contents, he rang for the
+servant.
+
+"Was he dressed when he gave you the letter?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and was packing his things."
+
+"Ask him if he can come to my office, and if he can, request him to
+step in."
+
+After a while, the young student entered the room.
+
+Krzycki motioned to him to take a seat in the chair, which was near his
+desk.
+
+"Good day, sir! I learn from your letter that you wish to leave
+Jastrzeb and that, at once. I presume that you have cogent reasons for
+this step. I therefore regard any discussion of them as superfluous,
+and will not detain you. Here you have what is due to you and the
+horses will be ready at any time you desire."
+
+But Laskowicz, who in money matters was extremely scrupulous, after
+counting the money, said:
+
+"You are paying me my whole salary, but as I am leaving before the
+expiration of the term, I am not entitled to pay for the last month."
+
+And somewhat discourteously he flung the unearned balance upon the
+desk.
+
+Krzycki's cheeks quivered slightly about the mustache, but as he had
+pledged himself before Gronski that he would not create any disturbance
+and had made the same promise to himself, he quietly replied:
+
+"As you please."
+
+"As for the departure," said Laskowicz, "I would prefer to leave at
+once."
+
+"As you please," repeated Krzycki. "In an hour I will send after the
+physician for my mother and if it is convenient for you, you may go
+with that team."
+
+"Very well."
+
+"Then the whole thing is settled. I will give orders at once."
+
+Saying this, he rose and closed the desk, as if he wished to intimate
+that the interview was over. Laskowicz glared at him with eyes blazing
+with hatred. He did not seek any broil, but anticipating one, he stood
+before Krzycki, bent like a bow. Meanwhile nothing approaching an
+altercation occurred and the revolver, which he had ready for a certain
+contingency, was of no service to him. There was no reference even to
+the letter, though that was indited in harsh and rude terms.
+Nevertheless there was something offensive in the cold tones in which
+Krzycki spoke, something insulting in the eagerness with which he
+accepted his offer of departure. To Laskowicz, who viewed everything
+from his own standpoint, it seemed that the icy conversation
+accentuated something else, namely, the attitude of a wealthy man who
+owned Jastrzeb, a desk filled with money, horses, and equipages,
+towards a poor, homeless fellow. But it did not occur to him at that
+moment that he on his part had done nothing to improve their relations,
+but on the contrary had done a great deal to make them worse, and that
+from the time of his arrival he had shut himself, like a turtle in a
+shell, in a doctrine inimical to these people. Everything conduced to
+stir the bile within him to such a degree that he actually regretted
+that the matter did not end in a personal encounter. But as in the
+words of Krzycki there was nothing which gave him a pretext for one, he
+abruptly left the room without any leave-taking and with redoubled
+rancor.
+
+Ladislaus rang to have the horses ready within an hour, and as it
+happened to be Friday, he ordered the gardener to catch some fish;
+after which he began to consider whether the affair with Laskowicz had
+terminated in a desirable way. He was pleased and displeased with
+himself. He felt a certain satisfaction and even pride in the fact that
+he could be laconic and firm, cold but polite, and that he did not
+stoop to any ruffianly dispute. But at the same time, notwithstanding
+his pride, a certain disrelish remained, for which he could not account
+as he was not sufficiently developed psychologically. He kept repeating
+to himself that such scenes are always disagreeable, and so was the
+whole business. In reality there was another reason for it. His whole
+behavior, which appeared to him so temperate, sensible, and well-nigh
+diplomatic, did not emanate from his temperament, but in direct
+opposition to his not too deep, but open and impulsive nature. If he
+had acted in keeping with it, he either would have come to blows with
+the young student or else would have said something like this: "You
+have strewn our path with thorns and have upset the minds of our
+people, but since you are leaving, give me your hand and may you fare
+well." The one or the other act would have been more consistent with
+his character, and he would not have experienced that jarring which he
+could not understand, but felt none the less.
+
+But further reflections were interrupted by the servant with the
+announcement that breakfast was ready and that the guests were at the
+table. In fact, all had already assembled in the dining-room, through
+which pervaded the odor of coffee and the hum of the samovar. At the
+sight of the white dresses of the ladies and their fresh, well-rested
+countenances, Ladislaus' soul gladdened to such an extent that he
+immediately forgot all squabbles and vexations. By way of greeting, he
+kissed Pani Otocka's hand; then, as if absent-mindedly, that of Miss
+Anney, but so forcibly that she reddened like a cherry; after which he
+squeezed Marynia's hand, saluted the gentlemen and began to cry
+merrily:
+
+"Coffee! coffee! From the rise of the sun I drank only two glasses of
+water and I am as hungry as a wolf."
+
+"Was that a cure? Did you have a fever?" asked Dolhanski.
+
+"Perhaps I did have a fever, but nevertheless I had a horseback ride to
+Rzeslewo and transacted a thousand matters."
+
+"How is it in 'rustic-angelic' Rzeslewo," interrupted Dolhanski.
+
+"There is nothing further that is disturbing. Those trouble makers whom
+I wished to look at, in the eyes, are gone. But now above all things, I
+want coffee and will not answer any more questions."
+
+Marynia, as the substitute of Pani Krzycki, who remained in bed owing
+to rheumatism, poured out the coffee for him, and he also kissed the
+hand of his young cousin; whereat she was pleased as she fancied that
+it added to her dignity.
+
+"That is due me as a vice-hostess," she said, shaking her head.
+
+"And especially taking age into consideration," added Dolhanski.
+
+She did not show him her tongue only because she was too well-bred.
+
+But Dolhanski, who suffered from catarrh of the stomach, gazed
+enviously at Ladislaus, eating with such relish, and said:
+
+"What an appetite! A genuine cannibal."
+
+"Go also over the road a mile before breakfast and you will have the
+same appetite. But cannibal or no cannibal, when I entered this room, I
+was ready to devour even this bouquet of flowers which is before me."
+
+"The time will come when the country nobility will not have anything
+else to eat," replied Dolhanski.
+
+But Marynia quickly seized the bouquet and, laughing, shoved it to the
+other side of the table.
+
+"After coffee there is no fear," cried Ladislaus. "But what beautiful
+field flowers! Did you ladies pick them?"
+
+"We are sleepy-heads," answered Pani Otocka; "they were gathered by
+Aninka's servant."
+
+Aninka was the pet name which both sisters gave Miss Anney.
+
+Ladislaus turned a sharp glance towards the ladies, but as their faces
+were perfectly calm, he thought:
+
+"She gathered the flowers and did not mention the mishap."
+
+And Miss Anney, turning the bouquet about and examining it, said:
+
+"An apple-blossom is in the middle,--the good-for-nothing girl plucked
+it from some little tree, for which she must be reprimanded; these are
+spearwort, those primroses, and those pennyroyal, which are now coming
+out."
+
+"It is, however, astonishing that you speak Polish so well," observed
+Dolhanski; "why, you even know the names of plants."
+
+"I heard them from the lips of the village maids in Zalesin at
+Zosia's," answered Miss Anney. "Besides, I evidently possess linguistic
+abilities for I learned from them to speak in a rustic style."
+
+"Truly," cried Ladislaus, "could you say something in peasant fashion.
+Say something, Miss Anney! Do!" he entreated, folding his hands as if
+in prayer.
+
+She began to laugh and feigning shyness, bowed her head and putting the
+back part of her hand to her forehead, as bashful peasants girls
+usually do, said, drawling each word somewhat:
+
+"I would do that only I do not dare--"
+
+Laughter and bravos resounded; only Pani Zosia glanced at her with a
+peculiar look and she, by becoming confused, enhanced her beauty to
+such an extent that Ladislaus was completely captivated.
+
+"Ah! now one could lose his head," he cried with unfeigned ardor. "I
+pledge my word, one could lose his head."
+
+And Gronski, who in common with the others fell into good humor, said
+in a low voice:
+
+"And even consummatum est."
+
+But further conversation was interrupted by the rattle of the carriage
+wheels which could be heard in the courtyard and ceased at the balcony.
+
+"What is that?" asked Gronski.
+
+"I am sending for the doctor for Mother," answered Ladislaus, rising.
+"Whoever has any errands in the city may speak."
+
+Dolhanski and Gronski also rose and went out with him into the
+vestibule.
+
+"I was about to ask you for a horse," said Gronski. "I know that you
+have but one saddle for ladies in Jastrzeb, so I ordered another one
+and must receive it in person at the post-office. I did not want to
+speak about it before the ladies as it is to be a surprise."
+
+"Good!" answered Krzycki, "but I will give you another carriage, for
+Laskowicz is leaving by this one and you surely would prefer not to
+ride with him."
+
+"He?" cried Dolhanski. "You do not know him then. He is ready to ride
+with old Aunt Beelzebub, if he could pull her by the tongue and do all
+the talking and descanting."
+
+"There is a little truth in that," said Gronski. "I am a veritable
+chatterbox. Indeed, I will willingly go with Laskowicz and will try to
+get him into a talkative mood for, after all, he does interest me. Did
+you conclude with him this morning?"
+
+"Yes. I must see Mother for a while and tell her about it. I finished
+with him and in addition finished peaceably. I, at least, was perfectly
+calm."
+
+"So much the better. Go to your mother and I will go to my room for a
+linen duster; for the dust on the road must be quite thick. I will be
+back soon."
+
+In fact he returned in a few minutes, dressed in a linen coat. About
+the same time a servant brought down Laskowicz's trunk, and soon the
+latter appeared, wrapped up in himself and gloomy as night, for the
+thought that he would not behold his "alabaster statuette" filled him
+with pain and sorrow; the more so, as after those hypnotic exertions,
+when daylight restored him to his senses, he began to feel guilty of an
+offence against her. Instead of swallowing with unnecessary haste his
+breakfast in his room upstairs, he might have come downstairs and gazed
+upon Pani Marynia for half an hour longer; but he had not wished to do
+that because, in the first place, he had not cared to meet Krzycki and,
+again, he felt that in such company he would enact the rôle of Pilate
+in Credo. At that moment he regretted that he had not come down and
+feasted his eyes with her form for the last time.
+
+But a pleasant surprise awaited him when the young ladies, in the
+company of Dolhanski and Ladislaus, came out on the balcony; and
+afterwards little Anusia, with whom he was always on friendly terms,
+having learned that he was leaving, ran with eyes overflowing with
+tears, pouting lips, and a bunch of flowers in her chubby fist to bid
+him good-bye. The young student took the flowers from her, kissed her
+hand, and with heavy heart sat in the carriage beside Gronski, who in
+the meantime was chatting with Pani Otocka.
+
+Anusia descended the stairs of the balcony and stood close to the
+carriage doors; upon perceiving which Marynia hastened after her and,
+evidently fearing that the little girl might be jolted when the
+carriage started to move, took her hand and began to comfort her.
+
+"Of course he will not forget you," she said, bending over the little
+girl, "he surely will write to you and when he becomes very lonesome,
+will return."
+
+After which, raising her eyes directly at Laskowicz:
+
+"Is it not true, sir? You will not forget her?"
+
+Laskowicz gazed into the depths of the pellucid pupils of her eyes, as
+if he wished to penetrate them to the bottom, and being really moved,
+replied with emphasis:
+
+"I will not forget."
+
+"Ah, you see," and Marynia pacified Anusia.
+
+But at that moment Krzycki approached.
+
+"Mother directed me to bid you God-speed." And he immediately shouted
+to the driver: "Drive on."
+
+The carriage moved, described a circle in the courtyard, and
+disappeared on the avenue beyond the gate.
+
+Miss Anney and the two sisters now went to Pani Krzycki, desiring to
+keep her company at breakfast, which she on the days of her painful
+suffering ate in bed. Ladislaus, recalling that he ordered some fish to
+be caught, walked directly across the garden towards the pond to see
+whether the catch was successful.
+
+But before he reached the bank, at a turning of the shady yoked elm
+lane, he unexpectedly met his morning's vision of "Diana in the
+fountain."
+
+At the sight of him the maid stood still; at first her countenance
+flushed as if a live flame passed through it; after which she grew so
+pale that the dark down above her lips became more marked, and she
+stood motionless, with downcast eyes and heaving breast, bewildered and
+abashed.
+
+But he spoke out with perfect freedom:
+
+"Good-day! good-day! Ah, what is your name?"
+
+"Pauline," she murmured, not raising her eyes.
+
+"A beautiful name." After which, he smiled somewhat roguishly and
+added:
+
+"But Panna Pauly--the next time--there is a bolt."
+
+"I will drown myself," cried the maid in a hysterical voice.
+
+And he began to speak in persuasive tones:
+
+"Why? For what? Why, no one is to blame,--that was a pure accident. I
+will not tell anybody about it and that I had seen such beauty; that
+was only my luck."
+
+And he proceeded to the fishing place.
+
+She followed his shapely form with her tear-dimmed eyes and stood on
+the spot for quite a while in reverie, for it seemed to her that by
+reason of the secret known to them alone something had transpired
+between them which would unite them forever.
+
+And afterwards when she recollected how that charming young heir of
+Jastrzeb had seen her, she shuddered from head to foot.
+
+
+
+                                   X
+
+Gronski was a man of gentle and kindly disposition. Notwithstanding his
+penchant for philosophical pessimism, he was not a pessimist in his
+relations to men and life. Speaking in other words, in theory he often
+thought like Ecclesiastes; in practice he preferred to tread in the
+footsteps of Horace, or rather as Horace would have trodden had he been
+a Christian. Continual communing with the ancient world gave him a
+certain serenity, not divested indeed of melancholy, but peaceful and
+harmonious. Owing to his high education and extensive reading, which
+enabled him to come in contact with all ideas which found lodgment in
+the human mind and familiarize himself with all forms of human life, he
+was exceedingly tolerant, and the most extreme views did not lead him
+into that condition which would cause him to screech like a frightened
+peacock. This deep forbearance and this conviction that all that is
+taking place has to occur, did not deprive him of energy of thoughts or
+words; it deprived him, however, in some measure of the ability to act.
+He was more of a spectator than an actor on the world's stage, but a
+well-disposed spectator, acutely susceptible and extraordinarily
+curious. He sometimes compared himself to a man sitting on the bank of
+a river and watching its course, who knows indeed that it must roll on
+and disappear in the sea, but who is nevertheless interested in the
+movements of its waves, its currents, its whirlpools, mists rising from
+its depths, and the play of light upon its waters. Besides his genuine
+love of ancient languages and authors, Gronski was interested in
+politics, science, literature, art, the contemporary social tendencies,
+and finally in the private affairs of mankind; and this last to such an
+extent that he was reluctantly charged with undue love of knowledge of
+his fellow-men. From this general, lively curiosity flowed his
+loquacity and desire to expatiate upon anything which passed before his
+eyes. He was well aware of this, and jocosely justified himself before
+his friends by citing Cicero, who according to him was one of the
+greatest discoursers and meddlers whose memory is preserved by history.
+Aside from these weaknesses, Gronski possessed a highly developed
+capacity for sympathizing with human suffering and human thoughts, and
+was on the whole a man of fine sentiment. Poland he loved sincerely as
+he wished her to be; that is, noble, enlightened, cultured, as European
+as possible, but not losing her Lechite traits, and holding in her hand
+the flag with the white eagle. That eagle seemed to him to be one of
+the noblest symbols on earth.
+
+Within the compass of his personal feelings, as a man and æsthete, he
+loved Marynia, but it was a love of a heavenly-blue hue, not scarlet.
+At the beginning he admired within her, as he said, "the music and the
+dove;" afterwards, not having any near relatives, he became attached to
+her like an older brother to a little sister, or as a father to a
+child. She, on her part, grateful for this attachment and at the same
+time esteeming his mind and character, reciprocated with her whole
+heart.
+
+In the main, human sympathy and friendship encompassed Gronski, for
+even strangers, even people separated from him by a chasm of belief and
+convictions, even those whom he annoyed with his habit of pressing his
+forefinger to his forehead and thinking aloud, esteemed him for his
+ability to sympathize, his humanity and forbearance, which were like
+the open doors of a hospitable house.
+
+Laskowicz also felt this. If he was to ride with Dolhanski, for
+instance, he would have preferred to go afoot and carry his luggage on
+his back. But Dolhanski in Jastrzeb pretended not to see him at all,
+while Gronski always greeted him amiably, and several times opened a
+conversation with him which never was lengthy for the reason that
+Laskowicz limited it and broke it off. Now, however, sitting beside
+Gronski he was pleased with his company. He cherished in his soul a
+hope that Gronski, speaking of the persons remaining in Jastrzeb, would
+say something about Panna Marynia and he craved to hear her name.
+Besides, he was moved by the leave-taking with little Anusia, for it
+happened for the first time in his life that any one bidding him
+farewell had tears in her eyes, and he was grateful to the chance which
+afforded him an opportunity of exchanging a few words with Panna
+Marynia before driving away. So his heart melted and he was willing to
+talk sincerely, especially with a man against whom he felt no
+antipathy.
+
+Somehow they did not wait long, for they had barely reached the end of
+the avenue when Gronski, with the kind and confidential anxiety of an
+older man who does not understand what has taken place and is ready to
+grumble, placed his hand upon his knee and said:
+
+"My dear sir, what mischief have you stirred up in Rzeslewo? It may now
+come to some serious collisions, and it is said that you people intend
+to do the same everywhere."
+
+"In Rzeslewo we did what the good of our idea demanded," answered
+Laskowicz.
+
+"But an agricultural school is involved and such schools are absolutely
+necessary for the people. Why did you circulate the story among the
+peasants that the land was to be divided among them?"
+
+Laskowicz hesitated as to whether to leave the question unanswered, but
+he was disarmed by Gronski's countenance, at once benevolent and
+worried, so he replied:
+
+"Every party must keep its eyes upon everything in order to know what
+is occurring in the country and take advantage of its opportunities. In
+the case of Rzeslewo I was the eye of the party, and in the further
+course of time I acted in accordance with the directions sent to me. In
+reality, we could not foresee how the deceased would dispose of his
+estate. But that is all one. We do not need schools founded by the
+classes with which we are at war and conducted in their spirit."
+
+"You do not need them, but the people need them."
+
+"The people can learn husbandry without the assistance of the nobility
+as soon as they own something on which they can learn. The lands of the
+nobles will be more beneficial to them than their schools. They have
+tilled that soil of Rzeslewo for hundreds of years, and if you figure
+at the rate of one penny for each day's labor, that land has been paid
+for a hundred times more than it is worth."
+
+"But you arouse merely a desire for land; you cannot give it. Besides,
+permit me, sir, to say that in respect to your doctrine you are
+illogical. For, of course, your aim is to nationalize the land. Now
+such land as that of Rzeslewo, for instance, donated for school
+purposes is, in a manner, nationalized; but a partition of it among the
+peasants would disintegrate it into individual ownership by a number of
+small holders."
+
+"The nationalization of land is our ultimate object, therefore distant.
+In the meantime we want to get the people into our camp, so we use such
+means as will lead to that end. We cannot give the land, but the people
+themselves can take it."
+
+"The most you can accomplish is to get them to take it. Assume that in
+Rzeslewo the husbandmen, tenants, and hired hands seize the land and
+divide it between them. What follows? Do you not see the clashes, the
+knouting, the courts and sanguinary executions which will overtake
+them?"
+
+"Do you not believe that this would be water for our mill? The more
+there is of that, the sooner our end will be attained."
+
+"And so I guessed rightly," said Gronski, recalling his statement to
+Ladislaus and Dolhanski that the summoning of the police would be
+playing into the hands of the agitators.
+
+Laskowicz wanted to ask what Gronski had guessed rightly, but the
+latter forestalled him and continued:
+
+"There is another singular thing. If misfortune overtakes any one of
+you, whether imprisonment, deportation, or death, then we, that is, the
+people who do not belong to your ranks, the people against whom you
+have declared war to the death, say: 'Too bad! such zeal! what a
+pity--such misguided sacrifice! how deplorable,--such a young head!'
+and we grieve for you. But you do not regret those people whose
+defenders you proclaim yourself to be. You arrange industrial strikes
+and pull the string until it breaks and later, when the manufacturers
+tie it again it becomes shorter than ever before. Already thousands are
+dying of starvation. And now you want an agricultural strike, after
+which bread becomes dearer and scarcer. Who suffers by this? Again the
+people. Truly at times it is impossible to resist the thought that you
+love your doctrines more than the people."
+
+To this Laskowicz answered in a harsh, hollow voice:
+
+"That is war. There must be sacrifices."
+
+Gronski involuntarily looked at him and, seeing his eyes set so closely
+to each other, thought:
+
+"No! Such eyes really can only look straight ahead and are incapable of
+taking in a wider horizon."
+
+For some time they rode in silence. A light southern breeze rose and
+bore with the cloud of dust the odor of the horses' sweat. From
+thickets on the wayside flew swarms of horse-flies, which pestered the
+horses so much that the coachman brushed their backs with the whip and
+swore.
+
+Suddenly Gronski asked:
+
+"Sacrifices! But to what divinity do you offer those sacrifices? What
+is your aim and what do you want?"
+
+"Daily bread and universal liberty."
+
+"But in the meantime, instead of bread, you give them stones. As to
+liberty, you will please, sir, take into consideration two thoughts.
+The first can be expressed thus: Woe to the nations that love liberty
+more than fatherland! Naturally I am not speaking of subjugated
+nations, for in such a situation the conceptions of liberty and
+fatherland become almost identical. But consider, sir, what really
+caused the political downfall of Poland and what is blighting France,
+which before our eyes is falling apart like a barrel without hoops? A
+second thought which often comes to my mind is that liberty crossing
+the boundaries set by national prosperity and safety is necessary only
+for rogues. You certainly will regard this last opinion as the acme of
+retrogression, but it is none the less the truth."
+
+Laskowicz's face reflected suspicion and offence, but it was so
+apparent that Gronski did not allude to him personally, and was only
+enunciating a general view, that he did not break off further
+conversation.
+
+"Liberty of association and syndicates," he said, "by the aid of which
+the proletariat is defending itself, do not endure any limitations.
+You, sir, after all confuse the conceptions of the people and the
+empire;--as a realist you are concerned above all about the empire."
+
+And Gronski began to laugh:
+
+"I, a realist?" he said. "I do not belong to the realists. They are not
+foolish people and on the whole act in good faith, but they commit one
+error. They go out to plough for the spring sowing in December; that is
+when the ploughshares cannot break the frozen ground. Or if you prefer
+another comparison, they buy their summer clothing during the severest
+winter season. I do not know; perhaps the sun will at some time shine
+and it will be warm, as everything in this world is possible, but in
+the meantime the ears are frost-bitten and the moths destroy the
+clothes."
+
+And thinking only of the realists, he continued:
+
+"Realists desire to reckon with this reality, which does not want to
+reckon with them or anybody else. For assume, sir, for example, that
+the name of a faction is Peter and this Peter in perfect sincerity
+turns to Reality and says: 'Listen, oh Maiden! I am prepared to
+acknowledge you and even love you, but in return permit me to stand on
+my own feet, to breathe a little and stretch out my aching bones.' And
+Reality with true Ural affability answers: 'Peter, my son Peter, you
+are wandering from the subject, and I take away from you the right to
+speak. I am not concerned about your acknowledging or loving me, but
+only that you should unbutton yourself, divest yourself of certain
+clothes which, speaking parenthetically, may be of service to me; that
+you should again lie upon that bench and as to the rest trust in my
+power and whip.' If any realist heard me he might dispute this, but in
+his soul, he would concede the justness of the illustration."
+
+"You will admit, then," exclaimed Laskowicz, with a certain triumph,
+"that we alone are hitting this Reality on the head?"
+
+"You are hitting her," answered Gronski, "but your fists rebound from
+her stony head and land in the pit of your own community, which loses
+its remnant of breath and swoons. By this, you even aid Reality."
+
+And here recollecting what he had said about the anthills and
+ant-eaters, he repeated it to Laskowicz.
+
+But Laskowicz would not agree to the comparison, observing that it had
+only a specious appearance of the truth, for the human conditions could
+not be adjusted by conditions existing in an ant-hill.
+
+"Whoever aspires to make the proletariat powerful by the same act gives
+the nation new strength sufficient to repel all attacks and blows. Only
+on this road can anything be gained, though only for the simple reason
+that it will have allies in the proletariat of adjoining countries, who
+from enemies will become friends."
+
+"That would only be a coalition at the bottom," said Gronski.
+
+"And for that reason irrepressible and effectual. For we are
+continually hearing of Poland! Poland! But those who all the time are
+repeating that combine with Poland various things which have outlived
+their usefulness, such as religion, church, and conservatism, which
+cover her with mould or with corpses which already are rotting. We
+alone unite Poland with an idea, powerful, young, and vital, if only
+for the reason that all youth is with us."
+
+"In the first place, not all youth, nor even one half," answered
+Gronski; "and again, the church has survived and will survive many a
+social movement; and thirdly, your idea is as ancient as poverty itself
+on this earth. If you desire, sir, to contend that the form which La
+Salle and Marx gave it is new, then I will answer you thus: Your modern
+socialism has too thick tufts of hair on its scalp, but when it begins
+to get bald, none will scoff at it so much as the young."
+
+"You are continually speaking in aphorisms, but fortunately aphorisms
+are like paper lanterns hung on the trees of dialectics; in the dark
+they can be seen; in the broad daylight they are extinct."
+
+"Behold another aphorism, cut and dried," answered Gronski, laughing.
+"No, sir, that which I said had another meaning. I wanted to say that
+the socialist commonwealth, if you ever establish one, will be such a
+surrender of human institutions, such a jamming of man into the
+driving-wheels of the general mechanism, such a restraint and slavery
+that even the present kingdom of Prussia, in comparison, would be a
+temple of liberty. And in reality, a reaction would set in at once. The
+press, literature, poetry, and art, in the name of individualism and
+its freedom, would declare an inexorable war; and do you know, sir, who
+would carry the banner of the opposition? Youth! That is as true as
+that those lapwings are now flying over that meadow."
+
+And here he pointed at a flock of lapwings, hovering over a field on
+which cattle were grazing. After which he added:
+
+"In France it is already beginning. Not long ago a few thousand
+students paraded the streets of Paris, shouting: 'Down with the
+Republic!'"
+
+"That is merely swinging around in a circle," replied Laskowicz; "that
+was a clash with radicalism and not with us. We also despise it. The
+bourgeoisie imagine that radicalism in a certain emergency will shield
+them from the revenge of the proletariat, but they are deceiving
+themselves. In the meanwhile they are clearing the way for the
+revolution."
+
+"In this I admit you are right;" answered Gronski, "I saw in Cairo how
+the _saïs_ ran before the carriages of the pashas shouting, 'Out of the
+way! Out of the way!' Radicalism is performing the same service for
+you."
+
+"Yes," corroborated Laskowicz, with a brightened countenance.
+
+Gronski took off his spectacles to wipe off the dust and winked his
+eyes.
+
+"But amongst you there are also differences. The French socialism is
+different, so is the German, and the English, and in their midst we
+find opposing camps. For that reason I shall not speak of socialism in
+general. I am only interested in the home product, of which you are an
+agent; for, from what you have said, I infer that you belong to the
+so-called Polish Socialistic party."
+
+"Yes," answered Laskowicz with energy.
+
+Gronski replaced the cleaned spectacles and unfurled all his sails:
+
+"You claim, therefore, that in the name of Poland you have joined youth
+with a powerful idea, through which you have infused into her veins new
+blood. And I reply that this idea, whatever it may be, has degenerated
+in your minds to the extent that it ceased to be a social idea and has
+become a social disease. You have infected Poland with a disease and
+nothing more. The new Polish edifice must be constructed with bricks
+and stones and not with bombs and dynamite. And in you there is neither
+brick nor stone. You are only a shriek of hatred. You have abandoned
+the old gospels and are incapable of creating a new one; in consequence
+of which you cannot offer any pledge of life. Your name is Error and
+for that reason the resultant force of your activities will be contrary
+to you presuppositions. By pulling the strings of strikes you lead the
+people to naught else than to debility and wretchedness and from feeble
+beggars you are not able to build a powerful Poland. That is the actual
+fact. Besides, on one and the same head you cannot wear two caps unless
+one is underneath. So I ask which is underneath? Is your socialism only
+a means of building Poland? Or is your Poland only a bait and catchword
+to gather the people into your camp? The socialists, who call
+themselves socialists without any qualifications and do not insist that
+the same entity can be fish and fowl at the same time, are, I admit,
+more logical. But you mislead the people. The truth is that even if you
+wanted to you could not do anything Polish, for there is nothing Polish
+in you. The schools from which you graduated did not take away the
+language, for they could not do that, but they molded your minds and
+souls in such a manner that you are not Poles, but Russians despising
+Russia. How Poland and Russia will fare by this is another matter, but
+such is the case. To you it seems that you are making a revolution, but
+it is an ape of a revolution, and in addition a foreign one. You are
+the evil flower of a foreign spirit. It is enough to take your
+periodicals, your writers, poets, and critics! Their whole mental
+apparatus is foreign. Their real aim is not even socialism nor the
+proletariat, but annihilation.--Firebrand in hand, and at the bottom of
+their souls hopelessness and the great nihil! And of course we know
+where it originated. The Galician socialism likewise is not an Apollo
+Belvedere, but nevertheless it has different lineaments and less broad
+cheek-bones. There is not in it this rabidness and also this despair
+and sorrow which conflicts with the Latin culture. You are like certain
+fruit: on one side green, on the other rotten. You are sick. That
+sickness explains the limitless want of logic, based on this; that
+crying against wars, you create war; decrying courts-martial, you
+condemn without any trial; and denouncing capital punishment, you
+thrust revolvers in the hands of the people and say, 'Kill.' This
+disease also explains your insane outbreaks, your indifference to
+consequences, and to the fate of those ill-fated men whom you make your
+tools. Let them assassinate, let them rob the treasuries, but whether
+later they will hang in the halter is a matter of little consequence to
+you. Your nihil permits you to spit upon blood and ethics. You open
+wide the doors to notorious scoundrels and allow them to represent not
+their own villany, but your idea. You, generally speaking, carry ruin
+with you and join Poland to that ruin. In your party there are, without
+doubt, men of conviction and good faith, but blind, who in their
+blindness are serving a different master than they imagine."
+
+Gronski knew that he was speaking in vain, but whether from habit, or
+because he wanted to relieve himself of all that had accumulated within
+him, he talked until the rattle of the wheels on the city pavements
+drowned his words. They parted rather coldly before the hotel, for
+Gronski's views touched the young medical student to the quick. He did
+not admit that Gronski was in the least right, but that such views
+should be entertained filled him with rage and indignation. He indeed
+said to himself, "It is not worth while answering, but our minds are
+not foreign, and our idea is new. Society is like a person who, having
+for many years lived in a house, is always reluctant to move into
+another though that other is much better." Nevertheless the words of
+Gronski stung him so deeply that at that moment he hated him as much as
+he did Krzycki and would have given a great deal if he could trample
+upon and crush the charges, so odious to him. Unfortunately for him he
+lacked time for it, and besides, weariness after a sleepless night
+began to overpower him more and more.
+
+Gronski went to the post-office, received a package with the saddle,
+and afterwards drove to the doctor's, but learning that the latter
+would not be free for an hour, he left the carriage at his door and
+went to visit the old notary and at the same time deliver to him an
+invitation from Krzycki to visit Jastrzeb.
+
+The notary was pleased to receive the invitation, as he had decided to
+visit the Krzyckis without one, in order, as he said, to behold the
+"eyes of his head" and hear her miracle-working violin. In the meantime
+he began to speak about the events which had occurred in the city and
+neighborhood. He was so impressed and affected by them that his
+customary choler left him, and in his words there was an undertone of
+bitter sorrow and heavy anxiety for the future of the community, which
+seemed to have lost its head. Factory strikes and to some extent
+agricultural strikes were spreading. In the city the lime-kilns had
+ceased to burn and the cement works were at a standstill. The
+workingmen, who, not having any savings, formerly lived from hand to
+mouth, in the first moments lacked bread. After the example of Warsaw,
+a local committee was organized for the purpose of collecting funds to
+prevent starvation. But as a result, this peculiar situation was
+created: the people most opposed to the cessation of work encouraged it
+by furnishing food to the idle. "A veritable round of errors!" said the
+worried old gentleman. "Do not give; then starvation follows and
+despair hurls the workingman into the arms of the socialists; give, and
+you also are playing into their hands, because they have something with
+which to support the strike and can convince the people of their
+omnipotence." He further related that outside of the committee the
+socialists were collecting money, or rather were extorting it from the
+timid by threats; that they called upon him but he told them that he
+would give for bread but not for bombs. They then threatened him with
+death, for which he had them thrown out of his office.
+
+For a while he remained silent for the inborn choler assumed supremacy
+over sorrow; he also began to roll his eyes angrily and moved his jaws
+furiously, as if he wanted to eat all the socialists, together with
+their red standard.
+
+Afterwards, when his rage had spent itself, he continued:
+
+"Day before yesterday they sent me a sentence of death which they
+surely will execute, as they have declared war against the government
+and they butcher their own countrymen. Well, that is a small matter!
+Three days ago they killed a master tinner and two workingmen in the
+cement factory. In Wilczodola, a few versts from here, they waylaid and
+maimed Pan Baezynski and robbed the branch office of the governmental
+whiskey monopoly besides. Szremski, that doctor for whom you came and
+whose optimism sticks like a bone in my throat, says that it is but a
+passing storm! Yes, everything does pass away, individuals as well as
+whole nations. I fear that ours too is passing away; for we have become
+a nation of bandits and banditism never can be a permanent institution.
+Well! The people, after these acts of violence, have in reality become
+tired of robbing for the benefit of their party and now prefer to rob
+on their own account. Do I know whether we will arrive alive at
+Krzyckis to-day? Bah! Krzycki ought to be more on his guard than any
+one else. He passes for a rich man and for that reason they will keep
+him in their eye. I will go to Jastrzeb for if I am to be assassinated,
+before it takes place I want to hear once more our child-wonder. But in
+truth, Krzycki, instead of inviting more guests, should dismiss those
+who are staying there now. The doctor, if he had any sense, would find
+an excuse for dispersing them all to-morrow."
+
+"I heard that he is an excellent man," said Gronski.
+
+"An excellent devil!" answered the notary. "You remember whom you have
+among you, and it is only about her that I am concerned."
+
+Gronski, though disquieted and distressed by Dzwonkowski's narrative,
+could not refrain from laughing when he heard the last admonition, for
+translated into plain words it meant, "May the deuce impale you all, if
+only no evil befalls the little violinist." But whenever Marynia was
+involved he himself was always willing to subscribe to similar
+sentiments; therefore he began to pacify the aged official by telling
+him that in Jastrzeb there were, counting the guests and manor people,
+too many hands and too many arms to have any fears of an attack; and
+that, besides, Pani Krzycki's probable departure would end the visit of
+the guests. Further conversation was broken by the arrival of Doctor
+Szremski who, having dashed in like a bomb, announced that he was free
+for the remainder of the day and could ride with Gronski.
+
+Gronski gazed at him with great interest, for even in Warsaw he heard
+of him as an original and prominent personality, in the favorable
+meaning of those words.
+
+He was quite a young man, with tawny hair, swarthy like a gypsy, with a
+countenance alive with fire, bubbling with health, somewhat loud and
+brisk in his manners. In the city he played an uncommon rôle not only
+because he had the largest medical practice, but because he belonged to
+the most active men in any field. He entered into every project as if
+to an attack, and thanks to a sober and an exceptional temper of mind,
+whatever he did was done, on the whole, sensibly and well. He was, as
+it were, a personification of that phenomenon, frequent in Poland,
+where, when amidst a public not only trammelled but negligent and
+indolent by nature, a man of energy and with an idea is found, he is
+able to accomplish more than any German, Frenchman, or Englishman could
+have done. He himself participated in every undertaking and compelled
+others to work with such spirit that he was nicknamed "Doctor Spur." He
+established secret schools, reading rooms, nurseries for the children,
+economical associations, and for everything he gave money, of which he
+earned a great deal, though he treated gratis throngs of the penniless.
+The local socialists hated him, for by his popularity and influence
+with the workingmen he frustrated their efforts. The authorities looked
+at him with suspicion and with an evil eye. A man who loved his
+country, organized life, spread enlightenment, and donated money for
+public uses, must in their eyes be a suspicious character and deserved
+at least deportation to a "distant province." Fortunately for him, the
+governor's wife imagined that she was suffering from some nervous
+ailment and the local captain of the gendarmery was actually troubled
+with incipient aneurism of the aorta. So then the governor's wife, who
+through her connections had made her husband governor and ruled the
+province as she pleased, was of the opinion that if it were not for
+this "l'homme qui rit" (as she called the doctor), eternal mourning
+would have befallen the governor, and the captain of the gendarmes
+feared alike the gubernatorial connections and the aneurism. He had
+indeed prepared a report which he regarded as the masterpiece of his
+life; and perhaps he became ill because he dared not send it to the
+higher authorities. Sometimes in his dreams, he arrested the doctor,
+subjected him to an examination, forced him to divulge his accomplices,
+and dreamt also that the report might be used in case the governor and
+himself were transferred to another province; but it was only a dream.
+In reality the report reposed on the bottom of a drawer and the doctor,
+who read it (for the captain showed it to him in proof of what he could
+have done but did not do), laughed so ingenuously and was so confident
+of himself that it occurred to the captain's mind that in reality there
+was no joking with the governor's wife or the aneurism.
+
+The doctor laughed because he was by nature unusually jovial. In
+certain cases he could think and speak gravely, but at chance meetings
+and at casual talks, in which there was no time for weighty discourse,
+he preferred to slide over the surface of the subject, scatter jests,
+and tell anecdotes, which later were repeated over the city, and which
+he himself much enjoyed. His optimism and beaming countenance created
+incurable optimism and hope and good thoughts wherever he appeared. He
+joked with the sick about their sickness and with jokes dispelled their
+fears. His mirth won the people and a well-grounded medical knowledge
+and efficacious watchfulness over their health and lives assured him a
+certain kind of sway over them. For this reason he did not mind the
+"big fish," or in fact anybody. Such was the case with the notary whose
+perpetual choler and irascibility were known all over the city, so that
+social relations with him were maintained only by those who were
+exceptionally interested in music. The doctor, who also cracked jokes
+about music, sought his company, purposely to nettle him and afterwards
+to tell about his outbreaks, to his own amusement and that of his
+hearers.
+
+And now he rushed in with the crash of a squall, became acquainted with
+Gronski, asked about the health of Pani Krzycki and about the pretty
+ladies staying in Jastrzeb of whom he had already heard; after which,
+observing the distressed face of the notary, he exclaimed merrily:
+
+"What a mien! Is it so bad with us in this world, or what? Seventy-five
+years! A great thing! Truly it is not the age of strength, but it is
+the strength of the age! Please show your pulse!"
+
+Here, without further asking the notary, he grabbed his hand, and
+pulling out his watch, began to count:
+
+"One, two--one, two!--one, two! Bad! It is the pulse of one in love.
+There are symptoms of a slight heartburn! Such is usually the case.
+Such a machine cannot last more than twenty-five years,--at the most
+thirty. Thank you!"
+
+Saying this he dropped the old man's hand, whose mien brightened in
+expectation, for he thought that twenty-five years added to what he had
+already lived would make quite a respectable age.
+
+Pretending, however, to scowl, he answered:
+
+"Always those jokes! The doctor thinks that I care for those wretched
+twenty-five years. It is not worth while living now. Of course you know
+what is taking place. I have such a mien because I was just talking
+with Pan Gronski about it. I also have a heartburn. Well, I ask what
+will become of us if all the people should follow the socialists?"
+
+But the doctor began to swing his arms and deny this categorically. Not
+all the people, nor a half, nor a hundredth part. And even those who
+say that they belong to the socialists say so under terror or through
+misapprehension.
+
+"I will give you gentlemen two examples," he said. "I live on a lower
+floor and beneath me in the basement there is a locksmith's shop. This
+morning I overheard fragments of a conversation between my servant and
+the locksmith. The locksmith said, 'I am a socialist; there is nothing
+more to be said about it.' 'Why is nothing more to be said?' said my
+servant. 'Then you do not believe in God and do not love Poland.' 'And
+why should I not believe in God and love Poland?' 'Because the
+socialists do not believe in God and do not love Poland.' And the
+locksmith replied, 'So? Then may sickness plague them.' That is the way
+people belong to the socialists. I do not say all, but a great many.
+Ha!"
+
+And he began to laugh.
+
+"The doctor always finds an anecdote," grumbled the notary; "but let us
+tell the truth, thousands belong to them."
+
+"Then why do they not elect one deputy in the kingdom?" retorted the
+doctor. "Bombs explode loudly, so they can be heard better than any
+other work. But how many thousands participated in the national parade?
+Do these also belong to them? When in a factory ten men manage to hang
+a red flag on the chimney it seems that the whole factory is red, but
+that is not true."
+
+"Why do not the others tear it down?"
+
+"Simple reason! Because the police tear it down."
+
+"And also because the socialists have revolvers and the others have
+not," added Gronski.
+
+"Undoubtedly," continued the doctor. "I have ten times closer relations
+with the workingmen than any manager of a factory. I go into their
+dwellings and know their home life. I know them. Socialism is engaged
+in a struggle with the bureaucracy; so it seems to many that they
+belong to it. But, to the outrages only the worst and most ignorant
+element assents. The latter soon change into bandits, and that is not
+surprising. Their consciences have been taken away from them and
+revolvers are given to them. But the majority--the better and more
+honest majority--have under the ribs Polish hearts; and for that reason
+this demon, who wants to snatch and carry them away, called himself, as
+a bait, Polish. Ah! they only need schools, enlightenment, a knowledge
+of Polish history, in order not to allow themselves to be hoodwinked!
+Ay, that is what they need! Ay, ay!"
+
+And in his gesticulations, he seized the old man's arm and began to
+turn him around.
+
+"Schools, Pan Notary, schools; for the Lord's mercy!"
+
+Blood rushed to the notary's head from indignation.
+
+"Are you crazy!" he yelled. "Why do you jolt me like a pear?"
+
+"True," said the doctor, leaving him alone. "True, but the extent to
+which these poor fellows misapprehend things is enough to cause one to
+weep and laugh at the same time."
+
+"No, not to laugh," said Gronski.
+
+"Do you know, sir, that at times, yes," exclaimed the doctor; "for
+listen to my second instance. Last Sunday, being tired as a dog, I
+drove out to the Gorczynski woods, just outside of the city, for a
+little airing. In the woods from the opposite direction came more than
+a dozen of workingmen who evidently were enjoying a May outing. I saw
+one of them carrying a red flag on a newly whittled stick. He probably
+brought it in his pocket and fastened it when they got to the woods.
+'Good!' I thought to myself, 'Socialists!' And now, when they were
+near, the one who carried the flag sang lustily to the tune of
+'Bartoszu! Bartoszu!' that which I will repeat to you, and I pledge my
+word, I will not add or subtract anything.
+
+
+            'Kosciuszko, though a cobbler,
+            Oj, soundly thrashed the Germans,
+            Oj, soundly thrashed the Germans;
+            Only, it is a great pity
+            For us, that he drowned.
+            Only it is a great pity
+            For us, that he drowned.'"
+
+
+"Ah, honest simplicity!" exclaimed Gronski. "I would embrace him and
+present him with a history of Poland of recent times."
+
+"Wait, sir," shouted the doctor. "I stopped my socialists of strange
+rites. It appeared that almost all were known to me and I said: 'For
+the fear of God, citizens, Kosciuszko was not a cobbler, he never
+thrashed the Germans, and he did not drown, only Prince Joseph
+Poniatowski did. Come to me and I will give you a book about
+Kosciuszko, Kilinski,[4] and Prince Joseph Poniatowski, for you have
+made of them a bigos.[5] They began to thank me and then I asked: 'What
+has become of the eagle on your flag? did he go hunting for mushrooms?'
+They became confused. The flag-bearer started to explain why they had
+no eagle. 'Why, may it please the doctor,' he said, 'they told us: Do
+not take a flag with an eagle, for if they take the flag away from you,
+they will insult the eagle and you will suffer shame and disgrace.'
+Yes. In this manner they cheat the Polish heart of our own people."
+
+But the notary did not want to part with his black spectacles.
+
+"Well, what of it?" he asked. "Do you claim that if it was not for this
+and that there would not be any socialism amongst us?"
+
+"There is socialism over the entire world," rejoined the doctor,
+"therefore there must be with us. Only if it was not for this and that,
+there would not accompany it highway robbery, savagery, and blindness;
+there would not be this modern socialism which has styled itself
+Polish, though its pitch can be smelt a mile away."
+
+"Bravo!" cried Gronski. "I said the same thing in other words to
+another person on the road from Jastrzeb."
+
+"Ay, Jastrzeb," said the doctor looking at his watch. "Here we are
+talking and it is time that we started."
+
+"Perhaps the notary can go with us," said Gronski. "The carriage has
+seats for four."
+
+"I can. Only I will take my flute with me. Well!" answered the notary.
+
+"Well!" repeated Szremski, mimicking him. "Aha, the flute! Then there
+will be a serenade in Jastrzeb, while here the socialists will rob the
+office."
+
+The notary who was going after his flute, suddenly turned around,
+sniffed vehemently, and said:
+
+"To-day they sent me a sentence of death."
+
+"Bah! I already have received two of them," merrily answered the
+doctor.
+
+A quarter of an hour later they were on the road to Jastrzeb. On this
+occasion, Gronski and the doctor drew so closely to each other and
+talked so much, that, as Gronski said later, there was not a place in
+which to stick a pin.
+
+
+
+                                   XI
+
+The distance between the city and Jastrzeb was not more than a mile and
+a half. For this reason Gronski, the notary, and Szremski reached their
+destination before four o'clock. They were expected for dinner but in
+the meantime Ladislaus conducted the ladies over the sawmill; so the
+doctor repaired to Pani Krzycki and Gronski ordered the saddle unpacked
+and taken to Marynia's room. In a half hour the young company returned
+and, greeting the notary, assembled in the salon to await the dinner.
+The notary at the sight of Marynia forgot all about death sentences,
+about the outrages perpetrated in the city, about socialism and the
+whole world and, after kissing her hand, appropriated her exclusively
+for himself. Gronski began to initiate Pani Otocka into the reasons of
+his trip to the city, while Krzycki conversed with Miss Anney and
+became as engrossed with her as if there were no one else in the room.
+It was apparent that his exclamation on that morning that "one could
+lose his head" was but a confirmation of a symptom which intensified
+more and more with each moment. His uncommonly handsome young face
+glowed as if from the dawn, for in his bosom he did have the dawn of a
+new, happy feeling, which beamed through the eyes, the smile on the
+lips, through every motion, and through the words he addressed to Miss
+Anney. The spell held him more and more; a secret magnet drew him with
+steadily increasing power to this light-haired maid, looking so young,
+buxom, and alluring. He did not even attempt to resist that power.
+Gronski observed that he evinced his rapture too plainly and that in
+the presence of his mother he should have acted with more
+circumspection. Miss Anney also felt this, as from time to time blushes
+suffused her countenance and she pushed back her chair a little,
+besides glancing about at those present as if in fear that the
+excessive affability of the young host towards her might attract too
+much attention. But the matter, however, was agreeable to her, for in
+her eyes a certain joy flamed. Only Dolhanski gazed at her from time to
+time; the others were mutually occupied.
+
+The appearance of the doctor ended the conversations. Krzycki, after
+introducing him to the ladies, together with them began to inquire
+about the health of the patient, but the doctor was evidently
+disinclined to speak at any length, for he answered in a few words and
+in accordance with his habit spoke so loudly that Dolhanski, in his
+surprise, placed the monocle on his eye.
+
+"Nothing serious! Monsummano! Monsummano! or something like that! I
+will prescribe everything! Nothing serious! Nothing!"
+
+"But what is Monsummano?" asked Ladislaus.
+
+"That is a warm hole in Italy in which rheumatism is boiled out. A kind
+of purgatory after which salvation follows! Besides Italy, a delightful
+journey! I will prescribe everything in detail."
+
+Gronski, who often had travelled over Italy, also knew this place and
+began to describe it to the curious ladies. In the meantime Ladislaus
+talked about his mother's health with the doctor, who, however,
+listened to him inattentively, repeating, "I will prescribe
+everything," shaking his head, and looking about him, as if with
+curiosity, at each of the ladies in rotation. Suddenly he slapped his
+hand on his knee with a thwack which could be heard all over the room
+and exclaimed:
+
+"What marvellous faces there are in Jastrzeb and what skulls! Ha!"
+
+Dolhanski dropped his monocle, the ladies looked amazed, but Krzycki
+began to laugh.
+
+"The doctor has a habit of thinking aloud," he said.
+
+"And bawling out yet more loudly," grumbled the notary.
+
+"How is your flute?" the doctor replied, laughingly.
+
+But at that moment the servant announced that dinner was ready. Hearing
+this, Pani Otocka turned with a peculiar smile to her sister and said:
+
+"Marynia, your hair is all disheveled. Look at yourself in a glass."
+
+The young lady raised her hands to her head, but as there were no
+mirrors in the salon, she, a little confused, said:
+
+"Beg pardon, I will return immediately."
+
+She hastened to her room, but soon returned still more confused with
+blushes and with a radiant countenance.
+
+"A ladies' saddle!" she began to cry, "a most beautiful ladies'
+saddle!"
+
+And passing her eyes over those present, she pointed at Gronski:
+
+"Was it you?"
+
+"I confess," said Gronski, spreading out his hands and bowing his head.
+
+She, on her part, had such a desire to kiss his hand that if the doctor
+and the notary had not been present, she certainly would have done so.
+In the meanwhile she began to thank him with effusive and perfectly
+childish glee.
+
+"I see, Panna Marynia, that you are fond of horseback riding," said
+Szremski.
+
+"I am fond of everything."
+
+"There you have it," cried the amused doctor.
+
+"Only secure a gentle horse; otherwise it will not be hard to meet with
+accidents," observed the notary.
+
+It soon became apparent that such a one could be procured, for on the
+economical Jastrzeb estate horses were the only item of which a strict
+account was not kept. Krzycki indeed maintained that they could be bred
+profitably, but he did not breed them for gain but from that
+traditional love of them, the immoderateness of which the reverend
+Skarga,[6] a few centuries before, censured in his ancestors in the
+eloquent words: "Dearer to you is the offspring of a mare than the Son
+of God!" Horses therefore were not wanting in Jastrzeb and the
+conversation about them and horsemanship continued, to the great
+dissatisfaction of the notary, throughout the whole dinner. Those
+present learned that Marynia was not entirely a novice, for at Zalesin,
+at her sister's, she rode in summer time almost daily in the company of
+the old manager on a clumsy, lanky pony, named Pierog. Her sister would
+not permit her to ride on any other horse and "what enjoyment could
+there be riding on Pierog?" She stated that this Pierog had a nasty
+habit of returning home, not when she wanted to, but when he desired
+to, and no urging nor threats could swerve him from his purpose when
+once formed. She also sincerely envied Miss Anney who rode so well and
+had ridden all the horses in Zalesin, even those unaccustomed to the
+saddle. But in England all the ladies ride on horseback, while with us
+somebody is worrying about somebody else. She hoped, however, that in
+Jastrzeb with so many skilled riders, "Zosia" will not have any fears
+about her; and that immediately after dinner they will go on an
+equestrian excursion and that she will be allowed to join the party,
+without, thank God, Pierog.
+
+Ladislaus, in whom expectations of distant horseback jaunts in Miss
+Anney's company had excited fond hopes, and whom, as well as the
+others, the story about Pierog had put into good humor, turned to
+Marynia and said:
+
+"I will give you a horse with iron legs, who is called 'Swimmer'
+because he can swim excellently. As for an excursion, the day is long
+and we could arrange one, if it were not that it is beginning to get
+cloudy."
+
+"It will surely clear up," answered Marynia, "and I will dress myself
+right after dinner."
+
+In fact, after dinner the guests were barely able to finish their black
+coffee before she appeared on the veranda, dressed in a black,
+tight-fitting riding-habit. In it she was simply charming, but so
+slender and tall that Gronski, gazing at her with his usual admiration,
+was the first to begin jesting:
+
+"A real little flute," he said. "The wind will carry off such a
+woodcock, especially since it is commencing to blow."
+
+And a strong blast of the western, warm wind really began to bend the
+tree-tops and drive here and there over the heavens clouds which on the
+azure background assumed large, ruddy, and globular forms.
+
+Ladislaus, however, gave orders to saddle the horses and soon
+thereafter hastened to the stables to supervise the work. Miss Anney
+went upstairs to change her clothes; Gronski and Dolhanski followed her
+example. On the veranda remained only Pani Zosia, the doctor, the
+notary, and, attired as an equestrienne, Marynia, who cast uneasy
+glances alternately at the stables and at the sky, which was becoming
+more and more cloudy. After a time the first drops of rain began to
+fall and immediately thereafter a more important hindrance to their
+excursion occurred, for unexpectedly neighbors from Gorek, Pani Wlocek
+and daughter, the same who attended the funeral of Zarnowski, arrived
+in a carriage. In view of this, the horseback jaunt had to be
+abandoned.
+
+The Wlocek ladies came to ascertain the condition of Pani Krzycki's
+health and at the same time to beg Ladislaus for advice and succor, for
+in Gorek an agricultural strike had suddenly broke out among the manor
+and farmhouse laborers. The old coachman could hardly be induced to
+drive them to Jastrzeb for he was threatened with a beating. Both
+ladies were much frightened, much powdered, and more pathetic than
+ever. After the first greetings, mutual introductions, and a short talk
+about Pani Krzycki's rheumatism, the mother, at the after-dinner tea,
+addressed Ladislaus in doleful terms, adjuring him to hasten, like a
+knight of old, to the defence of oppressed innocence. She said that she
+was not concerned about herself, as after the losses she had survived
+and the suffering she had undergone, "the silent grave" in the Rzeslewo
+cemetery was the most appropriate refuge for her; but an orphan
+remained who still had some claims upon life. Let him extend some
+friendly protection and shield from blows and attacks this lone orphan
+for whom she herself was ready to sacrifice her life. To this the
+orphan replied that she too was not concerned about herself but about
+the peace of Mamma;--and in this manner the conversation changed almost
+exclusively in to a dialogue between these ladies in which the words,
+"Allow me, child," "Permit me, Mamma," were repeated every minute and
+in which the immoderate willingness of both parties to be immolated
+became in the end almost tart. Ladislaus, knowing these ladies of old,
+listened gravely; Pani Zosia looked at the bottom of her cup, not
+daring to glance at Marynia, who contracted the corners of her mouth;
+the notary sniffed and chewed; and the doctor ejaculated his "Ha!" with
+such resonance that the flies whisked off the net mantle which covered
+the butter and pastry.
+
+But, in the meanwhile, out-of-doors the storm and thunder began to rage
+and interrupted the sacrificial dialogue between mother and daughter.
+The rooms darkened; on the windows for a time the patter of the shower
+was heard; and the lightning illuminated the cloudy firmament. But this
+lasted a brief while; after which Ladislaus began to reply and promise
+aid to the ladies, always with becoming gravity but at the same time
+with a peculiar kind of expression on his face which portended that the
+young wag had a surprise concealed in his bosom. He announced,
+therefore, that he was ready to mount a horse and invest Gorek with his
+care; afterwards he quieted the ladies with the assurances that the
+manifestations which had so alarmed them were transient; that in
+Rzeslewo, it was temporarily the same, but that undoubtedly within a
+short time means of foiling that evil would be found. In conclusion he
+turned to Pani Wlocek and, pointing at Dolhanski, unexpectedly said:
+
+"I do not know whether my protection will be effective for I must watch
+at the same time over Rzeslewo and over Jastrzeb, in which at present
+we have such agreeable guests. But here is Pan Dolhanski, a man well
+known for his courage, energy, and sagacity, who has given me the best
+advice about Rzeslewo. If he wished to aid you or if he agreed to take
+into his hands the affairs of Gorek and Kwasnoborz, I am certain that
+he would establish order there in the course of a few days, and under
+his wings, ladies, no dangers could befall you."
+
+All eyes, and particularly the eyes of the mother and daughter, were
+now directed at Dolhanski. But if Ladislaus, who wanted to revenge
+himself on him for his "officiousness," calculated that he would get
+him into an unexpected scrape, he was mistaken, for Dolhanski coolly
+bowed to the ladies from Gorek and replied, drawling each word as
+usual:
+
+"With the greatest pleasure, but we must wait until the rain stops."
+
+"Then, sir, you agree to be our knight?" cried Pani Wlocek, extending
+her hands towards him and at the same time gazing at him with a
+suddenly awakened curiosity and surprise.
+
+"With the greatest pleasure," repeated Dolhanski; "the strike will be
+over to-morrow."
+
+His complete self-assurance impressed everybody, particularly the
+ladies from Gorek. At the same time, the cold tone in which he spoke
+affected Pani Wlocek so much that for a while she lost her usual
+pathetic volubility and after an interval she replied:
+
+"In the name of an orphan, I thank you."
+
+But the orphan apparently preferred to thank him herself, for she
+stretched out both hands towards Dolhanski and after a brief silence,
+which might be explained by her emotions, spoke in a voice resembling
+the rustle of leaves:
+
+"I am concerned about mamma."
+
+"So am I," Dolhanski assured her.
+
+But the mother and daughter now turned to each other:
+
+"Allow me, child; here I am nothing."
+
+"Permit me, Mamma; Mamma is everything."
+
+"But I beg pardon, child--"
+
+"Pardon me, Mamma,--"
+
+And the strife about the burnt offerings began anew. It did not,
+however, last long, as, firstly, the doctor began to make so much noise
+that they could be heard with difficulty and then, Pani Krzycki, whom
+the young physician permitted to rise and move to an armchair, sent a
+message asking the ladies to visit her. After their departure the
+doctor went to the office to write out specifically where and how the
+cure should be conducted; the notary became occupied with his flute in
+the vestibule. Gronski, Dolhanski, and Ladislaus for a while remained
+alone.
+
+Then Dolhanski addressed Ladislaus:
+
+"What are these Gorek and Kwasnoborz?"
+
+"About fifteen hundred acres, and there is also Zabianka."
+
+"So I have heard. And the soil?"
+
+"Almost the same as at Rzeslewo. In Zabianka it is said to be better."
+
+"So I have heard. The state of the fortune?"
+
+"Bad and good. Bad, because these ladies will not invest in anything.
+Good, because they have no debts and every penny which flows from the
+husbandry, after it gets into the stockings, never beholds daylight
+again."
+
+"That is what I have been waiting for," said Dolhanski.
+
+"They are as stingy as they are pathetic, and who knows whether they
+are not stingier?"
+
+"Let them hoard."
+
+And Gronski began to laugh and quoted:
+
+"Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves--sic vos non vobis mellificates
+apes--"
+
+"Yes," said Dolhanski.
+
+After which suddenly to Gronski:
+
+"To-morrow I will propose for the hand of Cousin Otocka."
+
+"To-day you are full of surprises," replied Gronski.
+
+"Wait! And I will be given the mitten."
+
+"Without any doubt."
+
+"But I want to have a clear conscience. After which I will drive over
+to Gorek."
+
+"That is already known. And you will quell the agitated waves of a
+strike."
+
+"In the course of a day. As you see me here."
+
+After which he pointed at Ladislaus.
+
+"That simplex servus Dei became unwittingly an instrument in the hands
+of Providence. The Lord often avails Himself of pigmies. For this, when
+you become bankrupt in Jastrzeb, apply to me at Gorek."
+
+"Provided that before that time you are not reduced to the same level,"
+responded Ladislaus, laughing. "You are an excellent leveller."
+
+"We live in an age of universal levelling. But what is Panna Wlocek's
+Christian name?"
+
+"Kajetana."
+
+"Plait-il?"
+
+"Kajetana," repeated Krzycki. "Her father's christian name was Kajetan
+and she was named in memory of him."
+
+"Tell me then why that well-stocked Kajetana preserved herself in her
+virgin state until the age of thirty or more?"
+
+"Thirty-five, to be accurate. That is what my mother said not long ago.
+She remembers the day of her birth. As to why she is unmarried the
+reason is plain. Parties were not wanting but those ladies looked too
+high. In the neighborhood, we only have the common nobility; and among
+the Krzyckis there was not a bachelor of suitable age. You, in this
+respect, would correspond to their fantasy--"
+
+"That is well!" answered Dolhanski, "only that name! Kajetana!
+Kajetana! That seems to be a kind of carriage or boat! Do I know?"
+
+Gronski and Ladislaus regarded Dolhanski's announcement as a joke, as
+one of the sallies of wit which often crossed his mind. He, however,
+kept his word, for on the following day he proposed to Pani Otocka with
+due gravity and, after receiving an equally grave refusal, rode off to
+Gorek and settled there for a time. The young ladies, and even Pani
+Krzycki, were greatly amused and interested in all this, especially
+when the news reached them that the agrarian strike in Gorek ended the
+same day on which Dolhanski appeared. And it also ended a few days
+later in Rzeslewo, partly from the force of circumstances, from the
+conviction innate in the peasant soul that the "holy land" is not to be
+trifled with, and partly owing to the news which spread over the
+village that somebody from some kind of a committee was to come and
+decide the whole matter. Such was the case with the manor servants. The
+peasants and husbandmen did not want to agree to any school and would
+not relinquish the possession of the manor lands, but awaited this
+somebody in equal fear and hope, sacredly believing that not the will
+nor the law but some unknown power would decide everything. In the
+villages, in the meantime, more peaceful days ensued, and though the
+daily papers brought intelligence of increased commotion in the cities,
+Ladislaus believed that the local storm had passed away. This belief
+was shared by the guests. As the doctor had announced that Pani
+Krzycki's departure depended upon the first signs of alleviation of her
+suffering, Ladislaus determined to take the best advantage he could of
+the brief time the young ladies were to remain in Jastrzeb. The
+horseback excursions began and unless prevented by rain took place
+every morning. They were particularly agreeable to Ladislaus because
+Gronski, riding leisurely, kept company with his "adoration," while he
+could pass hours alone with Miss Anney. Both were expert riders; they
+usually dashed ahead and most frequently disappeared from view in the
+distance. At times, they set off at full gallop, and intoxicated
+themselves with the mad speed, the air, the sun, and each other. At
+other times they rode abreast, slowly, stirrup to stirrup, and then the
+silence into which they fell, anxious, full of inexpressible delight,
+linked them with ties yet stronger than those with which their
+conversation bound them. With a glance Krzycki scanned the figure of
+the golden-haired maiden, resembling on horseback the divine Grecian
+forms or those on Etruscan vases, and feasted his eyes. He listened to
+her voice and it seemed to him that it was music still nearer
+perfection than that which poured forth from Marynia's violin. At times
+when he assisted her to mount her horse, he had to exert the full
+strength of his will to refrain from pressing her foot to his lips and
+forehead. And often he thought that if he ever dared to do so, he would
+desire to remain in that position as long as possible. To this feminine
+being all his thoughts were impelled, and through the might and flight
+of his feeling, his desires ceased to be like crawling serpents and
+became like winged birds, capable of soaring unto heaven. His love each
+day became more like a whirlpool which drags to itself and engulfs
+everything. It seemed to Ladislaus that the air, the sun, the fields,
+the forests, the meadows, the scent of the trees and flowers, the song
+of birds and the evening playing of Marynia,--all these were only some
+of the elements of that love which belonged to Miss Anney and entered
+into her being and, without her, would be insignificant and without
+essence. Moreover, the whirlpool seized him and plunged him more and
+more deeply with a power to which each day he offered less resistance,
+for the simple reason that the abyss appeared to him to be the abyss of
+happiness. Ladislaus now did not surrender her to any Englishman "with
+protruding jaw" or any Scot "with bare knees," and would not have given
+her up for the whole of England and Scotland. He ceased trying to
+persuade himself that this was a type of woman, which he might have
+loved and, instead, he confessed to himself sincerely that she was a
+woman whom he did love. Love generated in him a bright and determined
+will; so now he thought, with the strict logic of feeling, that he
+craved to win this, to him, most precious and most desired being, to
+take and retain her for his whole life. There was only one road leading
+to that: therefore he determined to enter upon it with that heedless
+willingness which a man, who desires to be happy, evinces. Sometimes
+also a confession quivered upon his lips. He restrained it however and
+deferred it from day to day, at first owing to a timidity which every
+enamoured heart feels, and again through calculation. For if Love is
+blind, it certainly is not so to whatever may bring it benefits. It can
+even weigh benefits and obstacles upon such delicate scales that in
+this regard it is perhaps the most cautious, the most prescient, and
+the shrewdest of human feelings. In fact Ladislaus observed that his
+mother and Miss Anney were bound by a sympathy which, on the part of
+youth, health, and strength was productive of a certain friendly care,
+and on the part of weakness and old age, of gratitude. All three ladies
+were solicitous about his mother, but neither the solicitude of Pani
+Otocka, nor that of Marynia, was so vigilant or so efficacious as the
+watchfulness of Miss Anney. Pani Krzycki candidly said that even
+Ladislaus could not move from room to room with such dexterity the
+armchair to which temporary disability had riveted her; that he could
+not anticipate and humor her wants as could this light-haired "good
+English diviner."
+
+To Krzycki, it frequently occurred that certainly this "good diviner"
+did all that through kindness and sincere friendship, but also because
+she wanted to conciliate his mother. And his heart trembled with joy at
+the thought that the moment would arrive when the wishes of his mother
+would coincide with that for which he, himself, most strongly yearned.
+He feared that a premature avowal might sever the ties which were being
+formed and for that reason he checked the word, which often burned his
+lips like a flame.
+
+After all, there was an avowal in their silence and glances. Ladislaus
+did not dare and, until that time, did not wish to tell her plainly
+that he loved her; he wanted, however, with each word to clear the path
+and approach that eagerly desired moment. In the meantime it happened
+that, either from lack of breath he could not speak at all, or else he
+said something entirely different from what he intended to say. Once
+when they rode amidst luxuriant winter corn and when a light breeze
+bent towards them the rye stalks, together with the red poppy and the
+gray fescue-grass, he decided to tell her that all Jastrzeb bowed at
+her feet; and he said, with a great beating of his heart, in a hollow
+voice not his own, "that in places the grain is lying down." After
+which, in his soul, he called himself an idiot and fretted at the
+supposition that a similar opinion of him must have crossed her mind.
+It seemed to him that she, beyond comparison, exercised a better
+self-control and that she could always say just what she wished to say.
+Consequently, even at times when partly through coquetry and partly
+because of her habit of repeating his expressions like an echo, she
+answered, for instance, "that in places the grain is lying down," he
+discerned in her words an unheard-of significance and later pondered
+over them for hours.
+
+But he also had, particularly in the morning, moments of greater
+tranquillity of mind and greater peace, in which his words were not
+like a disarrayed rank of soldiers, each one marching in a different
+direction. At times, the themes for these quieter conversations were
+furnished by some external objects, but oftener by anxiety occasioned
+by the impending separation. Krzycki at such times hid behind his
+mother and in her name expressed that which he did not dare to say in
+his own.
+
+"I can imagine," he said the day following the second visit of the
+doctor, "how Mother will long for you."
+
+And the maiden, to whom it evidently occurred that not only the mother
+but the son would long for her, looked at him a little teasingly, with
+the hazy light of her strange eyes, and replied:
+
+"I am such a bird of flight that your mother will soon become
+disaccustomed to me."
+
+"Oh, I warrant you that she will not," exclaimed Ladislaus.
+
+After which, he added:
+
+"I know Mother; she has fallen in love with you immensely."
+
+"Why, hardly ten days have elapsed since we arrived. Is it possible to
+fall in love so soon?"
+
+To this Ladislaus replied with deep conviction:
+
+"It is! I give you my word, it is!"
+
+There was something so naïve in the manner and tone of the reply that
+Miss Anney could not refrain from laughing. But he observed this and
+began to speak rapidly as if he wished to explain and justify himself:
+
+"For do we know whence love comes? Often at the first glance of the eye
+upon a human face we have such an impression as if we found some one
+whom we were seeking. There are certain unalterable forces which
+mutually attract people, although before that time they may have never
+met and though they had lived far away from each other."
+
+"And must such persons always meet each other?"
+
+"No," he answered, "I think not always. But then perhaps they are
+continually yearning, not knowing for what, and feel an eternal vacuity
+in life."
+
+And here, in spite of his will, the sincere poetry of youth and
+sentiment spoke through his lips:
+
+"You called yourself a bird of flight," he said. "Beloved also is that
+bird, only not as a bird which flies away but rather as a bird which
+flies hitherward. For it flies unexpectedly from somewhere in the
+distance--from beyond the mountains, from beyond the sea, and nests in
+the heart, and begins to sing such a song that one hearing it would
+fain close his eyes and never waken again."
+
+And thus he spoke until he grew pale from emotion. For a time he was
+agitated, like a whirlwind, by the desire to dismount from his horse
+and embrace the feet of the maiden with his arms and cry: "Thou art
+that beloved one: therefore do not fly away, my dear bird!" But
+simultaneously he was seized by a prodigious fear of that night which
+would encompass him if his entreaty should prove futile.
+
+So he merely uncovered his head, as if he wanted to display his heated
+forehead. A long silence, which fell between them, was only interrupted
+by the snorting of the horses, which now proceeded in an ambling pace,
+emitting under the bridles a white foam.
+
+After which Miss Anney spoke in a subdued voice which sounded a little
+like a warning:
+
+"I hear Pan Gronski approaching with Marynia."
+
+In fact the other couple soon approached, happy and animated. Marynia,
+a few paces away, exclaimed:
+
+"Pan Gronski was telling me such beautiful things about Rome. I am
+sorry that you did not hear them."
+
+"More about the neighborhood of Rome, than Rome itself," said Gronski.
+
+"Yes. I was in Tivoli. I was in Castel Gandolfo, in Nemi. Wonders! I
+will tease Zosia until in truth we will go there and Pan Gronski with
+us."
+
+"Will you take me along?" asked Miss Anney.
+
+"Of course! We will all go in the autumn or next spring. Did you folks
+also talk about a trip?"
+
+For a time there was no response.
+
+"No," Miss Anney finally replied. "We were talking about birds of
+flight."
+
+"Why, now it is spring and birds do not fly away."
+
+"Nevertheless, you ladies are making preparations for flying away,"
+answered Ladislaus with a sigh.
+
+"True," rejoined Marynia; "but that is because Aunt is going away; and
+she"--here she pointed at Miss Anney with her riding whip--"has urged
+us all three to go where the doctor is sending Aunt."
+
+After which she said to Ladislaus:
+
+"You would not believe, sir, how honest she is and how she loves Aunt."
+
+"I, not believe? I?" cried Ladislaus with ardor.
+
+But Miss Anney, who a short time before had asked him whether one could
+fall in love so soon, became greatly confused and, dropping the reins,
+began with both hands to set something right on her hat, wishing to
+cover with them her countenance which glowed like the dawn.
+
+Ladislaus had heaven in his heart, and Marynia, for some time, gazed
+with her pellucid eyes, now at him and then at Miss Anney, for it was
+no secret to her that Krzycki was in love up to his ears, and this
+aroused her curiosity and amused her indescribably.
+
+
+
+                                  XII
+
+"See what I received to-day," said Ladislaus, handing Gronski a letter
+which came with others in the morning mail.
+
+Gronski glanced at it and knit his brow.
+
+"Ah!" he said, "a death sentence."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"With the seal of the P. P. S. They are distributing them quite
+prodigally."
+
+"Yes, just like the opposite party."
+
+"Both are alike. The notary also has one and the doctor several. What
+do you think of it?"
+
+"Je m'en fiche! But the situation amuses me. I do not know whether you
+have heard that the Provincial guards have unearthed a secret school in
+Jastrzeb, which I founded a year ago because my conscience commanded me
+to. It is a case which I greased but have not yet greased sufficiently.
+As a result, I now have suspended over me the fists of the authorities
+and the fists of the socialists. Enjoyable, is it not?"
+
+"It has often occurred to me that elsewhere people could not live under
+such conditions, and we not only live but laugh quite merrily."
+
+"For such is our sinewy Lechite nature."
+
+"Perhaps that is so. You must, nevertheless, be on your guard and it
+will be necessary to send the ladies away."
+
+"It will be necessary, it will be necessary," repeated Ladislaus. "And
+abroad too, for it is unsafe in Warsaw. But please do not say anything
+about this foolish sentence to Mother or any one else."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Mother positively insists upon my accompanying her, and I do not try
+to shun that--oh, no, not in the least! But summer is approaching and
+after that there will be the harvest. The overseer is an honest man but
+before my departure I must give him some specific instructions how and
+what he is to do. After they all leave, I would like to stay yet for a
+week or ten days. Mother will not be alone and without care, as in the
+first place the younger members of the family will be with her, and
+again you heard Cousin Marynia say that the ladies will go wherever
+Mother would be. Through all my life I will ever be grateful to Miss
+Anney for that proposal; for to Mother nothing could be better or more
+agreeable."
+
+"And for her son also, it seems to me," said Gronski, laughing.
+
+Ladislaus remained silent for a time; after which he began to press the
+palms of his hands on his temples and replied:
+
+"Yes. For why should I deny that which I confessed to myself and which
+everybody sees but Mother, who has not observed it because she seldom
+saw us together. But she also has fallen in love with Miss Anney. Who
+would not love her? Such a dear, golden creature. I have not, as yet,
+said anything to Mother because she has her mind set upon Pani Otocka
+and it will be unpleasant for her to give up the thought. I fear she
+might be offended. After all, I only know what is taking place within
+me, and nothing more. I dare not even say that I have any reasons for
+my illusion. I fear that it may all at once burst like a soap-bubble.
+Ah! How unhappy I would be. Already I cannot see anything in this world
+beyond her. Candidly speaking, I do not know what to do with myself,
+Jastrzeb, and life."
+
+And grasping Gronski's hand, he continued:
+
+"If you would only speak with Pani Otocka and ascertain from her
+whether I may have hope; for they are friends and certainly do not keep
+any secrets from each other. If you would only do this for me; and in
+due time speak with Mother! But with Pani Otocka as soon as possible!
+Will you do it?"
+
+"I have spoken with Pani Otocka about that," replied Gronski, "but
+what, do you suppose, she answered? That she could not tell me anything
+as Miss Anney confided to her a certain personal secret which she was
+not at liberty to divulge. I admit that this surprised me. In reality,
+the secret cannot be anything derogatory to Miss Anney, as otherwise
+Pani Otocka would not be on such cordial and intimate terms with her.
+They are like sisters, and in Warsaw they lived together, almost door
+to door. After all, Pani Otocka, it seemed to me, was sincerely in your
+favor and, at times, I received the impression that she was concerned
+in having matters come to the pass which they have. As for Marynia, she
+wriggles her little ears and with that it ends. In any case, be assured
+that you have not enemies in those ladies and, if you want to know my
+personal views, much less in Miss Anney."
+
+"Would to God! Would to God!" answered Ladislaus. "You have given me a
+little encouragement and I breathe more easily."
+
+"But you, I see, have fallen unto your ears," observed Gronski.
+
+"I give you my word that I prefer one of her fingers or the ray of her
+hair to all the women in the world. I never had a conception that one
+could thus surrender himself. At times I do not know what is happening
+to me or what will occur, for only think: I have Jastrzeb, the estate,
+the Rzeslewo affairs, Mother's departure, and here I cannot think of
+anything but her--but her--and to nothing else can I apply my mind. I
+regret every moment in which I do not gaze upon her. To-day, for
+instance, I received a summons from the Directory to come in reference
+to the will and Rzeslewo, and I postpone the matter until tomorrow. I
+cannot--plainly--I cannot! I would go at night were it not that the
+Directory is closed for the night."
+
+"Remember, however, the death sentence."
+
+"May the devil take them with their sentence, or let them finally shoot
+me in the head. I would still be thinking of her, especially after what
+you have told me. But how do you know that Pani Otocka is in my favor?
+Those are honest, golden hearts, both of those cousins! How did you say
+it? That they are not my enemies? Thank God, even for that! For, why
+should they hate me? But please speak with Pani Otocka again. I am not
+concerned about her betraying any secret but only that, knowing Miss
+Anney, she should say something one way or the other--you know what I
+want--certainty--even though a morsel--"
+
+"Certainly," said Gronski, laughing, "I will seek an opportunity
+to-day."
+
+"Thank you! Thank you!"
+
+In fact an opportunity was easily found, as Pani Otocka also had some
+news which she desired to impart to Gronski, and with this object she
+sent her maid to him with an invitation to meet her on the yoked elm
+walk, near the pond. When they met there she gave him, just as
+Ladislaus had done a while before, a letter which arrived in the same
+morning's mail and said:
+
+"Please read it and advise me what to do with it."
+
+It was a letter from Laskowicz to Marynia and its tenor was as follows:
+
+"A great idea is like a gigantic bird: her wings cast a shadow over the
+earth, while she hovers in the sun.
+
+"Whoever does not fly upwards with her is surrounded by darkness.
+
+"And darkness is death.
+
+"In that darkness, I behold Thee, like an alabaster statuette. This
+night the sounds of thy music reach me.
+
+"And lo, in my lonely chamber I think of Thee and grieve for Thee.
+
+"For Thou couldst be a beam-feather in the wings of this gigantic bird
+idea and inhale the pure air of the dizzy heights and play in glory to
+the legions of the living; and Thou breathest the air of tombs and
+playest to a life which is moribund and to souls that wither; and not
+to people but to ghosts.
+
+"I grieve for Thee, my silvery one.
+
+"And my thoughts fly to Thee like eagles.
+
+"For heretofore there was imbedded in my strength a part of human
+happiness but there was not in it my own happiness.
+
+"Now Thou suddenly glidest before my eyes like a light, and through my
+ears like music, and hast filled my bosom with a yearning for things I
+had not known before, and hast filled me with Thine own indispensable
+quintessence and a consciousness of my happiness.
+
+"Therefore I loved Thee the same night when I beheld Thee and heard
+Thee for the first time.
+
+"Henceforth, though Thou are not near me, I am with Thee and will
+follow wherever Thou wilt be.
+
+"For Thou art necessary to my existence and I am to Thee, in order to
+resuscitate Thee.
+
+"In order to snatch Thee from destruction; from amidst those who are
+about to die.
+
+"In order to surrender Thee to the great idea, and the exalted, and the
+light, and the living hosts who suffer from a dearth of bread and
+music.
+
+"Thee and Thy music.
+
+"May extermination not fail upon you both.
+
+"Oh, beloved one.
+
+
+"A certain night I summoned Thee but Thou didst not hear me and didst
+not come. Now I extend my hands towards Thee and say unto Thee: Come
+and slumber in my heart.
+
+"And when the time of awakening comes, I will wake Thee for a brief
+moment of pleasure, which love gives for the toil without an end and
+which the idea demands.
+
+"For toil and perchance for martyrdom.
+
+"But in that martyrdom for the dawn of a new life, there is greater
+happiness than in the dusk, mephitic air, ashes and mould of graves.
+
+"Therefore come even for martyrdom.
+
+"And until our existence floats into the sea of nothingness, abide with
+me.
+
+"Oh, beloved one."
+
+
+Gronski's countenance reflected perturbation. For a time he and Pani
+Otocka walked in silence.
+
+"What shall I do with this, and what does it mean?"
+
+"This is a disagreeable and vexatious matter, and the letter means that
+Laskowicz, who never in his life saw a being like Marynia, has fallen
+in love with her from the first acquaintance, as he himself says. I
+observed that after a few days and if I did not say anything to you
+about it, it was because Laskowicz was soon to leave. But he has fallen
+in love with his head and not his heart, for otherwise, instead of
+high-flown expressions, borrowed, as it were, from some school of
+literature, he would have found simpler and more sincere words. His
+exaltation may be sincere, it may waste and destroy him like a fever;
+it may last for whole years, but its chief source is the head and not
+the heart."
+
+But Pani Otocka, who at the moment was not in the least interested in
+an analysis of Laskowicz's feelings, interrupted a further
+disquisition:
+
+"But what are we to do, in view of this? How are we to act? It is about
+Marynia that I am concerned."
+
+"You are right," answered Gronski. "Pardon my untimely reflections, but
+it is always better to know with whom and with what one has to do. My
+opinion is that it would be best not to do anything, just as if this
+letter had not arrived. You may return it to Laskowicz, but that would
+be exceedingly contemptuous: this letter deserves, perhaps, to be
+thrown into a fireplace, but in my opinion it does not merit contempt.
+It is, if you will permit me to thus express myself, nervous and
+insolent, but it preserves a certain measure in its expressions and
+there is nothing brutal in it. Besides it expresses rather the thoughts
+which came to Laskowicz's mind than any actual hopes, and to that
+extent it might be explained to Marynia that this is not a letter to
+her but a poem for her, not quite felicitously conceived. And Marynia?
+What impression did it make upon her and what does she say?"
+
+"Marynia," answered Pani Otocka with a certain comic uneasiness, "is a
+little offended, a little worried and frightened, but in the innermost
+recesses of her heart, she is a little proud that somebody should have
+written such a letter to her."
+
+"Oh, I was certain of that," exclaimed Gronski, laughing involuntarily.
+
+After a while he began to speak seriously.
+
+"No doubt other letters will come and as these maybe more glaring, we
+will have to persuade the little one that she should not read them. If
+you will permit, I will undertake that, after which, you ladies ought
+to go to Warsaw, and, in a short time, journey abroad and the matter
+will end of itself."
+
+"To tell the truth," responded Pani Otocka, "I want to leave Jastrzeb
+as soon as possible. We are not necessary for Aunt but are rather a
+hindrance in the preparations for her departure, and I confess that I
+am possessed by fear. Please read that letter again carefully. Why,
+there are threats there against all the residents of Jastrzeb and even
+against Marynia if she stays with us."
+
+Gronski thought of Ladislaus receiving at the same time a death
+sentence, and in the first moments it occurred to him that it might
+have some connection with Laskowicz's letter. But after a while he
+recollected that similar sentences were sent to the doctor and even the
+aged notary: therefore to pacify Pani Otocka, he said:
+
+"These are times of continual menaces and everybody receives them, but
+I do not think that Laskowicz intended to warn Marynia of any imminent
+attack threatening us in Jastrzeb. He undoubtedly wished to say that
+the waves of socialism will sweep away all who do not float with it,
+and therefore us. But as the peace of yourself and Marynia is involved,
+as to leaving, why of course! Why should we not leave even to-morrow?"
+
+"I already thought of that, but Aunt urged us to wait for her and
+Aninka promised her that."
+
+"Then let her remain, and you ladies leave. Ah, so Miss Anney delays
+the departure? Good news for Laudie! May I tell him that? A while ago,
+he begged me to learn something from you,--for the poor fellow barely
+lives. He is the most love-sick swain within the boundaries of the
+Commonwealth."
+
+"So it has gone as far as that?"
+
+"It has! Evidently there is something inflammatory in the atmosphere of
+Jastrzeb. Here everybody falls in love, either openly or in secret."
+
+Hearing this, Pani Otocka unexpectedly blushed like a fifteen-year-old
+girl, and though this happened often and upon the most trivial
+provocation, Gronski being unable to surmise what had passed through
+her mind, looked at her with a certain wonder.
+
+"How then?" he said. "There are Laudie, Laskowicz, and Dolhanski. But
+Dolhanski has the most energy, for, after his latest repulse, he
+immediately decamps upon a new expedition, while Laudie fears."
+
+"What?" asked Pani Otocka, raising her eyes.
+
+"First, a repulse from which he thinks he could not recover, and,
+again, a discussion with his mother which awaits him."
+
+"Perhaps something else awaits Cousin Laudie, but he need not fear
+about Aninka."
+
+"He will die from joy when I tell him that, but in my way, I, who am
+known to you as a meddler, could die from curiosity."
+
+"What of it, when I have no right to speak about it?"
+
+"Not even when we leave Jastrzeb?"
+
+"Not even then. After all, everything will soon clear up."
+
+"In such case, I have procured enough for the nonce, and in the
+meanwhile I will return to Laudie to tell him the good news and apprise
+him of our departure. I will not mention anything about Laskowicz's
+letter, for tomorrow he will set off for the city and, if they met, a
+nasty encounter might result."
+
+
+
+                                  XIII
+
+Ladislaus, however, did not go to the city on the day following his
+conversation with Gronski, for he was notified that the meeting of the
+executors of Zarnowski's will was postponed for one week. The reason
+for this was that in two days a convention of the citizens of the
+vicinity was to commence in reference to providing insurance for the
+superannuated rural officials and manor-servants, and also in regard to
+the more burning question of introducing the Polish language into the
+communes,--a question in which the communal justices as well as the
+villagers were interested. Ladislaus determined, by all means, to
+participate in these debates, but as they were to take place in the
+forenoons, he formulated a plan of going to them every morning and
+returning home in the afternoon. In view of the proximity of Jastrzeb
+to the city, this plan was quite feasible.
+
+However, he was disappointed in the hope that he could devote those two
+days exclusively to the guests, or rather to the most precious of
+guests in Jastrzeb, as the disorders in Rzeslewo broke out with renewed
+virulence and they required almost all his time. The strike of the
+manor help, indeed, ceased so completely that the intervention, which
+Dolhanski advised, became superfluous and it was necessary to restrain
+it. But in the meantime individual tenants and some of the husbandmen
+began to commit depredations in the forest. Ladislaus, at the head of
+the local and Jastrzeb foresters, sought these disorderly persons, who,
+indeed, hid at the sight of him: nevertheless they assumed a very
+threatening attitude towards the servants, promising to all swift
+vengeance. The foresters received bulky letters, assuring them "that
+they would get a bullet in the head, and the heir also would." But the
+heir, who was not wanting in youthful energy and was not averse to
+adventure, did not at all neglect the defence of the Rzeslewo forests,
+and, what was more, he personally rushed over to Rzeslewo and summoning
+the malefactors, declared that he would invoke courts and punishment.
+
+And afterwards, he repaired at the designated time to the conference.
+It was to be the last day of the sojourn in Jastrzeb of Pani Otocka,
+Marynia, and Gronski, who decided to leave on the following day for
+Warsaw. Miss Anney, at Pani Krzycki's solicitation, agreed to remain
+for a few days, and leave with her. Ladislaus announced that he would
+return as soon as possible in order to spend the evening with all of
+them and to listen for the last time to Marynia's bewitching violin. He
+also said that he would induce the notary and the doctor to come with
+him.
+
+As a result, they waited dinner for them. In the meantime, about four
+o'clock, Gronski sat in his room writing a letter to Dolhanski,
+Marynia, upstairs, played her daily exercises, Pani Otocka sat with the
+patient, and Miss Anney went out on the balcony, ostensibly to
+photograph the old and lofty trees which enclosed the courtyard on two
+sides, but in reality to see whether he, whom they expected at home,
+was returning. So instead of photographing, she began to lose her sight
+and soul in the shady depths of the old linden roadway. Hope that soon
+she would behold in that depth a cloud of dust, horses, and carriages,
+and that afterwards the lively form of a youth would leap out, filled
+her with a quiet joy. Lo, after a while she would see before her that
+countenance, stately, sympathetic, and sincere; those eyes, whose every
+glance spoke to her a hundred times more than the lips, and would hear
+that voice which penetrated to her heart and thrilled it like music. At
+this thought, Miss Anney was encompassed with such sweet, calm feeling,
+as if she were a child and as if some loved hand were lightly rocking
+her to sleep; as if she were resting in a boat, which the gentle waves
+bore somewhere into a distance, unknown, but radiant. To permit herself
+to be rocked, to allow herself to be borne, to confide in the waves, to
+not think, for the time being, of where the boat will stop,--this was
+all that the heart of the maiden, at such moments, desired. But at
+other moments, when she propounded to herself the question, "What will
+happen further?" she looked with faith into the future. Sometimes when
+sleep refused to close her eyes, there flitted through her mind, like
+dark butterflies, uncertainties and fears, but even then she said to
+herself that the heaven may become cloudy in the future, but at present
+she was enjoying charming, fair weather, and every day was like a
+flower, and she plucked those flowers, one after another and laid them
+upon her bosom. So she thought that for this it was worth while to live
+and even to die.
+
+And at that moment, though her soul was dissolving in the sun, in the
+serene atmosphere, in the rustle of leaves and in the great pastoral
+calm, flooded with light, she had no desire to die, for it seemed to
+her that, with the air, she inhaled joyful appeasement. Everything
+about her began to lose the mark of reality and change into an azure
+vision of happiness, half dreamy, half wakeful. From this revery she
+was aroused by the sight, awaiting which she had sat for almost an hour
+on the balcony. Lo, at the uttermost end of the roadway her eagerly
+desired cloud of dust appeared and it approached with unusual rapidity.
+Miss Anney recollected herself. In the first moments she wanted to
+retire. "It is necessary, it is necessary," she said to herself,
+"otherwise he will be apt to think that I was waiting for him." And she
+would have been sincerely indignant had any one suggested to her that
+such was the case. But suddenly her knees became so weak that she sat
+again, clutching the camera in order that it might appear that when
+found on the balcony she was taking photographs. In the meantime the
+cloud drew nearer the gates of entry, continuing with the same speed.
+Soon in harmony with the picture which the maiden had previously
+formed, the gray heads of the fore horses emerged from the dust. Like
+lightning, an impression of joy shook Miss Anney. "How he is flying and
+how anxious he is!" But immediately afterwards, as she began to wonder
+at the amazing speed, she thought that the horses were frightened.
+They were already so close to the gates that she could perceive the
+wind-tossed manes, the distended bloody nostrils and the frantic
+motions of the horses' feet. Suddenly she rose and her eyes reflected
+horror, for she observed that the coachman sat, bent so that only the
+top of his head could be seen--without a cap. In the meantime the
+intractable horses dashed through the gate; at the winding, the
+coachman fell off and the carriage with slightly diminished speed swung
+in a semi-circle along the border of the flower-bed. In the carriage,
+on the rear seat, Ladislaus sat alone, with his head tilted upwards and
+propped upon a carriage cushion. A cry of terror escaped from Miss
+Anney's breast. The horses, in the twinkle of an eye, reached the
+balcony and being accustomed to stop before it, implanted their hoofs
+in the ground. Ladislaus moved and, pale as a corpse, with blood
+streaming over his collar and coat sleeves, staggered from the
+carriage; when the maiden hurried towards him, he cried, grasping the
+air with his mouth:
+
+"Nothing!... I am wounded, but it is nothing!"
+
+And he toppled to the ground at her feet.
+
+And she, in a moment raised him with a strength, amazing in a woman,
+and supporting him with her arms and breast, began to shriek:
+
+"Save him! Help! Help!"
+
+
+
+
+                              PART SECOND.
+
+
+
+                                   I
+
+When Miss Anney raised the wounded young man, the household servants
+were in the other part of the house. Nearest to her--for they were in
+the vestibule playing billiards--were Pani Zosia and Marynia. These
+ladies rushed upon the balcony and, seeing Miss Anney supporting the
+disabled youth, emulating her example, began to shout at the top of
+their voices. She, in the meantime, placed him upon a bench on the
+balcony and enclosing him in her arms, called for water. Both sisters
+hurried to the sideboard for it and alarmed the whole house. Gronski
+and everything living collected there. In the first moments Gronski
+lost his head and when he recovered his senses he sent Pani Otocka to
+Ladislaus' mother to apprise her of the occurrence. In the meanwhile
+Miss Anney ordered the servants to carry the wounded man. She, herself,
+was compelled for a while to attend to her maid, who at the sight of
+Ladislaus, began to scream and then fell into hysterical convulsions.
+Gronski hastened to the stable to dispatch horses for the doctor.
+
+But before the wounded man was borne to his room his mother came
+precipitately. At the news of the misfortune, she forgot about her
+rheumatism and assisted in the removal of her son, and in undressing
+and laying him in bed. Afterwards she began to wash out the wounds with
+a sponge. Ladislaus, owing to a copious flow of blood, fell into a long
+faint, and, after regaining consciousness for a brief interval, fainted
+again: in consequence of which he could not give any information about
+the occurrence. He only repeated several times, "In the woods, in the
+woods!" From which they could infer that the attack took place, not
+upon the public highway but on the borders of Rzeslewo or Jastrzeb.
+
+In the meantime, the rattle of a britzka resounded before the balcony
+and, a moment later, Gronski summoned Miss Anney from her room, where
+she was hastily changing her clothes, which were covered with blood.
+
+"I am riding alone," he said. "The coachman is on the sick list and the
+housekeeper has taken charge of him. None of the grooms want to go. All
+are scared and positively refuse. Only the old lackey is willing to
+drive, but I think that he cannot drive any better than I can."
+
+"It is imperatively necessary to drive for the doctor at once,"
+answered Miss Anney, pressing the palms of her hands to her burning
+cheeks, "but it is also necessary to prepare for the defence of the
+house. Please hurry to the farmers' quarters and send for the forest
+rangers to come with their arms. Otherwise those men will be apt to
+break in here and administer the finishing blow to him."
+
+"That is true."
+
+And she continued hurriedly:
+
+"It is necessary to send some one for the men in the sawmill and arm
+them with firearms. The field hands will follow their example. In all
+probability an assault will be made upon the manor-house and here are
+only women. You must assume charge of the defence. Please go at once,
+and do send for the forest rangers."
+
+Gronski admitted the propriety of the advice, and proceeded immediately
+to the farmers' buildings. It was within the range of possibility that
+the assailants, not knowing the result of their shooting, might wish to
+ascertain and perhaps finish their work. This had happened in several
+instances, and in view of this, all, and, more particularly, the women,
+were concerned. Gronski was not an energetic man, but no coward, and
+the thought of the being most precious to him in the world, Marynia,
+infused him with energy. He immediately sent the field hands for the
+forest rangers, as well as to the sawmill, where a dozen or more men
+worked, of whom it was known in the manor, as well as in the village,
+that they read "The Pole" and did not fear any one. The manor domestics
+very quickly recovered from their consternation. The reason for this
+was that the wounded coachman, though he did not see the assailants who
+had fired from thickets, claimed with great positiveness that "the
+Rzeslewo people attacked the young heir" on account of disputes about
+the forest. This removed from the affair the awe of mystery; and a
+peasant does not fear danger but mystery. Besides, as there existed
+between the men of Jastrzeb and the men of Rzeslewo an ancient grudge,
+dating from the time of the wrangle about bounding the stream, as soon
+as the news of the attempt of the Rzeslewo men spread over the village,
+those of Jastrzeb ceased not only to fear, but a desire for revenge was
+bred in them. The manor servants began to feel ashamed now that they
+had refused to drive for the doctor. Others, hearing that Rzeslewo
+wished to make an onslaught on Jastrzeb manor, seized pitchforks and
+pulled out pickets from the fences. Gronski, aware of the death
+sentence received by Ladislaus, viewed the matter differently, but kept
+his opinion to himself, understanding that a peasant, though he often
+suddenly displays unusual terror, when once he starts to pull out
+pickets from fences, does not fear anybody whatsoever.
+
+Therefore delighted with this turn of affairs, he took with him a stout
+groom, who undertook to convey him to the city. But here a surprise
+awaited him, for before the balcony there was not a trace of the
+britzka and on the balcony stood the old lackey Andrew, with dejected
+face, and Marynia, pale, terror-stricken, with tears in her eyes, and
+who seeing him began to cry:
+
+"How could you, sir, permit her to ride alone? How could you do it?"
+
+"Miss Anney drove alone to the city!" exclaimed Gronski.
+
+And his countenance reflected such amazement that it was easy to
+perceive that it had happened without his knowledge or consent.
+
+"My God!" he said, "she sent me to the farmhouses to arrange the
+defence, and it never occurred to me that in the meantime she would
+jump into the britzka and drive away. It never occurred to me for a
+moment."
+
+But Marynia did not stop her lamentations.
+
+"They will kill her in the woods; they will kill her," she repeated,
+wringing her hands.
+
+Gronski, in order to quiet her, assured her that he would send out
+succor at once, but returning to the farmhouses, he began to reason
+that if he, himself, set out after her on horseback he would accomplish
+nothing and would leave the house without a masculine head, and if he
+should send the field laborers, before they reached the forest Miss
+Anney would outstrip them. It was possible for them to insure, fairly
+well, her safe return, but to insure her safe passage through the woods
+in the direction of the city it was absolutely too late.
+
+This was likewise acknowledged by Dolhanski, who not knowing of
+anything, returned by chance a half an hour later from Gorek to
+Jastrzeb. Hearing of the occurrence and Miss Anney's expedition, he
+could not refrain from exclaiming:
+
+"But that is a brave girl. I wish I was Krzycki."
+
+After which, going with Gronski to see the injured man, he added:
+
+"We will have to go out to meet her. I will attend to that."
+
+Ladislaus was already completely conscious and wanted to rise. He did
+not do so on account of his mother's entreaties and adjurations. His
+two friends did not tell him who had gone after the doctor. They only
+informed him that the doctor would arrive without delay and, after a
+short while, left, having something else to attend to. Dolhanski now
+assumed command over the improvised garrison which was to defend the
+manor-house. Gronski did not expect to find in him such an
+extraordinary supply of energy, sangfroid and self-confidence. He soon
+imparted this feeling to the household servants and the foresters; and
+the organization of the defence was not difficult. Two Jastrzeb forest
+rangers and one from Rzeslewo, who came later, had their own firearms,
+and in the manor-house were found Ladislaus' six fowling-pieces and, of
+these, two were short rifles. Dolhanski distributed this entire arsenal
+among men who knew how to use the weapons. A few servants from the
+village, who had participated in the Japanese war, appeared. Under
+these circumstances there was no fear of a sudden and unexpected
+attack. The workingmen from the sawmill, being of the Nationalistic
+persuasion, were anxious "that something should happen," so that they
+could "show how the teeth of uninvited guests are cleaned."
+
+Having arranged everything in this manner, Dolhanski intrusted the
+defence of the manor-house and the women to Gronski. Before that,
+however, he calmed them as to Miss Anney with the assurance that he
+returned from Gorek through the selfsame forest and rode in safety.
+This was the actual fact. But what was stranger, he did not meet the
+Englishwoman, from which they inferred that the courageous but prudent
+young lady evidently drove on another side road. However, as the
+distance to the city was not great and her return might be expected
+soon, he proceeded to meet her, taking along with him two forest
+rangers armed from head to foot. Gronski again was compelled to admire
+the shrewdness and ingenuity with which he issued in the name of the
+"Central Government" a command to the peasants of the village, that
+they should, in case they heard shots in the forest, rush in a body to
+their aid. The peasants did not know what this "Central Government"
+was. Neither did Dolhanski. He only knew that the name alone would
+create an impression, and the supposition that it was some Polish
+authority would ensure it a willing obedience.
+
+But these were superfluous precautions, as it appeared that there was
+no one in the Jastrzeb and Rzeslewo forests which extended along the
+other side of the road. The miscreants who fired at Krzycki had
+decamped with due haste, evidently from fear of pursuit; or else they
+awaited the night, concealed in some distant underwood belonging to
+other villages. One of the forest rangers, who had previously fully
+questioned the coachman about the place of the ambush, found, while
+beating the adjacent thickets, empty revolver cartridge shells, in
+consequence of which the supposition arose that the attack was
+perpetrated by Rzeslewo peasants. Dolhanski did not doubt that what
+happened was a sequel of the death sentence, of which he learned from
+Gronski. But this seemed to him "much more interesting." He thought
+that to meet the assailants and settle the issue in a proper manner
+would be a sort of hazard not devoid of a certain charm. And, in fact,
+soon a few more empty shells were found, but further search was without
+any results.
+
+Then Dolhanski turned towards the highway leading to the city, and a
+half an hour later met Miss Anney, driving the britzka as fast as the
+horses could run; on the rear seat was the doctor.
+
+It was market-day in the city. It happened therefore that at that time
+a dozen or more carts from Jastrzeb and Rzeslewo were returning
+homeward, and there was considerable bustle on the road. In consequence
+of this, Miss Anney did not become frightened at the sight of three
+armed men approaching her from an opposite direction, and, after a
+while, recognizing Dolhanski, she began to slacken the speed of the
+horses.
+
+"How is the wounded man?"
+
+"Conscious. Good."
+
+"How is it in the house?"
+
+"Nothing new."
+
+"God be praised."
+
+The britzka again rolled on and after an interval was hidden in a cloud
+of dust, and Dolhanski, having naught else to do, returned also to
+Jastrzeb.
+
+The forest rangers who were walking behind him began to converse with
+each other and interchange their ideas of a lady "who drives as well as
+the best coachman." But in Dolhanski's eyes there lingered also the
+picture of a young and charming maiden, with reins in hand, glowing
+countenance and wind-tossed hair. How much resolution and vivacity
+there was in all this! Never before did Miss Anney appear to him so
+enchanting. He knew from Gronski in what manner she had dashed to the
+city, and he was sincerely captivated by her. "That is not one of our
+transparent, jelly maidens who quiver at the slightest cause," he said
+to himself, "that is life, that is bravery, that is blood." He always
+admired everything which was English, beginning with the House of Lords
+and ending with the manufactured products of yellow leather, but at the
+present time his admiration waxed yet greater. "If her marriage portion
+is reckoned not in Polish gold pieces but in guineas," he soliloquized
+farther, "then Laudie was born with a caul." As he was an egotist, as
+well as a man of courage, he, after a while, ceased to bother his head
+about Krzycki and the danger which threatened all, and began to
+ruminate over his own situation in the world. He recollected that at
+one time he could have sold himself for a fat marriage settlement but
+with such an appendage that he preferred to renounce all. But if he had
+only found such an appendage as Miss Anney! And suddenly he was beset
+by regret that, after making her acquaintance, he had not been more
+attentive to her and had not tried to arouse in her an interest in
+himself. "Who knows," he thought, "whether at the proper time, that was
+not possible." But, in such case, it was proper for him to appear
+before her as more knightly and romantic and less sardonic and fond of
+club life. Evidently that was not her genre. Above all he could pot
+delude himself as to Pani Otocka. Dolhanski, from a certain time, had
+suspected his cousin of a secret attachment for Gronski, and at the
+same time could not understand what there was in Gronski that a woman
+could like. At the present time he was harassed by certain doubts about
+himself, for he felt, contrary to the good opinion which he entertained
+of himself, that there was something lacking in him; that in his
+internal mechanism some kind of wheel was wanting, without which, the
+entire mechanism did not go as it should. "For if," he cogitated
+farther, "I can sustain myself upon the surface, only through a rich
+marriage and my genre pleases neither Pani Otocka, nor Miss Anney, nor
+women in general, then I am a twofold ass: first because I thought I
+could please and again because I cannot afford to change." And he felt
+that he could not afford to change because of his indolence and from a
+fear that he would appear ridiculous.
+
+"In view of this it will perhaps be necessary to end with Kajetana with
+her appurtenances."
+
+In a sour temper he returned to Jastrzeb and, having given orders to
+the night watch, he went into the house where he received better news.
+The doctor announced that Ladislaus had a lacerated left shoulder, but
+as the shot was fired from below and went upwards, the bullet coursed
+above the lungs. The second shot grazed over the ribs, tearing a
+considerable portion of the flesh, while the third one carried off the
+tip of the small finger. The wounds were painful but not dangerous. The
+coachman received a scalp wound. The most severely injured was the left
+forehorse, who, however, owing to the small calibre of the bullet was
+able to gallop with the other horses, but died an hour after the
+return.
+
+All of which, however, tended to prove that the attack was not the
+swift revenge of the landless of Rzeslewo in defence of the forest
+rights, but a premeditated attempt. For this reason Gronski was of the
+opinion that Pani Otocka and Marynia ought to leave the following day.
+He wanted to escort them himself to the railroad station and then
+return. But both declared that they would remain until all were able to
+leave. On this occasion Marynia, for the first time in her life,
+quarrelled with Gronski and the matter actually ended in this, that
+Gronski had to yield. After all, the departure was not delayed for a
+long time, for the doctor promised that if great caution was observed,
+they could transfer the injured man to Warsaw in the course of a week.
+No one suggested an immediate departure to Miss Anney.
+
+The rest of the evening was passed in conference. About ten o'clock Dr.
+Szremski, having performed all that was required of him, wanted to
+leave for the city, but out of regard for Pani Krzycki he remained for
+the night, and as he was much fatigued, he went to Gronski's room and
+fell asleep at once. The ladies divided the work among themselves in
+this manner: the two sisters were to watch Pani Krzycki, who after the
+temporary excitement suffered severely from heart trouble and asthma.
+Miss Anney in conjunction with Gronski undertook to pass the night with
+the wounded young man.
+
+
+
+                                   II
+
+Out in the world the first glow of dawn was just visible when Ladislaus
+awoke, after a fitful and slightly feverish sleep. He did not feel
+badly; only a thirst was consuming him; he began to seek with his eyes
+for some one near who could give him water, and espied Miss Anney
+sitting at the window. She must have watched a long time for she dozed,
+with her hands resting inertly upon her knees, and her head was bowed
+so low that Ladislaus at first caught only a glimpse of her light hair,
+illuminated by the light of the green lamp. She immediately started up
+however, as if she had a premonition that the patient was awake, and it
+seemed to him that she divined his thoughts, for, approaching
+noiselessly, she asked:
+
+"Do you wish any water?"
+
+Krzycki did not answer; he only smiled and winked his eyes in sign of
+assent; when she handed the drink to him, he eagerly drained the glass,
+and afterwards gently taking her hand in his own, which was uninjured,
+he pressed it to his lips and held it there a long time.
+
+"My dearest ... my guardian angel," he whispered.
+
+And again he pressed her hand to his lips.
+
+Miss Anney did not even withdraw her hand; only with the other one she
+took the glass and placed it upon the small cupboard standing near the
+bed. She bent over him and said:
+
+"It is necessary for you to keep quiet.--I will be with you until you
+get well, but now it is essential that you think only of your health;
+only of your health."
+
+Her voice sounded in tones of quiet and gentle persuasiveness.
+Ladislaus dropped her hand. For some time he moved his lips, but not a
+word could be heard. Evidently, he was weakened from emotion, as he
+grew pale and beads of perspiration stood upon his forehead.
+
+Miss Anney began to wipe his face with a handkerchief and continued:
+
+"Please be calm. If I thought that I was harming you, I would not come
+here, and I do want to be with you now. Not a word about anything until
+the wounds are healed; not a word. Promise me that."
+
+A moment of silence ensued.
+
+"Let the lady retire for a rest," Krzycki said in a pleading voice.
+
+"I will go, I will go, but I am not at all tired. During the first half
+of the night, Pan Gronski sat up at your side and I slept. Really, I am
+not tired and I will sleep during the day. But you, sir, try to sleep.
+All that is necessary is for you not to look at me, and close your
+eyes. Then sleep will come of itself. Good-night, or rather good-day,
+for the day is breaking in the world."
+
+In fact the morning's dawn reddened and gilded the sky, and the sun was
+about to rise at any moment. The light of the green lamp grew paler
+each moment and was merging into the brightness of the day. Ladislaus,
+desiring to show how he obeyed every word of his beloved guardian,
+closed his eyes, pretending to sleep, but after a while footsteps were
+heard in the hallway and the doctor entered accompanied by Miss Anney's
+maid, whose turn it now was to attend to the patient. The doctor was so
+terribly drowsy that instead of eyes he had two slits surrounded by
+swollen eyelids, but he was as jovial and noisy as usual. He examined
+the bandages, admitted that the dressing was in proper shape, felt the
+pulse, and found everything in good order. Afterwards he opened the
+windows to freshen the air which was saturated with iodoform.
+
+"A splendid morning," said he. "Health flows from the skies. Let the
+windows remain open all day. As soon as they hitch the horses, I shall
+return to the city for I have patients who cannot wait. But I will come
+back in the evening and bring a nurse for our wounded friend."
+
+After which, addressing Miss Anney, he said:
+
+"Only do not let it get into your head to drive for me, alone. The
+injured man is getting along nicely--a slight fever, very slight. I
+will see Pani Krzycki before I leave. Do not let her leave her bed all
+day, and let her nieces watch her. To you, sir, I recommend the bed. It
+is permissible to inhale but not to breathe one's last breath. Ha! I
+will return about five in the evening, unless indeed, I am forced on
+the road to swallow a few pills from the socialist pharmacy. That is a
+stylish medicine and, it must be confessed, acts quickly."
+
+"How is Mother?" asked Ladislaus in alarm.
+
+At this the doctor again turned to Miss Anney.
+
+"Order him to lie quiet for he will not mind me. Your mother has more
+than fifteen years. Yesterday she started up suddenly, forgetting her
+rheumatism and weak heart action, laid you in bed, waited for my
+arrival; was present at the dressing, and after learning that there was
+no danger--at once! bah!--it was necessary to put her to bed. That is
+always the way with our women. But nothing is the matter with your
+mother; the usual reaction after a nervous strain. When she came to
+herself, I ordered her to remain in bed and not to appear here under
+the penalty of death--for you. With that, I restrained her. Otherwise
+she would have stuck here all night. Now your filigree cousins are
+watching her. They also almost turned topsyturvy; then I would have had
+four patients in one house. That would be a harvest--ha? Luckily there
+was to be found in this house one soul with different nerves, who did
+not swoon poetically. Ha!"
+
+"How he is chattering," thought Ladislaus.
+
+But the doctor began to gaze with great respect at Miss Anney and
+continued:
+
+"Rule Britannia! It is a pleasure to look at you, as I love God! What
+health, what nerves! She sat up all night until the morning,--and
+nothing! As if she freshly shook the dew off herself! I repeat once
+more, it is a pleasure to behold you. I am going to the dining-room to
+see if they will not give me some coffee before I leave, for I am
+hungry."
+
+But before he left he said to Miss Anney and her maid:
+
+"Let the lady go with me and drink something warm before going to
+sleep, and you, little miss, sit here beside Pan Krzycki. It will be
+necessary to take his temperature and write it down. In case anything
+happens let Pan Gronski know. I will tell him to look in here
+occasionally. Good-by!"
+
+Allowing Miss Anney, who smiled at the wounded man and repeated
+"Good-by," to pass before him, he followed her. In the dining-room,
+they found not only coffee, but the two sisters with Gronski and
+Dolhanski. The former had sat up all night with Pani Krzycki, whose
+illness was much more serious than the doctor told the son. At one time
+it was even so serious that it was doubtful whether she would revive
+from a long faint. Both "filigree" sisters were almost worn out, and
+Marynia had eyelids of actual lily color. Gronski, by all means, wanted
+the doctor to examine her and prescribe something strengthening.
+
+But he, feeling her pulse for a while, said:
+
+"I will prescribe for you, miss, as a medicine, a certain maxim of
+Confucius, which says, 'If thou wouldst know the truth, it is better to
+sit than stand, better to lie down than sit, and rather than lie down,
+it is better to sleep.'"
+
+"That is all very well," she answered, "but after all that has taken
+place, I do not know whether I can sleep."
+
+"Then let some one sing to you the lullaby, 'Ah, ah! Two little
+kittens'; but only not your sister, as for her I prescribe the
+same--until it is effective."
+
+The rattle of the britzka interrupted further conversation. The doctor
+swallowed the hot coffee and took his leave. Dolhanski followed him and
+mounted a horse, held by a stable-boy. He announced that he would
+accompany the doctor through the forest.
+
+"If that is for my safety, then it is absolutely unnecessary," said the
+doctor.
+
+"I ride on horseback daily," replied Dolhanski, "and besides I want to
+see whether some May party has not again come to the Jastrzeb forest."
+
+"No," answered the doctor, laughing. "I do not think that they will
+reappear so soon. They have in these matters a certain method. They
+prefer to be the hunters rather than the quarry, and understand that
+now it might come to a man hunt. In about a week or two, when they find
+out that their attempt was unsuccessful, it will be necessary to be
+more guarded."
+
+"When will Krzycki be able to leave?"
+
+"It all depends upon the purity of his blood; and I presume that it is
+pure. After all, it will not be necessary to wait in Jastrzeb for a
+complete cure. He had a pretty close call; that cannot be gainsaid. For
+if I had not come the same day, infection might have set in. But the
+antiseptic did its work. Ah, that Englishwoman who looks through a
+heavenly mist. There is a woman for me. What? Would you believe that at
+first I was upset with indignation at you gentlemen for permitting her
+to drive under those circumstances? Only later did she tell me the
+actual facts. If I do not fall in love with her, I am a marinated
+herring without milt."
+
+"I would not advise it," said Dolhanski, "as it seems that in that
+territory there already has appeared a William the Conqueror."
+
+"Do you think so? It may be possible! That also has occurred to my
+mind."
+
+"Was it because the English prudery has disappeared in a corner?"
+
+"No. Nursing a wounded man is a woman's duty and, in view of that,
+prudery must retire to a corner. Even yesterday's expedition
+demonstrated only courage and energy. But through that heavenly mist
+there reach our wounded friend such warm rays that--oh! But that does
+not prevent me from being in love. If old Dzwonkowski fell in love with
+your little cousin why should not I indulge in the same pleasure."
+
+"In the same way you might fall in love with Saint Cecilia," said
+Dolhanski. "My cousin is not a woman on two feet, but a symbol."
+
+And he stopped abruptly for he heard some voices coming from the depth
+of the forest and he sped his horse towards them.
+
+"Nevertheless this clubman does not carry his soul on his shoulder,"
+thought the doctor.
+
+But it was only a false alarm, as it was merely village boys tending
+cattle. The doctor, who alighted from the britzka to rush to
+Dolhanski's assistance in case of need, soon saw them among the forest
+thickets. After a while Dolhanski reappeared and pressing on his eye
+the monocle which some twigs had displaced, said:
+
+"That is only an innocent rural picture; cowherds and cows trespassing
+in other people's forests; nothing more."
+
+After which he bade the doctor adieu and returned to the house.
+
+Miss Anney had not yet retired to sleep, for he found her conversing
+with Gronski and engaged in winding iodoform gauze. At the sight of
+him, she raised her eyes from her work and asked:
+
+"Anything new in the forest?"
+
+"Yes, indeed; something has happened to the doctor. He has been shot."
+
+At this, both suddenly rose, startled:
+
+"What? Where? In the forest?"
+
+"No! In Jastrzeb," answered Dolhanski.
+
+
+
+                                  III
+
+Ladislaus complied in every particular with Miss Anney's injunctions
+for, immediately after she left, he dozed again and did not waken until
+the rays of the sun, which had ascended high in the heaven, fell
+on his head. He then knit his brows and, having partly shaken off
+his drowsiness, requested that the roller-blinds be lowered. The
+black-haired maid approached the window, wishing to lower them, but as
+she did this too eagerly and did not retain her hold on the string, the
+roller-blind dropped so suddenly that it loosened completely from the
+fastenings and tumbled down on the window sill. Then the maid, ashamed
+of her awkwardness, leaped upon the chair and from the chair to the
+sill and began to place anew the rollers in the rings. Krzycki looked
+at her bent form; at her upraised arms and at her black coiled hair,
+with a not yet conscious gaze, blinking his eyes as if he could not
+recall for the time being who that was; and not until she jumped from
+the frame, displaying at the same time graceful and plump limbs in
+black stockings, did he know who was before him; and he said:
+
+"Ah! It is Panna Pauly."
+
+"It is I," answered the girl. "I beg your pardon for making so much
+noise."
+
+She blushed like a rose under his glance, and he recollected how he
+once saw her attired only in azure watery pearls; so he gazed at her
+with greater curiosity and said:
+
+"That does not matter. I thank you, little Miss, for your solicitude."
+
+At the same time, as a sign of gratitude, he moved the hand lying on
+the bed-quilt but feeling simultaneously a piercing pain, he made a wry
+face and hissed.
+
+And she sat on the edge of the bed, leaned over him, and asked with
+intense anxiety:
+
+"Does it pain?"
+
+"It does."
+
+"Can I hand you anything? Shall I call any one?"
+
+"No, no."
+
+For a certain time, silence followed. Ladislaus frowned and clinched
+his teeth; after which, drawing a deep breath, he said, as if with a
+certain rage:
+
+"This was done for me by those scoundrels."
+
+"Oh, if they only fell into my hands," she replied through her set
+teeth.
+
+Such a fathomless hatred glistened in her eyes and her entire
+countenance assumed such an expression of cruelty, that it might serve
+as a model for a Gorgon face. Ladislaus was so astonished at this sight
+that he forgot about his pain.
+
+Again silence ensued. The maid recollected herself after a while, but
+her cheeks grew so pale that the dark down above her lips became more
+marked:
+
+She then asked: "What can I do to relieve you?"
+
+Her voice now rang with such cordial solicitude that Ladislaus smiled
+and answered:
+
+"Nothing, unless it be to commiserate with me."
+
+And in a moment she was transported with spasmodic grief; she flung her
+face at his feet, and, embracing them with her arms, began to kiss them
+through the quilt. Her raven-like head and bent body shook from
+sobbing.
+
+"Why little lady! Panna Pauly!" cried Ladislaus.
+
+And he was compelled to repeat this several times before she heard him.
+Finally she rose and, covering her eyes with her hands, went to the
+window, pressed her face against the pane, and for some time remained
+motionless. Afterwards she began to wipe her eyes and readjust her
+hair, as if in fear that somebody, entering unexpectedly, might surmise
+what had taken place.
+
+In the meantime, all the moments in which he had come in contact with
+her coursed through Ladislaus' mind, commencing with meeting her on the
+dark path, when she told him that a were-wolf did not look like that,
+and the vision in the bath-room, until his conversation with her, after
+that vision, on the yoked elm grove near the pond. He recalled how from
+that time she alternately reddened and grew pale at the sight of him;
+how she drooped her eyes and how she sent them after him whenever it
+seemed to her that he was not observing. From one view, Ladislaus
+accepted this as the sequel of the incident in the bath-room; from
+another as admiration for his shapeliness. This admiration, indeed,
+flattered his masculine vanity, but he did not give it much thought,
+as, having his mind absorbed with Miss Anney, her servant did not
+concern him. Now, however, he understood that this was something more
+than the blandishments of an artful chambermaid after a handsome young
+heir, and that this maiden had become distractedly infatuated with him
+and in a kind of morbid manner. His love for Miss Anney was too deep
+and true for him to be pleased with such a state of affairs or for him
+to think that after his wounds were healed he could take advantage of
+the maiden's feelings in the fashion of a gallant. On the contrary, the
+thought that he had unwittingly aroused such feelings appeared
+disagreeable and irksome to him. He was seized by a fear of what might
+result from it. There came to him, as if in a vision, troubles, scenes,
+and entanglements, which such a passion might produce. He understood
+that this was a fire with which he could not thoughtlessly play; that
+he would have to be careful and not give her any encouragement. He
+decided also, notwithstanding the pity and sympathy he felt in the
+depth of his heart for the maiden, to avoid in the future all
+conversations, all jests, and everything which might draw her nearer to
+him, encourage intimacy, or provoke in the future outbursts similar to
+the one of that day. It even occurred to him to request Miss Anney not
+to send her to him any more, but he abandoned that resolution,
+observing that it might cause sorrow or cast upon him a shadow of
+ludicrousness. Finally he came to the conclusion that above all it was
+incumbent upon him not to ask the maid about anything; not to demand
+any explanation as to the meaning of that outbreak and those tears, and
+to behave coolly and distantly.
+
+In the meantime the maiden, at the window, having regained her
+composure, again approached the bed and spoke in a meek and hesitating
+voice:
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir. Be not angry at me, sir."
+
+He closed his eyes and only after an interval replied:
+
+"Little lady, I am not angry, but I need peace."
+
+"I beg pardon," she repeated yet more meekly.
+
+However she observed that he spoke in a different tone, drier and
+colder than previously, and intense uncertainty was depicted upon her
+countenance, for she did not know whether this was the momentary
+dissatisfaction of the patient, who, in reality, did desire quiet or
+whether it was the displeasure of the young heir at her--a servant
+maid--having dared to betray her feelings. Fearing, however, to again
+offend him, she became silent and seating herself upon the chair which
+Miss Anney had occupied, she took from the commode the work which
+previously had been brought and began to sew, glancing from time to
+time with great uneasiness, and as if in fear, at Ladislaus. He also
+cast stealthy glances at her, and seeing her regular features, as if
+carved out of stone, her sharply outlined brows, the dark down above
+her lips, and the energetic, almost inflexible, expression of her face,
+he thought that it would be much easier for a man who could arouse the
+thoughts and feelings of such a girl to form various ties than later to
+be able to free himself from them.
+
+
+
+                                   IV
+
+Contrary to expectations, the doctor did not arrive that day, owing to
+an unusual number of engagements and a few important operations which
+he was compelled to perform without delay. Instead, he sent a young
+hospital attendant, skilled in dressing wounds, with a letter in which
+he requested Gronski to inform the ladies that they should consider his
+postponed visit as proof that no danger actually threatened the wounded
+man. Ladislaus, however was not pleased with this news, for the wounds
+tormented him acutely; particularly the flesh torn by the bullet along
+the ribs afflicted him painfully; and besides, his mother felt worse.
+The asthmatic spell recurred, after which a general weakness followed,
+so that notwithstanding her warmest wishes she was not able to rise
+from her bed. Pani Otocka did not leave her for the entire day, and at
+night her place was to be taken by Miss Anney, who, however, needing
+rest after the recent events and, passing a sleepless night, was sent
+to sleep by both sisters and Gronski. The rôle of the housekeeper of
+Jastrzeb was assumed by Marynia, for she wanted by all means to be
+useful, and was not permitted to attend to the patients. Instead, she
+was intrusted with all the keys; the management of the house; with
+conferring and taking an accounting with the cook whom she feared a
+little and did not like, because he looked upon her as if she was a
+child who was amusing herself rather than one upon whose shoulders
+rested the responsibility of superintending everything. She adopted a
+mien full of importance, but nevertheless "the dear gentleman," that is
+Gronski, had to promise that he would be present, as if by chance, in
+the room when the accounting was taking place.
+
+As, after the arrival of the doctor on the third day, it appeared that
+Ladislaus' condition was quite favorable and Pani Krzycki's asthmatic
+spells were leaving her and her nerves were getting in order, the
+general aspect of Jastrzeb became calmer and happier. Dolhanski began
+to fill with a certain humor the rôle of a generalissimo of all the
+armed forces of Jastrzeb while Gronski played the part of military
+governor. The doctor brought with him a second nurse, who thenceforth
+was to alternate with the one who came previously. This relieved the
+ladies of the house of the necessity of continual watchfulness and
+unnecessary fatigue. Ladislaus alone was dissatisfied with the
+arrangement, for he understood that now Miss Anney would not pass days
+and nights in his chamber, and that in all probability he would not see
+her until he was able to leave his bed. In fact, it happened that way.
+Several times during the day she would come to the anteroom, send
+through the attendants whatever was needed, inquire about his health
+and also send a "good-night" or "good-day" but would not enter the
+room. Ladislaus sighed, swore quietly, and made life miserable for his
+attendants, and when he learned from Dolhanski of the enthusiasm with
+which the doctor spoke of Miss Anney he began to suspect him of
+purposely sending the attendants in order to make it more difficult for
+him to see her. His mother rose the fourth day and, feeling much
+better, visited him daily and sat up with him for hours. Ladislaus
+often asked himself the question whether she surmised his feelings.
+They were indeed known to all the guests in the house, but there was a
+possibility that she did not suspect anything, as for a considerable
+time before the occurrence in the forest she did not, in truth, leave
+her room; in consequence of which she seldom saw her son and Miss Anney
+together. Krzycki often deliberated over the question whether he should
+speak with his mother at once about it or defer the matter to a later
+date. In favor of the first thought, there was the consideration that
+his mother, while he lay in bed wounded, would not dare to interpose
+any strenuous objections from fear that his condition might grow worse.
+But on the other hand, such calculation, in which his beloved one and
+the whole happiness of his life were involved, appeared to him that day
+as miserable craftiness. He thought besides that to extort an assent
+from his mother through his sickness would be something derogatory to
+Miss Anney, before whom the doors of the Jastrzeb manor-house and the
+arms of the entire family should be widely and joyfully opened. But he
+was restrained by another consideration. And this was that,
+notwithstanding the conversation he at one time had with Gronski,
+notwithstanding the words he exchanged with the lady, notwithstanding
+her solicitude, her sacrifices, and the courage with which she did not
+hesitate to drive for the doctor, and finally notwithstanding the
+visible marks of feeling which could be discerned in every glance she
+bestowed upon him, Ladislaus doubted and did not dare to believe in his
+own good fortune. He was young, inexperienced, in love not only up to
+his ears but like a student; therefore full of alternating
+uncertainties, hopes, joys, and doubts. He doubted also himself. At
+times he felt at his shoulders wings, as it were, and in his soul a
+desire for lofty flights; a latent ability to perform acts clearly
+heroic; and at other times he thought: "Who am I, that such a flower
+should fall upon my bosom? There are people who are endowed with
+talent; who possess education; and others who have millions, and I,
+what? I am a mere nobleman farmer, who will all his life dig the soil,
+like a mole. Have I then the right to pinion to such a life, or rather
+to confine in a sort of cage such a paradisiacal bird, which soars
+freely across the firmament for the delectation and admiration of
+mankind?" And he was seized by despair. But when he pictured to himself
+that the moment might arrive when this paradisiacal bird might fly away
+forever from him, then he looked upon it with amazement as if upon a
+calamity which he did not deserve. He also had his hours of hope,
+especially in the morning when he felt better and stronger. Then he
+recalled everything that had taken place between them, from her first
+arrival at Jastrzeb and his meeting her at Zarnowski's funeral until
+that last night when he pressed her hand to his lips and gained greater
+confidence. Why, at that time, she told him "not a word about anything
+until the wounds are healed." Therefore through that alone she gave to
+him the right to repeat to her that she was dearer to him than the
+whole world and to surrender into her hands his fate, his future, and
+his entire life. Let her do with them what she will.
+
+In the meanwhile his mother will accustom herself to her, will grow
+more intimate, and become more attached to her. And her maternal heart
+is so full of admiration and gratitude for what Miss Anney had done for
+him that from her lips fell the words "God sent her here." Ladislaus
+smiled at the thought that his mother, however, ascribed the sacrifices
+and courage of the young maiden not to any ardent feeling but to an
+exceptionally honest heart, as well as to English training, which was
+conducive to energy alike in men and women. And she had likewise
+repeated to Pani Otocka several times that she would like to bring up
+her Anusia to be such a brave woman; give her such strength, health,
+and such love for her "fellow-men." Pani Otocka smiled also, hearing
+these praises, and Ladislaus thought that Miss Anney perhaps would not
+have done the same for her fellow-men, and this thought filled him with
+happiness.
+
+Eventually he became quite certain that his mother would consent to his
+marriage with Miss Anney, but he was anxious as to how she would agree.
+And in this regard he was much distressed. His mother, judged by former
+requirements and conceptions, was a person of more than medium
+education. She possessed high social refinement, read a number of
+books, and was proficient in the French and Italian languages. During
+her younger days she passed considerable time abroad, but only her
+closest friends could tell how many national and hereditary prejudices
+were concealed in her and to what extent all that was not Polish,
+particularly if it did not of necessity come from France, appeared to
+her peculiar, outlandish, strange, and even shocking. This appeared
+accidentally once before the attack upon Ladislaus when she saw Miss
+Anney's English prayer-book and, opening it, noticed a prayer beginning
+with "Oh Lord." Belonging to a generation which did not study English,
+and having lived in retirement for many years in Jastrzeb, Pani Krzycki
+could not imagine the Lord other than a being with yellow whiskers,
+dressed in checkered clothes, and to Marynia's great amusement could
+not by any means understand how the Divinity could be thus addressed.
+In vain Ladislaus explained to her that in the French and Polish
+languages analogical titles are given to God. She regarded that as
+something different, and exacted a promise from Miss Anney that she
+would pray from a Polish book, which she promised to buy for her.
+
+Finally the fact that Miss Anney was not in all probability a member of
+the nobility would play an important part. Ladislaus feared that his
+mother, having consented to the marriage, might in the depths and
+secrecy of her soul, deem it a mésalliance. This thought irritated and
+depressed him immeasurably and was one of the reasons why he postponed
+his consultation with his mother until their arrival in Warsaw.
+
+He was angered yet more at his enforced confinement in his bed; so that
+for three days he declared each evening that he would rise the
+following morning, and when on the fourth day Miss Anney and Marynia
+said to him through the doorway, "Good-day," he actually did get up,
+but in his weakened condition, he suffered from dizziness and was
+forced to lie down again. He was steadily improving, however; he
+continued to sigh more and more and felt his inactivity most keenly.
+
+"I have got enough of this loquacious doctor," he said to Gronski,
+"enough of dressings and iodoform. I envy not only you, sir, but even
+Dolhanski, who is roaming about on my horses all over creation, and
+very likely reaches as far as Gorek."
+
+"He does," answered Gronski gayly, "and this leads me to think that he
+makes a mystery of it, for he has ceased to talk about those ladies."
+
+This was but a half truth for Dolhanski did actually go to Gorek but
+did not remain entirely silent about the ladies, for returning the next
+day, he entered Ladislaus' room, bearing with him still the odor of the
+horse, and said:
+
+"Imagine to yourself that the Wlocek ladies received a command from
+some kind of committee from under a dark star to pay under the penalty
+of death one thousand roubles for 'party' purposes."
+
+"There you have it!" cried Gronski. "Now that is becoming an every-day
+occurrence. Who knows whether similar commands are not awaiting us upon
+our desks in Warsaw?"
+
+"Well, what of it?" asked Ladislaus.
+
+"Nothing," answered Dolhanski; "those ladies first argued as to who was
+to first expose her breast to shield the other; then fainted; after
+that they came to, then began to bid each other farewell, and finally
+asked me my advice as to what was to be done."
+
+"And what advice did you give them?"
+
+"I advised them to tell the executors of the command, who would come
+for the money, that their plenipotentiary and treasurer, Pan Dolhanski,
+resided at such and such address in Warsaw."
+
+"Really, did you advise them to do that?"
+
+"I give you my word."
+
+"In such a case, they will undoubtedly call upon you."
+
+"You can imagine what rich booty they will get! I also will have some
+recreation in these tedious times."
+
+"Pardon me," said Gronski, "the times are trying; that is certain, but
+no one can say that they are tedious."
+
+"But for whom?" answered Dolhanski. "If I ever borrow money from you,
+then I will have to conform to your inclination, but before that time
+you cannot draw me into any political discussion. In the meantime I
+will only tell you this much, that I am the only social microbe that
+can remain at perfect peace. All that I require is that 'bridge' should
+be going normally at the club and soon this will be impossible. These
+times may be interesting to you but not for me."
+
+"At any rate," observed Gronski, "a certain ventilation of torpid
+conditions is taking place, and since you compared yourself to a
+microbe, by the same token, you admit that these are times for
+disinfection."
+
+At this Dolhanski turned to Ladislaus.
+
+"Thank Gronski," he said, "for the disinfection started with you; from
+which the plain inference is to be drawn that you are a more harmful
+microbe than I am."
+
+"Get married, get married," answered Ladislaus banteringly; "for you, a
+good marriage settlement would be the best cure for pessimism."
+
+"That may be possible, as in that case, I may have something with which
+I can leave this dear country and settle elsewhere. I once told you
+that Providence speaks through the lips of little innocents. But I
+should have thought of marriage when in the perspective there were no
+Goreks, but instead, four million franks."
+
+"Did you have such an opportunity?"
+
+"As you see me here. It happened in Ostend; an old Belgian relict of a
+manufacturer of preserves, and having cash to the amount specified,
+wanted to marry me and that for the waiting."
+
+"And what?"
+
+"And nothing. I remember what Pan Birkowski, who at that time was in
+Ostend, told me. 'Do business,' he said. 'At the worst, you may leave
+the old woman two millions and leave her in the lurch, and you can take
+two millions with you and enjoy yourself like a king.'"
+
+"And what did you say to that?"
+
+"And I said this to that: What is that? Am I to give from my own
+hard-earned money two millions to an ugly old woman? For nothing! And
+now I think that for a mere quibble, I permitted a fortune to slip away
+from me and that the time may come when owing to a 'retirement from
+business' I will have to sacrifice myself for a smaller price."
+
+Gronski and Ladislaus began to laugh, but Dolhanski, who spoke with
+greater bitterness than they supposed, shrugged his shoulders and said:
+
+"Amuse yourselves, amuse yourselves. One of you already has received a
+taste of the times and the other, God grant, will not escape so easily.
+Nice times, indeed! Chaos, anarchy, political orgy, lack of any kind of
+authority, the dance of dynamite with the knout, and the downfall of
+'bridge.' And you laugh!"
+
+
+
+                                   V
+
+Nevertheless that which Dolhanski said about a want of any kind of
+authority appeared to be not exactly the truth, for, after an interval
+of one week, the authorities did give signs of life.
+
+An imposing armed force, together with gendarmes and police, made its
+appearance.
+
+Of course the perpetrators of the attempt upon Krzycki did not wait a
+whole week for the arrival at Jastrzeb of a military relief, as they
+evidently had engagements in other parts of the county. As a result the
+Jastrzeb, as well as the Rzeslewo, forests appeared to be deserted.
+
+In lieu of this, about a score of men in Jastrzeb, itself, were placed
+under arrest. Among these were the two forest rangers, the old coachman
+who was wounded at the time of the attack, and all the workingmen at
+the sawmill.
+
+In the manor-house all the passports were verified with exceeding care,
+reports were written, and the host, hostess, and guests, not excluding
+the ladies, were subjected to a strict examination.
+
+From these examinations it developed that in reality they did not come
+on account of the attempt upon the proprietor of Jastrzeb, but for the
+purpose of apprehending a dangerous revolutionist, a certain Laskowicz,
+who, according to the most reliable information secured by the police,
+was hiding in Jastrzeb and was shielded by its denizens.
+
+The declaration of the Krzyckis to the police, that in due season the
+passport of Laskowicz was forwarded, and if Laskowicz had left the city
+he must have received it, as well as the assurances of all present that
+Laskowicz was not in Jastrzeb did not find any credence.
+
+The authorities were too experienced and shrewd to believe such
+nonsense and they detected in them "an evil design, and want of
+sincerity and cordial candor."
+
+The house also was subjected to a most painstaking search, beginning in
+the garret and ending in the cellar. They knocked on the walls to
+ascertain whether there were any secret hiding places. They searched
+among the dresses and linen of the women; in the hearth, under the
+divans, in the drawers, in the boxes for phenicine pastilles, which
+Gronski brought with him; and finally in the manor outbuildings, in the
+mangers of the stable, in the milk churners, in the tar-boxes, and even
+in the beehives, whose inmates, undoubtedly being permeated with the
+evil-disposition prevalent in Jastrzeb, resisted the search in a manner
+as evil disposed as it was painful.
+
+But as the search, notwithstanding its thoroughness and the
+intelligence with which it was conducted, was not productive of any
+results, they took a hundred and some tens of books, the farm register,
+the entire private correspondence of the hosts as well as the guests,
+the bone counters used in playing cards, a little bell with a
+Napoleonic figure, a safety razor, a barometer, and, notwithstanding
+the license which Krzycki possessed, all the fowling pieces, not
+excepting a toy-gun with which corks were shot and which belonged to
+little Stas.
+
+Ladislaus himself would have been undoubtedly arrested as an
+accomplice, if the doctor, who treated the captain for his heart
+trouble, had not arrived and if Dolhanski, growing impatient beyond all
+endurance, had not shown the captain a message before sending it to the
+city. It was addressed to the highly influential general W., with whom
+Dolhanski played whist at the club, and it complained of the brutality
+and the arbitrariness of the search.
+
+This to a considerable extent cooled off the ardor of the captain and
+his subordinates, who previously, at the scrutiny of the passports, had
+learned that Dolhanski was a member of the club.
+
+In this manner Ladislaus preserved his liberty, supplemented by police
+surveillance, and little Stas regained his toy-gun for shooting corks.
+The captain could not return the arms as he had peremptory orders in
+black and white to confiscate even the ancient fowling-pieces of the
+whole community.
+
+"Doux pays! Doux pays!" cried Dolhanski after the departure of the
+police. "Revolvers now can be found only in the hands of the bandits.
+In view of this I will submit to a demission as the commander-in-chief
+of the Jastrzeb armed forces, land as well as naval. We are now
+dependent upon the kindness or unkindness of fate."
+
+"Go to Warsaw, ladies and gentlemen, to-morrow," said the doctor; "here
+there is no joking."
+
+"Let us go to Warsaw," repeated Dolhanski, "and, not losing any time,
+enroll in the ranks of the believers in expropriation. I regard social
+revolutionists as the only insurance association in this country which
+does really insure."
+
+"From accidents," added Krzycki; "and we shall insure with my personal
+friend and 'accomplice' Laskowicz."
+
+To this Dolhanski replied:
+
+"That accomplice gave you a payment on account. In the future you will
+receive yet more."
+
+To Gronski's mind came thoughts of the personal enmity of the young
+medical student to Krzycki and the letter of Laskowicz to Marynia, of
+which he among the men in Jastrzeb alone knew.
+
+It was quite probable that Laskowicz saw in Ladislaus a rival and
+future aspirant for the hand of Panna Marynia who, besides, had nipped
+in the bud his work in Rzeslewo and that he might have thought that he
+actually could gratify his hatred from personal consideration, and in
+the name of the "cause."
+
+Laskowicz, himself, in his own way, might have been an honest man, but
+the party ethics were, in relation to the antiquated morality,
+revolutionary, and sanctioned such things.
+
+But at present there was not much time to ponder over that; so after a
+while Gronski waved his hand and said:
+
+"Whether or not the hand of Laskowicz is imbrued in this the future
+will show. Now we must think of something else. I assert positively
+that I will take away my ladies from here, but I wish that the entire
+Jastrzeb family would follow my example."
+
+After which, he addressed the doctor.
+
+"Would it be safe for Ladislaus to travel to-morrow?"
+
+"He? Even as far as England," answered the doctor.
+
+Gronski and Dolhanski laughed at these words but Ladislaus blushed like
+a student and said:
+
+"It will be necessary to inform the ladies."
+
+"And to-morrow the general exodus will take place," added Gronski.
+
+And he went to the ladies, who received the news of the decision with
+evident relief. Both sisters decided to have Pani Krzycki at their
+residence in Warsaw, but she, desiring to be with her son, would not
+accept the invitation; and only consented when Gronski announced that
+he would take Ladislaus to his home and guaranteed that he should not
+suffer for want of care and comfort. Miss Anney, whose apartments were
+directly opposite to those of Pani Otocka also offered her rooms for
+the use of the younger members of the Krzycki family and their female
+teachers. In the meanwhile the doctor permitted Ladislaus to get up, so
+that he would not have to start on his journey directly from his bed.
+In the evening the entire company assembled on the garden veranda.
+There was missing only Dolhanski who rode off to Gorek, for he had
+decided to advise Pani Wlocek and Panna Kajetana to remove to the city
+likewise. Ladislaus, after a considerable loss of blood and a somewhat
+lengthy confinement in bed, looked pale and miserable, but his
+countenance had acquired a more subtile expression and actually become
+handsome. At the present time the ladies were occupied with him, as an
+invalid, with extraordinary watchfulness. He was a person who attracted
+general sympathy; therefore, though from time to time his eyes grew
+dim, he assured his mother that it was well with him, and he really was
+delighted to breathe the fresh evening air. At times he was overcome by
+a light drowsiness. Then he closed his eyelids and the conversation
+hushed, but when he opened them again he saw directed towards himself
+the eyes of his mother and, illuminated by the setting sun, the young
+faces of the ladies, which appeared to him simply angelic. He was
+surrounded by love and friendship; therefore it was well with him. His
+heart surged with feelings of gratitude, and at the same time with
+regret that those good Jastrzeb days would soon end. In his soul he
+cherished a hope that he would not be absent from Jastrzeb long, and
+promised himself a speedy return, and he promised this with all the
+strength with which a person craves happiness. Nevertheless, the times
+were so strange, so uncertain, and so many things might happen which it
+was impossible to foresee, that involuntarily a fear generated in his
+heart as to what turn the current of events would take; what the future
+of the country would be, and what, in a year or two, would become of
+Jastrzeb, which, indeed, became precious to him for it opened before
+him the portals, beyond which he beheld the great brightness of
+happiness. Love, as well as a bird, needs a nest. So Ladislaus plainly
+could not conceive of himself and the light-haired lady being anywhere
+else than at Jastrzeb. For this, his heart beat with redoubled force,
+when glancing at her, he indulged in fancies and imagined that perhaps
+after a year, or sooner, she will sit upon the same veranda, as the
+lady of the house and as his wife. Then he turned towards her and asked
+her with his soul and eyes: "Dost thou guess and perceive my thoughts?"
+But she, perhaps because she was restrained by the presence of so many
+witnesses, did not reply to his glances; sitting as if immersed in
+thought and letting her gaze follow the swallows, which flitted so
+nimbly above the trees of the garden and the pond. Ladislaus, when he
+now looked at her was impressed, as if with certain admiration, at the
+contrast between her full-grown form, powerful arms, and well developed
+bosom and her small, girlish face. But he saw in all this only a new
+charm and spell under whose powers there flew at times through his love
+a burning desire similar indeed to pain and stifling the breath in his
+breast.
+
+In the meantime the sun sank measurably and began to bathe in the ruddy
+evening twilight. From the freshly mown lawns came a strong fragrance
+of the little hay heaps, which were warmed by the daily summer heat.
+Somehow the air with the approach of night became more bracing, for,
+from the alder-trees bordering on the pond, came from time to time a
+cool breath, so weak and light, however, that the leaves on the trees
+did not stir. The swallows described curves higher and higher above the
+reddened surface of the pond. In the lofty poplars with trimmed tops a
+stork clattered in his nest, now stooping with his head backward and
+then lowering it as if bowing to the setting sun or officiating at the
+evening vespers.
+
+"I will play something as a farewell to Jastrzeb," Marynia suddenly
+announced.
+
+"Ah, beloved creature!" said Gronski; "shall I go for the stand and
+notes?"
+
+"No. I will play something from memory."
+
+And saying this, she handed to Miss Anney an album with views of
+Jastrzeb, and hurried upstairs. In a short time she returned with her
+violin. For a time she kept it propped on her shoulder and raising her
+eyes upwards, considered what she should play. She selected Schumann's
+"Ich grolle nicht." The overflowing tones filled the quiet of the
+garden. They began to sing, muse, long, and weep; oscillate, hush, and
+slumber, and with them the human soul acted in unison. Sorrow became
+more melancholy, yearning more longing, and love more tender and deeply
+enamoured. And "the little divinity" continued playing--white in her
+muslin dress--calm, with pensive eyes lost somewhere in the illimitable
+distance, immaculate, and as if borne to heaven by music and her own
+playing. To Gronski it seemed that he had before him some kind of
+mystic lily, and he began in his soul to say to her, as it were, a
+litany, in which every word was a worship of the little violinist,
+because she was playing and she awoke in him a love as destitute of the
+slightest earthly dross as if she were not a maiden composed of blood
+and flesh, but in reality some kind of mystic lily.
+
+Marynia had ceased to play and her hand, with the violin, hung at her
+side. No one thanked her; no one uttered a word, for the strains of
+that music lingered with all and, echo-like, it was yet playing within
+them. Pani Otocka unwittingly drew nearer to Gronski as if they were
+attracted towards each other by their mutual worship of this beloved
+child. In Pani Krzycki's eyes glittered tears, which under the spell of
+the music were contributed and provoked by memories of former years and
+the present suffering of her son and fresh worries about him, and the
+uncertainty of the future. Miss Anney sat in reverie, holding
+unknowingly between her knees the album, which during Marynia's playing
+had dropped from her hands; and through the open doors, in the already
+dimmed depths of the salon, could be seen the indistinct form of a
+woman, who evidently also was listening to the music.
+
+A somewhat stronger breeze which blew from the alder-trees awoke all,
+as if from a half-dream. Then Pani Krzycki turned towards her son:
+
+"A chill is coming from the pond. Perhaps you may wish to return to
+your room."
+
+"No," he answered, "I feel better than I have felt for a long time."
+
+And he began to assure her that he did not feel any chill and
+afterwards appealed to the doctor, who, lulled to sleep by the music,
+could not at once understand what was the matter.
+
+"Can Laudie remain?" asked Pani Krzycki.
+
+"He can, he can; only as soon as the sun disappears, it will be
+necessary to cover him better."
+
+Afterwards the doctor looked at his watch and added:
+
+"It is time for me to go, but I have had so few evenings like this that
+it is a hardship to leave. As God sees, it is a hardship."
+
+And here he began to rub his fatigued brow with the palm of his hand.
+Pani Krzycki and Ladislaus declared that they would not permit him to
+leave before supper. The doctor again looked at his watch, but before
+he could make any reply there appeared upon the veranda the same
+feminine figure that had been listening to the music in the depths of
+the parlor, but this time with two plaids upon her arm.
+
+"Is that you, Pauly?" said Miss Anney. "Ah, how sensible you are."
+
+And Panna Pauly began to cover Ladislaus with the plaids. She placed
+one over his shoulders and the other around his limbs. In doing this
+she knelt and bent in such a way that for a moment her breast rested on
+Krzycki's knee.
+
+"Thank you, little Miss, thank you," he said, somewhat confused.
+
+She glanced quickly into his eyes and then left without a word.
+
+"But I have taken your plaids," Ladislaus said addressing Miss Anney.
+
+"That does not matter. I am dressed warmly. Only, you, sir, will have
+to take care that the wounded shoulder is well covered."
+
+And approaching him, she began to push lightly and carefully a corner
+of the plaid between the back of the chair and his shoulder.
+
+"I am not hurting you?" she asked.
+
+"No, no. How can I thank you?"
+
+And he looked at her with such enamoured eyes that for the first time
+it occurred to his mother that there might be something more than
+gratitude in this.
+
+She glanced once or twice at Pani Zosia's delicate countenance, and
+sighed, and her heart was oppressed with fear, disquiet, and regret.
+This was her ideal for her son; this was her secret fancy. She, indeed,
+had fallen in love with her whole soul with the young Englishwoman, and
+if foreign blood did not course in her veins, she would not have had
+any objections, but nevertheless this first fleeting suspicion that the
+structure, which she, in her soul, had erected from the moment she
+became intimate with Zosia, might crumble, was to her immeasurably
+disagreeable. For a time she felt, as it were, a dislike for Miss
+Anney. She determined also from that moment to observe them both more
+carefully, and to speak with Gronski.
+
+But in the further course of the evening her hopes revived, for when
+the company returned to the salon it seemed to her after a time that
+what she had seen on the veranda was an illusion. In fact that day did
+not end for Ladislaus and Miss Anney as serenely as the setting sun had
+augured. A cooler wind blew between them, and Pani Krzycki could not
+know that the reason for it, on the part of her boy, was jealousy. Miss
+Anney, after the return to the parlor, began, on the side, a
+conversation with the doctor which continued so long that Ladislaus
+became irritated. He observed that she spoke not only with animation,
+but also with a desire to please. He saw the brightened visage of the
+doctor, from which it was easy to read that the conversation afforded
+him sincere pleasure, and a serpent stung Ladislaus' heart. He could
+not overhear what Miss Anney was saying. It seemed to him only that she
+was urging something. On the other hand, the doctor could not speak so
+quietly, but to Krzycki's eavesdropping ears from time to time came
+such fragmentary expressions as "I intended to do that, only after a
+week"; "Ha!" "Some may object"; "If that is the case, very well"; "It
+is well known how England conquers"; "Good, good."
+
+Ladislaus decided with all possible coolness to ask Miss Anney whom
+England had now subjugated and whether the newspapers had made any
+mention of it, but when Miss Anney and the doctor at the conclusion of
+their tête-à-tête had rejoined the rest of the company, he changed his
+plan and, with the offended dignity of a schoolboy who is ready not
+only to spite those dear to him but also himself, he determined to
+cover himself with the cloak of indifference. With this view he turned
+to Zosia and began to inquire about the Zalesin estate and begged her
+permission to inspect it; and she told him that it would give her great
+pleasure. He thanked her so warmly that his mother was led into an
+error. Miss Anney tried several times to participate in the
+conversation, but receiving from him indifferent replies, surprised and
+slightly touched, began to listen to what Gronski was saying.
+
+After supper the doctor announced that he would have to leave. For a
+while he spoke with Gronski, and then took his leave of the ladies,
+repeating, "Until to-morrow; at the railway station." He advised
+Ladislaus to return immediately to his room and secure a good rest
+before proceeding on his journey. Gronski, after escorting the doctor
+to the gate, accompanied Ladislaus to his room, and when they found
+themselves alone, perceiving his mien and easily surmising the cause
+asked: "What ails you? You are so agreeable."
+
+And Krzycki answered with some irritation: "I am still feeling weak;
+otherwise I am as usual."
+
+But Gronski shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"These," said he, "are the usual misunderstandings of lovers, but you,
+above all, are a child and caused her unpleasantness. And do you know
+what for? Simply because she urged Szremski to accompany you to
+Warsaw."
+
+Ladislaus' heart quivered, but he put a good face on a bad matter and
+would not yet be reconciled.
+
+"I do not feel at all weak and can get along without his assistance."
+
+To this Gronski replied:
+
+"Good-night to you and your logic."
+
+And he left the room.
+
+But Ladislaus when he was undressed and in bed, suddenly felt tears
+welling in his eyes and began with extraordinary tenderness to beg
+pardon of--the pillow.
+
+
+
+                                   VI
+
+Gronski, who by nature was very obliging and devoted to his friends,
+was at the same time a man of ample means and high culture; in
+consequence of which Ladislaus found in his home not only such care as
+sincere good will alone can bestow, and comforts, but also various
+things which were lacking in Jastrzeb. He found, especially, books, a
+few paintings, engravings, and various small objects of vertu;
+moreover, the residence was spacious, well-ventilated, and not
+over-crowded with unnecessary articles. Thanks to the host a highly
+intellectual and esthetic atmosphere prevailed, in which the young heir
+felt indeed smaller and less self-confident than in Jastrzeb, but which
+he breathed with pleasure. He was seized, however, with a fear that by
+a lengthy stay he would cause his older friend trouble, and on the
+following evening he began to argue with Gronski about going to a
+hotel.
+
+"Even the doctor considers me well," he said. "The best proof of it is
+that he permits me to go about the city in three days."
+
+"I heard something about five," answered Gronski.
+
+"But that was yesterday; so, not counting to-day, three remain. You
+have your habits which you must not change on my account. It is indeed
+a pleasure to look at all these things; so I will come here, but it is
+one thing to visit you for an hour, or even two, and another to
+introduce confusion into your mode of life."
+
+"I will only say this," answered Gronski, "Pani Otocka and Panna
+Marynia regard me as an old bachelor and promised to make a call
+to-morrow, or the day after, as they have often done before, in the
+company of Miss Anney. Do you see that armchair? On it, during the
+music-playing, sat your light-haired beauty. Go, go to the hotel, and
+we will see who, besides your mother, will visit you."
+
+"You are too good."
+
+"I am an old egotist. You see that I have a few old household effects,
+which, during the course of my life, I have collected; but one thing,
+though I were as rich as Morgan and Jay Gould combined, I can
+unfortunately never buy, and that is youth. And you have so much of it
+that you could establish a bank and issue stock. From you rays plainly
+emanate. Let them illuminate and warm me a little. In other words, do
+not worry, and keep quiet if you are comfortable here with me."
+
+"I only do not desire to be spoiled by too much attention, for,
+speaking sincerely, I feel I am strong enough now."
+
+"So much the better. Thank God, Miss Anney, and the doctor that the
+journey did not injure you. That is what I feared a little."
+
+"It did not hurt me, neither did it help."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"Because I had a hope that on the road I could tell my bright queen
+that which I hid in my soul, but in the meantime it developed that this
+was a foolish hope. We sat in the compartment like herrings. The doctor
+hung over me continually, like a hangman over a good soul, and there
+was not a chance, even for a moment."
+
+"Never, never make any avowals in a railway car, for in the rumble and
+noise the most pathetic passages are lost. Finally, as Laskowicz has
+not dispatched you to the other world, you will easily find an
+opportunity."
+
+"Do you really think that it was the work of Laskowicz?"
+
+"No. But if ever I should ascertain that it was he, I would not be much
+surprised; for such a situation, in which one could gratify self and
+serve a good cause, occurs rarely."
+
+"How gratify self and serve a good cause?"
+
+"Good in his judgment. Do you not live from human sweat and blood?"
+
+"That is very true. But why should my death afford him any
+gratification personally?"
+
+"Because he has conceived a hatred for you; has fallen in love with
+some one and regards you as a rival."
+
+Hearing this, Ladislaus jumped up as if scalded.
+
+"What, would he dare?"
+
+"I assure you that he would dare," replied Gronski quietly, "only he
+made a mistake. But that he is not wanting in courage he gave proofs
+when he wrote an avowal of love to Marynia."
+
+Ladislaus opened wide his eyes and began to wink:
+
+"What was that?"
+
+"I did not want to speak to you about it in Jastrzeb, as at that time
+you often drove to the city. I feared that you might meet him and might
+start a disagreeable brawl. But at present I can tell you every thing;
+Laskowicz has fallen in love with Marynia and wrote a letter to her,
+which of course remained unanswered."
+
+"And he thought that I also am in love with Marynia."
+
+"Permit me; that would not be anything extraordinary. He might have
+overheard something. Whoever is in love usually imagines that every one
+is reaching after the object of his love. Understand that Laskowicz did
+not confide in me, but that is my hypothesis which, if it is erroneous,
+so much the better for Laskowicz. The party sent you a death sentence
+in consequence of his reports and this was working in his hand for
+personal reasons. After all, he may not have participated personally in
+the attempt--"
+
+"Did you see him after that letter?"
+
+"How could I see him, since he wrote after his departure. But it was
+lucky that I advised Pani Otocka to burn that lucubration, for if the
+letter had been found during the search at Jastrzeb, you can readily
+understand what inferences the acuteness of the police might have
+drawn."
+
+Anger glittered in Ladislaus' eyes.
+
+"I prefer that Miss Anney be not involved," he said; "nevertheless I
+would not advise Laskowicz to meet me. That such a baboon, as Dolhanski
+says, should dare to lift his eyes to our female relative in our home
+and, in addition thereto, write to her--this I regard plainly as an
+insult which I cannot forgive."
+
+"In all probability you will never meet him; so you will not move a
+finger."
+
+"I? Then you do not know me. Why not?"
+
+"Among other reasons, out of consideration for our pleasant situation.
+Consider; duels they will not accept and in this they are right. What
+then? Will you cudgel him with a cane or pull his ears?"
+
+"That is quite possible."
+
+"Wait! In the first place there was nothing in the letter resembling an
+insult and, again, what further? The police would take you both into
+custody, and there they would discover that they had caught Laskowicz,
+a revolutionary bird, whom they have been seeking for a long time and
+would send him to Siberia, or even hang him. Can you take anything like
+that upon your conscience?"
+
+"May the deuce take these times," cried Ladislaus. "A man is always in
+a situation from which there is no escape."
+
+"As is usual between two anarchies," answered Gronski. "After all, this
+is a slight illustration."
+
+Further conversation was stopped by the entrance of a servant who
+handed to Gronski a visiting card and he, glancing at it, said:
+
+"Ask him to step in."
+
+Afterwards he asked Ladislaus:
+
+"Do you know Swidwicki?"
+
+"I have heard the name, but am not acquainted with the man."
+
+"He is a relative of Pani Otocka's deceased husband. A very peculiar
+figure."
+
+At that moment Swidwicki entered the room. He was a man of forty years,
+bald, tall, lean, with an intelligent and sour face, and at the same
+time impudent. He was attired carelessly in a suit which appeared to
+fit him too loosely. He had, however, something which betrayed his
+connection with the higher social spheres.
+
+"How is Swidwa?" Gronski began.
+
+After which he introduced him to Ladislaus and continued:
+
+"What has happened to you? I have not seen you for an age."
+
+"Why, you were out of the city."
+
+"Yes; but before that time you did not show up for a month."
+
+"In my old age I have become an anchorite."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I am wearied by the folly of men who pass for reasonable
+beings and by the malice of men who pose as good. Finally, I now roam
+all over the streets from morning until night. Ah! There exist 'Attic
+Nights,' 'Florentine Nights,' and I have a desire to write about
+'Warsaw Days.' Delightful days! Titles of the separate chapters 'Hands
+up! The Rabble on Top.' 'Away with the Geese.' Do you know that at this
+moment there are so many troops patrolling the streets that any one
+else in my place would have been arrested ten times."
+
+"I know, but how do you manage to avoid it?"
+
+"I walk everywhere as peacefully as if in my own rooms. The way I do it
+is simple. As often as I am not drunk, I pretend to be drunk. You would
+not believe what sympathy and respect an intoxicated person commands.
+And in my opinion this is but just, for whoever is 'under the
+influence' from morning till night is innocent and well thinking; upon
+him the so-called social order can rely with confidence."
+
+"Surely. But the social order which depended upon such people would not
+stand upon steady legs."
+
+"Who, to-day, does stand on steady legs? Doctrines intoxicate more than
+alcohol--therefore at this moment all are drunk. The empire is
+staggering, the revolution is reeling, the parties are floundering, and
+a third person stands on the side and looks on. Soon all will tumble to
+the ground. Then there will be order, and may it come as soon as
+possible."
+
+"You ought to be that third person."
+
+"The third person is the German and we are fools. We begin by falling
+to loggerheads, and have reached such a state that the only salvation
+for our social soul would be a decent civil war."
+
+Here he became silent and after a while turned to Ladislaus.
+
+"I see that your eyes are wide open, but nevertheless it is so. A civil
+war is a superb thing. Nothing like it to clarify the situation and
+purify the atmosphere. But to be led to such a situation and not to be
+able to create it is the acme of misfortune or folly."
+
+"I confess that I do not understand," said Ladislaus.
+
+Gronski motioned with his hand and remarked:
+
+"Do not attempt to, for after every fifteen minutes of conversation you
+will not know what is black and what is white and your head will swim,
+or you will get a fever, which as a wounded man you should try to
+avoid."
+
+"True," said Swidwicki, "I had heard and even read in some newspaper of
+the occurrence and paid close attention to it because in your home Pan
+Gronski and Pani Otocka with her sister were being entertained. I am a
+relative of the late aged Otocka. Those women must have been scared.
+But if they think that they are safer here in the city they are
+mistaken."
+
+"Judging from what can be seen, it is really no safer here. Have you
+seen those ladies yet?"
+
+"No, I do not like to go there."
+
+At this, Ladislaus, who by nature was impetuous and bold, frowned, and
+looking Swidwicki in the eyes, replied:
+
+"I do not ask the reason, for that does not interest me, but I give you
+warning that they are my relatives."
+
+"Whose cause a young knight would have to champion," answered
+Swidwicki, gazing at Ladislaus. "Ah, no! If I had any intention of
+saying anything against the ladies I would not say it, as Gronski would
+throw me down the stairs and I have a favor to ask of him. What I said
+is the highest praise for them and simply gall and wormwood for me."
+
+"Beg pardon, again; I do not understand."
+
+"For you see that for the average Pole to have respect for any one and
+not to be able to sharpen his teeth upon him is always annoying. I
+cannot speak of the ladies as I would wish, that is, disparagingly. I
+cannot endure ideal women; besides that, whenever it happens that I
+pass an evening with them, I become a more decent man and that is a
+luxury which in these times we cannot afford."
+
+Ladislaus began to laugh and Gronski said:
+
+"I told you that surely your head would swim."
+
+After which to Swidwicki:
+
+"If he should get any worse, I will induce him to send the doctor's and
+apothecary's bill to you."
+
+"If that is the case, I will go," answered Swidwicki, "but you had
+better come with me into another room for I have some business with you
+which I prefer to discuss without witnesses."
+
+And, taking leave of Ladislaus, he stepped out. Gronski accompanied him
+to the ante-room and after a while returned, shrugging his shoulders:
+
+"What a strange gentleman," said Ladislaus. "I hope I am not
+indiscreet, but did he want to borrow any money from you?"
+
+"Worse," answered Gronski. "This time it was a few Falk engravings. I
+positively refused as he most frequently returns money or rather he
+lets you take it out of his annuity, but books, engravings, and such
+things he never gives back."
+
+"Is he making a collection?"
+
+"On the contrary he throws or gives them away; loans or destroys them.
+Do I know? You will now have an opportunity of meeting him oftener, for
+though I refused to loan them, I permitted him to come here to look
+over and study them. He undoubtedly is writing a book about Falk."
+
+"Ah, so he is a literary man."
+
+"He might have been one. As you will meet him, I must warn you a little
+against him. I will describe him briefly. He is a man to whom the Lord
+gave a good name, a large estate, good looks, great ability, and a good
+heart, and he has succeeded in wasting them all."
+
+"Even a good heart?"
+
+"Inasmuch as he is a rather pernicious person, it is better that he
+does not write. For you see that it may happen that somebody's brains
+decay, just as with people, sick with consumption, their lungs decay.
+But no one has the right to feed the nation with the putrefaction of
+his lungs or his brains. And there are many like him. He does not act
+for the public weal but merely for his own private affairs. Do you know
+how he accounts for not accomplishing anything in his life? In this
+way: that to do so one must believe and to believe it is necessary to
+have a certain amount of stupidity which he does not possess. I am not
+speaking now of religious matters. He simply does not believe that
+anything can be true or false, just or unjust, good or bad. But Balzac
+wisely says: 'Qui dit doute, dit impuissance.' Swidwicki is irritated
+and filled with bitterness by the fact that he is not anything;
+therefore he saves himself by paradoxes and turns intellectual
+somersaults. I once saw a clown who amused the public by giving his cap
+various strange and ridiculous shapes. Swidwicki does the same with
+truth and logic. He is also a clown, but an embittered and spiteful
+one. For this reason he always holds an opinion opposite to that of the
+person with whom he is speaking. This happens particularly when he is
+drunk, and he gets drunk every night. Then to a patriot he will say
+that fatherland is folly; in the presence of a believer he will scoff
+at faith; to a conservative he will say that only anarchy and
+revolution are worth anything; to the socialist that the proletariat
+have 'snouts.' I have heard how he thus expressed himself, and only for
+this reason, that he, 'a superman,' might have something to hit at when
+the notion seizes him. And thus it is always. In discussion he shines
+with paradoxes, but sometimes it chances that he says something
+striking because in all criticism there is some justice. If you wish, I
+will arrange such a spectacle, though for me he has a certain regard,
+firstly, because he likes me, and again because I have rendered him a
+few services in life. He promised to repay me with black ingratitude,
+but in the meantime he does not molest me with such energy as the
+others."
+
+"And no one has yet broken his bones," observed Ladislaus.
+
+"He does not, in the least, retreat from that. He himself seeks trouble
+and there is not a year in which he does not provoke some encounter."
+
+"In the taverns?"
+
+"Not only there. For belonging by name and family connections to the so
+called higher walks of life, he has many acquaintances there. Two years
+ago, indeed, the artists gave him a good cudgelling in a tavern; and,
+for instance, Dolhanski (their dislike is mutual) shot him last spring
+in a duel."
+
+"Ah, that was when I heard his name; now I remember."
+
+"Perhaps you heard it before, for previously he had a few affairs about
+women, as, in addition, he is a great ladies' man. Finally he is an
+unbridled rogue."
+
+"As to women? or up to date?"
+
+"He is not an old man. For some time he has been in the state where he
+likes not ladies but their maids. Fancy that not long ago he was so
+smitten with Miss Anney's maid,--the same brunette who nursed you a
+little in Jastrzeb,--that for a time he was continually dogging her
+steps. He said that once she reviled him on the stairway but this
+charmed him all the more."
+
+Krzycki at the mention of the brunette who nursed him in Jastrzeb
+became so confused that Gronski noticed it, but not knowing what had
+passed between him and Pauline, judged that the enamoured youth was
+offended at the thought that such an individual as Swidwicki should
+bustle about Miss Anney. So desiring to remove the impression, he
+remarked:
+
+"He says that he does not like to call upon those ladies, but Pani
+Otocka does not welcome him at all with enthusiasm. She receives him
+merely out of respect for the memory of her husband, who was his cousin
+and who, at one time, was the conservator of his estate. After all, it
+is probable that Swidwicki feels out of place among such ladies."
+
+"For microbes do not love a pure atmosphere."
+
+"This much is certain: there is within him 'a moral insanity.' I have
+become accustomed to him, but there are certain things in him I cannot
+endure. You have no idea of the contemptuous pity, the dislike, and the
+downright hatred with which he expresses himself about everything which
+is Polish. And here I call a halt. Notwithstanding our good relations,
+it almost came to a personal encounter between us. For when he began to
+squirt his bilious wit, a certain night, on all Poland, I said to him,
+'That lion is not yet dead, and if he dies we know who alone is capable
+of kicking at a dying lion.' He did not come here for over a month, but
+was I not right? I understand how some great hero, who was repaid with
+ingratitude, might speak with bitterness and venom of his country, but
+Swidwicki is not a Miltiades or a Themistocles. And such an outpouring
+of bile is directly pernicious, for he, with his immensely flashing
+intellect, finds imitators and creates a fashion, in consequence of
+which various persons who have never done anything for Poland whet
+their rusty wits upon this whetstone. I understand criticism, though it
+be inexorable, but when it becomes a horse or rather an ass from which
+one never dismounts, then it is bad, for it takes away the desire to
+live from those who, however, must live--and is vile, because it is
+spitting upon society, is often sinful and, above all, unprecedentedly
+unfortunate. Pessimism is not reason but a surrogate of reason;
+therefore, a cheat, such as the merchant who sells chiccory for coffee.
+And such a surrogate you now meet at every step in life and in
+literature."
+
+Here Gronski became silent for a while and raised his brows; and
+Krzycki said:
+
+"From what you say, I see that Swidwicki is a big ape."
+
+"At times, I think that he is a man incredibly wretched, and for that
+reason I did not break off relations with him. Besides he has for me a
+kind of attachment and this always disarms one. Finally, I confess
+openly that I have the purely Polish weakness, which indulges and
+forgives everything in people who amuse us. He at times is very
+amusing, especially when in a talking mood and when he is tipsy to a
+certain degree."
+
+"But finally, if he does not work but talks, from what does he live?"
+
+"He does not belong to the poor class. Once he was very wealthy; later
+he lost a greater portion of his fortune. But in the end the late
+Otocki who was a most upright man, and very practical besides, seeing
+what was taking place, took the matter in his own hands, saved
+considerable and changed the capital into an annuity. From this
+Swidwicki receives a few thousand roubles annually, and though he
+spends more than he ought to, he has something to live upon. If he did
+not drink, he would have a sufficiency: one passion he does not
+possess, namely, cards. He says that for cards one must have the
+intellect of a negro. From just that arose the encounter with
+Dolhanski. But after all, they could not bear each other of old. Both,
+as some one had said, are commercial travellers, dealing in cynicism
+and competing with each other."
+
+"Between the two, I, however, prefer Dolhanski," said Krzycki.
+
+"Because he amuses you, and Swidwicki has not thus far had the
+opportunity. Eternally, it is the same Polish weakness," answered
+Gronski.
+
+After a while he added:
+
+"In Dolhanski it is easier to see the bottom."
+
+"And at that bottom, Panna Kajetana."
+
+"At present it may, in truth, be so. Do you know that Dolhanski brought
+those ladies with him on the train which followed ours? He told me also
+that they would at once pay a visit to your mother and Pani Otocka."
+
+"You will really call upon them to-day?"
+
+"Yes, I call there daily. But as you are not permitted to go out, I
+will invite the ladies to come here to-morrow afternoon for tea."
+
+"I thank you most heartily. I am not allowed to go out but I could
+drive over."
+
+"My servant told me that by order of the Party a strike of the
+hackdrivers will begin to-morrow morning."
+
+"Then how can those ladies ride over here to-morrow?"
+
+"In the private carriages. Unless they are forbidden to ride in
+private.--"
+
+"In that case Mother will be unable to see me."
+
+"If it is quiet upon the streets, I will conduct her here and escort
+her home. At times it is so that one day the streets are turbulent as
+the sea, and the next, still and deserted. In reality it is a relative
+security; for whoever goes out to-day in the city cannot feel certain
+that he will return. If not these then the others may stick in your
+side a knife or a bayonet. But for women it is comparatively safe."
+
+"Under these circumstances, it would be better if my mother did not
+visit me at all. I prefer to stay out those three days which Szremski
+has imposed upon me, to exposing her or any of those ladies to peril.
+Please postpone that 'five o'clock.'"
+
+"Perhaps it will be necessary to do that. But your mother will not
+consent to not seeing you for three days. Maybe some one else will
+importune me that I should not defer the party."
+
+Ladislaus' face glowed with deep and tender joy.
+
+"Tell Mother that worry about her may harm me and cause a fever, and
+tell that other one that I kiss the hem of her dress."
+
+"No. Such things you must say yourself."
+
+"Oh, that I could not only tell her that as soon as possible, but do
+it. In the meantime I have a favor to ask of you. Please send your
+servant to the city. If he is afraid let him call a messenger. I would
+like to send that other one a few flowers."
+
+"Then send also some to your cousins, as otherwise your mother will be
+prematurely surprised."
+
+"Surely she would be astonished, for owing to her sickness she saw us
+so little together that she could not take in the situation. But soon I
+will confess all to her."
+
+"I will only tell you what Pani Otocka said to me. She said this: 'Let
+Ladislaus not speak with his mother before his final interview with
+Aninka as otherwise he would be unable to tell her everything.'"
+
+Krzycki looked Gronski quickly in the eyes.
+
+"And do you not know what the matter is?"
+
+"You know that I have never been accused of a lack of curiosity,"
+answered Gronski, "but I judged that Pani Otocka has sufficient reasons
+for remaining silent, and, therefore, I did not question her about
+anything."
+
+
+
+                                  VII
+
+Gronski actually did postpone his "five o'clock." Pani Krzycki,
+however, visited her son, sometimes twice in a day, claiming justly
+that less danger threatened an elderly woman than any one else.
+Ladislaus passed long hours with her, speaking about everything, but
+mostly about Miss Anney. After Gronski's admonition, he did not,
+indeed, confess to his mother his feelings for the young Englishwoman
+and did not mention a word about his intentions, but the fact, alone,
+that her name was continually on his lips, that he ascribed his
+preservation to her alone, and incessantly talked about the debt of
+gratitude which he and his family owed to her, gave his mother much to
+think about. The suspicion, which had flitted through her mind on the
+eve of their departure from Jastrzeb, returned and became more and more
+strongly fortified. She did not, indeed, take it for granted that
+Ladislaus had already taken an unbreakable resolution but came to the
+conclusion that he was "smitten" and finally that the light-haired
+maiden had made a greater impression upon him than had his cousin
+Otocka. This filled her with sorrow. During the journey and their few
+days' sojourn in Warsaw she took a fancy to Miss Anney for her
+demeanor, simplicity, and complaisance; but "Zosia Otocka" was the
+little eye in her head. From the moment she met her in Krynica, she
+never ceased dreaming of her for her son. She judged that, in respect
+to nobility and delicacy of sentiment, no one could compare with her.
+She regarded her as a chosen soul and the incarnation of womanly
+angelicalness. She had awaited her arrival with palpitation of the
+heart, not supposing for a moment that Ladislaus would not be
+captivated by her figure, her sweet countenance, that maidenly charm,
+which, notwithstanding her widowhood, she preserved in full bloom. And
+until the end Pani Krzycki indulged in the hope that all would end
+according to her desires, not taking into account the fleeting
+impression in Jastrzeb; only during the journey to Warsaw and in the
+course of the last few days did she note that it might happen
+otherwise, and that Ladislaus' eyes were enraptured by another flower.
+She preferred, however, not to question him for she thought that it
+might yet pass away.
+
+He, in the meantime, chafed as if imprisoned, and would undoubtedly
+have not observed those few days which the doctor stipulated, were it
+not for the fact that he had made a promise to his mother in Miss
+Anney's presence, and feared to create an opinion in her eyes that he
+was a man who did not keep his word. After the advice which Pani
+Otocka, through the instrumentality of Gronski, gave him that he should
+first speak with Miss Anney, it became more unendurable for him to sit
+in the house. From morning till night he racked his brain as to what
+that could be and could arrive at no satisfactory solution. The day
+following the conversation with Gronski, he decided to ask Pani Otocka
+about it by letter and sat down with great ardor to write. But after
+the first page he was encompassed by doubt. It seemed to him that he
+could not express that which he wished. He understood that, under the
+address of Pani Otocka, he was really writing to Miss Anney. So he
+yearned to make it a masterpiece, and in the meantime came to the
+conclusion that it was something so bungling and maladroit that it was
+impossible to forward it. Finally he lost all faith in his stylistic
+accomplishments, and this spoilt his humor so far that he again began
+to ask himself in his soul whether such "an ass," who is unable to
+indite three words, has the right to aspire to such an extraordinary
+and in every respect perfect being as "She." Gronski, however,
+comforted him with the explanation that the letter was not a success
+because from the beginning the project was baffling and under such
+circumstances no one could succeed. After which he also called his
+attention to another circumstance, namely, that from Pani Otocka's
+words and her advice that an interview with Miss Anney should precede
+any talk with his mother could be drawn the inference that there
+everything was prepared for an explosion, and all means preventative of
+a heart-break had been provided. Mirth immediately returned to
+Ladislaus and he began to laugh like a child and afterwards again sent
+to the three ladies bouquets of the most magnificent roses which Warsaw
+could provide.
+
+The day concluded yet more propitiously, for proofs of appreciation
+arrived. They were brought to Gronski's house by Panna Pauly in the
+form of a small and perfumed note, on which was written by the hand of
+the light-haired divinity the following words: "We thank you for the
+beautiful roses and hope for an early meeting." Further came the
+signatures of Agnes Anney, Zosia Otocka, and Marynia Zbyltowska.
+Krzycki pronounced the letter a masterpiece of simplicity and
+eloquence. He certainly would have kissed each letter of it separately,
+were it not for the fact that before him stood Panna Pauly, with
+clouded face, and eyes firmly fixed upon him--uneasy and already full
+of suspicious jealousy, though obviously not knowing against which one
+of the three ladies it was to be directed. Krzycki, not concealing the
+joy which the letter gave him, turned to her and said:
+
+"What is new, little Miss? Are the ladies well?"
+
+"Yes. My mistress instructed me to inquire about your health."
+
+"Kindly thank her. It is excellent, and if I am not shot again, I will
+not die from the first shooting."
+
+And she, not taking her bottomless eyes off him, replied:
+
+"God be praised."
+
+"But that you, little Miss, should not fear to go out in such turbulent
+times!"
+
+"The lackey was afraid, but I do not fear anything and wanted to see
+for myself how you were."
+
+"There is a daring body for me! I am grateful to you, little Miss.
+Since this stupid strike of hackmen ended to-day, it is better for you
+to return by hack. Please accept this--for--"
+
+While saying this, he began to search for his purse, and taking a
+five-rouble gold piece, he offered it to her. At the same time he felt
+that he was doing something improper, and even terrible. It was so
+disagreeable to him that he became confused and reddened, but it seemed
+to him that any other method of showing his gratitude would be food for
+the feeling which he perceived in her and which he wished to dispel,
+because of some strange kind of fear intensified even by the fact that
+the girl was Miss Anney's maid.
+
+Therefore he began to repeat with a forced and slightly silly smile:
+
+"Please, Panna Pauly, take it, please--"
+
+But she withdrew her hand and her face darkened in a moment.
+
+"I thank you," she said. "I did not come for that."
+
+And she turned towards the door. To the dissatisfaction with himself
+which Krzycki felt was joined pity for her. Therefore he followed her a
+few steps.
+
+"Let not the little lady be offended," he said; "here, of course, was
+no other thought than of her safety. It was only about this that I was
+concerned. Shall the servant summon a carriage?--"
+
+But she did not answer and left the house. Krzycki, walking to the
+window, gazed for some time at her graceful form, disappearing in the
+depths of the street; and suddenly again appeared before his eyes the
+vision of the white statue in azure drops of water. There was, however,
+something exasperating in her; and unwillingly there occurred to the
+frail young gentleman the thought that if she were not Miss Anney's
+maid, and if he had known her formerly, that as two and two are four he
+would have succumbed to temptation.
+
+But at present another, greater power had snatched away his thoughts
+and heart. After a while he returned to the letter and began to read it
+anew: "We thank you for the beautiful roses and hope for an early
+meeting." And so they want to see him over there. The day after
+to-morrow he will not be sitting here, bound by the chains of his own
+words, but will go there and gaze in those wonderful eyes, looking with
+a heavenly stream, and will so press his lips to her beloved hands that
+in one kiss he will tell everything which he has in his heart. Words
+will be later only an echo. And imagination bore him like an
+unmanageable horse. Perhaps that idolized maid may at once fall into
+his arms; perhaps she may close those wonderful eyes and offer her lips
+to him. At this thought a thrill passed through Krzycki from his feet
+to his head and it seemed to him that all the love, all the impulses,
+and all the desires which ever existed and exist in the world at
+present were hoarded in him alone.
+
+
+
+                                  VIII
+
+Gronski spent the entire next day in the city; at night he was at Pani
+Otocka's, so that he did not return home until near midnight. Krzycki
+was not yet asleep and as his mother, on account of the disturbances on
+the streets could not visit him that day, he awaited with impatience
+Gronski's return, and immediately began to question him about the news
+in the city and of the ladies.
+
+"The news in the city is bad," answered Gronski; "about noon I heard
+the firing of musketry in the factory district. Before calling upon
+Pani Otocka, I was at a meeting in the Philharmonic at which
+representatives of some of the warring factions met, and do you know
+what kind of an impression I took away with me? Why, that,
+unfortunately, Swidwicki in certain respects was right and that we have
+come to the pass where only a civil war can clear the atmosphere. In
+this would be the greater tragedy for it would, at the same time, be
+the final extinction. But of this later. I have a head so tired and
+nerves so shattered that to-day I cannot think of such things."
+
+Here he rang for the servant, and notwithstanding the late hour
+directed him to prepare tea. Then he continued:
+
+"But from Pani Otocka I bring news. You would not believe your ears
+when I tell you what happened. Why this afternoon, before my arrival,
+Laskowicz called on those ladies."
+
+Krzycki dropped from his hand the cigar which he was smoking.
+
+"Laskowicz?" he asked.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But the police are looking for him."
+
+"They are looking for him in the country and not in Warsaw. The police,
+like all the rest, have lost their heads. After all, it is easier to
+hide in a large city. But, really, if he himself flew into their hands,
+they might clutch him."
+
+"But what did he want from Pani Otocka?"
+
+"According to my conjectures, he wanted to see Marynia, but came
+ostensibly for a contribution for revolutionary purposes. After all,
+they are now continually soliciting contributions."
+
+"And did the ladies give?"
+
+"No. They told him that they would not give anything for the
+revolution, and for the hungry and those deprived of employment they
+had already sent as much as they could to a newspaper office. In fact,
+this was the truth. Pani Otocka donated a considerable amount, and Miss
+Anney also. Laskowicz attempted to explain to them that a refusal would
+expose the refractory to dangers and for that reason he came to them
+personally to shield them from it. He was very much displeased and
+incensed, particularly as he saw only Pani Zosia and Miss Anney, for
+Marynia did not appear. He announced however that he would come again."
+
+"Let him try!" cried Ladislaus, clenching his fists.
+
+But afterwards he asked with surprise:
+
+"How did he get in there, and why did they receive him?"
+
+"The male servants throughout the whole city are terror-stricken and
+the words 'From the Party' everywhere open the doors like the best
+pick-lock. But Laskowicz did not have to use even these means, as it
+happened that Pani Otocka's footman was in the cellar and he was
+admitted by Miss Anney's maid, who knew him from Jastrzeb and thought
+that he came as a good acquaintance."
+
+"In any case she acquitted herself foolishly."
+
+"My dear sir, what could she know about him? Of course, no one told her
+what he was and she saw him among us; she saw how he rode away to the
+city with me and that he was the tutor of the younger members of your
+family. That he participated in the attack upon you, also, could not
+have occurred to her mind, for from our side that is only a supposition
+which we did not confide to the ladies, in order not to disquiet them,
+and much less to her."
+
+"Perhaps she herself is a socialist."
+
+"I doubt it, for after the attempt, hearing that you were wounded, it
+is said she wailed so bitterly that she could be heard all over
+Jastrzeb; she invoked all the punishments of hades upon your would-be
+assassins. Miss Anney was much affected by that. I remember also that
+when it was rumored that the Rzeslewo people did it, she vowed to set
+fire to Rzeslewo. Ah, you always have luck--"
+
+"I do not care for such luck. But as to Laskowicz she, of course, saw
+during the search at Jastrzeb that they were seeking him."
+
+"Well, what of it? Were you not persecuted for establishing a school?
+In this country all sympathy is always on the side of the fugitive.
+Imagine for yourself that when Miss Anney forbade her to admit
+Laskowicz any more, she became indignant. Evidently it seemed to her
+that Miss Anney did that from fear of the police."
+
+"Miss Anney gave indisputable proofs that she does not fear anything."
+
+"So I also do not suspect her of fear, nor Pani Otocka. But, instead, I
+confess to you what I fear. That madman, if he does not personally
+appear there, will hover about them, and what is more will write
+letters; all letters now travel undoubtedly through the black cabinets.
+If I knew where I could find him, I would warn him above all things not
+to dare to write any more."
+
+"I will warn him of that and something else, if I can only meet him."
+
+"Since he visited the ladies, he may come to see me. We had, while
+riding together from Jastrzeb, a discussion which he has not forgiven
+me."
+
+"If he comes here, do you give me carte blanche?"
+
+"I would not think of it. Previously I had propounded to you the
+question whether if, as a result of a personal encounter with you, he
+was arrested you could take upon your soul his destruction, and you
+answered 'No.' Now I will ask you differently: If Laskowicz, tracked
+and pursued as a wild animal, hid in your house, would you not endeavor
+to hide him or assist him in escaping?"
+
+To this Krzycki replied in anger, but without hesitation:
+
+"I would help him--the dog's blood."
+
+"Ah, you see!" observed Gronski. "You curse, but admit. If they come to
+me for a contribution--it is all the same whether with or without
+Laskowicz--I will tell them that I will give for people destitute of
+bread but will not give for bombs, dynamite, and strike propaganda. I
+will tell them more: that in collecting contributions for a revolution
+from people who do not want to give and who give only from fear, they
+degrade their own citizens."
+
+"Perhaps that is of import to them. The more the higher strata become
+cowardly, the easier it will be for them."
+
+"That may be, but in such case they are the full brethren of all those
+who purposely and of old have debased the community."
+
+And Krzycki pondered and said:
+
+"With us these things are often done--from above and from below."
+
+Gronski glanced at him with a certain surprise as if he did not expect
+from his lips such a remark.
+
+"You are right," he declared; "from above, a continual lowering of
+great ideals, from below, because at present they are being directly
+trampled upon."
+
+"Bah! There remain yet the solid multitude of country peasantry."
+
+"Again you are right," replied Gronski. "Formerly Dabrowski's March[7]
+was the watchword for a hundred thousand, to-day it is the watchword
+for ten millions. Blessed be folk-lore!"
+
+They remained silent. Gronski for a time walked about the room, taking,
+according to his custom, the eyeglasses off his nose and replacing
+them. After which, he said:
+
+"Do you know what surprises me? This: that in such times and under such
+conditions, people can think of their private happiness and their
+private affairs. But nevertheless such is the law of life, which no
+power can suppress."
+
+"Have you me in mind?"
+
+"In theory, I am verifying a fact which in practice even you confirm.
+For lo, at this moment it is as if an earthquake took place; the
+buildings tumble, people perish, subterranean fires burst forth and you
+and Miss Anney love each other and think of founding a new nest."
+
+"How did you say it?" Krzycki asked with radiant countenance, "'you
+love each other.'"
+
+"I said 'you love each other,' for such is the case. You, after all,
+are more in love than she."
+
+"Certainly," answered Ladislaus, "there is nothing strange in that; but
+what inference do you draw?"
+
+"This, which you have not heretofore either directly or indirectly
+asked and have not even tried to ascertain, namely, how much can Miss
+Anney bring to you. In a rural citizen this is proof that the
+thermometer shows the highest temperature of love."
+
+"I give you my word, I would take her in a single dress," answered
+Krzycki.
+
+"But you would rather she had something?"
+
+"I will answer sincerely that I would. There are many neighbors poorer
+than I am and a piece of bread will never be lacking to us. But at
+Jastrzeb there are three of us--counting Mother, four. I am heir of
+one-fourth and the unsalaried manager of the three-fourths belonging to
+my family and Mother. I would wish that Jastrzeb would solely belong to
+myself and my wife, and in succession to my children, if we have any."
+
+"As to that, I have no doubt; but as to a dowry, I am not tormented by
+unnecessary fears," said Gronski. "Miss Anney lives, travels, dresses,
+and resides in comfort, but she is not a person who would desire to
+create false impressions. I assume that she does not possess millions,
+but her fortune, particularly in comparison to our condition, may
+appear even more considerable than we might have thought."
+
+"Let her have it or not have it," exclaimed Krzycki, "if she only will
+give herself to me. Whoever possesses that jewel can be crowned with it
+like a king."
+
+"I foresee a coronation soon," replied Gronski, laughing.
+
+
+
+                                   IX
+
+On account of Marynia's birthday, Miss Anney with her maid went to buy
+flowers. The day before, Gronski told her that he saw in one of the
+stores Italian rosy lilies, such as are sold in whole bundles in the
+vicinity of Lucca and Pisa, but which are cultivated but little in the
+conservatories of Warsaw and seldom imported into the country. As
+Marynia had inquired about them with great curiosity. Miss Anney
+decided to purchase for her all that could be found in the store. The
+previous evening she bantered Gronski, telling him that she would
+forestall him in the purchase, for he, as a known sleepy-head, would be
+unable to leave his home early enough. Determined to play a joke upon
+him, she left the house at eight in the morning, so as to be present at
+the opening of the store. She had, besides, a letter prepared, with the
+words "They are already bought," which she intended to send to Gronski
+by Pauly, and exulted at the thought that Gronski would receive it at
+his morning coffee.
+
+In fact everything went according to her plans, for she was the first
+buyer at the store. She was disappointed only in this: that there were
+too few lilies. There was only one flower-pot, containing about a dozen
+stalks with flowers. So the decoration of Marynia's whole room with
+them was out of the question. But for just this reason Miss Anney
+eagerly bought the one sample and, paying the price asked for it,
+directed that it be sent to the Otocka residence. She was annoyed,
+however, when informed in the store that the gardener delivering
+flowers could not come until noon-time, for she desired that Marynia
+should have them before she rose from bed.
+
+"In that case," she said, turning to Pauly, "call a hack and we will
+take the flower-pot with us."
+
+But Pauly, who, though she behaved quite indifferently and even
+refractorily in respect to her mistress and also to Pani Otocka, had a
+sort of exceptional adoration, bordering on sympathy, for Marynia,
+replied:
+
+"Let Madame permit me to carry these flowers alone. In the hack they
+will be shaken up and may fall off."
+
+"But you are to go with the letter to Pan Gronski and, besides, you
+will tire yourself with the flower-pot."
+
+"Pan Gronski's residence is on the way; and what if I do tire myself a
+little for the golden little lady. May I not do that much for her?"
+
+Miss Anney understood that a refusal would cause her great vexation,
+therefore she said:
+
+"Very well. You are an honest soul. But if it should be too heavy for
+you, take a hack. I will go to church."
+
+And she went to church to pray for Ladislaus, who was that day to leave
+the house for the first time and pass the evening at Pani Otocka's,
+owing to Marynia's birthday. She expected that the following day he
+would visit her and she wanted also to commit that day to divine
+protection.
+
+Pauline, taking the lilies, went in an opposite direction towards
+Gronski's residence. After a few score of steps the flower-pot filled
+with earth began to grow heavy; so, shifting it from one arm to the
+other, she thought:
+
+"If it was for any one else, I would throw everything upon the ground,
+but she is such a bird that it is hard not to love her--I would carry
+for her even two such flowerpots and I would not do her any harm.--Even
+in case--he loved her alone."
+
+And at this gloomy thought her countenance darkened yet more. In her
+heart, capable only of extreme feelings, began a struggle between her
+strange adoration for Marynia and her blind and passionate love for
+Krzycki; it was accompanied by the terrible and hopeless consciousness
+that under no circumstance could he be hers, as he was a young lord,
+heir, almost prince royal, and she a simple girl for sewing, setting
+the parlor in order, and household work. To this was added immediately
+a feeling of a prodigious wrong. Why, she might have been born also a
+"little lady" and not brought up in an orphan asylum, under the care of
+sisters of charity, but in a rich lordly home. Why was it not so,
+instead of the vile work of the servant's station awaiting her till
+death?
+
+And here it occurred to her mind that there is now, however, a kind of
+people, a kind of "party," which wants to take away property from the
+rich, distribute it among the poor, level all people, so that there
+will be no rich men and paupers, no servants and lords, no wrong of any
+kind in the world; and in the place thereof, all ranks will be one and
+the same, and liberty will be identical. She had heard of this from the
+servants in the house, from the craftsmen, from the salesmen in the
+stores to which she went to make purchases, and also through
+overhearing the conversations of the "gentility." It surprised her that
+these people were called socialists, for heretofore a "socialist" and a
+madman roaming over the streets with knife in hand meant to her one and
+the same thing. For a time after the attack upon Krzycki, when the
+report was spread that the socialists did it, she even felt for them
+such furious and blind hatred that she was willing to poison them or
+bake them upon live fires. Later, when the servants in Jastrzeb began
+to repeat that the young heir was waylaid not by them, but by people of
+Rzeslewo, this hatred became extinguished. But subsequently, when the
+girl learned more accurately what the socialists aimed at and who they
+were, she was but little interested in them. She partly regarded their
+ideas as foolish and partly thought of other things more personal, and
+finally, she distinguished in Poland only "her own" and "not her own,"
+loving, not knowing why, the first, and hating indiscriminately all the
+others. It was not until the last few days that it began to dawn in her
+head that among her own there existed terrible and painful differences;
+that for some there was wealth, for others poverty; that for a few
+there was enjoyment and for others toil; for some, laughter, for
+others, tears; for some, happiness, for others, woe and injury.
+
+This became clear to her, particularly at that moment when with greater
+suffering than ever before she became aware that this young gentleman,
+to whom her soul and body were urged, was simply an inaccessible star,
+on which she was barely permitted to gaze. And although nothing had
+happened that day which particularly irritated her and nothing had
+altered, she was possessed by a despair such as she never felt before.
+
+But the course of her gloomy meditations was finally interrupted by an
+external incident. Notwithstanding the early hour, she observed on the
+corner of the precinct a large crowd of people, agitated by some
+uneasiness. Their faces were turned towards the depth of a cross
+street, as if something unusual was taking place there. Some rushed
+forward while others retreated with evident fear. Some, arguing
+heatedly and pointing at something with their hands, looked upwards to
+the roofs of the houses. From all directions flocked new crowds of
+workingmen and striplings. Among the hack-drivers standing on the
+corner an unusual commotion prevailed: the drivers, in groups of
+varying numbers, wheeled their horses about in different directions as
+though they wished to blockade the street. Suddenly shrill cries
+resounded and then shots. In one moment an indescribable confusion
+arose. The throng swung to and fro and began to scamper; the cries
+sounded shriller and shriller each moment. It was evident that they
+were pursuing somebody. The girl, with her lilies, stood as if
+thunderstruck, not knowing what to do. Then, suddenly from amidst the
+hacks, a man dashed out, bent forward with lowered head, and at full
+speed ran towards her. On the way he flung away his cap and snatched a
+hat from the head of a stripling who, understanding the situation in
+the twinkle of an eye, did not even quiver. The hack-drivers began yet
+more zealously to block the street, evidently with a view to make the
+pursuit more difficult. But right behind them again rattled the
+revolver shots, and amidst the general cries and tumult already could
+be heard the shrill sounds of the police whistles and the hoarse,
+bellowing shouts of "Catch him! catch him!" A blind, excessive fright
+now seized Pauly, and she began to run, squeezing unconsciously to her
+bosom the flower-pot with the lilies, as if she wanted to save her own
+child.
+
+But she had barely run a dozen or more steps when a panting, low voice
+began to cry close behind her:
+
+"Lady, give me the flowers! For the mercy of God, lady, give me the
+flowers! Save!"
+
+The girl turned about suddenly with consternation, and indescribable
+amazement was reflected in her eyes, for she recognized Laskowicz.
+
+He, having violently wrested from her the flower-pot, to which, not
+knowing what she was doing, she clung with all her strength, whispered
+further:
+
+"Perhaps they will not recognize me. I will tell them that I am a
+gardener. Save me, little lady! Perhaps they will not recognize. I am
+out of breath!"
+
+She wanted to run farther but he restrained her.
+
+In the meantime, from among the chaos of hacks, a dozen or more
+policemen and civil agents emerged. The majority of the mob moved at a
+running pace in a direction opposite to the one in which Laskowicz and
+the girl were going, and undoubtedly they intentionally moved that way
+in order to deceive the pursuers. To better hoodwink the police, cries
+of "Catch him!" resounded among the laborers. Some workingman began to
+whistle shrilly on his fingers, imitating the sound of a police
+whistle. Accordingly the policemen and agents plunged headlong after
+the dense mob. At the intersection of the streets only a few stood
+still, and these, after a moment's irresolution, set off in the other
+direction, but they ran at full speed by the girl and the man with the
+light hat, carrying flowers. Rushing ahead they seized a few
+workingmen, but other workingmen rescued them in a moment. Pauly and
+Laskowicz walked farther.
+
+"They missed me," said the student. "Here no one would betray. They
+missed! Those flowers and another's hat fooled them. I thank you,
+little lady; I thank you from my whole soul, and until my death I will
+never be able to sufficiently repay you."
+
+But she, not having yet entirely recovered from her amazement, began to
+ask:
+
+"What happened? Where did you come from?"
+
+"From the roof; they pounced upon us in a printing plant. The others
+will get a year or two and nothing more will happen to them--but for
+me, there would be the halter."
+
+"How did you manage to escape?"
+
+"When we got on the roof, I slid down the gutter-pipe. I might have
+broken my neck. It was not until I reached the street that they
+observed me. They fired shots at me, but luckily I was not hit, for the
+blood would have betrayed me. Whoever was alive helped me, and I was
+hidden by the hacks. They did not see how I changed a cap for a hat.
+But if it was not for my female associate it would have been all over
+with me."
+
+"What female associate?"
+
+"I speak of you, little lady, thus. Amongst us such is the custom."
+
+"Then do not call me that, for I am no female associate."
+
+"That is a pity. But this is not the time to speak of that. Once more I
+thank you for the rescue, though it is for a short time."
+
+"Why for a short time?"
+
+"Because I do not know what to do with myself, where to go, and where
+to hide. Every night I sleep in a different place but they are seeking
+for me everywhere."
+
+"That is true. They were searching for you in Jastrzeb. Do you know
+that there was a police-search there?"
+
+"Was there?"
+
+"Yes. Gendarmes, police, and soldiers came. They almost put everybody
+under arrest."
+
+"Oh, they would not arrest them--"
+
+The clatter of horses' hoofs and the rattle of the horseshoes over the
+stony pavements interrupted for a while their conversation. From a side
+street ahead rode out a Cossack patrol, consisting of several scores of
+men. They rode slowly, with carabines resting upon their thighs and
+looked about cautiously. At the sight of them, Pauly became somewhat
+pale, while Laskowicz began to whisper:
+
+"That is nothing. They see that I am carrying flowers from the store.
+They will take me for a gardener and will ride by."
+
+In fact they did pass by.
+
+"They are now arresting every moment people on the streets in whole
+crowds," said Laskowicz. "To some one else that would be a small
+matter; but if I once fall into their clutches, I will never be able to
+get out again."
+
+"Well, what do you intend to do?"
+
+"Carry these flowers for you, little lady."
+
+"And after that?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"Of course you must have some acquaintances who will hide you."
+
+"I have, I have! But the police have their eyes upon all my
+acquaintances. Every night there is a search. For the last two nights I
+slept in a printing establishment, but today they discovered the
+printing press."
+
+A moment of silence followed.
+
+After which Laskowicz again spoke in a gloomy voice:
+
+"There is now no help for me. I will deliver these flowers and go
+wherever my eyes will take me."
+
+But in the heart of the girl suddenly there awoke a great pity for him.
+Before that she was indifferent to him. At present she only saw in him
+a Polish student hunted, like a mad dog, by people whom she of old
+despised.
+
+Therefore on her energetic and obstinate countenance, inflexible
+determination was depicted.
+
+"Come what may, I will not desert you," she said, knitting her dark
+brows.
+
+Laskowicz was suddenly seized with a desire to kiss her hand and would
+have done so if they were not on the street. He was moved not only by
+the hope of escape, but also by the fact that this girl, who hardly
+knew him, who did not belong to his camp, was ready to expose herself
+to the greatest dangers in order to come to his aid.
+
+"What can the little lady do? Where will she hide me?" he asked
+quietly.
+
+But she walked on with brows knitted by the strain of continuous
+thinking, and finally said:
+
+"I know. Let us go."
+
+He shifted the flower-pot to the left hand. "I must tell you," he said
+with lowered voice, "that the least punishment for concealing me is
+Siberia. I must tell you that! And I might cause your destruction, but
+in the first moments--the little lady understands--the instinct of
+preservation--there was no time for reflection."
+
+The little lady did not very well understand what the instinct of
+preservation was, but instead understood something else. This was that
+if she brought him, as she intended, to Gronski's, she would expose to
+danger not only Gronski but also Krzycki.
+
+And under the influence of this thought she stood as if stupefied.
+
+"In such a case, I do not know what I can do," she said.
+
+"Ah, you see, little lady," answered the student, as if in sorrow,
+while she, on her part, again began to rack her brains. It never
+occurred to her to conduct Laskowicz to Miss Anney's or Pani Otocka's.
+She felt that here masculine help was necessary and that it was
+imperative to find some one who would not fear and for whom she,
+herself, did not care. Therefore she mentally reviewed the whole array
+of Miss Anney's and Pani Otocka's acquaintances.--Pan Dolhanski?
+No!--He might be afraid or else send them to the devil and sneer at
+them. Dr. Szremski? He had probably left the city. Ah, were it not for
+this "young lord" she would conduct this poor fellow to Pan Gronski,
+for even if he did not receive him, at the worst he would give good
+advice, or would direct them to somebody. And suddenly it came to her
+mind that if Siberia threatened the person who concealed Laskowicz, Pan
+Gronski would not direct them to anybody; but if he could, he would
+direct them to only one man, whom she also knew. And on this thought,
+she dusted her dress with her hands and, turning to Laskowicz, said:
+
+"I know now! Let us try."
+
+After which, standing for a while, she continued:
+
+"Let us enter this house, here, at once. You will wait with the flowers
+in the hallway and I will deliver the letter upstairs and return. Do
+not fear anything, for the doorkeeper here knows me and he is a good
+man. After that I may lead you somewhere."
+
+Saying this, she entered the gate and, leaving Laskowicz below, rang,
+after a moment, Gronski's bell.
+
+Gronski, rising that day earlier than usual, was already dressed and
+sat with Krzycki having tea. When Pauly handed him the letter, he read
+it and, laughing, showed it to Ladislaus; after which he rose and went
+to his writing desk to write an answer. During this time Ladislaus
+began to question her about the health of his mother and the younger
+ladies.
+
+"I thank you, the ladies are well, but my lady has already gone down
+town."
+
+"So early? And is not your lady afraid to go alone about the city?"
+
+"My lady went with me and bought flowers for Panna Marynia and after
+that she went to church."
+
+"To what church did she go?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+Panna Pauly knew well, but she was hurt by his asking her about her
+mistress; while he, conjecturing this, ceased to question her further,
+for he had previously resolved to converse with her as little as
+possible.
+
+So, silence--a little embarrassing--ensued between them, and continued
+until Gronski returned with the letter.
+
+"Here is the answer," he said; "let the little lady bow for us to the
+ladies and say that to-day we both will be there, for Pan Krzycki's
+imprisonment is now ended."
+
+"I thank you," replied Pauly, "but I have yet a favor,--I would like to
+learn the address of Pan Swidwicki?"
+
+Gronski looked at her with astonishment.
+
+"Did the ladies request you to ask?"
+
+"No--I just wanted to know--"
+
+"Panna Pauly," said Gronski, "Pan Swidwicki lives at No. 5 Oboznej, but
+it is not very safe for young girls to go to him."
+
+She colored to the ears from fear that the "young lord" might think
+something bad about her.
+
+And she hesitated for a while whether she should tell that Laskowicz
+was in the hallway and that it was necessary to hide him, as otherwise
+destruction awaited him. But again she recollected that Laskowicz had
+been sought in Jastrzeb and that Krzycki, on account of that had been
+almost arrested. A fear possessed her that perhaps Gronski himself
+might want to hide the student and in such case would jeopardize the
+young lord. She looked once or twice at the shapely form of Krzycki and
+decided to remain silent.
+
+But Gronski spoke further:
+
+"I do not advise you to go to him. I do not advise it. It is said that
+you once gave him a tongue-lashing."
+
+And she, raising her head, answered at once haughtily and indignantly:
+
+"Then I will give him a tongue-lashing a second time; but I have some
+business with him."
+
+And bowing, she left. Gronski shrugged his shoulders and said:
+
+"I cannot understand what she is concerned about. There is something
+strange in that girl, and I tell you that your future lady gives
+evidence of holy patience, that she has not dismissed her before this.
+She always says that she is a violent character but has a golden heart,
+and that may be possible. I know, however, from Pani Otocka that the
+golden heart enacts for her such scenes as no one else would tolerate."
+
+
+
+                                   X
+
+In the evening of Marynia's birthday, Ladislaus and Miss Anney for a
+time found themselves at some distance from the rest of the company, at
+a cottage piano, decorated with flowers. His eyes shone with joy and
+happiness. He felt fortunate that his imprisonment had ended and that
+he could again gaze upon this, his lady, whom he loved with the whole
+strength of a young heart.
+
+"I know," he told her, "that you were this morning in the city and
+bought flowers. I learned this from your maid, who brought the letter
+to Pan Gronski. Afterwards you went to church. I asked her to which
+one, as I wanted to go there, but the maid did not know."
+
+"That is strange, for she knows that I always go to the Holy Cross, and
+at times I even take her with me. I am there, daily, at the morning
+mass."
+
+"She told me that she did not know," answered Ladislaus. "Will you be
+there to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes; unless the weather should be very inclement."
+
+Ladislaus lowered his voice:
+
+"I ask because I have a great and heartfelt prayer. Permit me to come
+there at the same hour and before the same altar."
+
+Blushes suffused Miss Anney's countenance and her breast began to move
+more quickly. She inclined her head somewhat and placing the edge of
+the fan to her lips answered in a low voice:
+
+"I have not the right to forbid nor to permit. The church is open to
+all the pious."
+
+"Yes. But I want to kneel a while beside you--together, and not with
+customary humility; but for a special purpose. As to my piety, I will
+candidly state that I believe in God, ah! especially now--I believe
+in God and in His goodness; but heretofore I have not been very
+pious--just like all others. When, however, a whole life is concerned,
+then even a man, totally unbelieving, is ready to kneel and pray. To
+kneel beside you, that alone is an immense boon, for it is as if one
+had beside him an angel. And I want to beg for something else: and that
+is that we should together, at the same time, say 'Under Thy protection
+we flee, Holy Mother of God.'"
+
+Ladislaus became pale from emotion and on his forehead beads of
+perspiration appeared. For a time he remained silent, to permit the too
+violent beating of his heart to subside. After which he again spoke:
+
+"'We flee'--that will mean us both. Nothing more, dear, dearest lady,
+nothing more. After that I will go, and in the afternoon, if you
+permit, I will come to your residence and will tell you everything
+which has collected within me from the time I first saw you in
+Jastrzeb. In your hands, lady, lies my fate, but I must, I must divulge
+it all; otherwise my bosom will burst. But if you, lady, will agree to
+a joint prayer of 'Under Thy protection,' before that time, then I
+shall be so happy that I do not know how I will survive until
+to-morrow."
+
+And she looked at him guilelessly and straight in his eyes with the
+celestial streak of the hazy pupils of her eyes and answered:
+
+"Come to church to-morrow."
+
+And Ladislaus whispered:
+
+"And not to be able to fall at your feet at this moment--not to be able
+to fall at your feet!"
+
+But Miss Anney tapped lightly, as if reluctantly, his hand, resting on
+the piano with her own, which was incased in a white glove, and walked
+away, for, not forgetting herself to the same extent as Ladislaus, she
+noticed that they were observed. Owing to Marynia's birthday there
+assembled that evening at Pani Otocka's quite a considerable gathering
+of acquaintances. The notary, Dzwonkowski, appeared; also, an old
+neighbor from the vicinity of Zalesin; and besides these Dolhanski and
+both Wlocek ladies, who after a previous exchange of visits, were
+invited by Pani Otocka. Gronski actually appeared the earliest and well
+nigh played the rôle of host, in which part he was assisted by the
+former teacher of Marynia, the violinist Bochener, not less in love
+with her, and finally Swidwicki, who on that day was exceptionally
+sober. Pani Otocka was occupied with the Wlocek ladies; Gronski
+conversed with Swidwicki in so far as he did not direct his eyes after
+Marynia, who, in her white dress, adorned with violets, slender, almost
+lithesome, actually looked like an alabaster statuette. But she, and
+with her Pani Krzycki, began to look with especial attention at
+Ladislaus and Miss Anney. The little ears of Marynia reddened from
+curiosity, while on Pani Krzycki's countenance there appeared
+uneasiness, and, as if it were, a shadow of dissatisfaction.
+
+But Miss Anney, breaking off her conversation with Ladislaus,
+approached directly towards his mother and sat down in a chair beside
+her.
+
+"Pan Ladislaus is so happy," she said, "that his confinement is ended."
+
+"I see," answered Pani Krzycki, "but I fear that conversation fatigues
+him yet. What did he say to you with such animation?"
+
+For a moment, Miss Anney inclined her head and began to smooth out with
+her fingers the folds of her bright dress as if troubled, but later,
+having evidently formed a sudden resolution, she raised her frank eyes
+straight at Pani Krzycki, just as she had previously at Ladislaus, and
+replied:
+
+"He said such pleasant and loving things; that he wants to go to church
+to-morrow and say 'Under Thy protection'--together with me--"
+
+In her eyes there were no interrogatories, nor uneasiness, nor
+challenge, but great goodness and truth.
+
+Pani Krzycki, on the other hand, was put out of countenance by the
+candor of the reply, so that at first she was silent. It seemed to her
+that what heretofore was a doubtful, blurred, and indistinct
+supposition, lightened up and plainly emerged upon the surface, but she
+tried to disbelieve it; so, after a certain hesitation, she replied:
+
+"Laudie otherwise would be ungrateful. He owes you so much--and I
+also."
+
+Miss Anney understood perfectly that Pani Krzycki wanted to give her to
+understand that the motive of Ladislaus' words was only gratitude, but
+she had no time to reply to the remark, as at that time across the arm
+of her chair the slender form of Marynia was leaning:
+
+"Aninka, may I trouble you to step over here for a moment?"
+
+"Certainly," answered Miss Anney.
+
+And rising, she left. Pani Krzycki eyed her and sighed. There was in
+that beautiful form so much youth, health, radiance, so many golden
+tresses, glances, so much bloom, warmth, and womanly fascination, that
+an older and experienced woman, like Pani Krzycki, was forced to admit
+in her soul that it would have been rather incomprehensible if
+Ladislaus had remained indifferent to all those charms.
+
+And sighing for the second time, she thought:
+
+"Why did Zosia bring her to Jastrzeb?"
+
+And she began to seek with her eyes Pani Otocka, who at that moment was
+approaching the door to greet an elderly gentleman with a white leonine
+mane and the same kind of white beard who, evidently being almost
+blind, stood on the threshold and gazed over the salon through his
+gold-rimmed spectacles.
+
+Finally espying Pani Otocka, he seized both her hands and commenced to
+kiss them with great ardor, while she greeted him with that shy grace,
+peculiarly her own, which made her resemble a young village maid.
+
+"How sweet she is and how lovable!" Pani Krzycki said to herself.
+
+But her further meditations and regrets were interrupted by Swidwicki,
+who, taking the chair vacated by Miss Anney, said:
+
+"But your son, benefactress, is a genuine Uhlan from under Somo-Sierra.
+What a race! what a type! I, who everywhere fancy beauty as a setter
+does partridges, observed this at once to Gronski. Only put a sabre in
+his hand and place him on horseback. Or at some exhibition! plainly on
+exhibition, as a notable specimen of the race. Ah, what blood with
+milk! The women must rave over him!"
+
+Pani Krzycki, notwithstanding her internal worries, was pleased to hear
+these words, for Ladislaus' shapeliness was from his childhood days a
+source of pride and joy for her. But in reality, she did not deem it
+proper to admit this before Swidwicki.
+
+"I do not attach any importance to that," she answered, "and I thank
+God that it is not the only thing that can be said of my son."
+
+And Swidwicki snapped his fingers and said:
+
+"You do attach importance to it, madame, you do, and so do I, and those
+ladies only pretend that they do not--that young Englishwoman as well
+as even that translucent little porcelain maid; though apparently she
+thinks of nought but music.... Perhaps the least of all Pani Zosia, but
+only because from a certain time she too sedulously reads Plato."
+
+"Zosia--Plato!" exclaimed Pani Krzycki.
+
+"I suspect so, and even am certain for otherwise she would not be so
+Platonic."
+
+"Why, she is not versed in Greek."
+
+"But Gronski is, and he can translate for her."
+
+Pani Krzycki gazed with astonishment at Swidwicki and broke off the
+conversation. Becoming acquainted with him only that evening and having
+no idea that he was a man who, for a quip, for a wretched play on words
+and from habit, was ready always and everywhere to talk stuff and
+nonsense in the most reckless manner, she could not understand why he
+said that to her. Nevertheless his words were for her, as it were, a
+ray illuminating things which heretofore she had not observed. She
+found new proofs that her heartfelt and secret wishes would always
+remain a dream without substance--and she sighed for the third time.
+
+"Ah, then it is so," she thought to herself in her soul.
+
+"Yes, yes," Swidwicki continued. "My cousin is very Platonic and in
+addition a trifle anæmic."
+
+In his laughter there was a kind of bitterness and even malice, so that
+Pani Krzycki again looked at him with astonishment.
+
+In the meantime Marynia led Miss Anney to another chamber. Her ears
+each moment became redder and her eyes sparkled with a perfectly
+childish curiosity. So pressing her little nose to Miss Anney's cheek,
+she began to whisper:
+
+"Tell me! Did he propose to you at the piano? Did he propose? Tell me
+now."
+
+And Miss Anney, embraced her neck with her arms and kissing her
+cordially, whispered in her ear:
+
+"Almost."
+
+"What?--at the piano! I guessed it at once! Ho, ho! I am thoroughly
+conversant with such matters. But how was that? Almost? How, almost?"
+
+"For I know that he loves me--"
+
+"Laudie? What did he say to you?"
+
+"He did not even have to say it."
+
+"I understand, I understand perfectly."
+
+Miss Anney, though her eyes were moist, began to laugh, and, hugging
+the little violinist again, said:
+
+"Let us now return to the salon."
+
+"Let us return," answered Marynia.
+
+On the way she said with delighted countenance:
+
+"You and Zosia, thought that I saw nothing, and I--oho!"
+
+In the salon they chanced upon a political discussion. The tall elderly
+gentleman with the white mane, who was a colleague and friend of the
+late Otocki and at the same time editor of one of the principal dailies
+in Warsaw, said:
+
+"They think that this is a new state of affairs, which henceforth is
+bound to continue, but it is an attack of hysteria, after which
+exhaustion and prostration will follow. I have lived long in the world
+and often have witnessed similar phenomena. Yes, it is so. It is a
+stupid and wicked revolution."
+
+If Swidwicki had heard from some madman that this was a wise and
+salutary revolution, he undoubtedly would have been of the opinion of
+the old editor, but, as he esteemed lightly journalists in general, he
+was particularly angered at the thought that the amiable old gentleman
+passed in certain circles as a political authority; so he began at once
+to dispute.
+
+"Only the bottomless naïvete of the conservatives," he said, "is
+capable of demanding from a revolution reason and goodness. It
+is the same as demanding, for instance, of a conflagration that it
+should be gentle and sensible. Every revolution is the child of the
+passions--unreason and rage--and not of love. Its aim is to blow up the
+old forms of folly and evil and forcibly introduce into life the new."
+
+"And how do you picture to yourself the new?"
+
+"In reality as also foolish and wicked--but new. Upon such transitions
+our history is based, and even the annals of mankind in general."
+
+"That is the philosophy of despair."
+
+"Or of laughter."
+
+"If of laughter, then it is egoism."
+
+"Yes, that is so. My partisanship begins with me and ends with me."
+
+Gronski impatiently smacked his lips; while the editor took off his
+spectacles and, winking with his eyes, began to wipe them with a
+handkerchief.
+
+"I beg pardon," he said with great phlegm. "Your party affiliations may
+be very interesting but I wanted to speak of others."
+
+"Less interesting--"
+
+But the old journalist turned to Gronski.
+
+"Our socialists," he said, "have undertaken the reconstruction of a new
+house, forgetting that we live huddled together in only a few rooms,
+and that in the others dwell strangers who will not assent to it; or
+rather, on the contrary, they will permit the demolition of those few
+rooms, but will not allow their reconstruction."
+
+"Then it is better to blow up the whole structure with dynamite,"
+interjected Swidwicki.
+
+But this remark was passed over in silence; after which Gronski said:
+
+"One thing directly astonishes me, and that is that the conservatives
+turn with the greatest rage not against the revolutionists, but against
+the national patriots, who do not desire a revolution and who alone
+have sufficient strength to prevent it. I understand that a foreign
+bureaucracy does this, but why should our patres conscripti clear the
+way in this for them?"
+
+The editor replaced the spectacles, wetted his finger in the tea
+seeking the cup, afterwards raised it to his lips, drank, and replied:
+
+"The reason of that is their greater blindness and sense."
+
+"Please explain!" exclaimed Swidwicki, who was a little impressed by
+this reply.
+
+And the neighbor from Zalesin, who eagerly listened to the words of the
+journalist, asked:
+
+"How is that, sir benefactor? I do not understand."
+
+"Yes, it is so," answered the editor. "Their greater blindness is due
+to the narrower horizon, to the lack of ability to look ahead into the
+future, into those times and ages which are yet to come, for which it
+is a hundred times more important that the great Sacred Fire.[8] should
+not be extinguished than that any immediate paltry benefits should be
+obtained. It is necessary to have a sense of coming events, and this
+they do not possess. They are a little like Esau who relinquished his
+heritage for a pot of lentils. And for us it is not allowable to
+relinquish anything. Absolutely nothing! On the other hand, when
+concerned about isolated moments, about ranks and connections in a
+given instant of time, the conservatives are a hundred times more
+sensible, adroit--commit far less errors in details and view matters
+more soberly. I speak of this with entire impartiality for I myself am
+a nonpartisan."
+
+"Who is right neither in the present time nor will be in the future,"
+interposed Swidwicki. "After all, I agree that the difference between
+the views of politicians favoring reconciliation and sentimental
+patriots and zealots in general lies in this, that from political
+moderation you can immediately coin money, though at times counterfeit,
+but from sentimental politics,--only in the future. History confirms at
+every stage that what one hundred, fifty, or twenty years ago appeared
+to be political or social insanity, to-day has entered into being. And
+it will be ever thus in the further course of time."
+
+"That may be," said Gronski, "but it is only just so far as radicalism
+of ideas or the furies of feeling do not strike terror in a great,
+stupid, immediate act. For if this occurs a crime is perpetrated, and
+error is born which menaces the future. This happens frequently."
+
+"And I assume that this is just what the conservatives fear," answered
+the journalist, "an excessively warm patriotism--and it must be
+admitted, often improvident and absurd in its manifestations--strikes
+them with terror. Formerly they feared that the peasants, who read 'The
+Pole' might take to their scythes. At present they have gooseflesh when
+some zealot breaks out with a word about the future kingdom of Poland."
+
+"Kingdom of Poland!" said Swidwicki, snorting ironically. "I will tell
+you gentlemen an anecdote. A certain Russian official became insane and
+suffered from a mania of greatness. In reality his delusion lay in
+this, that he attained the highest position in heaven as well as on
+earth. And whom do you suppose that he imagined himself to be?"
+
+"Well! God?"
+
+"More."
+
+"I confess that my imagination reels," answered Gronski.
+
+"Ah, you see! In the meantime he invented a position still higher, for
+he represented himself as the 'presiding officer' of the Holy Trinity.
+Understand? That there was a committee consisting of God, the Father,
+the Son, and the Holy Ghost--and he was its chairman. Is not that
+more?"
+
+"True, but why do you cite that anecdote?"
+
+"As a proof that for diseased brains there are no impossibilities and
+that only such brains can think of a kingdom of Poland."
+
+Gronski remained silent for a while, and then said: "Twenty millions of
+people are something tangible, and permit me to say that the
+chairmanship of the Holy Trinity is a greater impossibility. What do
+you know about the future and who can divine it? The most you can say
+is that in view of the present conditions the thought of creating
+anything like it by force, through revolution, would be a mistake, and
+even a crime. But our nation will be devoured only when it allows
+itself to be devoured. But if it does not? If through great and noble
+efforts it shall bring forth enlightenment, social discipline,
+prosperity, science, literature, art, wealth, sanitation, a quiet
+internal strength, then what? And who to-day can tell what shape in the
+future the political and social conditions will assume? Who can vouch
+that the systems of government of the present day may not entirely
+change, that they will not fall and will not be adjudged as idiotic and
+criminal as to-day we regard tortures? Who can divine what governments
+will arise in that great sea which is humanity? The man who, for
+instance, in the time of Cicero would have said that social economy
+could exist without slavery would have been deemed crazy, and,
+nevertheless, to-day slavery does not exist. And in our political
+relations something similar might take place. To-day's conditions of
+coercion might change into voluntary and free unions. I do not know
+whether it will be so, but you do not know that it will not be so. In
+view of this, I see the necessity of quiet and iron labor, but I do not
+see the necessity of the repudiation or renunciation of any ideals--and
+I will tell you too that the Pole who does not bear that great ideal,
+at the bottom of his soul, is in a measure a renegade; and I do not
+understand why he does not renounce everything."
+
+"Write that in verse and in Latin," answered Swidwicki with impatience,
+"for in that manner you will upset the heads of a less number of men."
+
+"Then our present day antagonists may themselves say to us: 'Arrange
+matters to suit yourselves.' At the present moment it may seem a naïve
+fancy, but the future carries in its bosom such surprises, as not only
+the shortsighted politicians have not dreamed of, but even philosophers
+who can look ahead."
+
+After which, having evidently sufficient of this discussion, he added:
+
+"But enough of this. I suspend the argument and pause. To-day we must
+occupy ourselves not with politics, but with the young lady whose
+birthday we celebrate and whom undoubtedly such things weary."
+
+Saying this, he turned to Marynia, standing at Miss Anney's side, but
+she, shaking her little head, replied at once with great ardor:
+
+"On the contrary! I am of the same opinion as Pan Gronski."
+
+And she blushed to her ears, for all began to laugh, while Swidwicki
+replied:
+
+"If that is so, then everything is settled."
+
+Ladislaus smiled at Marynia's embarrassment, though in truth he did not
+know what it all was about, as his whole soul surged in his enamoured
+eyes, gazing at Miss Anney. She stood between two chairs, calm,
+smiling, white in her light dress, cheery as the summer dawn, and only
+after the close of the discussion rosier than usual, and he plainly
+devoured her with his gaze. His thoughts and heart raged within him. He
+looked at her radiant countenance, on her bare arms, chiseled as if out
+of warm marble, at her developed strong breast, on the sinuous pliant
+lines of her figure, on her knees turned towards him and outlined under
+her light dress, and he was seized by a whirlwind of desires, which
+struggled with the feeling of worship and respect which he entertained
+for this maiden, pure as a tear. His pulse commenced to beat strangely
+and on his forehead appeared a braid of veins. At the thought that she
+was to be his wife and that all these treasures would be his, he was
+enveloped by a fire of blood, and at the same time by some kind of
+debility so great that at times he was uncertain whether he would be
+able to lift the chair. At the same time he quarrelled with himself. He
+became indignant from his whole soul at that "animal" which he could
+not subdue within himself, and upbraided himself to the last words
+because he did not love her--"that angel"--as he should love her, that
+is with the love which only kneels and idolizes. So, in thought, he
+fell on his knees before his loved one, embraced her limbs, and
+implored forgiveness, but when he imagined that his lips kissed her
+feet, again lust seized him by the hair. And in this struggle he felt
+not only unworthy of her, not only "a beast," but at the same time a
+half-baked and ludicrous blunderer, deprived of that reason, peace, and
+self-control which a true man should possess.
+
+He was also possessed by astonishment that everything which could
+promise delight should also at the same time torment him. Fortunately,
+his further torments and meditations were interrupted by music, with
+which an evening at Pani Otocka's had to conclude. Bochener sat at the
+piano, the irascible notary began to blow in his flute, and Marynia
+stood aside with the violin, and if those present were not accustomed
+to the sight of her, they would have been astonished at the change
+which took place in her. The beautiful but childish face of a delighted
+and inquisitive girl assumed in a single moment an expression of
+gravity and profound calm. Her eyes became thoughtful and sad. On the
+red background of the salon her slim form appeared like a design of the
+best style on a painted church window. There was something in her
+plainly hieratic.
+
+A trio began. The gentle tones began to rock Ladislaus' agitated soul.
+His senses gradually fell asleep and his desires were extinguished. His
+love metamorphosed into a great winged angel who carried his loved one
+in his arms as if a child, and soared with her in the immeasurable
+space before an altar composed of the lustre of the evening twilight
+and the nocturnal lights of stars.
+
+The hour was late, when Gronski, Swidwicki, and Ladislaus left Pani
+Otocka's. On the streets they met few pedestrians, but every few paces,
+they encountered the military and police patrol, which stopped them and
+asked for passports. This time Swidwicki did not pretend to be
+intoxicated, for he fell into a bad humor just because at Pani Otocka's
+he had to content himself with two glasses of wine. So, showing the
+policeman the passport, he pointed to his dress-suit and white cravat
+and asked them surlily whether socialists or bandits dressed in that
+manner.
+
+"If only lightning would smite the one and the other," he said,
+striking the sidewalk with his cane. "In addition, everything is
+closed, not only the restaurants in the hotels, but even the
+pharmacies, in which in an extreme case, vin de coca or alcohol can be
+procured. The pharmacies are striking! We have lived to see that! The
+doctors also ought to strike and then the grave-diggers will
+unwillingly have to strike also. May the devil seize all! At home I
+have not a single bottle; so throughout the entire night I will not be
+able to sleep a wink and to-morrow I will be as if taken off the
+cross--"
+
+"Come with us," said Gronski, "perhaps we may find a bottle of
+something and black coffee."
+
+"You have saved not only my life but that of my 'associate,' especially
+if two bottles are found."
+
+"We will seek. But what kind of associate are you speaking of?"
+
+"True, you yet know nothing. I will relate it over a glass."
+
+It was not far to Gronski's residence, so soon they were seated
+around a table on which was found a bottle of noble Chambertin and a
+coffee-percolator with black coffee, steaming in a delicious manner.
+
+Swidwicki regained his spirits.
+
+"Those ladies," he said, "are real angels, and for the reason that it
+is there, as if in Paradise, where happiness consists in gazing upon
+eternal brightness and listening to the archangel choir."
+
+Here he addressed Krzycki:
+
+"I observed that this suffices for you and Gronski--but for me it is
+absolutely too little."
+
+"Only do not begin to sharpen your tongue on those ladies," replied
+Gronski, "for I shall order the bottle removed instanter."
+
+Swidwicki hugged it with both hands.
+
+"I idolize--all three," he exclaimed with comic precipitancy.
+
+"Of what kind of associate were you speaking?"
+
+Swidwicki swallowed the wine and, closing his eyes, for a while
+appraised its value.
+
+"I have with me from this morning some kind of gallows-bird, for whom
+the police are looking and, if they find him with me, they will
+probably hang us both."
+
+"You, however, have given him shelter?"
+
+"I gave him shelter because he was brought by one whom I could not
+refuse."
+
+"I will wager that it was some woman."
+
+"That is true. I can add that she is comely and one of those who excite
+in me a responsive electric current. But I cannot tell you her name, as
+she begged me to keep that secret."
+
+"I do not ask," said Gronski, "but as to the current I have no doubt,
+as otherwise you would fear to place yourself in jeopardy."
+
+To this Swidwicki said:
+
+"Know this, that I do not fear anything in the world, and this gives me
+in this enslaved country such an unheard of independence as is not
+enjoyed by any one else."
+
+Saying this, he drained the glass to the bottom and exclaimed:
+
+"Long live liberty--but only my own."
+
+"Nevertheless, all this demonstrates that you have a little good in
+your heart."
+
+"Not in the least. I did that, firstly, because I expect a reward,
+on which, after all, in such virtuous company, I prefer not to
+dilate--unless after a second bottle--and again, because I will have
+some one upon whom I can vent my spleen and assert my ascendency. I
+assure you that my gallows-bird will not sleep upon roses--and who
+knows whether after a week he will not prefer the gallows to my
+hospitality?"
+
+"That is possible. But in the meantime?"
+
+"In the meantime I bought for him Allen's Waters in order to bleach the
+black tufts of hair on his head into a light color. 'Are te
+biondegiante'--as during Titian's time. I feel also a little
+satisfaction at the thought that the police will stand on their heads
+to find him and will not get him."
+
+"But if they find him?"
+
+"I doubt it. Do you remember that for a certain time I had a footman, a
+native of Bessarabia, whom you knew? Over two months ago he robbed me
+and ran away. He has already written to me from New York with a
+proposition which I will not repeat to you. A superb type! Perfectly
+modern. But before his escape he begged me to return to him his
+passport, as now they are asking about passports every moment. But I
+mislaid it in some book and could not find it. But recently--two or
+three days ago--I accidentally found it, so that my gallows-bird will
+have not only blond hair but also a passport."
+
+"And will he not rob you like his predecessor?"
+
+"I told him that he ought to do that, but he became indignant. It seems
+to me that he is boiling with indignation from morning until night, and
+if in the end he should steal from me it would be from indignation that
+I could suppose anything like that of him. That little patroness who
+shoved him on my neck vouches also that he is honest, but did not even
+tell me his name. Clever girl! For she says thus: 'If they find him,
+then you can excuse yourself on the plea that you did not know who he
+was.' And she is right--though when some marks of gratitude are
+concerned, she scratches like a cat. For her, I expose myself to the
+halter, and when I wanted from her a little of that--then I almost got
+it in the snout."
+
+Gronski knit his brows and began to sharply eye Swidwicki; after which,
+he said:
+
+"Miss Anney's servant asked me this morning about your residence. Tell
+me, what does that mean?"
+
+Swidwicki again drank the wine.
+
+"Ah, she also called--she was there. Pani Otocka sent through her an
+invitation."
+
+"Pani Otocka sent you an invitation through Pauly. Tell that to some
+one else."
+
+"About what are you concerned?" asked Swidwicki, with jovial
+effrontery. "She ordered her to send the invitation through a messenger
+but the messengers since last night are on a strike. Now everybody
+strikes. Girls also,--with the exception of the 'female associates,'
+particularly the old and ugly ones. These, if they strike, then sans le
+vouloir."
+
+The reply appeared to Gronski to be satisfactory, as in reality
+messengers had been absent from the streets since the previous day.
+Then Swidwicki turned the conversation into another direction.
+
+"I received him," he said, "not to save an ass, but because I am bored
+and it just suited me. Some wise Italian once said that the divinity
+which holds everything in this world in restraint is called la
+paura,--fear; and the Italian was right. If the people did not fear,
+nothing would remain--not a single social form of life! On this ladder
+of fear there are numerous rounds and the highest is the fear of death.
+Death! That is a real divinity! Reges rego, leges lego, judice judico!
+And I confess that I, whose life has been passed in toppling from
+pedestals various divinities, had the most difficulty in overcoming
+this divinity. But I overcame it and so completely that I made it my
+dog."
+
+"What did you do?"
+
+"A dog, which as often as it pleases me, I stroke over the hair,
+as for instance now, when I received that revolutionary booby. But that
+is yet nothing! See under what terror people live: the executioner's
+axe, the gallows, the bullet, cancer, consumption, typhoid fever,
+tabes--suffering, pain, whole months and years of torture--and why?
+Before the fear of death. And I jeer at that. Me, hangman will not
+execute, cancer will not gnaw, consumption will not consume, pain will
+not break, torture will not debase, for I shout, in a given moment, at
+this divinity before which all tremble, as at a spaniel: 'Lie down!'"
+
+After which he laughed and said:
+
+"And that mad booby of mine, however, hid himself as if before death.
+Tell me what would happen if people actually did not fear?"
+
+"They would not be themselves," answered Gronski. "They desire life,
+not death."
+
+
+
+                                   XI
+
+Swidwicki did not lie when he said that he did not know the name of the
+revolutionist to whom he promised an asylum, for in reality Pauly had
+made a secret of it. She so arranged it with Laskowicz on the way. The
+young student, learning that Swidwicki, to whom the girl was conducting
+him, was an acquaintance of Gronski and Pani Otocka, in the first
+moments became frightened inordinately. He recollected the letters
+which he had written to Panna Marynia, and his odious relations with
+Krzycki upon whom his party a short time previously perpetrated an
+attack. Personally he did not participate in it and the suggestion did
+not emanate from him, but on the other hand he did not have the
+slightest doubt that the committee issued the death sentence as a
+result of his reports designating Krzycki as the chief obstacle to
+their propaganda, and he remembered that he did nothing to prevent the
+attempt, and was even pleased in his soul that a man, hateful to him
+and at the same time a putative rival, would be removed from his path.
+
+For a time he even felt, owing to this "washing of hands," a certain
+internal disgust; at the intelligence, however, that the attack was
+unsuccessful he experienced, as it were, a feeling of disappointment.
+And now he was going to seek shelter with a man who was a relative of
+Pani Otocka and who might have heard of the letters to Marynia and his
+relations with Krzycki. This was a turn of affairs, clearly fatal,
+which might frustrate the best intentions of Panna Pauly.
+
+Considering all this he began to beg the girl not to mention his name,
+giving as a reason that in case the police should find him, Swidwicki
+would be less culpable.
+
+Pauly admitted the full justness of this; after a while, however, she
+observed that if Pan Gronski should ever visit Swidwicki then
+everything would be disclosed.
+
+"Yes," answered the student, "but I need that refuge for only a few
+days; after which I will look for another, or else my chiefs may
+dispatch me abroad."
+
+"What chiefs?" asked Pauly.
+
+"Those who desire liberty and bread for all, and who will not tolerate
+that some one should be raised above you, little lady, either in rank
+or money."
+
+"I do not understand. How is that? I would not be a servant and would
+not have a mistress?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Pauly was struck by the thought that in that case she would be nearer
+to her "young lord," but not having time to discuss this any longer,
+she repeated:
+
+"I do not understand. Later, I will question you about it, but now let
+us proceed."
+
+And they walked hurriedly ahead, in silence, until they reached
+Swidwicki's door. On the ringing of the bell, he opened it himself.
+With surprise but also with a smile he saw Pauly in the dark hallway
+and afterwards catching sight of Laskowicz, he asked:
+
+"What is he here for? Who is he?"
+
+"May we enter and may I speak with you in private?" asked the girl.
+
+"If you please. The more private, the more agreeable it will be to me."
+
+And they entered. The student remained in the first room. The master of
+the house conducted Pauly to another and closed the door after him.
+
+Laskowicz began to examine the large room, full of disorder, with
+books, and engravings, and an abundance of bottles with white and blue
+labels. On the round table, near the window, piled with daily
+newspapers, stood a bottle with the legend: "Vin de Coca; Mariani," and
+a few ash trays with charred lighters for cigars and cigarettes. The
+furniture in the room was heavy and evidently when new was costly but
+it was now dirty. Hanging on the wall were pictures, among them a
+portrait of Pani Otocka, while yet a young unmarried lady. In one
+corner protruded the well known statue of the Neapolitan Psyche with
+mutilated skull.
+
+The student placed the flower-pot with the Italian lilies on the table
+and began to eavesdrop. His life was involved, for if shelter was
+denied to him he undoubtedly would be arrested that day. Through the
+closed door came to him from time to time Swidwicki's outbursts of
+laughter, and the conversing voices, in which the voice of the girl
+sounded at times as if entreating, and at other moments angry and
+indignant. This lasted a long time. Finally the doors opened and the
+first to enter was Pauly, evidently angry, and with burning cheeks;
+after her came Swidwicki, who said:
+
+"Very well. Since the beautiful Pauly so wishes it, I will not tell any
+one who brought to me this Sir Ananias, and will keep him under cover,
+but on condition that Pauly will prove a little grateful to me."
+
+"I am grateful," answered the girl with irritation.
+
+"These are the proofs," said Swidwicki, displaying marks on the back of
+his hands. "A cat could not scratch any better. But to only look at
+little Pauly, I will agree even to that. The next time we will have
+some candy."
+
+"Good-by till we meet again."
+
+"Till we meet. May it be as frequent as possible."
+
+The girl took the pot with the flowers and left. Then Swidwicki thrust
+his hands into his pockets and began to stare at Laskowicz as if he had
+before him, not a human being, but some singular animal. Laskowicz
+looked at him in the same way, and during that short interval they
+acquired for each other a mutual dislike.
+
+Finally Swidwicki asked:
+
+"Ah, esteemed Sir Benefactor, of what party? Socialist, anarchist, or
+bandit? I beg of you! without ceremony! I do not ask your name, but it
+is necessary to be acquainted somehow."
+
+"I belong to the Polish Socialist Party," answered the student with a
+certain pride.
+
+"Aha! Then to the most stupid one. Excellent. That is as if some one
+said: To the atheistic-Catholic or to the national-cosmopolitan? I am
+truly delighted to bid you welcome."
+
+Laskowicz was not in the least meek by nature, and besides he
+understood in a moment that he had before him a man with whom he would
+gain nothing by meekness; so, gazing straight into Swidwicki's eyes, he
+replied almost contemptuously:
+
+"If you, sir, can be a Catholic and Pole, I can be a socialist and
+Pole."
+
+But Swidwicki laughed.
+
+"No, Sir Chieftain," he said, "Catholicism is a smell. One can be a cat
+and have a fainter or stronger odor, but one cannot be a cat and dog in
+one and the same person."
+
+"I am no chieftain; only a third-class agent," retorted Laskowicz.
+"You, sir, have given me a refuge and yourself the right to mock me."
+
+"Exactly, exactly! But for that I shall not require any gratitude. We
+can, after all, change the subject. Sit down, Sir Third-class Agent.
+What is new? How is His Majesty, the king."
+
+"What king?"
+
+"Why the one you serve and who to-day has the most courtiers; the one
+who, most of all, cannot endure the truth and most easily gulps
+adulation; the one, who in winter smells of whiskey and in summer of
+sour sweat,--that mangy, lousy, scabby, stinking, gracious, or rather,
+ungracious ruler of the day. King Rabble."
+
+If Laskowicz had heard the most monstrous blasphemies against a holy
+object, which heretofore mankind venerated, he would not have been more
+horrified than at the words which passed Swidwicki's lips. For him it
+was as if he were struck on the head with a club, for it never crossed
+his mind that any one would have dared to utter anything like that. His
+eyes became dim, his jaws tightened convulsively, his hands began to
+tremble. In the first moments he was possessed by an irrepressible
+desire to shoot Swidwicki in the head with the revolver he carried with
+him and afterwards slam the door and go wherever his eyes would take
+him, or else to place the barrel to his ear and shatter his own head,
+but he lacked the strength. All night long he had toiled in the
+printing plant; after which he had fled over the roofs and through the
+streets like a wild animal. He was fatigued, hungry, and exhausted with
+the frightful experiences of that morning. So he suddenly staggered on
+his feet, became as pale as a corpse, and would have tumbled upon the
+ground if a chair had not stood close by, into which he sank heavily,
+as if dead.
+
+"What is this? What in the devil ails you?" asked Swidwicki.
+
+And he began to assist him. He poured out of a bottle the remainder of
+the cognac and forced him to drink it; afterwards he lifted him from
+the chair and led him to another room and almost forcibly put him in
+his own bed.
+
+"What the devil!" he repeated; "how do you feel?"
+
+"Better," answered Laskowicz.
+
+Swidwicki glanced at his watch.
+
+"In about ten minutes, the old woman who serves here ought to come. I
+will order her to bring something to eat. In the meanwhile lie
+quietly."
+
+Laskowicz obeyed this advice, as he could not do otherwise. Lying
+there, however, he for a time knit his brow, and evidently his mind was
+laboring. Then he said:
+
+"That king--about whom you inquired--is--starving--"
+
+"May the devil take him!" replied Swidwicki. "The bourgeoisie will feed
+him, and for this he at the first opportunity will cut their throats.
+But do not take to heart too seriously whatever I say; for I say the
+same and stronger things to all parties. All! Do you understand, sir?"
+
+The bell interrupted further conversation. Laskowicz trembled like an
+aspen leaf.
+
+"That is my old woman. I recognize the ring," said Swidwicki. "She is
+earlier to-day than usual. Very well. I will order her to bring food at
+once."
+
+In fact, after a quarter of an hour, food was placed on the table.
+Refreshed, Laskowicz came entirely to himself and did not think of
+forsaking his new shelter. Swidwicki began to open and rummage through
+various drawers. Finally, finding a passport, he handed it to Laskowicz
+and said:
+
+"Before you, Sir Benefactor, become dictator of all Poland you will
+call yourself Zaranczko. You come from Bessarabia and have served with
+me a year. If they should catch you and, with you, me, repeat only one
+expression, '_Mamalyga_,[9] _mamalyga_.'"
+
+In this manner Laskowicz was installed in Swidwicki's home.
+
+
+
+                                  XII
+
+The morning after Marynia's birthday was unusually gloomy. The western
+wind drove heavy black clouds, which hung over the city, foretelling a
+storm. The atmosphere became oppressive and sultry. When Ladislaus
+entered the church it was completely dark within. In the Chapel of the
+Divine Mother a quiet votive mass commenced almost with his entry, and
+the flickering little flames of the candles, lighted before the altar,
+poorly illuminated the darkness. Ladislaus began to search with his
+eyes for Miss Anney and he recognized her by the light hair protruding
+from under her hat. She knelt in the first pew, her hands crossed in
+prayer and resting upon an open book. Seeing Ladislaus, she nodded her
+head and drew aside, to make room for him, not pausing in her prayers.
+He wanted to speak to her but did not dare, and only kneeling, drew
+somewhat towards himself the book so that they might pray from it
+together. It was, however, so dark that he could read nothing and after
+a while he became convinced that he could not pray at all. He was
+seized by great emotion, for he understood that a new epoch in his life
+had commenced, and that this moment, in which by the consent of Miss
+Anney he knelt at her side before the altar to mutually entreat God for
+blessing, signified more than any other avowals, and that it was the
+first sanctification of their loves and their joint future lives. He
+was possessed by a sense of his happiness, but at the same time by some
+kind of solemn apprehension at the thought that everything would soon
+cease to be only a dream, only a fancy, only a phantom of happiness,
+and become realized and accomplished. Through his mind glided the
+interrogatories,--How will he be able to bear this happiness, what will
+he do with it, and how will he acquit himself,--and from these
+questions there was bred in him a sense of immense responsibility,
+surcharged with fear. It was like certain worries which hitherto, as a
+free man, he had not known or at least had not met face to face. And he
+saw before him cares more direct and immediate. The moment of his
+interview with his mother was approaching; there were also some secret
+obstacles, which Gronski mentioned, and it was incumbent upon him to
+weigh everything, to plan, settle various matters, and set aside
+anticipated difficulties. In truth, now, if ever, it was worth while
+and necessary to trust to the Divine favor, invoke the All-provident
+aid, and deliver her to the care of the Future. Ladislaus observed that
+similar feelings and similar thoughts must have swayed Miss Anney as
+her countenance was calm, composed, grave, and even sad. The little
+flames of the candles were reflected in her upraised eyes and for a
+while it seemed to Ladislaus that he saw tears in those eyes.
+Apparently with the whole strength of her soul she committed him and
+herself to God. And thus they knelt beside each other, shoulder to
+shoulder, heart to heart, and already united, happy, and a little
+timorous. Ladislaus, having suppressed the whirlwind of thoughts, at
+last began to pray and said to God, "Do with me whatever Thou wilt, but
+grant her happiness and peace." And a prodigious overflowing wave of
+love deluged his bosom. His prayer became at the same time a solemn
+espousal and internal oath that he would never wrong that most precious
+being in the world, and that those eyes would never weep for his sake.
+
+In the meantime the votive mass was nearing its close. When the priest
+turned from the altar, his words, in the half-empty chapel, were as if
+dreamy and like whispering amidst sighs--as usually happens at the
+early morning mass. But at times they were deafened by thunders, as the
+storm began outside. The windows of the chapel darkened yet more, and
+from time to time livid lightning illuminated the panes; after which
+the darkness grew yet denser, and on the altar the little flames of the
+candles twinkled uneasily. The priest turned around once more; "Dominus
+vobiscum!" after which, "Ite missa est." Afterwards he blessed the
+assembled and retired. The small number of faithful who heard the mass
+followed his example. Only they two remained. Then she began to say in
+a whisper, broken by emotion, "Under Thy protection we flee. Holy
+Mother of God," and the further words "Our entreaties deign not to
+spurn and from all evil deign to preserve us forever," were said
+jointly with Ladislaus, and in this manner the entire prayer concluded.
+
+After this, silence fell between them, was broken only after a long
+while by Ladislaus.
+
+"We will have to wait," he said in a low voice. "The storm is yet
+continuing."
+
+"Very well," answered Miss Anney.
+
+"My dear, dearest lady--"
+
+But she placed her finger to her lips and silence again ensued. They
+did not, however, have to wait very long, for the summer storms come
+and pass away like birds. After the lapse of a quarter of an hour they
+left the church. The streets were flooded by the rain, but through the
+rifts of the scattered and rent clouds the sun shone brightly and, it
+seemed, moistly. Miss Anney's eyes winked under the flood of light and
+her countenance was as if she was awakened from a dream. But her
+composure and gravity did not pass away. Ladislaus, on the other hand,
+at the sight of the sun, and the bustle and life on the streets, was at
+once imbued with gayety and hope. He glanced once and again at his
+companion and she seemed to him as wonderful as a dream, charming as
+never before, and adorable simply beyond measure and bounds. He felt
+that he was capable of seizing her at that moment in his arms; of
+showing her to the sun, the clouds, the city, the human multitude, and
+exclaiming: "Behold my wealth, my treasure; this is the joy of my
+life!" But, conjecturing properly that Miss Anney would not assent to
+any manifestations like that, he subdued this impulse and directed his
+thoughts to more important matters.
+
+"My adored lady," said he, "I must give utterance to words which burn
+my lips. When may I come to see you?"
+
+"To-day at four," she replied; "I also have to tell you something upon
+which everything depends."
+
+"Everything depends upon you, lady, and upon nothing else."
+
+But her clear cheeks were suffused with confused blushes: her eyes
+shone as if with disagreeable uneasiness; and she replied:
+
+"God grant--you do not know, sir--you do not know sir--" she repeated
+with emphasis. "We will be alone.--But now we must part."
+
+Ladislaus escorted her to the carriage, kissed her hands and remained
+alone. Her words, corroborating that which Gronski had intimated as a
+result of his interviews with Pani Otocka, disquieted him, however, but
+only for a short time, as he was too much in love to suppose that it
+could change his love or swerve him from his purpose. At the mere
+thought of this he shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Women," he said to himself, "are always full of scruples and to actual
+difficulties they add chimerical ones."
+
+After which, he returned home in the best of humor, and besides
+Gronski, found there Dolhanski.
+
+"Behold," exclaimed Gronski, "lo, here is Dolhanski the bachelor.
+Congratulate him for he is going to marry."
+
+"No?" Truly? asked Ladislaus, amused.
+
+"With Panna Kajetana Wlocek," added Dolhanski, with sangfroid and
+extraordinary gravity.
+
+"Then I tender my best wishes from the whole heart. When is the
+wedding?"
+
+"Very soon, on account of the weather, famine, fire, and war, also
+similar exceptional circumstances. In a week. Without publication of
+the banns, on an _indult_. After the wedding, the same night a trip
+abroad."
+
+"And you say all this seriously?"
+
+"With the greatest seriousness in the world. Observe the exquisite
+consequences."
+
+"Here Dolhanski spread out his fingers and began to enumerate:"
+
+"Primo, my credit is resurrected, as a Hindoo fakir, who, buried in the
+ground for a whole month, awakes after exhumation to a new life;
+secundo: Gorek is without a copper coin of indebtedness and without
+society; tertio: my marriage settlement surpasses my expectations;
+quarto: my fiancée from good luck has grown so beautiful that you would
+not recognize her."
+
+"What are you saying?" cried Ladislaus, ingenuously.
+
+
+
+                                  XIII
+
+Promptly at four, Ladislaus appeared at Miss Anney's. She received him
+feelingly and for a greeting offered both hands which he began to press
+alternately to his lips and his forehead. Afterwards they sat beside
+each other and for a long time heard only the quickened beating of
+their own hearts and the faint sounds of the clock on the writing-desk.
+They reciprocally glanced at each other but neither was able to say the
+first word. After a while life could glow for them like a new dawn,
+glistening with joy and happiness, but, for the time being, it was
+heavy, embarrassing, the more embarrassing the longer the silence
+continued.
+
+Finally, Ladislaus from a feeling, that, if he kept silent much longer,
+he would appear ridiculous, mustered enough courage and spoke in a
+broken voice, whose sounds appeared strange to him!
+
+"From this morning I have a little hope--and nevertheless my heart
+beats as if I did not have any--I could not say a single word until I
+caught my breath--but that is nothing strange as my whole life is
+concerned.--Lady, you long ago, of course, surmised how deeply--how
+with my whole soul I love you,--you knew this long ago--is it not so?"
+
+Here he again inhaled the air, took a deep breath, and continued:
+
+"To-day in the church I said to myself this: 'If she will hear me, if
+she does not spurn me, if she consents to be my own for my whole
+life--my wife--then I vow solemnly to God before this altar that I will
+love and honor her; that I will never wrong her and will give her all
+the happiness which is in my power.' And I swear to you that this is
+the truth--It only depends upon you, lady, that it shall be so--upon
+your consent--upon your faith in me."
+
+Saying this, he again raised Miss Anney's hands to his lips and
+imprinted upon them a long imploring kiss and she leaned towards him so
+that her hair lightly brushed his forehead, and quietly replied:
+
+"I consent and believe with my whole soul--but this does not depend
+upon me alone."
+
+"Only upon you, lady," exclaimed Ladislaus.
+
+And believing that Miss Anney had his mother in mind, he began to say
+with a brightened face and deep joy in his voice:
+
+"My mother desires my happiness above all things and I assure you that
+she will come here with me to beg of you; and with me she will thank
+you for this great, this ineffable boon, and in the meantime I on my
+knees thank--"
+
+He wanted to drop on his knees before her and embrace her limbs with
+his arms, but she began to restrain him and say with feverish haste:
+
+"No, no. Do not kneel, sir,--you must first hear me. I consent, but I
+must confess things upon which everything depends. Please calm
+yourself."
+
+Ladislaus rose, again sat beside her and said, with anxious surprise:
+
+"I listen, my dearest lady."
+
+"And I must compose myself a little," replied Miss Anney.
+
+After which she rose, and approaching the window, pressed her forehead
+against the pane.
+
+For some time silence again ensued.
+
+"What is it?" spoke out Krzycki.
+
+Miss Anney withdrew her forehead from the pane. Her countenance was
+calmer, but her eyes were dimmed as if with tears. Approaching the
+table, she sat down opposite to Ladislaus.
+
+"Before I relate what it is now necessary for me to state," she said,
+"I have a great favor to ask of you. And if you--love me truly--then
+you will not refuse--"
+
+"Lady, if you demanded my life, I would not refuse it. I pledge you my
+word," he exclaimed.
+
+"Very well. Give me your word. Then I will be certain."
+
+"I pledge it in advance and swear upon our future happiness that I will
+comply with your every wish."
+
+"Very well," repeated Miss Anney. "Then I first beg of you, by all you
+hold most precious, not to feel at all bound by anything you have said
+to me just now."
+
+"I not feel bound? In what way? Of course, it may not be binding upon
+you, lady--but on me--"
+
+"Well, then, I release you from all obligations and consider that
+nothing has been said. You promised me that you would not refuse me
+anything, but this is not all."
+
+"Not all?"
+
+"No, I am anxious that after what I shall tell you, you shall not give
+me any answer--and for a whole week shall not return to me and shall
+not try to see me."
+
+"But in the name of God, what is it?" cried Ladislaus; "why should I
+suffer a week of torments? What does this mean?"
+
+"And for me it also will be a torment," she answered in a soft voice.
+"But it is necessary, it is imperative. You will have to explain
+everything to yourself; weigh everything, unravel and decide
+everything--and form a resolution--afterwards you may return or may not
+return--and a week for all that will be rather too little."
+
+And perceiving the agitation on Ladislaus' face, she hurriedly added,
+as if alarmed:
+
+"Sir, you promised--you pledged me your word!"
+
+Ladislaus drew his hand across the hair of his head; after which he
+began to rub his forehead with his palm.
+
+"I gave the word," he said at last, "because you requested it,
+lady--but why?"
+
+And Miss Anney turned pale to the eyes; for a while her lips quivered
+as though she struggled vainly to draw the words from her bosom, and
+only after an interval did she reply:
+
+"Because--atone time I--did not bear the name of Anney."
+
+"You did not bear the name of Anney?"
+
+"I--am--Hanka Skibianka."
+
+Ladislaus rose, staggered like a drunken man, and began to stare at her
+with a bewildered look.
+
+And she added in almost a whisper:
+
+"Little master!--'tis I--of the mill."
+
+And tears coursed quietly over her pallid countenance.
+
+
+
+
+                               PART III.
+
+
+
+                                   I
+
+Krzycki left Miss Anney's with a sensation as if lightning had struck
+directly in front of him and suddenly stunned him. He could neither
+collect nor connect his thoughts; he was not even in a condition to
+realize his situation nor reflect upon it. The only impression, or
+rather feeling, which in the first moments remained was a feeling of
+illimitable amazement. On the way he repeated every little while,
+"Hanka Skibianka! Hanka Skibianka!" and seemed incapable of doing aught
+else. He did not find Gronski at home, as the latter had left
+immediately after the noon hour, telling the servant that he would
+return late at night. So he went to his room, locked himself in without
+knowing why; afterwards he flung himself into an armchair and sat
+abstractedly for over an hour. After the lapse of that time, he opened
+his trunk and began to pack things into it with excessive zeal, until
+finally he propounded to himself the question: "Why am I doing this?"
+Not being able to find an answer, he abandoned that work and only
+resumed it when he came to the unexpected conclusion that in any case
+he would have to move away from Gronski's.
+
+Having finished, he put on his hat and left, without any well-defined
+object, for the city. For a while a desire rose in him to call upon his
+mother and Pani Otocka, but he stifled it at once. For what? It seemed
+to him that he had nothing to tell his mother about himself and his
+intentions; and that he could talk with her only about this unheard-of
+intelligence, the discussion of which would be for him, beyond all
+expression, afflicting. Unconsciously, he reached the Holy Cross Church
+and wanted to enter it, but the hour was late and the church was
+locked. The morning of that day and the joint prayer with her stood
+vividly before his eyes. Ah, how sincerely he prayed; how he loved her;
+how he loved her! And now he could not resist the impression that this
+light-haired, idolized lady, with whom he said in that chapel "Under
+Thy Protection," and Hanka Skibianka were two different beings. And he
+felt in his heart a kind of disenchantment with which he began to
+contend. For why was he nevertheless so acutely affected by it? Was it
+because Hanka was a peasant girl and he a nobleman? No! Miss Anney
+never represented herself as an English noblewoman, and a Polish
+peasant is no worse than an English commoner. He could not clearly
+perceive that the reason of it lay in this: that Miss Anney through her
+descent alone, foreign and distant, appeared to him a sort of princess,
+and Hanka was a near and domestic girl from Zarnow. She aroused less
+curiosity and therefore was less attractive. She was so much easier,
+therefore, cheaper to him. In vain he recalled and repeated that this
+Hanka is that same light-haired lady, charming as a dream, alluring,
+genteel, womanly, responding in sentiment to every thought and every
+word; the feeling of disenchantment was more powerful than those
+thoughts, and that charm of exoticism, which suddenly was lacking in
+the girl, minimized her worth in his eyes.
+
+But, besides this, there was something else, in view of which the
+disenchantment and all unexpected impressions stood aside and became
+matters of secondary importance. This was, that he had once possessed
+that girl--body and soul. She was at that time almost a child--a flower
+not yet in full bloom which he plucked and carried for some time at his
+bosom. The memory of that could be a reproach only for him; no fault
+whatever weighed on her. He recollected those moonlight nights on which
+he stole to the mill; those whispers which were one quiet song of love
+and intoxication, interrupted only by kisses; he recalled how he
+clasped to his heart her girlish body, fragrant with the hay of the
+fields; how he drank the tears from her eyes and how he said to her
+that he would give up for her all the ladies of all the courts. The
+idyl passed, but now there wafted upon him from her the breath of the
+first youthful years, the first love, the first ecstasy, and the truly
+great poetry of life. Besides, there was truth in what he had confided
+to Gronski in Jastrzeb: that the girl loved him as no other woman in
+the world surely would love him. And at the thought of this, his heart
+began to melt. Together with the wave of recollection, Hanka returned
+and again engaged his thoughts.
+
+Yes. But that was Hanka and she is Miss Anney. In Ladislaus, from the
+time he fell in love with her, his senses leaped wildly towards her
+like a pack of yelping hounds; but he held them in leash because at the
+same time he knelt before his beloved. She was to him an object of
+desire but at the same time a sacred relic; something so inaccessible,
+exalted, pure, and mysterious in its virginity that at the thought that
+the moment would arrive when he would be the master of those treasures
+and secrets appeared to him a delight beyond all measure of delight;
+all the more fathomless as it was, united, as it were, with a
+sacrilege. And now he had to say to himself that this sacrilege he had
+already committed; that the charm of something unknown was dispelled;
+that in this vestal there were for him no mysteries and that he had
+already drunk from that cup. And this again was one lure less; one
+disenchantment more. In this manner Miss Anney muddied his recollection
+of the field peasant-girl, Hanka,--Hanka depreciated the charm of Miss
+Anney. Both were so different, so unlike each other, that, being unable
+to merge them into one entity, he vainly intensified that jarring
+impression with a feeling of disquietude and pain.
+
+In this vexation of spirit there occurred to him one wicked, low, and
+ugly thought. In what manner did the poor and simple Hanka change into
+the brilliant Miss Anney? In what manner could a gray sparrow from
+under a village thatched hut be transformed into a paradisiacal bird?
+Hanka was a betrayed girl; therefore the bridges had been burnt behind
+her. Amidst the wealth of a foreign land, beautiful but poor girls have
+before them only one road to the acquisition of affluence and even
+polish, and that was the road of shame. Hanka found one patron who took
+care of her in the appropriate manner; how many similar patrons and
+protectors could Miss Anney find? At the thought of this Krzycki's head
+swam. Conscience said to him, "You opened those gates before her," and
+at the same time he was seized by such anger at Miss Anney and himself
+that if the life or death of both rested in his hands, he would at that
+moment have selected death. Something within him was rent asunder;
+something crashed. It seemed to him that again, just above his head,
+pealed lightning, which stunned him and burnt, within him, to a crisp,
+the ability to think.
+
+He wandered a long time over the city. He himself did not know in what
+manner he again found himself before Pani Otocka's home, but he did not
+enter for he once more felt that at that time he could not speak with
+his mother. He returned to his own house late at night. Gronski was
+already at home, and for an hour had been waiting for him with the tea.
+
+"Good evening," he said, "I have returned from your mother's."
+
+And Ladislaus asked him with blunt impetuosity, "Do you know who Miss
+Anney is?"
+
+"I do. Pani Otocka told me."
+
+A moment of silence followed.
+
+"What do you say to this?"
+
+"I could ask you that question."
+
+Ladislaus sat heavily in the chair, drew his palm over his forehead and
+replied with bitter irony:
+
+"Ah, I have time. I was given a week for consideration."
+
+"That is not too much," answered Gronski, looking at him questioningly.
+
+"Certainly. Does Mother also know?"
+
+"Yes. Pani Otocka told her everything."
+
+Again silence ensued.
+
+"My dear Laudie," said Gronski, "I can understand that this must have
+shocked you, and for that reason I will not speak with you of it until
+you calm down and regain your equipoise. You must also become familiar
+with and well weigh the reasons why Miss Anney told only Pani Otocka
+who she was and why she came to Jastrzeb under her new name, to which,
+after all, she has a perfect right. Here is a letter from her. She
+requested me to deliver it to you to-morrow and that is why I did not
+hand it to you as soon as you appeared. At present I do not think that
+it would be proper to defer the matter. But do not open it at once nor
+in my presence. Put it away and read it when alone, when you can ponder
+over every word. Positively do this. That which has happened moved me
+to such an extent that for the time being I could not speak of it
+calmly. To-day I can only give you this advice: be a man and do not
+allow yourself to be swept away by the current of impressions. Row!"
+
+To this Ladislaus, who sobered up a little under the influence of these
+words, said:
+
+"I thank you, sir. I will read the letter in privacy. It is now so
+indispensable to me that I trust, sir, that you will not take it ill of
+me if I no longer abuse your hospitality. I am sincerely and cordially
+grateful to you for everything, but I must lock myself up. How long--I
+do not know. When I am myself again, I will come to you to discuss
+everything, God grant, more calmly. Now in reality, I see that I was
+justly given one week's time. But besides time, I feel the need of my
+own den. I cannot get rid of various thoughts, immensely bitter and
+even horrible. To-day they hold me by the head and it is necessary that
+I should hold them by the head--and for that reason I want to have my
+own den."
+
+"You know how willing I am to please you," answered Gronski; "I
+understand you, and though in advance I decided not to torment you with
+any questions, nevertheless, do what is best for yourself. I must tell
+you also that your mother is moving to a hotel, as she is offended with
+Pani Otocka. She took umbrage because she did not tell her at once in
+Jastrzeb who Miss Anney was."
+
+"I confess that I do not understand that--"
+
+"Nevertheless, that would have been directly contrary to what those
+ladies desired. Pani Otocka's intentions were the noblest. Time will
+elucidate and equalize everything. Even Marynia did not know anything,
+not only because Pani Zosia was bound by her word, but also because she
+did not deem it proper to acquaint her with your former behavior and
+your relations with the Hanka of former days. With Hanka--Miss Anney!
+That was an unheard-of turn of affairs. Do you remember our
+conversation in Jastrzeb when we went hunting for woodcock? Do you
+remember?"
+
+"I remember, but I cannot speak of it."
+
+"Yes, better not speak of it at this time. Miss Anney's letter
+undoubtedly will clear up the dark sides of the affair and explain what
+is now unintelligible. If you desire to read it at once, I will go and
+leave you here."
+
+"I am very curious about it and for just that reason I will take my
+leave of you."
+
+"But you will pass this night with me?"
+
+"I have packed my things and the hotels are always open."
+
+"In such case good-by!--and remember what I told you. Row! Row!"
+
+After a moment Gronski remained alone. He also was agitated,
+distressed, but curious to the highest degree. When after Ladislaus'
+confessions in Jastrzeb, he said to him that "the mills of the gods
+grind late," he spoke it in a way one utters, off-hand, any maxim to
+which one does not attach any real significance. In the meantime life
+verified it in a manner fabulous but nevertheless logical. For as a
+fable only appeared the transformation of Hanka into Miss Anney, but
+that Miss Anney desired to see the man, whom, as a child, she loved in
+her first transports of love and the place which bound her with so many
+memories, tender and sad, was a matter natural and intelligible. And,
+of course, she could not return to Jastrzeb and stay under the Krzycki
+roof-tree otherwise than under a changed name. And thus it happened;
+and the later events rolled on with their own force until they reached
+the moment when it was necessary to reveal the secret. Gronski knew
+already from Pani Otocka everything which she could tell him and
+absolved from all sin her as well as Miss Anney. Nevertheless, he
+understood that an unprecedented situation was created, and such a knot
+was twisted that the untangling of it was impossible to foresee. It
+could only be untwined by Krzycki, and even he stood not only in the
+presence of new difficulties but, as it were, in the presence of a new
+person.
+
+
+
+                                   II
+
+The very next day after the escape from the police Pauly visited
+Laskowicz and afterwards called to see him as often as she could find
+leisure time, selecting, nevertheless, hours when Swidwicki was not at
+home. But this did not present great difficulties as Swidwicki usually
+rose about noon, after which he went away and did not return until late
+at night. The girl was not induced to make these frequent visits by any
+sentimentality nor exceptional benevolence for the young student. She
+even felt, particularly in the first moments, that she could despise
+him. But women love in general to look at close range at their good
+deeds and to behold, even daily, the people for whom they have become
+providential angels; and again Laskowicz, with every word, disclosed to
+her worlds of whose existence she heretofore had never guessed. About
+socialists thus far she knew almost nothing, except what a certain old
+female cook once told her, that "they do not believe in God and do not
+eat ducks"; and she only heard that they threw bombs and shot from
+revolvers. After the attack upon Krzycki howsoever much she, together
+with all the servants in Jastrzeb, was convinced that it was
+perpetrated by Rzeslewo men, nevertheless, the supposition that it
+might have been the socialists reached her ears, and then she was
+inflamed against them with a temporary ungovernable hatred. But now she
+was learning that they were people of an entirely different stamp. She
+did not yet understand what in general they wanted, but understood in
+particular that those people desired that she, Paulina Kielkowna,
+should be a kind of lady like Miss Anney or Pani Otocka. And as a bee
+sips juice from flowers, so she, from the words of the young fanatic,
+extracted nourishment for her envy, her pain, her feelings. Her heart
+began to draw her towards that "Party," which appeared to her as a
+Providence and as a power; and to this was joined the purely feminine
+curiosity of the awful secrets of that power. Laskowicz quickly
+observed that the seed fell upon fit soil; and when once, for uttering
+inadvertently a disparaging word against Krzycki, the girl almost
+scratched out his eyes, he surmised her secret and determined to
+exploit her, not only for the good of the cause but also for his own
+personal ends.
+
+Although Pauly was not the servant of Pani Otocka but of Miss Anney,
+she nevertheless dwelt in the same house; so he could, through her,
+secure news of Marynia, which he craved with all his soul; he could
+quiet his fears as to Krzycki's intentions, could speak of her and hear
+her name; and finally could gain information as to when and where he
+could see her, though from a distance. And he questioned Panna Pauly
+about all this; at first cautiously and casually, afterwards more and
+more, and at last so incessantly that this began to surprise and anger
+her. Prone to extremes, and more capable of hatred than affection, she
+worshipped, by way of exception, Marynia, regarding her as a sort of
+supernal being, and this worship in her was as violent as was her
+hatred. On the other hand, on the ideal path, in the direction of
+universal equality and dislike of the higher classes she made in a
+brief time considerable progress. She could not however, cast off at
+once her former notions, and she frequently had sudden relapses to
+them. Hence at one time, when Laskowicz as usual began to hurl
+questions at her about Panna Marynia, she answered him testily:
+
+"Why are you always talking about Panna Zbyltowska?"
+
+"Perhaps I am in love with her," retorted the student, knitting his
+brow.
+
+At this her eyes in a moment blazed with rage.
+
+"What more yet?"
+
+And he began to peer at her keenly and asked:
+
+"Why does the little lady say 'what more yet'?"
+
+"For you are as suited for her as I am--"
+
+And she paused abruptly, but he finished:
+
+"To Pan Krzycki, for instance."
+
+Then she burst into a greater rage yet.
+
+"Why do you meddle in matters that do not concern you?"
+
+"I do not meddle in anything. I say only if the little lady fell in
+love with him and if I, hearing of it, said 'What more yet?' that would
+be disagreeable to the little lady? And it would be justly
+disagreeable. For if the priests prate that it is permissible to love
+even God, why not a human being? It is permissible for the little lady,
+it is permissible for me, it is permissible for everybody, for that is
+the law of nature and therefore our law."
+
+The words seconded that which was hidden in the girl's heart too much
+for her anger to remain, so she only glanced at Laskowicz, as if in
+sorrow, and replied:
+
+"Eh! Much good will come of that law!"
+
+"It will come or not come, in time. After all, if we adjusted the world
+in our own way, no dog would bark at such things. Is not the little
+lady worthy of Krzycki? Why not? Is it because he is richer? That is
+just what we are trying to prevent. Then what? Education? Lady, spit
+upon it. That education you can teach to a monkey. It is he, if the
+little lady wanted him, who ought yet to kiss the little lady's feet."
+
+But she again became impatient and replied:
+
+"Idle talk."
+
+"I also want only to say that in case I should fall in love with Panna
+Marynia and the little lady with Krzycki, our lot would be identical
+and the wrong the same."
+
+"Wrong in what?"
+
+"In the vile institutions of this world; in this, that such riff-raff
+as ourselves are permitted to love only to suffer, and we are not
+allowed to raise our eyes even upon the bourgeoisie, even though the
+hearts within should whine like dogs."
+
+"True," answered the girl through set teeth. "But what of it?"
+
+"This: that we ought to give to each other our hands, as brother and
+sister, and not be angry at each other, but assist one another. Who
+knows whether one may not be of service to the other?"
+
+"Eh! In what way can we help each other?"
+
+And he again began to gaze fixedly at her with his eyes set so closely
+to each other and said, uttering each word slowly:
+
+"I do not know whether Krzycki is in love with Panna Marynia or with
+that Englishwoman whom the little lady serves; or perhaps with neither
+of them."
+
+In one moment Pauly's face was covered with a pallor; afterwards a
+flame passed over it, which in turn gave way to pallor. In her soul
+there might have been dumb fears, but up to that time she had dared not
+put to herself any questions. Those ladies were entertained in Jastrzeb
+as guests. Pani Otocka and Panna Marynia were Krzycki's relatives;
+therefore there was nothing unusual in their relations. On the other
+hand, when the "Englishwoman" in Jastrzeb drove for the doctor and
+later nursed the wounded man, that was a time when the heart of the
+girl raged with jealousy and uneasiness. Afterwards she was placated by
+the thought that such a young nobleman would not wed a foreign
+"intruder," no matter how wealthy, but, at present, jealousy pierced
+her like a knife.
+
+Laskowicz continued:
+
+"The little lady asked in what way we can help one another, did she
+not?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"At least in--revenge,"
+
+After which, he changed the conversation.
+
+"Let the little lady come to me and, if I sometimes inquire about
+anything, let her not get angry. If at times it is hard for her, it is
+not easy for me. One lot, one wrong. Let the little lady come. I do not
+want to live with Swidwicki any longer. He is a peculiar man. I know
+that he did not take me out of the goodness of his heart, but as he
+placed himself in peril on my account I must endure everything from
+him. In the meantime he so maligns our party that I feel an impulse to
+shoot him in the head or stab him with a knife."
+
+"Why do you argue with that old goat?"
+
+"Because he talks and I must listen. Often he goads me into a reply.
+Somebody else for lesser things would get a knife under the ribs."
+
+"But I will not be able to hide you a second time, for I do not know
+where."
+
+"No. I myself will find some sort of hole; I have already thought of
+that. Our people will help. I now have a passport and am bleached
+yellow on the head. Some of my associates could not recognize me. Even
+if I am caught they will not try me as Laskowicz but as Zaranczko of
+Bessarabia, unless some one should betray me, but such there is not
+among us."
+
+"Only be careful, sir, and when you know where to hide, let me know. I
+will not betray."
+
+"I know, I know; such do not betray."
+
+After which he suddenly asked:
+
+"Why does not the little lady want to agree that we should call each
+other 'associates'? Amongst us we all speak that way."
+
+But she rebuffed him at once.
+
+"I told you once I cannot endure that."
+
+"Ah, if it is so, then it is hard."
+
+Pauly began to prepare for home. Laskowicz on the leave-taking made a
+second departure from the customs governing his associates, for he
+kissed her hand. Previously he had noticed that this raised her in her
+own eyes; that it flattered her and brought her into a good humor.
+Although not by nature over-intelligent, he observed that the
+principles of the Party alone would not entirely hold her, and that he
+would have in that girl an aid capable of all extremes, but only so far
+as her own personality entered into the play. This lowered the opinion
+which he held of her and his gratitude to her. He nevertheless
+submitted to this despotism, remembering that he owed to her his life.
+
+At present he had, besides, a favor to ask of her; so at the door he
+kissed her hand a second time and said:
+
+"Panna Pauly--the same lot, the same wrong. Let the little lady answer
+yet one more question. Where can I see though from a distance--though
+from a distance--"
+
+"Whom?" she asked, knitting her brows.
+
+"Panna Marynia."
+
+"If from a distance, then I will tell," she replied reluctantly. "The
+little lady is to play for the starving working people and at noon goes
+to the rehearsals."
+
+"Alone?"
+
+"No, with Pani Otocka or with my mistress; but sometimes with one of us
+servants."
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"But only from a distance--do you understand, sir,--for otherwise you
+will fare badly."
+
+And after these words, which sounded like a menace, she left him. The
+next moment Laskowicz heard through the door Swidwicki's voice and
+laughter, after which something resembling a scuffle, a suppressed
+scream, and--the sound of hasty footsteps on the stairs; finally
+Swidwicki stumbled into the room, drunk.
+
+"What were you doing here?" he asked.
+
+"Nothing," answered Laskowicz.
+
+And he began to scan the room, evidently desiring to satisfy himself
+whether he could not detect some signs of disorder, and repeated:
+
+"Nothing!"
+
+"I give you my word of honor," the student exclaimed with energy.
+
+At this Swidwicki leered at him, fingering his disheveled beard and
+said:
+
+"Then you are a fool!"
+
+After which he flung himself upon the sofa, for he had partaken of a
+sumptuous breakfast and was sleepy.
+
+
+
+                                  III
+
+Laskowicz's extreme fanaticism could not in reality harmonize with the
+extreme cynical scepticism of Swidwicki, who in addition took advantage
+of the situation not only beyond measure, but to the point of cruelty.
+He himself spoke of it and boasted about it to Gronski, when he met him
+in the restaurant, to which Gronski went after Krzycki's removal.
+
+"I have enough of my revolutionary maggot," he said, "I have enough of
+him, especially since I have satisfied myself that personally he is
+honest and will not pilfer any money from my pocket-book. From that
+time he has bored me. As for harboring such a simpleton one might go to
+Siberia. I regarded it in the beginning as a species of sport. I
+thought I would have a permanent sensation of a certain anxiety and, in
+the meantime, I have not experienced anything of the kind. The only
+satisfaction which I have is to point out to him his own stupidity and
+that of his party. By that I drive him to rabidness."
+
+"But that he cares to argue with you--"
+
+"He does not want to but is unable to restrain himself. His temperament
+and fanaticism carry him away."
+
+"At one time I met a similar individual," answered Gronski, "and not
+very long ago--out in the country, in Jastrzeb. He was a student, a
+tutor of Stas, whom Krzycki later discharged because he incited the
+field hands and was an agitator among peasants of the neighborhood."
+
+"Ah," ejaculated, with a strange smile, Swidwicki, to whom it occurred
+that Pauly also was at Jastrzeb.
+
+"What? Why do you smile?" asked Gronski.
+
+"Oh, nothing. Speak further."
+
+"I rode with him once to the city and on the way had quite a chat with
+him."
+
+"According to your habit."
+
+"According to my habit. Now among empty phrases, which only dull minds
+would accept as genuine coin, he said some interesting things. I
+learned a little about the angle from which they view the world."
+
+"My maggot at times says interesting things. Yesterday I led him into
+the admission that socialists of the pure water regard as their
+greatest enemies the peasants and the radical members of the
+bourgeoisie. I began to pour oil on the fire and he unbosomed himself.
+An unsophisticated peasant aspires to ownership, and that aspiration
+the devil cannot eradicate, and as to the bourgeoisie he spoke thus:
+'What harm,' he said, 'do these few nobles and priests who infest the
+world do to us? Our enemy is the bourgeois, rich or poor. Our enemy is
+the radical, who thinks that as soon as he shouts that he does not
+believe in God and priests that he buys us. Our enemy is that boaster,
+who speaks in the name of the common people and is ready to tickle us
+under the armpits, so that we should smile on him. He is the one who
+fawns on us, like a dog at a roll of butter, and preserves all the
+instincts of a bourgeois.' And he chattered further until I said: 'Hold
+on! Why, you are with the radicals "fratres Helenae!"' And he to this:
+'That is not true! The radical, wealthy bourgeois, who from fear dyes
+in red and borrows the standard and methods from us, introduces
+confusion in minds and drabbles in the mud our idea; and the poor one,
+if he annually saves even the smallest amount, injures us for he offers
+to work at a lower price than the pure proletaire, who always is as
+poor as Job. We,' he said, 'will put the knife, above all things, to
+the throats of the bourgeois for latent treachery lurks in him.' Thus
+he chattered and I was willing to concede justice to him, if in general
+I believed in justice, but I did not concede it yet for another reason,
+and that is, he is too stupid to have reasoned out such things. It was
+evident that he repeated what others taught him. In fact I did not
+neglect to tell him so."
+
+Further discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Dolhanski who,
+observing Gronski, approached him, although he disliked to meet
+Swidwicki.
+
+"How are you?" he said, "My ladies took a trip to Czestochowo; so I am
+free. Will you permit me to be seated with you?"
+
+"Certainly, certainly. Why, these are your last days."
+
+"It would be worth while even for that reason to drink a little
+bottle," observed Swidwicki, "particularly as it is, besides, my
+birthday."
+
+"If the calendar was a wine-cellar and the dates in it bottles, then
+your birthday would occur every day," answered Gronski.
+
+"I swear to you upon everything at which I jeer, that, contrary to my
+habit and inclination, this time I speak the truth."
+
+Saying this, he nodded to the waiter and ordered him to bring two
+bottles, calculating that afterwards more would be forthcoming. In the
+meantime Dolhanski said:
+
+"I met Krzycki to-day. He looks poorly; somehow not himself, and he
+told me that he does not live with you but in a hotel. Did you by
+chance quarrel?"
+
+"No. But he moved away from me and Pani Krzycki from Pani Otocka's."
+
+"There is some kind of epidemic," exclaimed Swidwicki, "for my
+cutthroat is leaving me."
+
+"Perhaps something has passed between Krzycki and Miss Anney," said
+Dolhanski. "I supposed that they were getting quite intimate. Did they
+part--or what?"
+
+"A marchpane, that Englishwoman," interrupted Swidwicki; "but her maid
+has more electricity in her."
+
+Gronski hesitated for a while; after which he said:
+
+"No, they have not parted, but something has occurred. I do not know
+why I should make a secret of that which, sooner or later, you will
+find out. It has developed that Miss Anney is not the born, but
+adopted, child of the rich English manufacturer, lately deceased, Mr.
+Anney, and of his late wife."
+
+"Well, if the adoption gives her all the rights, and particularly the
+right of inheritance, is it not all the same to Krzycki?"
+
+"The adoption gives her all rights; nevertheless it is not entirely the
+same to Krzycki, for it appears that Miss Anney is the daughter of a
+blacksmith of Rzeslewo and is named Hanka Skibianka."
+
+"Ha!" cried Swidwicki, "Perdita has been found but not the king's
+daughter. What does the pretty Florizel say to this?"
+
+But Dolhanski began to stare at Gronski as if he saw him for the first
+time in his life.
+
+"What are you saying?"
+
+"The actual fact."
+
+"Sapristi! But that is a nursery tale. Sapristi! You are joking."
+
+"I give you my word it is so. She herself told that to Krzycki."
+
+"I like that expression of astonishment on Dolhanski's face," exclaimed
+Swidwicki. "Man, come to yourself."
+
+Dolhanski restrained himself, for he always proclaimed that a true
+gentleman never should be surprised.
+
+"I remember now," he said, "that this is the Skibianka to whom Uncle
+Zarnowski bequeathed a few thousand roubles."
+
+"The same."
+
+"Therefore his daughter."
+
+"Fancy to yourself otherwise. Skiba came from Galicia to Rzeslewo with
+a wife and a child a few years old."
+
+"Therefore of pure peasant blood."
+
+"A Piast's,[10] a Piast's," cried Swidwicki.
+
+"Absolutely pure," answered Gronski.
+
+"And what does Laudie say?"
+
+"He swallowed the tidings and is trying to digest them," again blurted
+out Swidwicki.
+
+"That substantially is the case. He found himself in a new situation
+and locked himself up. It dumfounded him a little, and he desires to
+come to himself."
+
+"He was enamoured to the point of ludicrousness but now he will
+probably break off."
+
+"I do not admit that, but I repeat, that, in view of the changed
+situation, he has fallen into a certain internal strife, which he must
+first quell."
+
+"I candidly confess that I would break off all relations
+unconditionally."
+
+"But if Kaska or Hanka had a hundred thousand pounds?" asked Swidwicki.
+
+"In such a case--I would have fallen into a strife," answered
+Dolhanski, phlegmatically.
+
+After a while he continued:
+
+"For it seems that it is nothing, but in life it may appear to be
+something. Omitting the various cousins, 'Mats' and 'Jacks,' who
+undoubtedly will be found; there also will be found dissimilar
+instincts, dissimilar dispositions, and dissimilar tastes. Why, the
+deuce! I would not want a wife who suddenly might be ruled by an
+unexpected passion for amber rosaries, for shelling peas, for swingling
+flax, for picking fruit, or for gathering mushrooms, not to say berries
+and nuts, and walking barefooted."
+
+Here he turned to Gronski.
+
+"Shrug your shoulders, but it is so."
+
+"That would not shock me," said Swidwicki, "only, if I were to marry
+Miss Anney, I would just stipulate that she at times should go about
+barefooted. When I am in the country, nothing affects me so much as the
+sight of the bare feet of girls. It is true that they often have
+erysipelas about the ankles, which comes from the prickle of the
+stubblefields. But I assume that Miss Anney has not got erysipelas."
+
+"One cannot talk with you in a dignified manner."
+
+"Why?" replied Swidwicki. "Let Krzycki now clip coupons from his
+dignity but not we. Did you say that he belongs to the National
+Democrats?"
+
+"No, not I. But what connection has that with Miss Anney?"
+
+"Oh,--oh, a nobleman--a National Democrat--has found out that his flame
+has peasant blood in her veins and nevertheless his belly on that
+account has begun to ache; nevertheless, he is stung by that deminutio
+capitis."
+
+"Who told you that? Besides, it should be permutatio, not deminutio."
+
+"Yes! The English wares take on the appearance of a domestic product
+and fall in value. Justly, justly."
+
+"Do you know who could with perfect independence enter into a marriage
+under such conditions?" asked Dolhanski. "A truly great gentlemen."
+
+"But not Polish," exclaimed Swidwicki.
+
+"There you are already beginning! Why not Polish?"
+
+"Because a Polish gentleman has not sufficient faith in his own blood;
+he plainly has not sufficient pride to believe that he will elevate a
+woman to himself and not lower himself to her."
+
+Gronski began to laugh:
+
+"I did not expect that charge from your lips," he said.
+
+"Why? I am an individualist, and in so far as I do not regard myself as
+a specimen of the basest race, so far do I regard myself as a specimen
+of the best. According to me one belongs to the aristocracy only
+through lucky chance; that is, when one brings into the world a
+suitable profile and corresponding brain. But Dolhanski, for instance,
+in so far as he has not purchased portraits of ancestors at an
+auction--and our other gentlemen--judge that blood constitutes that
+appurtenance. Now granting these premises, I contend that our tories do
+not know how to be proud of their blood."
+
+"At home," said Gronski, "you vent your spleen upon the socialists, and
+here you wish to vent it upon the aristocracy."
+
+"That does not diminish my merits. I have a few pretty remarks for the
+National Democracy."
+
+"I know, I know. But how will you prove that which you said about the
+Polish tories?"
+
+"How will I prove it? By the Socratic method--with the aid of
+questions. Did you ever observe when a Polish gentleman abroad becomes
+acquainted with a Frenchman or Englishman? I, while I had money, passed
+winters in Nice or in Cairo and saw a number of them. Now, every time I
+propounded to myself the question which now I put to you: why the devil
+it is not the Frenchman or Englishman who tries to please the Pole, but
+the Pole them? Why is it that only the Pole fawns, only the Pole
+coquets? Because he is almost ashamed of his descent; and if by chance
+a Frenchman tells him that from his accent he took him for a Frenchman,
+or an Englishman takes him for an Englishman, then he melts with joy,
+like butter in a frying-pan! Ah, I have seen such coquettes by the
+score--and it is an old story. Such coquetry, for instance, Stanislaus
+Augustus[11] possessed. At home, the Polish gentleman at times knows
+how to hold his nose high. Before a foreigner he is on both paws. Is
+not that a lack of pride in his own race, in his own blood, in his own
+traditions? If you have the slightest grain of a sense of justice, even
+though no larger than the grain of caviar, you must admit the justice
+of my remarks. As to myself, I have been ashamed sometimes that I am a
+Pole."
+
+"That means that you committed the same sin with which you charge
+others," replied Gronski. "If the tips of the wings of our eagle
+reached both seas, as at one time they did, perhaps Poles might be
+different. But at present--tell me--of what are they to be proud?"
+
+"You are twisting things. I am speaking of racial pride only, not
+political," answered Swidwicki. "After all, may the devils take them. I
+prefer to drink."
+
+"Say what you will," asserted Dolhanski, "but I will merely tell you
+this: if internal affairs were exclusively in their hands, some
+fooleries might take place, but we would not be fried in the sauce in
+which we are fried to-day."
+
+Swidwicki turned to him with eyes glistening already a little
+abnormally.
+
+"My dear sir," he said, "in order to govern a country it is necessary
+to have one of three things: either the greatest number, which
+the canaille has behind it--I beg pardon, I should have said the
+Democracy--or the greatest sound sense, which nobody amongst us
+possesses, or the most money, which the Jews have. And as I have
+demonstrated that our great gentlemen do not even have any sentiment of
+traditions, therefore what have they?"
+
+"At least good manners, which you lack," retorted Dolhanski with
+aversion.
+
+"No. I will tell you what they have--if not all of them, then the
+second or third one: but I will tell it to you in a whisper, so as not
+to shock Gronski's virgin ears."
+
+And leaning over to Dolhanski, he whispered a word to him, after which
+he snorted, maliciously:
+
+"I do not say that that is nothing, but it is not sufficient to govern
+the country with."
+
+But Dolhanski frowned and said:
+
+"If that is so, then you surely belong to the highest aristocracy."
+
+"Of course! certainly! I have a diploma certified a few years ago in
+Aix-la-chapelle, the place of the coronation!"
+
+Saying this, he again quaffed his wine and continued with a kind of
+feverish gayety:
+
+"Ah, permit me to rail, permit me to scoff at men and things! I always
+do that internally but at times I must expectorate the gall. Permit me!
+For after all, I am a Pole, and for a Pole there perhaps cannot be a
+greater pleasure than defacing, belittling, pecking at, calumniating,
+spitting on, and pulling down statues from the pedestals. Republican
+tradition, is it not? In addition Providence so happily arranged it
+that a Pole loves that the most, and when he himself is concerned, he
+feels it most acutely. A delightful society!"
+
+"You are mistaken," replied Gronski, "for in that respect we have
+changed prodigiously and in proof of it, I will cite one instance: When
+the painter Limiatycki received for his 'Golgotha' a grand medal in
+Paris, all the local little brushes at once fumed at him. So meeting
+him, I asked him whether he intended to retaliate, and he replied to me
+with the greatest serenity: 'I am serving my fatherland and art, but
+only stupidity cannot understand that, while only turpitude will not
+understand it.' And he was right, for whoever has any kind of wings at
+his shoulders and can raise himself a little in the air, need not pay
+attention to the mud of the streets."
+
+"Tut, tut; mud is a purely native product, the same as other symptoms
+of your national culture, namely: filth, scandals, envy, folly,
+indolence, big words and little deeds, cheap politics, brawling, a
+relish for mass-meetings, banditism, revolvers, and bombs; if I wanted
+to mention everything I would not finish until late at night."
+
+"Then I will throw in for you a few more things," said Gronski;
+"drunkenness, cynicism, a stupid pose of despair, thoughtless
+hypercriticism, scoffing at misfortune, fouling one's own nest,
+spitting at blood and suffering, undermining faith in the future, and
+blasphemy against the nation. Have you yet enough?"
+
+"I have not enough of wine. Order some more, order some more!"
+
+"I will not order any more wine, but I will tell yet more, that you err
+in claiming that these are native products. They are brought by a
+certain wind which evidently has fanned you."
+
+But Swidwicki, who this time had no desire to quarrel but did have a
+desire to drink, evidently wishing to change the subject of the
+conversation, unexpectedly exclaimed:
+
+"Apropos of winds, what a pity that such sensible people as the
+Prussians commit one gross blunder."
+
+Gronski, who had already risen to bid him farewell, was overcome
+temporarily by curiosity.
+
+"What blunder?" he asked.
+
+"That they assume super-villeiny to be superhumanity."
+
+"In this you are right."
+
+"I feel a contempt for myself as often as I am right."
+
+"Then we will leave you with your wine and your contempt."
+
+Saying this, Gronski nodded to Dolhanski and they departed. Swidwicki's
+last words, however, caused him to reflect; so after a while he said:
+
+"Now people's minds are haunted by the Prussians and they are reminded
+of them by the slightest cause. After all, Swidwicki's description of
+them was apposite."
+
+"If you knew how little I am interested in Swidwicki's descriptions."
+
+"Nevertheless, you vie with him and talk in a similar strain," answered
+Gronski.
+
+After which, pursuing further the train of his thoughts, he said:
+
+"Nietzsche also did not perceive that the susceptibility and
+appreciation of other people's woes becomes manifest only upon the
+culmination of the creative ..."
+
+"Good, good, but at this moment I am more interested in what Krzycki is
+going to do about Miss Anney."
+
+Dolhanski, who could not endure Swidwicki, would have been sorely
+afflicted, if he had suspected that the same question occurred to the
+latter's mind.
+
+Remaining alone, Swidwicki recalled Gronski's recital and began to
+laugh, as the thought of such unusual complications amused him
+immensely. He imagined to himself what excitement must have prevailed
+at Krzycki's and at Pani Otocka's, and how far the affair would agitate
+the circles of their relatives and acquaintances. And suddenly he began
+to soliloquize in the following manner:
+
+"And if I paid Miss Anney a visit? It even behooves me to leave her a
+card. That would be eminently proper. I may not find her in--that does
+not matter much, but if I should find her in, I will try to see whether
+her legs are not too bulky at the ankles. For culture, education, even
+polish may be acquired, but delicate ligaments of the legs and hands it
+is necessary to inherit through a whole series of generations. That
+furious Pauly, nevertheless, has a sufficiently thin ligature. The
+devil, however, knows who her father was, I will go. If I do not find
+one, I shall find the other."
+
+And he went. He was admitted not by the man-servant but by Pauly; so he
+smiled at her in his most ingratiating manner and said:
+
+"Good-day, pretty fennel-flower! Is Panna Hanka Skibianka at home?"
+
+"What Hanka Skibianka?" she asked in surprise.
+
+"Then, the little lady does not know the great tidings?"
+
+"What great tidings? I do not know any."
+
+"That the mistress of the little lady is not named Miss Anney?"
+
+"Do not upset our heads."
+
+"I give the little lady my word of honor. Ask Pan Gronski, or Pan
+Krzycki, who is chewing off his fingers from mortification. I give you
+my word of honor. I also could tell you more, but if the little lady is
+not curious I will go. Here is my card for Panna Ski-bian-ka."
+
+The eyes of the girl sparkled with curiosity. She took the card
+mechanically.
+
+"I do not say that you should go, but I do not believe," she said
+hurriedly.
+
+"And I know yet more."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I will whisper it in your ear."
+
+It did not occur to Pauly that there was no necessity for Swidwicki
+speaking in a whisper. She leaned towards him with a palpitating heart
+and, though he flooded her with his breath, saturated with the odor of
+wine, she did not withdraw her head.
+
+"What is it?" she repeated.
+
+"That Panna Skibianka is a peasant woman from Zarnow!"
+
+"That is untrue!"
+
+"As I love God."
+
+And, saying this, he suddenly smacked her ear with a broad kiss.
+
+
+
+                                   IV
+
+Miss Anney's letter bore the impress of extraordinary simplicity. At
+the beginning she said that from the moment when he proposed for her
+hand she was compelled to reveal her former name; while in the
+continuation it contained an equally simple account of herself and her
+family from the time of their departure from Rzeslewo. This sad course
+of events she related in the following words:
+
+"My father came from Galicia and had in America relatives of whom he
+heard that through labor they had amassed fortunes. Learning of this,
+he decided to settle there also and seek his fortune beyond the ocean.
+We left Rzeslewo at a time when you were in Warsaw. I knew how to write
+as I was taught that in the manor-house, and would have informed you
+about this if I had known your address. We went, not saying anything to
+anybody, to Hamburg, and at that place there occurred what often
+happens to peasant emigrants. The agent tricked us, defrauded us of our
+money, and placed us on a vessel bound not for America but for England.
+Thrown upon the pavements of London, we soon fell into dire want. For
+the passage to America there now was no means. My mother died of
+typhoid fever in a hospital and father, from despair and nostalgia,
+declined rapidly in health. Under these circumstances we were found by
+Mr. Anney, one of the best and noblest men in the world, a friend and
+patron of the Poles, who gave us employment. But the succor came too
+late, and my father died in the course of a year. I remained in the
+factory and worked in it until the accident which changed my status
+entirely. The Anney family had only one child, a daughter, whom they
+loved beyond everything in the world and surrounded with a solicitude
+all the greater because she was threatened by a pulmonary ailment. Once
+it happened that Miss Anney, while visiting the factory, was almost
+carried away by the driving-wheel of the machinery. I rushed to her
+assistance, imperilling a little my own life, and from that time the
+gratitude of the Anney family for me had no bounds. They took me from
+the factory to themselves, and in this manner I became the companion
+and afterwards the bosom friend of their daughter. A Pole, an emigrant
+of the year '63, a friend of Mr. Anney and a man well educated, taught
+us both, and me, separately, in Polish. I endeavored to benefit, as
+much as lay in my power, from these lessons, and after two years was
+able to approach a little the intellectual plane of my friend and my
+environment. But Agnes--for such was the Christian name of Miss
+Anney--began to fail in her health. Then Mr. Anney sold his factory and
+we all, including our instructor, removed to Italy. There about three
+years were passed in a search for the best climate for our dearest
+patient. All efforts proved unavailing, however, as God took His angel
+unto Himself. After Agnes' death, the Anneys, remembering that I loved
+with my whole soul our dead one, adopted me as their own child and gave
+me not only their family name, but desiring to overcome their despair,
+suffering, and sorrow, even the Christian name of the deceased.
+Nevertheless, the sorrow could not be overcome, and though I tried with
+my whole heart to be to them some sort of comfort in life, in the
+course of two years both followed their greatest love.
+
+"And this is the end of my history. And after that came those events
+which brought me nearer to you; therefore I desire to justify my
+conduct in your eyes. I have a right to the name which I bear, and my
+life from the time of the departure from Rzeslewo has been pure.
+Conscience reproaches me with only one new error. This was that I did
+not confess to the Anneys that I already was unworthy of their care.
+But for such a confession I lacked strength. I loved too much my Agnes
+and feared that they would separate me from her. Later I did not want
+to add to their affliction. I did not have the strength. At times,
+also, I think that now when they look upon me from heaven and see
+everything, they forgive me for keeping that secret. Beyond this I once
+more repeat and swear that my life has been pure. But in my memory I
+have only coffins and coffins, and of my Rzeslewo days there remains to
+me only the recollection of you. I could not forget either my sin or my
+happiness. Often during the life of my adopted sister, while gazing
+into her chaste eyes, I struggled with remorse, and at the same time I
+wept from intense longing. After that, being left alone in the world, I
+had nothing to cherish in my heart, and I began to yearn yet more.
+When, after the death of the Anneys, I became acquainted and grew
+intimate with Zosia Otocka in Brussels, I accidentally learned from a
+conversation that she was your relative. Then I related to her my
+entire life, not concealing anything, and she not only did not spurn
+me, but loved me yet more. Emboldened by her goodness, I confessed to
+her my longing for the old days and Rzeslewo. Perhaps it may be a new
+fault on my part that I confided to Zosia my insurmountable desire of
+seeing yet once more in my life, Jastrzeb, Rzeslewo, and--why should I
+not state the whole truth?--and you. Then Zosia said to me: 'I
+understand you; ride with me to Jastrzeb as Miss Anney, as you cannot
+do otherwise. Nobody will recognize you and you will take a reckoning
+with your own heart. Perhaps reality may extinguish the rainbow of
+recollections. If they are assuaged forever, so much the better for
+you; if he should fall in love with you, so much the worse for him; if
+your former echoes reawaken, then we will assume that this was
+predestination.' Such was Zosia's advice, and for that reason, when
+your mother invited her and Marynia, I also accompanied them to
+Jastrzeb. But I do not wish to pass for any better than I am. I confess
+that on the road I always had in mind Zosia's words: 'If he falls in
+love with you, so much the worse for him,' and I wished that to happen.
+I was certain that you had entirely forgotten me, and I thought that if
+now you fell in love with me without any requital, that it would be a
+sort of condign punishment for your forgetfulness and a kind of triumph
+for myself and--if not such a womanly revenge as books tell of,--at
+least a great solace to my self-love. But it happened otherwise, for I
+forgot to take into account that I had a heart, not of foreign books,
+but of a Polish village--simple and faithful. When I saw Rzeslewo,
+Jastrzeb, and you, I wanted only to weep and weep, as I wept at Pan
+Zarnowski's funeral, and I discovered within me that Hanka, who years
+before loved you with her first childish love and afterwards with such
+affection, did not love any one else. You know, sir, what happened
+further. If you do not return, I will not bear any resentment towards
+you, but do not harbor any ill-will against me. I, too, merely skirted
+along the rim of happiness."
+
+The signature was "Hanka." Ladislaus' chin quivered from time to time
+while he was reading the letter and his eyes grew dim. He began to
+repeat the signature "Hanka, Hanka." He rose abruptly and paced over
+the room with big steps. His thoughts rolled into a ball in his head
+like clouds in the heavens; they collected and scattered in all
+directions like a startled stud of horses on the wild steppes of the
+Ukraine. He read the letter a second and third time, and under its
+influence there began to glide before his eyes pictures of the past as
+distinct as if all that which occurred some time ago had happened but
+yesterday. He recalled those bright moonlight nights when he stole away
+to the mill, and that village girl, fragrant with the hay, who, to the
+question of whether she loved him, whispered in reply, "Of course," and
+threw her yet half-childish arms around his neck and hugged him to her
+breast with such strength that no other love could make a sincerer
+avowal. He recollected that he nevertheless loved her at that time, and
+when he missed her, longed for her, and even inquired of the people
+about the blacksmith's family--but with reserve and faint-heartedly, as
+fear closed his lips.
+
+Subsequently that girl was erased from his memory so completely that
+even the light pangs of conscience which he felt on her account
+vanished; nothing remained. It was well with him in the world and he
+sought new sensations, while she was seized by the whirlwind of life
+and was hurled like a wretched leaf upon a foreign land, where she
+suffered from sheer starvation. Nevertheless, neither at that time, nor
+later, when good people took care of her, did she forget him nor did
+she cease to long for him. Ladislaus was not a deep connoisseur of the
+human soul; he felt, nevertheless, that what for him was simply a love
+adventure, a shallow enjoyment of the senses, a transient impression
+which disperses to the winds like the fragrance of flowers, for her
+became a new life; a surrender of her whole being and whole soul, too
+pure and too noble for her to seek a new happiness upon new paths. And
+now he understood why that coveted Miss Anney of to-day, charming as a
+dream, brilliant, surrounded by affluence and arousing admiration,
+wrote to him that she had a heart not of foreign books but of a Polish
+village--simple and faithful. He understood also why the letter was
+signed "Hanka." Suddenly and irrevocably were banished all his
+suspicions, and her words, "my life from the moment of the departure
+from Rzeslewo has been pure," touched him to the extent that he began
+to upbraid himself that he should for a moment have thought that it
+could have been otherwise. At once he seemed to himself to be little,
+mean, and unworthy of that noble and exalted soul. But through his
+heart and head there coursed during the last moments so many thoughts,
+impressions, and feelings that he was uncertain whether the final
+sensibility of his own shortcomings and wretchedness would be lasting.
+Nevertheless, he was seized with an ever-increasing tenderness, and
+more and more became obliterated that difference between Hanka and Miss
+Anney which was so irritating to him in the first moments. Now, on the
+contrary, the recollection that this simple girl of old and that
+fascinating lady of to-day were one and the same woman penetrated him
+with a kind of thrill, resembling a thrill of joy. The memory that at
+one time he possessed the other began to waken in him, as it were, a
+hunger and a new passion for the present one, and the thought of her
+charms intensified the play of his young blood. But he strove to stifle
+within him those impressions with the consciousness of the
+responsibilities which were imposed upon him. Above all things he
+propounded to himself the question. What should a man of honor do who
+had betrayed and therefore wronged a girl, almost a child, who was in
+love with him, and later, after a few years, met her under a changed
+name and fell in love with her? There was only one answer; even if he
+did not fall in love, if her love continued, he ought to assume all the
+consequences of his acts. If she remained a simple-minded rustic who
+never could understand him, or if she had deviated from the path of
+rectitude, even in such a case, it would not, for his vexed soul, be
+sufficient reason for washing his hands and withdrawing from the
+affair; and so much the more, since the girl had bridged the
+intellectual and social chasm which separated them, and in addition
+ennobled her own soul and had not ceased to love. "Yes it is so. I
+would spit in my own eyes," said Ladislaus (not thinking at that moment
+that in practice an act like that would be a trifle difficult to
+perform), "if I hesitated any longer. There is only one thing to do and
+I will do that at once." Having formed this resolution, he took a deep
+breath like a man, from whose heart a heavy load has fallen--and as
+much as he at first became little in his own eyes, so now he began to
+gain in stature. He did not, however, propound the question, what would
+happen if Miss Anney did not have such wondrous eyes, gazing with a
+heavenly streak, nor such a countenance, whose color reminded him of
+the petals of a white rose, nor those other charms which attracted his
+eyes. He said to himself that many of his acquaintances could not
+afford to form a similar resolution; he was pleased with himself; and
+that it was easier for him to do so because he was impelled thereto by
+his heart and senses, he deemed not as lessening the worthiness of the
+act itself, but as his own good fortune. He foresaw, however, that he
+would yet have to do with his mother as well as with the so called
+opinion of society, which is not concerned about principles but only
+about gossip, and which seeks, above all things, food for its own
+stupid malice. But he expected to reconcile his mother, and as to the
+malicious, smiling ironically upon the slightest provocation, his
+nostrils, distended at the very thought, and his clenched teeth boded
+them no good. But this anticipated knightly action was a matter of the
+future; in the meantime his impetuous nature urged him to immediate
+action. He determined to go to his mother at once and definitely come
+to an understanding with her. Glancing, however, at his watch, he
+became aware of the fact that it was almost three o'clock in the
+morning. In view of this, that was impossible. Not feeling, however,
+the least need of sleep, and desiring absolutely to do something, he
+sat down to write letters. First, he inclosed Miss Anney's letter in an
+envelope, because he wanted to send it to his mother before the
+decisive interview took place; after which he started to write to Miss
+Anney, but soon stopped, as it occurred to him that since he gave his
+word that he would remain silent for a week, he did not have the right
+to do it. Instead, after a brief deliberation, he wrote a few words to
+Pani Otocka, praying that she would permit him to visit her that day.
+
+Finally, when the dawn began to peer into the room and mingle with the
+light of the lamps, he thought of repose, but though he felt great
+weariness, he could not fall asleep, and mentally he conversed with his
+mother and Miss Anney until sunrise. He fell into a sound slumber only
+when the morning bustle in the hotel began and did not awake until
+late. Dressing himself, he rang for the servant and ordered him to
+deliver Miss Anney's letter to his mother, but at the last minute he
+made up his mind to take it to her himself. But in the rooms engaged by
+his mother he found only the younger members of the family and the
+French governess, who informed him that "madame" went to church early
+in the morning.
+
+
+
+                                   V
+
+Pani Krzycki had indeed gone to church and confession, for in the grief
+which befell her, she needed consolation and advice. And her grief was
+real and profound. She lived in times in which various ancient
+prejudices and prepossessions clashed, and were becoming more and more
+obliterated, yielding place to new democratic ideas. As she often heard
+that the wave of these new ideas might bring benefit and salvation to
+the country, she, notwithstanding that her habits and former
+conceptions conflicted with them, not only did not struggle against
+them, but quietly acquiesced in them in a passive manner. This was
+easier for her as it never occurred to her that personally she would
+ever have anything to do with them. For her it was the same as if
+somebody had installed modern furniture in a few rooms in Jastrzeb,
+which were not continually occupied. Let them stay there since fashion
+requires it and since in the other rooms there are old armchairs,
+heirlooms, in which one can rest comfortably. And now, suddenly she was
+ordered to move to that new part of the house; suddenly she was
+confronted by the fact that her son was in love with a peasant woman
+from Rzeslewo and was about to marry her. Then in the first moments
+everything within her was stirred up; the old instincts and customs
+began to cry out. That silent and passive acquiescence in the new ideas
+crumbled like a building of sand, and the whole course of events
+appeared to the indignant citizeness-noblewoman as an unworthy intrigue
+in which the victim to be sported with was her son and with him, the
+entire Krzycki family. Amazement that the chief partner and almost
+author of this intrigue could be a being whom she regarded as the
+incarnation of all feminine virtues, and whom she desired her son
+should marry, only aggravated her anger. In vain did Zosia explain to
+her that her son was the betrayer of an innocent child and Miss Anney
+was an angel, and that in bringing her to Jastrzeb, she did not have
+any sinister designs and did only that which every other woman in her
+place, sympathizing with a wronged and longing woman, would have done.
+"If the most fervent wish of Miss Anney was to behold once more in her
+life the place in which her life was undone, and the man whom she could
+not forget and who was the author of her undoing, then it was due to
+her; and everybody who has the slightest heart ought to understand
+this. And let Aunt say," she continued, "whether I could betray her
+secret and whether an impossible situation would not have been created
+for her." The usually quiet and gentle Zosia became so wrought up in
+defence of her friend that she plainly told Pani Krzycki that even if
+Laudie fell in love with Miss Anney without any requital that it would
+be only what he deserved and, besides, since "Aninka" did not accept
+his proposal and gave him a week's time for consideration, he could
+withdraw it; in such case, however, "Aninka" would not be the only one
+whose respect he forfeited. But all this was pouring oil upon fire and
+only increased the ire of Pani Krzycki who declared that, at any rate,
+she and her son were victims of a plot. After which she moved to a
+hotel, announcing at the time of her departure that her feet would
+never again cross the threshold of that house.
+
+Nevertheless, the bitterness and anger which accumulated in her heart
+were not directed against Pani Otocka alone. Her son also had wounded
+her heart deeply and awakened a whole series of painful recollections,
+connected with the memory of her husband. For her husband, a man
+worshipped by her during the first years of their marital life for his
+manifold good qualities and extraordinary beauty, had caused her not a
+little mortification through his immoral life in relation to women in
+general and the female residents of Jastrzeb and its vicinity in
+particular. To Pani Krzycki it was no secret, that, in the course of
+long years, cows were led continually from the manor cow-houses as
+gifts or rather as rewards to various Kates and Marys and that
+in Jastrzeb could be found quite a number of step-brothers and
+step-sisters of her children. So she shed copious tears over this state
+of affairs until almost the last year of her husband's life. In her
+time she suffered in her own self-love and her womanly dignity as a
+wife and mother. Afterwards she forgave everything, but after the death
+of her husband, as a woman deeply religious, she lived in continual
+fear at the thought of the Divine Tribunal, before which the deceased
+appeared. For whole years she tried to supplicate for him forgiveness
+through tears, fasts, alms, and prayers. Above all she determined to
+bring up her son in such a manner that he would never fall into the
+errors of his father. She watched him in his boyhood days, like the eye
+in her head; she shielded him from all evil influences. After sending
+him to school she confided the care of him to her relative, a priest,
+and to Gronski, in whose morality she justly believed. And when the son
+grew up, when after finishing school, he attended the university, and
+afterwards assumed the management of the Jastrzeb estate, she had that
+bottomless, naïve faith, usual with women, upright and pious but
+unacquainted with the depravity of the world, that up to that time
+"Laudie" was as pure as a lily. And now unexpectedly the film over her
+eyes dropped. The son was following in the footsteps of his father. At
+this thought she was beset by despair. In her soul a protest truly
+vehement poured forth against the alliance of her son with a peasant
+woman, but having a very sensitive conscience she felt, after her
+conversation with Zosia, that Miss Anney had some claim on Ladislaus.
+Once or twice, this manner of extricating themselves from an onerous
+situation suggested itself to her mind; that Ladislaus in pursuance of
+a prearranged compact should propose to Miss Anney and she should
+refuse him. "But do I know," she said to herself, "how many similar
+Hankas may already be found in Jastrzeb?" And a horror penetrated to
+the marrow of her bones at the thought that among those Hankas might be
+Ladislaus' step-sisters, for it seemed to her that the crimes of the
+father fatally dragged after them the yet greater crimes of the son and
+with them must follow damnation. "Ah, Laudie! ah, Laudie!" she repeated
+despondently, and she felt besides fear, such pain, such disappointment
+of heart and such profound resentment, that however much she understood
+that it was necessary to summon Ladislaus as soon as possible and
+ascertain how he had received the news that Miss Anney is Hanka and
+what he intended to do, nevertheless she could not persuade herself to
+see him at once. After removing from Pani Otocka's, the information
+that he was not at the hotel afforded her true relief. She immediately
+locked herself up in her room and determined, if he called, not to
+admit him.
+
+The following morning she went to church and to confession and after
+confession she begged her relative, the prelate, the same who in his
+time had charge of Ladislaus, for advice. Already she was calmer. The
+aged prelate received her and began with extraordinary particularity to
+question her about Miss Anney, her stay at Jastrzeb, about the course
+of events after the attempt on Ladislaus' life, and about the details
+in Hanka's life, of which Pani Krzycki had learned from Zosia:
+afterwards about the fears of Pani Krzycki herself, and finally after a
+long silence he said:
+
+"As to the sins, which Ladislaus, after this, the first sin of his
+youth, might have committed, that is only a conjecture, and a fear, and
+as we have no irrefutable proofs of them, we should not take them into
+account at all. There only remains the former Hanka and the Miss Anney
+of to-day. It is only with this one case that we have to do. So I
+desire to know how you, as a mother, regard her."
+
+Pani Krzycki replied that she knew perfectly well that all people in
+the sight of God were equal, but she was concerned about the happiness
+of her son. Similar marriages were not usually happy. It may be that
+the reason for this is the malice of the world: it may be that the wife
+met with humiliation on the part of vain and malicious persons, but the
+husband must feel that also, in consequence of which irritation ensues
+and the relations grow from bad to worse even without any ill-will on
+either side. As to her son he is ambitious and sensitive as but few
+are, and even if he loved his wife most strongly, he would suffer if
+any one evinced towards her even a shade of disdain. Whoever lives in
+the world must reckon with everything, even with stupidity, even with
+malice, not to say with other considerations upon which marital
+happiness often depends.
+
+The aged prelate listened, folding and unfolding according to his habit
+a silk handkerchief, and finally said:
+
+"Reckoning with stupidity and malice may only mean guarding against
+them, not making any concessions to them."
+
+After which he began to look at Pani Krzycki with a penetrating gaze
+and asked:
+
+"Permit me to put one question to you: Why should your son necessarily
+be happy?"
+
+She looked at him with surprise.
+
+"Why, I am his mother."
+
+"Yes, but there are things more important than happiness, particularly
+temporal,--is it not true?"
+
+"True," she answered quietly.
+
+"That which you said in respect to temporal matters may be more or less
+just and may actually be the reasons which make such marriages less
+happy than others, but it is necessary above all things to propound to
+one's self the question. What in life is greater and what is less, what
+is more important and what is less important, and to act according to
+the dictates of conscience."
+
+"Well, how am I to act?" asked Pani Krzycki.
+
+The aged prelate looked at the crucifix hanging on the wall and
+quietly, but with emphasis, answered:
+
+"As a Christian."
+
+A momentary silence followed.
+
+"I am satisfied with the advice," said Pani Krzycki, "and I thank you."
+
+
+
+                                   VI
+
+Ladislaus, while his mother was in church and consulting the prelate,
+repaired, notwithstanding the early hour, to Pani Otocka. At the very
+beginning he raised to his lips both of her hands and kissed them so
+long that she, from that act alone, perceived his intentions.
+
+"I knew it would be so! I knew it!" she cried with emotion and joy.
+
+While he replied in a soft quivering voice:
+
+"I did not require a week to perceive that I cannot live without her."
+
+"I knew it," Zosia once more repeated. "Have you spoken with your
+mother, yet?"
+
+"No. Yesterday, I ran about the city senselessly, after which I rushed
+to Gronski's and went to the hotel very late, and this morning I was
+informed that Mother was in church."
+
+Pani Otocka again became anxious.
+
+"Yesterday," she said, "she was very angry and God grant that she may
+be reconciled, for on this all depends."
+
+"Not all," answered Ladislaus; "not to speak of my great attachment for
+Mother, I esteem her immensely; and God sees that I would be pleased
+always to conform to her will. But that has its limits; when the
+happiness, not only of myself, but of the being most precious to me in
+the world, is concerned, then I cannot sacrifice that under any
+circumstances; I have pondered over this all night. I have a hope that
+Mother will consent; as I trust in her character and in that love which
+she has always shown to me. If, however, contrary to my hopes, it
+should appear otherwise, then I will tell her that this is a resolution
+which cannot now be and will not be revoked."
+
+"Maybe there is no necessity for that," said Pani Otocka, "for Aninka
+also is concerned. Yesterday, after the letter which she wrote to you
+and after Pan Gronski's departure, we talked until late at night. She
+was very nervous and cried, but spoke thus: 'If he returns to me, not
+joyfully and with entire good-will, but only because he did not want to
+withdraw his word, then I will never consent to it. There is no pride
+in me. I did not even reckon with my own self-love, and wrote to him
+sincerely what was in my heart, but even if it should break I would not
+wed him, if it shall seem to him that he is lowering himself for me.'"
+
+"The dear, lovely creature!" interrupted Ladislaus.
+
+Pani Otocka continued:
+
+"After that she began to cry, and added that she would not consent to
+be the cause of an estrangement between mother and son."
+
+"No, I repeat once more that my resolution cannot and shall not be
+revoked. Here my whole life is involved--and even if now Mother cannot
+find in her heart sufficient good-will, she will find it later. In the
+meantime I will do everything in order that my future wife should have
+in her also a mother, affectionate and grateful for her son's
+happiness."
+
+"Can I repeat that to Miss Anney?"
+
+"That is just what I came for. But I have yet one more prayer. She took
+my word that for a week I would not return to her and she alone can
+release me from it. But in view of what I came here for, this would be
+downright, needless torture. Neither a week nor a year can change
+anything. Nothing, absolutely! Will Cousin deign to tell her that and
+beg of her from me, but beg very cordially, that she release me from my
+word?"
+
+"With the greatest pleasure, and I have a hope this will not be a too
+difficult matter to adjust."
+
+"I thank you with my whole soul and now I will hurry to Mother."
+
+But before he left the room, Marynia rushed in and began to gaze
+sharply, now at her sister, then at Ladislaus. In reality she was not
+apprized of the secrets of the former relations between Ladislaus and
+Hanka, but she already knew that Miss Anney is the former Hanka; she
+knew everything which transpired afterwards and, loving Miss Anney very
+much, she was dying from uneasiness and curiosity as to what turn the
+affair would take. She was so pretty with that wistful gaze and uneasy
+face and, besides, she had such an amusing mien that Ladislaus, in
+spite of his emotions, at the sight of her, fell into a good humor.
+Zosia remained silent, not knowing whether he wished to speak of his
+affair of the heart before Marynia, while he, purposely, for sometime
+did not break the silence; finally he approached his little cousin and
+squeezing her hand, announced in a sepulchral voice:
+
+"Too late!"
+
+"How too late," she asked alarmed.
+
+"She is going to marry some one else."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Panna--Kajetana."
+
+And he burst out into a sincere, jolly laugh. Marynia conjectured that
+matters could not stand so badly since Ladislaus was jesting. Desiring,
+however, to learn fully the good news, she began to stamp with her foot
+and importune like a child.
+
+"But how?--now, honestly. I could not sleep to-day! How? now, honestly.
+How?"
+
+"Honestly, that hope and joy and happiness--there!" answered Ladislaus,
+pointing in the direction of Miss Anney's quarters.
+
+After which, kissing his cousins' hands, he rushed out like a stone
+whirled from a sling, for he was in a great hurry.
+
+On the way he grew grave and even gloomy at the thought that the moment
+for his decisive interview with his mother was approaching.
+
+He found her in the hotel, where she awaited him in her own room. The
+sight of his mother's face, serene and filled with an unusual kind of
+sweetness, gave him, for the time being, encouragement, but at the same
+time he thought that gentle persuasion, entreaties, and perhaps tears,
+would be heavier to bear than anger--and he asked in an uncertain
+voice:
+
+"Did Mamma read her letter?"
+
+"I did," she answered, "but even before that I learned almost
+everything from Zosia, whom Miss Anney herself begged not to conceal
+anything from me."
+
+"Gronski told me that Mamma became angry at Zosia?"
+
+"Yes, that is so, but that can be rectified. Now I want above all
+things to talk with you sincerely."
+
+So Ladislaus began to narrate how in the first moments he was struck as
+if by a thunderbolt and how he could not reconcile himself to the
+thought that Hanka and Miss Anney were one and the same person. He
+confessed his vacillation, his doubts, suspicions, and the pain, which
+pierced him; and the internal strife and accounting with his conscience
+and everything through which he passed. But only after reading her
+letter, did he perceive that this pain had its origin in his love for
+her and that the struggle was a struggle with his own heart and
+happiness; then he ceased to waver; he could not imagine happiness
+otherwise than with that most precious being in the world, and without
+her he did not desire it.
+
+After which he said that when he became acquainted with her at
+Jastrzeb, as Miss Anney, from almost the first moment he was attracted
+to her by some incomprehensible force and she engrossed all his
+thoughts. He, of course, esteemed Zosia Otocka highly, and Marynia he
+regarded as a bright phenomenon. But admiration and love are two
+different things. Besides, he did not owe anything either to Zosia or
+to Marynia. They were kind while he was wounded and that was all. But
+to Miss Anney he probably owed his life, and he remembered that she for
+his sake placed herself in peril. With what could he repay her for
+that, and how could he make reparation for the former wrong, committed
+while she was still almost a child? Who was the worthier of the two?
+Was it he, who forgot and lived from day to day an easy, thoughtless,
+and spiritually slothful life, or she whom no new attachments could
+reconcile to their separation and who ennobled her mind and heart
+through suffering, yearning, and labor? "I scarcely dare to believe.
+Mother," said he, "that she not only absolves my injury, but has not
+ceased to love me. Perhaps it happened thus, because it was I who, for
+the first time in her life opened for her the doors to the world of
+happiness, but undoubtedly it was because hers is a totally exceptional
+nature. Yes, Mother! She is one of those who, in a pristine state even
+at the time when they are unable to realize things, possess that noble
+instinct, that sort of elevation of feeling that love ennobles indeed
+everything, but only when it is great, when it is for a whole lifetime;
+and those who love have such strength, such a depth of affection, that
+they are incapable of any other affection. But when such a one is
+found, then we can only thank God on our knees, and, in plain terms, my
+head is confused at the thought that for my transgression I meet with,
+not punishment, but fabulously good fortune. It may be that there are
+in the world more such women who can make a man happy, but I want to be
+happy only with this one; maybe there are others who ennoble and
+elevate everything about them, but I feel that through this one I will
+be better and better. Finally, this is a question not only of my
+happiness but also of my honor."
+
+Here, folding his hands, he began to gaze into her eyes with a pleading
+look; after which he continued:
+
+"All this I intrust to Mamma's hands; my whole life, my entire future,
+and the peace of my conscience, and happiness and honor."
+
+Pani Krzycki placed both of his palms to her temples and kissed his
+forehead.
+
+"My Laudie," she said, "I am an old woman and have various prejudices:
+so I will not tell you that from the first moments it was easy for me
+to assent to your intentions. Do you know that yesterday I became
+enraged at Zosia and until this morning, I persisted in my
+determination to oppose as far as it lay in my power your marriage. Be
+not surprised at this, since you admit that you were struck as if by
+lightning; then think, how it must have affected me, I, as is usual
+with a mother, had at the bottom of my soul the conviction that for you
+even a king's daughter would not be too high a mate. But it was not
+only the old mode of thought, not only a maternal vanity, and not only
+prejudices which inflamed my opposition. I feared also for your
+happiness. I would not have had anything against the person of Miss
+Anney herself, were it not for these other circumstances. I became
+acquainted with her at Jastrzeb and loved her sincerely; often I said,
+God grant that all our ladies could be like her. But learning who she
+is and what took place between you, I became alarmed at first at the
+thought that you might have committed similar offences in Jastrzeb."
+
+"No, Mamma," answered Krzycki; "I give my word for that."
+
+"For you see I thought you were absolutely pure; so think what a blow
+it was to me."
+
+Ladislaus bowed to her hands, in order to hide his face, for
+notwithstanding the gravity of the moment, notwithstanding his sincere
+emotion and anxiety, the naïvete of his mother seemed to him something
+so unheard-of that he feared he might betray himself by an expression
+of astonishment, or what was worse, a smile. "Ah," he thought, "it is
+lucky that I have to swear only as to Jastrzeb, for I could not tell
+mother what I told Gronski, that a wise wolf never takes from that
+village where he keeps his lair." But simultaneously it occurred to him
+that one must be an angel to have such a delusion, and his adoration of
+his mother increased yet more.
+
+And she continued:
+
+"Then I took into consideration the world and the people among whom you
+must live. I knew that not a few would commend your conduct, but in
+reality you would have to endure a thousand petty annoyances and stings
+which would irritate and exasperate you until they caused a pain and
+bitterness even in your feeling towards your wife. I was concerned
+about your happiness which, in my blindness I craved above all things
+for you. And only to-day was the film taken off my eyes. Apparently
+such things we know and proclaim, but, nevertheless, with real surprise
+and as if it was something new, I heard that happiness is not the most
+important thing in life and that it ought not to be the greatest
+concern of a mother. And before that my heart was cleansed of its pride
+and I was commanded to be guided by my conscience: therefore, my
+Laudie, I cannot dissuade you from this marriage."
+
+Ladislaus, hearing this, again bowed his head to his mother's hands and
+began to cover them with kisses.
+
+"Ah, Mamma, dear," he repeated, "ah, Mamma, how happy I am!"
+
+"And I," she answered; "for I feared that your feeling might be
+superficial, founded upon a delusion and fancy; but, after this
+conversation, I see that you love Aninka truly."
+
+"Yes! That is imbedded so deeply that it could only be torn from me
+with my life."
+
+"I believe, I believe."
+
+Thus mutually assuring each other, they both spoke with absolute
+sincerity, and both at the same time deluded themselves. For Ladislaus
+had an inflammable head, greedy senses, and soft heart, but he lived
+principally on the exterior, and none of his feelings could spring from
+great depths as, on the whole, he was not a deep man.
+
+But his mother, believing every one of his words as she believed in the
+gospel, said with great confidence:
+
+"May God bless you, my child. Let us at present speak of what is to
+come. I, of course, understand that once having agreed, it is necessary
+to agree not with half but with the whole heart: it is necessary to
+receive Aninka with open arms and give her to understand that it is she
+who is conferring a favor upon us for which we should be grateful."
+
+"Yes, for she does," exclaimed Ladislaus with ardor.
+
+"Very well, very well," answered Pani Krzycki, with a smile, "now it
+becomes me to go to her and thank her myself. I assume also that Aninka
+will withdraw the condition that you should not call upon her for a
+week."
+
+"Zosia is to attend to that, but naturally Mamma's words will be more
+effective."
+
+"When do you want me to go?"
+
+Ladislaus again folded his palms:
+
+"At once, Mother dear, at once."
+
+"Very well; will you wait for me here, or at Zosia's?"
+
+"Here; for Zosia might be with Marynia at the rehearsal. She sometimes
+accompanies her."
+
+Pani Krzycki rose heavily from the chair, as that day, from the
+morning, had been trying for her and the rheumatism held her more and
+more strongly. Having, however, straightened out her limbs, she moved
+briskly ahead. The thought that she was troubling herself for her boy
+made it an agreeable task and exertion.
+
+But on the way she began to think of matters of which thus far there
+had been no mention between herself and her son. She belonged to that
+type of women, often found among the country nobility, who know
+perfectly well how to line the ideal cloak with a real lining. In her
+time the entire management of the Jastrzeb estate rested on her head,
+and on that account she had a multitude of worries and had habituated
+herself to struggle continually with them. So at the present time her
+mind turned to the material side of the affair.
+
+"I would consent to this marriage" (she thought as if to justify
+herself to herself), "even though Aninka did not have anything, but I
+am curious to know how much she can have." After which she began to
+fondle the hope that while Aninka might not have millions and for an
+Englishwoman might not be very rich, she might have what in Poland
+might be regarded as great opulence, though in England it might be
+deemed a modest fortune.
+
+And amidst such meditations she rang Miss Anney's door-bell.
+
+The visit passed off as could be expected. Pani Krzycki was honest,
+grateful, motherly and, at the moment when she surrendered the life and
+happiness of her son to the hands of Miss Anney, "her dear daughter,"
+she was, in a measure, pathetic. Miss Anney, too was in a measure,
+pathetic, also cordial and simple, quiet and collected as well, but she
+seemed to be acting with caution, though nothing whatever was said of
+the past. With Pani Krzycki there even remained an impression that
+there was by a hairbreadth too much of this "reserve." She understood
+perfectly that it would be want of tact on Miss Anney's part if she
+displayed too much enthusiasm and conceded that she acted properly, but
+nevertheless she carried away at the bottom of her heart a little
+disappointment as it were, for there was hidden in her the conviction
+that the woman who would get "Laudie" and would bear his name, could be
+excused even though she went insane from joy.
+
+Returning to the hotel, she did not, however, confess to her son this
+thought, but began to load "Aninka" with praises and speak of her so
+warmly that tears stood in the eyes of both. Ladislaus, above all else,
+was anxious to know whether the "taboo" was removed and the prohibition
+recalled; having learned that such was the case, a quarter of an hour
+later, he was at Hanka's feet.
+
+"My beloved, my angel, my wife!" he said, embracing her knees.
+
+
+
+                                  VII
+
+A few days later, the old notary, Dzwonkowski, and Dr. Szremski came to
+visit Gronski. The latter, to whom this was an agreeable surprise, as
+he liked both, and, besides, esteemed the doctor highly, greeted them
+with great cordiality and began to ask the news of the city, the
+vicinity, and of themselves.
+
+"Ha! We live, we live," answered the boisterous doctor. "In these
+times, that is an art. But the police so far have not arrested us, the
+bandits have not shot us, the socialists have not blown us up into the
+air; so we not only live, but have come to Warsaw. I, because I must
+ride farther,--as far as Volhynia, and this gentleman," pointing to the
+notary, "on account of the concert and Panna Marynia's participation in
+it. Having read of it in the daily newspapers he fell into such a state
+that at any moment I looked for an attack of apoplexy or aneurism.
+There was no help for it. I had to prescribe a stay in Warsaw as a
+cure. Finally, he cannot at all endure our little town any more, and is
+thinking only of giving up his office to some one and of moving here
+permanently. In his heart a fire is burning, and the snow melts, and
+ice melts and so forth. Ha!"
+
+During these words, the old notary moved his jaws so furiously that his
+chin almost touched his nose; finally he declared:
+
+"The head splits! The head splits!"
+
+"The same old quarrel?" asked Gronski, laughing.
+
+"Quarrel?" repeated the notary. "It is not I who quarrel. He has shaken
+up my brain, shattered my nerves, stupefied me, torn to pieces,
+exhausted, cleaned out, sucked, and outtalked the remnants of strength
+within me. From yesterday, sir, on the whole road--a continual din and
+roar in the ears--and after that in the hotel; to-day, since morning,
+and now here. No, I cannot stand it, no, I cannot!"
+
+"Tut, tut. And who daily summons me? Who every day hangs out his tongue
+until it reaches the first button on his vest and orders me to examine
+it? Wait, sir. I will ride away and you will have to examine it
+yourself before a mirror."
+
+"Then you are really going to Volhynia? How about your patients?" asked
+Gronski.
+
+"I fear that in the meantime they may get well; but it can't be helped,
+I must go!"
+
+"And for how long?"
+
+"I do not know, but do not think very long. I am a Volhynian Mazur,
+from the minor nobility of that place, or as they say there of the
+single-manor nobles. They are mostly settled there as tenants of
+various petty nobles, but I have my own seat in partnership with a
+brother, an ex-judge, who has charge of the estate and to whom I am now
+riding."
+
+"But, of course, not because he is sick?"
+
+"Certainly, sir; he has become insane."
+
+"My God! Since when?"
+
+"Not long ago. From the time he became a 'local rights' man.'"
+
+"Ah."
+
+"That is so. The indigent, haughty noble took a notion to pose as a
+landed proprietor, hankered after the society of gentlemen, and got
+water on the brain. A month ago I sent him two thousand primers for our
+impoverished shabby gentility, of whom no one thinks and who
+involuntarily or rather in spite of their will, are there losing their
+Polish spirit. And would you believe it, sir, that he sent back to me
+the whole package, together with a letter in which he announced that he
+would not distribute the primers."
+
+"Why?" asked Gronski, whom the narrative of the doctor began to
+interest.
+
+"He wrote to me in the first place that they have decided to live and
+labor only for their own province and occupy themselves only with local
+or provincial affairs, and again they aim at some kind of synthesis of
+all nationalities, and thirdly they will Polonize nobody."
+
+"But you were only concerned about primers for the children of the
+petty nobility, who are Polish."
+
+"By them this is already styled Polonization, for it interferes with
+their 'synthesis.' We know in what that synthesis must end. May the
+devils take them, together with their diplomacy. But that is not
+enough! In the end, my ingenious brother informs me that he does not
+regard himself as a Pole, but only as a Volhynian with Polish culture
+and that this is his political position. Ah, sir, Stanczyk was wrong
+when he said that in Poland there are the most doctors. In Poland there
+are the most politicians. Every average Pole is a second Talleyrand, a
+second Metternich, a second Bismarck. He never participated in
+political life, is unacquainted with history, never passed through any
+schools, and never studied. That is nothing! He is by grace of God! He
+from nature has a pastille in his brain, of which he thinks that if he
+only lights it, then all the horse-flies and gnats, which suck our
+blood will be so hoaxed that they will cease to molest us. And every
+one is convinced that he alone sees clearly, that he alone has the
+exclusive measures, and that his diplomacy, county, local, provincial,
+or whatever you may call it, is a panacea. It never occurs to him, that
+with such county or local polities, this fatherland, as Yan Casimir
+said, would go into direptium gentium."
+
+"Sir," said the aged notary to Gronski, pointing to the doctor, "you
+have pressed in him such a button, that now he will not stop talking
+until we shall not be able to move hand or limb."
+
+"That is not a button, that is a sore," answered Gronski.
+
+And evidently it was a sore for the doctor, as he was so absorbed that
+he did not hear what was said about him, and began the following
+dialogue with his absent brother.
+
+"Ah! So you are not a Pole but only a Volhynian with Polish culture?
+Very well! Then, in the first place I will tell you that you have
+repudiated your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather; that you
+have spat upon their graves; that you have renounced your traditions,
+your right of existence, that you have grown smaller, that you have
+deserted your own people and have gone to those who do not want you,
+who do not invite you and who treat you with contempt; that you hang in
+the air and you will look prettily under such conditions in your
+Volhynia. Again, I will tell you that you are not yet a turncoat, since
+that which you are doing, you do through stupid politics which in
+consequence of your ignorance you regard as wise, but you have paved
+the way for future turncoats. Your grandson or great-grandson will
+renounce Polish culture. And finally, if you say that you are not a
+Pole, but only a Volhynian, why do you not go back farther, even as far
+as Darwin? You could with equal justice say that you are not a Pole,
+but an orang-outang or a pithecanthrope with Polish culture? What? Bah!
+But you still say that you do not want to Polonize any one? How can you
+Polonize? Whether with a whip, with prison, by religious compulsion,
+with school, or with a gag on the native tongue? Tell me! But, if not
+denying your nationality you would shine with the example of your
+public Polish virtues, if you would give someone your Polish hunger for
+liberty, your Polish ability to understand the sufferings of others,
+your Polish love, your Polish hope, your faith in a better future, and
+through these reconcile him to Poland, then would you regard such a
+Polonization as premature, and bad politics? But in such case, I ask
+you, you dunce, have you anything better to offer, and why are you
+staying there where you settled? You don't know? And in the end you
+will not even know who you are. That I will tell you. You, Brother, are
+a weak character and above all have a weak head."
+
+Here he turned to Gronski:
+
+"This is what I have to say to my brother and why I am riding to him.
+There is to be some kind of an assembly there, so I will say this, in
+other words, publicly."
+
+"If you would only go as quickly as possible," exclaimed the notary.
+
+And the doctor began to laugh.
+
+"But as I have yet time, I will first attend Panna Marynia's concert."
+
+"By all means," said Gronski, "ride, sir. Poland is not only being cut
+from the outside by inimical scissors, but she is beginning to be rent
+asunder internally. Ride, sir, and tell them that publicly. Perhaps
+some may be found who will be frightened at their amenableness to the
+future."
+
+"I think that such will be found. For, in the main, I assume that they,
+or at least a majority of them, thus far feel in the old way, and only
+speak as they do in order to loosen, even though for a moment, the
+noose which presses on their throats. But in this they are mistaken.
+The result will be that they will be despised and trampled upon, both
+from above and below."
+
+"When are you going?"
+
+"The assembly meets in about ten days, so I actually will stay here
+about a week, for I have various matters to attend to in Warsaw. In the
+meantime, I will visit my acquaintances, and among others Pani Otocka,
+and the Krzyckis. How is Krzycki?"
+
+"As well as a fish--and he is going to marry."
+
+"Well, well. I will wager that it is with that beautiful Englishwoman?
+A pure flower!"
+
+"Yes. But it seems that this is not an English flower, only genuinely
+Polish, from a village meadow."
+
+"For the Lord's sake. What are you saying?"
+
+"That is no longer any secret. Her name is Hanka Skibianka."
+
+Here Gronski related the whole history of Miss Anney, omitting only
+that Ladislaus knew her while she was Hanka.
+
+And they listened with astonishment, while the doctor slapped his knees
+with his palms and cried:
+
+"Ah! If I had known that; ah, if I had known that!"
+
+"Well, what would have happened? asked the notary testily.
+
+"What would have happened? I would have been in love with her not only
+under the ears but above. As it was, I only missed by a hair being in
+love with her. Ah, lucky but undeserving Krzycki! But such is my
+ill-luck. Let only one catch my fancy--lackaday! either some one takes
+her, or she is in love with somebody else. But it cannot be helped! I
+must see Miss Anney and tender her my best wishes. For after all
+Krzycki is a good boy. Such as he will not rebuild Poland, but a good
+boy, nevertheless. And such a comely rascal, that he ravishes the eye.
+I would like to see them together. That will be a couple--what!"
+
+"If you wish to see them, and have the time," said Gronski, "then it
+will not be difficult, for we arranged yesterday at Pani Otocka's that
+to-day we will all be present at the rehearsal for the concert. I can
+take you gentlemen to-day to the rehearsal, and afterwards, the whole
+party can go to breakfast."
+
+"Exactly," exclaimed the notary, "that is just what I came to ask you
+to do. I have dropped out of the old relations and I did not know to
+whom to apply--well!"
+
+Gronski glanced at his watch.
+
+"If that is the case, all right; but we have still time. In the hall at
+this moment there is some kind of meeting or lecture, and such meetings
+usually drag beyond the designated time. After that, before they
+ventilate the hall and replace the chairs, a half hour will elapse. I
+have not omitted any rehearsal, so I know how things go."
+
+"And I will not omit any," said the notary.
+
+Nevertheless, he grew so impatient that they left too early. Before the
+building stood about a dozen persons, evidently waiting for those in
+the hall; while from within there reached them a buzzing noise, at
+times shouts, applause, and the sound of the stamping of feet.
+
+"What kind of meeting is it?" asked the doctor.
+
+"Really, I do not know," answered Gronski. "Now we are full of that.
+There are political meetings, social conferences, literary lectures,
+and God knows what else."
+
+"I envy Warsaw," exclaimed the doctor.
+
+"There is not much to envy. At times it chances that something deserves
+attention, but oftener such absurdities take place that one feels
+ashamed."
+
+"Oh, they are already leaving," observed the notary; "but why are they
+shouting so?"
+
+"Let us wait; that is some kind of a brawl," said Gronski.
+
+In fact it evidently was a brawl, for from the roomy vestibule there
+rushed out on the wide stairs between ten, and twenty men, without caps
+or hats, who in the twinkling of an eye, formed a disorderly heap. In
+this heap, hands, canes, and umbrellas moved violently, and these
+motions were accompanied by a shrill shriek. Afterwards from the
+gyrating mob, shoved by tens of arms, shot out, as if from a sling,
+somebody, with bare head and tattered coat, who, leaping from the
+stairs, turned a somersault at the doctor's feet in such a manner as
+almost to tumble him and the notary on the ground.
+
+"Swidwicki!" exclaimed Gronski with astonishment.
+
+Swidwicki rose, and shaking his fist menacingly at the crowd, which,
+having ejected him outdoors, was again returning to the hall, began to
+say with a panting voice:
+
+"Ah, it is you! They have warmed my hide--they have warmed my hide!
+They have broken my ribs a little, and torn my coat. But that is
+nothing! I also have crooked a few straight noses and have straightened
+out a few crooked ones. This is the second time that this has happened
+to me--ouch!"
+
+"Come with me. You cannot stay thus, with bare head and in such a
+coat."
+
+"No, no!" answered Swidwicki. "Ouch! Let me recover my breath. Hey!
+Messenger!"
+
+And beckoning to a messenger, he said to him:
+
+"Citizen! Here are two pieces of coin and a wardrobe check. Go to the
+vestibule and fetch me my hat and topcoat."
+
+"But for the Lord's sake what happened?"
+
+"Directly, directly," said Swidwicki; "but let me first dress. After
+that we will go to some confectioner's shop--ouch! For as soon as the
+meeting closes, they will begin to go out and, finding me here, they
+will be ready to administer a new drubbing to me and to you gentlemen
+to boot."
+
+"So that was a meeting?"
+
+"A meeting, conference, discussion, lecture--whatever you wish. Panna
+Sicklawer spoke on 'Imparting knowledge.' On the platform sat Pan
+Citronenduft, Panna Bywalkiewicz, Panna Anserowicz, Panna Kostropacka,
+the editor Czubacki, and others. The hall was packed to suffocation.
+Ouch! I enjoyed myself like a king."
+
+"We see," observed Gronski.
+
+"You think not? But introduce me to these gentlemen. For I am the hero
+of the day."
+
+"Hero Swidwicki, gentlemen; Notary Dzwonkowski and Dr. Szremski," said
+Gronski.
+
+Swidwicki squeezed the palms of Gronski's astonished companions; after
+which when the messenger brought the hat, cane, and top-coat he dressed
+himself and said:
+
+"With this cane I would be ready to wait for them here--but for to-day
+I have had enough. The meeting will last twenty minutes or longer. Let
+us go to some confectioner's shop, for I feel a pain in my legs and
+cannot stand."
+
+They went to a confectioner's. Swidwicki ordered for himself one and
+then a second glass of cognac, after which he began to talk:
+
+"That was an instructive meeting. Panna Sicklawer, I tell you
+gentlemen, is a Cicero in petticoats. When she started to impart
+knowledge to various meek creatures of the masculine gender and various
+magpies of fourteen years, of whom the audience mainly consisted, even
+I grew warm. The meek creatures applauded or else cried 'shame' when
+there was a talk of parents, and the magpies blushed so violently and
+fidgeted in their seats so much, that they seemed to sit on needles,
+and everything went along smoothly. Remarks were made by Pan
+Citronenduft, Panna Gotower and some maid, a native of far away Kars,
+whose name as well as I could hear it, had a Grecian or Spanish
+sound,--Nieodtego. The maturer portion of the auditors was also carried
+away by the enthusiasm, and I, though Gronski doubts it, enjoyed myself
+like a king. For you see, gentlemen, that I, from principle, have
+nothing against imparting knowledge,--nothing. Quite the reverse! Only,
+I am of the opinion, if an affair is to be jolly let it be really
+jolly. So then, after a few addresses, I rose, asked leave to speak and
+announced that I desired to recite a poem in honor of the gathering.
+They agreed to it and I received applause in advance. Then I began to
+declaim--indeed, not an original poem, but my own parody on the fable:
+'Once wanton little Thad.' But this did not continue long; it appeared
+that my Thaddy proved himself to be so wanton, that he was too wanton,
+even for them. They did not like also this; that in staring at Panna
+Nieodtego, I closed one eye. They began to shout 'Silence!' 'Fie!'
+'Away with him! This is jeering!' And here my ideal fable began to
+change into a real epic. For when in reply to the shout 'This is
+jeering,' I said, 'Well what did you think it was?' there was a
+universal roar of 'Put him out!' At least fifty hands grappled my
+shoulders and neck; a nice rumpus followed. They struck me, I struck
+back. Finally, they dumped me into the corridor: from the corridor on
+to the stairs, and into the street. The rest you gentlemen know. I
+repeat for the third time that I enjoyed myself like a king."
+
+"That to me is at least courage," said the doctor; "it is necessary to
+stop such things, even by a scandal; so you did well, sir; you are a
+brave nationalist."
+
+"I, a nationalist," exclaimed Swidwicki, "why, the day before yesterday
+I was thrown out of a meeting of the National Democrats. Indeed, a
+little more politely, but I was ejected."
+
+Gronski began to laugh.
+
+"So this is your new sport?"
+
+But with this their conversation ended as their attention was attracted
+by the crowd returning from the lecture. Before the window flowed a
+black human stream, among which were a large number of striplings, and
+young girls with cheeks covered with blushes.
+
+When the stream finally passed by, there appeared after an interval the
+bright, vernal forms of Hanka, Marynia, and Pani Otocka, in the company
+of Krzycki.
+
+
+
+                                  VIII
+
+Upon the so called "happiest period" in Krzycki's life certain small
+shadows fell, and this for various reasons. If on the one hand his love
+for Hanka grew with each day, on the other there began various petty
+annoyances which his mother had foreseen. They were things almost
+imperceptible, about which one could not pick a quarrel, but which
+nevertheless stung. Thus it happened that the ladies of Gorek came to
+Pani Krzycki to invite her to the wedding of Kajetana to Pan Dolhanski,
+which wedding through a special dispensation of the church was to take
+place in a few days. Pani Krzycki in tendering them her good wishes
+announced that they could also do the same to her, owing to the
+betrothal of her son to Miss Anney. Then both, one after the other,
+began to heartily embrace her, which, though apparently a sign of their
+good wishes, looked more like condolence, the more so as Pani Wlocek
+did not utter anything besides the words, "It is God's will," while
+Kajetana raised her eyes as piously as if she wanted to supplicate the
+Powers on high to comfort the heartbroken mother. Ladislaus laughed
+after their departure, but in his soul he wished that both would break
+their necks. When, however, a few days later it appeared that out of
+the entire circle of acquaintances only Hanka did not receive an
+invitation from these ladies, he wanted to start a brawl with
+Dolhanski: and his mother was barely able to restrain him with the
+declaration that neither she herself, nor Zosia, nor Marynia would
+attend the wedding. Krzycki was even angered because some of his
+acquaintances, in contrast to the ladies of Gorek, tendered to him
+their good wishes with excessive ardor, as if he had performed an
+heroic act. His marriage, as well as the antecedents of Hanka, became
+the subject of every conversation in "society." Out in the world, great
+political changes could take place, bombs could explode, strikes could
+break out, but in the salons for a few days only Hanka was spoken of,
+various flabby dames, with eyes half closed, in a questioning tone,
+drawling through their teeth, "Anka--Skubanka[12]--n'est ce pas?" But
+while the good wishes of those who tendered them to Krzycki with such
+excessive ardor sprang from appreciation of the heroism with which he
+dared to take as wife "Skubanka," Hanka's marriage settlement and the
+hope of "plucking" the millionaire in the future played an important
+rôle. This marriage settlement, which, agreeably with Pani Krzycki's
+anticipations, was, for local conditions, quite considerable, but by no
+means reached the millions, grew in public opinion with almost every
+hour, so that it attained almost fabulous proportions, and intensified
+the universal curiosity to the extent that when Hanka in the company of
+her two young female friends together with Pani Krzycki and her fiancé
+appeared at the races, all the lorgnettes were directed at their
+carriage. The flabby dames from "high life," gazing at her radiant
+countenance, sparkling with happiness and health, indeed said that they
+could at once surmise that "this is something a little different," and
+contended that in the present days this "high life" ought to open its
+delicate bosom to a person possessing such means for "doing good." As
+to her comeliness, however, the opinion prevailed that she was not
+sufficiently pretty for one to lose his head and that Krzycki was
+marrying for money. His defence was undertaken only by the ladies from
+Gorek, who, meeting now many people, made it everywhere understood that
+their young neighbor did not always seek merely money, and that only
+when he was disappointed in other fancies, did he come to the
+conclusion that it was better to have money than nothing.
+
+Thus did things shape themselves externally. But on the sky of the
+betrothed pair appeared tiny clouds which, as Ladislaus' love became
+inflamed, appeared even with greater frequency. Hanka, habituated to
+English customs, did not at all hesitate to receive her fiancé at her
+home and pass with him long hours alone; to stroll with him over the
+city, to drive from the city without a chaperon, and even call him by
+his Christian name. She said to herself that in great and sincere love
+there also should be room for friendship and that it was necessary
+before one became a wife to be a sincere friend and comrade. She
+thought that Ladislaus would understand this and not only would love
+her all the more but also cherish her all the more. Once she had read
+in an English book that one might love and not cherish, and that in
+such a case love grows embittered to the degree that it may become
+perpetual unhappiness. So, desiring to avoid this and place her future
+life upon immovable foundations, she wished to win, besides love, the
+deepest possible friendship.
+
+But here the misunderstandings between the engaged couple began. That
+golden-hair, that good friend, gazing with a heavenly light, that
+rose-colored, gay comrade who dressed herself in a light dress and
+spring hat, was so charming that Ladislaus cherished indeed without
+limit, but at every tête-à-tête lost his head. To Hanka it appeared
+that her betrothed, though he was enamoured to distraction and at the
+same time was a friend, should be the kind of a man upon whose
+shoulders she could at every moment press her head with perfect
+confidence that he would not abuse her trust and would not take
+advantage of their seclusion nor of any temporary weakness, nor of the
+gray hour, nor of the fact that love disarms and weakens a woman. He,
+on the contrary, perhaps because he lost his head, acted as if he
+thought that friendship and the relations of a comrade only added to
+the rights of betrothal. From this there was generated a mutual
+vigilance; in him a watchfulness for everything of which he might take
+advantage; in her a wariness of that which she ought to avoid. This
+vigilance, at first silent, soon lapsed into quarrels. They were
+followed by apologies, which would have intensified the love of both
+were it not that Ladislaus apologized too passionately. And this
+misunderstanding was in reality deeper than both thought, for when
+Hanka, remembering what once had taken place between them, believed
+that he should on that account be more continent, he, in moments when
+blinded by desire, seemed to fancy that very past, together with the
+burnt bridges, justified him in everything. From these causes, the
+enchanted edifice of their happiness from time to time became defaced
+and would have been defaced yet more strongly were it not for this,
+that in Ladislaus there was material for everything and there came upon
+him moments entirely different. Sometimes on clear nights when they sat
+on the balcony leading to the garden of Hanka's residence, and when
+from the neighboring balcony came the song of Marynia's violin,
+and the moonlight seemed to sleep quietly on the opposite walls, it
+also put to slumber Ladislaus' senses. His soul, lulled to sleep by
+the sight of the beloved being, bleaching like a white angel in the
+dusk,--intoxicated with the fragrance of leaves and flowers, winged by
+music, was dissolved into a kind of universal but sweet and chaste
+feeling, which enveloped Hanka and bore her towards the stars. The
+impressionable soul of the girl at such times was susceptible of this
+and was simply submerged in happiness.
+
+But these were transitory moments of tranquillity of mind. A moment
+later, while Ladislaus was bidding her good-night and when he kissed
+her hands and forehead, quickly there was awakened in him the eternal
+hungry desire, and he sought her lips and hugged her breast to his own;
+he lost his memory, and, when she broke away from his arms, he said
+that he did not promise her that he would be an English Quaker; and
+they parted, if not angry, as if both were humiliated and sad.
+
+And that sadness fraternized with love.
+
+But it often happened that Ladislaus disarmed Hanka with his great
+frankness which in reality was his chief attribute.
+
+"You, my Hanusia," he said to her once, after serious quarrel, "would
+want that I should mount a ladder and stay on the highest round, for a
+time--Good!--I can! But to stay there forever I could not do any more
+than I could walk on stilts all the time. Do not imagine that I am
+something more than I am. I am an ordinary mortal, who only differs
+from others in this, that he loves you above everything."
+
+"No, Laudie," answered Hanka, "I do not at all desire that you should
+be some great personage, for I remember that the Englishmen say that an
+honest man is the noblest work of God."
+
+"I did a little mischief once, but I think I am honest."
+
+"Yes, but remember that not he is honest who does not do evil, but he
+who does good. In that everything is contained."
+
+"I agree to that. You will teach me that."
+
+"And you me."
+
+"Ha I we will keep house in Jastrzeb and will do all we can. There is
+much work to be done there and of the kind for which I am fitted. To be
+a good husbandman, to be good to the people, to instruct them; to
+teach, love, and enlighten; to be also a good citizen of the country
+and in case of necessity to die for it--for this, I give my word I am
+fit. Yes, it is so. And now you have me. But taking everything
+together, no evil will befall you with me, Hanusia,--I love you too
+much for any evil to befall you. Only, my golden one, my love, my rosy
+lady, do not command me to sit on the ladder, for that I cannot do."
+
+His simplicity and sincerity propitiated Hanka. The thought of a joint
+life in Jastrzeb, of loving the folks whose child she was, of
+instructing them, of laboring over and for them, cheered and allured
+her more powerfully than anything else could do. To return to Poland
+and take charge of a Polish village was the plan which she formulated
+immediately after the death of the Anney family. And now just such a
+horizon was opened to her by this former "young lord" whom she loved
+while yet a simple girl. Therefore she was grateful to him: she was
+ready in her soul to exalt his good qualities, to exculpate his faults,
+to love him, and to persevere faithfully at his side, but in exchange
+she wanted nothing more than that he should love her not only with his
+senses, but with a true and chaste love, and that he should regard her
+above all things as his life companion, "for better or for worse."
+
+And, for that reason, whenever there came to her moments in which it
+seemed to her that he saw in her principally an object for his desires
+and was unable to find, in himself strength to struggle with them and
+elevate his feelings to noble heights, doubt seized her heart and she
+could not resist the thought that he was not such as she would wish him
+to be.
+
+"But nevertheless," she consoled herself in her soul, "that is a
+sincere and true nature, and where there is sincerity and truth,
+everything may be brought to light."
+
+Ladislaus on the contrary was in reality sincere to the degree that one
+could see through him--through and through, as though he were made of
+glass. The proof of this was the opinion which Dr. Szremski expressed
+about him in a conversation with Gronski.
+
+"To me," he said, "the present-day Hanka Skibianka is ten times more
+interesting than the former Miss Anney, and I wish her happiness from
+my whole soul. But if she bases that happiness upon the feeling which
+Krzycki entertains for her, I fear that she will be disappointed. I do
+not wish to say anything bad of him. On the contrary, to me he is a
+sympathetic type, for he is immensely ours, immensely domestic. If he
+had lived a hundred years ago and been a Uhlan, he would have charged
+at Samo-Sierra no worse than Kozietulski and Niegolewski. Only he
+belongs to that species of men for whom it is easier to die for some
+idea or for some feeling than to live for them and to persevere in
+them. To turn to one idea or to one feeling, as a magnetic needle turns
+to the north, is not within their power nor their concern. They require
+distraction, amusement. And there is nothing strange in this. Consider
+only that for entire ages nobody was better off than the various
+Krzyckis and Gronskis--nobody. So they sucked of the pleasures of life,
+like juice of grapes. They ate, drank, played, dissipated--bah! they
+even fought for the pleasure of it. They were not vicious nor terrible,
+for a happy man cannot be totally vicious. They had in their hearts a
+certain feeling of humanity. They were indulgent to people who were
+subject to them, but above all things they were indulgent to
+themselves. Hence at the bottom of the Polish soul always lies
+indulgence. Then came the time of penance and that indulgence by right
+of inheritance, particularly in the spheres to which Krzycki belongs,
+remains. For him, neither love for woman nor for fatherland will
+suffice. He will love them and, in a given case, will perish for them,
+but in life he will indulge himself. And you see, sir, that it was just
+for this reason that I said that such as he will not rebuild Society."
+
+"And who will?" asked Gronski.
+
+"The future generations--not the pot-bellied, not the easy-natured, not
+the chatterboxes, not the indulgers in sensual delights and the
+pleasures of life--no--apparently they are good for everything and fit
+for nothing--but only the hardy, the persistent, the quiet, and the
+practical. For them, misfortune and slavery have tilled the ground for
+a hundred years."
+
+"And the present day manures the ground," said Gronski, "only it is a
+pity that this manure has such a rank smell."
+
+"That is not manure; that is sand blown from abroad which renders the
+soil sterile," replied the doctor with energy.
+
+And he began to curse.
+
+
+
+                                   IX
+
+Dolhanski, however, completely subdued his fiancée and his future
+mother-in-law, inasmuch as he prevailed upon them to call personally
+upon Hanka and invite her to the wedding. They were prompted to this by
+the consideration that at any rate it behooved them to preserve the
+outward semblance of good relations with their future neighbors from
+Jastrzeb, and they were persuaded in particular by the news, which he
+brought from the high spheres, that "high life" was reconciled to the
+idea of admitting Hanka into its fold, while he, on the other hand,
+wanted to see her at a close range in the church. After their visit,
+during which the mother and daughter, under the watchful eye of
+Dolhanski, acted not only properly but quite amiably, Pani Krzycki
+revoked her resolution, of not attending the nuptial rites.
+
+These took place early in the week at the Church of the Order of
+Visitation in the presence of a great concourse of dames from the
+"grand world" and Dolhanski's titled colleagues from the club. In this
+the desire to take a close view of the peasant-millionairess played as
+important a part as the wish to see Dolhanski. Those of his
+acquaintances who knew the ladies from Gorek had previously stated that
+he was taking a lady of wealth, but old and ludicrous; in consequence
+of which these good colleagues wanted to see what kind of mien he
+would have, so that they might afterwards have a subject for their
+gibes and jests. But in this respect they met with the most complete
+disappointment. Dolhanski, escorted on one side by Gronski, on
+the other by Count Gil, walked through the church with such
+self-confidence, such sangfroid, and with such a smile on his lips, as
+though he had the right and desire to jeer at his colleagues. The tall
+and gaunt young lady did not, after all, look so badly in her lace
+wedding dress. She had too much powder on her face; her veil was too
+long, and too much did she "tremble like a leaf," which created an
+impression that this leaf did that a little purposely.
+
+There was nothing in her, however, to excite ridicule, and, when the
+two knelt before the altar, the dames and beaux, looking from the depth
+of the church, had to admit that in her slender white form there was
+some charm. But the eyes of those present were directed principally at
+Hanka who glided through the nave on Ladislaus' arm, like a light
+spring cloud. To the gentlemen of the club it seemed that from the
+moment of her entrance the church grew brighter. Count Gil, who found
+himself near her, behind the stalls, later stated in a certain salon
+that a rosy warmth radiated from her. Others at once corroborated this
+and to the mot of a dame that in order to find favor in men's eyes it
+was necessary that one must not only be a woman but also a radiator,
+they replied that it was absolutely necessary.
+
+In the meanwhile they envied Ladislaus Mr. Anney's millions and Hanka,
+who so absorbed to herself the general attention that Pani Otocka and
+Marynia passed by almost unobserved. Neither appeared to the best
+advantage that day. In Pani Otocka, Dolhanski's marriage aroused a
+certain disgust, which was reflected in her countenance, and Marynia
+opened her lips too widely out of curiosity, and besides, her bared
+arms were so thin and, as usual with immature girls, were so red that,
+they could only excite compassion. The ladies of the "grand world,"
+besides, did not look at one or the other for the further reason that
+Ladislaus, with his stature and visage of a Uhlan of the time of the
+Duchy of Warsaw, became the focus upon which the rays of their
+tortoise-shell lorgnettes were converged.
+
+With the appearance of the priest silence fell and the rites began. The
+lorgnettes were now directed towards the altar. In the distance could
+be seen floating under the orange blossoms the bridal veil and
+Dolhanski's head, somewhat bald at the summit, over which crept the
+reflexes of the candles flickering in the dusk. Krzycki, bending
+towards Hanka, began to whisper: "And we will soon--" and she dropped
+her eyelids in sign of assent; after which when their eyes met, she
+blushed violently and raised her lace handkerchief to her lips, and
+later fixed her gaze upon the altar, for she recalled to her mind how,
+not long before, the candles flickered in the same manner in the Church
+of the Holy Cross, when together they prayed for their future
+happiness. Yes, soon they would kneel there again in order not to be
+separated for life, and this thought, so full of sweetness and at the
+same time of uneasiness of feeling, expanded her breast.
+
+In the meanwhile in the silence could be heard the voice of the priest:
+"Edward, do you take Kajetana, whom you see before you, for wife?" and
+when Dolhanski firmly confirmed this and Kajetana mumbled that she
+wanted this Edward, their hands were bound by the stole and the rites
+rapidly approached an end; then the hymeneal party left the church. The
+bridal couple were to leave for a tour abroad within two hours, but
+before that in the dining-hall of the hotel a dinner awaited them, to
+which, of the relatives of the groom, only Pani Krzycki, Ladislaus,
+Hanka, as his betrothed, and the sisters were invited; of the more
+distant, Gronski and Count Gil, as groomsmen attended. The dinner with
+the inevitable toasts did not last long; after it the newly-married
+pair repaired to their separate apartments and after a certain time
+reappeared attired in their travelling clothes. Then began the usual
+bustle preceding a journey; trunks, small luggage, and bright
+travelling paraphernalia were hauled out. Dolhanski during the dinner
+and these last moments displayed such sangfroid and such phlegm that
+all the lords of England might envy him. Without the least haste he
+conversed with the gentlemen; he expressed his regrets to Marynia that
+he could not be at the concert; to Pani Otocka he said that he owed to
+her in a great measure his happiness of that day; and afterwards
+intrusted Gorek to the neighborly care of Krzycki, and bantered with
+Gronski, trying to persuade him to follow in his footsteps.
+
+This superb calmness of his contrasted strangely with the uneasiness
+and distraction of the bride. For a half hour before the departure and
+immediately after donning her travelling robe, she began to stare at
+her mother with an inquiring look as if awaiting from her something
+which was overlooked or forgotten and which under no circumstances
+ought to be overlooked. This continued so long that it attracted
+general attention, and when Pani Wlocek did not appear to understand
+the inquiring look, Kajetana beckoned her for a confidential talk in a
+room adjoining the dining-hall.
+
+To the ears of the guests there began to reach for a quarter of an hour
+some alarming though muffled cries of, "Ah!" and "Oh!" and after an
+interval the bride entered with her eyes covered by her palms. But
+after a while she dropped her hands alongside her dress and gazing at
+Dolhanski with the look of an antelope at a lion, she asked in an
+almost inaudible voice:
+
+"Edward, perhaps it is already time?"
+
+Gronski, Krzycki, and Count Gil bit their lips, while Dolhanski glanced
+at his watch and said:
+
+"We have yet five minutes."
+
+
+
+                                   X
+
+The cloudlets looming between Hanka and Ladislaus began by degrees to
+be transformed into clouds. At times they ceased to mutually understand
+each other. Hanka was more and more disturbed by the thought whether
+Ladislaus, notwithstanding his good heart and his ability to appreciate
+everything which is exalted and noble, was not a weak character, that
+in a moment of sudden impulse or passionate ecstasy is unable to resist
+and cannot muster within himself sufficient strength, even though his
+own worth is involved, and at this thought she was oppressed by a deep
+sorrow. But she was yet more painfully nettled on another side of the
+matter. This was that she arrived at the conviction that his feelings
+towards her were better, purer and, as it were, more shy at the time
+when he thought that she was Miss Anney. She remembered various
+moments, both in Jastrzeb and in Warsaw, in which she was certain that
+this burning flame of love, which glowed in his heart, was at the same
+time a sacrificial flame of esteem. And now when she had told him that
+she is the former Hanka that pure fire has changed into an ignition of
+the senses. Why? Was the cause of this their former sin; was it that
+she was a peasant? In the answer to those questions lay the pain, for
+Hanka felt that whatever happened was the result of these causes.
+
+But she was mistaken in thinking that Ladislaus did not understand that
+just for these two reasons he ought to act directly contrary, in order
+to efface in her the memory of sin and to raise her in her own eyes and
+to respect her as his future wife. He understood this quite clearly,
+and often it happened that after parting from her he upbraided himself,
+not mincing words, and in his soul made a solemn promise of
+reformation. But as in his easy life he had not accustomed himself to
+contend with anything and, above all, with himself, therefore this
+lasted but a short time--as long only as he was away from her, as long
+as he was not enveloped by the warmth emanating from her; only when he
+was not absorbed with her eyes; did not feel her hand in his own, and
+did not intoxicate himself with her feminine attractions. Then reason
+blinded in him and darkened; he became the slave of blood, full of
+sophisms, the agent of senses, and the recollection of the former
+Hanka, instead of repressing the temptation, only increased it the
+more.
+
+Under such conditions, sooner or later, the storm had to break above
+the heads of both and create desolation. Accordingly it burst sooner
+than Krzycki could have foreseen.
+
+One day, coming at the twilight hour to Hanka, he found her in a
+strange and unusual condition. She was agitated, her countenance was
+suffused with blushes, her eyes were red, and the hand which she
+tendered to him, palpably trembled. At the beginning she did not want
+to tell him what was the matter, but when they sat beside each other,
+he began to beg of her that she would not make anything a secret with
+him, but to tell him what occurred, not only as a fiancé, but as her
+best friend.
+
+Hanka was always conciliated by an appeal to friendship. Therefore
+after a while she said, smiling sadly:
+
+"I was not concerned about any secret but I preferred to keep to myself
+an unpleasantness. Did you, sir, ever notice my servant, Pauly?"
+
+(Hanka from a certain time addressed her fiancé as "sir," believing
+that in this manner she would hold him more easily at a proper
+distance.)
+
+"Pauly?" repeated Ladislaus, and though, after all, he thus far had
+done nothing with which to reproach himself, a sudden disquiet arose in
+him. "Pauly? Why of course! Why, she was at Jastrzeb and I saw her here
+everyday. What happened?"
+
+"She created for me a horribly disagreeable scene and has left me."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"That is just what I do not know. She always was very violent and
+nervous, but very honest. So I was attached to her and I thought that
+she would be attached to me. But for some time I have observed in her
+something like a dislike to me, with each day greater. Really, I never
+was harsh to her; even the contrary. So I attributed everything to the
+nerves. In the meantime, to-day, it came to an outburst and it is so
+disagreeable to me! so disagreeable!"
+
+Hanka's voice faltered, and it could be seen that she felt the whole
+occurrence deeply. So Ladislaus pressed her hand to his lips and asked
+with sympathy:
+
+"What kind of outburst was it?"
+
+"This afternoon, or rather after Marynia's return from the rehearsal,
+we were to ride up town with Zosia. So, desiring to change my dress, I
+ordered her to hand it to me. Pauly went after it as usual and brought
+it, but suddenly she threw it upon the ground and began to trample upon
+it, and in addition screamed in a loud, shrill voice that she would
+serve me no longer. At first I was stupefied, for it occurred to me
+that she had become insane."
+
+"She surely is insane!" interrupted Ladislaus; "but what further?"
+
+"She slammed the door and left. I did not see her any more. About an
+hour later somebody came for her things and wages."
+
+Here Hanka began to shake her head.
+
+"And nevertheless when I recall her dislike and what she told me in the
+last moments, I do not think that it was an attack of insanity; it was
+only an outburst of hatred, which she could no longer restrain in
+herself. And for me this is such a disappointment, such a
+disappointment!"
+
+"My lady--Hanus," said Ladislaus, seizing both of her hands, "is it
+worth while to take to heart the deed of a foolish vixen? For she is a
+foolish vixen--nothing more. It is enough to look at her. Calm
+yourself, Hanus,--this is only a momentary matter which it is necessary
+to forget as soon as possible. Remember who you are and who she is!
+Such times have come that everything is turned topsy-turvy. Such
+occurrences now take place everywhere. But they will pass away. In the
+meantime we two have so many reasons for joy that in view of them such
+wretched smarts ought to disappear."
+
+And he began to press alternately her hands to his lips and to his
+breast and gaze in her eyes, but this increased her grief; for Hanka
+desiring to spare unnecessary disagreeableness to her betrothed and
+herself did not confess everything to him. She was particularly
+reticent about this, that the infuriated servant, on leaving, screamed
+at her in her eyes, "You base peasant. You ought to serve me, not I
+you! Your place is with cows, not in the palace!" Perhaps Hanka might
+not have taken these words so much to heart were it not for the
+previous friction in her relations with Ladislaus, and were it not for
+the thought that he transgressed certain bounds perhaps because she was
+his former sweetheart and a peasant. But just this reason caused the
+thorn to be imbedded in her heart more deeply and bred in her a fear as
+to future life in which similar scenes might be repeated more
+frequently.
+
+So, also, his words about the happiness awaiting them were only drops
+overflowing the cup of bitterness, and his caresses affected the
+aggrieved girl like a child, who the more she is consoled the more
+disconsolate she becomes. There came to her a moment of weakness and
+exhaustion. The usual strength deserted her, her nerves were unstrung,
+and she began to sob, but feeling at the same time ashamed of her tears
+she buried her face in his breast.
+
+"Hanus, my Hanus!" repeated Ladislaus.
+
+And he began to kiss her light hair. Afterwards clasping her temples
+with his palms, he raised her tear-stained face and kissed off her
+tears. She did not defend herself; so after a while he sought with his
+mouth her quivering lips.
+
+"Hanus! Hanus!" he whispered in a panting voice.
+
+The ferment of desire more and more obscured his reason, obscured his
+heart, his memory. He drank from the girl's lips while his breath held
+out, he forgot himself like a drunkard and finally seized her in his
+arms.
+
+"Hanus! Hanus!"
+
+
+And it happened that he offended her grievously, that to the
+humiliation, which she had met that day, he added a new humiliation; to
+insult, a new insult--that an abyss plainly separated them!
+
+
+
+                                   XI
+
+When on the morning of the following day Ladislaus awoke after a brief
+feverish sleep, he was seized by grief and an insane rage at himself.
+He recalled everything which had taken place. He remembered that his
+parting with Hanka the day before was equivalent to being shown the
+door; there returned to him as a wicked echo his own wretched and
+dreadful words said in his passion at the time of separation, that if
+her resistance flowed from fear that later he might break their
+engagement, then let her know that it was an idle fear. And so he
+imputed this resistance to miserable motives. And he, a man who prided
+himself not only upon his good breeding but also upon a subtile sense
+of honor and personal worthiness--he, Krzycki, could act the way he did
+and say what he said. In the first moments after opening his eyes, it
+seemed to him that this was a point-blank impossibility; some kind of a
+continuation of the nightmare which throttled his slumber, which ought
+to disappear with the light of day.
+
+But that nightmare was a heavy reality. It was incumbent upon him to
+take it into account and remedy it in some manner. He sat down to write
+a letter, in which he smote himself upon the breast, complained, and
+apologized. He said that no one was able to condemn him as he had
+condemned himself, and if he dared to beg for forgiveness it was only
+in hope that perhaps some voice, some echo of the better moments would
+intercede for him in her heart and would procure for him forgiveness.
+At the close he begged for an opportunity of repeating in person the
+words of the letter and for an answer, even in case the sentence
+pronounced against him was final.
+
+But when the messenger who took the letter informed him upon his return
+that there was no answer, he fell into genuine despair. As a really
+spoiled child of life, unaccustomed to opposition and obstacles, and
+one convinced that everything was due him, it began to appear to him
+that this was more than he deserved; that he was the injured party. He
+would not admit, however, that all was lost. He indulged in the hope
+that Hanka might, before opening the letter, have announced that there
+was no answer and that after reading it she would be moved, would
+relent, and rescind her resolution. Sustained by this hope, he dressed
+himself, strolled over the city for an hour in order to give Hanka time
+to reckon with her heart, and afterwards rang the bell of her
+residence.
+
+But he was not received. Then it occurred to him to apply to Pani
+Otocka. After a while, he nevertheless perceived that the causes of his
+rupture with Hanka were of such a nature that it was impossible to
+discuss them either with Pani Otocka or his mother. In his soul he now
+began to accuse Hanka of downright cruelty, but at the same time the
+greater the difficulties interposed between them the greater was his
+grief. He could not, in any measure, be reconciled to the thought that
+whatever he regarded as his own should be taken away from him; and as
+is usual with weak persons, he began to commiserate himself.
+
+From Pani Otocka he went to Gronski, regarding him as the only person
+with whom he could speak frankly and whose mediation would be
+effective. And here disappointment awaited him. Gronski had suffered
+for several days with his eyes and was not allowed to read; this put
+him into a bad humor, and for this reason he received Ladislaus more
+indifferently than usual. Ladislaus became convinced that it was
+difficult to speak of the rupture not only with Pani Otocka and his
+mother, but even with a man and old friend who knew of his former
+relations with Hanka. A feeling of shame plainly choked the words in
+his throat, and he began to beat about the bush and palliate things,
+talk in empty phrases about a misunderstanding and the necessity of a
+friendly mediation, so that Gronski at last asked, with a shade of
+impatience:
+
+"Tell me plainly about what you had a falling out, and then I can tell
+whether I will undertake to bring you together again."
+
+And evidently he did not attach much importance to the matter for he
+waved his hand and said:
+
+"It would be best if you made it up between yourselves."
+
+"No," replied Ladislaus; "this is more serious than you think, and we
+ourselves cannot come to any agreement."
+
+"Well, finally, what was it about?"
+
+Shame, exertion, and constraint were depicted upon Ladislaus' face.
+
+"In a moment of forgetfulness and ecstasy," he said, "I passed--that
+is--I wanted to pass--certain limits--"
+
+And he stopped abruptly.
+
+Gronski began to look at him with amazed eyes and asked:
+
+"And she?"
+
+"Why, if anything had happened there would not have been any rupture
+and I surely would not speak of it now. She ordered me to the door and
+not to show myself there any more."
+
+"May God bless her," exclaimed Gronski.
+
+Silence ensued. Gronski walked with big paces over the room repeating
+every little while, "It is unbelievable!" and again, "An unheard-of
+thing!" and in addition his face became more and more severe and cold.
+
+After which he sat down and, looking at Ladislaus, began to speak
+deliberately:
+
+"I have known many people even among our aristocracy, in whom beneath
+the veneer of society, beneath high descent and all the pretensions of
+elegant breeding were concealed the ordinary coarse, low, peasant
+instincts. If this observation can be applied to you as a comfort,
+accept it, for I have no other for you."
+
+A sudden wave of anger swept over Ladislaus' heart and brain. For a
+while he struggled with himself in order not to explode and answer
+insult with insult; in the end he subdued himself and replied in a
+hollow voice:
+
+"I deserve it."
+
+But Gronski, not disarmed by this confession, continued:
+
+"No, my dear sir, I will not undertake your defence, for I should act
+contrary to my convictions. To you less than to any one else was it
+allowable to indulge yourself, even out of regard for the past. And
+your fiancée must have so understood it, and besides she did not forget
+her extraction. To you it was less permissible! She was a hundred times
+right in showing you the door. The matter is really more serious than I
+thought, and so serious that I do not see any help for it. You did not
+respect Hanka, your future wife, and therefore yourself and your own
+honor. In view of this how can she honor you and what can she think of
+you?"
+
+"I know," said Ladislaus in the same hollow voice, "and I have said all
+this to myself in almost the same words. I wrote a letter to her
+this morning, begging for forgiveness--there was no answer. I went to
+her personally--I was not received. So I came to you as the last
+refuge--for--for me there pleads only one thing--I acted badly,
+brutally, and scurvily, but I have not ceased to love her. There is no
+life for me without her, and though you may not believe it,
+nevertheless it is so that under the frenzy which possessed me, under
+that froth which blinded me and under which I to-day sink, lies the
+feeling not only deep but pure--"
+
+Gronski again began to measure with great steps the room for he was
+somewhat touched by Ladislaus' words.
+
+While the latter continued:
+
+"If she will not read my letters and will not receive me, then I will
+not be able to tell her that. Hence it is imperative that some one
+should speak to her in my name. I cannot apply either to Mother or Pani
+Zosia in this. I thought that you, sir--but since you decline, I now
+have no one."
+
+"Look, however, into the eyes of reality," said Gronski more gently,
+"for it may be that her love for you was at once torn into shreds. In
+such case from where will she take it when she no longer possesses it?"
+
+"Let her tell me so; that at least is yet due to me."
+
+Again silence fell.
+
+"Listen," Gronski finally said, "I always was a friend of yours and of
+your mother, but this mission which you want to intrust to me I cannot
+undertake. I cannot among other reasons, because if your fiancée does
+not reply to you, so likewise she may not reply to me. One look, one
+word, will close my mouth and with this it would end. But try another
+method. Panna Hanka comes quite often with Marynia to the rehearsals,
+at which I am always present, and afterwards I escort both home. Come
+with me. You may find an opportunity to speak with her. During the
+return home I will take Marynia and you will remain with her. I think
+that she will not repel you even though out of regard for Marynia, to
+whom she would not wish to divulge what had passed between you.--Then
+tell her what you have said to me and also beg her for an interview,
+which, if it cannot be otherwise--will be final. It will be necessary
+somehow to give to the world some plausible excuse for your rupture; so
+I presume she will agree to that. If not, we will think of something
+else."
+
+Ladislaus began to wring his hands and said:
+
+"Perhaps through Zosia we could ascertain whether this is forever."
+
+"You understand that she may not have wished to discuss the cause of
+your rupture even with Pani Zosia."
+
+"I understand, I understand."
+
+"But you now have a fever," said Gronski, "your hands are burning. Go,
+try to cool off and calm yourself."
+
+
+
+                                  XII
+
+Laskowicz now beheld Marynia, indeed from a distance, but daily. Even
+on rainy days, when she did not walk to the rehearsals, but rode, he
+lay in wait on the stairway of the edifice, in order to see her alight
+from the carriage. On fair days he usually waited near her home, and
+afterwards followed after her to the hall. As among the employees in
+the building were found a few "associates," these facilitated his
+admittance to the rehearsals. To hide in the boxes or in the seats at
+the end of the rows was easy, as during the rehearsals only the stage
+was fully lit up and in the auditorium itself the dusk was illumined by
+only a few lamps, which were lit in order that the handful of
+privileged lovers of music, who occupied the seats behind the
+orchestra, might not be plunged in complete darkness. Amidst these
+privileged ones, Laskowicz often recognized acquaintances,--Gronski,
+Pani Otocka, the old notary. Miss Anney, sometimes Krzycki, and two or
+three times, Dr. Szremski. But notwithstanding his hatred of Ladislaus
+and dislike of the doctor and Gronski, he was little occupied by them
+and thought of them very little, as his eyes could not even for a
+moment be torn from Marynia. He encompassed with his gaze her girlish
+form, standing out on the edge of the stage, bathed in a lustre of
+electricity, luminous of her own accord, and involuntarily she reminded
+him of that alabaster statuette, which the venerable canon deemed his
+greatest treasure. Laskowicz was not an educated man. His one-sided
+study of physics had contracted his intellectual horizon and he was
+incapable of rendering to himself a clear account of certain
+impressions. Nevertheless, when he gazed on that maid, with violin in
+hand, on her pure calm countenance, on the elongated outlines of her
+figure and dress, there awakened in him a half conscious feeling that
+in her there was something of poetry, and something of the church. She
+seemed to him an artless supernal vision, to which one might pray.
+
+Accordingly he deified her in his wild, fanatical soul. But there raged
+within him a revolt against all divinities, therefore he fought with
+his own feelings and struggled to depress and weed them out to the last
+extremity. Intentionally he plucked off the wings of his own thoughts:
+intentionally he imposed fetters upon his vagaries and unchained his
+concupiscence. He discomfited himself, tortured himself, and suffered.
+
+Often he stood on the brink of madness--and in such cases he was ready
+to annihilate, slaughter, and set fire to the whole city in order to
+seize, amidst the bloodshed and conflagration, this silvery maid and
+possess her,--and afterward perish with her and all others. He imagined
+that during the revolutionary storm, which the waves of the proletariat
+would stir up, such an universal hour of annihilation might strike. But
+when reality scattered these dreams, when moments occurred in which it
+became plain that the people themselves put a muzzle upon the jaws of
+the revolutionary dragon, then the gory vision evaporated into vacuous
+smoke, and only exhaustion and confusion remained, for this gloomy
+proletaire felt that as long as he had strength the storm would rage,
+and that when it passed away he would sink into complete nothingness.
+
+Hence, in his heart bitterness and jealousy accumulated more and more.
+He loved Marynia and at the same time he hated her, for he thought that
+she looked upon him as a worm which squirms at her feet, unworthy of a
+glance. He was confirmed in this conviction by the fact that his
+letters evidently did not make the slightest impression upon her and
+did not disturb her usual tranquillity. Laskowicz had given his word to
+Pauly that he would see Marynia only from a distance, and he could not
+approach her, because she was never out alone. But in reality he could
+not conjecture that those letters were received and burnt by Pani
+Otocka and that Marynia knew nothing about them. It appeared to him
+that his passionate appeals in which the words, "Beloved! beloved!"
+were repeated every little while, and those fiery outbursts in which he
+prostrated himself in humility at her adored feet must have represented
+him to her as the ruling king-soul shoving the human wave into the
+unknown future, and ought to have evoked some result. "Let it be anger,
+let it be hatred," he said to himself in his soul, "but here there is
+nothing! She passes by me as if I was a street cur; she does not see
+me; she does not deign to recognize me."
+
+In fact it was so. In the moments when they passed each other on the
+street, Marynia did not and could not recognize Laskowicz, for after
+his departure from Jastrzeb he allowed his youthful beard to grow, and
+afterwards, Swidwicki, in order to disguise him in the eyes of the
+police, bleached his beard, together with his mustache and the hair on
+his head, a light yellow. His clothes and spectacles also changed his
+appearance but he forgot about that, and he fretted with the
+supposition that her eyes do not see him or do not recognize him,
+firstly, because a recollection of him never comes to her mind, and
+again because she belongs to some kind of social Olympus and he to the
+"proletarian garbage-box."
+
+Under such impressions his anguish changed into fury. With savage
+satisfaction, he thought of this: that there might come a time when the
+fate of this "sacred doll" and all her kin would be in his hands. He
+persuaded himself that that moment would be a triumph for himself
+personally and for the "good cause," and therefore he rejoiced at this
+conjunction. He pictured to himself what would happen when Marynia came
+to him to beg for a favor for herself and her relatives. Whether, at
+that time, he would prostrate himself on the ground before her and tell
+her to plant her foot on his head, or whether he would seize her in his
+arms and afterwards pass time away shamelessly--he did not know. He
+only had a feeling that he could do one or the other.
+
+In the meantime he often said to himself that he ought not to see her
+any more, and decided to seek her no more, but on the following day he
+rushed to the place where he could meet her. He struggled with himself,
+he was torn inwardly, and became exhausted to such an extent that he
+began to fail in health. Want of such air as he breathed in Jastrzeb,
+the necessity of hiding from the police, uneasiness, lack of sleep,
+sudden and painful spiritual changes sapped his strength. He became
+haggard, swarthy, and at times he thought that death threatened not on
+the gallows but in a hospital.
+
+In such a disposition was he found by Pauly, who after her scene with
+Hanka, dashed like a whirlwind into his little garret room.
+
+Her face was so changed, so pale, so sickly and malignant, and her eyes
+glittered so feverishly that at the first glance he knew that she was
+driven to him by some extraordinary accident and he asked:
+
+"What has happened?"
+
+"I am no longer with that low peasant."
+
+And she remained silent for she could not catch her breath, and only
+her face was twitching nervously.
+
+Laskowicz understood only that she had abandoned her employment and
+looked at her with a questioning gaze, awaiting further explanations.
+
+"Then, sir, you do not know," she broke out after a while, "then you do
+not know that he is to marry her? And that she is no Englishwoman, but
+only a low peasant! And such a one I served! He is to marry her--a low
+peasant!--a low peasant!--he!"
+
+And her voice changed into a shrill nervous hiccough. Laskowicz was
+frightened at her transports, but at the same time breathed easily.
+Howsoever he might long since have conjectured that Krzycki's
+affections were directed towards Miss Anney and not towards Marynia, he
+was nevertheless pleased in his soul that reality corroborated those
+conjectures.
+
+Living, however, in a world which no echoes of the higher social sphere
+reach, and knowing nothing of the transformation of Miss Anney into a
+Polish peasant woman, he began to interrogate Pauly minutely because
+the affair aroused his curiosity; he wished also to give time to the
+excited girl to calm herself. But this last was not an easy matter, and
+he long had to put questions to her to elicit the news which Swidwicki
+had first told her that Miss Anney was a simple peasant woman, but
+which, however, she did not at first believe, as he said it while under
+the influence of intoxicants. Only from the conversations which she
+overheard did she become convinced not only of the truth of the
+statement but also that Krzycki was to wed Miss Anney. Afterwards she
+peeped through the keyhole and saw him kneel before her and kiss her
+hands. Then she could not restrain herself any longer and at the first
+opportunity flung at the feet of her mistress her "linen frock," and,
+reviling her as a base peasant, left her service.
+
+Here again indignation began to seize her so that Laskowicz from fear
+that she might have an attack of convulsions, said:
+
+"We will consult together about this, but only let the lady be
+pacified."
+
+But she replied with increasing irritation:
+
+"I did not come here for you to pacify me. You, sir, have prated about
+our mutual wrongs and now you order me to be pacified. I want help and
+not your chatter."
+
+"You are anxious that he should not marry her?"
+
+"And what else do you suppose?"
+
+In any case Laskowicz would have sided with the girl for he was
+obligated to do that by gratitude to her for saving his life, by the
+similarity of their lot, and those "joint wrongs" of which he himself
+had previously spoken to Pauly, and of which she now reminded him. But
+the existence of Krzycki at present ceased to stand in his way and Miss
+Anney's existence less so. Only one thing he could not forgive in her:
+
+"She was a peasant woman, she was a wage-earner, and afterwards became
+a female bourgeois. In this is the crime."
+
+"In it or not in it, it is now I or she! Do you understand, sir?"
+
+"I understand, but what is to be done?"
+
+"When you ran away from the police, I did not ask what was to be done."
+
+"I remember."
+
+"And you said at Swidwicki's that your people could accomplish
+everything."
+
+"For it is so."
+
+"So if he only does not marry her, then even let the world end."
+
+Laskowicz began to look at her with his closely set eyes and after a
+moment commenced to speak slowly and with emphasis:
+
+"Krzycki was once already condemned and lives, thanks to you, lady, but
+if he gets a bullet in his head, then he will marry no one."
+
+But she, hearing this, turned pale as a corpse; in the same moment she
+sprang at him with her finger-nails!
+
+"What!" she cried in a hoarse voice; "what! he! Let but a hair fall
+from his head, then, I will have you all--"
+
+Laskowicz's patience, however, was exhausted. He was irritated, torn
+internally and sick; hence, after her threat, a wave of bitterness and
+rage flooded his brains. He started up and, glaring in her eyes,
+shouted!
+
+"Do not threaten with betrayal, for that is death!"
+
+"Death?" she screamed. "Death! this is what life is to me!"
+
+And shoving her palm close to his face, she blew on it so that her
+breath moistened him, and repeated:
+
+"Look! This is what life is to me."
+
+"And to me," exclaimed Laskowicz.
+
+For an interval they stared in each other's eyes like two odious and
+despairing souls. He recovered his wits first, and clasping his head
+with both hands, said:
+
+"Oh, how unfortunate we are! oh!"
+
+"Yes! yes!" reiterated Panna Pauly.
+
+And she began to sob hysterically.
+
+Then he commenced to quiet her. He promised her that nothing should
+befall Krzycki and that his marriage would not under any circumstances
+take place. He said that at that moment he could not indeed disclose to
+her what measures would be adopted, but he assured her that neither he
+nor his party would show any consideration to a mere female bourgeois,
+as here was involved a higher social justice, which does not need to
+take into account any particular individual. Pauly only understood that
+that "low peasant" would not wed the young master of Jastrzeb, and
+became appeased in some measure: and afterwards, both, from necessity,
+became occupied with other matters. It was imperative that some kind of
+shelter be found for the young girl: so Laskowicz placed her with "a
+female associate" residing in the neighborhood, who immediately went
+for her wages and belongings. He himself returned to his own rooms and
+began to revolve in his mind how he could repay Panna Pauly for saving
+his life.
+
+And in this feeling of gratitude lay the first reason why he took the
+matter to heart. A second reason was his own ill-luck and ill-fated
+love for Marynia which made him sensitive to similar strifes; and the
+third was that "social justice" which he mentioned to Pauly. As to the
+third reason he felt, however, the necessity of deliberating with his
+own soul in order that when the time for action arrived his hands would
+be untied, and under the pressure of this necessity he began to reason
+in the following fashion:
+
+"On the background of the general concern of the proletariat, personal
+affairs will appear. It might be said that the general concern is the
+sum-total of them all. In this respect whoever stands in defence of the
+personal affair of a proletaire by that act alone defends universal
+principles. But here comes the question of ethics. Whither are we
+tending? To universal justice. Ergo, our principle is moral for it is
+only the sum-total of personal affairs: therefore these personal
+affairs also must be moral. From this it follows that the proletaire,
+who is in the wrong in a controversy with a bourgeois, nevertheless has
+justice on his side simply because he is a proletaire. In this world
+everything is relative. A soldier, slaying his opponent in a war,
+commits manslaughter; therefore the act itself is not ethical. But as
+he commits it in defense of Fatherland, therefore, from the viewpoint
+of national welfare he acts ethically. If in addition thereto he has
+the spur of personal hatred to an antagonist, his act would gain in
+energy and would not lose its additional significance for Fatherland.
+For us, the Polish proletariat is the nation and the idea of their
+emancipation, the Fatherland. For this we wage war and if there is war,
+then murder and injuries are inflicted upon the antagonists; and even
+though the motives for them might be personal, they nevertheless are
+not only justifiable but are covered a hundred-fold by the universal
+welfare."
+
+"Besides,"--he reasoned further--, "the quintessence of our existence
+is unhappiness; and from unhappiness as well as, inversely, from
+happiness must blossom corresponding deeds. This is a necessity flowing
+from the nature of things; and with this ethics have nothing to do. I
+and that rabid girl are luckless, like homeless dogs; in view of which
+it is all one whether a wrong was perpetrated upon us intentionally or
+unintentionally; just as it is all one to the wolf whether the forester
+who shoots him in the head, hunted him purposely or whether they met by
+chance. The wolf has teeth to defend himself. That is his right. The
+moment has come when our fangs have grown; therefore we have the right
+to mangle.
+
+"As to that girl, she is mangled by despair which can only be assuaged
+by revenge. Is it just? Will it be beneficial to the girl? That is all
+one. The wage-earners without work and bread drown their woes in
+alcohol; the bourgeois in case of pain injects morphine into himself,
+and for her, revenge will be alcohol and morphine. Whatever may be the
+consequences, she will destroy the happiness of the pampered; she will
+change their joy into tears; she will break their lives and raze a
+particle of that world, which lies heavily, like a nightmare, upon the
+breasts of the proletariat. So it is necessary to aid that revenge, for
+so does gratitude for saving life command; likewise common wrong, also
+the good of the cause."
+
+In view of this, it already seemed to Laskowicz a matter of minor
+importance whether in that aid a rôle would be played by a knife, or by
+a revolver, or by casting upon Hanka some ignominy, after which nothing
+would remain for her to do but to fly and hide herself forever from
+human eyes. Neither opportunity nor willing hands were wanting. It was
+only necessary to deliberate upon the choice: and afterwards to act
+promptly and decisively.
+
+With this he went to Pauly who agreed to everything. As a compensation
+he demanded that she should release him from his promise to see Marynia
+only from a distance, and he secured that with ease. He evidently
+wanted to have his hands untied also in that regard.
+
+
+
+                                  XIII
+
+"Here is the answer which I finally received," said Ladislaus, handing
+a letter to Gronski; "I could not expect anything else."
+
+"I knew that you would receive it," replied Gronski, blinking with his
+ailing eyes and searching for his binocle, "I was already informed of
+it by Pani Otocka, who from the beginning insisted that Miss Anney
+ought to answer you, and in the end prevailed upon her."
+
+Ladislaus reddened and asked:
+
+"Ah! So Zosia Otocka knows everything."
+
+"She does and does not know. Miss Anney told her only this much; 'He
+did not forget that he is a young lord and I a peasant woman and we
+ceased to understand each other.' For her it was yet harder to speak of
+this than for you and that difficulty festers all the more the wound
+which, without it, is deep enough--But I cannot find the binocle."
+
+"Here it is," said Ladislaus.
+
+Gronski placed it on his nose and began to read:
+
+"You, yourself, sir, rent and trampled upon our joy, our happiness, my
+trust, and that deep attachment which I had for you. To your query of
+whether I can ever recover those feelings, I answer that I seek for
+them in vain. If ever I recover them I will inform you with the same
+sincerity with which I to-day say that I have in my heart only grief
+and sadness which for a joint life will not suffice."
+
+"Only so much!" said Ladislaus.
+
+"My foresight," answered Gronski, "is verified only too perfectly. The
+spring for the time being has dried up."
+
+"To the bottom, to the bottom, not a drop for refreshment."
+
+Gronski remained silent for a while; after which he said:
+
+"I think otherwise, nevertheless. This is not entirely hopeless. There
+remains sadness, grief and, as it were, the anticipation of the
+recurring swell. In reality, it will not flow to-day nor to-morrow.--In
+view of this, for you there remains either to persevere patiently and
+win anew that which you lost, or else, if you have not sufficient
+strength, to take some shears and sever the remaining threads."
+
+"Such shears I will not find. Do you remember, sir, what she did for me
+when I was wounded? I will not forget that."
+
+At this Gronski shaded his eyes with his hand, gazed at Ladislaus
+intently and asked:
+
+"My dear sir, did you ever propound to yourself one question?"
+
+"What one?"
+
+"What pains you the more,--the loss of Miss Anney or your wounded
+self-love?"
+
+"I thank you, sir," answered Ladislaus, with irony. "In reality, only
+self-love. Through it, I do not sleep, do not eat; through it, in the
+course of a few days, I have grown lean like a shaving and were it not
+for this living wound, life for me would be one perpetual round of
+pleasure."
+
+And he began to laugh bitterly, while Gronski continued to gaze at him,
+not removing his hand from his ailing eyes, and thought:
+
+"That girl has an honest heart, and let her only see him; then she will
+forgive everything through compassion alone."
+
+After which he said:
+
+"Listen, after a quarter of an hour, I will put on those dark
+spectacles and go to the rehearsal. Come with me."
+
+"How will that help me, now?" exclaimed Ladislaus.
+
+"I do not know. I do not even guarantee that we will meet Miss Anney,
+for Marynia sometimes goes with a servant. But, in any event, you will
+not lose anything by it; so come."
+
+But further conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the doctor,
+the more unexpected, as he had announced, upon leaving Warsaw, that he
+would stay with his brother at least ten days.
+
+"How is this? You have already returned!" exclaimed Gronski.
+
+"A surprise, hey?" vociferated the doctor. "Yes! And for me it was a
+surprise! One medical visit, afterwards a fee supplemented with the
+amiable advice, 'Get out of here, while you are whole!' Lo, here I am.
+Oh, what a delightful journey!"
+
+"How did this happen?"
+
+"How did it happen? I will tell you immediately. But no! I know that at
+this hour you leave for that rehearsal: so I will go with you,
+gentlemen, and relate it to you on the way. That is such an amusing
+thing that it is worth while to hear it. Ha!"
+
+Accordingly after a while they went and the jovial doctor began to
+recite his Odyssey.
+
+"I arrived," he said, "a little fatigued, for that is a distant
+journey, and besides it is necessary to change cars, wait for trains at
+the stations, and so forth--the usual order with us. I reached the
+country-seat late and after greeting my brother, I went to bed at once.
+But the following day I had barely unpacked the primers--you remember,
+gentlemen?--those I brought with me for the petty nobility--and I had
+barely reproved my 'provincial' brother, when an emergency call came
+summoning me to a high official who has an estate adjoining our seat
+and in summer resides with his family in the country. Ha! there was no
+help for it--I ride! And what appears? Why, a thimble stuck in a
+child's throat. I found the child already livid, but the moment I
+pulled the thimble out, the infant went away playing and everything was
+in the best order. There was nothing else to do. I saved a future
+dignitary to the empire, and to the parents an only son, as the
+other children were daughters. So the gratitude was immense. They
+pay--certainly! I wanted to ride away and iterated that there is
+nothing more to do. They would not let me go. Gratitude, breakfast,
+cordiality, friendship, overflowing of Slavonic feelings, and a chat
+which after a time passed into a political discussion. 'There is not,'
+says the dignitary, 'harmony amidst brothers. And what a pity! Religion
+and tongue divide their languages. But what is religion, if not only an
+outward form? God is one. It is the same to Him whether He is glorified
+in the Latin or the Slavonic language. Why, for Slavonians it is more
+seemly if in the Slavonic. And as to the tongue, then the various
+dialects could be limited to conversations at home. Why, however,
+should not one language be adopted, not only officially, but in
+literature? The convenience would be greater, the control easier.
+Then you would abandon your Catholicism and your dialects and accept
+ours--the one and the other,--but heartily and voluntarily. And harmony
+would immediately follow. The times for you would be better. There
+would be downright delight.'--"
+
+"He mistook his man," interrupted Gronski, laughing.
+
+"And that he should chance upon me," replied the doctor. "I, gentlemen,
+am a deist, a philosopher, but a passable Catholic. Often it happens
+that I assail the church just as I assail Poland whenever anything
+occurs which displeases me. Only if some stranger does the same thing
+in my presence then--a strange thing!--I have a desire to knock out his
+teeth. Therefore I began to defend the Church as if I never in my life
+crawled out of a sacristy; bah, even better, in a way as if I was a
+Catholic apologist. 'If,' I said, 'religion is only an external form
+tell me just why should we abandon this form of ours, which is the most
+spiritualized, the most cultural, and the most beautiful. That
+Catholicism, with which you advise us to take our leave, has
+encompassed the entire West, organized society, produced European
+civilization, preserved learning, has founded universities, reared
+churches, which are masterpieces, gave us Saint Augustine, Dante,
+Petrarch, Saint Francis, and Saint Thomas, created the Renaissance,
+created Leonardo da Vinci's; "Lord's Supper," Michelangelo's "Tombs of
+the Medici," Raphael's "School of Athens" and "Disputa," erected such
+temples as Saint Peter's, not counting others scattered throughout
+Italy and all over Europe. That Catholicism made us partakers of the
+universal culture, united us with the West, imprinted a European stamp
+upon our Polish soul, etc., etc.' And I talked in this strain until he
+interrupted me and said. 'In this is the misfortune, that it has united
+you with the West.' And I replied to that, 'A misfortune to whom, and
+to whom not a misfortune? But now we will speak of your proposition of
+renouncing the tongue and therefore the nationality. Know, sir, that
+this is an empty and foolish dream. That never will take place. I
+proclaim and insist in advance--never! But assuming for a moment an
+impossible thing, that a pestilence will so blight us, that our hearts
+will be so debilitated that we will say to ourselves "Enough!--we can
+no longer be Poles!" then what? Reflect, sir, objectively, like a man
+who has not lost the ability to think, what could restrain us from
+becoming Germans? Our Slavonic extraction? But we are Slavonians, just
+because we are Poles. You are a people who do not know how to live and
+do not permit anybody else to live. So what motive would keep us with
+you? Is it your peace? Your welfare? Your morality? Your
+administration? Your science? Your learning? Your wealth? Your power?
+Learn to look in the eyes of reality; cultivate in yourselves the
+ability to reckon with it, and you will understand that by
+denationalizing us you labor for some one else. But I reiterate yet
+once more that this is only a foolish dream; that the moment of
+renunciation will never come and if I spoke of it, it was only to
+answer those things which you suggested.'
+
+"With this our conversation ended. They, in a yet higher degree than
+we, cannot endure unpleasant truths, so my dignitary changed into a
+decanter of iced water, and on the leave-taking merely said to me:
+'Well, you are too candid, young man, but I thank you for the child.' A
+half an hour later I was at home."
+
+"I can surmise what happened afterwards," said Gronski.
+
+"Yes. As the thimble was removed, that same night I received an order
+to leave the next day by the first train."
+
+"Be satisfied that it ended with that."
+
+"I am satisfied. I will stay a few days in Warsaw; I will see the
+notary; I will attend Panna Zbyltowska's concert. Certainly!
+Certainly!"
+
+Here he addressed Ladislaus.
+
+"How is your mother and your fiancée?"
+
+"Thank you. Mother is not badly, but will soon have to leave."
+
+And desiring to hide his confusion, he began to gaze intently into the
+depths of the street, and after a while exclaimed:
+
+"But look! I see Panna Marynia with a maid-servant, and with them some
+third person is walking."
+
+In reality about a hundred paces down the street Marynia could be seen
+approaching, accompanied by a maidservant, with the violin in a case.
+On the other side, though somewhat behind, walked a young man with a
+yellowish beard, who, leaning towards Marynia, appeared to speak to her
+in an earnest and vehement manner. She hastened her steps, turning her
+head aside, evidently not desiring to listen to him, while he, keeping
+pace with her, gesticulated violently.
+
+"My God! Some one is molesting her!" said the doctor.
+
+And all three rushed at full speed towards her.
+
+"Who is that? Who are you, sir?"
+
+And Marynia, seeing Gronski, seized his arm and trembling all over,
+began to cry:
+
+"Home! Take me home, sir!"
+
+Gronski understood in a moment that nothing else could be done and that
+it was necessary to hurry, as otherwise Marynia might be embroiled in a
+vulgar street row. He was certain that Ladislaus in whom was
+accumulated an enormous supply of spleen and irritation, with his
+impulsive nature, would not permit the offence of the assailant to pass
+unpunished. So taking the girl aside, he placed her as soon as possible
+in a hackney-coach, which was passing by and ordered the coachman to
+drive to Pani Otocka's house.
+
+"There is nothing now. Everything is all right," he said on the way, to
+pacify the affrighted Marynia. "From home we will send a message that
+there will be no rehearsal to-day, and with that it will end. It is
+nothing, nothing."
+
+And he began to press her hand; after a while, he asked:
+
+"But who was that and what did he want?"
+
+"Pan Laskowicz," answered Marynia. "I did not recognize him at first,
+but he told me who he was."
+
+Gronski became distressed when he heard the name of the student, for it
+occurred to him that if the encounter with Ladislaus ended with the
+police, then the consequences for Laskowicz might prove fatal directly.
+But not desiring to betray his uneasiness before Marynia, and at the
+same time wishing to better quiet her, he spoke to her half jokingly:
+
+"So that was Laskowicz? Then I already know what he wanted. Ah!
+Ah!--Some one begins to play not only on the violin but on the
+soul.--Only why did you allow yourself to be so frightened?"
+
+"For he also threatened," answered Marynia. "He threatened all
+terribly--"
+
+"Such bugbears only children fear."
+
+"True! Especially as I am to play for the hungry; they will not do any
+wrong to me or any of us."
+
+"Assuredly not," confirmed Gronski.
+
+Conversing thus, they reached home. Gronski surrendered Marynia to Pani
+Otocka's care and when, after a moment, Hanka appeared, he related to
+them everything which had occurred. He likewise had to quiet Pani
+Otocka, who, knowing of the letters, took the whole occurrence very
+much to heart and announced that immediately after the concert they
+would leave for Zalesin, and afterwards go abroad. After the lapse of a
+half hour he left and on the stairs met Ladislaus.
+
+"God be praised," he said, "I see that it did not end with the police.
+Do you know that the man was Laskowicz?"
+
+"And it seemed so to me," said Ladislaus with animation; "but this one
+had light hair. How is Marynia?"
+
+"She was frightened a little but now is well. Both ladies are at her
+side and dandle her like a little chicken. They are so occupied with
+her that Pani Otocka certainly will not receive you."
+
+"And I thought so; especially, if she is there," answered Ladislaus,
+with bitterness; "so I will only leave my card and will return at once.
+Do you care to wait for me?"
+
+"Very well."
+
+Accordingly, he returned after a while, and when they were on the
+street, he began to say:
+
+"Yes! and to me it seemed that he was Laskowicz but I was puzzled by
+the light tuft of hair on his head and the spectacles. After all there
+was no time for thinking."
+
+"Listen--you undoubtedly cudgelled him?" asked Gronski.
+
+And Ladislaus answered reluctantly:
+
+"Far too much, for he is an emaciated creature, and he evidently did
+not have a revolver."
+
+For some time they walked in silence; after which Gronski said:
+
+"Your mother needs a cure; the ladies will depart from here immediately
+after the concert and Miss Anney undoubtedly with them. I would advise
+you also to think about yourself."
+
+Ladislaus waved his hand.
+
+
+At the same time in a garret in the quarters of the "female associate,"
+Laskowicz said to Pauly:
+
+"Pan Krzycki is a true gentleman. He battered me a while ago because I
+dared to approach her."
+
+And he began to laugh through his set teeth.
+
+
+
+                                  XIV
+
+The day of the concert arrived. On the sofa in the sisters'
+dressing-room lay, ready at an early hour, Marynia's evening dress,
+white as snow, light as foam, transparent as the mist, and fragrant
+with violets which were to form her sole adornment. Previously, Pani
+Otocka and Gronski held a long and grave consultation over that dress,
+for both craved warmly that their beloved "divinity" should captivate
+not only the ears but the eyes. In the meanwhile the "divinity" bustled
+about all the rooms, now seizing the violin and repeating the more
+difficult passages, now taking the boxes of bon-bons which Gronski had
+sent to her; then joking with her sister and predicting fright at her
+first public appearance. This fright also possessed Pani Otocka who
+consoled herself only with the thought that Marynia indeed would
+tremble upon entering on the stage, but from the moment she began to
+play would forget everything. She knew also that a warm ovation awaited
+the beloved violinist, likewise numerous baskets of flowers, from the
+"Committee for aiding the hungry," and from acquaintances.
+Notwithstanding their uneasiness both sisters felt a great joy in their
+souls, as the concert, owing to the arrivals during the racing season,
+promised to be highly successful, and it was already known that the
+receipts would be extraordinary. Marynia besides found a cure for her
+fright: "When I think," she said to her sister, "that so many eyes will
+gaze at me, my heart is in my mouth, but when I recollect that I am not
+concerned but only the poor, then I cease to fear. So I will save
+myself in this manner: entering upon the stage, I will repeat quietly,
+''Tis for the poor! 'tis for the poor!' and everything will come off in
+the best possible way!" And when she spoke, her voice quivered with
+honest emotion as her young heart felt deeply the woes of the
+unfortunate who did not have any bread, and at the same time she felt
+proud and happy at the thought that she would be instrumental in their
+relief. She even experienced certain pangs of conscience on account of
+the new dress and the new satin shoes, as it occurred to her that this
+outlay might have been expended for bread.
+
+About noon Hanka came and took both sisters to her apartments for
+breakfast. Gronski, who was invited, did not appear, as at that time he
+was to meet a few journalists. Marynia took her violin with her with
+the intention of playing after the breakfast the first part of the
+programme, and in the meanwhile, waiting before they were seated at
+table, she began to look out from Hanka's salon through the open window
+on the street.
+
+The day was fair and clear. During the night an abundant rain had
+fallen which settled the dust, washed the city's stone pavements,
+refreshed the grass plots, and laved the leaves on the trees. The air
+became fresh and bracing. From the two acacias, growing under the
+windows of Hanka's residence, which strewed the walk near them with
+petals white as snow, came a sweet scent, strong and intoxicating as if
+from a censer. Marynia partly closed her eyes and, moving her delicate
+nostrils, sated herself with the perfume with delight, after which she
+turned to the depth of the room.
+
+"It smells so sweet," she said.
+
+"It does, little kitten," answered Hanka, interrupting a conversation
+with Pani Otocka. "I purposely ordered the window to be opened."
+
+And the acacias not only smelt sweet but seemed to sing, for both were
+cumbered by a countless diet of sparrows so that the leaves and flowers
+quivered from their chirping.
+
+The maiden watched for some time with delighted eyes the small, nimble
+birds; after which her attention was directed to something entirely
+different. On the walk before the house, in the middle of the street
+and on the sidewalk on the opposite side, there began to gather and
+stand clusters of people who, raising their heads, gazed intently at
+the windows of Hanka's residence.
+
+Some wretchedly dressed people spoke with the doorkeeper standing at
+the gate, evidently questioning him about something. The clusters each
+moment became more numerous and, together with the passers-by, who
+remained out of curiosity, changed into a mob of several hundred heads.
+Marynia jumped back from the window.
+
+"Look," she cried, "what is taking place on the street. Oh! oh! Perhaps
+they are the poor coming to thank me in advance? What shall I do if
+they come here? what shall I answer? I am not able.--Come, see!"
+
+And saying this, she drew her sister and Hanka to the window. The three
+young heads leaned out of the window on to the street, but in that
+moment an incomprehensible thing happened. A ragged stripling pulled
+out of his pocket a stone and hurled it with all his strength into the
+open window. The stone flew over Pani Otocka's head, rebounded on the
+opposite wall, and fell with noise upon the floor. Hanka, Marynia, and
+Zosia drew back from the window and began to look at each other with
+inquiring and startled eyes.
+
+In the meantime on the street resounded savage outcries; the rabble
+battered down the gate; on the stairs sounded the stamping of feet,
+after which in the twinkling of an eye the doors leading to the room
+burst open with a crash, and a mob, composed of Christians and some
+Jews, filled the residence.
+
+"Away with the kept mistress! Strike! tear! smash!" howled hoarse
+voices.
+
+"For the mercy of God! People, what do you want here?" cried Hanka.
+
+"Away with the kept mistress! away with the kept mistress! through the
+window! on to the street!"
+
+In a moment a young man-servant, who rushed to the assistance of the
+ladies, was thrown upon the ground and trampled upon. Amidst the
+dreadful commotion, which the mob increased more and more, the human
+beasts became unfettered. Women with disheveled hair, filthy striplings
+with the marks of crime upon their degenerate features, and all manner
+of ragamuffins with drunken faces, rushed at the furniture, divans, bed
+curtains, and everything which fell into their hands. In the residence
+an orgy of destruction prevailed. The rooms were filled with the stench
+of sweat and whiskey. The mob became infuriated; it broke, smashed,
+stole. On the street, under the windows piles of splintered furniture
+were formed. They threw out even the piano. Finally some ruffian, with
+a pock-marked visage, seized Marynia's violin and brandished it,
+desiring to shatter it on the wall.
+
+But she jumped to its aid and seized his fist with both hands.
+
+"That is mine! that is mine!--I am to play for the poor--"
+
+"Let go!"
+
+"I will not let go!--that is mine!"
+
+"Let go, carrion!"
+
+"That is mine!"
+
+A shot was fired, and, simultaneously, Pani Otocka's scream pierced the
+air. Marynia stood for a moment with upraised hands and head inclined
+backwards; afterwards she reeled and fell back into Hanka's arms.
+
+The shot and the murder overawed the crowd. The mob became silent, and
+after a moment began to scamper away, panic-stricken.
+
+
+
+                                   XV
+
+Pani Krzycki, Zosia, and Hanka, and with them Gronski, Ladislaus, and
+Dr. Szremski surrounded the bed on which Marynia lay, after the
+operation and the extraction of the bullet. A second surgeon and his
+assistant sat aloof, awaiting the awakening of the patient. In the
+room, filled with the odor of iodoform, a profound stillness prevailed.
+Marynia had previously awoke immediately after the operation was
+performed, but stupefied still by the chloroform and weakened by the
+loss of blood, she soon sank again into a slumber. Her beautiful head
+lay motionless upon the pillow, her eyes were closed, and her
+countenance was waxen and transparent, as if she were already dead. In
+Pani Otocka and in Gronski, who but now sounded within himself the
+immensity of his affection for that child, despair whimpered with that
+quiet, terrible whimper, which lacerates, tugs and rends the bosom but
+fears to emerge on the surface. Both glanced time and again with alarm
+at Dr. Szremski who from time to time examined Marynia's pulse, but
+evidently he himself was uncertain whether that sleep would be final:
+he only nodded his head and placed his finger to his lips in sign of
+silence.
+
+Nevertheless, their fears for the time being were vain, as after the
+lapse of an hour Marynia's eyebrows commenced to rise, quiver, and
+after a moment she opened her eyes. Her look, at the beginning, was
+dull and unconscious. Slowly, however, the stupefaction left her and
+consciousness of what had occurred as well as of the present moment
+returned. On her countenance appeared an expression of amazement and
+affliction, such as a child feels who has been punished cruelly and
+unjustly. Finally her pupils darkened and two tears coursed down her
+cheeks.
+
+"For what?--for what?" she whispered with her pallid lips.
+
+Pani Otocka sat at her side and placed her palm on her hand. Gronski
+was seized with a desire to throw himself on the ground and beat his
+head on the floor, while the patient asked further in an amazed and
+mournful whisper:
+
+"For what?--for what?"
+
+God alone could answer that question. But in the meantime the doctor
+approached and said:
+
+"Do not speak, child, for that harms."
+
+So she became silent, but the expression of affliction did not
+disappear from her countenance, and tears continued to flow.
+
+Her sister began to wipe them off; repeating in a subdued voice:
+
+"Marynia, Marynia, calm yourself--you will be well--you are not
+dangerously wounded--no, no--the doctor guarantees that--"
+
+Marynia raised her eyes at her as if she desired to divine whether she
+was telling the truth. It appeared, however, that she listened to her
+sister's words with a certain hope.
+
+After which, she said:
+
+"It is sultry.--"
+
+The doctor opened the window of the room. Out in the open air the night
+was fair and starry. Waves of fresh air brought the scent of the
+acacias.
+
+The patient lay for some time calm, but suddenly she began again to
+seek somebody with her eyes and asked:
+
+"Is Pan Gronski here?"
+
+"I am, dear, I am--"
+
+"You, sir--will not--let me?--Truly--"
+
+To Gronski it seemed at that moment that he was enveloped by a deep
+night and that amidst that impenetrable darkness he answered in a
+strange voice:
+
+"No, no!"
+
+And she spoke with terror, her countenance growing more and more
+pallid:
+
+"I do not want to die--I am afraid--"
+
+And again tears began to trickle from her eyes--tears inconsolable,
+tears of a wronged child.
+
+The entrance of a priest relieved the harrowing moment. It was the same
+old prelate, a relative of the Krzyckis and the Zbyltowskis, who
+previously shrived Pani Krzycki. Drawing nearer, he sat beside
+Marynia's bed and bending over her with a cheering smile, full of hope,
+said:
+
+"How are you, dear child? Ah, the wretches!--But God is more powerful
+than they and everything will end well. I only came to ask about your
+health. God be praised the bullet is already extracted.--Now only
+patience is necessary and you will be patient--will you not?"
+
+Marynia winked her eyes as a token of acquiescence.
+
+The amiable old man continued in a more genial and as if jubilant
+voice:
+
+"Ah! I knew that you would. Now I will tell you that there is something
+which often is more efficacious than all the medicines and bandages. Do
+you know what it is? The Sacrament! Ho! how often in life have I seen
+that people, who were separated from death by a hair, became at once
+better after confession, communion, and anointment, and after that
+recovered their health entirely. You, my dove, are surely far from
+death, but since it is a Christian duty, which helps the soul and body,
+it is necessary to perform it. Well, child?"
+
+Marynia again winked her eyes in sign of assent.
+
+Those present retired from the room and returned only upon the sound of
+the little bell to be witnesses to the Communion. The patient, after
+receiving it, lay for some time with closed eyelids and a quiet
+brightness in her countenance, after which the moment of extreme
+unction arrived.
+
+In the room assembled, besides those previously present, the servants
+of the house; suppressing their sobs, they heard the customary prayers
+before the rite.
+
+"Lord, Jesus Christ, who hast said through Thy apostle Saint James, 'Is
+any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the Church and
+let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
+Lord.' We implore Thee, Lord God, our Redeemer, for the grace of The
+Holy Ghost: have mercy upon this sick one, heal her wounds, pardon her
+sins, and banish from her all pains of soul and body and in Thy mercy
+return health completely to her, in order that, restored to life, she
+may again give herself up to good deeds. Oh Thou, who being God, livest
+and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, now and forever. Amen."
+
+The priest appeared to hurry. Quickly he took the vessel standing
+between two candles under the crucifix and approaching the patient he
+whispered the second, brief prayer required by the ritual, and at the
+same time began to administer extreme unction. He first touched the
+girl's eyelids, saying, "Through this holy unction and His own most
+tender mercy, may the Lord pardon thee whatever sins or faults thou
+hast committed by sight"; after that he anointed her ears to purge the
+sins which she might have committed through the sense of hearing; after
+that the lips; after that the hands, resembling two white lilies, which
+that day were to have played for the poor; and finally he blessed her
+whole body from head to feet--already purified of all blemish and
+already as truly angelic and immaculate as a lily in the field.
+
+A half hour passed. To those present it seemed that the patient again
+succumbed to slumber. But unexpectedly she opened her eyes wide, and
+cried in a stronger, as if joyful, voice:
+
+"How much bread!--How much bread!--"
+
+And she expired calmly.
+
+
+During the depth of the night, a young man came to the gate and asked
+the doorkeeper whether the little lady was still alive and, hearing
+that she had died, he left in silence.
+
+An hour later in the garret of one of the houses near the Vistula a
+shot from a revolver was fired, and, filled with consternation, the
+inmates suddenly awakened from their sleep. The people in the
+neighboring rooms flocked to the place of the accident. The locked
+doors of the room were battered down but all aid was futile. On the bed
+lay the dead body of the student with his breast perforated by a shot.
+
+The gloomy, tragic soul had already flown into darkness.
+
+
+
+                                  XVI
+
+The room in which Marynia died was changed into a funeral chamber. The
+coffin stood in the middle, high, amidst burning candles and a whole
+forest of plants and flowers, of which such a number were amassed that
+they filled not only the chamber but even the anteroom and the
+stairway. The coffin was still open and in the brightness of the day,
+blended with the light of the wax-candles, Marynia could be seen
+dressed in that same dress in which she was to have appeared at the
+concert. The little metal cross which she held in her folded hands
+glittered like a sparkling spot on a dark background of plants. Her
+face was pensive, but without the slightest trace of suffering,--and at
+the same time as if she was absorbed in listening to voices, sounds,
+and tones, which were inaudible and incomprehensible to mortals.
+
+Though the open windows there blew in from time to time a breeze,
+extinguishing here and there the unsteady flames of the candles and
+causing the leaves of the plants to rustle. On the acacias in front of
+the house the sparrows chirped boisterously; one would think that they
+were relating to each other feverishly what had happened; while at the
+side of the catafalque a human stream flowed. There came with wreaths,
+workingmen, for whose benefit the concert was to have been given, and
+at the sight of the barbarously slain little lady, they left with fire
+in their eyes and clenched fists. The intelligence of the monstrous and
+reckless crime attracted whole throngs of students, who determined to
+carry the coffin on their shoulders. In the meantime they moved slowly
+and quietly about the catafalque, gazing with bosoms swelling with
+sympathy and grief at the silvery profile of the girl, turned towards
+heaven, and unconsciously they recalled the words of the poet:
+
+
+                 "And now in pale satin enshrouded,
+                  In silence, hands folded, she lies."
+
+
+Horror, indignation, and at the same time curiosity aroused the city
+from centre to circumference. Even the streets in front of the house
+were thronged by great crowds--uneasy, being unable to explain to
+themselves how such a thing happened--and, as if, alarmed by the
+thought of what the future might bring forth, what other crimes might
+be committed and what other victims the uncertain morrow might devour.
+
+The remains of Marynia were to be conveyed to the railway and from
+there to Zalesin where the tombs of the Otockis were located.
+Immediately after noon the coffin was taken off the stretchers and
+then, before its sealing, came for Pani Otocka and for Gronski the
+dreadful moment of viewing for the last time in life that beloved being
+who was for them a light and sun. If she had died of some sickness
+their despair might not have been less, but it would have been more
+intelligible to them. But she was murdered! They murdered this sweet
+and innocent child, just at a time when she wanted to aid people and
+when she rejoiced at the thought of that aid. Murdered was that
+incarnate song, that fragrant flower, sent by God for the joy of
+mankind! And in just this there was something which could not be
+confined within the limits of despair, but reached into the borders of
+madness. For lo, this is the last moment for beholding that love, that
+youth, that maidenly charm, that white victim of crime and mistake; and
+after that nothingness, darkness,--solitude.
+
+But overstrained pain kills itself like a scorpion, it covers the
+intellect with darkness, and commands the blood to congeal in the
+veins. That happened with the sister of the slain. For a long time Dr.
+Szremski was uncertain whether he would be able to restore her to life.
+In the consternation and confusion it was hardly observed that into the
+chamber there rushed an insane woman and, whining mournfully, she flung
+herself upon the ground. Swidwicki led her away with the aid of the
+students and intrusted her to their care.
+
+In the meantime the coffin was sealed; the youths placed it on their
+shoulders and the funeral party moved towards the railway. After them
+marched a long procession, at the end of which empty carriages jogged
+along. The ever-increasing swarm flowed along the middle of the streets
+and sidewalks; and not until they reached the bridge did those who
+joined the procession only through curiosity begin to return home.
+
+Swidwicki approached Dr. Szremski, and for some time both walked in
+silence, not perceiving that they were remaining more and more behind
+the procession.
+
+"You knew the deceased?" asked the doctor.
+
+"Otocki was my relative."
+
+"Ah, what a horrible mistake it was?"
+
+But Swidwicki blurted out:
+
+"That was no mistake. That is the logical result of the times, and in
+those that are coming such accidents will become a customary, every-day
+occurrence."
+
+"How do you understand that?"
+
+"The way it should be understood. That coffin has greater meaning than
+it seems. That is an announcement! A mistake? No! That was only an
+incident. Lo, to-day we are burying a harp, which wanted to play for
+the people, but which the rabble trampled upon with their filthy
+feet.--Wait, sir! Let things continue to proceed thus, and who knows
+whether, after ten or twenty years, we will not thus bury learning,
+art, culture, bah! even the entire civilization. And that not only here
+but everywhere. There will be an endless series of such events.--To me,
+after all, it is all one, but absolutely it is possible."
+
+The doctor ruminated for some time in silence over Swidwicki's words;
+finally he exclaimed:
+
+"Ah, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge."
+
+Swidwicki stood still, seized the doctor by the flap of his coat and
+shaking his goat-like beard, said:
+
+"Hear, sir, an atheist, or at least, a man who has nothing to do with
+any religion: knowledge without religion breeds only thieves and
+bandits."
+
+The procession paused for a while on account of an obstruction on the
+road; so conversing, they drew nearer to the coffin; nevertheless,
+Swidwicki, though lowering his voice, did not cease to talk:
+
+"Ay, sir--a great many people think the same as I do; only they
+have not the courage to say it aloud. After all, I reiterate it is all
+one to me,--we are lost past all help. With us there are only
+whirlpools.--And these, not whirlpools upon a watery gulf, beneath
+which is a calm depth, but whirlpools of sand. Now the whirlwind blows
+from the East and the sterile sand buries our traditions, our
+civilization, our culture--our whole Poland--and transforms her into a
+wilderness upon which flowers perish and only jackals can live."
+
+Here he pointed to Marynia's coffin:
+
+"Lo, there is a flower which has withered. Do you know, sir, why I,
+though a relative, seldom visited them? Because I felt ashamed before
+her eyes."
+
+They reached the station and went upon the roadway, from which could be
+seen the coach, decorated with flowers and fir-tree boughs.
+
+"Are you riding to Zalesin?" asked the doctor.
+
+"I am. I want to gaze at Pani Otocka. God knows what now will become of
+her. And see, sir, how Gronski looks. An old man--what? Now his Latin
+and books will not help him."
+
+"Who would not have felt this," answered the doctor. "Krzycki also
+looks as if he were taken off the cross."
+
+"Krzycki? But perhaps it is because his matrimonial plans are broken."
+
+Further conversation was interrupted by the orchestra which began to
+play Chopin's "Funeral March."
+
+
+
+                                  XVII
+
+Dr. Szremski upon his return to the hotel began to ponder over
+Swidwicki's words, which were imbedded deeply in his memory. Before his
+eyes there glided a picture of the funeral procession and that coffin,
+with the victim, murdered by those to whom she wanted to do good. "Yes,
+yes!" he said to himself, "that apparently was a mistake, but similar
+mistakes are the logical consequences of the unbridled, blind, animal
+instincts. We must admit that we are flying at break-neck speed into
+some bottomless abyss. And not only we. But is it allowable to conclude
+from this, that, as to-day we conducted song, murdered by the rabble,
+so after ten, twenty, or fifty years we will witness the burial of
+learning, culture, and civilization? Apparently--yes. It is high time
+that God, Who rules the world, should give new proofs that He in
+reality rules. It ought to thunder so that the earth would tremble--or
+what? Mankind are entering upon a road which is directly opposite to
+entire nature. For the whole endeavor of nature is to create as perfect
+beings as possible and through them to ennoble the species; and
+humanity perversely kills them as it did that angelic child, or else
+seizes them by the hair to drag them from the heights to the general
+level. And nevertheless this is but a specious appearance. If the
+engineers determined to excavate all the mountains and make the earth
+as smooth and even as a billiard ball, some convulsions would take
+place, some eruptions of volcanoes would occur, which would create new
+abysses and new heights. Of the Aryan spirit can be said that which the
+Grecians, enamoured with the soothing architectonical lines, said of
+the Roman arches: 'The arch will never fall asleep.' Likewise the Aryan
+spirit. The humanity, which possesses it, is incapable of drifting into
+infinity on one wave, thinking one thought and living in one idea. That
+which is to-day--will pass away. On the summits of reason, feeling, and
+will, new whirlwinds will generate and they will raise new waves."
+
+Here the doctor's thoughts were apparently directed nearer to matters
+lying more on his heart, for he began to clench his fist and pace with
+big, uneasy steps about the room.
+
+"Will we," he said to himself, "however, remain amidst these
+convulsions, waves, and whirlwinds? Whirlpools? Whirlpools!--and of
+sand! Sand is burying the whole of Poland and transforming her into a
+wilderness, on which jackals live. If this is so, then it would be best
+to put a bullet in the head.--I am curious as to what Gronski would say
+to this--but lightning has struck his head and it is of no use to speak
+to him.--We are lost past all help? That is untrue! Beneath these
+whirlpools which are whirling upon the surface of our life is something
+which Swidwicki did not perceive. There is more than elsewhere, for
+there is a bottomless depth of suffering. There plainly is not in the
+world greater misfortune than ours. With us the people awake in the
+morning and follow the plough in the field, go to the factory, to the
+offices, behind the benches in the shops, and all manner of labor--in
+pain. They go to sleep in pain. That suffering is as boundless as the
+expanse of the sea while the whirlpools are but ripples upon that
+expanse. And why do we suffer thus? Of course, we might, at once,
+to-morrow, breathe more freely and be happier. It would be sufficient
+for every one to say to Her, that Poland, of whom Swidwicki says that
+she is perishing, 'Too much dost Thou pain me, too much dost Thou
+vex me; therefore I renounce Thee and from this day wish to forget
+Thee.'--And nevertheless nobody says that; not even such a Swidwicki,
+who prevaricated when he said it is all one to him; not even they who
+throw bombs, and murder sisters and brothers!--And if it is so that we
+prefer to suffer than renounce Her, then where are the jackals and
+where is Her destruction? Jackals seek carrion, not suffering! So She
+lives in every one of us, in all of us together, and will survive all
+the whirlpools in the world. And we will set our teeth and will
+continue to suffer for Thee, Mother, and we--and if God so wills
+it,--and our children and grandchildren will not renounce neither Thee
+nor hope."
+
+Here Szremski was touched by his own thoughts, but dawn brightened his
+countenance. He found an answer to the question which Swidwicki thrust
+into his soul. Walking, he began to repeat: "For nothing, nobody would
+consent to suffer thus." After which it occurred to his mind that to
+suffer for Her was not yet sufficient, for he began to rub his hands
+and turn up his rumpled sleeves, as if he wanted at once to do some
+important and urgent work. But, after a while, he observed that he was
+in the hotel, so he smiled, with his sincere, peculiar smile, and said
+aloud:
+
+"Ha! It cannot be helped. To-morrow I must return to my hole and push
+the wheelbarrow along."
+
+And suddenly he sighed:
+
+"To my solitary hole."
+
+After which, he, himself, not knowing why, recollected what Swidwicki
+had told him about the breaking of Krzycki's matrimonial engagement,
+and his thoughts, like winged birds, began to fly to Zalesin.
+
+
+
+                               FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: "Even bird's milk is not lacking," a Polish proverbial
+expression signifying "abundance," "living in clover."]
+
+[Footnote 2: "On the thief's head the cap burns:" a Polish
+proverb meaning that persons, conscious of guilt, always fear
+detection.--Translator.]
+
+[Footnote 3: "Sprinkled his eyes with poppy:" proverbial expression
+denoting "lulled to sleep."--Translator.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Kilinski was one of the bravest and most popular
+heroes who fought under Kosciuszko. He was a shoe-maker by
+trade.--Translator.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Bigos: a Polish dish of hashed meat and
+cabbage.--Translator.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Peter Skarga was the most famous pulpit orator in the
+history of Poland.--Translator.]
+
+[Footnote 7: "Poland is not yet lost."]
+
+[Footnote 8: Referring to the Sacred Fire of pagan Lithuanians.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Mamalyga, a kind of porridge in Bessarabia, made
+principally of corn.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Piast; the name of the first King of Poland, who was a
+peasant.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, the last king of
+Poland.]
+
+[Footnote 12: "Skubanka," a pun upon the word, "skubac," to pluck.]
+
+[]
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+                         _THE ZAGLOBA ROMANCES_
+                _by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from
+                    the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin_.
+
+                          WITH FIRE AND SWORD
+An Historical Novel of Poland and Russia. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. $1.50
+_net_.
+
+The first of the famous trilogy of historical romances of Poland,
+Russia, and Sweden. Their publication has been received as an event in
+literature. Charles Dudley Warner, in  _Harper's Magazine_,  affirms
+that the Polish author has in Zagloba  _given a new creation to
+literature_.
+
+_A capital story_.  The only modern romance with which it can be
+compared for fire, sprightliness, rapidity of action, swift changes,
+and absorbing interest is "The Three Musketeers" of Dumas.--_New York
+Tribune_.
+
+
+                               THE DELUGE
+
+An Historical Novel  of  Poland, Sweden, and Russia. A Sequel to "With
+Fire and Sword." With map. 2 vols. Crown 8vo. $3.00 _net_.
+
+Marvellous in its grand descriptions.--_Chicago Inter-Ocean_.
+
+Has the humor of a Cervantes and the grim vigor of Defoe.--_Boston
+Gazette_.
+
+
+                              PAN MICHAEL
+
+An Historical Novel of Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine. A Sequel to
+"With Fire and Sword" and "The Deluge." Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+The interest of the trilogy, both historical and romantic, is
+splendidly sustained.--_The Dial_,  Chicago.
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+                  LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers
+                         Boston, Massachusetts
+
+
+                               QUO VADIS
+
+A Narrative of the Time of Nero. By Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from
+the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+One of the greatest books of our day.--_The Bookman_.
+
+The book is like a grand historical pageant.--_Literary World_.
+
+Of intense interest to the whole Christian civilization--_Chicago
+Tribune_.
+
+Interest never wanes; and the story is carried through its many phases
+of conflict and terror to a climax that enthralls.--_Chicago Record_.
+
+As a study of the introduction of the gospel of love into the pagan
+world typified by Rome, it is marvellously fine.--_Chicago Interior_.
+
+The picture here given of life in Rome under the last of the Cæsars is
+one of unparalleled power and vividness.--_Boston Hom. Journal_.
+
+One of the most remarkable books of the decade. It burns upon the brain
+the struggles and triumphs of the early church.--_Boston Daily
+Advertiser_.
+
+It will become recognized by virtue of its own merits as the one heroic
+monument built by the modern novelist above the ruins of decadent Rome,
+and in honor of the blessed martyrs of the early Church.--_Brooklyn
+Eagle_.
+
+Our debt to Sienkiewicz is not less than our debt to his translator
+and friend, Jeremiah Curtin. The diversity of the language, the rapid
+flow of thought, the picturesque imagery of the descriptions are all
+his.--_Boston Transcript_.
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+
+                  LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
+                         BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                        THE KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS
+
+An Historical Romance of Poland and Germany. By Henryk Sienkiewic.
+Translated from the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin. Illustrated. Crown 8vo.
+$2.00 _net_.
+
+The greatest work Sienkiewicz has given us.--_Buffalo Express_.
+
+It seems superior even to "Quo Vadis" in strength and realism.--_The
+Churchman_.
+
+The construction of the story is beyond praise. It is difficult
+to conceive of any one who will not pick the book up with
+eagerness.--_Chicago Evening Post_.
+
+There are some scenes in the book that for power and excitement
+remind one of the great encounter between Ursus and the bull in "Quo
+Vadis."--_Minneapolis Tribune_.
+
+Vivid, dramatic, and vigorous.... His imaginative power, his command of
+language, and the picturesque scenes he sets combine to fascinate the
+reader.--_Philadelphia Bulletin_.
+
+A book that holds your almost breathless attention as in a vise from
+the very beginning, for in it love and strife, the most thrilling of
+all worldly subjects, are described masterfully.--_The Boston Journal_.
+
+Another remarkable book. His descriptions are tremendously effective;
+one can almost hear the sound of the carnage; to the mind's eye the
+scene of battle is unfolded by a master artist.--_The Hartford
+Courant_.
+
+Thrillingly dramatic, full of strange local color and very faithful to
+its period, besides having that sense of the mysterious and weird that
+throbs in the Polish blood and infects alike their music and
+literature.--_The St. Paul Globe_.
+
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+
+                  LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
+                         BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                      _OTHER NOVELS AND ROMANCES_
+                _by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from_
+                    _the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin_.
+
+
+                          CHILDREN OF THE SOIL
+
+Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+It must be reckoned among the finer fictions of our time, and shows its
+author to be almost as great a master in the field of the domestic
+novel as he had previously been shown to be in that of imaginative
+historical romances.--_The Dial_, Chicago.
+
+
+                        HANIA, AND OTHER STORIES
+
+With portrait. Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+At the highest level of the author's genius.--_The Outlook_.
+
+
+                       SIELANKA, A FOREST PICTURE
+
+And Other Stories. With frontispiece. Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+They exhibit the masterly genius of Sienkiewicz even better than his
+longer romances. They abound in fine character-drawings and beautiful
+descriptions.--_Chicago Inter-Ocean_.
+
+
+                         ON THE FIELD OF GLORY
+
+An Historical Romance of Poland in the Reign of King John Sobieski.
+12mo. cloth. $1.50 _net_.
+
+
+                             WITHOUT DOGMA
+
+A Novel of Modern Poland. (Translated from the Polish by Iza Young.)
+Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+A human document read in the light of a great imagination.--_Boston
+Beacon_.
+
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+
+                  LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
+                         BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Whirlpools, by Henryk Sienkiewicz
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+<title>Whirlpools: A Novel of Modern Poland</title>
+<meta name="Author" content="Henryk Sienkiewicz">
+<meta name="Translator" content="Max A. Drezmal">
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+<meta name="Date" content="1910">
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Whirlpools, 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: Whirlpools
+       A Novel of Modern Poland
+
+Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
+
+Translator: Max A. Drezmal
+
+Release Date: September 15, 2011 [EBook #37426]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHIRLPOOLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Notes:<br>
+1. Page scan source:<br>
+http://www.archive.org/details/whirlpoolsnovelo00sien
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>WHIRLPOOLS</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<table cellpadding="20" style="border:4px solid black; width:50%; margin-left:25%">
+<tr><td>
+<h3>THE WORKS OF<br>
+HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ.</h3>
+
+<hr class="W10">
+
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">Whirlpools</span></p>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">&quot;Quo Vadis&quot;</span></p>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">With Fire and Sword</span></p>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">The Deluge</span></p>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">Pan Michael</span></p>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">Children of the Soil</span></p>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">Hania, and Other Stories</span></p>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">Sielanka, a Forest Picture and Other Stories</span></p>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">The Knights of the Cross</span></p>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">Without Dogma</span></p>
+<p class="continue"><span class="sc">On the Field of Glory</span></p>
+</td></tr></table>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<h1>WHIRLPOOLS</h1>
+
+<h3>A Novel of Modern Poland</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<h5>BY</h5>
+
+<h3>HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ</h3>
+
+<h5>Author of &quot;With Fire and Sword,&quot; &quot;The Deluge,&quot;<br>
+&quot;Quo Vadis,&quot; &quot;Children of the Soil,&quot;<br>
+&quot;Without Dogma,&quot; Etc.</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h4><i>TRANSLATED FROM THE POLISH BY</i></h4>
+<h3>MAX A. DREZMAL</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>BOSTON:
+
+LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
+
+1910.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<<p class="center" style="margin-bottom:5pt"><i>Copyright, 1910</i>,<br>
+
+<span class="sc">By Little, Brown, and Company</span></p>
+<hr style="width:5%; color: black">
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-top:5pt"><i>All rights reserved</i>.</p>
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<p class="center">Published June, 1910</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h5>THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h1>WHIRLPOOLS.</h1>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>PART FIRST.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>I</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski arrived at the Jastrzeb manor-house about midnight. In the
+house all were asleep excepting an old servant and the young heir,
+Ladislaus Krzycki, who awaited his guest with supper and greeted him
+with great cordiality, for notwithstanding the disparity in their ages
+they were bound by ties of an old intimacy. It continued from those
+days when Gronski, as a university student, surrounded with a tutelary
+friendship the youthful Krzycki, who was attending the gymnasium. Later
+they met frequently and the closer friendly relations between Gronski
+and the Krzycki family did not undergo any interruption.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Therefore when, after the first greetings, they repaired to the
+dining-room the young heir of Jastrzeb again began to embrace Gronski.
+After a while, having seated him at the table, he shook from his eyes
+the remnants of drowsiness which had oppressed him, became thoroughly
+animated, and said with sincere happiness:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How immensely fortunate I am that at last we have you at Jastrzeb; and
+Mother, how she has been expecting you! I, whenever I am in Warsaw,
+always begin with you, but a year has passed since your last visit
+here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski inquired about Pani Krzycki's health and that of the younger
+members of the household, after which he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is, indeed, strange that I have not been out in the country, not
+only with you but elsewhere. In summer time they dispatch me every year
+to Carlsbad, and after Carlsbad one strays somewhere in the west.
+Besides, in Warsaw matters are now seething as in a caldron, and it is
+difficult to tear one's self from all this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The conversation, which started with a lengthy discussion of public
+affairs, was afterwards turned by Ladislaus towards private matters:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did you,&quot; he said, &quot;besides the notification of the death of Uncle
+Zarnowski, receive a letter from Mother? I ask for this reason: I
+mailed first the notification, and later in the day Mother decided to
+write the letter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I received both and for that reason I am here. I tell you candidly I
+would not come merely to attend your uncle's funeral. It is true that a
+year ago, when he was in Warsaw for medical treatment, we dined
+together for several months at the same club, but that was all; though
+people were astonished that such a misanthrope, who avoided everybody,
+did not somehow run away from me. How were your relations? Were they
+cool to the end?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Rather, there were none. He would not receive anybody and did not wish
+to see any one, not even his parish-priest. Extreme unction was
+administered by the Canon of Olchowa. When he became seriously ill, we
+visited him in Rzeslewo, but he received us with blunt discourtesy.
+Mother did not mind it and repeated her visits, though at times he was
+disagreeable towards her. As for myself, I confess that I did not call
+there again until he was in a very critical state.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did he leave a large estate?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Rzeslewo is a huge patch of that kind of soil in which you can
+anywhere plant at least onions. There is not one copper coin of
+indebtedness. At one time Uncle had a house in Warsaw, to which he
+removed the entire equipment from Rzeslewo, which was not, by any
+means, despicable. We thought that he would reside permanently in the
+city, but he later sold everything; from which I infer he must have
+left funds. Some, as is customary with people who are fond of
+exaggeration, say hundreds of thousands. The Lord only knows. But this
+much is certain: he inherited a great deal from his brothers. I do not
+know whether you have ever heard that there were three of them. One
+perished, while yet a student, in a duel at Dorpat; the other died,
+also young, from typhoid fever, and Uncle Adam got everything they
+left.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is said that he lived very poorly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He stayed a great deal in Warsaw and abroad for his health. How he
+lived there I do not know, but, after his return to Rzeslewo, very
+wretchedly. I think, however, that this was more due to whimsicality
+than to greed, for he was not greedy. You would not believe how that
+manor appeared; how everything was denuded and abandoned. In every room
+the roof was leaky, and if some unexpected guests or unknown relatives
+arrive for the funeral, I will have to invite them to Jastrzeb, for
+there I would not know where to house them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you know of any other relatives?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, there are Pani Otocka and her sister; also Dolhanski, who
+undoubtedly will come, and ourselves. I have not heard of others,
+though in all probability they will be found, as in Poland everybody is
+related. Mother insists that we are the nearest, but, to tell the
+truth, we are not very close; as the deceased was a distant cousin of
+Mother's.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And Pani Otocka and Panna Marynia?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Better ask Mother about that; yesterday for an hour she was expounding
+to me as to who was born to whom; what he was to whom; whom did who's
+sister marry, and what was who's relation to the deceased. I could not
+grasp it all. Those ladies will be here to-morrow at one o'clock, and
+with them an English lady, their friend.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know; they told me about that in Warsaw, not knowing that they would
+chance upon the funeral. But that English lady speaks Polish almost as
+well as we do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What? How is that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Her father owned a factory in which he employed many Polish workmen.
+The young lady, while a child, had a Polish nurse, and later some
+emigrant taught her Polish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And that she should care for it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Among the English people you will find many odd characters, and this
+Mr. Anney was an odd character in this respect, that he could, like
+Lord Dudley, select for his heraldic device: '<i>Causas non fata
+sequor</i>,' because, like him, he also loved Poland, Polish history, and
+the Poles. The workmen were sometimes turbulent and caused him much
+annoyance, but this did not dishearten him. He established schools for
+them, procured priests, took charge of the orphans, etc.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That was a righteous man. But Miss Anney, is she pretty?--young?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;About Pani Otocka's age--a year younger or older--and they are very
+fond of each other. How long is it since you have seen Pani Otocka and
+Marynia?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is six years. Pani Otocka was not yet married and Panna Marynia
+Zbyltowska was a girl, perhaps ten years old, in short dresses. I well
+remember her because even then she played the violin and was regarded
+as a child-wonder. My mother drew nearer to them last summer in Krynica
+and has become extraordinarily captivated with them. She insisted that
+this winter I should renew their acquaintance, but they left Warsaw for
+the winter. Even then she commanded me to invite them in my own name to
+Jastrzeb, and a few days before the death of Uncle, she wrote to them
+to come for a lengthy visit. Day before yesterday we received a
+dispatch that they will come. You are on intimate terms with them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, on intimate and very sincere terms,&quot; answered Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because I wanted to speak with you a little about them, but the hour
+is late and you are after a journey. Perhaps it would be better to
+defer it until to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I slept on the train and it is not far from the station to your place.
+Besides, I have the bad habit of not retiring to sleep before two
+o'clock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus' countenance bore slight traces of perplexity. He poured out
+for himself a glass of wine, drank it, and then said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The matter is somewhat delicate. I am certain that Mother has
+concocted some scheme. Perhaps she may have written to you about this
+and, if not, she will speak about it, because she is much concerned
+about your opinion, and in a certain contingency will ask your
+assistance. Several times she incidentally spoke about your influence
+with Pani Otocka. I believe that you have influence with everybody, not
+excluding my mother. For that reason I would like to ask a favor of
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski glanced at the young nobleman and afterwards at the servant, as
+if he wanted to say: &quot;Why is this witness here?&quot; Ladislaus understood
+and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He is very deaf, so we can speak quite freely. He wheezes because he
+has the asthma.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Afterwards he continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mother for the past two years has been bent upon my getting married,
+so she bustles about, writes voluminous letters, and sends me every
+winter to Warsaw, and I am certain that last summer she was in Krynica
+not so much for her own health, which, God be praised, she preserves so
+well, but to look over the young ladies and make a selection. And there
+these cousins of mine have so bewitched her that she returned, as I
+surmise, with a prepared project.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I must give you warning,&quot; interrupted Gronski, &quot;that so far as Panna
+Marynia is concerned you are building an edifice upon ice, as in the
+first place she is but sixteen; and again she will, at the end of
+autumn, return to the conservatory in Brussels; and thirdly her whole
+soul is wrapped up in her violin and in all probability will always
+remain there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May it stay there. You say 'you are building,' but I not only am not
+building, but would prefer that Mother would not build, as it will be
+unpleasant for her. After all, my dear mother is the most upright soul
+in the world, and beyond doubt all she desires is that I should have a
+good and estimable woman for a wife; but I would prefer that my future
+spouse should not resemble too much a Grecian statue.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well then?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well then, Panna Marynia is not involved but only an ideal and, at the
+same time, a warm young widow: to which arrangement I cannot by any
+means assent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will answer with a Lithuanian anecdote, according to which an old
+woman, to a peasant's assertion that he did not fear the master,
+replied, 'Because thou hast never seen him.' Likewise, you have never
+seen Pani Otocka, or have forgotten how she looks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Ladislaus repeated:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not for the world, even if she looked like a sacred painting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then perhaps you love another?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, you yourself tormented me last winter about Panna Rose
+Stabrowska, and I admit that she has made an impression upon my heart.
+But I did not permit myself to fall in love with her, because I know
+her parents would not give her to me. I am not and will not be rich
+enough for them. For that reason I escaped from Warsaw before the close
+of the carnival. I did not wish to envenom with vain feeling my life or
+hers, if she should love me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But in case of a will in your favor? Would you not rush into the smoke
+like a Uhlan of old? Is it not true?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Most assuredly; but as I cannot depend upon that, and as that will not
+happen, there is no necessity of talking further about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You spoke, however, of asking a favor of me. In what can I serve you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I wanted to beg you not to fortify my mother in her designs as to Pani
+Otocka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How queer you are! Why, when your mother perceives your disinclination
+towards her, she will banish the thought.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, but there will remain a little regret for herself and for me. A
+person is always disappointed when his plans miscarry, and Mother is so
+eternally worried, though often without reason, because, after all, no
+ruin is threatening us. But she has so much confidence in your judgment
+that if you will explain to her that it is better to abandon those
+thoughts, she will abandon them. However, you will have to contrive it
+so that it will appear to her that she herself came to that conclusion.
+I know you can do it, and I rely upon your friendship.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear Laudie,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;in these affairs I have less
+experience, and therefore less judgment, than the first female neighbor
+on the border of your estate. In your mother's letter there appears,
+word for word, the same expression: 'I rely upon your friendship.' In
+view of this, there remains only one thing to do, and that is not to
+meddle in the affair at all,--especially as I will candidly state to
+you that I entertain for Pani Otocka no less friendship than I do for
+you. Considering the matter from another light, it is peculiar that we
+should speak of Pani Otocka without considering her. It is allowable
+for your mother to believe that every woman, if you would but stretch
+out your hand towards her, would grab it with alacrity; but not for
+you. For you renounce things in such a way as if everything depended
+upon you, and I assure you that it is not so, and that if Pani Otocka
+should ever decide to marry, she will be exceedingly particular in her
+choice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are perfectly right,&quot; answered Krzycki, &quot;but I am not, of course,
+so foolish or so vain as to imagine that the whole thing depends upon
+me. If I have expressed myself in an unsuitable manner, it is because I
+thought only of Mother and myself and not at all of Pani Otocka. All
+that I care about is that Mother should not urge me to seek her hand,
+as I conjecture I might, after all, get the mitten.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski scanned the shapely figure of the youth and answered with a
+certain benevolent petulance:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is well, although I do not know whether you are talking
+sincerely; for men like you, the deuce knows why, have great luck with
+women and they know it perfectly well. What have you against Pani
+Otocka? Why, you hardly know her. Let me tell you that both of those
+ladies are of such high quality as you rarely find.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I believe it, I believe it; but, in the first place, Pani Otocka is
+fully three years younger than myself, which means that she is
+twenty-four, and yet she is a widow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you have a prejudice against widows?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I confess that I have. Let matrimony give me everything that it can
+possibly give, but a marriage with a widow will not give me all that. A
+widow!--To think that every word which the maiden blushingly and with
+palpitating heart whispers, the widow has already told to some one
+else: and that which in a maid is, as it were, a sacrifice to love, in
+a widow is but a repetition. No, I thank you, for a flower which
+somebody else has previously plucked. Good fortune is not inherited
+with a heritage, nor procured at second hand. Let not only matrimony,
+but also love, give me all they can give, and, if not, then I prefer
+remaining an old bachelor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear,&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;between the heart and a bag of money
+there is, however, a vast difference. Money, after you once part with
+it, you have no more, but the heart is a living organism which
+regenerates and creates new forces.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That may be,--in every case, however, the memory of the past remains.
+Finally, I am not enunciating any general theories, but merely my
+personal views. Plainly, I could not love a widow and I do want to love
+my wife, even though slightly. Otherwise what enjoyment would I have in
+life? A rural estate? Good! I am an agriculturist and I agree to plough
+and sow until death. But whoever imagines that this will give peace and
+happiness, simply has no conception of the load of care, bitterness,
+affliction, deception, self reproach, and strife with the bad will of
+mankind and nature which one must endure. There are, it is true,
+brighter moments, but far oftener one must defend himself against
+downright loathsomeness. Now I want at least this: that I shall return
+willingly home from the field or barn; that in the home there shall
+await me fresh, rosy, and tempting cheeks which I crave to kiss, and
+eyes into which I would long to gaze. I want to have some one on whom I
+can bestow all that is best in me. I speak of this, not as one who is
+infatuated with the romantic, but as a sober man who can keep accounts
+of expenditures and receipts, not only in husbandry but also in life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski thought that in reality every matured masculine life should
+bear two faces; one with wrinkled brow, expressive of intense mental
+strain, turned towards the problems of humanity, and the other calm and
+peaceable at the fireside in the home.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; he said, &quot;I would be delighted with such a home as a refuge from
+care and in it 'fresh, rosy and tempting cheeks' as an attraction.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus, in his laughter, displayed his sound, shining teeth and
+answered joyously:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, how it does delight me! the soul almost squeaks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And they both began to laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;one must be lucky enough to find that and
+courageous enough to win.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To Krzycki there suddenly came the recollection of a certain ball in
+Warsaw; of Panna Rose Stabrowska, her pensive eyes, and her white,
+half-childlike shoulders protruding from the net-lace like watery foam.
+He therefore sighed quietly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sometimes,&quot; he said, &quot;courage also is necessary to bridle one's self.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the chamber for an interval could be heard only the measured
+tick-tack of the cumbrous clock and the wheezing of the asthmatic
+servant, who dozed, leaning against the sideboard.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The hour was late, Gronski rose and, having roused himself from a
+momentary revery, said, as if speaking to himself:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And those ladies will be here to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Afterwards he added with a touch of sadness:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, at your age it is not permissible to bridle one's self.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>II</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The ladies did actually arrive at Jastrzeb the next day about noon,
+followed immediately afterwards by Dolhanski, who did not, however, see
+them on the road, because at the station he became occupied entirely
+with the receipt of the baggage and therefore arrived in a separate
+conveyance. The guests did not find Krzycki at home. As the burden of
+the funeral, and all cares connected with it, fell upon him, he left an
+hour earlier for Rzeslewo. The obsequies were to take place at three
+o'clock. Ladislaus' mother arrived at the Rzeslewo church with Pani
+Otocka, Panna Marynia, and their friend Miss Anney. In the second
+carriage Gronski and Dolhanski came, while the third and last one
+brought the younger members of the Krzycki family,--eleven-year-old
+Anusia and Stas, who was a year younger, together with their French
+instructress and the tutor, Laskowicz. Pani Krzycki reminded her son of
+his feminine relatives and introduced him to Miss Anney, but he barely
+had time to bow and cast a glance at her when he was summoned away on
+some matter relating to the final funeral arrangements. Alighting from
+the carriage, the ladies could scarcely press their way into the
+church, although an effort was made to clear a path for them, for in
+the church and adjacent enclosure an unusual throng held sway. The
+greater landed gentry were represented in extremely scant numbers, as
+the deceased Zarnowski did not associate with any one, and besides
+Jastrzeb, Gorek, and Wiatrak, did not visit any of the manors in the
+neighborhood. In their place, the Rzeslewo peasantry appeared as one
+man, with their wives and children. The reason for this was that from
+some unknown source and for some inexplicable reason, a rumor
+circulated among them that the deceased had bequeathed to them his
+entire fortune. Quite a number stood outside the church fence, and
+their loud voices and anxious faces indicated the impression which the
+rumor of the bequest had made upon them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After chanted vigils and a sufficiently long mass, white surpliced
+priests, preceded by a cross, appeared at the church doorway. After
+them the coffin was borne. The hearse stood ready to receive the
+remains, but peasants, in implicit faith of the bequest, lifted it upon
+their shoulders to carry to the cemetery, which was a verst distant and
+in which was located the tomb of the Zarnowskis. Gronski gave his arm
+to Pani Krzycki, Dolhanski to Pani Otocka, while the duty of escorting
+the light-haired Miss Anney fell to Krzycki. After an interval, the
+funeral cortege slowly proceeded in the direction of the cemetery.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From under the shade of church lindens it soon advanced upon the
+field-road, flooded with sunshine, and extended itself in a long line.
+At the head went the priests; after them the coffin, swung high up on
+the shoulders of the peasants; the relatives and guests followed, and
+after them came swarms of gay peasant national dresses and feminine
+handkerchiefs gaudily spotted with yellow and red colors, which
+glaringly contrasted with the green, sprouting spring corn. Church
+flags, with skulls and pictures of saints, floated heavily in the
+golden air and at times heaved with a flap when assailed by the wind.
+In this manner, glistening in the sun, the crowd approached the poplars
+which shaded the cemetery. From time to time the chant of priests
+resounded, breaking out suddenly and with great sadness. Nearer the
+cemetery the peasants commenced the litany and gusts of wind seized
+these Polish and Latin songs and carried them with the odor of candles,
+which were continually blown out, and the scent of the drippings of the
+torches to the forests.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki, who escorted Miss Anney, observed that her hand, which rested
+upon his arm, trembled considerably. It occurred to him that she
+probably had tired it, holding her parasol on the road from Jastrzeb to
+Rzeslewo, and he paid no more attention to it. In the conviction that
+such a solemnity as a funeral exempted him from starting the usual
+social conversation, he walked in silence. He was fatigued and hungry.
+Disordered thoughts rushed into his head. He thought of his uncle,
+Zarnowski, of his inability to mourn for him, of the funeral, of his
+newly-arrived cousins, and of yesterday's conversation with Gronski.
+At times he would gaze, abstractedly, at the near by fields and
+half-consciously would note that the winter-corn on the fertile
+Rzeslewo soil, as well as the spring grain, gave promise of a bountiful
+harvest. After a certain time he recollected that it would be proper
+for him to devote a little more attention to his companion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Somehow, after a few stealthy glances, his curiosity, which thus far
+had been deadened by fatigue, hunger, and ill-humor, was awakened. The
+proximity of a woman, young and, as he observed, stately, began to
+affect him. It seemed strange to him in the first place that he was
+conducting over the Rzeslewo highway an Englishwoman, who came, the
+Lord knew from where; that a short while before he was unacquainted
+with her and at present felt the warmth of her arm and hand. He
+observed also that her hand, tightly incased in a glove, though
+shapely, was not at all small; and he thought that the reasons for this
+were the English sports--tennis, rowing, archery, and the like. &quot;Our
+Polish women,&quot; he thought, &quot;look differently.&quot; Under the influence of
+these reflections upon English sports, it seemed to him that from this
+quaintly attired form some peculiar power, healthiness, and energy
+emanated. His companion began to interest him more and more. Leading
+her on his arm, he could see only her profile, upon which he bestowed
+increased attention. As a consequence of more exact observation, his
+curiosity intensified. In the first moments he conceded only that she
+was a comely and buxom person, but later he soliloquized in this
+fashion: &quot;How vastly more stately and, sincerely speaking, more
+beautiful she is than Pani Otocka or that child, whose dresses reach to
+her ankles and whose soul, as Gronski says, is in the violin!&quot; But
+this, however, was not the strict truth, for Pani Otocka, a slender
+brunette with the expression of a blonde, was of a type more exquisite
+and racial, and the &quot;child&quot; had a countenance simply angelic. But at
+that particular moment, if a secret ballot had been taken upon this
+question, Krzycki, owing perhaps to his opposition to his mother's
+designs, would have cast his vote for Miss Anney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a certain time, it seemed to him that Miss Anney also was casting
+stealthy glances at him. He determined to catch her in the act and
+looked at her more openly. And then he saw something which astonished
+him in the highest degree. On the cheeks of the young Englishwoman tear
+after tear coursed. Her lips were compressed as if she desired to
+stifle her impressions and her hand, supported on his arm, did not
+cease to tremble.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Either this is affected sensibility,&quot; Krzycki thought, &quot;or else her
+English nerves are jangled. Why the deuce should she weep over a man
+whom she never saw in her life? Unless it reminded her of her father's
+burial or that of some near relative?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney did not look at all like a person with jangled nerves.
+Somehow, after a time, her emotion passed. She began to gaze with
+particular interest and attention upon the throng of people, the
+neighborhood, the fields, and the distant fringe of the forest as if
+she desired to retain them all permanently in her memory.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She should have taken a kodak with her,&quot; thought Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They were already not far from the cemetery gates. But in the meanwhile
+a wind stronger than the former gusts broke loose. It swept suddenly
+across the field of sprouting grain, raised a cloud of dust on the
+highway, snuffed out the mendicant candles which were not extinguished
+before, and entwined Krzycki's neck with Miss Anney's long boa.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She relinquished his arm and, freeing him from his ties, said in Polish
+with an almost imperceptible foreign accent:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I beg your pardon. The wind--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is nothing,&quot; answered Ladislaus. &quot;Perhaps you would prefer to
+take a carriage, for the squalls are breaking out more frequently.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, thank you,&quot; she replied; &quot;I believe we are near the cemetery. I
+will walk alone, because I must hold my boa and dress.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">During this conversation they stood opposite each other for a moment
+and, although that moment was brief, Ladislaus made a new discovery.
+Not only did he confirm his previous opinion that Miss Anney was, in
+reality, very beautiful and had an extraordinarily transparent
+complexion, set off with light hair, but above all else that her blue
+eyes did not radiate with two separate beams, but rather with a single,
+gentle, blue, slightly misty, soulful light. He was unable to explain
+to himself in what lay the distinct and peculiar charm of that look,
+but he felt it perfectly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime, they reached the cemetery. A short prayer detained all
+at the gates, after which the funeral cortege moved between the
+poplars, swung by the winds, and crosses overgrown by luxuriant grass
+on the mounds, under which slept the Rzeslewo peasantry. The Zarnowski
+tomb stood in the centre. In its front walls could be seen an opening,
+knocked out for the reception of a new member of the family. At the
+side there were two masons, with whitened aprons, having at their feet
+prepared cement and a pile of new bricks. The coffin was placed upon
+the sand near the opening and the priests began a long chant over it.
+Their voices rose and then fell, like waves, in a rolling and dreamy
+rhythm, which was accompanied by the roar of the poplars, the flapping
+of the flags in the air, and the hum of prayers uttered, as if
+mechanically, by the peasants. Then the parish-priest of Rzeslewo began
+a discourse. As he did not live on good terms with the deceased, he
+commended his soul to the divine mercy rather than praised him. About
+could be seen the faces of the Zarnowski relatives, grave and
+appropriately grouped for the occasion, but no grief, not a tear. They
+were rather indifferent, with an expression of expectancy, and even
+tedium. The coffin appeared to be only awaiting the close of the rites,
+as if it was anxious to enter that vault and darkness, for which it was
+appropriately designed. In the meantime, after the sermon, songs began
+to ring. At moments they subsided, and then could be heard only the
+revelry of wind among the poplars. At last a high voice, as if
+startled, intoned &quot;requiem aeternam&quot; and fell suddenly like a pillar of
+dust twirled by the storm; and after a momentary silence &quot;eternal
+repose,&quot; full of solace, resounded and the ceremony was over.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the coffin they threw a few handfulls of sand, and then pushed it
+into the opening which the masons began to wall up, laying brick upon
+brick and coating them with mortar. The barrier, which was to forever
+separate Zarnowski from the world and light, grew with each moment.
+Groups of peasants slowly left the cemetery. Two female neighbors from
+Gorek, a Pani Wlocek, an old and pathetic dame, and her daughter, who
+was not young, approached Pani Krzycki and felt it incumbent upon them
+to offer a &quot;few words of consolation,&quot; which nobody expected and which
+were absolutely unnecessary. Gronski began to converse with Ladislaus:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Observe,&quot; he quietly said, looking at the work of the masons, &quot;yet a
+few more bricks and then, as Dante says, 'Aeterna silenza.' No sorrow,
+not a tear; no one will ever come here expressly for him. Something
+similar awaits me, and you remember that thus they bury old bachelors.
+Your mother is quite right in wanting to have you married.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To tell the truth,&quot; answered Krzycki, &quot;the deceased was not only an
+old bachelor, but also was unsocial. But finally, is it not all the
+same?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;After death, certainly. But during life, when you think of it, it is
+not at all the same. This 'lust for posthumous grief' may be illogical
+and foolish, but nevertheless it exists.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whence does it come?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From an equally unwise desire to outlive self. Look, the work is
+finished and Zarnowski is sealed up. Let us go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the gates the rattle of the approaching carriages was heard. The
+party moved towards the exit. The ladies now were in the lead; after
+them the priests and guests walked, with the exception of Dolhanski,
+who was talking to the Englishwoman.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Suddenly Ladislaus turned to Gronski and asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is Miss Anney's Christian name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;While we are in the cemetery you might have thought of something else.
+Her Christian name is Agnes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A beautiful name.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In England it is quite common.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is she rich?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And that question you could defer to another time, but if you are in a
+hurry, ask Dolhanski. He knows those things best.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I ask you because I see him with her and hear him chattering in
+English.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, that is a play within a play! He is after Pani Otocka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Equally as old as it is fruitless. For it is yet difficult to
+ascertain with any exactness how much Miss Anney possesses, while the
+amount which the late Director Otocki left his wife is perfectly
+known.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have a hope that my beautiful cousin will give him the mitten.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Which would increase a beautiful collection. But tell me, what do you
+think of your cousins?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly--Pani Otocka--certainly--both have what the Galicians call
+'something ennobling.' But Panna Marynia is still quite a child.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski directed his eyes at the slim and slender figure walking before
+them and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is a child who could as well fly in the air as walk on earth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An aëroplane or what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I warn you that she is the object of my highest adoration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So I have heard. It is already known to all men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only they do not know that that adoration is not of a red color, but
+heavenly blue.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not understand that very well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When you are better acquainted with her you will understand me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki, who was more interested in Miss Anney, wanted to turn the
+conversation to her, but they passed the gates, before which the horses
+waited. The young man proceeded to assist the ladies to their seats, in
+which operation he saw directed towards himself for a moment the
+soulful eyes of the Englishwoman. Preparatory to her departure, his
+mother asked him whether he had finished his duties connected with the
+funeral and whether he would return immediately to Jastrzeb.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; he answered; &quot;I have made an arrangement with the parish-priest
+that he should permit me to invite the priests to the rectory, and I
+must entertain them there. But as soon as I greet them and eat
+something, I will excuse myself to the guests and return as soon as
+possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here he bowed to the ladies, after which he removed his hands from the
+carriage, cast a glance at the chestnut thill-horse to see if he did
+not overreach, and shouted:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Go ahead!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The carriage trundled over the road on which the funeral cortege had
+passed. Of the participants who were dressed in surtouts, besides
+Ladislaus, only Dolhanski remained. He felt that, as a relative of the
+deceased, it was also his duty to entertain the priests who officiated
+at the obsequies; and besides, he had other reasons which induced him
+to remain in Ladislaus' company.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They had barely settled in the britzska, when he began to look around
+among the peasants, who still stood here and there in groups, and then
+asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Where is the notary Dzwonkowski?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus smiled and replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He rode ahead with the priests, but to-night you will see him at
+Jastrzeb, for he invited himself there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So; then I regret that I did not return with the ladies. I wanted to
+wring from him some information regarding the will, and I thought that
+later that might not be possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Patience. The notary told me that the will is to be opened the day
+after to-morrow in his office and that we will have to drive over there
+for that purpose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I wished to know to-day whether it will be worth while for me to
+wait until to-morrow or the day after. If this precious uncle of ours
+has let us drift, as the saying is, upon a swift current of water, then
+Pani Wlocka was right in offering us words of consolation. I, at least,
+will need them for a long time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How can you talk that way?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am saying aloud what you all secretly think. I am very anxious about
+that will. I care more for Dzwonkowski at the present moment than for
+the entire terrestial globe together with the five parts of the world;
+and more particularly since I have seen that he brought a bundle of
+papers with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As to that you may rest at ease. He is the greatest musico-maniac that
+I have ever met. He worships Panna Marynia, with whom he became
+acquainted at Krynica. From Gronski I have learnt that in the moonlight
+sonata, in the Benois arrangement for the violin, he arranged the notes
+for the flute and sent them to her in Warsaw. Today he wants to see how
+they will go. Therefore he invited himself to Jastrzeb, and he brought
+with him, besides the sonata, a bundle of other notes. I assure you
+that he will not want to talk or speak of anything else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In that case, may the devils carry off Dzwonkowski's flute, Panna
+Marynia's violin, your Jastrzeb piano, and music in general.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On this Ladislaus looked at him spitefully and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be careful about our Jastrzeb piano, because if you hear a trio
+to-night, you will find Pani Otocka at the piano.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have a hope that it will be, at least, as much out of tune as I am
+at present and, in that case, I will not envy either her or the
+auditors. But I see that Gronski has filled you with idle gossip.
+Good! Unlike him, I do not have an old bachelor's hankering after
+boarding-house misses and I like young teals only on a platter. Let him
+feast his eyes with his Marynia; let him pray to her, but let him leave
+me alone. They all have gone crazy on music there, and are ready to
+infect you in Jastrzeb. Only Miss Anney does not play on anything, and
+has a little sense.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, Miss Anney does not play on anything?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. But that does not prevent her from playing, in a certain case,
+upon me or on you, but much more easily upon you than me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why more easily upon me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because I am that particular kind of instrument that wants to know in
+advance how much the concert will bring.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus, accustomed of old to Dolhanski's cynicism, shrugged his
+shoulders, but did not have time to reply as they had in the meantime
+arrived at the rectory.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>III</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Dolhanski, in fact, could not extract from the notary, anything but
+testy replies. Immediately after his reception at the rectory the old
+notary became very garrulous, but spoke with Ladislaus only about
+Marynia, for whom he had an unbounded admiration. At present he feared
+that Pani Krzycki might not consent to an evening musicale on the day
+of the funeral of a relative, and that fear did not cease to disturb
+him. Under this impression he began to demonstrate that music may as
+well be associated with death as with life; that impressive music
+always attends funerals, and that as mankind has not devised anything
+better than music, not even for the worship of God, therefore it may be
+taken for granted that music facilitates the flight of the soul to
+heaven, and even salvation. Ladislaus bit his mustache and, without
+qualification, concurred in this reasoning, knowing that the amiable
+old gentleman was wont to berate his opponents unmercifully. With this
+kind of talk, in which, to Dolhanski's great irritation, there was no
+mention of the will, they passed their time on the way to Jastrzeb.
+There they were served with tea. As the wind had subsided entirely
+before the setting sun and the evening was delightful, the ladies, with
+Gronski, were in the garden. When Ladislaus and his companions followed
+them, they found Pani Krzycki and Pani Otocka on the bank of the pond,
+while Miss Anney and Marynia were in a boat on the pond. A ruddy lustre
+permeated the whole air; the scent of elders, which grew near the
+water's edge, blended with the odor of the turf, duck-weed, and fish.
+The water was dark green on the border from alders and willows which
+hemmed it in, but in the centre, on the overflow, it was golden, with
+reflections of purple and peacock feathers. The boat floated towards
+the point, whose narrow girdle from the garden side served as a
+landing-place. Marynia sat in the middle of the boat, but Miss Anney,
+standing at the stern, manipulated it with a single oar, propelling and
+at the same time steering with uncommon skill. On the background of
+water and sky she loomed up from head to foot with strong and graceful
+form, her rounded bosom moving in unison with the movements of the oar.
+At moments she ceased to paddle and when the boat, gliding each moment
+more slowly, at last stood still upon the smooth water, there could be
+seen in the mirrored pellucidness another boat, another Marynia, and
+another Miss Anney. In this picture there was great pastoral calm. The
+lustre in the heavens grew ruddier as if the entire western world had
+been embraced in a conflagration. High above the pond, under the
+flaming cupola of heaven, strings of wild ducks appeared as if tied
+together by black crosses.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The trees stood motionless and the silence was broken only by the
+sounds of the windmill, coming from the direction of the dam.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a while Miss Anney touched shore. Gronski, who was anxious that
+his &quot;adoration&quot; should not wet her feet, hastened to assist her out of
+the boat, while the Englishwoman leaped unassisted upon the sand and,
+approaching the company, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How charming it is here in Jastrzeb!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because the weather is fine,&quot; said Ladislaus, drawing nearer.
+&quot;Yesterday it was cloudy, but to-night it is beautiful.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And having scanned the heavens, he, like a true husbandman, added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If it will continue thus, we will start mowing the hay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Miss Anney gazed at him, as if she discovered something unusual in
+the sounds of those words, and began to repeat them in the same fashion
+that one repeats words which he desires to firmly implant in the
+memory.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The hay--the hay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The party turned towards the house, which was being bleached, or rather
+rouged, amidst the lime-trees, conversing a little about the funeral
+and the late Zarnowski, but more about the village, the spring evening,
+and music. Pani Krzycki assured the newly-arrived ladies that in
+Jastrzeb before their arrival music was not wanting, as there were so
+many nightingales in the park that at times they would not let any one
+sleep. At this Gronski, who was a man of great erudition, began to
+discourse upon country life; that, in truth, it was, from time
+immemorial, considered the only real and normal life. He mentioned
+incidentally the Homeric Kings, &quot;who rejoiced in their hearts, counting
+sheaves with the sceptre,&quot; and various Roman poets. In conclusion he
+announced, as his opinion, that socialism will shatter to pieces upon
+agriculture and the soil, because it considers them only as a value,
+while they are also an affection, or, in other words, not only is a
+price placed upon them, but they are also loved. Men know what cares
+are coupled with country life, but in truth it is the only life they
+prize, as if in it &quot;even bird's milk was not lacking.&quot;<a name="div2Ref_01" href="#div2_01"><sup>[1]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">To Pani Krzycki, who, next to her children, loved, above everything
+else in the world, Jastrzeb, the words of Gronski appealed very
+convincingly, but Dolhanski, recalling a village he once owned and
+squandered, replied, drawling his words as usual:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bird's milk may not be lacking, but money is lacking. Besides, it is
+amusing to hear these eulogies upon country life pronounced by a rich
+man who could buy for himself a tract of land and settle in the
+country, but whom it is necessary to pull out of the city with hooks.&quot;
+Then addressing Gronski:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Apropos of your Homeric Kings, and with them your Virgils and Horaces,
+why, in their days there certainly were not such hotels on the Riviera
+and such clubs in Nice as at present.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But this observation was passed in silence, or rather it was
+interrupted by a musical passage intoned to Marynia in an old wooden
+voice by the notary who wanted in this manner to illustrate the
+junction of two phrases in Bruch's concerto. Afterwards various other
+phrases incessantly resounded until the party returned to the house.
+Gronski knew the mania of the old man and envied him for having found
+something in life which filled it out so completely for him. He was a
+highly educated dilettante, but had settled upon nothing permanently in
+life and did not consecrate all his spiritual powers to anything
+exclusively. This was partly due to his environment, and partly to his
+own fault. The profoundest essence of his soul was a sad scepticism.
+One of his friends, Kloczewski, called him &quot;an ecclesiastic in a
+dress-suit.&quot; Somehow, the final result of Gronski's meditation upon the
+future and human life, individual as well as collective, was the
+conviction that the future and the human life may, with time, become
+different, but never better. So he thought that it might be worth while
+not to spare efforts to make them sometime better, but it would not be
+worth while that they should be different only. This thought protected
+him, however, from the bordering pessimism, as he understood that the
+measure of happiness and misfortune rested not on the external, but in
+the man himself, and that as long as otherwise did not mean <i>better</i>,
+then by the same reasoning it did not also mean <i>worse</i>. At bottom he
+was persuaded that the one and the other were only a mistake and a
+delusion, and that everything, not excluding life, was one great
+vanity. In this manner, he revered, across the sea of ages, the true
+Ecclesia.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But, being at the same time a man of sentiment, he fell in a continual
+clash with himself, his sentiment always craving for something, while
+his sad scepticism iterated that it was not worth while to desire
+anything. His feelings were preyed upon by the thought that his views
+were in conflict with life, while life was an imperative necessity.
+Therefore, whoever with doubts corroded its roots injured humanity, and
+Gronski did not desire to injure anybody, much less his own people. For
+this reason the ecclesiastic, contending that all was vanity, wrangled
+within him, with the patriot who said, for instance, that national
+suffering was not in vain. But this state of affairs bred within him
+such incessant discord that he envied men of action who journey through
+life without any whys or wherefores, as well as people who absolutely
+succumb to one great feeling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the old notary and Marynia, such a great feeling was music; so that
+as often as Gronski saw them together, so often did he have before his
+eyes a living example that things do exist with which one can fill out
+his life from dawn until the last moments,--if only one does not
+subject them to a too close analysis.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>IV</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">At the supper the aged notary was occupied solely with music and
+Marynia. To the others, with the exception of the lady of the house,
+upon whom permission for the concert depended, he replied irascibly;
+especially to Dolhanski, who several times tried to elicit from him
+some information about the will. His angry and apoplectic face cleared
+up only after Pani Krzycki announced that she would have no objections
+to devoting the remainder of the evening to decorous music, and that
+she herself would be glad to listen to Marynia, whom she had not heard
+since the last charitable concert in Krynica.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Towards the close of the supper the old gentleman again began to get
+impatient, remarking that it was a pity to waste time in eating, and
+discussing even music, if light and frivolous, with profane individuals
+who had no conception of the real art. He became more interested after
+listening to the reasonings of Gronski, who began to talk about the
+origin of music and refute the Darwinian theory that songs and the
+sounds of the primitive string instruments arose in some misty era of
+the human race from the amorous declarations and calls of men and women
+in the forests. Gronski shared the opinion of those who against these
+views cited the fact that among the most savage tribes no traces of
+love-songs exist, but in their place are found war-songs and martial
+music. The theory of calling through the forests appeared to the ladies
+more poetical. Gronski placated them with the statement that this did
+not lessen the civilizing importance of music, that it, with the dance,
+was one of the first factors which promoted among the scattered tribes
+of men a certain organization.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Papuans,&quot; he said, &quot;who gather together for the performance of a
+war or ceremonial dance in accordance with the rhythm of even their
+wildest music, by that act alone submit to something, introduce some
+kind of order, and form the first social ties.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That means,&quot; observed Dolhanski, &quot;that every nation owes its origin to
+some primitive 'high-diddle-diddle, the cat and the fiddle.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course it is so,&quot; angrily answered the old notary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Afterwards turning to Gronski, he said: &quot;Please proceed. We can at
+least learn something.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, please proceed,&quot; repeated Marynia.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So Gronski began further to speak of the history of music; how through
+the entire course of ages it served war, ceremonies of state, as well
+as religious and secular, and how considerably later it outspread its
+own wings, on which it soars as at present, like an eagle, over the
+entire human race.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A strange art,&quot; he concluded; &quot;the most primitive; yet to-day resting
+more than any other upon science; the most precisely confined within
+certain technical requirements, as if bound by dams and dykes; yet the
+most illimitable, the most mystical; overflowing the borders of
+existence and life. Perhaps this gives it such incomprehensible power
+over the human soul; speaking the least expressive of tongues and at
+the same time the most idealistic. It is the most powerful spur to
+action. Yes, to the Polish regiments in the battle of Gravelotte the
+Prussian bands played 'Poland is not yet lost,' and everywhere you may
+behold the same. Play to the Frenchmen the 'Marseillaise,' the Germans
+'Wacht am Rhein,' how their hands begin to quiver! Even the eyes of
+phlegmatic Englishmen and Americans sparkle when they hear 'Rule
+Britania' or 'Yankee Doodle.' Strange art!--the most cosmopolitan and
+at the same time the most national,--universal and individual.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One thing you did not say and that is that of all arts it is the
+purest,&quot; added Pani Otocka.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Attempts have been made to illegitimatize it,&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;but
+licentiousness never can be rhythmical nor harmonical, and for that
+reason from these attempts there was born an antichrist of music.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Ladislaus, who was a trifle bored and would have preferred to talk
+with the light-haired Miss Anney, spoke out with the evident desire to
+close the discussion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, it is plain that not only every nation but every man has his own
+music. I, for instance, am always willing to hear a concert or an
+opera, but I admit, that when sometimes the boys and girls at work in
+the field sing until the pitchforks and harrows ring, that is the only
+music for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Slavonian, Lechite, Piast--come to my arms,&quot; drawled Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus blushed a little from fear that the young Englishwoman and
+his refined female relatives might judge him too rustical, but they
+glanced at him with a certain sympathy. Only the beard of the old
+classical notary drooped with his nose in a manner boding no good, and
+from his lips he mumbled a half-distinct grumble:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To some folks it is sufficient, when anything jingles in their ears.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But recollecting that it would not be agreeable to Pani Krzycki if
+caustic remarks were directed against her son, he cast an uneasy look
+at her and became silent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The supper was finished. The company went to the salon in which
+prevailed coolness and the slight scent of jasmine blown in from the
+garden by the light evening breezes before the windows were closed. In
+the glass doors appeared the big full moon, which but recently arose
+slowly in the heaven, still ruddy after a bath in the evening twilight.
+Pani Otocka sat at the piano; beside her the notary began to blow, as
+if with anger, into the flute; while behind them stood Marynia with a
+violin at her shoulder. Gronski with rapture gazed at her luxuriant
+dark hair; her peaceful, arched eyebrows under a forehead plainly
+immaculate; her small countenance; her slender, growing, childlike
+form, and thought that this sight alone would suffice for music, or at
+least that such a violinist might pass for its incarnation and symbol.
+Ladislaus, although he had previously enlisted in the ranks of the
+English faction, could not remove his eyes from her. After completing
+his university education, he had accompanied his mother on a journey to
+Italy. He visited various galleries and, though he lacked solid
+artistic culture, nevertheless the thought crossed his mind that this
+maiden with the bright and peaceful countenance, bending over the
+violin, might have served the old masters as a model for Saint Cecilia
+or for one of those angelic violin-players which he had seen in the
+paintings of Fra Angelico.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The other listeners, like Pani Krzycki, her children, the instructress,
+and Miss Anney, gazed at her as if at a miracle-working image. Only
+one, Laskowicz, young Stas' tutor, did not share in the general
+rapture. He was a medical student who, owing to the closing of the
+university, was earning money by teaching for the further pursuit of
+his studies, and he found himself, together with his inexorable hatred
+for the &quot;pampered&quot; of this world, like Pilate in Credo, in this country
+home. His convictions by this time were not a secret to anybody in
+Jastrzeb; he was tolerated, however, with that improvident indulgence
+of which the Polish nobility is only capable, upon the principle that
+&quot;the greatest radical must eat,&quot; and also in the hope that Stas was yet
+too young to be infected with the &quot;evil spirit&quot; by his tutor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To Laskowicz, when he looked at the gentle young lady, it seemed that
+she was a flower which grew higher than the hands of a proletaire could
+reach; therefore she was bred to the injury of the proletariat. This
+was sufficient for him to look on both sides with reluctance and a
+readiness to hate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But, in the meanwhile, the moment for beginning the concert had
+arrived. For some time Marynia had been drawing the bow over the
+chords, turning the ringlets of the violin, and passing her fingers
+over the notes, indicating something to her sister and the notary;
+afterwards silence ensued, interrupted only by the indistinct talk of
+the servants, assembled beyond the windows, who for the first time in
+their lives were to hear the young lady play on the violin.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>V</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The first chords of the moonlight sonata are sounded and a vision
+begins. Lo! a pale ray creeps stealthily through a crevice and touches
+the forehead of a sleeper, as if it wanted to arouse thought;
+afterwards the lips, as if it wished to waken words, and later the
+bosom, as if it desired to stir the heart. But the weary body slumbered
+in a heavy sleep. In its place the soul emerges from its embrace, like
+a butterfly from a cocoon, and flies into space. The night is bright
+and silent. Below, alders are dimly wrapped in muslin mists. On the
+sylvan meadows nymphs dance their rites, accompanied by the playing of
+a faun on a flute. About, stand with flaming azure eyes, stags, crowned
+with antlers. On the heath, glow-worms glimmer; on the moss,
+phosphorate toadstools, under whose canopies tiny elfs watch the
+gambols. From the decaying vegetation and fens rise Jack-o'-lanterns
+which flit about lightly and mysteriously, as if seeking something in
+vain. The moon ascends each moment higher and higher, and bounteous dew
+falls.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Over the vast fields rivers wind in silvery ribbons and tracks of the
+roadways can be seen leading to towns and castles. Through the narrow
+Gothic windows the moon's lustre invades silent castle-halls, where
+lurk the ghosts of dead knights and maidens. At the feet of the
+castles, cities slumber. In the calm light the roofs of houses whiten
+and crosses on the towers glitter. From the blossoming orchards, with
+the vapors rises the fragrance of flowers and grass. But lighter than
+the fragrance and the moonlight the winged soul soars higher and
+farther. The lowly habitations of men vanish; likewise vanish the
+forests, vales, sparkling shields of ponds, and the white threads of
+streams. Gradually lofty regions are attained.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">And lo, the mountains! Amidst the crags sleeps the translucent buckler
+of the lake. In the chasms lies concealed cool dusk. The needles of the
+glaciers shine verdantly. On the declivities and rocky nests rest the
+weary clouds and mists; and on the peaks, on the eternal snow the
+moonlight reposes. Even the wind has fallen asleep. How still,
+ethereal, and immense! Here the moon is the only sentinel of silence
+and the human soul the only living entity. Free as a mountain eagle,
+detached from the flesh, enamoured with the expanse, desolation, and
+silence, happy, and sad with a supernal sorrow, dissolved in the
+stillness, she hovers and courses above the precipices; and again flies
+farther on, entirely abandoned to pleasure, flight, and speed.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">And the mountains have already disappeared beneath her and lo! some
+voices rise and reach from below as if summoning her to them. It is the
+sea. It, alone, never sleeps; restless and vast, it dashes wave after
+wave against the shore, as if it were an immense pulsation of life. Its
+monstrous lungs heave and fall eternally and at times groan in
+complaint of endless toil.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The ruffled expanse of the sea throbs with the opalescent lunar lustre
+and the silvery laces of stars, and on those illuminated tracks, in the
+distance appears, wakeful as the sea itself, a ship with sails and a
+sanguinary light in the rounded windows.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">But thou, oh soul, mountest higher and higher. Already the earth is
+left somewhere at the bottom of the abyss. Thou, light as down, dost
+pass feathery clouds, which have strayed upon the heights and dost
+pierce space flooded with splendor--empty and cool. There thou liest
+upon thine own wings and floatest about in luminous nothingness; higher
+and higher; and now doth scintillate and change color over thee, in
+gold and purple, the jewels of heaven, and thou dost frolic and swing
+in the unattainable ether, serene, freed from the dross of matter as
+if, beyond the limits of time and space, thou wert already partly
+admitted into heaven.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The firmament of heaven grows each moment darker, but the moon, great
+as the world, shines more and more brightly. Already we behold her
+glistening plains, mangled, wild, studded by mountain peaks, perforated
+with the blackness of craters, bleak, frosty, and lifeless. Thus in the
+abyss of space appears this silvery, corpse-like wanderer, who speeds
+around the earth as if condemned by a divine command to a perpetual
+race. Above and about her, an immensity which the swooning brain is
+incapable of comprehending. A new galaxy of stars twinkle sanguinarily
+and powerfully, like distant fire-places. The music of spheres is
+heard. Here Eternity fans with her breath and a supernal chill
+prevails.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Return, over-indulged swan, return, oh soul, before some occult rapids
+and whirlpools seize thee and tear thee forever from the earth.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Thou returnest from the pinnacle of all-existence, bathed in the waves
+of infinity, purer and more perfect. Lo, thou furlest thy wings! Look,
+in the depths beneath are those downy, light clouds, which now thou
+greetest as thine own and kin. Below, the earth. The protuberances of
+the mountains flash to the moon; at their feet sobs the sea. And now
+lower, the vague outlines of forests, enveloped in mist. Again whiten
+the cities, silent towers and roofs of villages sunk in sleep. The
+night grows pale. On the moors, ostlers build fires and play on fifes.
+The roosters crow. The day breaks. It is dawn.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The strains subsided and silence ensued. Marynia stood near the piano
+with a countenance, composed as usual, but seemingly, awakened from a
+dream.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The aged notary sat for a while with bowed head, moving his toothless
+jaws; afterwards he rose, and when the young maid placed the violin
+beside the key-board, he ardently kissed her hands; after which he
+threw a challenging look at those present as if he sought the person
+who would dare to protest against that mark of homage or deem it a
+superfluous act. Nobody, however, protested because under the
+enchantment of that music that happened with the listeners which always
+happens with mankind, when fanned by the breath of genius. As sometimes
+in a dream it seems to a person that having shoved himself off the
+earth with his feet, he afterwards reels a long time in the air, so,
+too, their bodies became lighter, less material, as if deprived of
+those heavy and gross elements which bound them to the earth. Their
+nerves became more susceptible and subtle and their souls more
+volatile, approaching more closely those boundaries on which eternity
+begins. It was an unconscious feeling; after the passage of which the
+daily life was to encompass and drag them down. But during this
+momentary exaltation there awakened within them, unknown to themselves,
+a power of apprehending, appreciating, and feeling beauty, and in
+general such things as in their customary moods they had not felt and
+did not know that they could have felt.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Even the young and unfledged physician, Laskowicz, notwithstanding all
+his prejudices, could not resist this influence. The moment when
+Marynia stood up to play, he began to scrutinize her from his dark
+corner in the salon and examine her form as an anatomist. He was
+conscious that there was something brutal in this, but such a viewpoint
+gave him satisfaction, as being proper for an investigator and a man of
+his convictions. He started to persuade himself that this young lady of
+the so called higher spheres was for him merely an object which one
+should examine in the same manner as a corpse on the dissecting-table
+is examined. So, when tuning her violin, she bent her head, he took a
+mental inventory of the Latin names of all her cranial bones, repelling
+the thought which, against his will, rushed to his head that this was,
+however, an extraordinarily noble skull. Afterwards, during the first
+moments after the beginning of the concert, he became occupied with the
+nomenclature of the muscles of her hands, arms, breast, limbs, outlined
+under her dress and whole figure. But as he was not only a medical
+student and a socialist, but also a young man, this anatomical review
+ended in the conclusion that this was a girl, not yet sufficiently
+developed, but exceedingly pretty and attractive, resembling a spring
+flower. From that moment he began, to a certain extent, to forgive her
+connection with spheres living &quot;from the wrongs of the proletariat,&quot;
+and could not get rid of the thought that if, as a result of some
+unheard-of social upheaval, such &quot;a saintly doll&quot; became dependent upon
+his favor or disfavor, then such a state of affairs would bring to him
+an indescribably coy delight.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But when Beethoven placed his hands upon his head, there awakened
+within him better and higher instincts. He saw during the performance
+the lips and eyebrows of the young lady contract, and began to concede
+that &quot;she, however, felt something.&quot; In consequence of this, his
+ill-will towards her began to melt away, although slowly and with
+difficulty. He half confirmed, half conjectured that not only the hands
+but also the soul played. He did not have sufficient culture for music
+to appeal to him as it did, for instance, to Gronski, nevertheless
+there awakened within him a certain dismal consciousness that this was
+something, like the air, which all breasts can breathe, regardless of
+whether they love or hate. Amazement seized him at the thought that
+there were things lying beyond the swarm of human passions. At the
+conclusion he so identified music with the figure of the playing girl
+that when the old notary, at the end of the concert, kissed her hands,
+he almost felt inclined to do the same.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meanwhile, Ladislaus said to Miss Anney:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As long as Jastrzeb has been Jastrzeb, never yet has such music been
+heard. I am not a connoisseur, but must admit that this has captivated
+me. Besides, though I am often in the city, it has always so happened
+that I never have had an opportunity of seeing a woman play on the
+violin. And this is so beautiful that I now have an impression that
+only women should play the violin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One gets such an impression when he hears Marynia play.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Assuredly. I even begin to understand Pan Gronski. You, of course,
+know that she is his adoration?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The greatest in the world. And mine and everybody's who knows
+her,--and soon she will be yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not deny that she will be, only I doubt whether she will be the
+greatest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A temporary pause in the conversation followed, after which Ladislaus,
+not desiring that Miss Anney should take his words as an untimely
+compliment, added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In any event, I owe her gratitude for music which is slightly
+different from that which we hear every evening in spring and summer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What kind of music is that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From dusk to moon-rise the orchestra of frogs, and afterwards the
+concert of nightingales, which, after all, I do not hear, as, after
+daily toil, I am sound asleep. The frog band has already commenced.
+This also has its charm. If you care to hear it, let us go out upon the
+veranda. The night is almost as warm as in summer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney rose and together they went on the veranda, which the
+servants, who listened under the windows to Marynia's performance, had
+already left, and only in the distance the blooming jasmines, shaded by
+the dusk, whitened. From the pond came the croakings of the
+confederation of frogs, drowsy and, at the same time, resembling choral
+prayers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney for a while listened to these sounds and afterwards said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, this also has its charm, particularly on a night like this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are not nights the same in England?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, not as quiet. There is hardly a corner there to which the
+whistling of locomotives or the factory noises do not reach. I like
+your villages for their quiet and their distance from the cities.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So, then, this is not the first time that you have seen a Polish
+village?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. I have passed the last month with Zosia Otocka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I wish that our Jastrzeb would find favor in your eyes. It is too bad
+that you chanced here upon a funeral. That is always sad. I saw that
+you were even affected.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It reminded me of something,&quot; answered Miss Anney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whereupon, evidently desiring to change the subject of the
+conversation, she again began to peer into the depths of the garden.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How everything blooms and smells agreeably here!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Those are jasmines and elders. Did you observe on the forest road,
+riding to Jastrzeb, that the edges of the woods are planted with
+elders? That is my work.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I only observed it at the bridge, where an old building stands. What
+kind of building is that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is an ancient mill. At one time there was a great deal of water
+in the stream beside it, but later my uncle, Zarnowski, drained it off
+to the fish-ponds in Rzeslewo and the mill stood still. Now it is a
+ramshackle building in which for over ten years we have stored hay
+instead of keeping it in hayricks. Folks say that the place is haunted,
+but I myself circulated, in its time, that myth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;First, so that they should not steal the hay, and again because it was
+of much concern to me that no one should pry in there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What an invention!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told them that near the bridge during night-time the horses get
+frightened and that something in the mill laughs; which is true,
+because owls laugh there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps it would have been better to have told them that something in
+there weeps.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For greater effect.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know. Laughter in the night in the solitude creates a greater
+impression. People fear it more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And nobody peeps in there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not a soul. Now, if they only would not steal the hay, it would be all
+the same to me, but at that time I was anxious to screen myself from
+the eyes of men--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Ladislaus bit his tongue, observing in the moonlight that Miss
+Anney's eyebrows frowned slightly. He understood that in repeating
+twice that it was important to him that no one should pry into the
+mill, he committed a breach of etiquette and, what was worse, had
+presented himself to the young English lady as some provincial boaster,
+who gives the impression that often he has been forced to seek various
+hiding-places. So desiring to erase the bad impression, he added
+quickly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When a student, I wrote verses and for that reason sought solitude.
+But now all that has passed away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That usually passes away,&quot; answered Miss Anney. And she turned to the
+doors of the salon, but without unnecessary haste, as if she desired to
+show Ladislaus that she accepted as good coin his explanations and that
+her return was not a manifestation of displeasure. He remained a while,
+angry at himself and yet more angry at Miss Anney for the simple reason
+that the indiscretion was committed solely by him and he could not
+blame her for anything.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In any case,&quot; he said to himself, &quot;that is some deucedly penetrating
+Puritan.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to repeat, with some indignation, her last words:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That usually passes away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did she,&quot; he thought, &quot;intend to give me to understand that from such
+grist as is in me nobody could bake any poetry. Perhaps it is true, and
+I know that better than anyone else, but it is unnecessary for anybody
+to corroborate the fact.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Under the influence of these thoughts he returned to the salon in not
+quite good humor, but there the duties of host summoned him to his
+feminine cousins and that evening he did not converse any more with
+Miss Anney.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>VI</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The notary left the same night because his official duties required his
+presence in the city the following morning. On the day after, Gronski,
+whom Pani Otocka requested to act as her representative, with Ladislaus
+and Dolhanski departed for the notarial bureau. All three were troubled
+and curious about the will, of which the notary did not drop a single
+hint. Dolhanski feigned a jocose mien and displayed more sangfroid than
+he really possessed. He was most anxious that something should &quot;drop
+off&quot; for him. He was a man who had squandered a large fortune, but, not
+having changed his habits, kept on living as if he had not lost
+anything. Therefore he sustained himself upon the surface of life by
+the aid of extraordinary, almost acrobatic, efforts, of which after all
+he made no secret. In general, he was a sponger and possessed a million
+faults, but also certain social qualities for which he was esteemed.
+Belonging to an aristocratic club, he played cards with unusual good
+luck, but irreproachably. He never borrowed money from people in his
+own sphere; never gossiped, and was a tolerably loyal friend. Lack of
+education he supplied with cleverness and a certain intellectual grasp.
+He jested about himself, but it was unsafe to jest at him, because he
+possessed, besides wit, a certain candor which bordered upon cynicism.
+So he was not only countenanced but willingly received. Gronski, for
+whom Dolhanski had such high regard that he permitted him alone to jest
+about him, said that if Dolhanski only had as great a gift of making
+money as he had of spending it, he would have been a millionaire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But while waiting for such a change, heavy moments fell upon Dolhanski,
+particularly in spring when the play at the club slackened or when the
+outing season began. Then he felt fatigued after the winter struggles
+and sighed for something to turn up which would not require any labor.
+The will of Zarnowski might be such a gratuity, although Dolhanski did
+not expect much, as during the lifetime of the deceased he did nothing
+to deserve it. He even frankly repeated that his precious uncle bored
+him. He reckoned, however, that something might be sliced off for him;
+enough for the temporary pacification of his creditors or, better
+still, for a trip to a fashionable, aristocratic French seaside resort.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Before leaving Warsaw he announced in the club that he would return
+sitting upon a pillow stuffed with pawn-tickets. At present he
+attempted, with a certain affected humor, to convince Gronski and
+Ladislaus that by rights neither Pani Otocka with her sister, nor the
+Krzyckis, but himself ought to be the chief beneficiary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One of the female cousins,&quot; he said, &quot;is a warm widow, who has a fat
+fortune from her husband, and the other is a budding muse, who ought to
+be satisfied with ambrosia. What a pity, that I am not the sole
+relative of the deceased!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here he addressed Ladislaus:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Krzyckis, I think, need not be considered, because you have had,
+as I heard, a dispute about the Rzeslewo boundary. I hope that you will
+not get anything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is the use of your hoping?&quot; said Gronski. &quot;Limit, above all
+things, your wants.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You remind me of my lamented father,&quot; answered Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He certainly must have repeated that to you often.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Too often, and besides, he set himself up as an example, but I
+demonstrated to him, as plainly as two times two are four, that I could
+and ought to live on a higher scale than he.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What did you tell him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I spoke to him thus: Firstly, Papa has a son, while I am childless,
+and again, I am a better noble than he.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In what respect?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very plainly, since I can count one generation more in my line of
+nobility.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bravo!&quot; exclaimed Krzycki. &quot;What did your father say to that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He called me a dunce, but I saw he was pleased with it. Ah, if my
+conceits would only please Pani Otocka as they once did Papa. But I am
+convinced that my constancy and my appetite will avail me naught. My
+dear cousin is after all more practical than she seems. You would
+imagine that both sisters live only on the fragrance of flowers; and
+yet when they learned of a possible inheritance, they hastily arrived
+at Jastrzeb.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can assure you that you are mistaken. Mother invited them last year
+while in Krynica and now, at least a week before the death of Uncle
+Zarnowski, she reminded them of their promise. They wrote back that
+they could not come because they had a guest. Then mother invited the
+guest also.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If that is so, it is different. Now, not only do I understand your
+mother, but as you are a shapely youth and, in addition, younger than
+myself, I begin to fear for Cousin Otocka's fortune, which more justly
+belongs to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You need have no fear,&quot; answered Krzycki drily.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Does that mean that you prefer pounds to roubles? Considering the rate
+of exchange, I would prefer them also, but I fear that too many of them
+might have sunk in the Channel on the way from England.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you are so much concerned about that,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;you might ask
+Miss Anney about the precise amount. She is so sincere that she will
+reply to a certainty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, but it is necessary that I should believe her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you knew a little of human nature, you ought to believe her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In any case, I would fear a misunderstanding; for if she answered me
+in Polish, she could make a mistake, and if in English, I might not
+understand her perfectly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She speaks better Polish than you do English.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I admit that this astonishes me. Whence?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Haven't I told you,&quot; answered Gronski, with some impatience, &quot;that she
+was taught from childhood, because her father was an Englishman who had
+great sympathy for the Poles?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;De gustibus non est disputandem,&quot; answered Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And afterwards he again began to speak of the deceased and of the old
+notary, mimicking the movements of his toothless jaws and the fury of
+his look; and finally he announced that if something was not &quot;sliced
+off&quot; for him he would either shoot himself upon Pani Otocka's threshold
+or else would drive over to Gorek and offer himself for the hand of
+Panna Wlocek.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Gronski was buried in thought about something else during the time
+of this idle talk, while Ladislaus heard him distractedly as his
+attention was attracted by the considerable number of peasant carts
+which they were continually passing by. Supposing that he had forgotten
+some market-day in the city, he turned to his coachman.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Andrew,&quot; he asked, &quot;why are there so many carts on the road to the
+city?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, those, please your honor, are Rzeslewo peasants.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Rzeslewo? What have they to do there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! please your honor, on account of the will of the deceased Pan
+Zarnowski; it is to give them Rzeslewo.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki turned to Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I heard,&quot; he said, &quot;that somebody circulated among them such a story,
+but did not think that they would believe it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And afterwards again to the coachman:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who told them that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old driver hesitated somewhat in his reply:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The people gossip that it was the Tutor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus began to laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, stupid peasants!&quot; he said. &quot;Why, he never in his life saw Pan
+Zarnowski. How would he know about the will?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But after a moment of meditation he said, partly to his companions and
+partly to himself:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Everything must have some object, so if Laskowicz did that, let some
+one explain to me why he did it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you suspect him of it?&quot; asked Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know, for heretofore I had assumed that one could be a
+socialist and keep his wits in order.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, so he is a bird of that nest? Tell me how long has he been with
+you and what manner of a man is he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He has been with us half a year. We needed an instructor for Stas and
+some one recommended him to us. We were informed that he would have to
+leave Warsaw for a certain time to elude the police and, in fact, for
+that reason received him more eagerly, thinking that some patriotic
+matter was involved. Later, when it appeared that he was of an entirely
+different calibre, mother would not permit his dismissal in hope that
+she might convert him. At the beginning she had lengthy heart-to-heart
+talks with him and requested me to be friendly with him. We treated him
+as a member of the family, but the result has been such that he hates
+us, not only as people belonging to a sphere which he envies, but also,
+as it seems, individually.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is evident,&quot; said Dolhanski, &quot;he holds it evil of you that you are
+not such as he imagined you would be; neither so wicked nor so stupid.
+And you may rest assured that he will never forgive that in you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That may be so. In any case, he will shortly despise us from a
+distance, for after a month we part. I understand that one can and
+ought to tolerate all convictions, but there is something in him,
+besides his principles and hatreds, which is so conflicting with all
+our customs, and something so strange that we have had enough of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Laudie,&quot; answered Dolhanski, &quot;do not necessarily apply this to
+yourself, for I speak generally, but since you have mentioned
+toleration, I will tell you that in my opinion toleration in Poland was
+and is nothing else than downright stupidity, and monumental stupidity
+at that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In certain respects Dolhanski is right,&quot; answered Gronski. &quot;It may be
+that in the course of our history we tolerated various ideas and
+elements not only through magnanimous forbearance, but also because in
+our indolence we did not care to contend with them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Ladislaus, who did not like to engage in general argumentation,
+said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is all right, but all that does not explain why Laskowicz should
+spread among the peasants the news that Uncle Zarnowski devised
+Rzeslewo to them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is, as yet, no certainty that he did,&quot; answered Gronski. &quot;We
+will very soon learn the truth at the notary's.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>VII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The hour was five in the afternoon. The ladies sat on the veranda, at
+tea, when the young men returned from the city. Miss Anney rose when
+they appeared and, not wishing to be present, as a stranger, at the
+family conversation, left on some pretext for her room. Pani Krzycki
+greeted them with slightly affected calm, because in reality the
+thought of the will did not leave her for a moment. She was not
+greedier than the generality of common mortals, but she was immensely
+concerned that, after her demise, at the distribution of the estate,
+Ladislaus should have enough to pay off the younger members of the
+family and to sustain himself at Jastrzeb. And some respectable bequest
+would in a remarkable manner facilitate the making of such payments.
+Besides, at the bottom of the noble soul of Pani Krzycki there lay
+hidden the faith that Providence owed, to a certain extent, greater
+obligations to the Krzycki family than to any ordinary family. For that
+reason, even if the whole of Rzeslewo fell to the lot of that family,
+she would with readiness and willingness submit to such a decree of
+Providence. Finally, descending from the blood of a people who in
+certain cases can sacrifice fortune, but love extraordinarily to
+acquire it without any effort, she fondled all day the thought that
+such an easy acquisition was about to occur.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in the countenances of Ladislaus and Gronski she could at once
+discern that they brought specific intelligence. Dolhanski, who was the
+first to alight from the carriage, was the first to begin the report.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I anticipate the question, what is the news?&quot; he said, drawling his
+expressions with cold irony, &quot;and I answer everything is for the best,
+for the Rzeslewo Mats and Jacks will have something with which they can
+travel to Carlsbad.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Krzycki grew somewhat pale and, turning to Gronski, asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What, in truth, gentlemen, have you brought with you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The will in its provisions is peculiar,&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;but was
+executed in a noble spirit. Rzeslewo is devised for a peasants'
+agricultural school and the interest of the funds is to be devoted to
+sending the pupils of the school, who have finished their courses, for
+a year's or two years' practice in country husbandry in Bohemia.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Or, as I stated, to Carlsbad, Marienbad, Teplitz, and other places of
+the same character,&quot; explained Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A moment of silence followed. Marynia, who was pouring the tea, began,
+with teapot in hand, to gaze with inquiring look at those present,
+desiring evidently to unriddle whether they praised or condemned it and
+whether it gave them pleasure or annoyance. Pani Otocka looked at
+Gronski with eyes which evinced delight; while Pani Krzycki leaned with
+both hands upon the cane which she used owing to rheumatism in her
+limbs, and after a certain time asked in a slightly hoarse voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So, it is for a public purpose?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;the organization of the school and afterwards
+the division of the funds for the stay in Bohemia is to be assumed by a
+special Directory of the Trust Society of this province, and the
+designated curator of the school is Laudie.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Too bad it is not I,&quot; interposed Dolhanski. &quot;I would arrange it very
+quickly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are specific bequests,&quot; continued Gronski, &quot;and these are very
+strange. He bequeaths various small sums to the household servants and
+ten thousand roubles to some Skibianka, daughter of a blacksmith at the
+Rzeslewo manor, who in his time emigrated to America.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Skibianka!&quot; repeated Pani Krzycki with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dolhanski bit off the ends of his mustache, smiled, and started to
+grumble that the nobility was always distinguished for its love of the
+common people, but Gronski looked at him severely; after which he drew
+from his pocket a memorandum and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That provision of the will is worded as follows: Whereas the parents
+of Hanka Skiba or Skibianka emigrated during my sojourn abroad for
+medical treatment, and I have not had the opportunity of ascertaining
+where they can be found, therefore I obligate my relative, Ladislaus
+Krzycki, to cause to be published in all the Polish newspapers printed
+in the United States and in Parana, advertisements. If the said legatee
+does not within two years appear to receive the bequest, the entire sum
+with interest becomes the property of the said Ladislaus Krzycki.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I already have announced that I do not intend to accept that
+specific bequest,&quot; cried the young man excitedly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All eyes were turned toward him; he added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would not think of it; I would not think of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why not?&quot; asked his mother after a while.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because I cannot. Let us suppose that the legatee appears, say for
+instance, within three years instead of two, what would happen? Would I
+pocket the bequest and drive her away? No! I could not do that.
+Finally, there are other considerations of which I do not wish to
+speak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact, only by these &quot;other considerations,&quot; could such a
+considerable bequest to a simple village girl be explained; therefore
+Pani Krzycki became silent. After a while she said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Laudie, nobody will coerce, nor even try to persuade you to
+accept.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Dolhanski asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell me, is this some mythical disinterestedness or is it ill humor
+caused by your not receiving a greater bequest?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do not judge by yourself,&quot; answered Krzycki; &quot;but I will tell you
+something which you certainly will not believe; since this estate is to
+be devoted to such an object as a peasants' agricultural school, I am
+highly delighted and have much greater esteem for the deceased. I give
+you my word that I speak with entire sincerity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bravo!&quot; exclaimed Pani Otocka, &quot;it is pleasant to hear that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Krzycki looked with pride first upon her son, then upon Pani
+Otocka; and, though a feeling of disappointment lingered in her heart,
+said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, let there be a peasants' school, if only our Jastrzeb peasants
+will be permitted to send their sons to it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That does not admit of any doubt,&quot; explained Gronski. &quot;There will be
+as many pupils as accommodations can be provided for. They may come
+from all parts, though preference is to be given to Rzeslewo peasants.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What do they say about the bequest?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There were more than a dozen of them at the opening of the will, as
+they expected a direct gift of all the manor lands to them. Somebody
+had persuaded them that the deceased left everything to them to be
+equally divided. So they left very much displeased. We heard them say
+that this was not the genuine will and that they do not need any
+schools.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Most fully do I share their opinion,&quot; said Dolhanski, &quot;and in this
+instance, contrary to my nature, I will speak seriously. For at present
+there is raging an epidemic of founding schools and no one asks for
+whom, for what, how are they to be taught in them, and what is the end
+to be attained. I belong to that species of birds who do not toil, but
+look at everything, if not from the top, then from the side, and,
+perhaps for that very reason, see things which others do not observe.
+So, at times, I have an impression that we are like those children, for
+instance, at Ostend, who build on the sea-shore forts with the sand.
+Every day on the beach they erect them and every day the waves wash
+them away until not a trace of them remains.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In a way you are right,&quot; said Gronski; &quot;but there, however, is this
+difference: the children build joyfully and we do not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Afterwards he meditated and added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;However, the law of nature is such that children grow while the adults
+rear dykes, not of sand, but of stone upon which the weaves dash to
+pieces.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let them be dashed to pieces as quickly as possible,&quot; exclaimed
+Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Dolhanski would not concede defeat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Permit me then,&quot; he said, &quot;since we have not yet grown up and have not
+yet started to build of stone, to remain a pessimist.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski gazed for a while into the depths of the garden like a man who
+was pondering over something and then said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pessimism--pessimism! We hear that incessantly nowadays. But in the
+meanwhile if there exists anything more stupid than optimism, which
+often passes for folly, it is particularly pessimism, which desires to
+pose as reason.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dolhanski smiled a trifle biliously and, turning to the ladies, said,
+pointing to Gronski:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do not take this ill of him, ladies. It often happens for him in
+moments of abstraction to utter impertinences. He is a good--even
+intelligent--man, but has the unbearable habit of turning over
+everything, examining it from all sides, pondering over it, and
+soliloquizing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Marynia suddenly flushed with indignation in defence of her friend
+and, shaking the teapot which at that moment she held in her hand,
+began to speak with great ardor:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is just right, that is just sensible; that is what everybody
+ought to do--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dolhanski pretended to be awe-stricken and, bowing his head, cried:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am vanquished; I retreat and surrender arms.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski, laughing, kissed her hand, while she, abashed at her own
+vehemence and covered with blushes, began to ask:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is it not the truth? Am I not right?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Dolhanski already recovered his presence of mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That does not prove anything,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because Gronski once promulgated this aphorism: It is never proper to
+follow the views of a woman, especially if by accident she is right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I?&quot; exclaimed Gronski. &quot;Untangle yourself from me. I never said
+anything like that. Do not believe him, ladies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I believe only you, sir,&quot; answered Marynia.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But further conversation was interrupted by Pani Krzycki, who observed
+that it was time for the May mass. In the Jastrzeb manor-house, there
+was a room especially assigned for that purpose and known as the
+chapel. At the main wall, opposite the windows, stood an altar with a
+painting of the Divine Mother of Czestochowo. The walls, altar,
+painting, and even the candles were decorated with green garlands. On
+the side tables stood bouquets of elders and jasmines whose fragrance
+filled the entire room. Sometimes, when the rector of Rzeslewo arrived,
+he conducted the services; in his absence the lady of the house. All
+the inmates of the house, with the exception of Laskowicz, during the
+entire month of May met every evening in the chapel. At present the
+gentlemen followed the ladies. On the way Ladislaus asked Gronski:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is Miss Anney a Catholic?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To tell you the truth, I do not know,&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;but it
+seems--but look, she is entering also. So she must be a Catholic.
+Perhaps her name is Irish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the chapel the candles were already lit, though the sun had not
+entirely set and stood in the windows, low, golden, and ruddy, casting
+a lustre on the white cloth which covered the altar and on the heads of
+the women. At the very altar the lady of the house knelt, behind her
+the lady visitors; after them the female servants and the old asthmatic
+lackey, while the gentlemen stood at the wall between the windows. The
+customary songs, prayers, and litanies began. Their sweetness struck
+Gronski. There was in them something of spring and at the same time of
+the evening. The impression of the spring was created by the flowers,
+and of the evening by ruddy lustre entering through the windows, and
+the soft voices of the women who, repeating the choral words of the
+litanies, reminded one of the last chirp of birds, subsiding before the
+setting of the sun. &quot;Healer of the sick. Refuge of sinners, Comforter
+of the afflicted,&quot; repeated Pani Krzycki; and those soft, subdued
+voices responded, &quot;Pray for us,&quot;--and thus did that country home pray
+on that May evening. Gronski, who was a sceptic, but not an atheist,
+like a man of high culture, at first felt the æsthetic side of this
+childlike &quot;good-night&quot; borne by these women to a benign deity.
+Afterwards, as if desiring to corroborate the truth of Dolhanski's
+assertion that he was wont to turn over every subject on every side and
+to ponder over every phenomenon, he began to meditate upon religious
+manifestations. It occurred to him that this homage rendered to a deity
+was an element purely ideal, possessed solely by humanity. He recalled
+that as often as he happened to be in church and saw people praying, so
+often was he struck by the unfathomable chasm which separates the world
+of man from the animal world. As a matter of fact, religious
+conceptions can only be formed by higher and more perfect organisms;
+therefore he drew the conclusion that if there existed beings ten times
+more intelligent than mankind, they would, in their own way, be ten
+times more religious. &quot;Yes, but in their own way,&quot; Gronski repeated,
+&quot;which perhaps might be very different.&quot; His spiritual drama (and he
+often thought that there were many people like him) was this: that the
+Absolute appeared to him as an abyss, as some synthetic law of all the
+laws of existence. Thus he presumed that according to a degree of
+mental development it was impossible to imagine that law in the form of
+the kindly old man or in the eye on the radiant triangle, unless one
+takes matters symbolically and assumes that the old man and the eye
+express the all-basis of existence, as the horizontally drawn eight
+denotes infinity. But in such case what will this all-basis be for him?
+Always night, always an abyss, always something inscrutable; barely to
+be felt by some dull sensation and not by any clear perception, from
+whose power can be understood the phenomenon of existence and an answer
+be made to the various whys and wherefores. &quot;Mankind,&quot; mused Gronski,
+&quot;possesses at the same time too much and too little intelligence. For,
+after all, to simply believe one must unreservedly shut the blinds of
+his intellectual windows and not permit himself to peer through them;
+and when he does open them he discovers only a starless night.&quot; For
+this reason he envied those middle-aged persons, whose intelligence
+reared mentally edifices upon unshaken dogmas, just as lighthouses are
+built upon rocks in the sea. Dante could master the whole field of
+knowledge of his time and yet, notwithstanding this, could traverse
+hell, purgatory, and paradise. The modern man of learning could not
+travel thus, for if he wished to pass in thought beyond the world of
+material phenomenon, he would see that which we behold in Wuertz's
+well-known painting, a decapitated head; that is, some element so
+undefined that it is equivalent to nothing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the tragedy, according to Gronski, lay not only in the
+inscrutability of the Absolute, in the impossibility of understanding
+His laws, but also in the impossibility of agreeing on them and
+acknowledging them from the view point of human life. There exist, of
+course, evil and woe. The Old Testament explains them easily by the
+state of almost continual rage of its Jah. &quot;Domine ne in furore tuo
+arguas me, neque in ira tua corripias me,&quot; and afterwards &quot;saggittae
+tuae infixae sunt mihi et confirmasti super me manuo tuum.&quot; And once
+having accepted this blind fury and this &quot;strengthening of the right
+hand,&quot; it is easy to explain to one's self in a simple manner
+misfortune. But already in the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes doubts
+whether everything in the world is in order. The New Testament sees
+evil in matter in contraposition to the soul; and that is clear.
+However, viewing the matter, in the abstract, as everything is a close
+chain of cause and effect, therefore everything is logical, and being
+logical it cannot per se be either evil or good, but may appear
+propitious or unfavorable in its relation to man. Besides, that which
+we call evil or misfortune may, according to the absolute laws of
+existence, and in its profundity, be wise and essential principles of
+development, which are beyond human comprehension, and therefore
+something which in itself is an advantageous phenomenon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Yes, but in such case, whence does man derive the power to oppose his
+individual thoughts and his concrete conceptions to this universal
+logic? If everything is a delusion, why is the human mind a force,
+existing, as it were, outside of the general laws of existence? There
+is this something, unprecedented and at the same time tragical, that
+man must be subjected to these laws and can protest against them. On
+earth spiritual peace was enjoyed only by the gods, and is now only by
+animals. Man is eternally struggling and crying veto, and such a veto
+is every human tear.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And here Gronski's thoughts assumed a more personal aspect. He began to
+look at the praying Marynia and at first experienced relief. There came
+to his mind the purely æsthetic observation that Carpaccio might have
+placed such a maiden beside his guitar-player and Boticelli should have
+foreseen her. But immediately afterwards he thought that even such a
+flower must wither, and nothing withers or dies without pain. Suddenly
+he was seized with a fear of the future, which in her traveling-pouch
+carries concealed evil and woe. He recalled, indeed, the aphorism which
+he had uttered, a short time before, about pessimism; but that gave him
+no comfort, because he understood that the pessimism which flowed from
+the exertions of the intellect is different from the worldling's
+pessimism which Dolhanski, by shrugging his shoulders at everything,
+permitted himself to indulge in when free from card-playing. He
+moreover propounded to himself the question whether that debilitating
+pessimism could in any manner be well founded, and here unexpectedly
+there stood before his eyes another friend, entirely different from
+Dolhanski, though also a sceptic and hedonist,--Doctor Parebski. He was
+a college-mate of Gronski and in later years had treated him for a
+nervous ailment; therefore he knew him perfectly. Once, after listening
+to his various reflections and complaints about the impossibility of
+finding a solution of the paramount questions of life, Doctor Parebski
+said to him: &quot;That is a pastime for which time and means are necessary.
+If you had to work for your bread as I have, you would not upset your
+own mind and the minds of others. All that reminds me of a dog chasing
+his own tail. And I tell you, look at that which environs you and not
+at your own navel; and if you want to be well, then--carpe diem!&quot;
+Gronski at that time deemed these words somewhat brutal and more in the
+nature of medical than philosophical advice, but now when he recalled
+them he said to himself: &quot;In truth the road on which, as if from bad
+habit, I am continually entering leads to nowhere; and who knows
+whether these women praying this moment with such faith are not,
+without question, more sensible than I am, not to say more at ease and
+happier?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime Pani Kryzcki began to speak: &quot;Under Thy protection we
+flee. Holy Mother of God,&quot; and the women's voices immediately
+responded: &quot;Our entreaties deign not to spurn and from all evil deign
+to preserve us forever.&quot; Gronski was swept by an intense longing for
+such a sweet, tutelary divinity who does not deign to scorn entreaties
+and who delivers us from evil. How well it would be with him if he
+could enjoy such peace of mind, and how simple the thought!
+Unfortunately he already had strayed too far away. He could, like
+women, yearn, but, unlike them, he could not believe.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski mentally reviewed the whole array of his acquaintances and
+noted that those who fervently believed, in the depths of their souls,
+were very few in number. Some there were who did not believe at all;
+others who wanted to believe and could not; some acknowledged from
+social considerations the necessity of faith, and finally there were
+those who were simply occupied with something else. To this latter
+category belonged men who, for instance, observed the custom of
+attending mass as they did the habit of eating breakfast every morning,
+or of donning a dress-coat each evening or wearing gloves. Through
+habit it entered into the texture of their lives. Here Gronski
+unwillingly glanced at Ladislaus, for it seemed to him that the young
+man was a bird from that grove.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Such, in fact, was the case. Krzycki, however, was neither a dull nor
+thoughtless person. At the university he, like others, philosophized a
+little, but afterwards the current of his life carried him in another
+direction. There existed, indeed, beside Jastrzeb and the daily affairs
+connected therewith, other matters which deeply interested him. He was
+sincerely concerned about his native land, her future, the events which
+might affect her destiny, and finally--women and love. But upon faith
+he reflected as much as he did upon death, upon which he did not
+reflect at all, as if he was of the opinion that it was improper to
+think of them, since they in the proper time will not forget anybody.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At present, moreover, owing to the guests, he was more than a hundred
+miles from thinking of such questions. At one time, while yet a
+student, when during vacation time he drove over with his mother to
+Rzeslewo to attend high mass, he cherished in the depths of his soul
+the poetical hope that some Sunday the rattle of a carriage would
+resound without the church doors and a young and charming princess,
+journeying from somewhere beyond the Baltic to Kiev, would enter the
+church; that he would invite her to Jastrzeb and later fall in love
+with her and marry her. And now here unexpectedly those youthful dreams
+were in some measure realized, for to Jastrzeb there came not one but
+three princesses of whom he could dream as much as he pleased, for
+behold, they were now kneeling before the family altar, absorbed in
+prayer. He began to gaze--now at Pani Otocka and then at the form of
+Marynia, which resembled a Tanagra figurine, and repeated to himself:
+&quot;Mother desires to give one of them to me as a wife.&quot; And he had
+nothing against the idea, but thought of Pani Otocka, &quot;That is a book
+which somebody has already read, while the other is a fledgeling who
+can play a violin.&quot; Ladislaus was of the age which does not take into
+calculation any woman under twenty years. After a while, as if
+unwillingly, he directed his eyes towards Miss Anney,--unwillingly
+because she formed the most luminous object in the room, for the
+setting sun, falling upon her light hair, saturated it with such lustre
+that the whole head appeared aflame. Miss Anney from time to time
+raised her hand and shaded her head with it as if she desired to
+extinguish the lustre, but as the rays each moment became less warm,
+she finally discontinued the action. At times she was hidden from view
+by the figure of some dark-haired girl, whom Ladislaus did not know,
+but who, he surmised, must be a servant of one of these ladies. Towards
+the close of the services the girl bowed so low that she no longer
+obscured the view of the light hair or the young and powerful
+shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That,&quot; he said to himself, &quot;would be the greatest temptation, but
+mother would be opposed, as she is a foreigner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But suddenly, as if to rebuke his conscience, there came to his memory
+the pensive eyes and slender shoulders of Panna Stabrowska. Ah! if only
+Rzeslewo and the funds had fallen to his lot! But uncle bequeathed
+Rzeslewo for educational purposes and the funds for trips to Carlsbad
+by the Mats, as Dolhanski had said, and a few thousand for Hanka
+Skibianka. At this recollection his brow clouded and he drew his hand
+across his forehead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I unnecessarily became excited before mother and the ladies,&quot; he said
+to himself, &quot;but I must explain this matter to Gronski.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Accordingly, at the close of the mass, he turned to him:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I want to speak with you about various matters, but only in four eyes.
+Is that satisfactory?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All right,&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;when?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not to-day, for I must first go to Rzeslewo to question the men, look
+over the estate, and then attend to the guests. It will be best
+to-morrow evening or the day after. We will take our rifles with us and
+go to the woods. Now there is a flight of woodcocks. Dolhanski does not
+hunt, so we will leave him with the ladies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All right,&quot; repeated Gronski.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>VIII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The very next day, towards evening, they strolled with their rifles and
+a dog in the direction of the mill, and on the way Ladislaus began to
+narrate all that he had learned the previous day.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was in Rzeslewo,&quot; he said, &quot;but there you hear nothing good. The
+peasants insist that the will was forged and that the gentry twisted it
+about so that they could control, for their own benefit, the money and
+the lands. I am almost certain that Laskowicz is pouring oil upon that
+fire. But why? I cannot understand; nevertheless, that is the case. The
+landless, in particular, are wrought up and say that if the fortune is
+divided among them, they, themselves, will contribute for a school. In
+reality, they have no conception of the kind of school Zarnowski
+wanted, nor of the cost of establishing it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In view of this, what do you intend to do?&quot; asked Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know. I will see. In the meantime I will try to convince
+them. I also begged the rector to explain the matter to them and spoke
+with a few of the older husbandmen. I seemed to have persuaded them;
+but unfortunately with them it is thus: that everyone, taken singly, is
+intelligent and even sensible, but when you talk to them together, it
+is like trying to smash a stone wall with your head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is nothing strange,&quot; answered Gronski; &quot;take ten thousand doctors
+of philosophy together and they become a mob which is ruled by
+gesticulations.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That may be,&quot; said Ladislaus, &quot;but I did not wish to speak of the will
+only. I also saw the old Rzeslewo overseer and learned a great many,
+intensely curious things. Figure to yourself that our guesses were
+wrong and that Hanka Skibianka is not the daughter of Uncle Zarnowski.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And that seemed so certain! But what kind of proof have you of this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very simple. Skiba was a native of Galicia and emigrated to Rzeslewo
+with his wife and daughter when the latter was five years old. As
+Zarnowski, while well, stayed in the village like a wall, and at that
+time for at least ten years had not travelled anywhere, it is evident
+that he could not have been the father of that girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That decides the matter. I cannot understand why he bequeathed to her
+ten thousand roubles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is an interesting history connected with that,&quot; replied
+Ladislaus. &quot;You must know that the deceased, though now it appears that
+he loved the peasants, always kept them under very strict control. He
+managed them according to the old system; that is, he abused them from
+morning till night. They say that when he cursed in the corridor you
+could hear him over half the village. A certain day he went into the
+blacksmith's shop and, finding something out of order, began to berate
+the blacksmith unmercifully. The smith bowed and listened in humility.
+It happened that little Hanka at that time was in front of the smithy
+and, seeing what was taking place, seized a little stick and started to
+belabor Zarnowski with it all over the legs. 'You will scold Tata, will
+you?' It is said that the deceased at first was dumbfounded, but
+afterwards burst into such laughter that his anger against the
+blacksmith passed away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That Hanka pleases me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So did she please Uncle. The very same day he sent a rouble to the
+smith's wife and ordered her to bring the child to the manor-house.
+From that time he became attached to her. He commanded the old
+housekeeper to teach her to read, and attended to it himself. The child
+likewise became devoted to him, and this continued for a number of
+years. In the end people began to say that the master wanted to keep
+the smith's daughter entirely at his residence and have her educated as
+a lady, but this, it seems, was untrue. He wanted to bring her up as a
+stout village lass and give her a dowry. The Skibas, whose only child
+she was, declared that they would not surrender her for anything in the
+world. Of course, I know only what the overseer told me, for our
+relations with the deceased were broken on account of the mill from
+which he drained the water for his ponds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And later the Skibas emigrated.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, but before that time Zarnowski began to fail in health and moved
+to Warsaw, and subsequently resided abroad; so that their relations
+relaxed. When the Skibas emigrated, the girl was seventeen. Uncle, on
+his return to Rzeslewo to die, longed for her and waited for some news
+of her. But as he had previously removed even his furniture from
+Rzeslewo to the city, she evidently assumed that he never would return
+and did not know where to write.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The bequest proves best that he did not forget her,&quot; said Gronski,
+&quot;and from the whole will it appears that he was a man of better heart
+than people thought.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Surely,&quot; answered Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For an interval they walked in silence; then Krzycki resumed the
+conversation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As for myself, I prefer that she is not the daughter of the deceased.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why? Has that any bearing on the bequest?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. Under no circumstances will I accept that bequest. Never!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is all very well, but tell me, why did you renounce it with such
+vehemence that everybody was astonished?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is one circumstance which neither Mother nor anybody else even
+suspects, but which I will sincerely confess to you. In the proper time
+I seduced that girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski stood still, gazed at Ladislaus, and ejaculated:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What's that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he was not prone to treat such matters with levity and, besides, the
+previous narrative of Krzycki had awakened within him a sympathy for
+Hanka, he frowned and asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For the fear of God! You seduced a child? And you say it was done in
+the proper time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Ladislaus replied quite calmly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us not stop, for the dog has gone too far ahead of us,&quot; and here
+he pointed at the white spaniel running before them. &quot;I did not seduce
+a child, for at that time she was sixteen. It happened more than seven
+years ago, while I was still a student and came to Jastrzeb on a
+vacation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Were there any consequences?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As far as I know there were none. You will understand that having
+returned the following vacation and not finding either her or the
+Skibas, I did not ask about them, for on the thief's head the cap
+burns.<a name="div2Ref_02" href="#div2_02"><sup>[2]</sup></a> But to-day I
+casually asked the overseer whether the Skibas
+had not probably emigrated because some mishap had befallen their
+daughter. He answered, 'No.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then it is better for her and for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly it is much better; for otherwise the matter would have been
+brought to light and would reach Mother's ears.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And in such case you would suffer much unpleasantness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was irony in Gronski's voice, but Ladislaus, absorbed in his own
+thoughts, did not notice it and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In such case, I would have unpleasantness because Mother in such
+matters is exceedingly severe. So, to-day, after mature deliberation, I
+am like a wolf, who will commit no injury in the neighborhood where he
+keeps his nest, but at that time I was more headstrong and less
+careful.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May the deuce take you!&quot; exclaimed Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing; speak on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have not much more to say. Recurring to the will, you now understand
+why I could not accept it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps I do, but tell me 'thy exquisite reason,' as Shakespeare
+says.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, as to the seduction of a girl, that does happen in villages, but
+to seduce a girl and appropriate to one's own use that which had been
+provided for her,--why, that would be too much. And perhaps she may be
+suffering, in want, somewhere in America.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Everything is possible,&quot; answered Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So that if the advertisements, which I will make, do not reach her
+notice, in such case, I would be using her money, while she would die
+of starvation. No. Everything has its limits. I am not extraordinarily
+scrupulous, but there are some things which I plainly cannot do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell me, but sincerely, do you entertain towards her any sentiment?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will tell you candidly that I completely forgot her. Now I have
+recalled her and, in truth, I cannot have any ill-will towards her. On
+the contrary, that kind of recollection cannot, of course, be
+disagreeable, unless it is linked with remorse. But we were mere
+children--and a pure accident brought us together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then permit me to ask one more question. If the deceased bequeathed to
+her the whole of Rzeslewo, and the funds, and if she did not within two
+years appear to claim them, would you renounce such a bequest?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cannot answer a question to which I have not given any
+consideration. I would not want to represent myself to you any better
+or any worse than I am. But this much is certain: I would publish the
+advertisements, and would publish them for the two years. But after
+all, of what importance to you can my answer be?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And here he abruptly paused, for from the direction of the adjacent
+birch grove some strange sound reached them, resembling a snort, and at
+the same time, above the tops of the birch and the lime-trees, there
+appeared upon the background of the twilight a gray bird, flying in a
+straight line to the underwood on the opposite side of the meadow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Woodcock!&quot; cried Krzycki, and he bounded forward.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski, following him, thought:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He certainly never read Nietzsche, and yet in his veins, together with
+the blood, there courses some noble super-humanity. If anybody betrayed
+his sister, he would have shot him in the head like a dog, but as a
+village girl is concerned, he does not feel the slightest uneasiness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Later they stopped at the edge of the birch grove. For a time intense
+silence prevailed; after which a strange voice resounded again above
+their heads and another woodcock appeared. Gronski fired and missed;
+Krzycki bettered--and they saw how, with descending flight, the fowl
+fell in the underwood farther off. The white dog for a while lingered
+in the dusk of the thicket and returned carrying the dead bird in his
+mouth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She was already wounded when I fired,&quot; said Ladislaus. &quot;It is your
+bird.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are a gracious host,&quot; answered Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And again silence ensued, which even the rustle of leaves did not
+disturb, as there was not a breath of air. But after a time two
+woodcocks snorted above their heads, one following the other, at which
+Gronski could not shoot, but Ladislaus winged both cleanly. Finally a
+more reckless one took pity on Gronski for she flew accommodatingly
+over him, as if she desired to save him any inconvenience. He himself
+felt ashamed at the thrill of pleasure he experienced when, after
+firing, he saw the bird hit the ground; and agreeable to his
+incorrigible habit of meditation upon every phenomenon, he came to the
+conclusion that his strange sensation could be attributed to the
+aboriginal times, when man and his family were dependent for
+subsistence upon skill in hunting. Thanks to this reasoning, he did not
+shoot at another bird that flew nearer the edge of the underwood and
+with which the flight evidently ended, as they waited for others in
+vain. In the meanwhile it grew dark, and after an interval the white
+spaniel emerged from the nightfall, and after him came Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We had a bootless chase,&quot; he said, &quot;but that is nothing. In any case,
+there are four morsels for the ladies. Tomorrow we will try for more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This was but a slight interruption in your confessions,&quot; answered
+Gronski, slinging his rifle over his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My confessions?&quot; said Ladislaus. &quot;Aha!--yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You said that a mere accident brought you together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That actually was the case. But we must now go ahead and you will
+kindly follow in my footsteps, as it is damp here in some places. This
+way we will reach the bridge and at the bridge we will have the road.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Not until they were on the road did he commence his narrative:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It all began and ended in the mill, which even at that time served as
+a storage place for hay; and it did not continue more than a fortnight.
+It occurred thus: I once went out with a rifle to hunt for roebucks,
+for here roebucks come out in the evening at the clearing on the
+stream. It was very cloudy that day, but as it appeared to be clear in
+the west, I thought that the clouds would pass away. I took a position
+of a few hundred--and even more--steps from the mill, for nearer there
+was lying on the meadow, linen, which might scare the bucks; and about
+a half hour later I actually killed a buck. But in the meanwhile it
+began to rain, and in a short while there was such a downpour as I had
+never seen in Jastrzeb. I seized my buck by the hind legs and began to
+scamper off with all my might for the mill. On the way I noticed that
+some one had carried away the linen. I rushed into the mill and buried
+myself up to the ears in the hay, when I heard somebody breathing close
+by me. I asked: 'Who is that?' A thin voice answered me, 'I.' 'What
+kind of an I?' 'Hanka.' 'What are you doing here?' 'I came for the
+linen.' Then it began to thunder so much that I thought the mill would
+fall to pieces;--and not until it had subsided somewhat did I learn by
+the aid of continuous questions that my female companion was from
+Rzeslewo; that her family name was Skibianka, and that she finished her
+sixteenth year on St. Anne's Day. Then, and I give you my word, without
+any sinister will or intent, but only as a jest and because it is
+customary to talk that way with village maids, I said to her: 'Will you
+give me a kiss?' She did not answer, but as at that moment a thunder
+clap pealed, she nestled closer to me--perhaps from fright. And I
+kissed her on the very lips and, as I live, I had the same impression
+as if I had kissed a fragrant flower. So I repeated it twice, three
+times, and so on, and she returned the tenth or twentieth. When the
+storm passed away and it became necessary for us to part, I had her
+arms about my neck and at the same time my cheeks were wet with her
+tears,--for she cried, but I do not know whether from the loss of
+innocence or because I was leaving.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here, in spite of himself, the song of Ophelia, when insane, flitted
+through Krzycki's memory.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On our departure she said that she knew I was the young lord of
+Jastrzeb; that she saw me every Sunday in Rzeslewo and gazed upon me as
+upon some miracle-working painting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, you certainly are handsome to the point of nauseousness,&quot;
+interrupted Gronski, with a certain irritation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bah!--I have already three or four gray hairs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Surely, from birth. How often did you meet thereafter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Before I left her, I asked her whether she could not slip away the
+following evening. She answered that she could, because in the evening
+she always gathered the linen, which was being bleached upon the
+meadow, for fear that some one might steal it, and that besides, in
+summer time she did not sleep in the cabin with her parents, but on the
+hay in the barn. After that we met every day. I had to conceal myself
+from the night watch, so I slunk out of the window into the garden,
+though this was an unnecessary precaution, for the watch slept so
+soundly that one time I carried off the trumpet and staff belonging to
+one of them. It was amusing also that, seeing Hanka only in the night
+time, I did not know how she really looked; though in the moonlight she
+appeared to me to be pretty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And in church?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Our collator's pew is near the altar, while the girls knelt in the
+rear. There are so many of the same red and yellow shawls, studded with
+so many flowers, that it is difficult to distinguish one from the
+other. At times it seemed to me that I saw her in the distance, but I
+could not see her perfectly. The vacation soon ended, and when I
+returned the following season the Skibas were gone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did you bid her farewell?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I admit that I did not. I preferred to avoid that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And did you ever long for her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. In Warsaw I longed for her intensely, and during the first month
+I was deeply in love with her. After my return to Jastrzeb, when I
+again saw the mill the feeling revived, but at the same time I was
+content that everything should drop, as it were, into the water and
+that Mother should not know anything about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Conversing in this manner, they turned from the side road to the shady
+walk leading to the manor-house, whose low lights, from a distance of
+about a verst, at times glistened through the boughs of the linden, and
+then again hid themselves, screened by the thick foliage. The night was
+starry and fair. It was, however, quite dark, for the moon had not yet
+risen and the copper glow upon the eastern sky announced its near
+approach. There was not the slightest breath of air. The great
+nocturnal stillness was broken by the barks of dogs, barely audible,
+from the distant slumbering village. Involuntarily, Gronski and
+Ladislaus began to speak in lower tones. However, everything was not
+asleep, for a few hundred paces from the walk, on the meadow near the
+river, firelights were intermittingly flashing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Those are peasants pasturing the horses and catching crawfish by the
+lights of the resinous wood,&quot; said Krzycki. &quot;I even hear one of them
+riding away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And in fact at that moment they heard on the meadows the clatter of the
+horse's hoofs, deadened by the grass, and immediately afterwards the
+loud voice of a herdsman resounded, who, amidst the nocturnal quiet,
+shouted in a drawling tone:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wojtek--Bring with you some more fagots, for these are not
+sufficient.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The night rider, having reached the road, soon passed by the chatting
+friends like a shadow. He, however, recognized the young heir, as in
+riding by them he pulled off his cap and saluted:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Praised be the Lord!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now and forever.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And for some time they walked in silence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus began to whistle quietly and to shout at the dog, but
+Gronski, who was cogitating upon what had occurred in the mill, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you know that if you were an Englishman, for instance, your idyl
+would have ended, in all probability, differently, and you would
+throughout your life have had a chaste remembrance, in which there
+would be great poetry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We eat less fish, therefore have a temperament differing from the
+Englishmen. As to poetry, perhaps there also was a little of it in our
+affair.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is not so much different temperament as different usages, and in
+that is the relief. They have a soul, healthier and at the same time,
+more independent, and do not borrow their morality from French books.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he meditated for a while and then continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You say that in your relations there was a little poetry. Certainly,
+but looking at it only from Hanka's side, not yours. In her, really,
+there is something poetical, for, deducing from your own words, she
+loved you truly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is certain,&quot; said Ladislaus. &quot;Who knows whether I ever in my life
+will be loved as much?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I think that you will not. For that reason, I am astonished that this
+stone should drop into the depth of your forgetfulness and that you
+should have so completely effaced it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">These words touched Krzycki somewhat, so he replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Candidly speaking, I related all this to you for the purpose of
+explaining why I do not accept the bequest, and, in the naïveté of my
+soul, I thought that you would praise me. But you are only seeking sore
+spots. Indeed, I would, after all, have preferred that this had not
+happened, but, since it happened, it is best not to think of it. For if
+I had as many millions as there are girls seduced every year in the
+villages, I could purchase not only Rzeslewo, but one half of the
+county. I can assure you that they themselves do not look upon it as a
+tragedy, neither do such things end in misfortune. It would plainly be
+laughable if I took this to heart more than Hanka who in all
+probability did not take it to heart and does not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How do you know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is usually the case. But if it were the reverse, what can I do?
+Surely I will not journey across the ocean to seek her. In a book that
+might perhaps appear very romantic, but in reality I have an estate
+which I cannot abandon and a family which it is not permissible for me
+to sacrifice. Such a Hanka, with whom, speaking parenthetically, you
+have soured me by recalling, may be the most honest girl, but to marry
+her--of course I could not marry her; therefore what, after all, can I
+do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know; but you must agree that there is a certain moral
+unsavoriness in the situation in which a man, after committing a wrong,
+afterwards asks himself or others, 'What can I do?'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, that was only a façon de parler,&quot; replied Krzycki, &quot;for, on the
+whole, I know perfectly. I will publish the advertisements and with
+that everything will end. The penance, which the priest at the proper
+time imposed upon me, I have performed, and I do not intend to make any
+further atonement.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Gronski said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sero molunt deorum molæ. Do you understand what that means in Polish?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Having assumed the management of Jastrzeb, I sowed all my latinity
+over its soil, but it has not taken root.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That means: The mills of the gods grind late.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki began to laugh and, pointing his hand in the direction of the
+old mill, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That one will not grind anything any more; I guarantee that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Further conversation was interrupted by their meeting near the gates
+two indistinct forms, with which they almost collided, for though the
+moon had already ascended, in the old linden walk it was completely
+dark.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus thought that they were the lady visitors enjoying an evening
+stroll, but for certainty asked, &quot;Who is there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We,&quot; answered an unknown feminine voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And who in particular?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Servants of Pani Otocka and Miss Anney.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young man recalled the young girl whose dark head obstructed his
+view of the lustrous hair of the English woman during the May mass.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Aha!&quot; he said. &quot;Do not you young girls fear to walk in the darkness? A
+were-wolf might carry off one of you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We are not scared,&quot; answered the same voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And perhaps I am a were-wolf?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A were-wolf does not look like that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Both girls began to laugh and withdrew a few steps; at the same time a
+bright ray darted through the leaves and illumined the white forehead,
+black eyebrows, and the whites of the eyes of one of them, which
+glittered greenishly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki, who was flattered by the words that a werewolf did not look
+like that, gazed at those eyes and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good-night!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good-night!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The ladies, with Dolhanski, were already in the dining-room, as the
+service of the supper awaited only the hunters who, after their return,
+withdrew to change their apparel. Marynia sat at one end of the table
+with the children and conversed a little with them and a little with
+Laskowicz, who was relating something to her with great animation,
+gazing all the time at her with intense fixedness and also with
+wariness that no one should observe him. Gronski, however, did observe
+him and, as the young student had interested and disquieted him from
+the time he learned of his agitation among the Rzeslewo peasants, he
+desired to participate in the conversation. But Marynia at that moment
+having heard the conclusion, joined the other ladies, who, having
+previously heard from the balcony the shooting in the direction of the
+old mill, inquired about the results of the hunt. It appearing that
+neither Miss Anney nor the two sisters had ever seen woodcocks except
+upon a platter, the old servant upon Krzycki's order brought the four
+lifeless victims. They viewed them with curiosity, expressed tardy
+commiseration for their tragic fate, and asked about their manner of
+life. Ladislaus, whom the animal world had interested from early years,
+began to relate at the supper the strange habits of those birds and
+their mysterious flights. While thus occupied he paid particular
+attention to Pani Otocka, for he was, for the first time, struck by her
+uncommonly fine stature. On the whole, he preferred other, less subtile
+kinds of beauty, and prized, above all else, buxom women. He observed,
+however, that on that night Pani Otocka looked extraordinarily
+handsome. Her unusually delicate complexion appeared yet more delicate
+in her black lace-stitched dress, and in her eyes, in the outlines of
+her lips, in the expression of her countenance, and in her whole form
+there was something so maidenly that whoever was not aware of her
+widowhood would have taken her for a maid of a good country family.
+Ladislaus, from the first arrival of these ladies, had indeed enlisted
+on the side of Miss Anney, but at the present moment he had to concede
+in his soul that the Englishwoman was not a specimen of so refined a
+race and, what was worse, she seemed to him that day less beautiful
+than this &quot;subtile cousin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But at the same time he made a strange discovery, namely: that this
+observation not only did not lessen his sympathy for the light-haired
+lady, but in some manner moved him strongly and inclined him to a
+greater friendship for her; as if by that comparison with Pani Otocka
+he had done an undeserved wrong to the Englishwoman, for which he ought
+to apologize to her. &quot;I must be on my guard,&quot; he thought, &quot;otherwise I
+will fall.&quot; He began to search for the celestial flow in her eyes and,
+finding it, drank its dim azure, drop by drop.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime Pani Krzycki, desirous of learning the earliest plans
+of the sisters, began to ask Pani Otocka whether they were going to
+travel abroad, and where.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The doctor,&quot; she said, &quot;sends me to mineral baths on account of my
+rheumatism, but I would be delighted to spend one more summer with you
+somewhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And to us your sojourn at Krynica left the most agreeable memories,&quot;
+replied Pani Otocka; &quot;particularly, as we are in perfect health, we
+willingly would remain in the village and more willingly would invite
+Aunt to us, with her entire household, were it not that the times are
+so troublous and it is unknown what may happen on the morrow. But if it
+will quiet down. Aunt, after her recovery, must certainly pay us a
+visit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this, she ardently kissed the hand of Pani Krzycki who said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How good you are and how lovable! I would with all my heart go to you,
+only, with my health, I must not obey the heart but various hidden
+ailments. Besides, the times are really troublous and I understand it
+is rather dangerous for ladies to remain alone in the villages. Have
+you any reliable people in Zalesin?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not fear my own people as they were very much attached to my
+husband, and now that attachment has passed to me. My husband taught
+them, above all things, patriotism, and at the same time introduced
+improvements which did not exist elsewhere. We have an orphanage,
+hospital, baths, stores, and fruit nurseries for the distribution of
+small trees. He even caused artesian wells to be sunk to provide enough
+healthful water for the village.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dolhanski, hearing this, leaned towards Krzycki and whispered:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A capitalist's fantasy. He regarded his wife and Zalesin as two
+playthings which he fondled, and played the rôle of a philanthropist
+because he could afford it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Pani Krzycki again began to ask:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who now is in charge of Zalesin?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And the young widow, having cast off a momentary sad recollection,
+answered with a smile:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the neighborhood they say Dworski rules Zalesin.--He is the old
+accountant of my husband and is very devoted to us.--I rule Dworski,
+and Marynia rules me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And that is the truth,&quot; interjected Miss Anney, &quot;with this addition,
+and me also.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Marynia shook her head and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, Aunt, if you only knew how they sometimes twit me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Somehow I do not see that, but I think that the time will come when
+somebody will rule you also.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It has already come,&quot; broke out Marynia.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So? That is curious. Who is that despot?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And the little violinist, pointing with a quick movement of her little
+finger at Gronski, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That gentleman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now I understand,&quot; said Dolhanski, &quot;why, after our return from the
+notary, he had a teapot full of hot water over his head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski shrugged his shoulders, like a man who had been charged with
+unheard-of things, and exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I? A despot? Why, I am a victim, the most hypnotized of all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then Pan Laskowicz is the hypnotizer, not I,&quot; answered the young miss,
+&quot;for he himself at supper was telling me about hypnotism and explaining
+what it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski looked toward the other end of the table, in the direction of
+the student, and saw his eyes, strained, refractory, and glistening,
+fastened upon Marynia.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Aha!&quot; he thought, &quot;he actually is trying his powers upon her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He frowned and, addressing her, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nobody in truth knows what hypnotism is. We see its manifestations and
+nothing more. But how did Laskowicz explain it to you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He told me what I already had heard before; that the person put to
+sleep must perform everything which the operator commands, and even
+when awakened must submit to the operator's will.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is untrue,&quot; said Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I think likewise. He claimed also that he could put me to sleep
+very easily, but I feel that he cannot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Excellent! Do such things interest you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hypnotism a little. But if it is to be anything mysterious, then I
+prefer to hear about spirits; especially do I like to hear the stories
+which one of our neighbors relates about fairies. He says they are
+called sprites, and indulge in all kinds of tricks in old houses, and
+they can be seen at night time through the windows in rooms where the
+fire is burning in the hearth. There they join hands and dance before
+the fire.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Those are gay fairies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And not malicious, though mischievous. Our aged neighbor piously
+believes in them and quarrels about them with the rector. He says his
+house is full of them and that they are continually playing pranks:
+sometimes pulling the coils of the clock to make it ring; sometimes
+hiding his slippers and other things; making noise during the night;
+hitching crickets to nut-shells and driving with them over the rooms;
+in the kitchen they skim the milk and throw peas into the fire to make
+them pop. If you do not vex them, they are benevolent, driving away
+spiders and mice, and watching that the mushrooms do not soil the
+floor. This neighbor of ours at one time was a man of great education,
+but in his old age has become queer, and he tells us this in all
+seriousness. We, naturally, laugh at it, but I confess that I very much
+wish that such a world did exist;--strange and mysterious! There would
+be in it something so good and nice, and less sadness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here she began to look off with dreamy eyes and afterwards continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I remember also that whenever we discussed Boecklin's pictures, those
+fauns, nymphs, and dryads which he painted, I always regretted that all
+that did not exist in reality. And sometimes it seemed to me that they
+might exist, only we do not see them. For, in truth, who knows what
+happens in the woods at noontime or night time, when no one is there;
+or in the mists during the moonlight or upon the ponds? Belief in such
+a world is not wholly childish, since we believe in angels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I also believe in fairies, nymphs, dryads, and angels,&quot; answered
+Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Really?&quot; she asked, &quot;for you always speak to me as to a child.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he answered her only mentally:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I speak as with a child, but I idolize.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But further conversation was interrupted by the servant, who informed
+Ladislaus that the steward of Rzeslewo had arrived and desired to see
+the &quot;bright young lord&quot; on a very important matter. Krzycki apologized
+to the company and with the expression, customary with country
+husbandmen, &quot;What is up now?&quot; left the room. As the supper was almost
+finished, they all began to move, after the example of the lady of the
+house, who, however, for a while endeavored in vain to rise, for the
+rheumatism during the past two days afflicted her more and more.
+Similar attacks occurred often and in such cases her son usually
+conducted her from room to room. But in this instance Miss Anney, who
+sat nearest to her, came to her assistance and, taking her in her arms,
+lifted her easily, skillfully, and without any exertion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thank you, I thank you,&quot; said Pani Krzycki, &quot;for otherwise I would
+have to wait for Laudie. Ah, my God, how good it is to be strong!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, in me you have a veritable Samson,&quot; answered Miss Anney in her
+pleasant, subdued voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But at that moment Ladislaus, who evidently recalled that he had to
+escort his mother, rushed into the room and, seeing what was taking
+place, exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Permit me, Miss Anney. That is my duty. You will fatigue yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not the least.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, Laudie,&quot; said Pani Krzycki, &quot;to tell the truth, I do not know
+which one of you two is the stronger.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is it truly so?&quot; he asked, looking with rapt eyes upon the slender
+form of the girl.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she began to wink with her eyes in token that such was the fact,
+but at the same time blushed as if ashamed of her unwomanly strength.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus, however, assisted her to seat his mother at the table in the
+small salon, at which she was accustomed to amuse herself in the
+evenings by laying out cards to forecast fortunes. On this occasion he
+unintentionally brushed his shoulder against Miss Anney's shoulder and,
+when he felt those steel-like young muscles, a violent thrill suddenly
+penetrated through him and at the same time he was possessed by a
+perception of some elementary, unheard-of, blissful power. If he were
+Gronski and ever in his life had read Lucretius' hymn to Venus, he
+would have been able to know and name that power. But as he was only a
+twenty-seven-year-old, healthy nobleman, he only thought that the
+moments in which he would be free to hug such a girl to his bosom would
+be worth the sacrifice of Jastrzeb, Rzeslewo, and even life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in the meanwhile he had to return to the steward of Rzeslewo, who
+waited for him in the office upon an urgent matter. Their talk lasted
+so long that when Ladislaus reappeared in the small salon, the young
+ladies had already withdrawn to their rooms. Only his mother, who was
+purposely waiting, desirous of knowing what was the matter, remained,
+with Gronski and with Dolhanski, who was playing baccarat with himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is the news?&quot; asked Pani Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Absolutely nothing good. Only let Mamma not get alarmed, for we are of
+course here in Jastrzeb and not in Rzeslewo; and eventually we can
+brush this aside with our hands. But nevertheless, strange things are
+occurring there and Kapuscinski, in any event, did right to come here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For the Lord's sake, who is Kapuscinski?&quot; exclaimed Dolhanski,
+dropping the monocle from his eye.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The steward of Rzeslewo. He says that some unknown persons, probably
+from Warsaw, appeared there and are acting like gray geese in the
+skies. They issue commands, summon the peasants, incite them, promising
+them the lands and even order them to take possession of the stock.
+They predict it will be the same in all Poland as it is in Rzeslewo--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what of the peasants? what of the peasants?&quot; interrupted Pani
+Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Some believe them, while others do not. The more sensible, who attempt
+to resist, are threatened with death. The manor farm-hands will not
+obey Kapuscinski and say that they will only pasture and feed the
+cattle, but will not touch any other work. About fifteen of the tenants
+are preparing to go to the woods with hatchets and they declare that,
+if the foresters interfere with their right to cut wood, they will give
+them a good drubbing. Kapuscinski has lost his head completely and came
+to me, as one of the executors of the will, for advice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what did you tell him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As he declared to me that he was not certain of his life in Rzeslewo,
+I advised him by all means to pass the night with us in Jastrzeb. I
+wanted first to consult Mother and you, for in fact, advice under the
+circumstances is difficult to give and the situation is grave. Of
+course such a situation cannot continue very long, and sooner or later
+the peasants themselves will suffer the most by it. This we must
+positively prevent. I will candidly state that for the past two days, I
+have been considering whether it would not be better if I renounced the
+curatorship of the new school and Rzeslewo matters in general. I
+hesitated only because it is a public service, but in truth, I have so
+much work to attend to here in Jastrzeb, that I do not know on what I
+shall lay my hands first. But now, since it is necessary to rescue the
+peasants, and since a certain amount of danger is connected with it, I
+cannot retreat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will fear about you, but I understand you,&quot; said Pani Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I think that by all means, I should drive over to-morrow morning to
+Rzeslewo, but if I do not secure a hearing there, then what is to be
+done?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will not get any,&quot; said Dolhanski, not pausing in his distribution
+of the cards.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you go, I will go with you,&quot; announced Pani Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, that would be the only thing needful! Let Mamma only think that in
+such a case I would be terribly hampered and certainly would not gain
+anything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he kissed her hand and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no! Mamma does not understand that matters would be worse and, if
+Mamma insists, then I would rather not go at all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski propped his head upon his hand and thought that it was easier
+to analyze at a desk the various phases of life than to offer sound
+advice in the presence of urgent events. Dolhanski at last stopped
+playing baccarat with himself and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The position we are placed in passes all comprehension. But were we in
+any other country, the police would be summoned and the matter would
+end in a day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Ladislaus replied with some anger:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As for that, permit me! I will not summon the police; not only not
+against those peasants, but not even against those forbidden figures
+who now haunt Rzeslewo. No, never!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well; long live an epoch of true freedom!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who knows,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;but that the summoning of the police would
+just suit these gentlemen?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In what way?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because they themselves, at the proper season, would disappear, but
+later would incite the people again and would cry all over Poland,
+'Behold! who appeals to the police against peasants.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is a pertinent observation,&quot; said Ladislaus; &quot;now I understand
+various things which I did not comprehend before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From the opening of the will,&quot; said Dolhanski, &quot;Rzeslewo and its
+inhabitants did not concern me in the least. However, one thought
+occurred to me while dealing the cards. Laudie will drive over to
+Rzeslewo to-morrow on a fruitless errand. He may receive only a sound
+beating, without benefiting anybody--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It has never yet come to that, and that is something I do not fear.
+Our family has lived in Jastrzeb from time immemorial, and the peasants
+of this neighborhood would not raise their hands against a Krzycki--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Above all, do not interrupt me,&quot; said Dolhanski. &quot;If you do not get a
+sound thrashing--and I assume that you may not--then you will not
+secure a hearing, as you yourself foresaw a little while ago. If we
+two, that is, Gronski and myself, went over there, we would not effect
+anything because they have seen us at the funeral, and the estimable
+Slavonians of Rzeslewo look upon us as men who have a personal interest
+in the matter. It will be necessary that some one unknown go there, who
+will not argue, but who will act as if he had the right and power and
+will command the peasants to behave peaceably. Since you are so much
+concerned about them, that will be the only way. So, then, since by
+virtue of the unfathomable decrees of Providence there exist in this
+beloved land of ours National Democrats, whom, parenthetically
+speaking, I cannot endure any more than the seven-spot of clubs, but
+who, in all probability, have fists as sweaty and as heavy as the
+socialists,--could you not settle this matter with their assistance?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course, naturally, naturally!&quot; exclaimed Gronski; &quot;the peasants,
+after all, have great confidence in the National party.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I also belong to that party with my whole heart,&quot; said Krzycki, &quot;but,
+sitting, like a stone, in Jastrzeb, I do not know to whom to apply.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In any case, not to me,&quot; said Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Gronski, though he did not belong to any faction, thoroughly knew
+the city and easily suggested the addresses and the manner in which the
+party could be notified. He afterwards said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And now I will give you one word of advice, the same which you,
+Laudie, gave Kapuscinski, namely, that we go to sleep, for you,
+especially, madam,&quot;--here he addressed the lady of the house--&quot;were
+entitled to that long ago. Is it agreed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Agreed,&quot; answered Ladislaus; &quot;but wait a few minutes. After conducting
+Mother, I will accompany you upstairs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Within a quarter of an hour he returned, but instead of bidding his
+guests the promised &quot;good-night&quot; he drew closer to them and resumed the
+interrupted conversation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did not wish to relate everything before Mother,&quot; he said, &quot;in order
+not to alarm her. But in fact the matter is much worse. So, speaking
+first of what concerns us, imagine for yourself that those strangers
+immediately after their arrival asked first of all about Laskowicz, and
+that Laskowicz was in Rzeslewo this afternoon and returned here an hour
+before we came back from the hunt. Now it is positively certain that we
+have in our midst an agitator.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then throw him out,&quot; interrupted Dolhanski. &quot;If I were in your place,
+I would have done that long ago, if only for the reason that he has
+eyes set closely to each other, like a baboon. In a man that indicates
+fanaticism and stupidity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Unquestionably I will be done with him to-morrow, and I would end with
+him even to-day, notwithstanding the late hour, were it not that I
+desire first to calm down and not create any foolish disturbance. I do
+not like this, and I would not advise those apostles to peer into
+Jastrzeb. As I live, I would not advise it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Have they any intention of paying you a visit?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly. If not to me personally, then to my farmhands. They
+announced in Rzeslewo that they would cause an agrarian strike in the
+entire vicinity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then my advice, to drive out one wedge with another, is the most
+feasible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Assuredly. I will adopt that course without delay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;that they want to inaugurate agrarian strikes
+throughout the whole country. They will not succeed as the peasant
+element will repel their efforts. They, like most people from the
+cities, do not take into account the relation of man to the soil.
+Nevertheless, there will be considerable losses and the confusion will
+increase, and this is what they chiefly care for. Ah! Shakespeare's
+'sun of foolery' not only shines in our land, but is in the zenith.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If we are talking of that kind of a sun, we can, like a former king of
+Spain, say that it never sets in our possessions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Gronski spoke farther:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Socialism--good! That, of course, is a thing more ancient than
+Menenius Agrippa. That river has flown for ages. At times, when covered
+by other ideas, it coursed underground, and later emerged into the
+broad daylight. At times it subsides, then swells and overflows. At
+present we have a flood, very menacing, which may submerge not only
+factories, cities, and countries, but even civilization. Above all, it
+threatens France, where comfort and money have displaced all other
+ideas. Socialism is the inevitable result of that. Capital wedded to
+demagogism cannot breed any other child; and if that child has the head
+of a monster and mole, so much the worse for the father. It
+demonstrates that superfluous wealth may be a national danger. But this
+is not strange. Privilege is an injustice against which men have fought
+for centuries. Formerly the princes, clergy, and nobility were vested
+with it. To-day nobody has any; money possesses all. In truth, Labor
+has stepped forth to combat with it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This begins to smell to me like an apology for socialism,&quot; observed
+Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. It is not an apology. For, above all things, viewing this matter
+from above, what is this new current but one more delusion in the human
+chase after happiness? For myself, I only contend that socialism has
+come, or rather, it has gathered strength, because it was bound to
+grow. I care only about its looks and whether it could not have a
+different face. And here my criticism begins. I do not deem socialism a
+sin in the socialists, but only that the idea in their school assumes
+the lineaments of an malignant idiot. I accuse our socialists of
+incredible stupidity; like that of the ants who wrangled with and bit
+the working ants, while the ant-eater was lying on the ant-hill and
+swallowing them by thousands.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True,&quot; cried Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And, of course,&quot; concluded Gronski, &quot;on our ant-hills there lie a
+whole herd of ant-eaters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Dolhanski again dropped the monocle from his eye.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That you may not retire to sleep under a disagreeable impression,&quot; he
+said, &quot;I will tell you an anecdote which will illustrate what Gronski
+has said. During the last exposition in Paris, one of the black kings
+of French Congo, having heard of it, announced his wish to see it. The
+Colonial government, which was anxious to send as many exotic figures
+as possible to Paris, not only consented, but sent to this monarch a
+few shirts with the information that in France such articles of attire
+were indispensable. Naturally the shirts excited general admiration and
+surprise. The King summoned ministers, priests, and leaders of parties
+for a consultation as to how such a machine was to be put on. After
+long debates, which undoubtedly could not be held without bitter
+clashes between the native rationalists and the native nationalists and
+progressionists, all doubts were finally set at rest. The king pulled
+the sleeves of the shirt over his legs, so that the cuffs were at his
+ankles. The bottom edge of the shirt, which in this instance became the
+top, was fastened under his arm-pits by a string in such a manner that
+the bosom was on his back and the opening was at his neck--somewhat
+lower. Delighted with this solution of the difficulty, the ruler
+acknowledged that the attire, if not entirely, was, at least in certain
+respects, very practical and, above all, extraordinarily striking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good,&quot; said Gronski, laughing, &quot;but what connection has that with what
+I had previously said?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Greater than may appear to you,&quot; replied Dolhanski; &quot;for the fact is
+that the various Slavonians are prepared to bear liberty and the
+socialists socialism in the same manner as that negro king wore his
+European shirt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this, he replaced the monocle in his eye and announced that as
+in virtuous Jastrzeb and in such company there could not be any talk of
+a &quot;night card party,&quot; he would take his leave and go to sleep. The
+others decided to follow his example. Ladislaus took the lamp and began
+to light the way for the guests. On the stairs he turned to them with a
+countenance which depicted ill humor and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May the deuce take it, but all these disturbances must occur at a time
+when we have in Jastrzeb such lovely ladies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Beware,&quot; answered Dolkanski, &quot;and know that nothing can be concealed
+from my eyes. When you assisted Miss Anney to conduct your mother, you
+looked like an electrical machine. If anybody drew a wire through
+you, you could illuminate not only the mansion but the adjoining
+out-buildings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus raised the lamp higher so that the light would not fall upon
+his countenance, for he felt at that moment that he blushed like a
+student.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>IX</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus Krzycki possessed such a happy nature that, having once lain
+down to sleep, he could a few minutes later fall into a deep slumber
+which would continue until the morning. That night, however, he could
+not fall asleep because the impressions of the day, together with the
+parting words of Dolhanski, had led him into a state of exasperation
+and anger. He was angry at Rzeslewo; at the disturbances which were
+taking place there; at Dolhanski because he had observed the impression
+which the young girl had made upon him--and particularly because he
+himself had afforded him an opportunity to comment upon it--and finally
+at the innocent Miss Anney. After a time, rolling from side to side, he
+opened an imaginary conversation with her, in which he assumed the rôle
+of a man, who, indeed, does not deny that he is deeply under the spell,
+nevertheless, can view matters soberly and sanely. Therefore he
+admitted to Miss Anney that she was handsome and amiable; that she had
+an immensely sympathetic voice, a strange, fascinating look, and a body
+like marble--ah, what a body! Nevertheless, he made the explicit
+reservation that she must not think that he loved her to distraction,
+or was even smitten with her. He would concede anything to her that she
+desired, but to admit that he was in love with her was as far removed
+from his thoughts as love is from matrimony, of which, of course, there
+could not be any talk. Above all, she was a foreigner, and Mother in
+that respect had her prejudices, justly so; and he himself would prefer
+to have at his side during the remainder of his life a Polish soul and
+not a foreign one. True, there was something homelike in her, but after
+all, she was not a Pole. &quot;Identical blood has its own meaning; it
+cannot be helped,&quot; he further told Miss Anney. &quot;So, since you are an
+Englishwoman, marry some Englishman or Scotchman, provided, however,
+you do not require me to form the acquaintance of such an ape and
+become intimate with him, for that is something I can dispense with
+perfectly.&quot; And at that moment he was seized with such a sudden,
+unexpected antipathy to that eventual Englishman &quot;with projecting jaw&quot;
+and Scotchman &quot;with bare knees,&quot; that he felt that upon a trivial
+misunderstanding he could flog them. But through this attack of rage he
+roused himself completely from that half-drowsy, half-wakeful condition
+in which whimsical fancies mingle, and having recovered his senses, he
+experienced a great relief in the thought that the betrothed person
+beyond the sea was only a figment of his imagination, and at the same
+time a wave of gratitude towards Miss Anney surged in his heart. &quot;Here
+I am, quarrelling with her and making reservations,&quot; he thought, &quot;while
+she is snugly nestling her bright head upon a pillow and peacefully
+slumbering.&quot; Here again his blood began to frisk, but soon the perverse
+musings vanished. This became easier for him, as he was encompassed by
+a yearning for honest affection and for that future being, yet unnamed,
+who was to share his life. Again he resumed his imaginary conversation
+with Miss Anney, but this time in a meek spirit. He assured her, with a
+certain melancholy, that he was not solicitous about her, as he well
+knew that even if there were no obstacles she certainly would not have
+him, but that he was anxious that his future life-companion should
+resemble her a little; that she should have the same look and the same
+magnetic strength to which, if he did not succumb it would be a
+miracle. As to Miss Anney personally, plainly speaking, he owed only
+gratitude. Of course, nowhere was it so well with him as at his beloved
+Jastrzeb, but nevertheless he could not deny that in that exclusive den
+it became lively and bright after her arrival; and that after her
+departure it would become darker, more dreary and monotonous than ever
+before. So for those bright moments he would willingly kiss her hand
+and, if that seemed insufficient to her, then her feet. In the meantime
+he begged her pardon for the mad thoughts which passed through his
+brain when he brushed against her shoulder in the salon, for though he
+was always of the opinion that responsiveness upon her part was worth
+the sacrifice of life, yet at the same time he had to contend that
+Dolhanski was a blockhead and cynic who meddled with matters which did
+not concern him and who was unworthy of notice. Here renewed rage
+against Dolhanski possessed him, and he continued for some time to toss
+from side to side until finally the late hour, youth, hungry for sleep,
+and weariness sprinkled his eyes with poppy.<a name="div2Ref_03" href="#div2_03"><sup>[3]</sup></a></p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was, however, in the Jastrzeb manor-house another who did not
+sleep and who talked with a person not present, and that was Laskowicz.
+After all that had taken place and what had been revealed in the past
+few days, he was prepared for his farewell parting with the Krzycki
+family, as he well knew that his further presence in Jastrzeb would be
+intolerable. And nevertheless he desired at present to stay in it, even
+though for a few days, in order that he might gaze longer upon Panna
+Marynia and, as he called it, &quot;further narcotize himself.&quot; Somehow,
+from the first moment he had heard her play, she actually absorbed his
+thoughts in a way that no woman up to that time had done. Foremost
+among the prepared formulæ which he, with dogmatic faith, had adopted
+to judge mankind with, was the precept that a woman belonging to the
+so-called pampered class was a thoughtless creature. In the meantime he
+had to dissent at once from that formula as a soul had spoken to him
+through the violin. Later he was astonished to find in that young lady
+two entities, one of which manifested itself in music as a finished
+artist, concentrated, filled with exaltation within herself, dissolved
+in the waves of tones and playing as if she drew the bow over her own
+nerves; the other appeared in every-day life in her customary relations
+with people. The latter seemed at the first glance of the eye, if not
+an insignificant, a common girl, full of simplicity and even gaiety,
+who screamed like a cat when Dolhanski, for instance, said things
+disagreeable to her; who jested with Gronski, telling him absurdities
+about spirits or, to the great alarm of Gronski and her older sister,
+fled into the garden for a boat ride on the pond. Laskowicz did not
+fully comprehend the world and was not a subtle person; nevertheless,
+he observed in the &quot;common girl&quot; something which made her, as it were,
+a little divinity, haloed with a quiet worship. Evidently she herself
+did not appear to be conscious of this and, viewing such a state of
+affairs as something which was self-understood, she lived the life of a
+flower or a bird. Confident that she will not suffer any harm from any
+one, gentle, bright, living beyond the misery and wretchedness of life,
+beyond its cares, beyond its chilling winds which dim the eyes with
+tears, beyond the dust which defiles, she resembled a pure spring which
+people look upon as blessed and whose translucency they fear to muddy.
+It seemed that the environment did not exact of her anything more than
+that she should exist, just as nothing more is demanded of a
+masterpiece.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To Laskowicz, as often as he gazed at her, there came recollection of
+his childhood days. He and his older brother, who, a few years before
+falling into consumption had committed suicide on the Riviera, were the
+sons of a woman who conducted near one of the churches in Warsaw a shop
+for the sale of consecrated wax candles, medals, rosaries, and
+pictures. Owing to this, both brothers were, in a way, bred upon the
+church portals and were in constant relations with the priests. Once it
+happened that the aged canon, the rector of the church, bought at an
+auction an alabaster statuette of some saint, and for an unknown reason
+took it for granted that it was not only the work, but the masterpiece
+of Canova. The statuette, which, in reality, was pretty and finely
+executed, after consecration, was placed in a separate niche near one
+of the altars under the name of Saint Apollonia and from that time the
+gentle old rector surrounded it with great worship as a holy relic and
+with more particular care as the greatest church rarity. He led his
+guests and more pious parishioners before it and commanded them to
+admire the work and got angry if any one ventured to make any critical
+observation. In fact, the admiration of the canon was shared by the
+organist, the sexton, the church servants, and both boys. The thought
+that Panna Marynia amidst her environment was such a Saint Apollonia
+unwittingly suggested itself to Laskowicz. For that reason, after the
+first impression he called her &quot;a saintly doll.&quot; But he also recalled
+that when in the course of time he lost his faith--and he lost it in
+the gymnasium where, speaking parenthetically, he completed his studies
+with the aid of the venerable canon--he often was beset with a desire
+to demolish that alabaster statuette. At present he was consumed with a
+greater desire, for it bordered upon a passion, to destroy this living
+one. And yet he did not in the least bear her any hatred. On the
+contrary, he could not resist the charm of this maiden, so loved by
+all, any more than one can resist the charm of dawn or spring. It even
+happened that what vexed and exasperated him also at the same time
+attracted him towards her with an uncontrollable force. Consequently he
+was drawn to her by her appurtenance to this world, the existence of
+which he deemed a social injustice, crime, and wrong; she attracted him
+in spite of his internal anguish, and even by the thought that beside
+such a flower the proletariat was but manure. A lure for him was her
+refined culture and her art, though he regarded such things as
+superfluous and unnecessary for people of deflorated life; the
+fascination was her utter dissimilarity to the women whom he met up to
+the time of his arrival at the village, and her whole form was an
+intoxication. Never before was he under the same roof with a being like
+her; therefore he forgot himself and lost his head at the sight of her,
+and though he had not yet familiarized himself with the power which
+began to play in his bosom and had not christened it with the name of
+love, the truth was that during the past few days he was aflame like a
+volcano and loved her to distraction. He vaguely felt, however, that in
+this passion there was something of the lust of a negro for a white
+woman, and what was more, that in that particular love there was
+apostasy to principles. So then in the same germ he poisoned her with
+the virus of hatred and the wolfish propensity of annihilation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And now he was summoning this &quot;saintly doll&quot; to come to him. Accepting,
+indiscriminately, and also with all that exaggeration peculiar to
+fanaticism and youth, everything which the books published as the
+results of the latest researches or phenomena in the domain of science,
+he believed that hypnotism was a secret and gigantic power which, when
+applied, would become invincible. Holding himself on the strength of
+experiments tried among his classmates as a hypnotizer, and considering
+the delicate and impressionable young girl an excellent medium, he was
+most firmly convinced that he could put her to sleep and command her
+from a distance. Conscience, indeed, whispered to him that what he
+contemplated doing was an abuse of science, but he silenced that voice,
+persuading himself that it would at the same time be a triumph of a
+proletaire over this world, for which it is not permissible to have any
+pity, and that a man belonging to the camp which had declared a war of
+life and death on the entire social structure and &quot;had appraised at
+their true worth&quot; all current ideas has the right to and must be
+heedless.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Above all, however, he yearned to subjugate this elegant and immaculate
+maiden, to dominate not merely her body and soul, but also her will; to
+transform her into something like himself; to draw her to himself, to
+awaken within her the slumbering feminine instincts, to open before her
+the closed doors of passion; to inflame her, to embrace her, to toy
+with her, and afterwards keep her forever close to his bosom. And at
+that thought he was beset by a strange joy like that which madmen feel
+while profaning objects held in reverence and fear, and,
+simultaneously, lust and love within him intensified. He felt that
+after all that and for all of that, he would love this booty of his,
+this sacrifice, to distraction.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But as he was a madman only about the heart of a maid, and not a
+depraved man, he was at times possessed by a tenderness so great that
+if his summons were productive of any results he might not pass the
+bounds of transgression. But these were transient moments; after which,
+straining the whole strength of his will and the sight of his closely
+set eyes in the direction of Marynia's sleeping chamber he said and
+commanded: &quot;Rise!--do not light the candles--do not awaken your
+sister--open the door quietly and walk in darkness on the path of my
+thoughts until you come to me, to my arms, to my bosom!&quot; And he
+imagined that at any moment he would behold her, resembling that
+alabaster statuette, entering with the mechanical step of a
+somnambulist in a single gown, silvery, dreamy, with head tilted
+backward, with closed eyes and opened lips drinking the lustre of the
+moon which shone in the windows. Afterwards he listened in the silence
+and, concentrating yet more powerfully his will, he repeated again with
+emphasis as if each word was chiselled out of stone: &quot;Rise! do not
+light the candles--do not waken your sister--open the door--go on the
+path of my thoughts--and come!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Horrible indeed would have been the fate of the young lady were it not
+for one fortunate circumstance, and that was that she never dreamt of
+rising, opening the door, going on the path of his thoughts, etc. On
+the contrary, she slept as peacefully as if an angel had bent over her
+and with the movements of her wings had driven away from her
+disquieting and feverish dreams. The little household fairies of
+Jastrzeb, such as those about which she spoke to Gronski, also did not
+disturb her repose. Perhaps some of them chased the moths from the
+windows in order that they might not make any noise by striking the
+window-panes; perhaps others, climbing the curtains and window sashes,
+gazed at her from a distance with their keen little eyes and whispered
+to each other: &quot;Sleep, little maiden, who played for us on the
+violin--sleep--hush--let us not waken her.&quot; And though a desire to turn
+the pins of the violin and touch the chords with their tiny fingers may
+have taken hold of them, they did not, however, do so, through honesty
+and hospitality. Through the openings of the shutters the moonlight
+streamed in, brightening the interior and slowly advancing on the
+opposite wall. The silence was great; only somewhere beyond the house
+the night-watch on the premises whistled; while within the house the
+old standing clock, which measured the lives of several generations,
+continued to speak with resignation the &quot;Tick!--Tack!--Tick!&quot; of the
+seconds sinking into the past.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Laskowicz in the course of time issued further commands from his
+room which reached no one's knowledge. A strange thing! Inwardly
+something was telling him with sober, almost absolute certainty that
+the maid would not come and he nevertheless believed that she ought to
+have come. Not until a long time elapsed, did the consciousness dawn
+upon him that if she did not come, then he, together with his
+hypnotism, played the rôle of an addle-pated fool. Finally fatigue,
+disaffection, and anger at himself gripped him. Sleep irrevocably left
+him. Hour flew after hour. In the east the sky was deepening and it was
+becoming green. Soon the rosy lower border was striped with the
+transparent riband of dawn. The young student, not undressing himself
+at all, opened the window to breathe the bracing morning air. In the
+garden the first chirp of the birds began, and from the direction of
+the not distant pond, with the odor of the acacias, came the cries of
+herons and the subdued, as if yet sleepy, quacks of the wild ducks.
+After a while the sweep of the well creaked in the village.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It then occurred to Laskowicz that this was the last daybreak he was to
+behold in Jastrzeb; that on the morrow he would wake in the city and
+would not see either Panna Marynia or little Anusia whom only, of all
+the inmates of that Jastrzeb mansion, he liked; and he felt a little
+sorrow. But as he understood that, after the arrival of his party
+associates at Rzeslewo and yesterday's visit of the steward Kapuscinski
+to Krzycki, it was unavoidable, he preferred to tender his resignation
+rather than suffer a dismissal. With this intention, he decided to
+write a letter to Ladislaus and inform him that he had enough of
+pedagogical work. He foresaw that eventually they would have to see
+each other, if only at the payment of the salary, and as a dispute
+about principles might arise which might go very far, he had a revolver
+ready for certain contingencies. He deemed that, before that happened,
+a dry, peremptory letter would be a step more consonant with his pride;
+therefore, when it was quite bright, he sat down immediately to write.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki awoke, though not in the dusk, nevertheless with the rise of
+the sun, for in the country he thus habituated himself to wake,
+regardless of whether he retired to bed early or late. He felt in his
+bones that he had had too little rest and, stretching out his arms, he
+said to himself that he would be repaid only in case Miss Anney at some
+time would learn that he lost that sleep for her sake and would pity
+him, though slightly. Meanwhile he recalled to his mind all that he was
+to do that day and formulated the following plan; he would rouse
+himself, drive out the lassitude in his bones; afterwards, before
+breakfast, would drive over to Rzeslewo and &quot;look a little in the eyes
+of those worthies;&quot; and if possible talk with the peasants; later he
+would return; after breakfast he would finish with Laskowicz and send
+him away with the team which was to bring the physician; the balance of
+his time, he would devote to the guests, to writing letters, and to the
+farm. He positively determined to go to Rzeslewo, because, though he
+agreed in his heart with Dolhanski that for the nonce he would be
+unable to accomplish anything, nevertheless, he did not wish the ladies
+to think that he stayed away through fear.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Having arranged everything in this manner, he carelessly put on his
+clothes and, slipping his feet into his slippers, repaired to the
+bath-room, without any foreboding that he would meet with an unusual
+accident and that he was soon to see, not in truth such an alabaster
+statuette as the one Laskowicz was raving about all night, but, at any
+rate, something resembling Diana in a fountain. In the second in which
+he opened the door he saw streams of water splashing and beheld under a
+shower-sprinkler a nude, female figure, strewed with pearls of azure,
+with head somewhat inclined, and hands raised to her hair, whose black
+waves concealed her face. This lasted only a twinkle of the eye. A
+suppressed scream and the slam of the closed door resounded
+simultaneously. Krzycki rushed like the gale for his room; excited and
+at the same time shocked, he clutched with shaking hand a decanter,
+filled a glass of water, gulped it, and began to repeat confusedly:
+&quot;What has happened? Who is she? For God's sake, what has happened?&quot; In
+the first moments he conjectured that she might have been Pani Otocka,
+or Marynia, and in such a case the misadventure would be appalling.
+Those ladies would undoubtedly leave Jastrzeb at once and it would
+perhaps be incumbent upon him to propose marriage to the one whom he
+had seen in such paradisiacal shape. &quot;But was it my fault?&quot; he thought.
+&quot;Why didn't she lock the door? There was a bolt.&quot; He drank another
+glass of water to cool his agitated blood and to think more calmly of
+what he was to do and who that nymph was. Somehow after an interval he
+reached the conclusion that she could not have been either of the
+sisters. Firstly, why should they rise so early? and again, both were
+slim, while this form was stouter and on the whole was built so,
+that--Oh! Oh! Finally, he became satisfied that it surely must have
+been no other than the brunette who obstructed his view of Miss Anney
+during the mass and whom he met on the dark walk when returning with
+Gronski from the hunt. If such was the case, nothing terrible had
+happened, but rather the contrary. It occurred to his mind that those
+blue window-panes were an excellent device, for in such a light the
+spectacle was delightful. At the thought of this, he felt the necessity
+of drinking a third glass of water. This, however, he did not do, but
+instead, after an interval, went again to the bath-room, which now was
+vacant, and after a cool bath dressed himself and hastened to the
+stable. There he ordered a horse to be saddled and sped away on a
+gallop for adjacent Rzeslewo.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The day was mild; the hour very early. But all nature was already awake
+and bedewed, bathed in the sun, she appeared to simply cry out with
+joy, just as village maids from an excess of life and health sing unto
+forgetfulness, &quot;Oj dana! Oj dana!&quot; Birds carolled until the leaves on
+the trees trembled. In the distant oak grove resounded the coo-cooing
+of the cuckoo; yellow thrushes whistled amidst the boughs of lofty
+trees; from the depths of the forest, sounding like the noise of a
+sawmill, came the outcries of an old raven, watching a crowded nest,
+while from time to time the shrieks of a jay, resembling a laugh, burst
+forth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus rode out of the woods onto the open roadway. Here on one side
+was a stretch of waving grain; on the other a meadow--from which odors
+of turf and spring were wafted,--all overgrown with marigold and
+rose-campion, quivering in the solar warmth and under the gentle breath
+of the wind, as if in delight. This delight, this widespread joy and
+luxuriance of life overflowed in the breast of Ladislaus. He felt
+within himself such a vigor of youth and strength that he was prepared
+to challenge to a hand-to-hand combat full hundreds of socialists and
+at the same time press the whole world to his heart, especially women
+under the age of thirty. The white vision of that Diana, enveloped in a
+shell of blue pearls, again began to glide before his eyes, but he now
+thought that if, instead of dark tresses on the bowed head of that
+goddess, he had seen golden, he would have probably toppled over.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Amidst such sights and impressions he arrived at Rzeslewo, where,
+however, in conformity with Dolhanski's prediction, he was unable to
+accomplish anything. The &quot;worthies&quot; whom he wanted to look in the eyes
+had left during the night time for the city; the husbandmen were in the
+field, each upon his own patch of ground; the blinds of the rectory
+were shut, as the rector for the last few days was feeling unwell. In
+the manor out-building where the laborers dwelt there was not a sign of
+a living soul. Later the old keeper of the stockyard informed him that
+the hired help, after watering the stock, drove it out into the pasture
+and went without asking the permission of any one to a church festival
+at Brzesno, whither many of the husbandmen and tenants had also gone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So, then, here was a strike of farm-hands and open contumacy, but
+Krzycki was helpless. He only ordered the aged keeper of the stockyard
+to tell the hired help that there would come to Rzeslewo to establish
+order certain gentlemen before whom the vagabonds, who were there the
+previous day, would abscond as soon as they heard of them; after which
+he turned back and in half an hour was in Jastrzeb.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A servant told him that all were still asleep, excepting Laskowicz, who
+had charged him with the delivery of a letter. Krzycki took it and went
+with it to the office. Having read its contents, he rang for the
+servant.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Was he dressed when he gave you the letter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, sir, and was packing his things.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ask him if he can come to my office, and if he can, request him to
+step in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a while, the young student entered the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki motioned to him to take a seat in the chair, which was near his
+desk.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good day, sir! I learn from your letter that you wish to leave
+Jastrzeb and that, at once. I presume that you have cogent reasons for
+this step. I therefore regard any discussion of them as superfluous,
+and will not detain you. Here you have what is due to you and the
+horses will be ready at any time you desire.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Laskowicz, who in money matters was extremely scrupulous, after
+counting the money, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are paying me my whole salary, but as I am leaving before the
+expiration of the term, I am not entitled to pay for the last month.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And somewhat discourteously he flung the unearned balance upon the
+desk.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki's cheeks quivered slightly about the mustache, but as he had
+pledged himself before Gronski that he would not create any disturbance
+and had made the same promise to himself, he quietly replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As you please.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As for the departure,&quot; said Laskowicz, &quot;I would prefer to leave at
+once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As you please,&quot; repeated Krzycki. &quot;In an hour I will send after the
+physician for my mother and if it is convenient for you, you may go
+with that team.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then the whole thing is settled. I will give orders at once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this, he rose and closed the desk, as if he wished to intimate
+that the interview was over. Laskowicz glared at him with eyes blazing
+with hatred. He did not seek any broil, but anticipating one, he stood
+before Krzycki, bent like a bow. Meanwhile nothing approaching an
+altercation occurred and the revolver, which he had ready for a certain
+contingency, was of no service to him. There was no reference even to
+the letter, though that was indited in harsh and rude terms.
+Nevertheless there was something offensive in the cold tones in which
+Krzycki spoke, something insulting in the eagerness with which he
+accepted his offer of departure. To Laskowicz, who viewed everything
+from his own standpoint, it seemed that the icy conversation
+accentuated something else, namely, the attitude of a wealthy man who
+owned Jastrzeb, a desk filled with money, horses, and equipages,
+towards a poor, homeless fellow. But it did not occur to him at that
+moment that he on his part had done nothing to improve their relations,
+but on the contrary had done a great deal to make them worse, and that
+from the time of his arrival he had shut himself, like a turtle in a
+shell, in a doctrine inimical to these people. Everything conduced to
+stir the bile within him to such a degree that he actually regretted
+that the matter did not end in a personal encounter. But as in the
+words of Krzycki there was nothing which gave him a pretext for one, he
+abruptly left the room without any leave-taking and with redoubled
+rancor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus rang to have the horses ready within an hour, and as it
+happened to be Friday, he ordered the gardener to catch some fish;
+after which he began to consider whether the affair with Laskowicz had
+terminated in a desirable way. He was pleased and displeased with
+himself. He felt a certain satisfaction and even pride in the fact that
+he could be laconic and firm, cold but polite, and that he did not
+stoop to any ruffianly dispute. But at the same time, notwithstanding
+his pride, a certain disrelish remained, for which he could not account
+as he was not sufficiently developed psychologically. He kept repeating
+to himself that such scenes are always disagreeable, and so was the
+whole business. In reality there was another reason for it. His whole
+behavior, which appeared to him so temperate, sensible, and well-nigh
+diplomatic, did not emanate from his temperament, but in direct
+opposition to his not too deep, but open and impulsive nature. If he
+had acted in keeping with it, he either would have come to blows with
+the young student or else would have said something like this: &quot;You
+have strewn our path with thorns and have upset the minds of our
+people, but since you are leaving, give me your hand and may you fare
+well.&quot; The one or the other act would have been more consistent with
+his character, and he would not have experienced that jarring which he
+could not understand, but felt none the less.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But further reflections were interrupted by the servant with the
+announcement that breakfast was ready and that the guests were at the
+table. In fact, all had already assembled in the dining-room, through
+which pervaded the odor of coffee and the hum of the samovar. At the
+sight of the white dresses of the ladies and their fresh, well-rested
+countenances, Ladislaus' soul gladdened to such an extent that he
+immediately forgot all squabbles and vexations. By way of greeting, he
+kissed Pani Otocka's hand; then, as if absent-mindedly, that of Miss
+Anney, but so forcibly that she reddened like a cherry; after which he
+squeezed Marynia's hand, saluted the gentlemen and began to cry
+merrily:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Coffee! coffee! From the rise of the sun I drank only two glasses of
+water and I am as hungry as a wolf.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Was that a cure? Did you have a fever?&quot; asked Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps I did have a fever, but nevertheless I had a horseback ride to
+Rzeslewo and transacted a thousand matters.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is it in 'rustic-angelic' Rzeslewo,&quot; interrupted Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is nothing further that is disturbing. Those trouble makers whom
+I wished to look at, in the eyes, are gone. But now above all things, I
+want coffee and will not answer any more questions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marynia, as the substitute of Pani Krzycki, who remained in bed owing
+to rheumatism, poured out the coffee for him, and he also kissed the
+hand of his young cousin; whereat she was pleased as she fancied that
+it added to her dignity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is due me as a vice-hostess,&quot; she said, shaking her head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And especially taking age into consideration,&quot; added Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She did not show him her tongue only because she was too well-bred.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Dolhanski, who suffered from catarrh of the stomach, gazed
+enviously at Ladislaus, eating with such relish, and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What an appetite! A genuine cannibal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Go also over the road a mile before breakfast and you will have the
+same appetite. But cannibal or no cannibal, when I entered this room, I
+was ready to devour even this bouquet of flowers which is before me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The time will come when the country nobility will not have anything
+else to eat,&quot; replied Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Marynia quickly seized the bouquet and, laughing, shoved it to the
+other side of the table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;After coffee there is no fear,&quot; cried Ladislaus. &quot;But what beautiful
+field flowers! Did you ladies pick them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We are sleepy-heads,&quot; answered Pani Otocka; &quot;they were gathered by
+Aninka's servant.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Aninka was the pet name which both sisters gave Miss Anney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus turned a sharp glance towards the ladies, but as their faces
+were perfectly calm, he thought:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She gathered the flowers and did not mention the mishap.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Miss Anney, turning the bouquet about and examining it, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An apple-blossom is in the middle,--the good-for-nothing girl plucked
+it from some little tree, for which she must be reprimanded; these are
+spearwort, those primroses, and those pennyroyal, which are now coming
+out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is, however, astonishing that you speak Polish so well,&quot; observed
+Dolhanski; &quot;why, you even know the names of plants.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I heard them from the lips of the village maids in Zalesin at
+Zosia's,&quot; answered Miss Anney. &quot;Besides, I evidently possess linguistic
+abilities for I learned from them to speak in a rustic style.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Truly,&quot; cried Ladislaus, &quot;could you say something in peasant fashion.
+Say something, Miss Anney! Do!&quot; he entreated, folding his hands as if
+in prayer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She began to laugh and feigning shyness, bowed her head and putting the
+back part of her hand to her forehead, as bashful peasants girls
+usually do, said, drawling each word somewhat:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would do that only I do not dare--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laughter and bravos resounded; only Pani Zosia glanced at her with a
+peculiar look and she, by becoming confused, enhanced her beauty to
+such an extent that Ladislaus was completely captivated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! now one could lose his head,&quot; he cried with unfeigned ardor. &quot;I
+pledge my word, one could lose his head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Gronski, who in common with the others fell into good humor, said
+in a low voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And even consummatum est.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But further conversation was interrupted by the rattle of the carriage
+wheels which could be heard in the courtyard and ceased at the balcony.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is that?&quot; asked Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am sending for the doctor for Mother,&quot; answered Ladislaus, rising.
+&quot;Whoever has any errands in the city may speak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dolhanski and Gronski also rose and went out with him into the
+vestibule.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was about to ask you for a horse,&quot; said Gronski. &quot;I know that you
+have but one saddle for ladies in Jastrzeb, so I ordered another one
+and must receive it in person at the post-office. I did not want to
+speak about it before the ladies as it is to be a surprise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good!&quot; answered Krzycki, &quot;but I will give you another carriage, for
+Laskowicz is leaving by this one and you surely would prefer not to
+ride with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He?&quot; cried Dolhanski. &quot;You do not know him then. He is ready to ride
+with old Aunt Beelzebub, if he could pull her by the tongue and do all
+the talking and descanting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is a little truth in that,&quot; said Gronski. &quot;I am a veritable
+chatterbox. Indeed, I will willingly go with Laskowicz and will try to
+get him into a talkative mood for, after all, he does interest me. Did
+you conclude with him this morning?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. I must see Mother for a while and tell her about it. I finished
+with him and in addition finished peaceably. I, at least, was perfectly
+calm.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So much the better. Go to your mother and I will go to my room for a
+linen duster; for the dust on the road must be quite thick. I will be
+back soon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact he returned in a few minutes, dressed in a linen coat. About
+the same time a servant brought down Laskowicz's trunk, and soon the
+latter appeared, wrapped up in himself and gloomy as night, for the
+thought that he would not behold his &quot;alabaster statuette&quot; filled him
+with pain and sorrow; the more so, as after those hypnotic exertions,
+when daylight restored him to his senses, he began to feel guilty of an
+offence against her. Instead of swallowing with unnecessary haste his
+breakfast in his room upstairs, he might have come downstairs and gazed
+upon Pani Marynia for half an hour longer; but he had not wished to do
+that because, in the first place, he had not cared to meet Krzycki and,
+again, he felt that in such company he would enact the rôle of Pilate
+in Credo. At that moment he regretted that he had not come down and
+feasted his eyes with her form for the last time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But a pleasant surprise awaited him when the young ladies, in the
+company of Dolhanski and Ladislaus, came out on the balcony; and
+afterwards little Anusia, with whom he was always on friendly terms,
+having learned that he was leaving, ran with eyes overflowing with
+tears, pouting lips, and a bunch of flowers in her chubby fist to bid
+him good-bye. The young student took the flowers from her, kissed her
+hand, and with heavy heart sat in the carriage beside Gronski, who in
+the meantime was chatting with Pani Otocka.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Anusia descended the stairs of the balcony and stood close to the
+carriage doors; upon perceiving which Marynia hastened after her and,
+evidently fearing that the little girl might be jolted when the
+carriage started to move, took her hand and began to comfort her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course he will not forget you,&quot; she said, bending over the little
+girl, &quot;he surely will write to you and when he becomes very lonesome,
+will return.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, raising her eyes directly at Laskowicz:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is it not true, sir? You will not forget her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz gazed into the depths of the pellucid pupils of her eyes, as
+if he wished to penetrate them to the bottom, and being really moved,
+replied with emphasis:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will not forget.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, you see,&quot; and Marynia pacified Anusia.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But at that moment Krzycki approached.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mother directed me to bid you God-speed.&quot; And he immediately shouted
+to the driver: &quot;Drive on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The carriage moved, described a circle in the courtyard, and
+disappeared on the avenue beyond the gate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney and the two sisters now went to Pani Krzycki, desiring to
+keep her company at breakfast, which she on the days of her painful
+suffering ate in bed. Ladislaus, recalling that he ordered some fish to
+be caught, walked directly across the garden towards the pond to see
+whether the catch was successful.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But before he reached the bank, at a turning of the shady yoked elm
+lane, he unexpectedly met his morning's vision of &quot;Diana in the
+fountain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the sight of him the maid stood still; at first her countenance
+flushed as if a live flame passed through it; after which she grew so
+pale that the dark down above her lips became more marked, and she
+stood motionless, with downcast eyes and heaving breast, bewildered and
+abashed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But he spoke out with perfect freedom:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good-day! good-day! Ah, what is your name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pauline,&quot; she murmured, not raising her eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A beautiful name.&quot; After which, he smiled somewhat roguishly and
+added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But Panna Pauly--the next time--there is a bolt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will drown myself,&quot; cried the maid in a hysterical voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to speak in persuasive tones:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why? For what? Why, no one is to blame,--that was a pure accident. I
+will not tell anybody about it and that I had seen such beauty; that
+was only my luck.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he proceeded to the fishing place.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She followed his shapely form with her tear-dimmed eyes and stood on
+the spot for quite a while in reverie, for it seemed to her that by
+reason of the secret known to them alone something had transpired
+between them which would unite them forever.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And afterwards when she recollected how that charming young heir of
+Jastrzeb had seen her, she shuddered from head to foot.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>X</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski was a man of gentle and kindly disposition. Notwithstanding his
+penchant for philosophical pessimism, he was not a pessimist in his
+relations to men and life. Speaking in other words, in theory he often
+thought like Ecclesiastes; in practice he preferred to tread in the
+footsteps of Horace, or rather as Horace would have trodden had he been
+a Christian. Continual communing with the ancient world gave him a
+certain serenity, not divested indeed of melancholy, but peaceful and
+harmonious. Owing to his high education and extensive reading, which
+enabled him to come in contact with all ideas which found lodgment in
+the human mind and familiarize himself with all forms of human life, he
+was exceedingly tolerant, and the most extreme views did not lead him
+into that condition which would cause him to screech like a frightened
+peacock. This deep forbearance and this conviction that all that is
+taking place has to occur, did not deprive him of energy of thoughts or
+words; it deprived him, however, in some measure of the ability to act.
+He was more of a spectator than an actor on the world's stage, but a
+well-disposed spectator, acutely susceptible and extraordinarily
+curious. He sometimes compared himself to a man sitting on the bank of
+a river and watching its course, who knows indeed that it must roll on
+and disappear in the sea, but who is nevertheless interested in the
+movements of its waves, its currents, its whirlpools, mists rising from
+its depths, and the play of light upon its waters. Besides his genuine
+love of ancient languages and authors, Gronski was interested in
+politics, science, literature, art, the contemporary social tendencies,
+and finally in the private affairs of mankind; and this last to such an
+extent that he was reluctantly charged with undue love of knowledge of
+his fellow-men. From this general, lively curiosity flowed his
+loquacity and desire to expatiate upon anything which passed before his
+eyes. He was well aware of this, and jocosely justified himself before
+his friends by citing Cicero, who according to him was one of the
+greatest discoursers and meddlers whose memory is preserved by history.
+Aside from these weaknesses, Gronski possessed a highly developed
+capacity for sympathizing with human suffering and human thoughts, and
+was on the whole a man of fine sentiment. Poland he loved sincerely as
+he wished her to be; that is, noble, enlightened, cultured, as European
+as possible, but not losing her Lechite traits, and holding in her hand
+the flag with the white eagle. That eagle seemed to him to be one of
+the noblest symbols on earth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Within the compass of his personal feelings, as a man and æsthete, he
+loved Marynia, but it was a love of a heavenly-blue hue, not scarlet.
+At the beginning he admired within her, as he said, &quot;the music and the
+dove;&quot; afterwards, not having any near relatives, he became attached to
+her like an older brother to a little sister, or as a father to a
+child. She, on her part, grateful for this attachment and at the same
+time esteeming his mind and character, reciprocated with her whole
+heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the main, human sympathy and friendship encompassed Gronski, for
+even strangers, even people separated from him by a chasm of belief and
+convictions, even those whom he annoyed with his habit of pressing his
+forefinger to his forehead and thinking aloud, esteemed him for his
+ability to sympathize, his humanity and forbearance, which were like
+the open doors of a hospitable house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz also felt this. If he was to ride with Dolhanski, for
+instance, he would have preferred to go afoot and carry his luggage on
+his back. But Dolhanski in Jastrzeb pretended not to see him at all,
+while Gronski always greeted him amiably, and several times opened a
+conversation with him which never was lengthy for the reason that
+Laskowicz limited it and broke it off. Now, however, sitting beside
+Gronski he was pleased with his company. He cherished in his soul a
+hope that Gronski, speaking of the persons remaining in Jastrzeb, would
+say something about Panna Marynia and he craved to hear her name.
+Besides, he was moved by the leave-taking with little Anusia, for it
+happened for the first time in his life that any one bidding him
+farewell had tears in her eyes, and he was grateful to the chance which
+afforded him an opportunity of exchanging a few words with Panna
+Marynia before driving away. So his heart melted and he was willing to
+talk sincerely, especially with a man against whom he felt no
+antipathy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Somehow they did not wait long, for they had barely reached the end of
+the avenue when Gronski, with the kind and confidential anxiety of an
+older man who does not understand what has taken place and is ready to
+grumble, placed his hand upon his knee and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear sir, what mischief have you stirred up in Rzeslewo? It may now
+come to some serious collisions, and it is said that you people intend
+to do the same everywhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In Rzeslewo we did what the good of our idea demanded,&quot; answered
+Laskowicz.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But an agricultural school is involved and such schools are absolutely
+necessary for the people. Why did you circulate the story among the
+peasants that the land was to be divided among them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz hesitated as to whether to leave the question unanswered, but
+he was disarmed by Gronski's countenance, at once benevolent and
+worried, so he replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Every party must keep its eyes upon everything in order to know what
+is occurring in the country and take advantage of its opportunities. In
+the case of Rzeslewo I was the eye of the party, and in the further
+course of time I acted in accordance with the directions sent to me. In
+reality, we could not foresee how the deceased would dispose of his
+estate. But that is all one. We do not need schools founded by the
+classes with which we are at war and conducted in their spirit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You do not need them, but the people need them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The people can learn husbandry without the assistance of the nobility
+as soon as they own something on which they can learn. The lands of the
+nobles will be more beneficial to them than their schools. They have
+tilled that soil of Rzeslewo for hundreds of years, and if you figure
+at the rate of one penny for each day's labor, that land has been paid
+for a hundred times more than it is worth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you arouse merely a desire for land; you cannot give it. Besides,
+permit me, sir, to say that in respect to your doctrine you are
+illogical. For, of course, your aim is to nationalize the land. Now
+such land as that of Rzeslewo, for instance, donated for school
+purposes is, in a manner, nationalized; but a partition of it among the
+peasants would disintegrate it into individual ownership by a number of
+small holders.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The nationalization of land is our ultimate object, therefore distant.
+In the meantime we want to get the people into our camp, so we use such
+means as will lead to that end. We cannot give the land, but the people
+themselves can take it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The most you can accomplish is to get them to take it. Assume that in
+Rzeslewo the husbandmen, tenants, and hired hands seize the land and
+divide it between them. What follows? Do you not see the clashes, the
+knouting, the courts and sanguinary executions which will overtake
+them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you not believe that this would be water for our mill? The more
+there is of that, the sooner our end will be attained.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And so I guessed rightly,&quot; said Gronski, recalling his statement to
+Ladislaus and Dolhanski that the summoning of the police would be
+playing into the hands of the agitators.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz wanted to ask what Gronski had guessed rightly, but the
+latter forestalled him and continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is another singular thing. If misfortune overtakes any one of
+you, whether imprisonment, deportation, or death, then we, that is, the
+people who do not belong to your ranks, the people against whom you
+have declared war to the death, say: 'Too bad! such zeal! what a
+pity--such misguided sacrifice! how deplorable,--such a young head!'
+and we grieve for you. But you do not regret those people whose
+defenders you proclaim yourself to be. You arrange industrial strikes
+and pull the string until it breaks and later, when the manufacturers
+tie it again it becomes shorter than ever before. Already thousands are
+dying of starvation. And now you want an agricultural strike, after
+which bread becomes dearer and scarcer. Who suffers by this? Again the
+people. Truly at times it is impossible to resist the thought that you
+love your doctrines more than the people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Laskowicz answered in a harsh, hollow voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is war. There must be sacrifices.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski involuntarily looked at him and, seeing his eyes set so closely
+to each other, thought:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No! Such eyes really can only look straight ahead and are incapable of
+taking in a wider horizon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For some time they rode in silence. A light southern breeze rose and
+bore with the cloud of dust the odor of the horses' sweat. From
+thickets on the wayside flew swarms of horse-flies, which pestered the
+horses so much that the coachman brushed their backs with the whip and
+swore.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Suddenly Gronski asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sacrifices! But to what divinity do you offer those sacrifices? What
+is your aim and what do you want?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Daily bread and universal liberty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But in the meantime, instead of bread, you give them stones. As to
+liberty, you will please, sir, take into consideration two thoughts.
+The first can be expressed thus: Woe to the nations that love liberty
+more than fatherland! Naturally I am not speaking of subjugated
+nations, for in such a situation the conceptions of liberty and
+fatherland become almost identical. But consider, sir, what really
+caused the political downfall of Poland and what is blighting France,
+which before our eyes is falling apart like a barrel without hoops? A
+second thought which often comes to my mind is that liberty crossing
+the boundaries set by national prosperity and safety is necessary only
+for rogues. You certainly will regard this last opinion as the acme of
+retrogression, but it is none the less the truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz's face reflected suspicion and offence, but it was so
+apparent that Gronski did not allude to him personally, and was only
+enunciating a general view, that he did not break off further
+conversation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Liberty of association and syndicates,&quot; he said, &quot;by the aid of which
+the proletariat is defending itself, do not endure any limitations.
+You, sir, after all confuse the conceptions of the people and the
+empire;--as a realist you are concerned above all about the empire.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Gronski began to laugh:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I, a realist?&quot; he said. &quot;I do not belong to the realists. They are not
+foolish people and on the whole act in good faith, but they commit one
+error. They go out to plough for the spring sowing in December; that is
+when the ploughshares cannot break the frozen ground. Or if you prefer
+another comparison, they buy their summer clothing during the severest
+winter season. I do not know; perhaps the sun will at some time shine
+and it will be warm, as everything in this world is possible, but in
+the meantime the ears are frost-bitten and the moths destroy the
+clothes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And thinking only of the realists, he continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Realists desire to reckon with this reality, which does not want to
+reckon with them or anybody else. For assume, sir, for example, that
+the name of a faction is Peter and this Peter in perfect sincerity
+turns to Reality and says: 'Listen, oh Maiden! I am prepared to
+acknowledge you and even love you, but in return permit me to stand on
+my own feet, to breathe a little and stretch out my aching bones.' And
+Reality with true Ural affability answers: 'Peter, my son Peter, you
+are wandering from the subject, and I take away from you the right to
+speak. I am not concerned about your acknowledging or loving me, but
+only that you should unbutton yourself, divest yourself of certain
+clothes which, speaking parenthetically, may be of service to me; that
+you should again lie upon that bench and as to the rest trust in my
+power and whip.' If any realist heard me he might dispute this, but in
+his soul, he would concede the justness of the illustration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will admit, then,&quot; exclaimed Laskowicz, with a certain triumph,
+&quot;that we alone are hitting this Reality on the head?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are hitting her,&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;but your fists rebound from
+her stony head and land in the pit of your own community, which loses
+its remnant of breath and swoons. By this, you even aid Reality.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And here recollecting what he had said about the anthills and
+ant-eaters, he repeated it to Laskowicz.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Laskowicz would not agree to the comparison, observing that it had
+only a specious appearance of the truth, for the human conditions could
+not be adjusted by conditions existing in an ant-hill.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whoever aspires to make the proletariat powerful by the same act gives
+the nation new strength sufficient to repel all attacks and blows. Only
+on this road can anything be gained, though only for the simple reason
+that it will have allies in the proletariat of adjoining countries, who
+from enemies will become friends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That would only be a coalition at the bottom,&quot; said Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And for that reason irrepressible and effectual. For we are
+continually hearing of Poland! Poland! But those who all the time are
+repeating that combine with Poland various things which have outlived
+their usefulness, such as religion, church, and conservatism, which
+cover her with mould or with corpses which already are rotting. We
+alone unite Poland with an idea, powerful, young, and vital, if only
+for the reason that all youth is with us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the first place, not all youth, nor even one half,&quot; answered
+Gronski; &quot;and again, the church has survived and will survive many a
+social movement; and thirdly, your idea is as ancient as poverty itself
+on this earth. If you desire, sir, to contend that the form which La
+Salle and Marx gave it is new, then I will answer you thus: Your modern
+socialism has too thick tufts of hair on its scalp, but when it begins
+to get bald, none will scoff at it so much as the young.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are continually speaking in aphorisms, but fortunately aphorisms
+are like paper lanterns hung on the trees of dialectics; in the dark
+they can be seen; in the broad daylight they are extinct.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Behold another aphorism, cut and dried,&quot; answered Gronski, laughing.
+&quot;No, sir, that which I said had another meaning. I wanted to say that
+the socialist commonwealth, if you ever establish one, will be such a
+surrender of human institutions, such a jamming of man into the
+driving-wheels of the general mechanism, such a restraint and slavery
+that even the present kingdom of Prussia, in comparison, would be a
+temple of liberty. And in reality, a reaction would set in at once. The
+press, literature, poetry, and art, in the name of individualism and
+its freedom, would declare an inexorable war; and do you know, sir, who
+would carry the banner of the opposition? Youth! That is as true as
+that those lapwings are now flying over that meadow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And here he pointed at a flock of lapwings, hovering over a field on
+which cattle were grazing. After which he added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In France it is already beginning. Not long ago a few thousand
+students paraded the streets of Paris, shouting: 'Down with the
+Republic!'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is merely swinging around in a circle,&quot; replied Laskowicz; &quot;that
+was a clash with radicalism and not with us. We also despise it. The
+bourgeoisie imagine that radicalism in a certain emergency will shield
+them from the revenge of the proletariat, but they are deceiving
+themselves. In the meanwhile they are clearing the way for the
+revolution.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In this I admit you are right;&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;I saw in Cairo how
+the <i>saïs</i> ran before the carriages of the pashas shouting, 'Out of the
+way! Out of the way!' Radicalism is performing the same service for
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; corroborated Laskowicz, with a brightened countenance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski took off his spectacles to wipe off the dust and winked his
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But amongst you there are also differences. The French socialism is
+different, so is the German, and the English, and in their midst we
+find opposing camps. For that reason I shall not speak of socialism in
+general. I am only interested in the home product, of which you are an
+agent; for, from what you have said, I infer that you belong to the
+so-called Polish Socialistic party.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; answered Laskowicz with energy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski replaced the cleaned spectacles and unfurled all his sails:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You claim, therefore, that in the name of Poland you have joined youth
+with a powerful idea, through which you have infused into her veins new
+blood. And I reply that this idea, whatever it may be, has degenerated
+in your minds to the extent that it ceased to be a social idea and has
+become a social disease. You have infected Poland with a disease and
+nothing more. The new Polish edifice must be constructed with bricks
+and stones and not with bombs and dynamite. And in you there is neither
+brick nor stone. You are only a shriek of hatred. You have abandoned
+the old gospels and are incapable of creating a new one; in consequence
+of which you cannot offer any pledge of life. Your name is Error and
+for that reason the resultant force of your activities will be contrary
+to you presuppositions. By pulling the strings of strikes you lead the
+people to naught else than to debility and wretchedness and from feeble
+beggars you are not able to build a powerful Poland. That is the actual
+fact. Besides, on one and the same head you cannot wear two caps unless
+one is underneath. So I ask which is underneath? Is your socialism only
+a means of building Poland? Or is your Poland only a bait and catchword
+to gather the people into your camp? The socialists, who call
+themselves socialists without any qualifications and do not insist that
+the same entity can be fish and fowl at the same time, are, I admit,
+more logical. But you mislead the people. The truth is that even if you
+wanted to you could not do anything Polish, for there is nothing Polish
+in you. The schools from which you graduated did not take away the
+language, for they could not do that, but they molded your minds and
+souls in such a manner that you are not Poles, but Russians despising
+Russia. How Poland and Russia will fare by this is another matter, but
+such is the case. To you it seems that you are making a revolution, but
+it is an ape of a revolution, and in addition a foreign one. You are
+the evil flower of a foreign spirit. It is enough to take your
+periodicals, your writers, poets, and critics! Their whole mental
+apparatus is foreign. Their real aim is not even socialism nor the
+proletariat, but annihilation.--Firebrand in hand, and at the bottom of
+their souls hopelessness and the great nihil! And of course we know
+where it originated. The Galician socialism likewise is not an Apollo
+Belvedere, but nevertheless it has different lineaments and less broad
+cheek-bones. There is not in it this rabidness and also this despair
+and sorrow which conflicts with the Latin culture. You are like certain
+fruit: on one side green, on the other rotten. You are sick. That
+sickness explains the limitless want of logic, based on this; that
+crying against wars, you create war; decrying courts-martial, you
+condemn without any trial; and denouncing capital punishment, you
+thrust revolvers in the hands of the people and say, 'Kill.' This
+disease also explains your insane outbreaks, your indifference to
+consequences, and to the fate of those ill-fated men whom you make your
+tools. Let them assassinate, let them rob the treasuries, but whether
+later they will hang in the halter is a matter of little consequence to
+you. Your nihil permits you to spit upon blood and ethics. You open
+wide the doors to notorious scoundrels and allow them to represent not
+their own villany, but your idea. You, generally speaking, carry ruin
+with you and join Poland to that ruin. In your party there are, without
+doubt, men of conviction and good faith, but blind, who in their
+blindness are serving a different master than they imagine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski knew that he was speaking in vain, but whether from habit, or
+because he wanted to relieve himself of all that had accumulated within
+him, he talked until the rattle of the wheels on the city pavements
+drowned his words. They parted rather coldly before the hotel, for
+Gronski's views touched the young medical student to the quick. He did
+not admit that Gronski was in the least right, but that such views
+should be entertained filled him with rage and indignation. He indeed
+said to himself, &quot;It is not worth while answering, but our minds are
+not foreign, and our idea is new. Society is like a person who, having
+for many years lived in a house, is always reluctant to move into
+another though that other is much better.&quot; Nevertheless the words of
+Gronski stung him so deeply that at that moment he hated him as much as
+he did Krzycki and would have given a great deal if he could trample
+upon and crush the charges, so odious to him. Unfortunately for him he
+lacked time for it, and besides, weariness after a sleepless night
+began to overpower him more and more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski went to the post-office, received a package with the saddle,
+and afterwards drove to the doctor's, but learning that the latter
+would not be free for an hour, he left the carriage at his door and
+went to visit the old notary and at the same time deliver to him an
+invitation from Krzycki to visit Jastrzeb.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The notary was pleased to receive the invitation, as he had decided to
+visit the Krzyckis without one, in order, as he said, to behold the
+&quot;eyes of his head&quot; and hear her miracle-working violin. In the meantime
+he began to speak about the events which had occurred in the city and
+neighborhood. He was so impressed and affected by them that his
+customary choler left him, and in his words there was an undertone of
+bitter sorrow and heavy anxiety for the future of the community, which
+seemed to have lost its head. Factory strikes and to some extent
+agricultural strikes were spreading. In the city the lime-kilns had
+ceased to burn and the cement works were at a standstill. The
+workingmen, who, not having any savings, formerly lived from hand to
+mouth, in the first moments lacked bread. After the example of Warsaw,
+a local committee was organized for the purpose of collecting funds to
+prevent starvation. But as a result, this peculiar situation was
+created: the people most opposed to the cessation of work encouraged it
+by furnishing food to the idle. &quot;A veritable round of errors!&quot; said the
+worried old gentleman. &quot;Do not give; then starvation follows and
+despair hurls the workingman into the arms of the socialists; give, and
+you also are playing into their hands, because they have something with
+which to support the strike and can convince the people of their
+omnipotence.&quot; He further related that outside of the committee the
+socialists were collecting money, or rather were extorting it from the
+timid by threats; that they called upon him but he told them that he
+would give for bread but not for bombs. They then threatened him with
+death, for which he had them thrown out of his office.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a while he remained silent for the inborn choler assumed supremacy
+over sorrow; he also began to roll his eyes angrily and moved his jaws
+furiously, as if he wanted to eat all the socialists, together with
+their red standard.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Afterwards, when his rage had spent itself, he continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Day before yesterday they sent me a sentence of death which they
+surely will execute, as they have declared war against the government
+and they butcher their own countrymen. Well, that is a small matter!
+Three days ago they killed a master tinner and two workingmen in the
+cement factory. In Wilczodola, a few versts from here, they waylaid and
+maimed Pan Baezynski and robbed the branch office of the governmental
+whiskey monopoly besides. Szremski, that doctor for whom you came and
+whose optimism sticks like a bone in my throat, says that it is but a
+passing storm! Yes, everything does pass away, individuals as well as
+whole nations. I fear that ours too is passing away; for we have become
+a nation of bandits and banditism never can be a permanent institution.
+Well! The people, after these acts of violence, have in reality become
+tired of robbing for the benefit of their party and now prefer to rob
+on their own account. Do I know whether we will arrive alive at
+Krzyckis to-day? Bah! Krzycki ought to be more on his guard than any
+one else. He passes for a rich man and for that reason they will keep
+him in their eye. I will go to Jastrzeb for if I am to be assassinated,
+before it takes place I want to hear once more our child-wonder. But in
+truth, Krzycki, instead of inviting more guests, should dismiss those
+who are staying there now. The doctor, if he had any sense, would find
+an excuse for dispersing them all to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I heard that he is an excellent man,&quot; said Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An excellent devil!&quot; answered the notary. &quot;You remember whom you have
+among you, and it is only about her that I am concerned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski, though disquieted and distressed by Dzwonkowski's narrative,
+could not refrain from laughing when he heard the last admonition, for
+translated into plain words it meant, &quot;May the deuce impale you all, if
+only no evil befalls the little violinist.&quot; But whenever Marynia was
+involved he himself was always willing to subscribe to similar
+sentiments; therefore he began to pacify the aged official by telling
+him that in Jastrzeb there were, counting the guests and manor people,
+too many hands and too many arms to have any fears of an attack; and
+that, besides, Pani Krzycki's probable departure would end the visit of
+the guests. Further conversation was broken by the arrival of Doctor
+Szremski who, having dashed in like a bomb, announced that he was free
+for the remainder of the day and could ride with Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski gazed at him with great interest, for even in Warsaw he heard
+of him as an original and prominent personality, in the favorable
+meaning of those words.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He was quite a young man, with tawny hair, swarthy like a gypsy, with a
+countenance alive with fire, bubbling with health, somewhat loud and
+brisk in his manners. In the city he played an uncommon rôle not only
+because he had the largest medical practice, but because he belonged to
+the most active men in any field. He entered into every project as if
+to an attack, and thanks to a sober and an exceptional temper of mind,
+whatever he did was done, on the whole, sensibly and well. He was, as
+it were, a personification of that phenomenon, frequent in Poland,
+where, when amidst a public not only trammelled but negligent and
+indolent by nature, a man of energy and with an idea is found, he is
+able to accomplish more than any German, Frenchman, or Englishman could
+have done. He himself participated in every undertaking and compelled
+others to work with such spirit that he was nicknamed &quot;Doctor Spur.&quot; He
+established secret schools, reading rooms, nurseries for the children,
+economical associations, and for everything he gave money, of which he
+earned a great deal, though he treated gratis throngs of the penniless.
+The local socialists hated him, for by his popularity and influence
+with the workingmen he frustrated their efforts. The authorities looked
+at him with suspicion and with an evil eye. A man who loved his
+country, organized life, spread enlightenment, and donated money for
+public uses, must in their eyes be a suspicious character and deserved
+at least deportation to a &quot;distant province.&quot; Fortunately for him, the
+governor's wife imagined that she was suffering from some nervous
+ailment and the local captain of the gendarmery was actually troubled
+with incipient aneurism of the aorta. So then the governor's wife, who
+through her connections had made her husband governor and ruled the
+province as she pleased, was of the opinion that if it were not for
+this &quot;l'homme qui rit&quot; (as she called the doctor), eternal mourning
+would have befallen the governor, and the captain of the gendarmes
+feared alike the gubernatorial connections and the aneurism. He had
+indeed prepared a report which he regarded as the masterpiece of his
+life; and perhaps he became ill because he dared not send it to the
+higher authorities. Sometimes in his dreams, he arrested the doctor,
+subjected him to an examination, forced him to divulge his accomplices,
+and dreamt also that the report might be used in case the governor and
+himself were transferred to another province; but it was only a dream.
+In reality the report reposed on the bottom of a drawer and the doctor,
+who read it (for the captain showed it to him in proof of what he could
+have done but did not do), laughed so ingenuously and was so confident
+of himself that it occurred to the captain's mind that in reality there
+was no joking with the governor's wife or the aneurism.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The doctor laughed because he was by nature unusually jovial. In
+certain cases he could think and speak gravely, but at chance meetings
+and at casual talks, in which there was no time for weighty discourse,
+he preferred to slide over the surface of the subject, scatter jests,
+and tell anecdotes, which later were repeated over the city, and which
+he himself much enjoyed. His optimism and beaming countenance created
+incurable optimism and hope and good thoughts wherever he appeared. He
+joked with the sick about their sickness and with jokes dispelled their
+fears. His mirth won the people and a well-grounded medical knowledge
+and efficacious watchfulness over their health and lives assured him a
+certain kind of sway over them. For this reason he did not mind the
+&quot;big fish,&quot; or in fact anybody. Such was the case with the notary whose
+perpetual choler and irascibility were known all over the city, so that
+social relations with him were maintained only by those who were
+exceptionally interested in music. The doctor, who also cracked jokes
+about music, sought his company, purposely to nettle him and afterwards
+to tell about his outbreaks, to his own amusement and that of his
+hearers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And now he rushed in with the crash of a squall, became acquainted with
+Gronski, asked about the health of Pani Krzycki and about the pretty
+ladies staying in Jastrzeb of whom he had already heard; after which,
+observing the distressed face of the notary, he exclaimed merrily:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What a mien! Is it so bad with us in this world, or what? Seventy-five
+years! A great thing! Truly it is not the age of strength, but it is
+the strength of the age! Please show your pulse!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here, without further asking the notary, he grabbed his hand, and
+pulling out his watch, began to count:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One, two--one, two!--one, two! Bad! It is the pulse of one in love.
+There are symptoms of a slight heartburn! Such is usually the case.
+Such a machine cannot last more than twenty-five years,--at the most
+thirty. Thank you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this he dropped the old man's hand, whose mien brightened in
+expectation, for he thought that twenty-five years added to what he had
+already lived would make quite a respectable age.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pretending, however, to scowl, he answered:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Always those jokes! The doctor thinks that I care for those wretched
+twenty-five years. It is not worth while living now. Of course you know
+what is taking place. I have such a mien because I was just talking
+with Pan Gronski about it. I also have a heartburn. Well, I ask what
+will become of us if all the people should follow the socialists?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the doctor began to swing his arms and deny this categorically. Not
+all the people, nor a half, nor a hundredth part. And even those who
+say that they belong to the socialists say so under terror or through
+misapprehension.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will give you gentlemen two examples,&quot; he said. &quot;I live on a lower
+floor and beneath me in the basement there is a locksmith's shop. This
+morning I overheard fragments of a conversation between my servant and
+the locksmith. The locksmith said, 'I am a socialist; there is nothing
+more to be said about it.' 'Why is nothing more to be said?' said my
+servant. 'Then you do not believe in God and do not love Poland.' 'And
+why should I not believe in God and love Poland?' 'Because the
+socialists do not believe in God and do not love Poland.' And the
+locksmith replied, 'So? Then may sickness plague them.' That is the way
+people belong to the socialists. I do not say all, but a great many.
+Ha!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The doctor always finds an anecdote,&quot; grumbled the notary; &quot;but let us
+tell the truth, thousands belong to them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then why do they not elect one deputy in the kingdom?&quot; retorted the
+doctor. &quot;Bombs explode loudly, so they can be heard better than any
+other work. But how many thousands participated in the national parade?
+Do these also belong to them? When in a factory ten men manage to hang
+a red flag on the chimney it seems that the whole factory is red, but
+that is not true.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why do not the others tear it down?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Simple reason! Because the police tear it down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And also because the socialists have revolvers and the others have
+not,&quot; added Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Undoubtedly,&quot; continued the doctor. &quot;I have ten times closer relations
+with the workingmen than any manager of a factory. I go into their
+dwellings and know their home life. I know them. Socialism is engaged
+in a struggle with the bureaucracy; so it seems to many that they
+belong to it. But, to the outrages only the worst and most ignorant
+element assents. The latter soon change into bandits, and that is not
+surprising. Their consciences have been taken away from them and
+revolvers are given to them. But the majority--the better and more
+honest majority--have under the ribs Polish hearts; and for that reason
+this demon, who wants to snatch and carry them away, called himself, as
+a bait, Polish. Ah! they only need schools, enlightenment, a knowledge
+of Polish history, in order not to allow themselves to be hoodwinked!
+Ay, that is what they need! Ay, ay!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And in his gesticulations, he seized the old man's arm and began to
+turn him around.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Schools, Pan Notary, schools; for the Lord's mercy!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Blood rushed to the notary's head from indignation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are you crazy!&quot; he yelled. &quot;Why do you jolt me like a pear?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True,&quot; said the doctor, leaving him alone. &quot;True, but the extent to
+which these poor fellows misapprehend things is enough to cause one to
+weep and laugh at the same time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, not to laugh,&quot; said Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you know, sir, that at times, yes,&quot; exclaimed the doctor; &quot;for
+listen to my second instance. Last Sunday, being tired as a dog, I
+drove out to the Gorczynski woods, just outside of the city, for a
+little airing. In the woods from the opposite direction came more than
+a dozen of workingmen who evidently were enjoying a May outing. I saw
+one of them carrying a red flag on a newly whittled stick. He probably
+brought it in his pocket and fastened it when they got to the woods.
+'Good!' I thought to myself, 'Socialists!' And now, when they were
+near, the one who carried the flag sang lustily to the tune of
+'Bartoszu! Bartoszu!' that which I will repeat to you, and I pledge my
+word, I will not add or subtract anything.</p>
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0">
+'Kosciuszko, though a cobbler,<br>
+Oj, soundly thrashed the Germans,<br>
+Oj, soundly thrashed the Germans;<br>
+Only, it is a great pity<br>
+For us, that he drowned.<br>
+Only it is a great pity<br>
+For us, that he drowned.'&quot;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, honest simplicity!&quot; exclaimed Gronski. &quot;I would embrace him and
+present him with a history of Poland of recent times.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait, sir,&quot; shouted the doctor. &quot;I stopped my socialists of strange
+rites. It appeared that almost all were known to me and I said: 'For
+the fear of God, citizens, Kosciuszko was not a cobbler, he never
+thrashed the Germans, and he did not drown, only Prince Joseph
+Poniatowski did. Come to me and I will give you a book about
+Kosciuszko, Kilinski,<a name="div2Ref_04" href="#div2_04"><sup>[4]</sup></a> and
+Prince Joseph Poniatowski, for you have
+made of them a bigos.<a name="div2Ref_05" href="#div2_05"><sup>[5]</sup></a>
+They began to thank me and then I asked: 'What
+has become of the eagle on your flag? did he go hunting for mushrooms?'
+They became confused. The flag-bearer started to explain why they had
+no eagle. 'Why, may it please the doctor,' he said, 'they told us: Do
+not take a flag with an eagle, for if they take the flag away from you,
+they will insult the eagle and you will suffer shame and disgrace.'
+Yes. In this manner they cheat the Polish heart of our own people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the notary did not want to part with his black spectacles.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, what of it?&quot; he asked. &quot;Do you claim that if it was not for this
+and that there would not be any socialism amongst us?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is socialism over the entire world,&quot; rejoined the doctor,
+&quot;therefore there must be with us. Only if it was not for this and that,
+there would not accompany it highway robbery, savagery, and blindness;
+there would not be this modern socialism which has styled itself
+Polish, though its pitch can be smelt a mile away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bravo!&quot; cried Gronski. &quot;I said the same thing in other words to
+another person on the road from Jastrzeb.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, Jastrzeb,&quot; said the doctor looking at his watch. &quot;Here we are
+talking and it is time that we started.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps the notary can go with us,&quot; said Gronski. &quot;The carriage has
+seats for four.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can. Only I will take my flute with me. Well!&quot; answered the notary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well!&quot; repeated Szremski, mimicking him. &quot;Aha, the flute! Then there
+will be a serenade in Jastrzeb, while here the socialists will rob the
+office.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The notary who was going after his flute, suddenly turned around,
+sniffed vehemently, and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To-day they sent me a sentence of death.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bah! I already have received two of them,&quot; merrily answered the
+doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A quarter of an hour later they were on the road to Jastrzeb. On this
+occasion, Gronski and the doctor drew so closely to each other and
+talked so much, that, as Gronski said later, there was not a place in
+which to stick a pin.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XI</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The distance between the city and Jastrzeb was not more than a mile and
+a half. For this reason Gronski, the notary, and Szremski reached their
+destination before four o'clock. They were expected for dinner but in
+the meantime Ladislaus conducted the ladies over the sawmill; so the
+doctor repaired to Pani Krzycki and Gronski ordered the saddle unpacked
+and taken to Marynia's room. In a half hour the young company returned
+and, greeting the notary, assembled in the salon to await the dinner.
+The notary at the sight of Marynia forgot all about death sentences,
+about the outrages perpetrated in the city, about socialism and the
+whole world and, after kissing her hand, appropriated her exclusively
+for himself. Gronski began to initiate Pani Otocka into the reasons of
+his trip to the city, while Krzycki conversed with Miss Anney and
+became as engrossed with her as if there were no one else in the room.
+It was apparent that his exclamation on that morning that &quot;one could
+lose his head&quot; was but a confirmation of a symptom which intensified
+more and more with each moment. His uncommonly handsome young face
+glowed as if from the dawn, for in his bosom he did have the dawn of a
+new, happy feeling, which beamed through the eyes, the smile on the
+lips, through every motion, and through the words he addressed to Miss
+Anney. The spell held him more and more; a secret magnet drew him with
+steadily increasing power to this light-haired maid, looking so young,
+buxom, and alluring. He did not even attempt to resist that power.
+Gronski observed that he evinced his rapture too plainly and that in
+the presence of his mother he should have acted with more
+circumspection. Miss Anney also felt this, as from time to time blushes
+suffused her countenance and she pushed back her chair a little,
+besides glancing about at those present as if in fear that the
+excessive affability of the young host towards her might attract too
+much attention. But the matter, however, was agreeable to her, for in
+her eyes a certain joy flamed. Only Dolhanski gazed at her from time to
+time; the others were mutually occupied.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The appearance of the doctor ended the conversations. Krzycki, after
+introducing him to the ladies, together with them began to inquire
+about the health of the patient, but the doctor was evidently
+disinclined to speak at any length, for he answered in a few words and
+in accordance with his habit spoke so loudly that Dolhanski, in his
+surprise, placed the monocle on his eye.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing serious! Monsummano! Monsummano! or something like that! I
+will prescribe everything! Nothing serious! Nothing!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But what is Monsummano?&quot; asked Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is a warm hole in Italy in which rheumatism is boiled out. A kind
+of purgatory after which salvation follows! Besides Italy, a delightful
+journey! I will prescribe everything in detail.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski, who often had travelled over Italy, also knew this place and
+began to describe it to the curious ladies. In the meantime Ladislaus
+talked about his mother's health with the doctor, who, however,
+listened to him inattentively, repeating, &quot;I will prescribe
+everything,&quot; shaking his head, and looking about him, as if with
+curiosity, at each of the ladies in rotation. Suddenly he slapped his
+hand on his knee with a thwack which could be heard all over the room
+and exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What marvellous faces there are in Jastrzeb and what skulls! Ha!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dolhanski dropped his monocle, the ladies looked amazed, but Krzycki
+began to laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The doctor has a habit of thinking aloud,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And bawling out yet more loudly,&quot; grumbled the notary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is your flute?&quot; the doctor replied, laughingly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But at that moment the servant announced that dinner was ready. Hearing
+this, Pani Otocka turned with a peculiar smile to her sister and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marynia, your hair is all disheveled. Look at yourself in a glass.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The young lady raised her hands to her head, but as there were no
+mirrors in the salon, she, a little confused, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Beg pardon, I will return immediately.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She hastened to her room, but soon returned still more confused with
+blushes and with a radiant countenance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A ladies' saddle!&quot; she began to cry, &quot;a most beautiful ladies'
+saddle!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And passing her eyes over those present, she pointed at Gronski:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Was it you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I confess,&quot; said Gronski, spreading out his hands and bowing his head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She, on her part, had such a desire to kiss his hand that if the doctor
+and the notary had not been present, she certainly would have done so.
+In the meanwhile she began to thank him with effusive and perfectly
+childish glee.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I see, Panna Marynia, that you are fond of horseback riding,&quot; said
+Szremski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am fond of everything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There you have it,&quot; cried the amused doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only secure a gentle horse; otherwise it will not be hard to meet with
+accidents,&quot; observed the notary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It soon became apparent that such a one could be procured, for on the
+economical Jastrzeb estate horses were the only item of which a strict
+account was not kept. Krzycki indeed maintained that they could be bred
+profitably, but he did not breed them for gain but from that
+traditional love of them, the immoderateness of which the reverend
+Skarga,<a name="div2Ref_06" href="#div2_06"><sup>[6]</sup></a> a few centuries
+before, censured in his ancestors in the
+eloquent words: &quot;Dearer to you is the offspring of a mare than the Son
+of God!&quot; Horses therefore were not wanting in Jastrzeb and the
+conversation about them and horsemanship continued, to the great
+dissatisfaction of the notary, throughout the whole dinner. Those
+present learned that Marynia was not entirely a novice, for at Zalesin,
+at her sister's, she rode in summer time almost daily in the company of
+the old manager on a clumsy, lanky pony, named Pierog. Her sister would
+not permit her to ride on any other horse and &quot;what enjoyment could
+there be riding on Pierog?&quot; She stated that this Pierog had a nasty
+habit of returning home, not when she wanted to, but when he desired
+to, and no urging nor threats could swerve him from his purpose when
+once formed. She also sincerely envied Miss Anney who rode so well and
+had ridden all the horses in Zalesin, even those unaccustomed to the
+saddle. But in England all the ladies ride on horseback, while with us
+somebody is worrying about somebody else. She hoped, however, that in
+Jastrzeb with so many skilled riders, &quot;Zosia&quot; will not have any fears
+about her; and that immediately after dinner they will go on an
+equestrian excursion and that she will be allowed to join the party,
+without, thank God, Pierog.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus, in whom expectations of distant horseback jaunts in Miss
+Anney's company had excited fond hopes, and whom, as well as the
+others, the story about Pierog had put into good humor, turned to
+Marynia and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will give you a horse with iron legs, who is called 'Swimmer'
+because he can swim excellently. As for an excursion, the day is long
+and we could arrange one, if it were not that it is beginning to get
+cloudy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It will surely clear up,&quot; answered Marynia, &quot;and I will dress myself
+right after dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact, after dinner the guests were barely able to finish their black
+coffee before she appeared on the veranda, dressed in a black,
+tight-fitting riding-habit. In it she was simply charming, but so
+slender and tall that Gronski, gazing at her with his usual admiration,
+was the first to begin jesting:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A real little flute,&quot; he said. &quot;The wind will carry off such a
+woodcock, especially since it is commencing to blow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And a strong blast of the western, warm wind really began to bend the
+tree-tops and drive here and there over the heavens clouds which on the
+azure background assumed large, ruddy, and globular forms.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus, however, gave orders to saddle the horses and soon
+thereafter hastened to the stables to supervise the work. Miss Anney
+went upstairs to change her clothes; Gronski and Dolhanski followed her
+example. On the veranda remained only Pani Zosia, the doctor, the
+notary, and, attired as an equestrienne, Marynia, who cast uneasy
+glances alternately at the stables and at the sky, which was becoming
+more and more cloudy. After a time the first drops of rain began to
+fall and immediately thereafter a more important hindrance to their
+excursion occurred, for unexpectedly neighbors from Gorek, Pani Wlocek
+and daughter, the same who attended the funeral of Zarnowski, arrived
+in a carriage. In view of this, the horseback jaunt had to be
+abandoned.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Wlocek ladies came to ascertain the condition of Pani Krzycki's
+health and at the same time to beg Ladislaus for advice and succor, for
+in Gorek an agricultural strike had suddenly broke out among the manor
+and farmhouse laborers. The old coachman could hardly be induced to
+drive them to Jastrzeb for he was threatened with a beating. Both
+ladies were much frightened, much powdered, and more pathetic than
+ever. After the first greetings, mutual introductions, and a short talk
+about Pani Krzycki's rheumatism, the mother, at the after-dinner tea,
+addressed Ladislaus in doleful terms, adjuring him to hasten, like a
+knight of old, to the defence of oppressed innocence. She said that she
+was not concerned about herself, as after the losses she had survived
+and the suffering she had undergone, &quot;the silent grave&quot; in the Rzeslewo
+cemetery was the most appropriate refuge for her; but an orphan
+remained who still had some claims upon life. Let him extend some
+friendly protection and shield from blows and attacks this lone orphan
+for whom she herself was ready to sacrifice her life. To this the
+orphan replied that she too was not concerned about herself but about
+the peace of Mamma;--and in this manner the conversation changed almost
+exclusively in to a dialogue between these ladies in which the words,
+&quot;Allow me, child,&quot; &quot;Permit me, Mamma,&quot; were repeated every minute and
+in which the immoderate willingness of both parties to be immolated
+became in the end almost tart. Ladislaus, knowing these ladies of old,
+listened gravely; Pani Zosia looked at the bottom of her cup, not
+daring to glance at Marynia, who contracted the corners of her mouth;
+the notary sniffed and chewed; and the doctor ejaculated his &quot;Ha!&quot; with
+such resonance that the flies whisked off the net mantle which covered
+the butter and pastry.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But, in the meanwhile, out-of-doors the storm and thunder began to rage
+and interrupted the sacrificial dialogue between mother and daughter.
+The rooms darkened; on the windows for a time the patter of the shower
+was heard; and the lightning illuminated the cloudy firmament. But this
+lasted a brief while; after which Ladislaus began to reply and promise
+aid to the ladies, always with becoming gravity but at the same time
+with a peculiar kind of expression on his face which portended that the
+young wag had a surprise concealed in his bosom. He announced,
+therefore, that he was ready to mount a horse and invest Gorek with his
+care; afterwards he quieted the ladies with the assurances that the
+manifestations which had so alarmed them were transient; that in
+Rzeslewo, it was temporarily the same, but that undoubtedly within a
+short time means of foiling that evil would be found. In conclusion he
+turned to Pani Wlocek and, pointing at Dolhanski, unexpectedly said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know whether my protection will be effective for I must watch
+at the same time over Rzeslewo and over Jastrzeb, in which at present
+we have such agreeable guests. But here is Pan Dolhanski, a man well
+known for his courage, energy, and sagacity, who has given me the best
+advice about Rzeslewo. If he wished to aid you or if he agreed to take
+into his hands the affairs of Gorek and Kwasnoborz, I am certain that
+he would establish order there in the course of a few days, and under
+his wings, ladies, no dangers could befall you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All eyes, and particularly the eyes of the mother and daughter, were
+now directed at Dolhanski. But if Ladislaus, who wanted to revenge
+himself on him for his &quot;officiousness,&quot; calculated that he would get
+him into an unexpected scrape, he was mistaken, for Dolhanski coolly
+bowed to the ladies from Gorek and replied, drawling each word as
+usual:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With the greatest pleasure, but we must wait until the rain stops.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then, sir, you agree to be our knight?&quot; cried Pani Wlocek, extending
+her hands towards him and at the same time gazing at him with a
+suddenly awakened curiosity and surprise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With the greatest pleasure,&quot; repeated Dolhanski; &quot;the strike will be
+over to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">His complete self-assurance impressed everybody, particularly the
+ladies from Gorek. At the same time, the cold tone in which he spoke
+affected Pani Wlocek so much that for a while she lost her usual
+pathetic volubility and after an interval she replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the name of an orphan, I thank you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the orphan apparently preferred to thank him herself, for she
+stretched out both hands towards Dolhanski and after a brief silence,
+which might be explained by her emotions, spoke in a voice resembling
+the rustle of leaves:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am concerned about mamma.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So am I,&quot; Dolhanski assured her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the mother and daughter now turned to each other:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Allow me, child; here I am nothing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Permit me, Mamma; Mamma is everything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I beg pardon, child--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pardon me, Mamma,--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And the strife about the burnt offerings began anew. It did not,
+however, last long, as, firstly, the doctor began to make so much noise
+that they could be heard with difficulty and then, Pani Krzycki, whom
+the young physician permitted to rise and move to an armchair, sent a
+message asking the ladies to visit her. After their departure the
+doctor went to the office to write out specifically where and how the
+cure should be conducted; the notary became occupied with his flute in
+the vestibule. Gronski, Dolhanski, and Ladislaus for a while remained
+alone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then Dolhanski addressed Ladislaus:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What are these Gorek and Kwasnoborz?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;About fifteen hundred acres, and there is also Zabianka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So I have heard. And the soil?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Almost the same as at Rzeslewo. In Zabianka it is said to be better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So I have heard. The state of the fortune?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bad and good. Bad, because these ladies will not invest in anything.
+Good, because they have no debts and every penny which flows from the
+husbandry, after it gets into the stockings, never beholds daylight
+again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is what I have been waiting for,&quot; said Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They are as stingy as they are pathetic, and who knows whether they
+are not stingier?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let them hoard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Gronski began to laugh and quoted:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves--sic vos non vobis mellificates
+apes--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which suddenly to Gronski:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To-morrow I will propose for the hand of Cousin Otocka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To-day you are full of surprises,&quot; replied Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait! And I will be given the mitten.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Without any doubt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I want to have a clear conscience. After which I will drive over
+to Gorek.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is already known. And you will quell the agitated waves of a
+strike.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the course of a day. As you see me here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he pointed at Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That simplex servus Dei became unwittingly an instrument in the hands
+of Providence. The Lord often avails Himself of pigmies. For this, when
+you become bankrupt in Jastrzeb, apply to me at Gorek.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Provided that before that time you are not reduced to the same level,&quot;
+responded Ladislaus, laughing. &quot;You are an excellent leveller.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We live in an age of universal levelling. But what is Panna Wlocek's
+Christian name?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Kajetana.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Plait-il?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Kajetana,&quot; repeated Krzycki. &quot;Her father's christian name was Kajetan
+and she was named in memory of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell me then why that well-stocked Kajetana preserved herself in her
+virgin state until the age of thirty or more?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thirty-five, to be accurate. That is what my mother said not long ago.
+She remembers the day of her birth. As to why she is unmarried the
+reason is plain. Parties were not wanting but those ladies looked too
+high. In the neighborhood, we only have the common nobility; and among
+the Krzyckis there was not a bachelor of suitable age. You, in this
+respect, would correspond to their fantasy--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is well!&quot; answered Dolhanski, &quot;only that name! Kajetana!
+Kajetana! That seems to be a kind of carriage or boat! Do I know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski and Ladislaus regarded Dolhanski's announcement as a joke, as
+one of the sallies of wit which often crossed his mind. He, however,
+kept his word, for on the following day he proposed to Pani Otocka with
+due gravity and, after receiving an equally grave refusal, rode off to
+Gorek and settled there for a time. The young ladies, and even Pani
+Krzycki, were greatly amused and interested in all this, especially
+when the news reached them that the agrarian strike in Gorek ended the
+same day on which Dolhanski appeared. And it also ended a few days
+later in Rzeslewo, partly from the force of circumstances, from the
+conviction innate in the peasant soul that the &quot;holy land&quot; is not to be
+trifled with, and partly owing to the news which spread over the
+village that somebody from some kind of a committee was to come and
+decide the whole matter. Such was the case with the manor servants. The
+peasants and husbandmen did not want to agree to any school and would
+not relinquish the possession of the manor lands, but awaited this
+somebody in equal fear and hope, sacredly believing that not the will
+nor the law but some unknown power would decide everything. In the
+villages, in the meantime, more peaceful days ensued, and though the
+daily papers brought intelligence of increased commotion in the cities,
+Ladislaus believed that the local storm had passed away. This belief
+was shared by the guests. As the doctor had announced that Pani
+Krzycki's departure depended upon the first signs of alleviation of her
+suffering, Ladislaus determined to take the best advantage he could of
+the brief time the young ladies were to remain in Jastrzeb. The
+horseback excursions began and unless prevented by rain took place
+every morning. They were particularly agreeable to Ladislaus because
+Gronski, riding leisurely, kept company with his &quot;adoration,&quot; while he
+could pass hours alone with Miss Anney. Both were expert riders; they
+usually dashed ahead and most frequently disappeared from view in the
+distance. At times, they set off at full gallop, and intoxicated
+themselves with the mad speed, the air, the sun, and each other. At
+other times they rode abreast, slowly, stirrup to stirrup, and then the
+silence into which they fell, anxious, full of inexpressible delight,
+linked them with ties yet stronger than those with which their
+conversation bound them. With a glance Krzycki scanned the figure of
+the golden-haired maiden, resembling on horseback the divine Grecian
+forms or those on Etruscan vases, and feasted his eyes. He listened to
+her voice and it seemed to him that it was music still nearer
+perfection than that which poured forth from Marynia's violin. At times
+when he assisted her to mount her horse, he had to exert the full
+strength of his will to refrain from pressing her foot to his lips and
+forehead. And often he thought that if he ever dared to do so, he would
+desire to remain in that position as long as possible. To this feminine
+being all his thoughts were impelled, and through the might and flight
+of his feeling, his desires ceased to be like crawling serpents and
+became like winged birds, capable of soaring unto heaven. His love each
+day became more like a whirlpool which drags to itself and engulfs
+everything. It seemed to Ladislaus that the air, the sun, the fields,
+the forests, the meadows, the scent of the trees and flowers, the song
+of birds and the evening playing of Marynia,--all these were only some
+of the elements of that love which belonged to Miss Anney and entered
+into her being and, without her, would be insignificant and without
+essence. Moreover, the whirlpool seized him and plunged him more and
+more deeply with a power to which each day he offered less resistance,
+for the simple reason that the abyss appeared to him to be the abyss of
+happiness. Ladislaus now did not surrender her to any Englishman &quot;with
+protruding jaw&quot; or any Scot &quot;with bare knees,&quot; and would not have given
+her up for the whole of England and Scotland. He ceased trying to
+persuade himself that this was a type of woman, which he might have
+loved and, instead, he confessed to himself sincerely that she was a
+woman whom he did love. Love generated in him a bright and determined
+will; so now he thought, with the strict logic of feeling, that he
+craved to win this, to him, most precious and most desired being, to
+take and retain her for his whole life. There was only one road leading
+to that: therefore he determined to enter upon it with that heedless
+willingness which a man, who desires to be happy, evinces. Sometimes
+also a confession quivered upon his lips. He restrained it however and
+deferred it from day to day, at first owing to a timidity which every
+enamoured heart feels, and again through calculation. For if Love is
+blind, it certainly is not so to whatever may bring it benefits. It can
+even weigh benefits and obstacles upon such delicate scales that in
+this regard it is perhaps the most cautious, the most prescient, and
+the shrewdest of human feelings. In fact Ladislaus observed that his
+mother and Miss Anney were bound by a sympathy which, on the part of
+youth, health, and strength was productive of a certain friendly care,
+and on the part of weakness and old age, of gratitude. All three ladies
+were solicitous about his mother, but neither the solicitude of Pani
+Otocka, nor that of Marynia, was so vigilant or so efficacious as the
+watchfulness of Miss Anney. Pani Krzycki candidly said that even
+Ladislaus could not move from room to room with such dexterity the
+armchair to which temporary disability had riveted her; that he could
+not anticipate and humor her wants as could this light-haired &quot;good
+English diviner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To Krzycki, it frequently occurred that certainly this &quot;good diviner&quot;
+did all that through kindness and sincere friendship, but also because
+she wanted to conciliate his mother. And his heart trembled with joy at
+the thought that the moment would arrive when the wishes of his mother
+would coincide with that for which he, himself, most strongly yearned.
+He feared that a premature avowal might sever the ties which were being
+formed and for that reason he checked the word, which often burned his
+lips like a flame.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After all, there was an avowal in their silence and glances. Ladislaus
+did not dare and, until that time, did not wish to tell her plainly
+that he loved her; he wanted, however, with each word to clear the path
+and approach that eagerly desired moment. In the meantime it happened
+that, either from lack of breath he could not speak at all, or else he
+said something entirely different from what he intended to say. Once
+when they rode amidst luxuriant winter corn and when a light breeze
+bent towards them the rye stalks, together with the red poppy and the
+gray fescue-grass, he decided to tell her that all Jastrzeb bowed at
+her feet; and he said, with a great beating of his heart, in a hollow
+voice not his own, &quot;that in places the grain is lying down.&quot; After
+which, in his soul, he called himself an idiot and fretted at the
+supposition that a similar opinion of him must have crossed her mind.
+It seemed to him that she, beyond comparison, exercised a better
+self-control and that she could always say just what she wished to say.
+Consequently, even at times when partly through coquetry and partly
+because of her habit of repeating his expressions like an echo, she
+answered, for instance, &quot;that in places the grain is lying down,&quot; he
+discerned in her words an unheard-of significance and later pondered
+over them for hours.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But he also had, particularly in the morning, moments of greater
+tranquillity of mind and greater peace, in which his words were not
+like a disarrayed rank of soldiers, each one marching in a different
+direction. At times, the themes for these quieter conversations were
+furnished by some external objects, but oftener by anxiety occasioned
+by the impending separation. Krzycki at such times hid behind his
+mother and in her name expressed that which he did not dare to say in
+his own.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can imagine,&quot; he said the day following the second visit of the
+doctor, &quot;how Mother will long for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And the maiden, to whom it evidently occurred that not only the mother
+but the son would long for her, looked at him a little teasingly, with
+the hazy light of her strange eyes, and replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am such a bird of flight that your mother will soon become
+disaccustomed to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, I warrant you that she will not,&quot; exclaimed Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, he added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know Mother; she has fallen in love with you immensely.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, hardly ten days have elapsed since we arrived. Is it possible to
+fall in love so soon?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Ladislaus replied with deep conviction:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is! I give you my word, it is!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was something so naïve in the manner and tone of the reply that
+Miss Anney could not refrain from laughing. But he observed this and
+began to speak rapidly as if he wished to explain and justify himself:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For do we know whence love comes? Often at the first glance of the eye
+upon a human face we have such an impression as if we found some one
+whom we were seeking. There are certain unalterable forces which
+mutually attract people, although before that time they may have never
+met and though they had lived far away from each other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And must such persons always meet each other?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; he answered, &quot;I think not always. But then perhaps they are
+continually yearning, not knowing for what, and feel an eternal vacuity
+in life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And here, in spite of his will, the sincere poetry of youth and
+sentiment spoke through his lips:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You called yourself a bird of flight,&quot; he said. &quot;Beloved also is that
+bird, only not as a bird which flies away but rather as a bird which
+flies hitherward. For it flies unexpectedly from somewhere in the
+distance--from beyond the mountains, from beyond the sea, and nests in
+the heart, and begins to sing such a song that one hearing it would
+fain close his eyes and never waken again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And thus he spoke until he grew pale from emotion. For a time he was
+agitated, like a whirlwind, by the desire to dismount from his horse
+and embrace the feet of the maiden with his arms and cry: &quot;Thou art
+that beloved one: therefore do not fly away, my dear bird!&quot; But
+simultaneously he was seized by a prodigious fear of that night which
+would encompass him if his entreaty should prove futile.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So he merely uncovered his head, as if he wanted to display his heated
+forehead. A long silence, which fell between them, was only interrupted
+by the snorting of the horses, which now proceeded in an ambling pace,
+emitting under the bridles a white foam.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which Miss Anney spoke in a subdued voice which sounded a little
+like a warning:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I hear Pan Gronski approaching with Marynia.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact the other couple soon approached, happy and animated. Marynia,
+a few paces away, exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pan Gronski was telling me such beautiful things about Rome. I am
+sorry that you did not hear them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;More about the neighborhood of Rome, than Rome itself,&quot; said Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. I was in Tivoli. I was in Castel Gandolfo, in Nemi. Wonders! I
+will tease Zosia until in truth we will go there and Pan Gronski with
+us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Will you take me along?&quot; asked Miss Anney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course! We will all go in the autumn or next spring. Did you folks
+also talk about a trip?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a time there was no response.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; Miss Anney finally replied. &quot;We were talking about birds of
+flight.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, now it is spring and birds do not fly away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nevertheless, you ladies are making preparations for flying away,&quot;
+answered Ladislaus with a sigh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True,&quot; rejoined Marynia; &quot;but that is because Aunt is going away; and
+she&quot;--here she pointed at Miss Anney with her riding whip--&quot;has urged
+us all three to go where the doctor is sending Aunt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which she said to Ladislaus:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You would not believe, sir, how honest she is and how she loves Aunt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I, not believe? I?&quot; cried Ladislaus with ardor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Miss Anney, who a short time before had asked him whether one could
+fall in love so soon, became greatly confused and, dropping the reins,
+began with both hands to set something right on her hat, wishing to
+cover with them her countenance which glowed like the dawn.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus had heaven in his heart, and Marynia, for some time, gazed
+with her pellucid eyes, now at him and then at Miss Anney, for it was
+no secret to her that Krzycki was in love up to his ears, and this
+aroused her curiosity and amused her indescribably.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;See what I received to-day,&quot; said Ladislaus, handing Gronski a letter
+which came with others in the morning mail.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski glanced at it and knit his brow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; he said, &quot;a death sentence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With the seal of the P. P. S. They are distributing them quite
+prodigally.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, just like the opposite party.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Both are alike. The notary also has one and the doctor several. What
+do you think of it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Je m'en fiche! But the situation amuses me. I do not know whether you
+have heard that the Provincial guards have unearthed a secret school in
+Jastrzeb, which I founded a year ago because my conscience commanded me
+to. It is a case which I greased but have not yet greased sufficiently.
+As a result, I now have suspended over me the fists of the authorities
+and the fists of the socialists. Enjoyable, is it not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It has often occurred to me that elsewhere people could not live under
+such conditions, and we not only live but laugh quite merrily.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For such is our sinewy Lechite nature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps that is so. You must, nevertheless, be on your guard and it
+will be necessary to send the ladies away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It will be necessary, it will be necessary,&quot; repeated Ladislaus. &quot;And
+abroad too, for it is unsafe in Warsaw. But please do not say anything
+about this foolish sentence to Mother or any one else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mother positively insists upon my accompanying her, and I do not try
+to shun that--oh, no, not in the least! But summer is approaching and
+after that there will be the harvest. The overseer is an honest man but
+before my departure I must give him some specific instructions how and
+what he is to do. After they all leave, I would like to stay yet for a
+week or ten days. Mother will not be alone and without care, as in the
+first place the younger members of the family will be with her, and
+again you heard Cousin Marynia say that the ladies will go wherever
+Mother would be. Through all my life I will ever be grateful to Miss
+Anney for that proposal; for to Mother nothing could be better or more
+agreeable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And for her son also, it seems to me,&quot; said Gronski, laughing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus remained silent for a time; after which he began to press the
+palms of his hands on his temples and replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. For why should I deny that which I confessed to myself and which
+everybody sees but Mother, who has not observed it because she seldom
+saw us together. But she also has fallen in love with Miss Anney. Who
+would not love her? Such a dear, golden creature. I have not, as yet,
+said anything to Mother because she has her mind set upon Pani Otocka
+and it will be unpleasant for her to give up the thought. I fear she
+might be offended. After all, I only know what is taking place within
+me, and nothing more. I dare not even say that I have any reasons for
+my illusion. I fear that it may all at once burst like a soap-bubble.
+Ah! How unhappy I would be. Already I cannot see anything in this world
+beyond her. Candidly speaking, I do not know what to do with myself,
+Jastrzeb, and life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And grasping Gronski's hand, he continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you would only speak with Pani Otocka and ascertain from her
+whether I may have hope; for they are friends and certainly do not keep
+any secrets from each other. If you would only do this for me; and in
+due time speak with Mother! But with Pani Otocka as soon as possible!
+Will you do it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have spoken with Pani Otocka about that,&quot; replied Gronski, &quot;but
+what, do you suppose, she answered? That she could not tell me anything
+as Miss Anney confided to her a certain personal secret which she was
+not at liberty to divulge. I admit that this surprised me. In reality,
+the secret cannot be anything derogatory to Miss Anney, as otherwise
+Pani Otocka would not be on such cordial and intimate terms with her.
+They are like sisters, and in Warsaw they lived together, almost door
+to door. After all, Pani Otocka, it seemed to me, was sincerely in your
+favor and, at times, I received the impression that she was concerned
+in having matters come to the pass which they have. As for Marynia, she
+wriggles her little ears and with that it ends. In any case, be assured
+that you have not enemies in those ladies and, if you want to know my
+personal views, much less in Miss Anney.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Would to God! Would to God!&quot; answered Ladislaus. &quot;You have given me a
+little encouragement and I breathe more easily.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you, I see, have fallen unto your ears,&quot; observed Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I give you my word that I prefer one of her fingers or the ray of her
+hair to all the women in the world. I never had a conception that one
+could thus surrender himself. At times I do not know what is happening
+to me or what will occur, for only think: I have Jastrzeb, the estate,
+the Rzeslewo affairs, Mother's departure, and here I cannot think of
+anything but her--but her--and to nothing else can I apply my mind. I
+regret every moment in which I do not gaze upon her. To-day, for
+instance, I received a summons from the Directory to come in reference
+to the will and Rzeslewo, and I postpone the matter until tomorrow. I
+cannot--plainly--I cannot! I would go at night were it not that the
+Directory is closed for the night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Remember, however, the death sentence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May the devil take them with their sentence, or let them finally shoot
+me in the head. I would still be thinking of her, especially after what
+you have told me. But how do you know that Pani Otocka is in my favor?
+Those are honest, golden hearts, both of those cousins! How did you say
+it? That they are not my enemies? Thank God, even for that! For, why
+should they hate me? But please speak with Pani Otocka again. I am not
+concerned about her betraying any secret but only that, knowing Miss
+Anney, she should say something one way or the other--you know what I
+want--certainty--even though a morsel--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly,&quot; said Gronski, laughing, &quot;I will seek an opportunity
+to-day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thank you! Thank you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact an opportunity was easily found, as Pani Otocka also had some
+news which she desired to impart to Gronski, and with this object she
+sent her maid to him with an invitation to meet her on the yoked elm
+walk, near the pond. When they met there she gave him, just as
+Ladislaus had done a while before, a letter which arrived in the same
+morning's mail and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Please read it and advise me what to do with it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was a letter from Laskowicz to Marynia and its tenor was as follows:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A great idea is like a gigantic bird: her wings cast a shadow over the
+earth, while she hovers in the sun.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whoever does not fly upwards with her is surrounded by darkness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And darkness is death.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In that darkness, I behold Thee, like an alabaster statuette. This
+night the sounds of thy music reach me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And lo, in my lonely chamber I think of Thee and grieve for Thee.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For Thou couldst be a beam-feather in the wings of this gigantic bird
+idea and inhale the pure air of the dizzy heights and play in glory to
+the legions of the living; and Thou breathest the air of tombs and
+playest to a life which is moribund and to souls that wither; and not
+to people but to ghosts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I grieve for Thee, my silvery one.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And my thoughts fly to Thee like eagles.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For heretofore there was imbedded in my strength a part of human
+happiness but there was not in it my own happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now Thou suddenly glidest before my eyes like a light, and through my
+ears like music, and hast filled my bosom with a yearning for things I
+had not known before, and hast filled me with Thine own indispensable
+quintessence and a consciousness of my happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Therefore I loved Thee the same night when I beheld Thee and heard
+Thee for the first time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Henceforth, though Thou are not near me, I am with Thee and will
+follow wherever Thou wilt be.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For Thou art necessary to my existence and I am to Thee, in order to
+resuscitate Thee.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In order to snatch Thee from destruction; from amidst those who are
+about to die.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In order to surrender Thee to the great idea, and the exalted, and the
+light, and the living hosts who suffer from a dearth of bread and
+music.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thee and Thy music.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May extermination not fail upon you both.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, beloved one.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A certain night I summoned Thee but Thou didst not hear me and didst
+not come. Now I extend my hands towards Thee and say unto Thee: Come
+and slumber in my heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And when the time of awakening comes, I will wake Thee for a brief
+moment of pleasure, which love gives for the toil without an end and
+which the idea demands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For toil and perchance for martyrdom.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But in that martyrdom for the dawn of a new life, there is greater
+happiness than in the dusk, mephitic air, ashes and mould of graves.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Therefore come even for martyrdom.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And until our existence floats into the sea of nothingness, abide with
+me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, beloved one.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski's countenance reflected perturbation. For a time he and Pani
+Otocka walked in silence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What shall I do with this, and what does it mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is a disagreeable and vexatious matter, and the letter means that
+Laskowicz, who never in his life saw a being like Marynia, has fallen
+in love with her from the first acquaintance, as he himself says. I
+observed that after a few days and if I did not say anything to you
+about it, it was because Laskowicz was soon to leave. But he has fallen
+in love with his head and not his heart, for otherwise, instead of
+high-flown expressions, borrowed, as it were, from some school of
+literature, he would have found simpler and more sincere words. His
+exaltation may be sincere, it may waste and destroy him like a fever;
+it may last for whole years, but its chief source is the head and not
+the heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Pani Otocka, who at the moment was not in the least interested in
+an analysis of Laskowicz's feelings, interrupted a further
+disquisition:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But what are we to do, in view of this? How are we to act? It is about
+Marynia that I am concerned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are right,&quot; answered Gronski. &quot;Pardon my untimely reflections, but
+it is always better to know with whom and with what one has to do. My
+opinion is that it would be best not to do anything, just as if this
+letter had not arrived. You may return it to Laskowicz, but that would
+be exceedingly contemptuous: this letter deserves, perhaps, to be
+thrown into a fireplace, but in my opinion it does not merit contempt.
+It is, if you will permit me to thus express myself, nervous and
+insolent, but it preserves a certain measure in its expressions and
+there is nothing brutal in it. Besides it expresses rather the thoughts
+which came to Laskowicz's mind than any actual hopes, and to that
+extent it might be explained to Marynia that this is not a letter to
+her but a poem for her, not quite felicitously conceived. And Marynia?
+What impression did it make upon her and what does she say?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marynia,&quot; answered Pani Otocka with a certain comic uneasiness, &quot;is a
+little offended, a little worried and frightened, but in the innermost
+recesses of her heart, she is a little proud that somebody should have
+written such a letter to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, I was certain of that,&quot; exclaimed Gronski, laughing involuntarily.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a while he began to speak seriously.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No doubt other letters will come and as these maybe more glaring, we
+will have to persuade the little one that she should not read them. If
+you will permit, I will undertake that, after which, you ladies ought
+to go to Warsaw, and, in a short time, journey abroad and the matter
+will end of itself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To tell the truth,&quot; responded Pani Otocka, &quot;I want to leave Jastrzeb
+as soon as possible. We are not necessary for Aunt but are rather a
+hindrance in the preparations for her departure, and I confess that I
+am possessed by fear. Please read that letter again carefully. Why,
+there are threats there against all the residents of Jastrzeb and even
+against Marynia if she stays with us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski thought of Ladislaus receiving at the same time a death
+sentence, and in the first moments it occurred to him that it might
+have some connection with Laskowicz's letter. But after a while he
+recollected that similar sentences were sent to the doctor and even the
+aged notary: therefore to pacify Pani Otocka, he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;These are times of continual menaces and everybody receives them, but
+I do not think that Laskowicz intended to warn Marynia of any imminent
+attack threatening us in Jastrzeb. He undoubtedly wished to say that
+the waves of socialism will sweep away all who do not float with it,
+and therefore us. But as the peace of yourself and Marynia is involved,
+as to leaving, why of course! Why should we not leave even to-morrow?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I already thought of that, but Aunt urged us to wait for her and
+Aninka promised her that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then let her remain, and you ladies leave. Ah, so Miss Anney delays
+the departure? Good news for Laudie! May I tell him that? A while ago,
+he begged me to learn something from you,--for the poor fellow barely
+lives. He is the most love-sick swain within the boundaries of the
+Commonwealth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So it has gone as far as that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It has! Evidently there is something inflammatory in the atmosphere of
+Jastrzeb. Here everybody falls in love, either openly or in secret.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hearing this, Pani Otocka unexpectedly blushed like a fifteen-year-old
+girl, and though this happened often and upon the most trivial
+provocation, Gronski being unable to surmise what had passed through
+her mind, looked at her with a certain wonder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How then?&quot; he said. &quot;There are Laudie, Laskowicz, and Dolhanski. But
+Dolhanski has the most energy, for, after his latest repulse, he
+immediately decamps upon a new expedition, while Laudie fears.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What?&quot; asked Pani Otocka, raising her eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;First, a repulse from which he thinks he could not recover, and,
+again, a discussion with his mother which awaits him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps something else awaits Cousin Laudie, but he need not fear
+about Aninka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He will die from joy when I tell him that, but in my way, I, who am
+known to you as a meddler, could die from curiosity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What of it, when I have no right to speak about it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not even when we leave Jastrzeb?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not even then. After all, everything will soon clear up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In such case, I have procured enough for the nonce, and in the
+meanwhile I will return to Laudie to tell him the good news and apprise
+him of our departure. I will not mention anything about Laskowicz's
+letter, for tomorrow he will set off for the city and, if they met, a
+nasty encounter might result.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XIII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus, however, did not go to the city on the day following his
+conversation with Gronski, for he was notified that the meeting of the
+executors of Zarnowski's will was postponed for one week. The reason
+for this was that in two days a convention of the citizens of the
+vicinity was to commence in reference to providing insurance for the
+superannuated rural officials and manor-servants, and also in regard to
+the more burning question of introducing the Polish language into the
+communes,--a question in which the communal justices as well as the
+villagers were interested. Ladislaus determined, by all means, to
+participate in these debates, but as they were to take place in the
+forenoons, he formulated a plan of going to them every morning and
+returning home in the afternoon. In view of the proximity of Jastrzeb
+to the city, this plan was quite feasible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, he was disappointed in the hope that he could devote those two
+days exclusively to the guests, or rather to the most precious of
+guests in Jastrzeb, as the disorders in Rzeslewo broke out with renewed
+virulence and they required almost all his time. The strike of the
+manor help, indeed, ceased so completely that the intervention, which
+Dolhanski advised, became superfluous and it was necessary to restrain
+it. But in the meantime individual tenants and some of the husbandmen
+began to commit depredations in the forest. Ladislaus, at the head of
+the local and Jastrzeb foresters, sought these disorderly persons, who,
+indeed, hid at the sight of him: nevertheless they assumed a very
+threatening attitude towards the servants, promising to all swift
+vengeance. The foresters received bulky letters, assuring them &quot;that
+they would get a bullet in the head, and the heir also would.&quot; But the
+heir, who was not wanting in youthful energy and was not averse to
+adventure, did not at all neglect the defence of the Rzeslewo forests,
+and, what was more, he personally rushed over to Rzeslewo and summoning
+the malefactors, declared that he would invoke courts and punishment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And afterwards, he repaired at the designated time to the conference.
+It was to be the last day of the sojourn in Jastrzeb of Pani Otocka,
+Marynia, and Gronski, who decided to leave on the following day for
+Warsaw. Miss Anney, at Pani Krzycki's solicitation, agreed to remain
+for a few days, and leave with her. Ladislaus announced that he would
+return as soon as possible in order to spend the evening with all of
+them and to listen for the last time to Marynia's bewitching violin. He
+also said that he would induce the notary and the doctor to come with
+him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As a result, they waited dinner for them. In the meantime, about four
+o'clock, Gronski sat in his room writing a letter to Dolhanski,
+Marynia, upstairs, played her daily exercises, Pani Otocka sat with the
+patient, and Miss Anney went out on the balcony, ostensibly to
+photograph the old and lofty trees which enclosed the courtyard on two
+sides, but in reality to see whether he, whom they expected at home,
+was returning. So instead of photographing, she began to lose her sight
+and soul in the shady depths of the old linden roadway. Hope that soon
+she would behold in that depth a cloud of dust, horses, and carriages,
+and that afterwards the lively form of a youth would leap out, filled
+her with a quiet joy. Lo, after a while she would see before her that
+countenance, stately, sympathetic, and sincere; those eyes, whose every
+glance spoke to her a hundred times more than the lips, and would hear
+that voice which penetrated to her heart and thrilled it like music. At
+this thought, Miss Anney was encompassed with such sweet, calm feeling,
+as if she were a child and as if some loved hand were lightly rocking
+her to sleep; as if she were resting in a boat, which the gentle waves
+bore somewhere into a distance, unknown, but radiant. To permit herself
+to be rocked, to allow herself to be borne, to confide in the waves, to
+not think, for the time being, of where the boat will stop,--this was
+all that the heart of the maiden, at such moments, desired. But at
+other moments, when she propounded to herself the question, &quot;What will
+happen further?&quot; she looked with faith into the future. Sometimes when
+sleep refused to close her eyes, there flitted through her mind, like
+dark butterflies, uncertainties and fears, but even then she said to
+herself that the heaven may become cloudy in the future, but at present
+she was enjoying charming, fair weather, and every day was like a
+flower, and she plucked those flowers, one after another and laid them
+upon her bosom. So she thought that for this it was worth while to live
+and even to die.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And at that moment, though her soul was dissolving in the sun, in the
+serene atmosphere, in the rustle of leaves and in the great pastoral
+calm, flooded with light, she had no desire to die, for it seemed to
+her that, with the air, she inhaled joyful appeasement. Everything
+about her began to lose the mark of reality and change into an azure
+vision of happiness, half dreamy, half wakeful. From this revery she
+was aroused by the sight, awaiting which she had sat for almost an hour
+on the balcony. Lo, at the uttermost end of the roadway her eagerly
+desired cloud of dust appeared and it approached with unusual rapidity.
+Miss Anney recollected herself. In the first moments she wanted to
+retire. &quot;It is necessary, it is necessary,&quot; she said to herself,
+&quot;otherwise he will be apt to think that I was waiting for him.&quot; And she
+would have been sincerely indignant had any one suggested to her that
+such was the case. But suddenly her knees became so weak that she sat
+again, clutching the camera in order that it might appear that when
+found on the balcony she was taking photographs. In the meantime the
+cloud drew nearer the gates of entry, continuing with the same speed.
+Soon in harmony with the picture which the maiden had previously
+formed, the gray heads of the fore horses emerged from the dust. Like
+lightning, an impression of joy shook Miss Anney. &quot;How he is flying and
+how anxious he is!&quot; But immediately afterwards, as she began to wonder
+at the amazing speed, she thought that the horses were frightened.
+They were already so close to the gates that she could perceive the
+wind-tossed manes, the distended bloody nostrils and the frantic
+motions of the horses' feet. Suddenly she rose and her eyes reflected
+horror, for she observed that the coachman sat, bent so that only the
+top of his head could be seen--without a cap. In the meantime the
+intractable horses dashed through the gate; at the winding, the
+coachman fell off and the carriage with slightly diminished speed swung
+in a semi-circle along the border of the flower-bed. In the carriage,
+on the rear seat, Ladislaus sat alone, with his head tilted upwards and
+propped upon a carriage cushion. A cry of terror escaped from Miss
+Anney's breast. The horses, in the twinkle of an eye, reached the
+balcony and being accustomed to stop before it, implanted their hoofs
+in the ground. Ladislaus moved and, pale as a corpse, with blood
+streaming over his collar and coat sleeves, staggered from the
+carriage; when the maiden hurried towards him, he cried, grasping the
+air with his mouth:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing!... I am wounded, but it is nothing!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he toppled to the ground at her feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she, in a moment raised him with a strength, amazing in a woman,
+and supporting him with her arms and breast, began to shriek:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Save him! Help! Help!&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>PART SECOND</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>I</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">When Miss Anney raised the wounded young man, the household servants
+were in the other part of the house. Nearest to her--for they were in
+the vestibule playing billiards--were Pani Zosia and Marynia. These
+ladies rushed upon the balcony and, seeing Miss Anney supporting the
+disabled youth, emulating her example, began to shout at the top of
+their voices. She, in the meantime, placed him upon a bench on the
+balcony and enclosing him in her arms, called for water. Both sisters
+hurried to the sideboard for it and alarmed the whole house. Gronski
+and everything living collected there. In the first moments Gronski
+lost his head and when he recovered his senses he sent Pani Otocka to
+Ladislaus' mother to apprise her of the occurrence. In the meanwhile
+Miss Anney ordered the servants to carry the wounded man. She, herself,
+was compelled for a while to attend to her maid, who at the sight of
+Ladislaus, began to scream and then fell into hysterical convulsions.
+Gronski hastened to the stable to dispatch horses for the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But before the wounded man was borne to his room his mother came
+precipitately. At the news of the misfortune, she forgot about her
+rheumatism and assisted in the removal of her son, and in undressing
+and laying him in bed. Afterwards she began to wash out the wounds with
+a sponge. Ladislaus, owing to a copious flow of blood, fell into a long
+faint, and, after regaining consciousness for a brief interval, fainted
+again: in consequence of which he could not give any information about
+the occurrence. He only repeated several times, &quot;In the woods, in the
+woods!&quot; From which they could infer that the attack took place, not
+upon the public highway but on the borders of Rzeslewo or Jastrzeb.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime, the rattle of a britzka resounded before the balcony
+and, a moment later, Gronski summoned Miss Anney from her room, where
+she was hastily changing her clothes, which were covered with blood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am riding alone,&quot; he said. &quot;The coachman is on the sick list and the
+housekeeper has taken charge of him. None of the grooms want to go. All
+are scared and positively refuse. Only the old lackey is willing to
+drive, but I think that he cannot drive any better than I can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is imperatively necessary to drive for the doctor at once,&quot;
+answered Miss Anney, pressing the palms of her hands to her burning
+cheeks, &quot;but it is also necessary to prepare for the defence of the
+house. Please hurry to the farmers' quarters and send for the forest
+rangers to come with their arms. Otherwise those men will be apt to
+break in here and administer the finishing blow to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is true.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she continued hurriedly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is necessary to send some one for the men in the sawmill and arm
+them with firearms. The field hands will follow their example. In all
+probability an assault will be made upon the manor-house and here are
+only women. You must assume charge of the defence. Please go at once,
+and do send for the forest rangers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski admitted the propriety of the advice, and proceeded immediately
+to the farmers' buildings. It was within the range of possibility that
+the assailants, not knowing the result of their shooting, might wish to
+ascertain and perhaps finish their work. This had happened in several
+instances, and in view of this, all, and, more particularly, the women,
+were concerned. Gronski was not an energetic man, but no coward, and
+the thought of the being most precious to him in the world, Marynia,
+infused him with energy. He immediately sent the field hands for the
+forest rangers, as well as to the sawmill, where a dozen or more men
+worked, of whom it was known in the manor, as well as in the village,
+that they read &quot;The Pole&quot; and did not fear any one. The manor domestics
+very quickly recovered from their consternation. The reason for this
+was that the wounded coachman, though he did not see the assailants who
+had fired from thickets, claimed with great positiveness that &quot;the
+Rzeslewo people attacked the young heir&quot; on account of disputes about
+the forest. This removed from the affair the awe of mystery; and a
+peasant does not fear danger but mystery. Besides, as there existed
+between the men of Jastrzeb and the men of Rzeslewo an ancient grudge,
+dating from the time of the wrangle about bounding the stream, as soon
+as the news of the attempt of the Rzeslewo men spread over the village,
+those of Jastrzeb ceased not only to fear, but a desire for revenge was
+bred in them. The manor servants began to feel ashamed now that they
+had refused to drive for the doctor. Others, hearing that Rzeslewo
+wished to make an onslaught on Jastrzeb manor, seized pitchforks and
+pulled out pickets from the fences. Gronski, aware of the death
+sentence received by Ladislaus, viewed the matter differently, but kept
+his opinion to himself, understanding that a peasant, though he often
+suddenly displays unusual terror, when once he starts to pull out
+pickets from fences, does not fear anybody whatsoever.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Therefore delighted with this turn of affairs, he took with him a stout
+groom, who undertook to convey him to the city. But here a surprise
+awaited him, for before the balcony there was not a trace of the
+britzka and on the balcony stood the old lackey Andrew, with dejected
+face, and Marynia, pale, terror-stricken, with tears in her eyes, and
+who seeing him began to cry:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How could you, sir, permit her to ride alone? How could you do it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Miss Anney drove alone to the city!&quot; exclaimed Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And his countenance reflected such amazement that it was easy to
+perceive that it had happened without his knowledge or consent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My God!&quot; he said, &quot;she sent me to the farmhouses to arrange the
+defence, and it never occurred to me that in the meantime she would
+jump into the britzka and drive away. It never occurred to me for a
+moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Marynia did not stop her lamentations.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They will kill her in the woods; they will kill her,&quot; she repeated,
+wringing her hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski, in order to quiet her, assured her that he would send out
+succor at once, but returning to the farmhouses, he began to reason
+that if he, himself, set out after her on horseback he would accomplish
+nothing and would leave the house without a masculine head, and if he
+should send the field laborers, before they reached the forest Miss
+Anney would outstrip them. It was possible for them to insure, fairly
+well, her safe return, but to insure her safe passage through the woods
+in the direction of the city it was absolutely too late.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This was likewise acknowledged by Dolhanski, who not knowing of
+anything, returned by chance a half an hour later from Gorek to
+Jastrzeb. Hearing of the occurrence and Miss Anney's expedition, he
+could not refrain from exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But that is a brave girl. I wish I was Krzycki.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, going with Gronski to see the injured man, he added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We will have to go out to meet her. I will attend to that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus was already completely conscious and wanted to rise. He did
+not do so on account of his mother's entreaties and adjurations. His
+two friends did not tell him who had gone after the doctor. They only
+informed him that the doctor would arrive without delay and, after a
+short while, left, having something else to attend to. Dolhanski now
+assumed command over the improvised garrison which was to defend the
+manor-house. Gronski did not expect to find in him such an
+extraordinary supply of energy, sangfroid and self-confidence. He soon
+imparted this feeling to the household servants and the foresters; and
+the organization of the defence was not difficult. Two Jastrzeb forest
+rangers and one from Rzeslewo, who came later, had their own firearms,
+and in the manor-house were found Ladislaus' six fowling-pieces and, of
+these, two were short rifles. Dolhanski distributed this entire arsenal
+among men who knew how to use the weapons. A few servants from the
+village, who had participated in the Japanese war, appeared. Under
+these circumstances there was no fear of a sudden and unexpected
+attack. The workingmen from the sawmill, being of the Nationalistic
+persuasion, were anxious &quot;that something should happen,&quot; so that they
+could &quot;show how the teeth of uninvited guests are cleaned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Having arranged everything in this manner, Dolhanski intrusted the
+defence of the manor-house and the women to Gronski. Before that,
+however, he calmed them as to Miss Anney with the assurance that he
+returned from Gorek through the selfsame forest and rode in safety.
+This was the actual fact. But what was stranger, he did not meet the
+Englishwoman, from which they inferred that the courageous but prudent
+young lady evidently drove on another side road. However, as the
+distance to the city was not great and her return might be expected
+soon, he proceeded to meet her, taking along with him two forest
+rangers armed from head to foot. Gronski again was compelled to admire
+the shrewdness and ingenuity with which he issued in the name of the
+&quot;Central Government&quot; a command to the peasants of the village, that
+they should, in case they heard shots in the forest, rush in a body to
+their aid. The peasants did not know what this &quot;Central Government&quot;
+was. Neither did Dolhanski. He only knew that the name alone would
+create an impression, and the supposition that it was some Polish
+authority would ensure it a willing obedience.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But these were superfluous precautions, as it appeared that there was
+no one in the Jastrzeb and Rzeslewo forests which extended along the
+other side of the road. The miscreants who fired at Krzycki had
+decamped with due haste, evidently from fear of pursuit; or else they
+awaited the night, concealed in some distant underwood belonging to
+other villages. One of the forest rangers, who had previously fully
+questioned the coachman about the place of the ambush, found, while
+beating the adjacent thickets, empty revolver cartridge shells, in
+consequence of which the supposition arose that the attack was
+perpetrated by Rzeslewo peasants. Dolhanski did not doubt that what
+happened was a sequel of the death sentence, of which he learned from
+Gronski. But this seemed to him &quot;much more interesting.&quot; He thought
+that to meet the assailants and settle the issue in a proper manner
+would be a sort of hazard not devoid of a certain charm. And, in fact,
+soon a few more empty shells were found, but further search was without
+any results.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then Dolhanski turned towards the highway leading to the city, and a
+half an hour later met Miss Anney, driving the britzka as fast as the
+horses could run; on the rear seat was the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was market-day in the city. It happened therefore that at that time
+a dozen or more carts from Jastrzeb and Rzeslewo were returning
+homeward, and there was considerable bustle on the road. In consequence
+of this, Miss Anney did not become frightened at the sight of three
+armed men approaching her from an opposite direction, and, after a
+while, recognizing Dolhanski, she began to slacken the speed of the
+horses.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is the wounded man?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Conscious. Good.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is it in the house?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing new.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God be praised.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The britzka again rolled on and after an interval was hidden in a cloud
+of dust, and Dolhanski, having naught else to do, returned also to
+Jastrzeb.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The forest rangers who were walking behind him began to converse with
+each other and interchange their ideas of a lady &quot;who drives as well as
+the best coachman.&quot; But in Dolhanski's eyes there lingered also the
+picture of a young and charming maiden, with reins in hand, glowing
+countenance and wind-tossed hair. How much resolution and vivacity
+there was in all this! Never before did Miss Anney appear to him so
+enchanting. He knew from Gronski in what manner she had dashed to the
+city, and he was sincerely captivated by her. &quot;That is not one of our
+transparent, jelly maidens who quiver at the slightest cause,&quot; he said
+to himself, &quot;that is life, that is bravery, that is blood.&quot; He always
+admired everything which was English, beginning with the House of Lords
+and ending with the manufactured products of yellow leather, but at the
+present time his admiration waxed yet greater. &quot;If her marriage portion
+is reckoned not in Polish gold pieces but in guineas,&quot; he soliloquized
+farther, &quot;then Laudie was born with a caul.&quot; As he was an egotist, as
+well as a man of courage, he, after a while, ceased to bother his head
+about Krzycki and the danger which threatened all, and began to
+ruminate over his own situation in the world. He recollected that at
+one time he could have sold himself for a fat marriage settlement but
+with such an appendage that he preferred to renounce all. But if he had
+only found such an appendage as Miss Anney! And suddenly he was beset
+by regret that, after making her acquaintance, he had not been more
+attentive to her and had not tried to arouse in her an interest in
+himself. &quot;Who knows,&quot; he thought, &quot;whether at the proper time, that was
+not possible.&quot; But, in such case, it was proper for him to appear
+before her as more knightly and romantic and less sardonic and fond of
+club life. Evidently that was not her genre. Above all he could pot
+delude himself as to Pani Otocka. Dolhanski, from a certain time, had
+suspected his cousin of a secret attachment for Gronski, and at the
+same time could not understand what there was in Gronski that a woman
+could like. At the present time he was harassed by certain doubts about
+himself, for he felt, contrary to the good opinion which he entertained
+of himself, that there was something lacking in him; that in his
+internal mechanism some kind of wheel was wanting, without which, the
+entire mechanism did not go as it should. &quot;For if,&quot; he cogitated
+farther, &quot;I can sustain myself upon the surface, only through a rich
+marriage and my genre pleases neither Pani Otocka, nor Miss Anney, nor
+women in general, then I am a twofold ass: first because I thought I
+could please and again because I cannot afford to change.&quot; And he felt
+that he could not afford to change because of his indolence and from a
+fear that he would appear ridiculous.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In view of this it will perhaps be necessary to end with Kajetana with
+her appurtenances.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a sour temper he returned to Jastrzeb and, having given orders to
+the night watch, he went into the house where he received better news.
+The doctor announced that Ladislaus had a lacerated left shoulder, but
+as the shot was fired from below and went upwards, the bullet coursed
+above the lungs. The second shot grazed over the ribs, tearing a
+considerable portion of the flesh, while the third one carried off the
+tip of the small finger. The wounds were painful but not dangerous. The
+coachman received a scalp wound. The most severely injured was the left
+forehorse, who, however, owing to the small calibre of the bullet was
+able to gallop with the other horses, but died an hour after the
+return.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All of which, however, tended to prove that the attack was not the
+swift revenge of the landless of Rzeslewo in defence of the forest
+rights, but a premeditated attempt. For this reason Gronski was of the
+opinion that Pani Otocka and Marynia ought to leave the following day.
+He wanted to escort them himself to the railroad station and then
+return. But both declared that they would remain until all were able to
+leave. On this occasion Marynia, for the first time in her life,
+quarrelled with Gronski and the matter actually ended in this, that
+Gronski had to yield. After all, the departure was not delayed for a
+long time, for the doctor promised that if great caution was observed,
+they could transfer the injured man to Warsaw in the course of a week.
+No one suggested an immediate departure to Miss Anney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The rest of the evening was passed in conference. About ten o'clock Dr.
+Szremski, having performed all that was required of him, wanted to
+leave for the city, but out of regard for Pani Krzycki he remained for
+the night, and as he was much fatigued, he went to Gronski's room and
+fell asleep at once. The ladies divided the work among themselves in
+this manner: the two sisters were to watch Pani Krzycki, who after the
+temporary excitement suffered severely from heart trouble and asthma.
+Miss Anney in conjunction with Gronski undertook to pass the night with
+the wounded young man.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>II</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Out in the world the first glow of dawn was just visible when Ladislaus
+awoke, after a fitful and slightly feverish sleep. He did not feel
+badly; only a thirst was consuming him; he began to seek with his eyes
+for some one near who could give him water, and espied Miss Anney
+sitting at the window. She must have watched a long time for she dozed,
+with her hands resting inertly upon her knees, and her head was bowed
+so low that Ladislaus at first caught only a glimpse of her light hair,
+illuminated by the light of the green lamp. She immediately started up
+however, as if she had a premonition that the patient was awake, and it
+seemed to him that she divined his thoughts, for, approaching
+noiselessly, she asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you wish any water?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki did not answer; he only smiled and winked his eyes in sign of
+assent; when she handed the drink to him, he eagerly drained the glass,
+and afterwards gently taking her hand in his own, which was uninjured,
+he pressed it to his lips and held it there a long time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dearest ... my guardian angel,&quot; he whispered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And again he pressed her hand to his lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney did not even withdraw her hand; only with the other one she
+took the glass and placed it upon the small cupboard standing near the
+bed. She bent over him and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is necessary for you to keep quiet.--I will be with you until you
+get well, but now it is essential that you think only of your health;
+only of your health.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her voice sounded in tones of quiet and gentle persuasiveness.
+Ladislaus dropped her hand. For some time he moved his lips, but not a
+word could be heard. Evidently, he was weakened from emotion, as he
+grew pale and beads of perspiration stood upon his forehead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney began to wipe his face with a handkerchief and continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Please be calm. If I thought that I was harming you, I would not come
+here, and I do want to be with you now. Not a word about anything until
+the wounds are healed; not a word. Promise me that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A moment of silence ensued.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let the lady retire for a rest,&quot; Krzycki said in a pleading voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will go, I will go, but I am not at all tired. During the first half
+of the night, Pan Gronski sat up at your side and I slept. Really, I am
+not tired and I will sleep during the day. But you, sir, try to sleep.
+All that is necessary is for you not to look at me, and close your
+eyes. Then sleep will come of itself. Good-night, or rather good-day,
+for the day is breaking in the world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact the morning's dawn reddened and gilded the sky, and the sun was
+about to rise at any moment. The light of the green lamp grew paler
+each moment and was merging into the brightness of the day. Ladislaus,
+desiring to show how he obeyed every word of his beloved guardian,
+closed his eyes, pretending to sleep, but after a while footsteps were
+heard in the hallway and the doctor entered accompanied by Miss Anney's
+maid, whose turn it now was to attend to the patient. The doctor was so
+terribly drowsy that instead of eyes he had two slits surrounded by
+swollen eyelids, but he was as jovial and noisy as usual. He examined
+the bandages, admitted that the dressing was in proper shape, felt the
+pulse, and found everything in good order. Afterwards he opened the
+windows to freshen the air which was saturated with iodoform.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A splendid morning,&quot; said he. &quot;Health flows from the skies. Let the
+windows remain open all day. As soon as they hitch the horses, I shall
+return to the city for I have patients who cannot wait. But I will come
+back in the evening and bring a nurse for our wounded friend.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, addressing Miss Anney, he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only do not let it get into your head to drive for me, alone. The
+injured man is getting along nicely--a slight fever, very slight. I
+will see Pani Krzycki before I leave. Do not let her leave her bed all
+day, and let her nieces watch her. To you, sir, I recommend the bed. It
+is permissible to inhale but not to breathe one's last breath. Ha! I
+will return about five in the evening, unless indeed, I am forced on
+the road to swallow a few pills from the socialist pharmacy. That is a
+stylish medicine and, it must be confessed, acts quickly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is Mother?&quot; asked Ladislaus in alarm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this the doctor again turned to Miss Anney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Order him to lie quiet for he will not mind me. Your mother has more
+than fifteen years. Yesterday she started up suddenly, forgetting her
+rheumatism and weak heart action, laid you in bed, waited for my
+arrival; was present at the dressing, and after learning that there was
+no danger--at once! bah!--it was necessary to put her to bed. That is
+always the way with our women. But nothing is the matter with your
+mother; the usual reaction after a nervous strain. When she came to
+herself, I ordered her to remain in bed and not to appear here under
+the penalty of death--for you. With that, I restrained her. Otherwise
+she would have stuck here all night. Now your filigree cousins are
+watching her. They also almost turned topsyturvy; then I would have had
+four patients in one house. That would be a harvest--ha? Luckily there
+was to be found in this house one soul with different nerves, who did
+not swoon poetically. Ha!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How he is chattering,&quot; thought Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the doctor began to gaze with great respect at Miss Anney and
+continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Rule Britannia! It is a pleasure to look at you, as I love God! What
+health, what nerves! She sat up all night until the morning,--and
+nothing! As if she freshly shook the dew off herself! I repeat once
+more, it is a pleasure to behold you. I am going to the dining-room to
+see if they will not give me some coffee before I leave, for I am
+hungry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But before he left he said to Miss Anney and her maid:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let the lady go with me and drink something warm before going to
+sleep, and you, little miss, sit here beside Pan Krzycki. It will be
+necessary to take his temperature and write it down. In case anything
+happens let Pan Gronski know. I will tell him to look in here
+occasionally. Good-by!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Allowing Miss Anney, who smiled at the wounded man and repeated
+&quot;Good-by,&quot; to pass before him, he followed her. In the dining-room,
+they found not only coffee, but the two sisters with Gronski and
+Dolhanski. The former had sat up all night with Pani Krzycki, whose
+illness was much more serious than the doctor told the son. At one time
+it was even so serious that it was doubtful whether she would revive
+from a long faint. Both &quot;filigree&quot; sisters were almost worn out, and
+Marynia had eyelids of actual lily color. Gronski, by all means, wanted
+the doctor to examine her and prescribe something strengthening.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But he, feeling her pulse for a while, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will prescribe for you, miss, as a medicine, a certain maxim of
+Confucius, which says, 'If thou wouldst know the truth, it is better to
+sit than stand, better to lie down than sit, and rather than lie down,
+it is better to sleep.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is all very well,&quot; she answered, &quot;but after all that has taken
+place, I do not know whether I can sleep.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then let some one sing to you the lullaby, 'Ah, ah! Two little
+kittens'; but only not your sister, as for her I prescribe the
+same--until it is effective.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The rattle of the britzka interrupted further conversation. The doctor
+swallowed the hot coffee and took his leave. Dolhanski followed him and
+mounted a horse, held by a stable-boy. He announced that he would
+accompany the doctor through the forest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If that is for my safety, then it is absolutely unnecessary,&quot; said the
+doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I ride on horseback daily,&quot; replied Dolhanski, &quot;and besides I want to
+see whether some May party has not again come to the Jastrzeb forest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; answered the doctor, laughing. &quot;I do not think that they will
+reappear so soon. They have in these matters a certain method. They
+prefer to be the hunters rather than the quarry, and understand that
+now it might come to a man hunt. In about a week or two, when they find
+out that their attempt was unsuccessful, it will be necessary to be
+more guarded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When will Krzycki be able to leave?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It all depends upon the purity of his blood; and I presume that it is
+pure. After all, it will not be necessary to wait in Jastrzeb for a
+complete cure. He had a pretty close call; that cannot be gainsaid. For
+if I had not come the same day, infection might have set in. But the
+antiseptic did its work. Ah, that Englishwoman who looks through a
+heavenly mist. There is a woman for me. What? Would you believe that at
+first I was upset with indignation at you gentlemen for permitting her
+to drive under those circumstances? Only later did she tell me the
+actual facts. If I do not fall in love with her, I am a marinated
+herring without milt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would not advise it,&quot; said Dolhanski, &quot;as it seems that in that
+territory there already has appeared a William the Conqueror.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you think so? It may be possible! That also has occurred to my
+mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Was it because the English prudery has disappeared in a corner?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. Nursing a wounded man is a woman's duty and, in view of that,
+prudery must retire to a corner. Even yesterday's expedition
+demonstrated only courage and energy. But through that heavenly mist
+there reach our wounded friend such warm rays that--oh! But that does
+not prevent me from being in love. If old Dzwonkowski fell in love with
+your little cousin why should not I indulge in the same pleasure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the same way you might fall in love with Saint Cecilia,&quot; said
+Dolhanski. &quot;My cousin is not a woman on two feet, but a symbol.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he stopped abruptly for he heard some voices coming from the depth
+of the forest and he sped his horse towards them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nevertheless this clubman does not carry his soul on his shoulder,&quot;
+thought the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But it was only a false alarm, as it was merely village boys tending
+cattle. The doctor, who alighted from the britzka to rush to
+Dolhanski's assistance in case of need, soon saw them among the forest
+thickets. After a while Dolhanski reappeared and pressing on his eye
+the monocle which some twigs had displaced, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is only an innocent rural picture; cowherds and cows trespassing
+in other people's forests; nothing more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he bade the doctor adieu and returned to the house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney had not yet retired to sleep, for he found her conversing
+with Gronski and engaged in winding iodoform gauze. At the sight of
+him, she raised her eyes from her work and asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Anything new in the forest?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, indeed; something has happened to the doctor. He has been shot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this, both suddenly rose, startled:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What? Where? In the forest?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No! In Jastrzeb,&quot; answered Dolhanski.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>III</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus complied in every particular with Miss Anney's injunctions
+for, immediately after she left, he dozed again and did not waken until
+the rays of the sun, which had ascended high in the heaven, fell
+on his head. He then knit his brows and, having partly shaken off
+his drowsiness, requested that the roller-blinds be lowered. The
+black-haired maid approached the window, wishing to lower them, but as
+she did this too eagerly and did not retain her hold on the string, the
+roller-blind dropped so suddenly that it loosened completely from the
+fastenings and tumbled down on the window sill. Then the maid, ashamed
+of her awkwardness, leaped upon the chair and from the chair to the
+sill and began to place anew the rollers in the rings. Krzycki looked
+at her bent form; at her upraised arms and at her black coiled hair,
+with a not yet conscious gaze, blinking his eyes as if he could not
+recall for the time being who that was; and not until she jumped from
+the frame, displaying at the same time graceful and plump limbs in
+black stockings, did he know who was before him; and he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! It is Panna Pauly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is I,&quot; answered the girl. &quot;I beg your pardon for making so much
+noise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She blushed like a rose under his glance, and he recollected how he
+once saw her attired only in azure watery pearls; so he gazed at her
+with greater curiosity and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That does not matter. I thank you, little Miss, for your solicitude.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the same time, as a sign of gratitude, he moved the hand lying on
+the bed-quilt but feeling simultaneously a piercing pain, he made a wry
+face and hissed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she sat on the edge of the bed, leaned over him, and asked with
+intense anxiety:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Does it pain?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It does.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Can I hand you anything? Shall I call any one?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a certain time, silence followed. Ladislaus frowned and clinched
+his teeth; after which, drawing a deep breath, he said, as if with a
+certain rage:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This was done for me by those scoundrels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, if they only fell into my hands,&quot; she replied through her set
+teeth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Such a fathomless hatred glistened in her eyes and her entire
+countenance assumed such an expression of cruelty, that it might serve
+as a model for a Gorgon face. Ladislaus was so astonished at this sight
+that he forgot about his pain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Again silence ensued. The maid recollected herself after a while, but
+her cheeks grew so pale that the dark down above her lips became more
+marked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She then asked: &quot;What can I do to relieve you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her voice now rang with such cordial solicitude that Ladislaus smiled
+and answered:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing, unless it be to commiserate with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And in a moment she was transported with spasmodic grief; she flung her
+face at his feet, and, embracing them with her arms, began to kiss them
+through the quilt. Her raven-like head and bent body shook from
+sobbing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why little lady! Panna Pauly!&quot; cried Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he was compelled to repeat this several times before she heard him.
+Finally she rose and, covering her eyes with her hands, went to the
+window, pressed her face against the pane, and for some time remained
+motionless. Afterwards she began to wipe her eyes and readjust her
+hair, as if in fear that somebody, entering unexpectedly, might surmise
+what had taken place.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime, all the moments in which he had come in contact with
+her coursed through Ladislaus' mind, commencing with meeting her on the
+dark path, when she told him that a were-wolf did not look like that,
+and the vision in the bath-room, until his conversation with her, after
+that vision, on the yoked elm grove near the pond. He recalled how from
+that time she alternately reddened and grew pale at the sight of him;
+how she drooped her eyes and how she sent them after him whenever it
+seemed to her that he was not observing. From one view, Ladislaus
+accepted this as the sequel of the incident in the bath-room; from
+another as admiration for his shapeliness. This admiration, indeed,
+flattered his masculine vanity, but he did not give it much thought,
+as, having his mind absorbed with Miss Anney, her servant did not
+concern him. Now, however, he understood that this was something more
+than the blandishments of an artful chambermaid after a handsome young
+heir, and that this maiden had become distractedly infatuated with him
+and in a kind of morbid manner. His love for Miss Anney was too deep
+and true for him to be pleased with such a state of affairs or for him
+to think that after his wounds were healed he could take advantage of
+the maiden's feelings in the fashion of a gallant. On the contrary, the
+thought that he had unwittingly aroused such feelings appeared
+disagreeable and irksome to him. He was seized by a fear of what might
+result from it. There came to him, as if in a vision, troubles, scenes,
+and entanglements, which such a passion might produce. He understood
+that this was a fire with which he could not thoughtlessly play; that
+he would have to be careful and not give her any encouragement. He
+decided also, notwithstanding the pity and sympathy he felt in the
+depth of his heart for the maiden, to avoid in the future all
+conversations, all jests, and everything which might draw her nearer to
+him, encourage intimacy, or provoke in the future outbursts similar to
+the one of that day. It even occurred to him to request Miss Anney not
+to send her to him any more, but he abandoned that resolution,
+observing that it might cause sorrow or cast upon him a shadow of
+ludicrousness. Finally he came to the conclusion that above all it was
+incumbent upon him not to ask the maid about anything; not to demand
+any explanation as to the meaning of that outbreak and those tears, and
+to behave coolly and distantly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime the maiden, at the window, having regained her
+composure, again approached the bed and spoke in a meek and hesitating
+voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I beg your pardon, sir. Be not angry at me, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He closed his eyes and only after an interval replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Little lady, I am not angry, but I need peace.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I beg pardon,&quot; she repeated yet more meekly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However she observed that he spoke in a different tone, drier and
+colder than previously, and intense uncertainty was depicted upon her
+countenance, for she did not know whether this was the momentary
+dissatisfaction of the patient, who, in reality, did desire quiet or
+whether it was the displeasure of the young heir at her--a servant
+maid--having dared to betray her feelings. Fearing, however, to again
+offend him, she became silent and seating herself upon the chair which
+Miss Anney had occupied, she took from the commode the work which
+previously had been brought and began to sew, glancing from time to
+time with great uneasiness, and as if in fear, at Ladislaus. He also
+cast stealthy glances at her, and seeing her regular features, as if
+carved out of stone, her sharply outlined brows, the dark down above
+her lips, and the energetic, almost inflexible, expression of her face,
+he thought that it would be much easier for a man who could arouse the
+thoughts and feelings of such a girl to form various ties than later to
+be able to free himself from them.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>IV</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Contrary to expectations, the doctor did not arrive that day, owing to
+an unusual number of engagements and a few important operations which
+he was compelled to perform without delay. Instead, he sent a young
+hospital attendant, skilled in dressing wounds, with a letter in which
+he requested Gronski to inform the ladies that they should consider his
+postponed visit as proof that no danger actually threatened the wounded
+man. Ladislaus, however was not pleased with this news, for the wounds
+tormented him acutely; particularly the flesh torn by the bullet along
+the ribs afflicted him painfully; and besides, his mother felt worse.
+The asthmatic spell recurred, after which a general weakness followed,
+so that notwithstanding her warmest wishes she was not able to rise
+from her bed. Pani Otocka did not leave her for the entire day, and at
+night her place was to be taken by Miss Anney, who, however, needing
+rest after the recent events and, passing a sleepless night, was sent
+to sleep by both sisters and Gronski. The rôle of the housekeeper of
+Jastrzeb was assumed by Marynia, for she wanted by all means to be
+useful, and was not permitted to attend to the patients. Instead, she
+was intrusted with all the keys; the management of the house; with
+conferring and taking an accounting with the cook whom she feared a
+little and did not like, because he looked upon her as if she was a
+child who was amusing herself rather than one upon whose shoulders
+rested the responsibility of superintending everything. She adopted a
+mien full of importance, but nevertheless &quot;the dear gentleman,&quot; that is
+Gronski, had to promise that he would be present, as if by chance, in
+the room when the accounting was taking place.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As, after the arrival of the doctor on the third day, it appeared that
+Ladislaus' condition was quite favorable and Pani Krzycki's asthmatic
+spells were leaving her and her nerves were getting in order, the
+general aspect of Jastrzeb became calmer and happier. Dolhanski began
+to fill with a certain humor the rôle of a generalissimo of all the
+armed forces of Jastrzeb while Gronski played the part of military
+governor. The doctor brought with him a second nurse, who thenceforth
+was to alternate with the one who came previously. This relieved the
+ladies of the house of the necessity of continual watchfulness and
+unnecessary fatigue. Ladislaus alone was dissatisfied with the
+arrangement, for he understood that now Miss Anney would not pass days
+and nights in his chamber, and that in all probability he would not see
+her until he was able to leave his bed. In fact, it happened that way.
+Several times during the day she would come to the anteroom, send
+through the attendants whatever was needed, inquire about his health
+and also send a &quot;good-night&quot; or &quot;good-day&quot; but would not enter the
+room. Ladislaus sighed, swore quietly, and made life miserable for his
+attendants, and when he learned from Dolhanski of the enthusiasm with
+which the doctor spoke of Miss Anney he began to suspect him of
+purposely sending the attendants in order to make it more difficult for
+him to see her. His mother rose the fourth day and, feeling much
+better, visited him daily and sat up with him for hours. Ladislaus
+often asked himself the question whether she surmised his feelings.
+They were indeed known to all the guests in the house, but there was a
+possibility that she did not suspect anything, as for a considerable
+time before the occurrence in the forest she did not, in truth, leave
+her room; in consequence of which she seldom saw her son and Miss Anney
+together. Krzycki often deliberated over the question whether he should
+speak with his mother at once about it or defer the matter to a later
+date. In favor of the first thought, there was the consideration that
+his mother, while he lay in bed wounded, would not dare to interpose
+any strenuous objections from fear that his condition might grow worse.
+But on the other hand, such calculation, in which his beloved one and
+the whole happiness of his life were involved, appeared to him that day
+as miserable craftiness. He thought besides that to extort an assent
+from his mother through his sickness would be something derogatory to
+Miss Anney, before whom the doors of the Jastrzeb manor-house and the
+arms of the entire family should be widely and joyfully opened. But he
+was restrained by another consideration. And this was that,
+notwithstanding the conversation he at one time had with Gronski,
+notwithstanding the words he exchanged with the lady, notwithstanding
+her solicitude, her sacrifices, and the courage with which she did not
+hesitate to drive for the doctor, and finally notwithstanding the
+visible marks of feeling which could be discerned in every glance she
+bestowed upon him, Ladislaus doubted and did not dare to believe in his
+own good fortune. He was young, inexperienced, in love not only up to
+his ears but like a student; therefore full of alternating
+uncertainties, hopes, joys, and doubts. He doubted also himself. At
+times he felt at his shoulders wings, as it were, and in his soul a
+desire for lofty flights; a latent ability to perform acts clearly
+heroic; and at other times he thought: &quot;Who am I, that such a flower
+should fall upon my bosom? There are people who are endowed with
+talent; who possess education; and others who have millions, and I,
+what? I am a mere nobleman farmer, who will all his life dig the soil,
+like a mole. Have I then the right to pinion to such a life, or rather
+to confine in a sort of cage such a paradisiacal bird, which soars
+freely across the firmament for the delectation and admiration of
+mankind?&quot; And he was seized by despair. But when he pictured to himself
+that the moment might arrive when this paradisiacal bird might fly away
+forever from him, then he looked upon it with amazement as if upon a
+calamity which he did not deserve. He also had his hours of hope,
+especially in the morning when he felt better and stronger. Then he
+recalled everything that had taken place between them, from her first
+arrival at Jastrzeb and his meeting her at Zarnowski's funeral until
+that last night when he pressed her hand to his lips and gained greater
+confidence. Why, at that time, she told him &quot;not a word about anything
+until the wounds are healed.&quot; Therefore through that alone she gave to
+him the right to repeat to her that she was dearer to him than the
+whole world and to surrender into her hands his fate, his future, and
+his entire life. Let her do with them what she will.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meanwhile his mother will accustom herself to her, will grow
+more intimate, and become more attached to her. And her maternal heart
+is so full of admiration and gratitude for what Miss Anney had done for
+him that from her lips fell the words &quot;God sent her here.&quot; Ladislaus
+smiled at the thought that his mother, however, ascribed the sacrifices
+and courage of the young maiden not to any ardent feeling but to an
+exceptionally honest heart, as well as to English training, which was
+conducive to energy alike in men and women. And she had likewise
+repeated to Pani Otocka several times that she would like to bring up
+her Anusia to be such a brave woman; give her such strength, health,
+and such love for her &quot;fellow-men.&quot; Pani Otocka smiled also, hearing
+these praises, and Ladislaus thought that Miss Anney perhaps would not
+have done the same for her fellow-men, and this thought filled him with
+happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Eventually he became quite certain that his mother would consent to his
+marriage with Miss Anney, but he was anxious as to how she would agree.
+And in this regard he was much distressed. His mother, judged by former
+requirements and conceptions, was a person of more than medium
+education. She possessed high social refinement, read a number of
+books, and was proficient in the French and Italian languages. During
+her younger days she passed considerable time abroad, but only her
+closest friends could tell how many national and hereditary prejudices
+were concealed in her and to what extent all that was not Polish,
+particularly if it did not of necessity come from France, appeared to
+her peculiar, outlandish, strange, and even shocking. This appeared
+accidentally once before the attack upon Ladislaus when she saw Miss
+Anney's English prayer-book and, opening it, noticed a prayer beginning
+with &quot;Oh Lord.&quot; Belonging to a generation which did not study English,
+and having lived in retirement for many years in Jastrzeb, Pani Krzycki
+could not imagine the Lord other than a being with yellow whiskers,
+dressed in checkered clothes, and to Marynia's great amusement could
+not by any means understand how the Divinity could be thus addressed.
+In vain Ladislaus explained to her that in the French and Polish
+languages analogical titles are given to God. She regarded that as
+something different, and exacted a promise from Miss Anney that she
+would pray from a Polish book, which she promised to buy for her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Finally the fact that Miss Anney was not in all probability a member of
+the nobility would play an important part. Ladislaus feared that his
+mother, having consented to the marriage, might in the depths and
+secrecy of her soul, deem it a mésalliance. This thought irritated and
+depressed him immeasurably and was one of the reasons why he postponed
+his consultation with his mother until their arrival in Warsaw.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He was angered yet more at his enforced confinement in his bed; so that
+for three days he declared each evening that he would rise the
+following morning, and when on the fourth day Miss Anney and Marynia
+said to him through the doorway, &quot;Good-day,&quot; he actually did get up,
+but in his weakened condition, he suffered from dizziness and was
+forced to lie down again. He was steadily improving, however; he
+continued to sigh more and more and felt his inactivity most keenly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have got enough of this loquacious doctor,&quot; he said to Gronski,
+&quot;enough of dressings and iodoform. I envy not only you, sir, but even
+Dolhanski, who is roaming about on my horses all over creation, and
+very likely reaches as far as Gorek.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He does,&quot; answered Gronski gayly, &quot;and this leads me to think that he
+makes a mystery of it, for he has ceased to talk about those ladies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This was but a half truth for Dolhanski did actually go to Gorek but
+did not remain entirely silent about the ladies, for returning the next
+day, he entered Ladislaus' room, bearing with him still the odor of the
+horse, and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Imagine to yourself that the Wlocek ladies received a command from
+some kind of committee from under a dark star to pay under the penalty
+of death one thousand roubles for 'party' purposes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There you have it!&quot; cried Gronski. &quot;Now that is becoming an every-day
+occurrence. Who knows whether similar commands are not awaiting us upon
+our desks in Warsaw?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, what of it?&quot; asked Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing,&quot; answered Dolhanski; &quot;those ladies first argued as to who was
+to first expose her breast to shield the other; then fainted; after
+that they came to, then began to bid each other farewell, and finally
+asked me my advice as to what was to be done.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what advice did you give them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I advised them to tell the executors of the command, who would come
+for the money, that their plenipotentiary and treasurer, Pan Dolhanski,
+resided at such and such address in Warsaw.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Really, did you advise them to do that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I give you my word.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In such a case, they will undoubtedly call upon you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You can imagine what rich booty they will get! I also will have some
+recreation in these tedious times.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pardon me,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;the times are trying; that is certain, but
+no one can say that they are tedious.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But for whom?&quot; answered Dolhanski. &quot;If I ever borrow money from you,
+then I will have to conform to your inclination, but before that time
+you cannot draw me into any political discussion. In the meantime I
+will only tell you this much, that I am the only social microbe that
+can remain at perfect peace. All that I require is that 'bridge' should
+be going normally at the club and soon this will be impossible. These
+times may be interesting to you but not for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At any rate,&quot; observed Gronski, &quot;a certain ventilation of torpid
+conditions is taking place, and since you compared yourself to a
+microbe, by the same token, you admit that these are times for
+disinfection.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this Dolhanski turned to Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thank Gronski,&quot; he said, &quot;for the disinfection started with you; from
+which the plain inference is to be drawn that you are a more harmful
+microbe than I am.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Get married, get married,&quot; answered Ladislaus banteringly; &quot;for you, a
+good marriage settlement would be the best cure for pessimism.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That may be possible, as in that case, I may have something with which
+I can leave this dear country and settle elsewhere. I once told you
+that Providence speaks through the lips of little innocents. But I
+should have thought of marriage when in the perspective there were no
+Goreks, but instead, four million franks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did you have such an opportunity?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As you see me here. It happened in Ostend; an old Belgian relict of a
+manufacturer of preserves, and having cash to the amount specified,
+wanted to marry me and that for the waiting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And nothing. I remember what Pan Birkowski, who at that time was in
+Ostend, told me. 'Do business,' he said. 'At the worst, you may leave
+the old woman two millions and leave her in the lurch, and you can take
+two millions with you and enjoy yourself like a king.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what did you say to that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I said this to that: What is that? Am I to give from my own
+hard-earned money two millions to an ugly old woman? For nothing! And
+now I think that for a mere quibble, I permitted a fortune to slip away
+from me and that the time may come when owing to a 'retirement from
+business' I will have to sacrifice myself for a smaller price.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski and Ladislaus began to laugh, but Dolhanski, who spoke with
+greater bitterness than they supposed, shrugged his shoulders and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Amuse yourselves, amuse yourselves. One of you already has received a
+taste of the times and the other, God grant, will not escape so easily.
+Nice times, indeed! Chaos, anarchy, political orgy, lack of any kind of
+authority, the dance of dynamite with the knout, and the downfall of
+'bridge.' And you laugh!&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>V</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Nevertheless that which Dolhanski said about a want of any kind of
+authority appeared to be not exactly the truth, for, after an interval
+of one week, the authorities did give signs of life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">An imposing armed force, together with gendarmes and police, made its
+appearance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of course the perpetrators of the attempt upon Krzycki did not wait a
+whole week for the arrival at Jastrzeb of a military relief, as they
+evidently had engagements in other parts of the county. As a result the
+Jastrzeb, as well as the Rzeslewo, forests appeared to be deserted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In lieu of this, about a score of men in Jastrzeb, itself, were placed
+under arrest. Among these were the two forest rangers, the old coachman
+who was wounded at the time of the attack, and all the workingmen at
+the sawmill.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the manor-house all the passports were verified with exceeding care,
+reports were written, and the host, hostess, and guests, not excluding
+the ladies, were subjected to a strict examination.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From these examinations it developed that in reality they did not come
+on account of the attempt upon the proprietor of Jastrzeb, but for the
+purpose of apprehending a dangerous revolutionist, a certain Laskowicz,
+who, according to the most reliable information secured by the police,
+was hiding in Jastrzeb and was shielded by its denizens.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The declaration of the Krzyckis to the police, that in due season the
+passport of Laskowicz was forwarded, and if Laskowicz had left the city
+he must have received it, as well as the assurances of all present that
+Laskowicz was not in Jastrzeb did not find any credence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The authorities were too experienced and shrewd to believe such
+nonsense and they detected in them &quot;an evil design, and want of
+sincerity and cordial candor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The house also was subjected to a most painstaking search, beginning in
+the garret and ending in the cellar. They knocked on the walls to
+ascertain whether there were any secret hiding places. They searched
+among the dresses and linen of the women; in the hearth, under the
+divans, in the drawers, in the boxes for phenicine pastilles, which
+Gronski brought with him; and finally in the manor outbuildings, in the
+mangers of the stable, in the milk churners, in the tar-boxes, and even
+in the beehives, whose inmates, undoubtedly being permeated with the
+evil-disposition prevalent in Jastrzeb, resisted the search in a manner
+as evil disposed as it was painful.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But as the search, notwithstanding its thoroughness and the
+intelligence with which it was conducted, was not productive of any
+results, they took a hundred and some tens of books, the farm register,
+the entire private correspondence of the hosts as well as the guests,
+the bone counters used in playing cards, a little bell with a
+Napoleonic figure, a safety razor, a barometer, and, notwithstanding
+the license which Krzycki possessed, all the fowling pieces, not
+excepting a toy-gun with which corks were shot and which belonged to
+little Stas.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus himself would have been undoubtedly arrested as an
+accomplice, if the doctor, who treated the captain for his heart
+trouble, had not arrived and if Dolhanski, growing impatient beyond all
+endurance, had not shown the captain a message before sending it to the
+city. It was addressed to the highly influential general W., with whom
+Dolhanski played whist at the club, and it complained of the brutality
+and the arbitrariness of the search.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This to a considerable extent cooled off the ardor of the captain and
+his subordinates, who previously, at the scrutiny of the passports, had
+learned that Dolhanski was a member of the club.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In this manner Ladislaus preserved his liberty, supplemented by police
+surveillance, and little Stas regained his toy-gun for shooting corks.
+The captain could not return the arms as he had peremptory orders in
+black and white to confiscate even the ancient fowling-pieces of the
+whole community.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Doux pays! Doux pays!&quot; cried Dolhanski after the departure of the
+police. &quot;Revolvers now can be found only in the hands of the bandits.
+In view of this I will submit to a demission as the commander-in-chief
+of the Jastrzeb armed forces, land as well as naval. We are now
+dependent upon the kindness or unkindness of fate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Go to Warsaw, ladies and gentlemen, to-morrow,&quot; said the doctor; &quot;here
+there is no joking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us go to Warsaw,&quot; repeated Dolhanski, &quot;and, not losing any time,
+enroll in the ranks of the believers in expropriation. I regard social
+revolutionists as the only insurance association in this country which
+does really insure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From accidents,&quot; added Krzycki; &quot;and we shall insure with my personal
+friend and 'accomplice' Laskowicz.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Dolhanski replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That accomplice gave you a payment on account. In the future you will
+receive yet more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To Gronski's mind came thoughts of the personal enmity of the young
+medical student to Krzycki and the letter of Laskowicz to Marynia, of
+which he among the men in Jastrzeb alone knew.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was quite probable that Laskowicz saw in Ladislaus a rival and
+future aspirant for the hand of Panna Marynia who, besides, had nipped
+in the bud his work in Rzeslewo and that he might have thought that he
+actually could gratify his hatred from personal consideration, and in
+the name of the &quot;cause.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz, himself, in his own way, might have been an honest man, but
+the party ethics were, in relation to the antiquated morality,
+revolutionary, and sanctioned such things.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But at present there was not much time to ponder over that; so after a
+while Gronski waved his hand and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whether or not the hand of Laskowicz is imbrued in this the future
+will show. Now we must think of something else. I assert positively
+that I will take away my ladies from here, but I wish that the entire
+Jastrzeb family would follow my example.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, he addressed the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Would it be safe for Ladislaus to travel to-morrow?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He? Even as far as England,&quot; answered the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski and Dolhanski laughed at these words but Ladislaus blushed like
+a student and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It will be necessary to inform the ladies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And to-morrow the general exodus will take place,&quot; added Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he went to the ladies, who received the news of the decision with
+evident relief. Both sisters decided to have Pani Krzycki at their
+residence in Warsaw, but she, desiring to be with her son, would not
+accept the invitation; and only consented when Gronski announced that
+he would take Ladislaus to his home and guaranteed that he should not
+suffer for want of care and comfort. Miss Anney, whose apartments were
+directly opposite to those of Pani Otocka also offered her rooms for
+the use of the younger members of the Krzycki family and their female
+teachers. In the meanwhile the doctor permitted Ladislaus to get up, so
+that he would not have to start on his journey directly from his bed.
+In the evening the entire company assembled on the garden veranda.
+There was missing only Dolhanski who rode off to Gorek, for he had
+decided to advise Pani Wlocek and Panna Kajetana to remove to the city
+likewise. Ladislaus, after a considerable loss of blood and a somewhat
+lengthy confinement in bed, looked pale and miserable, but his
+countenance had acquired a more subtile expression and actually become
+handsome. At the present time the ladies were occupied with him, as an
+invalid, with extraordinary watchfulness. He was a person who attracted
+general sympathy; therefore, though from time to time his eyes grew
+dim, he assured his mother that it was well with him, and he really was
+delighted to breathe the fresh evening air. At times he was overcome by
+a light drowsiness. Then he closed his eyelids and the conversation
+hushed, but when he opened them again he saw directed towards himself
+the eyes of his mother and, illuminated by the setting sun, the young
+faces of the ladies, which appeared to him simply angelic. He was
+surrounded by love and friendship; therefore it was well with him. His
+heart surged with feelings of gratitude, and at the same time with
+regret that those good Jastrzeb days would soon end. In his soul he
+cherished a hope that he would not be absent from Jastrzeb long, and
+promised himself a speedy return, and he promised this with all the
+strength with which a person craves happiness. Nevertheless, the times
+were so strange, so uncertain, and so many things might happen which it
+was impossible to foresee, that involuntarily a fear generated in his
+heart as to what turn the current of events would take; what the future
+of the country would be, and what, in a year or two, would become of
+Jastrzeb, which, indeed, became precious to him for it opened before
+him the portals, beyond which he beheld the great brightness of
+happiness. Love, as well as a bird, needs a nest. So Ladislaus plainly
+could not conceive of himself and the light-haired lady being anywhere
+else than at Jastrzeb. For this, his heart beat with redoubled force,
+when glancing at her, he indulged in fancies and imagined that perhaps
+after a year, or sooner, she will sit upon the same veranda, as the
+lady of the house and as his wife. Then he turned towards her and asked
+her with his soul and eyes: &quot;Dost thou guess and perceive my thoughts?&quot;
+But she, perhaps because she was restrained by the presence of so many
+witnesses, did not reply to his glances; sitting as if immersed in
+thought and letting her gaze follow the swallows, which flitted so
+nimbly above the trees of the garden and the pond. Ladislaus, when he
+now looked at her was impressed, as if with certain admiration, at the
+contrast between her full-grown form, powerful arms, and well developed
+bosom and her small, girlish face. But he saw in all this only a new
+charm and spell under whose powers there flew at times through his love
+a burning desire similar indeed to pain and stifling the breath in his
+breast.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime the sun sank measurably and began to bathe in the ruddy
+evening twilight. From the freshly mown lawns came a strong fragrance
+of the little hay heaps, which were warmed by the daily summer heat.
+Somehow the air with the approach of night became more bracing, for,
+from the alder-trees bordering on the pond, came from time to time a
+cool breath, so weak and light, however, that the leaves on the trees
+did not stir. The swallows described curves higher and higher above the
+reddened surface of the pond. In the lofty poplars with trimmed tops a
+stork clattered in his nest, now stooping with his head backward and
+then lowering it as if bowing to the setting sun or officiating at the
+evening vespers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will play something as a farewell to Jastrzeb,&quot; Marynia suddenly
+announced.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, beloved creature!&quot; said Gronski; &quot;shall I go for the stand and
+notes?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. I will play something from memory.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And saying this, she handed to Miss Anney an album with views of
+Jastrzeb, and hurried upstairs. In a short time she returned with her
+violin. For a time she kept it propped on her shoulder and raising her
+eyes upwards, considered what she should play. She selected Schumann's
+&quot;Ich grolle nicht.&quot; The overflowing tones filled the quiet of the
+garden. They began to sing, muse, long, and weep; oscillate, hush, and
+slumber, and with them the human soul acted in unison. Sorrow became
+more melancholy, yearning more longing, and love more tender and deeply
+enamoured. And &quot;the little divinity&quot; continued playing--white in her
+muslin dress--calm, with pensive eyes lost somewhere in the illimitable
+distance, immaculate, and as if borne to heaven by music and her own
+playing. To Gronski it seemed that he had before him some kind of
+mystic lily, and he began in his soul to say to her, as it were, a
+litany, in which every word was a worship of the little violinist,
+because she was playing and she awoke in him a love as destitute of the
+slightest earthly dross as if she were not a maiden composed of blood
+and flesh, but in reality some kind of mystic lily.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marynia had ceased to play and her hand, with the violin, hung at her
+side. No one thanked her; no one uttered a word, for the strains of
+that music lingered with all and, echo-like, it was yet playing within
+them. Pani Otocka unwittingly drew nearer to Gronski as if they were
+attracted towards each other by their mutual worship of this beloved
+child. In Pani Krzycki's eyes glittered tears, which under the spell of
+the music were contributed and provoked by memories of former years and
+the present suffering of her son and fresh worries about him, and the
+uncertainty of the future. Miss Anney sat in reverie, holding
+unknowingly between her knees the album, which during Marynia's playing
+had dropped from her hands; and through the open doors, in the already
+dimmed depths of the salon, could be seen the indistinct form of a
+woman, who evidently also was listening to the music.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A somewhat stronger breeze which blew from the alder-trees awoke all,
+as if from a half-dream. Then Pani Krzycki turned towards her son:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A chill is coming from the pond. Perhaps you may wish to return to
+your room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; he answered, &quot;I feel better than I have felt for a long time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to assure her that he did not feel any chill and
+afterwards appealed to the doctor, who, lulled to sleep by the music,
+could not at once understand what was the matter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Can Laudie remain?&quot; asked Pani Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He can, he can; only as soon as the sun disappears, it will be
+necessary to cover him better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Afterwards the doctor looked at his watch and added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is time for me to go, but I have had so few evenings like this that
+it is a hardship to leave. As God sees, it is a hardship.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And here he began to rub his fatigued brow with the palm of his hand.
+Pani Krzycki and Ladislaus declared that they would not permit him to
+leave before supper. The doctor again looked at his watch, but before
+he could make any reply there appeared upon the veranda the same
+feminine figure that had been listening to the music in the depths of
+the parlor, but this time with two plaids upon her arm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is that you, Pauly?&quot; said Miss Anney. &quot;Ah, how sensible you are.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Panna Pauly began to cover Ladislaus with the plaids. She placed
+one over his shoulders and the other around his limbs. In doing this
+she knelt and bent in such a way that for a moment her breast rested on
+Krzycki's knee.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thank you, little Miss, thank you,&quot; he said, somewhat confused.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She glanced quickly into his eyes and then left without a word.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I have taken your plaids,&quot; Ladislaus said addressing Miss Anney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That does not matter. I am dressed warmly. Only, you, sir, will have
+to take care that the wounded shoulder is well covered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And approaching him, she began to push lightly and carefully a corner
+of the plaid between the back of the chair and his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am not hurting you?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no. How can I thank you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he looked at her with such enamoured eyes that for the first time
+it occurred to his mother that there might be something more than
+gratitude in this.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She glanced once or twice at Pani Zosia's delicate countenance, and
+sighed, and her heart was oppressed with fear, disquiet, and regret.
+This was her ideal for her son; this was her secret fancy. She, indeed,
+had fallen in love with her whole soul with the young Englishwoman, and
+if foreign blood did not course in her veins, she would not have had
+any objections, but nevertheless this first fleeting suspicion that the
+structure, which she, in her soul, had erected from the moment she
+became intimate with Zosia, might crumble, was to her immeasurably
+disagreeable. For a time she felt, as it were, a dislike for Miss
+Anney. She determined also from that moment to observe them both more
+carefully, and to speak with Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in the further course of the evening her hopes revived, for when
+the company returned to the salon it seemed to her after a time that
+what she had seen on the veranda was an illusion. In fact that day did
+not end for Ladislaus and Miss Anney as serenely as the setting sun had
+augured. A cooler wind blew between them, and Pani Krzycki could not
+know that the reason for it, on the part of her boy, was jealousy. Miss
+Anney, after the return to the parlor, began, on the side, a
+conversation with the doctor which continued so long that Ladislaus
+became irritated. He observed that she spoke not only with animation,
+but also with a desire to please. He saw the brightened visage of the
+doctor, from which it was easy to read that the conversation afforded
+him sincere pleasure, and a serpent stung Ladislaus' heart. He could
+not overhear what Miss Anney was saying. It seemed to him only that she
+was urging something. On the other hand, the doctor could not speak so
+quietly, but to Krzycki's eavesdropping ears from time to time came
+such fragmentary expressions as &quot;I intended to do that, only after a
+week&quot;; &quot;Ha!&quot; &quot;Some may object&quot;; &quot;If that is the case, very well&quot;; &quot;It
+is well known how England conquers&quot;; &quot;Good, good.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus decided with all possible coolness to ask Miss Anney whom
+England had now subjugated and whether the newspapers had made any
+mention of it, but when Miss Anney and the doctor at the conclusion of
+their tête-à-tête had rejoined the rest of the company, he changed his
+plan and, with the offended dignity of a schoolboy who is ready not
+only to spite those dear to him but also himself, he determined to
+cover himself with the cloak of indifference. With this view he turned
+to Zosia and began to inquire about the Zalesin estate and begged her
+permission to inspect it; and she told him that it would give her great
+pleasure. He thanked her so warmly that his mother was led into an
+error. Miss Anney tried several times to participate in the
+conversation, but receiving from him indifferent replies, surprised and
+slightly touched, began to listen to what Gronski was saying.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After supper the doctor announced that he would have to leave. For a
+while he spoke with Gronski, and then took his leave of the ladies,
+repeating, &quot;Until to-morrow; at the railway station.&quot; He advised
+Ladislaus to return immediately to his room and secure a good rest
+before proceeding on his journey. Gronski, after escorting the doctor
+to the gate, accompanied Ladislaus to his room, and when they found
+themselves alone, perceiving his mien and easily surmising the cause
+asked: &quot;What ails you? You are so agreeable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Krzycki answered with some irritation: &quot;I am still feeling weak;
+otherwise I am as usual.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Gronski shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;These,&quot; said he, &quot;are the usual misunderstandings of lovers, but you,
+above all, are a child and caused her unpleasantness. And do you know
+what for? Simply because she urged Szremski to accompany you to
+Warsaw.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus' heart quivered, but he put a good face on a bad matter and
+would not yet be reconciled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not feel at all weak and can get along without his assistance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Gronski replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good-night to you and your logic.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he left the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Ladislaus when he was undressed and in bed, suddenly felt tears
+welling in his eyes and began with extraordinary tenderness to beg
+pardon of--the pillow.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>VI</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski, who by nature was very obliging and devoted to his friends,
+was at the same time a man of ample means and high culture; in
+consequence of which Ladislaus found in his home not only such care as
+sincere good will alone can bestow, and comforts, but also various
+things which were lacking in Jastrzeb. He found, especially, books, a
+few paintings, engravings, and various small objects of vertu;
+moreover, the residence was spacious, well-ventilated, and not
+over-crowded with unnecessary articles. Thanks to the host a highly
+intellectual and esthetic atmosphere prevailed, in which the young heir
+felt indeed smaller and less self-confident than in Jastrzeb, but which
+he breathed with pleasure. He was seized, however, with a fear that by
+a lengthy stay he would cause his older friend trouble, and on the
+following evening he began to argue with Gronski about going to a
+hotel.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Even the doctor considers me well,&quot; he said. &quot;The best proof of it is
+that he permits me to go about the city in three days.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I heard something about five,&quot; answered Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But that was yesterday; so, not counting to-day, three remain. You
+have your habits which you must not change on my account. It is indeed
+a pleasure to look at all these things; so I will come here, but it is
+one thing to visit you for an hour, or even two, and another to
+introduce confusion into your mode of life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will only say this,&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;Pani Otocka and Panna
+Marynia regard me as an old bachelor and promised to make a call
+to-morrow, or the day after, as they have often done before, in the
+company of Miss Anney. Do you see that armchair? On it, during the
+music-playing, sat your light-haired beauty. Go, go to the hotel, and
+we will see who, besides your mother, will visit you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are too good.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am an old egotist. You see that I have a few old household effects,
+which, during the course of my life, I have collected; but one thing,
+though I were as rich as Morgan and Jay Gould combined, I can
+unfortunately never buy, and that is youth. And you have so much of it
+that you could establish a bank and issue stock. From you rays plainly
+emanate. Let them illuminate and warm me a little. In other words, do
+not worry, and keep quiet if you are comfortable here with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I only do not desire to be spoiled by too much attention, for,
+speaking sincerely, I feel I am strong enough now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So much the better. Thank God, Miss Anney, and the doctor that the
+journey did not injure you. That is what I feared a little.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It did not hurt me, neither did it help.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because I had a hope that on the road I could tell my bright queen
+that which I hid in my soul, but in the meantime it developed that this
+was a foolish hope. We sat in the compartment like herrings. The doctor
+hung over me continually, like a hangman over a good soul, and there
+was not a chance, even for a moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Never, never make any avowals in a railway car, for in the rumble and
+noise the most pathetic passages are lost. Finally, as Laskowicz has
+not dispatched you to the other world, you will easily find an
+opportunity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you really think that it was the work of Laskowicz?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. But if ever I should ascertain that it was he, I would not be much
+surprised; for such a situation, in which one could gratify self and
+serve a good cause, occurs rarely.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How gratify self and serve a good cause?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good in his judgment. Do you not live from human sweat and blood?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is very true. But why should my death afford him any
+gratification personally?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because he has conceived a hatred for you; has fallen in love with
+some one and regards you as a rival.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hearing this, Ladislaus jumped up as if scalded.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What, would he dare?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I assure you that he would dare,&quot; replied Gronski quietly, &quot;only he
+made a mistake. But that he is not wanting in courage he gave proofs
+when he wrote an avowal of love to Marynia.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus opened wide his eyes and began to wink:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What was that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did not want to speak to you about it in Jastrzeb, as at that time
+you often drove to the city. I feared that you might meet him and might
+start a disagreeable brawl. But at present I can tell you every thing;
+Laskowicz has fallen in love with Marynia and wrote a letter to her,
+which of course remained unanswered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And he thought that I also am in love with Marynia.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Permit me; that would not be anything extraordinary. He might have
+overheard something. Whoever is in love usually imagines that every one
+is reaching after the object of his love. Understand that Laskowicz did
+not confide in me, but that is my hypothesis which, if it is erroneous,
+so much the better for Laskowicz. The party sent you a death sentence
+in consequence of his reports and this was working in his hand for
+personal reasons. After all, he may not have participated personally in
+the attempt--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did you see him after that letter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How could I see him, since he wrote after his departure. But it was
+lucky that I advised Pani Otocka to burn that lucubration, for if the
+letter had been found during the search at Jastrzeb, you can readily
+understand what inferences the acuteness of the police might have
+drawn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Anger glittered in Ladislaus' eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I prefer that Miss Anney be not involved,&quot; he said; &quot;nevertheless I
+would not advise Laskowicz to meet me. That such a baboon, as Dolhanski
+says, should dare to lift his eyes to our female relative in our home
+and, in addition thereto, write to her--this I regard plainly as an
+insult which I cannot forgive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In all probability you will never meet him; so you will not move a
+finger.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I? Then you do not know me. Why not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Among other reasons, out of consideration for our pleasant situation.
+Consider; duels they will not accept and in this they are right. What
+then? Will you cudgel him with a cane or pull his ears?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is quite possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait! In the first place there was nothing in the letter resembling an
+insult and, again, what further? The police would take you both into
+custody, and there they would discover that they had caught Laskowicz,
+a revolutionary bird, whom they have been seeking for a long time and
+would send him to Siberia, or even hang him. Can you take anything like
+that upon your conscience?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May the deuce take these times,&quot; cried Ladislaus. &quot;A man is always in
+a situation from which there is no escape.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As is usual between two anarchies,&quot; answered Gronski. &quot;After all, this
+is a slight illustration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Further conversation was stopped by the entrance of a servant who
+handed to Gronski a visiting card and he, glancing at it, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ask him to step in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Afterwards he asked Ladislaus:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you know Swidwicki?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have heard the name, but am not acquainted with the man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He is a relative of Pani Otocka's deceased husband. A very peculiar
+figure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At that moment Swidwicki entered the room. He was a man of forty years,
+bald, tall, lean, with an intelligent and sour face, and at the same
+time impudent. He was attired carelessly in a suit which appeared to
+fit him too loosely. He had, however, something which betrayed his
+connection with the higher social spheres.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is Swidwa?&quot; Gronski began.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he introduced him to Ladislaus and continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What has happened to you? I have not seen you for an age.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, you were out of the city.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes; but before that time you did not show up for a month.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In my old age I have become an anchorite.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because I am wearied by the folly of men who pass for reasonable
+beings and by the malice of men who pose as good. Finally, I now roam
+all over the streets from morning until night. Ah! There exist 'Attic
+Nights,' 'Florentine Nights,' and I have a desire to write about
+'Warsaw Days.' Delightful days! Titles of the separate chapters 'Hands
+up! The Rabble on Top.' 'Away with the Geese.' Do you know that at this
+moment there are so many troops patrolling the streets that any one
+else in my place would have been arrested ten times.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know, but how do you manage to avoid it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I walk everywhere as peacefully as if in my own rooms. The way I do it
+is simple. As often as I am not drunk, I pretend to be drunk. You would
+not believe what sympathy and respect an intoxicated person commands.
+And in my opinion this is but just, for whoever is 'under the
+influence' from morning till night is innocent and well thinking; upon
+him the so-called social order can rely with confidence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Surely. But the social order which depended upon such people would not
+stand upon steady legs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who, to-day, does stand on steady legs? Doctrines intoxicate more than
+alcohol--therefore at this moment all are drunk. The empire is
+staggering, the revolution is reeling, the parties are floundering, and
+a third person stands on the side and looks on. Soon all will tumble to
+the ground. Then there will be order, and may it come as soon as
+possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You ought to be that third person.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The third person is the German and we are fools. We begin by falling
+to loggerheads, and have reached such a state that the only salvation
+for our social soul would be a decent civil war.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here he became silent and after a while turned to Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I see that your eyes are wide open, but nevertheless it is so. A civil
+war is a superb thing. Nothing like it to clarify the situation and
+purify the atmosphere. But to be led to such a situation and not to be
+able to create it is the acme of misfortune or folly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I confess that I do not understand,&quot; said Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski motioned with his hand and remarked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do not attempt to, for after every fifteen minutes of conversation you
+will not know what is black and what is white and your head will swim,
+or you will get a fever, which as a wounded man you should try to
+avoid.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True,&quot; said Swidwicki, &quot;I had heard and even read in some newspaper of
+the occurrence and paid close attention to it because in your home Pan
+Gronski and Pani Otocka with her sister were being entertained. I am a
+relative of the late aged Otocka. Those women must have been scared.
+But if they think that they are safer here in the city they are
+mistaken.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Judging from what can be seen, it is really no safer here. Have you
+seen those ladies yet?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, I do not like to go there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this, Ladislaus, who by nature was impetuous and bold, frowned, and
+looking Swidwicki in the eyes, replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not ask the reason, for that does not interest me, but I give you
+warning that they are my relatives.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whose cause a young knight would have to champion,&quot; answered
+Swidwicki, gazing at Ladislaus. &quot;Ah, no! If I had any intention of
+saying anything against the ladies I would not say it, as Gronski would
+throw me down the stairs and I have a favor to ask of him. What I said
+is the highest praise for them and simply gall and wormwood for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Beg pardon, again; I do not understand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For you see that for the average Pole to have respect for any one and
+not to be able to sharpen his teeth upon him is always annoying. I
+cannot speak of the ladies as I would wish, that is, disparagingly. I
+cannot endure ideal women; besides that, whenever it happens that I
+pass an evening with them, I become a more decent man and that is a
+luxury which in these times we cannot afford.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus began to laugh and Gronski said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told you that surely your head would swim.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which to Swidwicki:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If he should get any worse, I will induce him to send the doctor's and
+apothecary's bill to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If that is the case, I will go,&quot; answered Swidwicki, &quot;but you had
+better come with me into another room for I have some business with you
+which I prefer to discuss without witnesses.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And, taking leave of Ladislaus, he stepped out. Gronski accompanied him
+to the ante-room and after a while returned, shrugging his shoulders:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What a strange gentleman,&quot; said Ladislaus. &quot;I hope I am not
+indiscreet, but did he want to borrow any money from you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Worse,&quot; answered Gronski. &quot;This time it was a few Falk engravings. I
+positively refused as he most frequently returns money or rather he
+lets you take it out of his annuity, but books, engravings, and such
+things he never gives back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is he making a collection?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On the contrary he throws or gives them away; loans or destroys them.
+Do I know? You will now have an opportunity of meeting him oftener, for
+though I refused to loan them, I permitted him to come here to look
+over and study them. He undoubtedly is writing a book about Falk.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, so he is a literary man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He might have been one. As you will meet him, I must warn you a little
+against him. I will describe him briefly. He is a man to whom the Lord
+gave a good name, a large estate, good looks, great ability, and a good
+heart, and he has succeeded in wasting them all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Even a good heart?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Inasmuch as he is a rather pernicious person, it is better that he
+does not write. For you see that it may happen that somebody's brains
+decay, just as with people, sick with consumption, their lungs decay.
+But no one has the right to feed the nation with the putrefaction of
+his lungs or his brains. And there are many like him. He does not act
+for the public weal but merely for his own private affairs. Do you know
+how he accounts for not accomplishing anything in his life? In this
+way: that to do so one must believe and to believe it is necessary to
+have a certain amount of stupidity which he does not possess. I am not
+speaking now of religious matters. He simply does not believe that
+anything can be true or false, just or unjust, good or bad. But Balzac
+wisely says: 'Qui dit doute, dit impuissance.' Swidwicki is irritated
+and filled with bitterness by the fact that he is not anything;
+therefore he saves himself by paradoxes and turns intellectual
+somersaults. I once saw a clown who amused the public by giving his cap
+various strange and ridiculous shapes. Swidwicki does the same with
+truth and logic. He is also a clown, but an embittered and spiteful
+one. For this reason he always holds an opinion opposite to that of the
+person with whom he is speaking. This happens particularly when he is
+drunk, and he gets drunk every night. Then to a patriot he will say
+that fatherland is folly; in the presence of a believer he will scoff
+at faith; to a conservative he will say that only anarchy and
+revolution are worth anything; to the socialist that the proletariat
+have 'snouts.' I have heard how he thus expressed himself, and only for
+this reason, that he, 'a superman,' might have something to hit at when
+the notion seizes him. And thus it is always. In discussion he shines
+with paradoxes, but sometimes it chances that he says something
+striking because in all criticism there is some justice. If you wish, I
+will arrange such a spectacle, though for me he has a certain regard,
+firstly, because he likes me, and again because I have rendered him a
+few services in life. He promised to repay me with black ingratitude,
+but in the meantime he does not molest me with such energy as the
+others.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And no one has yet broken his bones,&quot; observed Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He does not, in the least, retreat from that. He himself seeks trouble
+and there is not a year in which he does not provoke some encounter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the taverns?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not only there. For belonging by name and family connections to the so
+called higher walks of life, he has many acquaintances there. Two years
+ago, indeed, the artists gave him a good cudgelling in a tavern; and,
+for instance, Dolhanski (their dislike is mutual) shot him last spring
+in a duel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, that was when I heard his name; now I remember.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps you heard it before, for previously he had a few affairs about
+women, as, in addition, he is a great ladies' man. Finally he is an
+unbridled rogue.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As to women? or up to date?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He is not an old man. For some time he has been in the state where he
+likes not ladies but their maids. Fancy that not long ago he was so
+smitten with Miss Anney's maid,--the same brunette who nursed you a
+little in Jastrzeb,--that for a time he was continually dogging her
+steps. He said that once she reviled him on the stairway but this
+charmed him all the more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki at the mention of the brunette who nursed him in Jastrzeb
+became so confused that Gronski noticed it, but not knowing what had
+passed between him and Pauline, judged that the enamoured youth was
+offended at the thought that such an individual as Swidwicki should
+bustle about Miss Anney. So desiring to remove the impression, he
+remarked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He says that he does not like to call upon those ladies, but Pani
+Otocka does not welcome him at all with enthusiasm. She receives him
+merely out of respect for the memory of her husband, who was his cousin
+and who, at one time, was the conservator of his estate. After all, it
+is probable that Swidwicki feels out of place among such ladies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For microbes do not love a pure atmosphere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This much is certain: there is within him 'a moral insanity.' I have
+become accustomed to him, but there are certain things in him I cannot
+endure. You have no idea of the contemptuous pity, the dislike, and the
+downright hatred with which he expresses himself about everything which
+is Polish. And here I call a halt. Notwithstanding our good relations,
+it almost came to a personal encounter between us. For when he began to
+squirt his bilious wit, a certain night, on all Poland, I said to him,
+'That lion is not yet dead, and if he dies we know who alone is capable
+of kicking at a dying lion.' He did not come here for over a month, but
+was I not right? I understand how some great hero, who was repaid with
+ingratitude, might speak with bitterness and venom of his country, but
+Swidwicki is not a Miltiades or a Themistocles. And such an outpouring
+of bile is directly pernicious, for he, with his immensely flashing
+intellect, finds imitators and creates a fashion, in consequence of
+which various persons who have never done anything for Poland whet
+their rusty wits upon this whetstone. I understand criticism, though it
+be inexorable, but when it becomes a horse or rather an ass from which
+one never dismounts, then it is bad, for it takes away the desire to
+live from those who, however, must live--and is vile, because it is
+spitting upon society, is often sinful and, above all, unprecedentedly
+unfortunate. Pessimism is not reason but a surrogate of reason;
+therefore, a cheat, such as the merchant who sells chiccory for coffee.
+And such a surrogate you now meet at every step in life and in
+literature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Gronski became silent for a while and raised his brows; and
+Krzycki said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From what you say, I see that Swidwicki is a big ape.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At times, I think that he is a man incredibly wretched, and for that
+reason I did not break off relations with him. Besides he has for me a
+kind of attachment and this always disarms one. Finally, I confess
+openly that I have the purely Polish weakness, which indulges and
+forgives everything in people who amuse us. He at times is very
+amusing, especially when in a talking mood and when he is tipsy to a
+certain degree.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But finally, if he does not work but talks, from what does he live?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He does not belong to the poor class. Once he was very wealthy; later
+he lost a greater portion of his fortune. But in the end the late
+Otocki who was a most upright man, and very practical besides, seeing
+what was taking place, took the matter in his own hands, saved
+considerable and changed the capital into an annuity. From this
+Swidwicki receives a few thousand roubles annually, and though he
+spends more than he ought to, he has something to live upon. If he did
+not drink, he would have a sufficiency: one passion he does not
+possess, namely, cards. He says that for cards one must have the
+intellect of a negro. From just that arose the encounter with
+Dolhanski. But after all, they could not bear each other of old. Both,
+as some one had said, are commercial travellers, dealing in cynicism
+and competing with each other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Between the two, I, however, prefer Dolhanski,&quot; said Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because he amuses you, and Swidwicki has not thus far had the
+opportunity. Eternally, it is the same Polish weakness,&quot; answered
+Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a while he added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In Dolhanski it is easier to see the bottom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And at that bottom, Panna Kajetana.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At present it may, in truth, be so. Do you know that Dolhanski brought
+those ladies with him on the train which followed ours? He told me also
+that they would at once pay a visit to your mother and Pani Otocka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will really call upon them to-day?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, I call there daily. But as you are not permitted to go out, I
+will invite the ladies to come here to-morrow afternoon for tea.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thank you most heartily. I am not allowed to go out but I could
+drive over.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My servant told me that by order of the Party a strike of the
+hackdrivers will begin to-morrow morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then how can those ladies ride over here to-morrow?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the private carriages. Unless they are forbidden to ride in
+private.--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In that case Mother will be unable to see me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If it is quiet upon the streets, I will conduct her here and escort
+her home. At times it is so that one day the streets are turbulent as
+the sea, and the next, still and deserted. In reality it is a relative
+security; for whoever goes out to-day in the city cannot feel certain
+that he will return. If not these then the others may stick in your
+side a knife or a bayonet. But for women it is comparatively safe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Under these circumstances, it would be better if my mother did not
+visit me at all. I prefer to stay out those three days which Szremski
+has imposed upon me, to exposing her or any of those ladies to peril.
+Please postpone that 'five o'clock.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps it will be necessary to do that. But your mother will not
+consent to not seeing you for three days. Maybe some one else will
+importune me that I should not defer the party.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus' face glowed with deep and tender joy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell Mother that worry about her may harm me and cause a fever, and
+tell that other one that I kiss the hem of her dress.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. Such things you must say yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, that I could not only tell her that as soon as possible, but do
+it. In the meantime I have a favor to ask of you. Please send your
+servant to the city. If he is afraid let him call a messenger. I would
+like to send that other one a few flowers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then send also some to your cousins, as otherwise your mother will be
+prematurely surprised.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Surely she would be astonished, for owing to her sickness she saw us
+so little together that she could not take in the situation. But soon I
+will confess all to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will only tell you what Pani Otocka said to me. She said this: 'Let
+Ladislaus not speak with his mother before his final interview with
+Aninka as otherwise he would be unable to tell her everything.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki looked Gronski quickly in the eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And do you not know what the matter is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know that I have never been accused of a lack of curiosity,&quot;
+answered Gronski, &quot;but I judged that Pani Otocka has sufficient reasons
+for remaining silent, and, therefore, I did not question her about
+anything.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>VII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski actually did postpone his &quot;five o'clock.&quot; Pani Krzycki,
+however, visited her son, sometimes twice in a day, claiming justly
+that less danger threatened an elderly woman than any one else.
+Ladislaus passed long hours with her, speaking about everything, but
+mostly about Miss Anney. After Gronski's admonition, he did not,
+indeed, confess to his mother his feelings for the young Englishwoman
+and did not mention a word about his intentions, but the fact, alone,
+that her name was continually on his lips, that he ascribed his
+preservation to her alone, and incessantly talked about the debt of
+gratitude which he and his family owed to her, gave his mother much to
+think about. The suspicion, which had flitted through her mind on the
+eve of their departure from Jastrzeb, returned and became more and more
+strongly fortified. She did not, indeed, take it for granted that
+Ladislaus had already taken an unbreakable resolution but came to the
+conclusion that he was &quot;smitten&quot; and finally that the light-haired
+maiden had made a greater impression upon him than had his cousin
+Otocka. This filled her with sorrow. During the journey and their few
+days' sojourn in Warsaw she took a fancy to Miss Anney for her
+demeanor, simplicity, and complaisance; but &quot;Zosia Otocka&quot; was the
+little eye in her head. From the moment she met her in Krynica, she
+never ceased dreaming of her for her son. She judged that, in respect
+to nobility and delicacy of sentiment, no one could compare with her.
+She regarded her as a chosen soul and the incarnation of womanly
+angelicalness. She had awaited her arrival with palpitation of the
+heart, not supposing for a moment that Ladislaus would not be
+captivated by her figure, her sweet countenance, that maidenly charm,
+which, notwithstanding her widowhood, she preserved in full bloom. And
+until the end Pani Krzycki indulged in the hope that all would end
+according to her desires, not taking into account the fleeting
+impression in Jastrzeb; only during the journey to Warsaw and in the
+course of the last few days did she note that it might happen
+otherwise, and that Ladislaus' eyes were enraptured by another flower.
+She preferred, however, not to question him for she thought that it
+might yet pass away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He, in the meantime, chafed as if imprisoned, and would undoubtedly
+have not observed those few days which the doctor stipulated, were it
+not for the fact that he had made a promise to his mother in Miss
+Anney's presence, and feared to create an opinion in her eyes that he
+was a man who did not keep his word. After the advice which Pani
+Otocka, through the instrumentality of Gronski, gave him that he should
+first speak with Miss Anney, it became more unendurable for him to sit
+in the house. From morning till night he racked his brain as to what
+that could be and could arrive at no satisfactory solution. The day
+following the conversation with Gronski, he decided to ask Pani Otocka
+about it by letter and sat down with great ardor to write. But after
+the first page he was encompassed by doubt. It seemed to him that he
+could not express that which he wished. He understood that, under the
+address of Pani Otocka, he was really writing to Miss Anney. So he
+yearned to make it a masterpiece, and in the meantime came to the
+conclusion that it was something so bungling and maladroit that it was
+impossible to forward it. Finally he lost all faith in his stylistic
+accomplishments, and this spoilt his humor so far that he again began
+to ask himself in his soul whether such &quot;an ass,&quot; who is unable to
+indite three words, has the right to aspire to such an extraordinary
+and in every respect perfect being as &quot;She.&quot; Gronski, however,
+comforted him with the explanation that the letter was not a success
+because from the beginning the project was baffling and under such
+circumstances no one could succeed. After which he also called his
+attention to another circumstance, namely, that from Pani Otocka's
+words and her advice that an interview with Miss Anney should precede
+any talk with his mother could be drawn the inference that there
+everything was prepared for an explosion, and all means preventative of
+a heart-break had been provided. Mirth immediately returned to
+Ladislaus and he began to laugh like a child and afterwards again sent
+to the three ladies bouquets of the most magnificent roses which Warsaw
+could provide.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The day concluded yet more propitiously, for proofs of appreciation
+arrived. They were brought to Gronski's house by Panna Pauly in the
+form of a small and perfumed note, on which was written by the hand of
+the light-haired divinity the following words: &quot;We thank you for the
+beautiful roses and hope for an early meeting.&quot; Further came the
+signatures of Agnes Anney, Zosia Otocka, and Marynia Zbyltowska.
+Krzycki pronounced the letter a masterpiece of simplicity and
+eloquence. He certainly would have kissed each letter of it separately,
+were it not for the fact that before him stood Panna Pauly, with
+clouded face, and eyes firmly fixed upon him--uneasy and already full
+of suspicious jealousy, though obviously not knowing against which one
+of the three ladies it was to be directed. Krzycki, not concealing the
+joy which the letter gave him, turned to her and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is new, little Miss? Are the ladies well?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. My mistress instructed me to inquire about your health.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Kindly thank her. It is excellent, and if I am not shot again, I will
+not die from the first shooting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she, not taking her bottomless eyes off him, replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God be praised.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But that you, little Miss, should not fear to go out in such turbulent
+times!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The lackey was afraid, but I do not fear anything and wanted to see
+for myself how you were.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is a daring body for me! I am grateful to you, little Miss.
+Since this stupid strike of hackmen ended to-day, it is better for you
+to return by hack. Please accept this--for--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While saying this, he began to search for his purse, and taking a
+five-rouble gold piece, he offered it to her. At the same time he felt
+that he was doing something improper, and even terrible. It was so
+disagreeable to him that he became confused and reddened, but it seemed
+to him that any other method of showing his gratitude would be food for
+the feeling which he perceived in her and which he wished to dispel,
+because of some strange kind of fear intensified even by the fact that
+the girl was Miss Anney's maid.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Therefore he began to repeat with a forced and slightly silly smile:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Please, Panna Pauly, take it, please--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she withdrew her hand and her face darkened in a moment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thank you,&quot; she said. &quot;I did not come for that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she turned towards the door. To the dissatisfaction with himself
+which Krzycki felt was joined pity for her. Therefore he followed her a
+few steps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let not the little lady be offended,&quot; he said; &quot;here, of course, was
+no other thought than of her safety. It was only about this that I was
+concerned. Shall the servant summon a carriage?--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she did not answer and left the house. Krzycki, walking to the
+window, gazed for some time at her graceful form, disappearing in the
+depths of the street; and suddenly again appeared before his eyes the
+vision of the white statue in azure drops of water. There was, however,
+something exasperating in her; and unwillingly there occurred to the
+frail young gentleman the thought that if she were not Miss Anney's
+maid, and if he had known her formerly, that as two and two are four he
+would have succumbed to temptation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But at present another, greater power had snatched away his thoughts
+and heart. After a while he returned to the letter and began to read it
+anew: &quot;We thank you for the beautiful roses and hope for an early
+meeting.&quot; And so they want to see him over there. The day after
+to-morrow he will not be sitting here, bound by the chains of his own
+words, but will go there and gaze in those wonderful eyes, looking with
+a heavenly stream, and will so press his lips to her beloved hands that
+in one kiss he will tell everything which he has in his heart. Words
+will be later only an echo. And imagination bore him like an
+unmanageable horse. Perhaps that idolized maid may at once fall into
+his arms; perhaps she may close those wonderful eyes and offer her lips
+to him. At this thought a thrill passed through Krzycki from his feet
+to his head and it seemed to him that all the love, all the impulses,
+and all the desires which ever existed and exist in the world at
+present were hoarded in him alone.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>VIII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski spent the entire next day in the city; at night he was at Pani
+Otocka's, so that he did not return home until near midnight. Krzycki
+was not yet asleep and as his mother, on account of the disturbances on
+the streets could not visit him that day, he awaited with impatience
+Gronski's return, and immediately began to question him about the news
+in the city and of the ladies.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The news in the city is bad,&quot; answered Gronski; &quot;about noon I heard
+the firing of musketry in the factory district. Before calling upon
+Pani Otocka, I was at a meeting in the Philharmonic at which
+representatives of some of the warring factions met, and do you know
+what kind of an impression I took away with me? Why, that,
+unfortunately, Swidwicki in certain respects was right and that we have
+come to the pass where only a civil war can clear the atmosphere. In
+this would be the greater tragedy for it would, at the same time, be
+the final extinction. But of this later. I have a head so tired and
+nerves so shattered that to-day I cannot think of such things.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here he rang for the servant, and notwithstanding the late hour
+directed him to prepare tea. Then he continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But from Pani Otocka I bring news. You would not believe your ears
+when I tell you what happened. Why this afternoon, before my arrival,
+Laskowicz called on those ladies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki dropped from his hand the cigar which he was smoking.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Laskowicz?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the police are looking for him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They are looking for him in the country and not in Warsaw. The police,
+like all the rest, have lost their heads. After all, it is easier to
+hide in a large city. But, really, if he himself flew into their hands,
+they might clutch him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But what did he want from Pani Otocka?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;According to my conjectures, he wanted to see Marynia, but came
+ostensibly for a contribution for revolutionary purposes. After all,
+they are now continually soliciting contributions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And did the ladies give?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. They told him that they would not give anything for the
+revolution, and for the hungry and those deprived of employment they
+had already sent as much as they could to a newspaper office. In fact,
+this was the truth. Pani Otocka donated a considerable amount, and Miss
+Anney also. Laskowicz attempted to explain to them that a refusal would
+expose the refractory to dangers and for that reason he came to them
+personally to shield them from it. He was very much displeased and
+incensed, particularly as he saw only Pani Zosia and Miss Anney, for
+Marynia did not appear. He announced however that he would come again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let him try!&quot; cried Ladislaus, clenching his fists.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But afterwards he asked with surprise:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How did he get in there, and why did they receive him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The male servants throughout the whole city are terror-stricken and
+the words 'From the Party' everywhere open the doors like the best
+pick-lock. But Laskowicz did not have to use even these means, as it
+happened that Pani Otocka's footman was in the cellar and he was
+admitted by Miss Anney's maid, who knew him from Jastrzeb and thought
+that he came as a good acquaintance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In any case she acquitted herself foolishly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear sir, what could she know about him? Of course, no one told her
+what he was and she saw him among us; she saw how he rode away to the
+city with me and that he was the tutor of the younger members of your
+family. That he participated in the attack upon you, also, could not
+have occurred to her mind, for from our side that is only a supposition
+which we did not confide to the ladies, in order not to disquiet them,
+and much less to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps she herself is a socialist.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I doubt it, for after the attempt, hearing that you were wounded, it
+is said she wailed so bitterly that she could be heard all over
+Jastrzeb; she invoked all the punishments of hades upon your would-be
+assassins. Miss Anney was much affected by that. I remember also that
+when it was rumored that the Rzeslewo people did it, she vowed to set
+fire to Rzeslewo. Ah, you always have luck--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not care for such luck. But as to Laskowicz she, of course, saw
+during the search at Jastrzeb that they were seeking him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, what of it? Were you not persecuted for establishing a school?
+In this country all sympathy is always on the side of the fugitive.
+Imagine for yourself that when Miss Anney forbade her to admit
+Laskowicz any more, she became indignant. Evidently it seemed to her
+that Miss Anney did that from fear of the police.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Miss Anney gave indisputable proofs that she does not fear anything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So I also do not suspect her of fear, nor Pani Otocka. But, instead, I
+confess to you what I fear. That madman, if he does not personally
+appear there, will hover about them, and what is more will write
+letters; all letters now travel undoubtedly through the black cabinets.
+If I knew where I could find him, I would warn him above all things not
+to dare to write any more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will warn him of that and something else, if I can only meet him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Since he visited the ladies, he may come to see me. We had, while
+riding together from Jastrzeb, a discussion which he has not forgiven
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If he comes here, do you give me carte blanche?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would not think of it. Previously I had propounded to you the
+question whether if, as a result of a personal encounter with you, he
+was arrested you could take upon your soul his destruction, and you
+answered 'No.' Now I will ask you differently: If Laskowicz, tracked
+and pursued as a wild animal, hid in your house, would you not endeavor
+to hide him or assist him in escaping?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Krzycki replied in anger, but without hesitation:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would help him--the dog's blood.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, you see!&quot; observed Gronski. &quot;You curse, but admit. If they come to
+me for a contribution--it is all the same whether with or without
+Laskowicz--I will tell them that I will give for people destitute of
+bread but will not give for bombs, dynamite, and strike propaganda. I
+will tell them more: that in collecting contributions for a revolution
+from people who do not want to give and who give only from fear, they
+degrade their own citizens.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps that is of import to them. The more the higher strata become
+cowardly, the easier it will be for them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That may be, but in such case they are the full brethren of all those
+who purposely and of old have debased the community.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Krzycki pondered and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With us these things are often done--from above and from below.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski glanced at him with a certain surprise as if he did not expect
+from his lips such a remark.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are right,&quot; he declared; &quot;from above, a continual lowering of
+great ideals, from below, because at present they are being directly
+trampled upon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Bah! There remain yet the solid multitude of country peasantry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Again you are right,&quot; replied Gronski. &quot;Formerly Dabrowski's March<a name="div2Ref_07" href="#div2_07"><sup>[7]</sup></a>
+was the watchword for a hundred thousand, to-day it is the watchword
+for ten millions. Blessed be folk-lore!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They remained silent. Gronski for a time walked about the room, taking,
+according to his custom, the eyeglasses off his nose and replacing
+them. After which, he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you know what surprises me? This: that in such times and under such
+conditions, people can think of their private happiness and their
+private affairs. But nevertheless such is the law of life, which no
+power can suppress.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Have you me in mind?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In theory, I am verifying a fact which in practice even you confirm.
+For lo, at this moment it is as if an earthquake took place; the
+buildings tumble, people perish, subterranean fires burst forth and you
+and Miss Anney love each other and think of founding a new nest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How did you say it?&quot; Krzycki asked with radiant countenance, &quot;'you
+love each other.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I said 'you love each other,' for such is the case. You, after all,
+are more in love than she.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly,&quot; answered Ladislaus, &quot;there is nothing strange in that; but
+what inference do you draw?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This, which you have not heretofore either directly or indirectly
+asked and have not even tried to ascertain, namely, how much can Miss
+Anney bring to you. In a rural citizen this is proof that the
+thermometer shows the highest temperature of love.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I give you my word, I would take her in a single dress,&quot; answered
+Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you would rather she had something?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will answer sincerely that I would. There are many neighbors poorer
+than I am and a piece of bread will never be lacking to us. But at
+Jastrzeb there are three of us--counting Mother, four. I am heir of
+one-fourth and the unsalaried manager of the three-fourths belonging to
+my family and Mother. I would wish that Jastrzeb would solely belong to
+myself and my wife, and in succession to my children, if we have any.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As to that, I have no doubt; but as to a dowry, I am not tormented by
+unnecessary fears,&quot; said Gronski. &quot;Miss Anney lives, travels, dresses,
+and resides in comfort, but she is not a person who would desire to
+create false impressions. I assume that she does not possess millions,
+but her fortune, particularly in comparison to our condition, may
+appear even more considerable than we might have thought.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let her have it or not have it,&quot; exclaimed Krzycki, &quot;if she only will
+give herself to me. Whoever possesses that jewel can be crowned with it
+like a king.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I foresee a coronation soon,&quot; replied Gronski, laughing.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>IX</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">On account of Marynia's birthday, Miss Anney with her maid went to buy
+flowers. The day before, Gronski told her that he saw in one of the
+stores Italian rosy lilies, such as are sold in whole bundles in the
+vicinity of Lucca and Pisa, but which are cultivated but little in the
+conservatories of Warsaw and seldom imported into the country. As
+Marynia had inquired about them with great curiosity. Miss Anney
+decided to purchase for her all that could be found in the store. The
+previous evening she bantered Gronski, telling him that she would
+forestall him in the purchase, for he, as a known sleepy-head, would be
+unable to leave his home early enough. Determined to play a joke upon
+him, she left the house at eight in the morning, so as to be present at
+the opening of the store. She had, besides, a letter prepared, with the
+words &quot;They are already bought,&quot; which she intended to send to Gronski
+by Pauly, and exulted at the thought that Gronski would receive it at
+his morning coffee.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact everything went according to her plans, for she was the first
+buyer at the store. She was disappointed only in this: that there were
+too few lilies. There was only one flower-pot, containing about a dozen
+stalks with flowers. So the decoration of Marynia's whole room with
+them was out of the question. But for just this reason Miss Anney
+eagerly bought the one sample and, paying the price asked for it,
+directed that it be sent to the Otocka residence. She was annoyed,
+however, when informed in the store that the gardener delivering
+flowers could not come until noon-time, for she desired that Marynia
+should have them before she rose from bed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In that case,&quot; she said, turning to Pauly, &quot;call a hack and we will
+take the flower-pot with us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Pauly, who, though she behaved quite indifferently and even
+refractorily in respect to her mistress and also to Pani Otocka, had a
+sort of exceptional adoration, bordering on sympathy, for Marynia,
+replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let Madame permit me to carry these flowers alone. In the hack they
+will be shaken up and may fall off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you are to go with the letter to Pan Gronski and, besides, you
+will tire yourself with the flower-pot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pan Gronski's residence is on the way; and what if I do tire myself a
+little for the golden little lady. May I not do that much for her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney understood that a refusal would cause her great vexation,
+therefore she said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well. You are an honest soul. But if it should be too heavy for
+you, take a hack. I will go to church.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she went to church to pray for Ladislaus, who was that day to leave
+the house for the first time and pass the evening at Pani Otocka's,
+owing to Marynia's birthday. She expected that the following day he
+would visit her and she wanted also to commit that day to divine
+protection.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pauline, taking the lilies, went in an opposite direction towards
+Gronski's residence. After a few score of steps the flower-pot filled
+with earth began to grow heavy; so, shifting it from one arm to the
+other, she thought:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If it was for any one else, I would throw everything upon the ground,
+but she is such a bird that it is hard not to love her--I would carry
+for her even two such flowerpots and I would not do her any harm.--Even
+in case--he loved her alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And at this gloomy thought her countenance darkened yet more. In her
+heart, capable only of extreme feelings, began a struggle between her
+strange adoration for Marynia and her blind and passionate love for
+Krzycki; it was accompanied by the terrible and hopeless consciousness
+that under no circumstance could he be hers, as he was a young lord,
+heir, almost prince royal, and she a simple girl for sewing, setting
+the parlor in order, and household work. To this was added immediately
+a feeling of a prodigious wrong. Why, she might have been born also a
+&quot;little lady&quot; and not brought up in an orphan asylum, under the care of
+sisters of charity, but in a rich lordly home. Why was it not so,
+instead of the vile work of the servant's station awaiting her till
+death?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And here it occurred to her mind that there is now, however, a kind of
+people, a kind of &quot;party,&quot; which wants to take away property from the
+rich, distribute it among the poor, level all people, so that there
+will be no rich men and paupers, no servants and lords, no wrong of any
+kind in the world; and in the place thereof, all ranks will be one and
+the same, and liberty will be identical. She had heard of this from the
+servants in the house, from the craftsmen, from the salesmen in the
+stores to which she went to make purchases, and also through
+overhearing the conversations of the &quot;gentility.&quot; It surprised her that
+these people were called socialists, for heretofore a &quot;socialist&quot; and a
+madman roaming over the streets with knife in hand meant to her one and
+the same thing. For a time after the attack upon Krzycki, when the
+report was spread that the socialists did it, she even felt for them
+such furious and blind hatred that she was willing to poison them or
+bake them upon live fires. Later, when the servants in Jastrzeb began
+to repeat that the young heir was waylaid not by them, but by people of
+Rzeslewo, this hatred became extinguished. But subsequently, when the
+girl learned more accurately what the socialists aimed at and who they
+were, she was but little interested in them. She partly regarded their
+ideas as foolish and partly thought of other things more personal, and
+finally, she distinguished in Poland only &quot;her own&quot; and &quot;not her own,&quot;
+loving, not knowing why, the first, and hating indiscriminately all the
+others. It was not until the last few days that it began to dawn in her
+head that among her own there existed terrible and painful differences;
+that for some there was wealth, for others poverty; that for a few
+there was enjoyment and for others toil; for some, laughter, for
+others, tears; for some, happiness, for others, woe and injury.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This became clear to her, particularly at that moment when with greater
+suffering than ever before she became aware that this young gentleman,
+to whom her soul and body were urged, was simply an inaccessible star,
+on which she was barely permitted to gaze. And although nothing had
+happened that day which particularly irritated her and nothing had
+altered, she was possessed by a despair such as she never felt before.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the course of her gloomy meditations was finally interrupted by an
+external incident. Notwithstanding the early hour, she observed on the
+corner of the precinct a large crowd of people, agitated by some
+uneasiness. Their faces were turned towards the depth of a cross
+street, as if something unusual was taking place there. Some rushed
+forward while others retreated with evident fear. Some, arguing
+heatedly and pointing at something with their hands, looked upwards to
+the roofs of the houses. From all directions flocked new crowds of
+workingmen and striplings. Among the hack-drivers standing on the
+corner an unusual commotion prevailed: the drivers, in groups of
+varying numbers, wheeled their horses about in different directions as
+though they wished to blockade the street. Suddenly shrill cries
+resounded and then shots. In one moment an indescribable confusion
+arose. The throng swung to and fro and began to scamper; the cries
+sounded shriller and shriller each moment. It was evident that they
+were pursuing somebody. The girl, with her lilies, stood as if
+thunderstruck, not knowing what to do. Then, suddenly from amidst the
+hacks, a man dashed out, bent forward with lowered head, and at full
+speed ran towards her. On the way he flung away his cap and snatched a
+hat from the head of a stripling who, understanding the situation in
+the twinkle of an eye, did not even quiver. The hack-drivers began yet
+more zealously to block the street, evidently with a view to make the
+pursuit more difficult. But right behind them again rattled the
+revolver shots, and amidst the general cries and tumult already could
+be heard the shrill sounds of the police whistles and the hoarse,
+bellowing shouts of &quot;Catch him! catch him!&quot; A blind, excessive fright
+now seized Pauly, and she began to run, squeezing unconsciously to her
+bosom the flower-pot with the lilies, as if she wanted to save her own
+child.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she had barely run a dozen or more steps when a panting, low voice
+began to cry close behind her:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lady, give me the flowers! For the mercy of God, lady, give me the
+flowers! Save!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The girl turned about suddenly with consternation, and indescribable
+amazement was reflected in her eyes, for she recognized Laskowicz.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He, having violently wrested from her the flower-pot, to which, not
+knowing what she was doing, she clung with all her strength, whispered
+further:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps they will not recognize me. I will tell them that I am a
+gardener. Save me, little lady! Perhaps they will not recognize. I am
+out of breath!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She wanted to run farther but he restrained her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime, from among the chaos of hacks, a dozen or more
+policemen and civil agents emerged. The majority of the mob moved at a
+running pace in a direction opposite to the one in which Laskowicz and
+the girl were going, and undoubtedly they intentionally moved that way
+in order to deceive the pursuers. To better hoodwink the police, cries
+of &quot;Catch him!&quot; resounded among the laborers. Some workingman began to
+whistle shrilly on his fingers, imitating the sound of a police
+whistle. Accordingly the policemen and agents plunged headlong after
+the dense mob. At the intersection of the streets only a few stood
+still, and these, after a moment's irresolution, set off in the other
+direction, but they ran at full speed by the girl and the man with the
+light hat, carrying flowers. Rushing ahead they seized a few
+workingmen, but other workingmen rescued them in a moment. Pauly and
+Laskowicz walked farther.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They missed me,&quot; said the student. &quot;Here no one would betray. They
+missed! Those flowers and another's hat fooled them. I thank you,
+little lady; I thank you from my whole soul, and until my death I will
+never be able to sufficiently repay you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she, not having yet entirely recovered from her amazement, began to
+ask:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What happened? Where did you come from?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From the roof; they pounced upon us in a printing plant. The others
+will get a year or two and nothing more will happen to them--but for
+me, there would be the halter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How did you manage to escape?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When we got on the roof, I slid down the gutter-pipe. I might have
+broken my neck. It was not until I reached the street that they
+observed me. They fired shots at me, but luckily I was not hit, for the
+blood would have betrayed me. Whoever was alive helped me, and I was
+hidden by the hacks. They did not see how I changed a cap for a hat.
+But if it was not for my female associate it would have been all over
+with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What female associate?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I speak of you, little lady, thus. Amongst us such is the custom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then do not call me that, for I am no female associate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is a pity. But this is not the time to speak of that. Once more I
+thank you for the rescue, though it is for a short time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why for a short time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because I do not know what to do with myself, where to go, and where
+to hide. Every night I sleep in a different place but they are seeking
+for me everywhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is true. They were searching for you in Jastrzeb. Do you know
+that there was a police-search there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Was there?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. Gendarmes, police, and soldiers came. They almost put everybody
+under arrest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, they would not arrest them--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The clatter of horses' hoofs and the rattle of the horseshoes over the
+stony pavements interrupted for a while their conversation. From a side
+street ahead rode out a Cossack patrol, consisting of several scores of
+men. They rode slowly, with carabines resting upon their thighs and
+looked about cautiously. At the sight of them, Pauly became somewhat
+pale, while Laskowicz began to whisper:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is nothing. They see that I am carrying flowers from the store.
+They will take me for a gardener and will ride by.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact they did pass by.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They are now arresting every moment people on the streets in whole
+crowds,&quot; said Laskowicz. &quot;To some one else that would be a small
+matter; but if I once fall into their clutches, I will never be able to
+get out again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, what do you intend to do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Carry these flowers for you, little lady.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And after that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course you must have some acquaintances who will hide you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have, I have! But the police have their eyes upon all my
+acquaintances. Every night there is a search. For the last two nights I
+slept in a printing establishment, but today they discovered the
+printing press.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A moment of silence followed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which Laskowicz again spoke in a gloomy voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is now no help for me. I will deliver these flowers and go
+wherever my eyes will take me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in the heart of the girl suddenly there awoke a great pity for him.
+Before that she was indifferent to him. At present she only saw in him
+a Polish student hunted, like a mad dog, by people whom she of old
+despised.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Therefore on her energetic and obstinate countenance, inflexible
+determination was depicted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come what may, I will not desert you,&quot; she said, knitting her dark
+brows.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz was suddenly seized with a desire to kiss her hand and would
+have done so if they were not on the street. He was moved not only by
+the hope of escape, but also by the fact that this girl, who hardly
+knew him, who did not belong to his camp, was ready to expose herself
+to the greatest dangers in order to come to his aid.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What can the little lady do? Where will she hide me?&quot; he asked
+quietly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she walked on with brows knitted by the strain of continuous
+thinking, and finally said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know. Let us go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He shifted the flower-pot to the left hand. &quot;I must tell you,&quot; he said
+with lowered voice, &quot;that the least punishment for concealing me is
+Siberia. I must tell you that! And I might cause your destruction, but
+in the first moments--the little lady understands--the instinct of
+preservation--there was no time for reflection.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The little lady did not very well understand what the instinct of
+preservation was, but instead understood something else. This was that
+if she brought him, as she intended, to Gronski's, she would expose to
+danger not only Gronski but also Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And under the influence of this thought she stood as if stupefied.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In such a case, I do not know what I can do,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, you see, little lady,&quot; answered the student, as if in sorrow,
+while she, on her part, again began to rack her brains. It never
+occurred to her to conduct Laskowicz to Miss Anney's or Pani Otocka's.
+She felt that here masculine help was necessary and that it was
+imperative to find some one who would not fear and for whom she,
+herself, did not care. Therefore she mentally reviewed the whole array
+of Miss Anney's and Pani Otocka's acquaintances.--Pan Dolhanski?
+No!--He might be afraid or else send them to the devil and sneer at
+them. Dr. Szremski? He had probably left the city. Ah, were it not for
+this &quot;young lord&quot; she would conduct this poor fellow to Pan Gronski,
+for even if he did not receive him, at the worst he would give good
+advice, or would direct them to somebody. And suddenly it came to her
+mind that if Siberia threatened the person who concealed Laskowicz, Pan
+Gronski would not direct them to anybody; but if he could, he would
+direct them to only one man, whom she also knew. And on this thought,
+she dusted her dress with her hands and, turning to Laskowicz, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know now! Let us try.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, standing for a while, she continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us enter this house, here, at once. You will wait with the flowers
+in the hallway and I will deliver the letter upstairs and return. Do
+not fear anything, for the doorkeeper here knows me and he is a good
+man. After that I may lead you somewhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this, she entered the gate and, leaving Laskowicz below, rang,
+after a moment, Gronski's bell.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski, rising that day earlier than usual, was already dressed and
+sat with Krzycki having tea. When Pauly handed him the letter, he read
+it and, laughing, showed it to Ladislaus; after which he rose and went
+to his writing desk to write an answer. During this time Ladislaus
+began to question her about the health of his mother and the younger
+ladies.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thank you, the ladies are well, but my lady has already gone down
+town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So early? And is not your lady afraid to go alone about the city?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My lady went with me and bought flowers for Panna Marynia and after
+that she went to church.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To what church did she go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Panna Pauly knew well, but she was hurt by his asking her about her
+mistress; while he, conjecturing this, ceased to question her further,
+for he had previously resolved to converse with her as little as
+possible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So, silence--a little embarrassing--ensued between them, and continued
+until Gronski returned with the letter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here is the answer,&quot; he said; &quot;let the little lady bow for us to the
+ladies and say that to-day we both will be there, for Pan Krzycki's
+imprisonment is now ended.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thank you,&quot; replied Pauly, &quot;but I have yet a favor,--I would like to
+learn the address of Pan Swidwicki?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski looked at her with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did the ladies request you to ask?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No--I just wanted to know--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Panna Pauly,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;Pan Swidwicki lives at No. 5 Oboznej, but
+it is not very safe for young girls to go to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She colored to the ears from fear that the &quot;young lord&quot; might think
+something bad about her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she hesitated for a while whether she should tell that Laskowicz
+was in the hallway and that it was necessary to hide him, as otherwise
+destruction awaited him. But again she recollected that Laskowicz had
+been sought in Jastrzeb and that Krzycki, on account of that had been
+almost arrested. A fear possessed her that perhaps Gronski himself
+might want to hide the student and in such case would jeopardize the
+young lord. She looked once or twice at the shapely form of Krzycki and
+decided to remain silent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Gronski spoke further:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not advise you to go to him. I do not advise it. It is said that
+you once gave him a tongue-lashing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she, raising her head, answered at once haughtily and indignantly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I will give him a tongue-lashing a second time; but I have some
+business with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And bowing, she left. Gronski shrugged his shoulders and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cannot understand what she is concerned about. There is something
+strange in that girl, and I tell you that your future lady gives
+evidence of holy patience, that she has not dismissed her before this.
+She always says that she is a violent character but has a golden heart,
+and that may be possible. I know, however, from Pani Otocka that the
+golden heart enacts for her such scenes as no one else would tolerate.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>X</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">In the evening of Marynia's birthday, Ladislaus and Miss Anney for a
+time found themselves at some distance from the rest of the company, at
+a cottage piano, decorated with flowers. His eyes shone with joy and
+happiness. He felt fortunate that his imprisonment had ended and that
+he could again gaze upon this, his lady, whom he loved with the whole
+strength of a young heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know,&quot; he told her, &quot;that you were this morning in the city and
+bought flowers. I learned this from your maid, who brought the letter
+to Pan Gronski. Afterwards you went to church. I asked her to which
+one, as I wanted to go there, but the maid did not know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is strange, for she knows that I always go to the Holy Cross, and
+at times I even take her with me. I am there, daily, at the morning
+mass.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She told me that she did not know,&quot; answered Ladislaus. &quot;Will you be
+there to-morrow?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes; unless the weather should be very inclement.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus lowered his voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I ask because I have a great and heartfelt prayer. Permit me to come
+there at the same hour and before the same altar.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Blushes suffused Miss Anney's countenance and her breast began to move
+more quickly. She inclined her head somewhat and placing the edge of
+the fan to her lips answered in a low voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have not the right to forbid nor to permit. The church is open to
+all the pious.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. But I want to kneel a while beside you--together, and not with
+customary humility; but for a special purpose. As to my piety, I will
+candidly state that I believe in God, ah! especially now--I believe
+in God and in His goodness; but heretofore I have not been very
+pious--just like all others. When, however, a whole life is concerned,
+then even a man, totally unbelieving, is ready to kneel and pray. To
+kneel beside you, that alone is an immense boon, for it is as if one
+had beside him an angel. And I want to beg for something else: and that
+is that we should together, at the same time, say 'Under Thy protection
+we flee, Holy Mother of God.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus became pale from emotion and on his forehead beads of
+perspiration appeared. For a time he remained silent, to permit the too
+violent beating of his heart to subside. After which he again spoke:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'We flee'--that will mean us both. Nothing more, dear, dearest lady,
+nothing more. After that I will go, and in the afternoon, if you
+permit, I will come to your residence and will tell you everything
+which has collected within me from the time I first saw you in
+Jastrzeb. In your hands, lady, lies my fate, but I must, I must divulge
+it all; otherwise my bosom will burst. But if you, lady, will agree to
+a joint prayer of 'Under Thy protection,' before that time, then I
+shall be so happy that I do not know how I will survive until
+to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she looked at him guilelessly and straight in his eyes with the
+celestial streak of the hazy pupils of her eyes and answered:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come to church to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Ladislaus whispered:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And not to be able to fall at your feet at this moment--not to be able
+to fall at your feet!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Miss Anney tapped lightly, as if reluctantly, his hand, resting on
+the piano with her own, which was incased in a white glove, and walked
+away, for, not forgetting herself to the same extent as Ladislaus, she
+noticed that they were observed. Owing to Marynia's birthday there
+assembled that evening at Pani Otocka's quite a considerable gathering
+of acquaintances. The notary, Dzwonkowski, appeared; also, an old
+neighbor from the vicinity of Zalesin; and besides these Dolhanski and
+both Wlocek ladies, who after a previous exchange of visits, were
+invited by Pani Otocka. Gronski actually appeared the earliest and well
+nigh played the rôle of host, in which part he was assisted by the
+former teacher of Marynia, the violinist Bochener, not less in love
+with her, and finally Swidwicki, who on that day was exceptionally
+sober. Pani Otocka was occupied with the Wlocek ladies; Gronski
+conversed with Swidwicki in so far as he did not direct his eyes after
+Marynia, who, in her white dress, adorned with violets, slender, almost
+lithesome, actually looked like an alabaster statuette. But she, and
+with her Pani Krzycki, began to look with especial attention at
+Ladislaus and Miss Anney. The little ears of Marynia reddened from
+curiosity, while on Pani Krzycki's countenance there appeared
+uneasiness, and, as if it were, a shadow of dissatisfaction.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Miss Anney, breaking off her conversation with Ladislaus,
+approached directly towards his mother and sat down in a chair beside
+her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pan Ladislaus is so happy,&quot; she said, &quot;that his confinement is ended.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I see,&quot; answered Pani Krzycki, &quot;but I fear that conversation fatigues
+him yet. What did he say to you with such animation?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a moment, Miss Anney inclined her head and began to smooth out with
+her fingers the folds of her bright dress as if troubled, but later,
+having evidently formed a sudden resolution, she raised her frank eyes
+straight at Pani Krzycki, just as she had previously at Ladislaus, and
+replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He said such pleasant and loving things; that he wants to go to church
+to-morrow and say 'Under Thy protection'--together with me--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In her eyes there were no interrogatories, nor uneasiness, nor
+challenge, but great goodness and truth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Krzycki, on the other hand, was put out of countenance by the
+candor of the reply, so that at first she was silent. It seemed to her
+that what heretofore was a doubtful, blurred, and indistinct
+supposition, lightened up and plainly emerged upon the surface, but she
+tried to disbelieve it; so, after a certain hesitation, she replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Laudie otherwise would be ungrateful. He owes you so much--and I
+also.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney understood perfectly that Pani Krzycki wanted to give her to
+understand that the motive of Ladislaus' words was only gratitude, but
+she had no time to reply to the remark, as at that time across the arm
+of her chair the slender form of Marynia was leaning:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Aninka, may I trouble you to step over here for a moment?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly,&quot; answered Miss Anney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And rising, she left. Pani Krzycki eyed her and sighed. There was in
+that beautiful form so much youth, health, radiance, so many golden
+tresses, glances, so much bloom, warmth, and womanly fascination, that
+an older and experienced woman, like Pani Krzycki, was forced to admit
+in her soul that it would have been rather incomprehensible if
+Ladislaus had remained indifferent to all those charms.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And sighing for the second time, she thought:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why did Zosia bring her to Jastrzeb?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she began to seek with her eyes Pani Otocka, who at that moment was
+approaching the door to greet an elderly gentleman with a white leonine
+mane and the same kind of white beard who, evidently being almost
+blind, stood on the threshold and gazed over the salon through his
+gold-rimmed spectacles.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Finally espying Pani Otocka, he seized both her hands and commenced to
+kiss them with great ardor, while she greeted him with that shy grace,
+peculiarly her own, which made her resemble a young village maid.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How sweet she is and how lovable!&quot; Pani Krzycki said to herself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But her further meditations and regrets were interrupted by Swidwicki,
+who, taking the chair vacated by Miss Anney, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But your son, benefactress, is a genuine Uhlan from under Somo-Sierra.
+What a race! what a type! I, who everywhere fancy beauty as a setter
+does partridges, observed this at once to Gronski. Only put a sabre in
+his hand and place him on horseback. Or at some exhibition! plainly on
+exhibition, as a notable specimen of the race. Ah, what blood with
+milk! The women must rave over him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Krzycki, notwithstanding her internal worries, was pleased to hear
+these words, for Ladislaus' shapeliness was from his childhood days a
+source of pride and joy for her. But in reality, she did not deem it
+proper to admit this before Swidwicki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not attach any importance to that,&quot; she answered, &quot;and I thank
+God that it is not the only thing that can be said of my son.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Swidwicki snapped his fingers and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You do attach importance to it, madame, you do, and so do I, and those
+ladies only pretend that they do not--that young Englishwoman as well
+as even that translucent little porcelain maid; though apparently she
+thinks of nought but music.... Perhaps the least of all Pani Zosia, but
+only because from a certain time she too sedulously reads Plato.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Zosia--Plato!&quot; exclaimed Pani Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I suspect so, and even am certain for otherwise she would not be so
+Platonic.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, she is not versed in Greek.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But Gronski is, and he can translate for her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Krzycki gazed with astonishment at Swidwicki and broke off the
+conversation. Becoming acquainted with him only that evening and having
+no idea that he was a man who, for a quip, for a wretched play on words
+and from habit, was ready always and everywhere to talk stuff and
+nonsense in the most reckless manner, she could not understand why he
+said that to her. Nevertheless his words were for her, as it were, a
+ray illuminating things which heretofore she had not observed. She
+found new proofs that her heartfelt and secret wishes would always
+remain a dream without substance--and she sighed for the third time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, then it is so,&quot; she thought to herself in her soul.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, yes,&quot; Swidwicki continued. &quot;My cousin is very Platonic and in
+addition a trifle anæmic.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In his laughter there was a kind of bitterness and even malice, so that
+Pani Krzycki again looked at him with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime Marynia led Miss Anney to another chamber. Her ears
+each moment became redder and her eyes sparkled with a perfectly
+childish curiosity. So pressing her little nose to Miss Anney's cheek,
+she began to whisper:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell me! Did he propose to you at the piano? Did he propose? Tell me
+now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Miss Anney, embraced her neck with her arms and kissing her
+cordially, whispered in her ear:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Almost.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What?--at the piano! I guessed it at once! Ho, ho! I am thoroughly
+conversant with such matters. But how was that? Almost? How, almost?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For I know that he loves me--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Laudie? What did he say to you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He did not even have to say it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I understand, I understand perfectly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney, though her eyes were moist, began to laugh, and, hugging
+the little violinist again, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us now return to the salon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us return,&quot; answered Marynia.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the way she said with delighted countenance:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You and Zosia, thought that I saw nothing, and I--oho!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the salon they chanced upon a political discussion. The tall elderly
+gentleman with the white mane, who was a colleague and friend of the
+late Otocki and at the same time editor of one of the principal dailies
+in Warsaw, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They think that this is a new state of affairs, which henceforth is
+bound to continue, but it is an attack of hysteria, after which
+exhaustion and prostration will follow. I have lived long in the world
+and often have witnessed similar phenomena. Yes, it is so. It is a
+stupid and wicked revolution.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If Swidwicki had heard from some madman that this was a wise and
+salutary revolution, he undoubtedly would have been of the opinion of
+the old editor, but, as he esteemed lightly journalists in general, he
+was particularly angered at the thought that the amiable old gentleman
+passed in certain circles as a political authority; so he began at once
+to dispute.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only the bottomless naïvete of the conservatives,&quot; he said, &quot;is
+capable of demanding from a revolution reason and goodness. It
+is the same as demanding, for instance, of a conflagration that it
+should be gentle and sensible. Every revolution is the child of the
+passions--unreason and rage--and not of love. Its aim is to blow up the
+old forms of folly and evil and forcibly introduce into life the new.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And how do you picture to yourself the new?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In reality as also foolish and wicked--but new. Upon such transitions
+our history is based, and even the annals of mankind in general.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is the philosophy of despair.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Or of laughter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If of laughter, then it is egoism.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, that is so. My partisanship begins with me and ends with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski impatiently smacked his lips; while the editor took off his
+spectacles and, winking with his eyes, began to wipe them with a
+handkerchief.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I beg pardon,&quot; he said with great phlegm. &quot;Your party affiliations may
+be very interesting but I wanted to speak of others.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Less interesting--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the old journalist turned to Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Our socialists,&quot; he said, &quot;have undertaken the reconstruction of a new
+house, forgetting that we live huddled together in only a few rooms,
+and that in the others dwell strangers who will not assent to it; or
+rather, on the contrary, they will permit the demolition of those few
+rooms, but will not allow their reconstruction.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then it is better to blow up the whole structure with dynamite,&quot;
+interjected Swidwicki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But this remark was passed over in silence; after which Gronski said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One thing directly astonishes me, and that is that the conservatives
+turn with the greatest rage not against the revolutionists, but against
+the national patriots, who do not desire a revolution and who alone
+have sufficient strength to prevent it. I understand that a foreign
+bureaucracy does this, but why should our patres conscripti clear the
+way in this for them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The editor replaced the spectacles, wetted his finger in the tea
+seeking the cup, afterwards raised it to his lips, drank, and replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The reason of that is their greater blindness and sense.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Please explain!&quot; exclaimed Swidwicki, who was a little impressed by
+this reply.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And the neighbor from Zalesin, who eagerly listened to the words of the
+journalist, asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is that, sir benefactor? I do not understand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, it is so,&quot; answered the editor. &quot;Their greater blindness is due
+to the narrower horizon, to the lack of ability to look ahead into the
+future, into those times and ages which are yet to come, for which it
+is a hundred times more important that the great Sacred Fire.<a name="div2Ref_08" href="#div2_08"><sup>[8]</sup></a>
+should
+not be extinguished than that any immediate paltry benefits should be
+obtained. It is necessary to have a sense of coming events, and this
+they do not possess. They are a little like Esau who relinquished his
+heritage for a pot of lentils. And for us it is not allowable to
+relinquish anything. Absolutely nothing! On the other hand, when
+concerned about isolated moments, about ranks and connections in a
+given instant of time, the conservatives are a hundred times more
+sensible, adroit--commit far less errors in details and view matters
+more soberly. I speak of this with entire impartiality for I myself am
+a nonpartisan.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who is right neither in the present time nor will be in the future,&quot;
+interposed Swidwicki. &quot;After all, I agree that the difference between
+the views of politicians favoring reconciliation and sentimental
+patriots and zealots in general lies in this, that from political
+moderation you can immediately coin money, though at times counterfeit,
+but from sentimental politics,--only in the future. History confirms at
+every stage that what one hundred, fifty, or twenty years ago appeared
+to be political or social insanity, to-day has entered into being. And
+it will be ever thus in the further course of time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That may be,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;but it is only just so far as radicalism
+of ideas or the furies of feeling do not strike terror in a great,
+stupid, immediate act. For if this occurs a crime is perpetrated, and
+error is born which menaces the future. This happens frequently.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I assume that this is just what the conservatives fear,&quot; answered
+the journalist, &quot;an excessively warm patriotism--and it must be
+admitted, often improvident and absurd in its manifestations--strikes
+them with terror. Formerly they feared that the peasants, who read 'The
+Pole' might take to their scythes. At present they have gooseflesh when
+some zealot breaks out with a word about the future kingdom of Poland.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Kingdom of Poland!&quot; said Swidwicki, snorting ironically. &quot;I will tell
+you gentlemen an anecdote. A certain Russian official became insane and
+suffered from a mania of greatness. In reality his delusion lay in
+this, that he attained the highest position in heaven as well as on
+earth. And whom do you suppose that he imagined himself to be?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well! God?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;More.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I confess that my imagination reels,&quot; answered Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, you see! In the meantime he invented a position still higher, for
+he represented himself as the 'presiding officer' of the Holy Trinity.
+Understand? That there was a committee consisting of God, the Father,
+the Son, and the Holy Ghost--and he was its chairman. Is not that
+more?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True, but why do you cite that anecdote?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As a proof that for diseased brains there are no impossibilities and
+that only such brains can think of a kingdom of Poland.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski remained silent for a while, and then said: &quot;Twenty millions of
+people are something tangible, and permit me to say that the
+chairmanship of the Holy Trinity is a greater impossibility. What do
+you know about the future and who can divine it? The most you can say
+is that in view of the present conditions the thought of creating
+anything like it by force, through revolution, would be a mistake, and
+even a crime. But our nation will be devoured only when it allows
+itself to be devoured. But if it does not? If through great and noble
+efforts it shall bring forth enlightenment, social discipline,
+prosperity, science, literature, art, wealth, sanitation, a quiet
+internal strength, then what? And who to-day can tell what shape in the
+future the political and social conditions will assume? Who can vouch
+that the systems of government of the present day may not entirely
+change, that they will not fall and will not be adjudged as idiotic and
+criminal as to-day we regard tortures? Who can divine what governments
+will arise in that great sea which is humanity? The man who, for
+instance, in the time of Cicero would have said that social economy
+could exist without slavery would have been deemed crazy, and,
+nevertheless, to-day slavery does not exist. And in our political
+relations something similar might take place. To-day's conditions of
+coercion might change into voluntary and free unions. I do not know
+whether it will be so, but you do not know that it will not be so. In
+view of this, I see the necessity of quiet and iron labor, but I do not
+see the necessity of the repudiation or renunciation of any ideals--and
+I will tell you too that the Pole who does not bear that great ideal,
+at the bottom of his soul, is in a measure a renegade; and I do not
+understand why he does not renounce everything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Write that in verse and in Latin,&quot; answered Swidwicki with impatience,
+&quot;for in that manner you will upset the heads of a less number of men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then our present day antagonists may themselves say to us: 'Arrange
+matters to suit yourselves.' At the present moment it may seem a naïve
+fancy, but the future carries in its bosom such surprises, as not only
+the shortsighted politicians have not dreamed of, but even philosophers
+who can look ahead.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, having evidently sufficient of this discussion, he added:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But enough of this. I suspend the argument and pause. To-day we must
+occupy ourselves not with politics, but with the young lady whose
+birthday we celebrate and whom undoubtedly such things weary.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this, he turned to Marynia, standing at Miss Anney's side, but
+she, shaking her little head, replied at once with great ardor:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On the contrary! I am of the same opinion as Pan Gronski.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she blushed to her ears, for all began to laugh, while Swidwicki
+replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If that is so, then everything is settled.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus smiled at Marynia's embarrassment, though in truth he did not
+know what it all was about, as his whole soul surged in his enamoured
+eyes, gazing at Miss Anney. She stood between two chairs, calm,
+smiling, white in her light dress, cheery as the summer dawn, and only
+after the close of the discussion rosier than usual, and he plainly
+devoured her with his gaze. His thoughts and heart raged within him. He
+looked at her radiant countenance, on her bare arms, chiseled as if out
+of warm marble, at her developed strong breast, on the sinuous pliant
+lines of her figure, on her knees turned towards him and outlined under
+her light dress, and he was seized by a whirlwind of desires, which
+struggled with the feeling of worship and respect which he entertained
+for this maiden, pure as a tear. His pulse commenced to beat strangely
+and on his forehead appeared a braid of veins. At the thought that she
+was to be his wife and that all these treasures would be his, he was
+enveloped by a fire of blood, and at the same time by some kind of
+debility so great that at times he was uncertain whether he would be
+able to lift the chair. At the same time he quarrelled with himself. He
+became indignant from his whole soul at that &quot;animal&quot; which he could
+not subdue within himself, and upbraided himself to the last words
+because he did not love her--&quot;that angel&quot;--as he should love her, that
+is with the love which only kneels and idolizes. So, in thought, he
+fell on his knees before his loved one, embraced her limbs, and
+implored forgiveness, but when he imagined that his lips kissed her
+feet, again lust seized him by the hair. And in this struggle he felt
+not only unworthy of her, not only &quot;a beast,&quot; but at the same time a
+half-baked and ludicrous blunderer, deprived of that reason, peace, and
+self-control which a true man should possess.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He was also possessed by astonishment that everything which could
+promise delight should also at the same time torment him. Fortunately,
+his further torments and meditations were interrupted by music, with
+which an evening at Pani Otocka's had to conclude. Bochener sat at the
+piano, the irascible notary began to blow in his flute, and Marynia
+stood aside with the violin, and if those present were not accustomed
+to the sight of her, they would have been astonished at the change
+which took place in her. The beautiful but childish face of a delighted
+and inquisitive girl assumed in a single moment an expression of
+gravity and profound calm. Her eyes became thoughtful and sad. On the
+red background of the salon her slim form appeared like a design of the
+best style on a painted church window. There was something in her
+plainly hieratic.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A trio began. The gentle tones began to rock Ladislaus' agitated soul.
+His senses gradually fell asleep and his desires were extinguished. His
+love metamorphosed into a great winged angel who carried his loved one
+in his arms as if a child, and soared with her in the immeasurable
+space before an altar composed of the lustre of the evening twilight
+and the nocturnal lights of stars.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The hour was late, when Gronski, Swidwicki, and Ladislaus left Pani
+Otocka's. On the streets they met few pedestrians, but every few paces,
+they encountered the military and police patrol, which stopped them and
+asked for passports. This time Swidwicki did not pretend to be
+intoxicated, for he fell into a bad humor just because at Pani Otocka's
+he had to content himself with two glasses of wine. So, showing the
+policeman the passport, he pointed to his dress-suit and white cravat
+and asked them surlily whether socialists or bandits dressed in that
+manner.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If only lightning would smite the one and the other,&quot; he said,
+striking the sidewalk with his cane. &quot;In addition, everything is
+closed, not only the restaurants in the hotels, but even the
+pharmacies, in which in an extreme case, vin de coca or alcohol can be
+procured. The pharmacies are striking! We have lived to see that! The
+doctors also ought to strike and then the grave-diggers will
+unwillingly have to strike also. May the devil seize all! At home I
+have not a single bottle; so throughout the entire night I will not be
+able to sleep a wink and to-morrow I will be as if taken off the
+cross--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come with us,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;perhaps we may find a bottle of
+something and black coffee.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have saved not only my life but that of my 'associate,' especially
+if two bottles are found.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We will seek. But what kind of associate are you speaking of?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True, you yet know nothing. I will relate it over a glass.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was not far to Gronski's residence, so soon they were seated
+around a table on which was found a bottle of noble Chambertin and a
+coffee-percolator with black coffee, steaming in a delicious manner.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki regained his spirits.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Those ladies,&quot; he said, &quot;are real angels, and for the reason that it
+is there, as if in Paradise, where happiness consists in gazing upon
+eternal brightness and listening to the archangel choir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here he addressed Krzycki:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I observed that this suffices for you and Gronski--but for me it is
+absolutely too little.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only do not begin to sharpen your tongue on those ladies,&quot; replied
+Gronski, &quot;for I shall order the bottle removed instanter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki hugged it with both hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I idolize--all three,&quot; he exclaimed with comic precipitancy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of what kind of associate were you speaking?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki swallowed the wine and, closing his eyes, for a while
+appraised its value.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have with me from this morning some kind of gallows-bird, for whom
+the police are looking and, if they find him with me, they will
+probably hang us both.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You, however, have given him shelter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I gave him shelter because he was brought by one whom I could not
+refuse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will wager that it was some woman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is true. I can add that she is comely and one of those who excite
+in me a responsive electric current. But I cannot tell you her name, as
+she begged me to keep that secret.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not ask,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;but as to the current I have no doubt,
+as otherwise you would fear to place yourself in jeopardy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Swidwicki said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Know this, that I do not fear anything in the world, and this gives me
+in this enslaved country such an unheard of independence as is not
+enjoyed by any one else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this, he drained the glass to the bottom and exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Long live liberty--but only my own.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nevertheless, all this demonstrates that you have a little good in
+your heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not in the least. I did that, firstly, because I expect a reward,
+on which, after all, in such virtuous company, I prefer not to
+dilate--unless after a second bottle--and again, because I will have
+some one upon whom I can vent my spleen and assert my ascendency. I
+assure you that my gallows-bird will not sleep upon roses--and who
+knows whether after a week he will not prefer the gallows to my
+hospitality?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is possible. But in the meantime?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the meantime I bought for him Allen's Waters in order to bleach the
+black tufts of hair on his head into a light color. 'Are te
+biondegiante'--as during Titian's time. I feel also a little
+satisfaction at the thought that the police will stand on their heads
+to find him and will not get him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But if they find him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I doubt it. Do you remember that for a certain time I had a footman, a
+native of Bessarabia, whom you knew? Over two months ago he robbed me
+and ran away. He has already written to me from New York with a
+proposition which I will not repeat to you. A superb type! Perfectly
+modern. But before his escape he begged me to return to him his
+passport, as now they are asking about passports every moment. But I
+mislaid it in some book and could not find it. But recently--two or
+three days ago--I accidentally found it, so that my gallows-bird will
+have not only blond hair but also a passport.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And will he not rob you like his predecessor?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told him that he ought to do that, but he became indignant. It seems
+to me that he is boiling with indignation from morning until night, and
+if in the end he should steal from me it would be from indignation that
+I could suppose anything like that of him. That little patroness who
+shoved him on my neck vouches also that he is honest, but did not even
+tell me his name. Clever girl! For she says thus: 'If they find him,
+then you can excuse yourself on the plea that you did not know who he
+was.' And she is right--though when some marks of gratitude are
+concerned, she scratches like a cat. For her, I expose myself to the
+halter, and when I wanted from her a little of that--then I almost got
+it in the snout.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski knit his brows and began to sharply eye Swidwicki; after which,
+he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Miss Anney's servant asked me this morning about your residence. Tell
+me, what does that mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki again drank the wine.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, she also called--she was there. Pani Otocka sent through her an
+invitation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pani Otocka sent you an invitation through Pauly. Tell that to some
+one else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;About what are you concerned?&quot; asked Swidwicki, with jovial
+effrontery. &quot;She ordered her to send the invitation through a messenger
+but the messengers since last night are on a strike. Now everybody
+strikes. Girls also,--with the exception of the 'female associates,'
+particularly the old and ugly ones. These, if they strike, then sans le
+vouloir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The reply appeared to Gronski to be satisfactory, as in reality
+messengers had been absent from the streets since the previous day.
+Then Swidwicki turned the conversation into another direction.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I received him,&quot; he said, &quot;not to save an ass, but because I am bored
+and it just suited me. Some wise Italian once said that the divinity
+which holds everything in this world in restraint is called la
+paura,--fear; and the Italian was right. If the people did not fear,
+nothing would remain--not a single social form of life! On this ladder
+of fear there are numerous rounds and the highest is the fear of death.
+Death! That is a real divinity! Reges rego, leges lego, judice judico!
+And I confess that I, whose life has been passed in toppling from
+pedestals various divinities, had the most difficulty in overcoming
+this divinity. But I overcame it and so completely that I made it my
+dog.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What did you do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A dog, which as often as it pleases me, I stroke over the hair,
+as for instance now, when I received that revolutionary booby. But that
+is yet nothing! See under what terror people live: the executioner's
+axe, the gallows, the bullet, cancer, consumption, typhoid fever,
+tabes--suffering, pain, whole months and years of torture--and why?
+Before the fear of death. And I jeer at that. Me, hangman will not
+execute, cancer will not gnaw, consumption will not consume, pain will
+not break, torture will not debase, for I shout, in a given moment, at
+this divinity before which all tremble, as at a spaniel: 'Lie down!'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he laughed and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And that mad booby of mine, however, hid himself as if before death.
+Tell me what would happen if people actually did not fear?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They would not be themselves,&quot; answered Gronski. &quot;They desire life,
+not death.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XI</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki did not lie when he said that he did not know the name of the
+revolutionist to whom he promised an asylum, for in reality Pauly had
+made a secret of it. She so arranged it with Laskowicz on the way. The
+young student, learning that Swidwicki, to whom the girl was conducting
+him, was an acquaintance of Gronski and Pani Otocka, in the first
+moments became frightened inordinately. He recollected the letters
+which he had written to Panna Marynia, and his odious relations with
+Krzycki upon whom his party a short time previously perpetrated an
+attack. Personally he did not participate in it and the suggestion did
+not emanate from him, but on the other hand he did not have the
+slightest doubt that the committee issued the death sentence as a
+result of his reports designating Krzycki as the chief obstacle to
+their propaganda, and he remembered that he did nothing to prevent the
+attempt, and was even pleased in his soul that a man, hateful to him
+and at the same time a putative rival, would be removed from his path.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a time he even felt, owing to this &quot;washing of hands,&quot; a certain
+internal disgust; at the intelligence, however, that the attack was
+unsuccessful he experienced, as it were, a feeling of disappointment.
+And now he was going to seek shelter with a man who was a relative of
+Pani Otocka and who might have heard of the letters to Marynia and his
+relations with Krzycki. This was a turn of affairs, clearly fatal,
+which might frustrate the best intentions of Panna Pauly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Considering all this he began to beg the girl not to mention his name,
+giving as a reason that in case the police should find him, Swidwicki
+would be less culpable.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pauly admitted the full justness of this; after a while, however, she
+observed that if Pan Gronski should ever visit Swidwicki then
+everything would be disclosed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; answered the student, &quot;but I need that refuge for only a few
+days; after which I will look for another, or else my chiefs may
+dispatch me abroad.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What chiefs?&quot; asked Pauly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Those who desire liberty and bread for all, and who will not tolerate
+that some one should be raised above you, little lady, either in rank
+or money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not understand. How is that? I would not be a servant and would
+not have a mistress?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pauly was struck by the thought that in that case she would be nearer
+to her &quot;young lord,&quot; but not having time to discuss this any longer,
+she repeated:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not understand. Later, I will question you about it, but now let
+us proceed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And they walked hurriedly ahead, in silence, until they reached
+Swidwicki's door. On the ringing of the bell, he opened it himself.
+With surprise but also with a smile he saw Pauly in the dark hallway
+and afterwards catching sight of Laskowicz, he asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is he here for? Who is he?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May we enter and may I speak with you in private?&quot; asked the girl.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you please. The more private, the more agreeable it will be to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And they entered. The student remained in the first room. The master of
+the house conducted Pauly to another and closed the door after him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz began to examine the large room, full of disorder, with
+books, and engravings, and an abundance of bottles with white and blue
+labels. On the round table, near the window, piled with daily
+newspapers, stood a bottle with the legend: &quot;Vin de Coca; Mariani,&quot; and
+a few ash trays with charred lighters for cigars and cigarettes. The
+furniture in the room was heavy and evidently when new was costly but
+it was now dirty. Hanging on the wall were pictures, among them a
+portrait of Pani Otocka, while yet a young unmarried lady. In one
+corner protruded the well known statue of the Neapolitan Psyche with
+mutilated skull.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The student placed the flower-pot with the Italian lilies on the table
+and began to eavesdrop. His life was involved, for if shelter was
+denied to him he undoubtedly would be arrested that day. Through the
+closed door came to him from time to time Swidwicki's outbursts of
+laughter, and the conversing voices, in which the voice of the girl
+sounded at times as if entreating, and at other moments angry and
+indignant. This lasted a long time. Finally the doors opened and the
+first to enter was Pauly, evidently angry, and with burning cheeks;
+after her came Swidwicki, who said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well. Since the beautiful Pauly so wishes it, I will not tell any
+one who brought to me this Sir Ananias, and will keep him under cover,
+but on condition that Pauly will prove a little grateful to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am grateful,&quot; answered the girl with irritation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;These are the proofs,&quot; said Swidwicki, displaying marks on the back of
+his hands. &quot;A cat could not scratch any better. But to only look at
+little Pauly, I will agree even to that. The next time we will have
+some candy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good-by till we meet again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Till we meet. May it be as frequent as possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The girl took the pot with the flowers and left. Then Swidwicki thrust
+his hands into his pockets and began to stare at Laskowicz as if he had
+before him, not a human being, but some singular animal. Laskowicz
+looked at him in the same way, and during that short interval they
+acquired for each other a mutual dislike.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Finally Swidwicki asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, esteemed Sir Benefactor, of what party? Socialist, anarchist, or
+bandit? I beg of you! without ceremony! I do not ask your name, but it
+is necessary to be acquainted somehow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I belong to the Polish Socialist Party,&quot; answered the student with a
+certain pride.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Aha! Then to the most stupid one. Excellent. That is as if some one
+said: To the atheistic-Catholic or to the national-cosmopolitan? I am
+truly delighted to bid you welcome.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz was not in the least meek by nature, and besides he
+understood in a moment that he had before him a man with whom he would
+gain nothing by meekness; so, gazing straight into Swidwicki's eyes, he
+replied almost contemptuously:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you, sir, can be a Catholic and Pole, I can be a socialist and
+Pole.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Swidwicki laughed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, Sir Chieftain,&quot; he said, &quot;Catholicism is a smell. One can be a cat
+and have a fainter or stronger odor, but one cannot be a cat and dog in
+one and the same person.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am no chieftain; only a third-class agent,&quot; retorted Laskowicz.
+&quot;You, sir, have given me a refuge and yourself the right to mock me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Exactly, exactly! But for that I shall not require any gratitude. We
+can, after all, change the subject. Sit down, Sir Third-class Agent.
+What is new? How is His Majesty, the king.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What king?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why the one you serve and who to-day has the most courtiers; the one
+who, most of all, cannot endure the truth and most easily gulps
+adulation; the one, who in winter smells of whiskey and in summer of
+sour sweat,--that mangy, lousy, scabby, stinking, gracious, or rather,
+ungracious ruler of the day. King Rabble.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If Laskowicz had heard the most monstrous blasphemies against a holy
+object, which heretofore mankind venerated, he would not have been more
+horrified than at the words which passed Swidwicki's lips. For him it
+was as if he were struck on the head with a club, for it never crossed
+his mind that any one would have dared to utter anything like that. His
+eyes became dim, his jaws tightened convulsively, his hands began to
+tremble. In the first moments he was possessed by an irrepressible
+desire to shoot Swidwicki in the head with the revolver he carried with
+him and afterwards slam the door and go wherever his eyes would take
+him, or else to place the barrel to his ear and shatter his own head,
+but he lacked the strength. All night long he had toiled in the
+printing plant; after which he had fled over the roofs and through the
+streets like a wild animal. He was fatigued, hungry, and exhausted with
+the frightful experiences of that morning. So he suddenly staggered on
+his feet, became as pale as a corpse, and would have tumbled upon the
+ground if a chair had not stood close by, into which he sank heavily,
+as if dead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is this? What in the devil ails you?&quot; asked Swidwicki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to assist him. He poured out of a bottle the remainder of
+the cognac and forced him to drink it; afterwards he lifted him from
+the chair and led him to another room and almost forcibly put him in
+his own bed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What the devil!&quot; he repeated; &quot;how do you feel?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Better,&quot; answered Laskowicz.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki glanced at his watch.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In about ten minutes, the old woman who serves here ought to come. I
+will order her to bring something to eat. In the meanwhile lie
+quietly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz obeyed this advice, as he could not do otherwise. Lying
+there, however, he for a time knit his brow, and evidently his mind was
+laboring. Then he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That king--about whom you inquired--is--starving--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May the devil take him!&quot; replied Swidwicki. &quot;The bourgeoisie will feed
+him, and for this he at the first opportunity will cut their throats.
+But do not take to heart too seriously whatever I say; for I say the
+same and stronger things to all parties. All! Do you understand, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The bell interrupted further conversation. Laskowicz trembled like an
+aspen leaf.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is my old woman. I recognize the ring,&quot; said Swidwicki. &quot;She is
+earlier to-day than usual. Very well. I will order her to bring food at
+once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact, after a quarter of an hour, food was placed on the table.
+Refreshed, Laskowicz came entirely to himself and did not think of
+forsaking his new shelter. Swidwicki began to open and rummage through
+various drawers. Finally, finding a passport, he handed it to Laskowicz
+and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Before you, Sir Benefactor, become dictator of all Poland you will
+call yourself Zaranczko. You come from Bessarabia and have served with
+me a year. If they should catch you and, with you, me, repeat only one
+expression, '<i>Mamalyga</i>,<a name="div2Ref_09" href="#div2_09"><sup>[9]</sup></a> <i>
+mamalyga</i>.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In this manner Laskowicz was installed in Swidwicki's home.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The morning after Marynia's birthday was unusually gloomy. The western
+wind drove heavy black clouds, which hung over the city, foretelling a
+storm. The atmosphere became oppressive and sultry. When Ladislaus
+entered the church it was completely dark within. In the Chapel of the
+Divine Mother a quiet votive mass commenced almost with his entry, and
+the flickering little flames of the candles, lighted before the altar,
+poorly illuminated the darkness. Ladislaus began to search with his
+eyes for Miss Anney and he recognized her by the light hair protruding
+from under her hat. She knelt in the first pew, her hands crossed in
+prayer and resting upon an open book. Seeing Ladislaus, she nodded her
+head and drew aside, to make room for him, not pausing in her prayers.
+He wanted to speak to her but did not dare, and only kneeling, drew
+somewhat towards himself the book so that they might pray from it
+together. It was, however, so dark that he could read nothing and after
+a while he became convinced that he could not pray at all. He was
+seized by great emotion, for he understood that a new epoch in his life
+had commenced, and that this moment, in which by the consent of Miss
+Anney he knelt at her side before the altar to mutually entreat God for
+blessing, signified more than any other avowals, and that it was the
+first sanctification of their loves and their joint future lives. He
+was possessed by a sense of his happiness, but at the same time by some
+kind of solemn apprehension at the thought that everything would soon
+cease to be only a dream, only a fancy, only a phantom of happiness,
+and become realized and accomplished. Through his mind glided the
+interrogatories,--How will he be able to bear this happiness, what will
+he do with it, and how will he acquit himself,--and from these
+questions there was bred in him a sense of immense responsibility,
+surcharged with fear. It was like certain worries which hitherto, as a
+free man, he had not known or at least had not met face to face. And he
+saw before him cares more direct and immediate. The moment of his
+interview with his mother was approaching; there were also some secret
+obstacles, which Gronski mentioned, and it was incumbent upon him to
+weigh everything, to plan, settle various matters, and set aside
+anticipated difficulties. In truth, now, if ever, it was worth while
+and necessary to trust to the Divine favor, invoke the All-provident
+aid, and deliver her to the care of the Future. Ladislaus observed that
+similar feelings and similar thoughts must have swayed Miss Anney as
+her countenance was calm, composed, grave, and even sad. The little
+flames of the candles were reflected in her upraised eyes and for a
+while it seemed to Ladislaus that he saw tears in those eyes.
+Apparently with the whole strength of her soul she committed him and
+herself to God. And thus they knelt beside each other, shoulder to
+shoulder, heart to heart, and already united, happy, and a little
+timorous. Ladislaus, having suppressed the whirlwind of thoughts, at
+last began to pray and said to God, &quot;Do with me whatever Thou wilt, but
+grant her happiness and peace.&quot; And a prodigious overflowing wave of
+love deluged his bosom. His prayer became at the same time a solemn
+espousal and internal oath that he would never wrong that most precious
+being in the world, and that those eyes would never weep for his sake.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime the votive mass was nearing its close. When the priest
+turned from the altar, his words, in the half-empty chapel, were as if
+dreamy and like whispering amidst sighs--as usually happens at the
+early morning mass. But at times they were deafened by thunders, as the
+storm began outside. The windows of the chapel darkened yet more, and
+from time to time livid lightning illuminated the panes; after which
+the darkness grew yet denser, and on the altar the little flames of the
+candles twinkled uneasily. The priest turned around once more; &quot;Dominus
+vobiscum!&quot; after which, &quot;Ite missa est.&quot; Afterwards he blessed the
+assembled and retired. The small number of faithful who heard the mass
+followed his example. Only they two remained. Then she began to say in
+a whisper, broken by emotion, &quot;Under Thy protection we flee. Holy
+Mother of God,&quot; and the further words &quot;Our entreaties deign not to
+spurn and from all evil deign to preserve us forever,&quot; were said
+jointly with Ladislaus, and in this manner the entire prayer concluded.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After this, silence fell between them, was broken only after a long
+while by Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We will have to wait,&quot; he said in a low voice. &quot;The storm is yet
+continuing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well,&quot; answered Miss Anney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear, dearest lady--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she placed her finger to her lips and silence again ensued. They
+did not, however, have to wait very long, for the summer storms come
+and pass away like birds. After the lapse of a quarter of an hour they
+left the church. The streets were flooded by the rain, but through the
+rifts of the scattered and rent clouds the sun shone brightly and, it
+seemed, moistly. Miss Anney's eyes winked under the flood of light and
+her countenance was as if she was awakened from a dream. But her
+composure and gravity did not pass away. Ladislaus, on the other hand,
+at the sight of the sun, and the bustle and life on the streets, was at
+once imbued with gayety and hope. He glanced once and again at his
+companion and she seemed to him as wonderful as a dream, charming as
+never before, and adorable simply beyond measure and bounds. He felt
+that he was capable of seizing her at that moment in his arms; of
+showing her to the sun, the clouds, the city, the human multitude, and
+exclaiming: &quot;Behold my wealth, my treasure; this is the joy of my
+life!&quot; But, conjecturing properly that Miss Anney would not assent to
+any manifestations like that, he subdued this impulse and directed his
+thoughts to more important matters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My adored lady,&quot; said he, &quot;I must give utterance to words which burn
+my lips. When may I come to see you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To-day at four,&quot; she replied; &quot;I also have to tell you something upon
+which everything depends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Everything depends upon you, lady, and upon nothing else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But her clear cheeks were suffused with confused blushes: her eyes
+shone as if with disagreeable uneasiness; and she replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God grant--you do not know, sir--you do not know sir--&quot; she repeated
+with emphasis. &quot;We will be alone.--But now we must part.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus escorted her to the carriage, kissed her hands and remained
+alone. Her words, corroborating that which Gronski had intimated as a
+result of his interviews with Pani Otocka, disquieted him, however, but
+only for a short time, as he was too much in love to suppose that it
+could change his love or swerve him from his purpose. At the mere
+thought of this he shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Women,&quot; he said to himself, &quot;are always full of scruples and to actual
+difficulties they add chimerical ones.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, he returned home in the best of humor, and besides
+Gronski, found there Dolhanski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Behold,&quot; exclaimed Gronski, &quot;lo, here is Dolhanski the bachelor.
+Congratulate him for he is going to marry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No?&quot; Truly? asked Ladislaus, amused.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With Panna Kajetana Wlocek,&quot; added Dolhanski, with sangfroid and
+extraordinary gravity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I tender my best wishes from the whole heart. When is the
+wedding?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very soon, on account of the weather, famine, fire, and war, also
+similar exceptional circumstances. In a week. Without publication of
+the banns, on an <i>indult</i>. After the wedding, the same night a trip
+abroad.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And you say all this seriously?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With the greatest seriousness in the world. Observe the exquisite
+consequences.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here Dolhanski spread out his fingers and began to enumerate:&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Primo, my credit is resurrected, as a Hindoo fakir, who, buried in the
+ground for a whole month, awakes after exhumation to a new life;
+secundo: Gorek is without a copper coin of indebtedness and without
+society; tertio: my marriage settlement surpasses my expectations;
+quarto: my fiancée from good luck has grown so beautiful that you would
+not recognize her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What are you saying?&quot; cried Ladislaus, ingenuously.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XIII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Promptly at four, Ladislaus appeared at Miss Anney's. She received him
+feelingly and for a greeting offered both hands which he began to press
+alternately to his lips and his forehead. Afterwards they sat beside
+each other and for a long time heard only the quickened beating of
+their own hearts and the faint sounds of the clock on the writing-desk.
+They reciprocally glanced at each other but neither was able to say the
+first word. After a while life could glow for them like a new dawn,
+glistening with joy and happiness, but, for the time being, it was
+heavy, embarrassing, the more embarrassing the longer the silence
+continued.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Finally, Ladislaus from a feeling, that, if he kept silent much longer,
+he would appear ridiculous, mustered enough courage and spoke in a
+broken voice, whose sounds appeared strange to him!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From this morning I have a little hope--and nevertheless my heart
+beats as if I did not have any--I could not say a single word until I
+caught my breath--but that is nothing strange as my whole life is
+concerned.--Lady, you long ago, of course, surmised how deeply--how
+with my whole soul I love you,--you knew this long ago--is it not so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here he again inhaled the air, took a deep breath, and continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To-day in the church I said to myself this: 'If she will hear me, if
+she does not spurn me, if she consents to be my own for my whole
+life--my wife--then I vow solemnly to God before this altar that I will
+love and honor her; that I will never wrong her and will give her all
+the happiness which is in my power.' And I swear to you that this is
+the truth--It only depends upon you, lady, that it shall be so--upon
+your consent--upon your faith in me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this, he again raised Miss Anney's hands to his lips and
+imprinted upon them a long imploring kiss and she leaned towards him so
+that her hair lightly brushed his forehead, and quietly replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I consent and believe with my whole soul--but this does not depend
+upon me alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only upon you, lady,&quot; exclaimed Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And believing that Miss Anney had his mother in mind, he began to say
+with a brightened face and deep joy in his voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My mother desires my happiness above all things and I assure you that
+she will come here with me to beg of you; and with me she will thank
+you for this great, this ineffable boon, and in the meantime I on my
+knees thank--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He wanted to drop on his knees before her and embrace her limbs with
+his arms, but she began to restrain him and say with feverish haste:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no. Do not kneel, sir,--you must first hear me. I consent, but I
+must confess things upon which everything depends. Please calm
+yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus rose, again sat beside her and said, with anxious surprise:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I listen, my dearest lady.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I must compose myself a little,&quot; replied Miss Anney.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which she rose, and approaching the window, pressed her forehead
+against the pane.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For some time silence again ensued.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is it?&quot; spoke out Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney withdrew her forehead from the pane. Her countenance was
+calmer, but her eyes were dimmed as if with tears. Approaching the
+table, she sat down opposite to Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Before I relate what it is now necessary for me to state,&quot; she said,
+&quot;I have a great favor to ask of you. And if you--love me truly--then
+you will not refuse--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lady, if you demanded my life, I would not refuse it. I pledge you my
+word,&quot; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well. Give me your word. Then I will be certain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I pledge it in advance and swear upon our future happiness that I will
+comply with your every wish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well,&quot; repeated Miss Anney. &quot;Then I first beg of you, by all you
+hold most precious, not to feel at all bound by anything you have said
+to me just now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I not feel bound? In what way? Of course, it may not be binding upon
+you, lady--but on me--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, then, I release you from all obligations and consider that
+nothing has been said. You promised me that you would not refuse me
+anything, but this is not all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not all?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, I am anxious that after what I shall tell you, you shall not give
+me any answer--and for a whole week shall not return to me and shall
+not try to see me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But in the name of God, what is it?&quot; cried Ladislaus; &quot;why should I
+suffer a week of torments? What does this mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And for me it also will be a torment,&quot; she answered in a soft voice.
+&quot;But it is necessary, it is imperative. You will have to explain
+everything to yourself; weigh everything, unravel and decide
+everything--and form a resolution--afterwards you may return or may not
+return--and a week for all that will be rather too little.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And perceiving the agitation on Ladislaus' face, she hurriedly added,
+as if alarmed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sir, you promised--you pledged me your word!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus drew his hand across the hair of his head; after which he
+began to rub his forehead with his palm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I gave the word,&quot; he said at last, &quot;because you requested it,
+lady--but why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Miss Anney turned pale to the eyes; for a while her lips quivered
+as though she struggled vainly to draw the words from her bosom, and
+only after an interval did she reply:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because--atone time I--did not bear the name of Anney.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You did not bear the name of Anney?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I--am--Hanka Skibianka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus rose, staggered like a drunken man, and began to stare at her
+with a bewildered look.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she added in almost a whisper:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Little master!--'tis I--of the mill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And tears coursed quietly over her pallid countenance.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>PART III</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>I</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Krzycki left Miss Anney's with a sensation as if lightning had struck
+directly in front of him and suddenly stunned him. He could neither
+collect nor connect his thoughts; he was not even in a condition to
+realize his situation nor reflect upon it. The only impression, or
+rather feeling, which in the first moments remained was a feeling of
+illimitable amazement. On the way he repeated every little while,
+&quot;Hanka Skibianka! Hanka Skibianka!&quot; and seemed incapable of doing aught
+else. He did not find Gronski at home, as the latter had left
+immediately after the noon hour, telling the servant that he would
+return late at night. So he went to his room, locked himself in without
+knowing why; afterwards he flung himself into an armchair and sat
+abstractedly for over an hour. After the lapse of that time, he opened
+his trunk and began to pack things into it with excessive zeal, until
+finally he propounded to himself the question: &quot;Why am I doing this?&quot;
+Not being able to find an answer, he abandoned that work and only
+resumed it when he came to the unexpected conclusion that in any case
+he would have to move away from Gronski's.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Having finished, he put on his hat and left, without any well-defined
+object, for the city. For a while a desire rose in him to call upon his
+mother and Pani Otocka, but he stifled it at once. For what? It seemed
+to him that he had nothing to tell his mother about himself and his
+intentions; and that he could talk with her only about this unheard-of
+intelligence, the discussion of which would be for him, beyond all
+expression, afflicting. Unconsciously, he reached the Holy Cross Church
+and wanted to enter it, but the hour was late and the church was
+locked. The morning of that day and the joint prayer with her stood
+vividly before his eyes. Ah, how sincerely he prayed; how he loved her;
+how he loved her! And now he could not resist the impression that this
+light-haired, idolized lady, with whom he said in that chapel &quot;Under
+Thy Protection,&quot; and Hanka Skibianka were two different beings. And he
+felt in his heart a kind of disenchantment with which he began to
+contend. For why was he nevertheless so acutely affected by it? Was it
+because Hanka was a peasant girl and he a nobleman? No! Miss Anney
+never represented herself as an English noblewoman, and a Polish
+peasant is no worse than an English commoner. He could not clearly
+perceive that the reason of it lay in this: that Miss Anney through her
+descent alone, foreign and distant, appeared to him a sort of princess,
+and Hanka was a near and domestic girl from Zarnow. She aroused less
+curiosity and therefore was less attractive. She was so much easier,
+therefore, cheaper to him. In vain he recalled and repeated that this
+Hanka is that same light-haired lady, charming as a dream, alluring,
+genteel, womanly, responding in sentiment to every thought and every
+word; the feeling of disenchantment was more powerful than those
+thoughts, and that charm of exoticism, which suddenly was lacking in
+the girl, minimized her worth in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But, besides this, there was something else, in view of which the
+disenchantment and all unexpected impressions stood aside and became
+matters of secondary importance. This was, that he had once possessed
+that girl--body and soul. She was at that time almost a child--a flower
+not yet in full bloom which he plucked and carried for some time at his
+bosom. The memory of that could be a reproach only for him; no fault
+whatever weighed on her. He recollected those moonlight nights on which
+he stole to the mill; those whispers which were one quiet song of love
+and intoxication, interrupted only by kisses; he recalled how he
+clasped to his heart her girlish body, fragrant with the hay of the
+fields; how he drank the tears from her eyes and how he said to her
+that he would give up for her all the ladies of all the courts. The
+idyl passed, but now there wafted upon him from her the breath of the
+first youthful years, the first love, the first ecstasy, and the truly
+great poetry of life. Besides, there was truth in what he had confided
+to Gronski in Jastrzeb: that the girl loved him as no other woman in
+the world surely would love him. And at the thought of this, his heart
+began to melt. Together with the wave of recollection, Hanka returned
+and again engaged his thoughts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Yes. But that was Hanka and she is Miss Anney. In Ladislaus, from the
+time he fell in love with her, his senses leaped wildly towards her
+like a pack of yelping hounds; but he held them in leash because at the
+same time he knelt before his beloved. She was to him an object of
+desire but at the same time a sacred relic; something so inaccessible,
+exalted, pure, and mysterious in its virginity that at the thought that
+the moment would arrive when he would be the master of those treasures
+and secrets appeared to him a delight beyond all measure of delight;
+all the more fathomless as it was, united, as it were, with a
+sacrilege. And now he had to say to himself that this sacrilege he had
+already committed; that the charm of something unknown was dispelled;
+that in this vestal there were for him no mysteries and that he had
+already drunk from that cup. And this again was one lure less; one
+disenchantment more. In this manner Miss Anney muddied his recollection
+of the field peasant-girl, Hanka,--Hanka depreciated the charm of Miss
+Anney. Both were so different, so unlike each other, that, being unable
+to merge them into one entity, he vainly intensified that jarring
+impression with a feeling of disquietude and pain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In this vexation of spirit there occurred to him one wicked, low, and
+ugly thought. In what manner did the poor and simple Hanka change into
+the brilliant Miss Anney? In what manner could a gray sparrow from
+under a village thatched hut be transformed into a paradisiacal bird?
+Hanka was a betrayed girl; therefore the bridges had been burnt behind
+her. Amidst the wealth of a foreign land, beautiful but poor girls have
+before them only one road to the acquisition of affluence and even
+polish, and that was the road of shame. Hanka found one patron who took
+care of her in the appropriate manner; how many similar patrons and
+protectors could Miss Anney find? At the thought of this Krzycki's head
+swam. Conscience said to him, &quot;You opened those gates before her,&quot; and
+at the same time he was seized by such anger at Miss Anney and himself
+that if the life or death of both rested in his hands, he would at that
+moment have selected death. Something within him was rent asunder;
+something crashed. It seemed to him that again, just above his head,
+pealed lightning, which stunned him and burnt, within him, to a crisp,
+the ability to think.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He wandered a long time over the city. He himself did not know in what
+manner he again found himself before Pani Otocka's home, but he did not
+enter for he once more felt that at that time he could not speak with
+his mother. He returned to his own house late at night. Gronski was
+already at home, and for an hour had been waiting for him with the tea.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good evening,&quot; he said, &quot;I have returned from your mother's.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Ladislaus asked him with blunt impetuosity, &quot;Do you know who Miss
+Anney is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do. Pani Otocka told me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A moment of silence followed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What do you say to this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I could ask you that question.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus sat heavily in the chair, drew his palm over his forehead and
+replied with bitter irony:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, I have time. I was given a week for consideration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is not too much,&quot; answered Gronski, looking at him questioningly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly. Does Mother also know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. Pani Otocka told her everything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Again silence ensued.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear Laudie,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;I can understand that this must have
+shocked you, and for that reason I will not speak with you of it until
+you calm down and regain your equipoise. You must also become familiar
+with and well weigh the reasons why Miss Anney told only Pani Otocka
+who she was and why she came to Jastrzeb under her new name, to which,
+after all, she has a perfect right. Here is a letter from her. She
+requested me to deliver it to you to-morrow and that is why I did not
+hand it to you as soon as you appeared. At present I do not think that
+it would be proper to defer the matter. But do not open it at once nor
+in my presence. Put it away and read it when alone, when you can ponder
+over every word. Positively do this. That which has happened moved me
+to such an extent that for the time being I could not speak of it
+calmly. To-day I can only give you this advice: be a man and do not
+allow yourself to be swept away by the current of impressions. Row!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this Ladislaus, who sobered up a little under the influence of these
+words, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thank you, sir. I will read the letter in privacy. It is now so
+indispensable to me that I trust, sir, that you will not take it ill of
+me if I no longer abuse your hospitality. I am sincerely and cordially
+grateful to you for everything, but I must lock myself up. How long--I
+do not know. When I am myself again, I will come to you to discuss
+everything, God grant, more calmly. Now in reality, I see that I was
+justly given one week's time. But besides time, I feel the need of my
+own den. I cannot get rid of various thoughts, immensely bitter and
+even horrible. To-day they hold me by the head and it is necessary that
+I should hold them by the head--and for that reason I want to have my
+own den.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know how willing I am to please you,&quot; answered Gronski; &quot;I
+understand you, and though in advance I decided not to torment you with
+any questions, nevertheless, do what is best for yourself. I must tell
+you also that your mother is moving to a hotel, as she is offended with
+Pani Otocka. She took umbrage because she did not tell her at once in
+Jastrzeb who Miss Anney was.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I confess that I do not understand that--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nevertheless, that would have been directly contrary to what those
+ladies desired. Pani Otocka's intentions were the noblest. Time will
+elucidate and equalize everything. Even Marynia did not know anything,
+not only because Pani Zosia was bound by her word, but also because she
+did not deem it proper to acquaint her with your former behavior and
+your relations with the Hanka of former days. With Hanka--Miss Anney!
+That was an unheard-of turn of affairs. Do you remember our
+conversation in Jastrzeb when we went hunting for woodcock? Do you
+remember?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I remember, but I cannot speak of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, better not speak of it at this time. Miss Anney's letter
+undoubtedly will clear up the dark sides of the affair and explain what
+is now unintelligible. If you desire to read it at once, I will go and
+leave you here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am very curious about it and for just that reason I will take my
+leave of you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you will pass this night with me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have packed my things and the hotels are always open.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In such case good-by!--and remember what I told you. Row! Row!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a moment Gronski remained alone. He also was agitated,
+distressed, but curious to the highest degree. When after Ladislaus'
+confessions in Jastrzeb, he said to him that &quot;the mills of the gods
+grind late,&quot; he spoke it in a way one utters, off-hand, any maxim to
+which one does not attach any real significance. In the meantime life
+verified it in a manner fabulous but nevertheless logical. For as a
+fable only appeared the transformation of Hanka into Miss Anney, but
+that Miss Anney desired to see the man, whom, as a child, she loved in
+her first transports of love and the place which bound her with so many
+memories, tender and sad, was a matter natural and intelligible. And,
+of course, she could not return to Jastrzeb and stay under the Krzycki
+roof-tree otherwise than under a changed name. And thus it happened;
+and the later events rolled on with their own force until they reached
+the moment when it was necessary to reveal the secret. Gronski knew
+already from Pani Otocka everything which she could tell him and
+absolved from all sin her as well as Miss Anney. Nevertheless, he
+understood that an unprecedented situation was created, and such a knot
+was twisted that the untangling of it was impossible to foresee. It
+could only be untwined by Krzycki, and even he stood not only in the
+presence of new difficulties but, as it were, in the presence of a new
+person.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>II</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The very next day after the escape from the police Pauly visited
+Laskowicz and afterwards called to see him as often as she could find
+leisure time, selecting, nevertheless, hours when Swidwicki was not at
+home. But this did not present great difficulties as Swidwicki usually
+rose about noon, after which he went away and did not return until late
+at night. The girl was not induced to make these frequent visits by any
+sentimentality nor exceptional benevolence for the young student. She
+even felt, particularly in the first moments, that she could despise
+him. But women love in general to look at close range at their good
+deeds and to behold, even daily, the people for whom they have become
+providential angels; and again Laskowicz, with every word, disclosed to
+her worlds of whose existence she heretofore had never guessed. About
+socialists thus far she knew almost nothing, except what a certain old
+female cook once told her, that &quot;they do not believe in God and do not
+eat ducks&quot;; and she only heard that they threw bombs and shot from
+revolvers. After the attack upon Krzycki howsoever much she, together
+with all the servants in Jastrzeb, was convinced that it was
+perpetrated by Rzeslewo men, nevertheless, the supposition that it
+might have been the socialists reached her ears, and then she was
+inflamed against them with a temporary ungovernable hatred. But now she
+was learning that they were people of an entirely different stamp. She
+did not yet understand what in general they wanted, but understood in
+particular that those people desired that she, Paulina Kielkowna,
+should be a kind of lady like Miss Anney or Pani Otocka. And as a bee
+sips juice from flowers, so she, from the words of the young fanatic,
+extracted nourishment for her envy, her pain, her feelings. Her heart
+began to draw her towards that &quot;Party,&quot; which appeared to her as a
+Providence and as a power; and to this was joined the purely feminine
+curiosity of the awful secrets of that power. Laskowicz quickly
+observed that the seed fell upon fit soil; and when once, for uttering
+inadvertently a disparaging word against Krzycki, the girl almost
+scratched out his eyes, he surmised her secret and determined to
+exploit her, not only for the good of the cause but also for his own
+personal ends.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Although Pauly was not the servant of Pani Otocka but of Miss Anney,
+she nevertheless dwelt in the same house; so he could, through her,
+secure news of Marynia, which he craved with all his soul; he could
+quiet his fears as to Krzycki's intentions, could speak of her and hear
+her name; and finally could gain information as to when and where he
+could see her, though from a distance. And he questioned Panna Pauly
+about all this; at first cautiously and casually, afterwards more and
+more, and at last so incessantly that this began to surprise and anger
+her. Prone to extremes, and more capable of hatred than affection, she
+worshipped, by way of exception, Marynia, regarding her as a sort of
+supernal being, and this worship in her was as violent as was her
+hatred. On the other hand, on the ideal path, in the direction of
+universal equality and dislike of the higher classes she made in a
+brief time considerable progress. She could not however, cast off at
+once her former notions, and she frequently had sudden relapses to
+them. Hence at one time, when Laskowicz as usual began to hurl
+questions at her about Panna Marynia, she answered him testily:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why are you always talking about Panna Zbyltowska?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps I am in love with her,&quot; retorted the student, knitting his
+brow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this her eyes in a moment blazed with rage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What more yet?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to peer at her keenly and asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why does the little lady say 'what more yet'?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For you are as suited for her as I am--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she paused abruptly, but he finished:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To Pan Krzycki, for instance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then she burst into a greater rage yet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why do you meddle in matters that do not concern you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not meddle in anything. I say only if the little lady fell in
+love with him and if I, hearing of it, said 'What more yet?' that would
+be disagreeable to the little lady? And it would be justly
+disagreeable. For if the priests prate that it is permissible to love
+even God, why not a human being? It is permissible for the little lady,
+it is permissible for me, it is permissible for everybody, for that is
+the law of nature and therefore our law.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The words seconded that which was hidden in the girl's heart too much
+for her anger to remain, so she only glanced at Laskowicz, as if in
+sorrow, and replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Eh! Much good will come of that law!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It will come or not come, in time. After all, if we adjusted the world
+in our own way, no dog would bark at such things. Is not the little
+lady worthy of Krzycki? Why not? Is it because he is richer? That is
+just what we are trying to prevent. Then what? Education? Lady, spit
+upon it. That education you can teach to a monkey. It is he, if the
+little lady wanted him, who ought yet to kiss the little lady's feet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she again became impatient and replied:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Idle talk.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I also want only to say that in case I should fall in love with Panna
+Marynia and the little lady with Krzycki, our lot would be identical
+and the wrong the same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wrong in what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the vile institutions of this world; in this, that such riff-raff
+as ourselves are permitted to love only to suffer, and we are not
+allowed to raise our eyes even upon the bourgeoisie, even though the
+hearts within should whine like dogs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True,&quot; answered the girl through set teeth. &quot;But what of it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This: that we ought to give to each other our hands, as brother and
+sister, and not be angry at each other, but assist one another. Who
+knows whether one may not be of service to the other?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Eh! In what way can we help each other?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he again began to gaze fixedly at her with his eyes set so closely
+to each other and said, uttering each word slowly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know whether Krzycki is in love with Panna Marynia or with
+that Englishwoman whom the little lady serves; or perhaps with neither
+of them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In one moment Pauly's face was covered with a pallor; afterwards a
+flame passed over it, which in turn gave way to pallor. In her soul
+there might have been dumb fears, but up to that time she had dared not
+put to herself any questions. Those ladies were entertained in Jastrzeb
+as guests. Pani Otocka and Panna Marynia were Krzycki's relatives;
+therefore there was nothing unusual in their relations. On the other
+hand, when the &quot;Englishwoman&quot; in Jastrzeb drove for the doctor and
+later nursed the wounded man, that was a time when the heart of the
+girl raged with jealousy and uneasiness. Afterwards she was placated by
+the thought that such a young nobleman would not wed a foreign
+&quot;intruder,&quot; no matter how wealthy, but, at present, jealousy pierced
+her like a knife.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The little lady asked in what way we can help one another, did she
+not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At least in--revenge,&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, he changed the conversation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let the little lady come to me and, if I sometimes inquire about
+anything, let her not get angry. If at times it is hard for her, it is
+not easy for me. One lot, one wrong. Let the little lady come. I do not
+want to live with Swidwicki any longer. He is a peculiar man. I know
+that he did not take me out of the goodness of his heart, but as he
+placed himself in peril on my account I must endure everything from
+him. In the meantime he so maligns our party that I feel an impulse to
+shoot him in the head or stab him with a knife.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why do you argue with that old goat?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because he talks and I must listen. Often he goads me into a reply.
+Somebody else for lesser things would get a knife under the ribs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I will not be able to hide you a second time, for I do not know
+where.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. I myself will find some sort of hole; I have already thought of
+that. Our people will help. I now have a passport and am bleached
+yellow on the head. Some of my associates could not recognize me. Even
+if I am caught they will not try me as Laskowicz but as Zaranczko of
+Bessarabia, unless some one should betray me, but such there is not
+among us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only be careful, sir, and when you know where to hide, let me know. I
+will not betray.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know, I know; such do not betray.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he suddenly asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why does not the little lady want to agree that we should call each
+other 'associates'? Amongst us we all speak that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she rebuffed him at once.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told you once I cannot endure that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, if it is so, then it is hard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pauly began to prepare for home. Laskowicz on the leave-taking made a
+second departure from the customs governing his associates, for he
+kissed her hand. Previously he had noticed that this raised her in her
+own eyes; that it flattered her and brought her into a good humor.
+Although not by nature over-intelligent, he observed that the
+principles of the Party alone would not entirely hold her, and that he
+would have in that girl an aid capable of all extremes, but only so far
+as her own personality entered into the play. This lowered the opinion
+which he held of her and his gratitude to her. He nevertheless
+submitted to this despotism, remembering that he owed to her his life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At present he had, besides, a favor to ask of her; so at the door he
+kissed her hand a second time and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Panna Pauly--the same lot, the same wrong. Let the little lady answer
+yet one more question. Where can I see though from a distance--though
+from a distance--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whom?&quot; she asked, knitting her brows.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Panna Marynia.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If from a distance, then I will tell,&quot; she replied reluctantly. &quot;The
+little lady is to play for the starving working people and at noon goes
+to the rehearsals.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alone?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, with Pani Otocka or with my mistress; but sometimes with one of us
+servants.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thank you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But only from a distance--do you understand, sir,--for otherwise you
+will fare badly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And after these words, which sounded like a menace, she left him. The
+next moment Laskowicz heard through the door Swidwicki's voice and
+laughter, after which something resembling a scuffle, a suppressed
+scream, and--the sound of hasty footsteps on the stairs; finally
+Swidwicki stumbled into the room, drunk.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What were you doing here?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing,&quot; answered Laskowicz.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to scan the room, evidently desiring to satisfy himself
+whether he could not detect some signs of disorder, and repeated:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I give you my word of honor,&quot; the student exclaimed with energy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this Swidwicki leered at him, fingering his disheveled beard and
+said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you are a fool!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he flung himself upon the sofa, for he had partaken of a
+sumptuous breakfast and was sleepy.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>III</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz's extreme fanaticism could not in reality harmonize with the
+extreme cynical scepticism of Swidwicki, who in addition took advantage
+of the situation not only beyond measure, but to the point of cruelty.
+He himself spoke of it and boasted about it to Gronski, when he met him
+in the restaurant, to which Gronski went after Krzycki's removal.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have enough of my revolutionary maggot,&quot; he said, &quot;I have enough of
+him, especially since I have satisfied myself that personally he is
+honest and will not pilfer any money from my pocket-book. From that
+time he has bored me. As for harboring such a simpleton one might go to
+Siberia. I regarded it in the beginning as a species of sport. I
+thought I would have a permanent sensation of a certain anxiety and, in
+the meantime, I have not experienced anything of the kind. The only
+satisfaction which I have is to point out to him his own stupidity and
+that of his party. By that I drive him to rabidness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But that he cares to argue with you--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He does not want to but is unable to restrain himself. His temperament
+and fanaticism carry him away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At one time I met a similar individual,&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;and not
+very long ago--out in the country, in Jastrzeb. He was a student, a
+tutor of Stas, whom Krzycki later discharged because he incited the
+field hands and was an agitator among peasants of the neighborhood.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah,&quot; ejaculated, with a strange smile, Swidwicki, to whom it occurred
+that Pauly also was at Jastrzeb.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What? Why do you smile?&quot; asked Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, nothing. Speak further.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I rode with him once to the city and on the way had quite a chat with
+him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;According to your habit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;According to my habit. Now among empty phrases, which only dull minds
+would accept as genuine coin, he said some interesting things. I
+learned a little about the angle from which they view the world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My maggot at times says interesting things. Yesterday I led him into
+the admission that socialists of the pure water regard as their
+greatest enemies the peasants and the radical members of the
+bourgeoisie. I began to pour oil on the fire and he unbosomed himself.
+An unsophisticated peasant aspires to ownership, and that aspiration
+the devil cannot eradicate, and as to the bourgeoisie he spoke thus:
+'What harm,' he said, 'do these few nobles and priests who infest the
+world do to us? Our enemy is the bourgeois, rich or poor. Our enemy is
+the radical, who thinks that as soon as he shouts that he does not
+believe in God and priests that he buys us. Our enemy is that boaster,
+who speaks in the name of the common people and is ready to tickle us
+under the armpits, so that we should smile on him. He is the one who
+fawns on us, like a dog at a roll of butter, and preserves all the
+instincts of a bourgeois.' And he chattered further until I said: 'Hold
+on! Why, you are with the radicals &quot;fratres Helenae!&quot;' And he to this:
+'That is not true! The radical, wealthy bourgeois, who from fear dyes
+in red and borrows the standard and methods from us, introduces
+confusion in minds and drabbles in the mud our idea; and the poor one,
+if he annually saves even the smallest amount, injures us for he offers
+to work at a lower price than the pure proletaire, who always is as
+poor as Job. We,' he said, 'will put the knife, above all things, to
+the throats of the bourgeois for latent treachery lurks in him.' Thus
+he chattered and I was willing to concede justice to him, if in general
+I believed in justice, but I did not concede it yet for another reason,
+and that is, he is too stupid to have reasoned out such things. It was
+evident that he repeated what others taught him. In fact I did not
+neglect to tell him so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Further discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Dolhanski who,
+observing Gronski, approached him, although he disliked to meet
+Swidwicki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How are you?&quot; he said, &quot;My ladies took a trip to Czestochowo; so I am
+free. Will you permit me to be seated with you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly, certainly. Why, these are your last days.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It would be worth while even for that reason to drink a little
+bottle,&quot; observed Swidwicki, &quot;particularly as it is, besides, my
+birthday.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If the calendar was a wine-cellar and the dates in it bottles, then
+your birthday would occur every day,&quot; answered Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I swear to you upon everything at which I jeer, that, contrary to my
+habit and inclination, this time I speak the truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this, he nodded to the waiter and ordered him to bring two
+bottles, calculating that afterwards more would be forthcoming. In the
+meantime Dolhanski said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I met Krzycki to-day. He looks poorly; somehow not himself, and he
+told me that he does not live with you but in a hotel. Did you by
+chance quarrel?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. But he moved away from me and Pani Krzycki from Pani Otocka's.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is some kind of epidemic,&quot; exclaimed Swidwicki, &quot;for my
+cutthroat is leaving me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps something has passed between Krzycki and Miss Anney,&quot; said
+Dolhanski. &quot;I supposed that they were getting quite intimate. Did they
+part--or what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A marchpane, that Englishwoman,&quot; interrupted Swidwicki; &quot;but her maid
+has more electricity in her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski hesitated for a while; after which he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, they have not parted, but something has occurred. I do not know
+why I should make a secret of that which, sooner or later, you will
+find out. It has developed that Miss Anney is not the born, but
+adopted, child of the rich English manufacturer, lately deceased, Mr.
+Anney, and of his late wife.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, if the adoption gives her all the rights, and particularly the
+right of inheritance, is it not all the same to Krzycki?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The adoption gives her all rights; nevertheless it is not entirely the
+same to Krzycki, for it appears that Miss Anney is the daughter of a
+blacksmith of Rzeslewo and is named Hanka Skibianka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha!&quot; cried Swidwicki, &quot;Perdita has been found but not the king's
+daughter. What does the pretty Florizel say to this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Dolhanski began to stare at Gronski as if he saw him for the first
+time in his life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What are you saying?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The actual fact.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sapristi! But that is a nursery tale. Sapristi! You are joking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I give you my word it is so. She herself told that to Krzycki.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I like that expression of astonishment on Dolhanski's face,&quot; exclaimed
+Swidwicki. &quot;Man, come to yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dolhanski restrained himself, for he always proclaimed that a true
+gentleman never should be surprised.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I remember now,&quot; he said, &quot;that this is the Skibianka to whom Uncle
+Zarnowski bequeathed a few thousand roubles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Therefore his daughter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Fancy to yourself otherwise. Skiba came from Galicia to Rzeslewo with
+a wife and a child a few years old.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Therefore of pure peasant blood.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A Piast's,<a name="div2Ref_10" href="#div2_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> a Piast's,&quot;
+cried Swidwicki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Absolutely pure,&quot; answered Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what does Laudie say?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He swallowed the tidings and is trying to digest them,&quot; again blurted
+out Swidwicki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That substantially is the case. He found himself in a new situation
+and locked himself up. It dumfounded him a little, and he desires to
+come to himself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He was enamoured to the point of ludicrousness but now he will
+probably break off.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not admit that, but I repeat, that, in view of the changed
+situation, he has fallen into a certain internal strife, which he must
+first quell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I candidly confess that I would break off all relations
+unconditionally.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But if Kaska or Hanka had a hundred thousand pounds?&quot; asked Swidwicki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In such a case--I would have fallen into a strife,&quot; answered
+Dolhanski, phlegmatically.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a while he continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For it seems that it is nothing, but in life it may appear to be
+something. Omitting the various cousins, 'Mats' and 'Jacks,' who
+undoubtedly will be found; there also will be found dissimilar
+instincts, dissimilar dispositions, and dissimilar tastes. Why, the
+deuce! I would not want a wife who suddenly might be ruled by an
+unexpected passion for amber rosaries, for shelling peas, for swingling
+flax, for picking fruit, or for gathering mushrooms, not to say berries
+and nuts, and walking barefooted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here he turned to Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Shrug your shoulders, but it is so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That would not shock me,&quot; said Swidwicki, &quot;only, if I were to marry
+Miss Anney, I would just stipulate that she at times should go about
+barefooted. When I am in the country, nothing affects me so much as the
+sight of the bare feet of girls. It is true that they often have
+erysipelas about the ankles, which comes from the prickle of the
+stubblefields. But I assume that Miss Anney has not got erysipelas.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One cannot talk with you in a dignified manner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why?&quot; replied Swidwicki. &quot;Let Krzycki now clip coupons from his
+dignity but not we. Did you say that he belongs to the National
+Democrats?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, not I. But what connection has that with Miss Anney?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh,--oh, a nobleman--a National Democrat--has found out that his flame
+has peasant blood in her veins and nevertheless his belly on that
+account has begun to ache; nevertheless, he is stung by that deminutio
+capitis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who told you that? Besides, it should be permutatio, not deminutio.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes! The English wares take on the appearance of a domestic product
+and fall in value. Justly, justly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you know who could with perfect independence enter into a marriage
+under such conditions?&quot; asked Dolhanski. &quot;A truly great gentlemen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But not Polish,&quot; exclaimed Swidwicki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There you are already beginning! Why not Polish?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Because a Polish gentleman has not sufficient faith in his own blood;
+he plainly has not sufficient pride to believe that he will elevate a
+woman to himself and not lower himself to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski began to laugh:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did not expect that charge from your lips,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why? I am an individualist, and in so far as I do not regard myself as
+a specimen of the basest race, so far do I regard myself as a specimen
+of the best. According to me one belongs to the aristocracy only
+through lucky chance; that is, when one brings into the world a
+suitable profile and corresponding brain. But Dolhanski, for instance,
+in so far as he has not purchased portraits of ancestors at an
+auction--and our other gentlemen--judge that blood constitutes that
+appurtenance. Now granting these premises, I contend that our tories do
+not know how to be proud of their blood.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At home,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;you vent your spleen upon the socialists, and
+here you wish to vent it upon the aristocracy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That does not diminish my merits. I have a few pretty remarks for the
+National Democracy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know, I know. But how will you prove that which you said about the
+Polish tories?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How will I prove it? By the Socratic method--with the aid of
+questions. Did you ever observe when a Polish gentleman abroad becomes
+acquainted with a Frenchman or Englishman? I, while I had money, passed
+winters in Nice or in Cairo and saw a number of them. Now, every time I
+propounded to myself the question which now I put to you: why the devil
+it is not the Frenchman or Englishman who tries to please the Pole, but
+the Pole them? Why is it that only the Pole fawns, only the Pole
+coquets? Because he is almost ashamed of his descent; and if by chance
+a Frenchman tells him that from his accent he took him for a Frenchman,
+or an Englishman takes him for an Englishman, then he melts with joy,
+like butter in a frying-pan! Ah, I have seen such coquettes by the
+score--and it is an old story. Such coquetry, for instance, Stanislaus
+Augustus<a name="div2Ref_11" href="#div2_11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> possessed. At
+home, the Polish gentleman at times knows
+how to hold his nose high. Before a foreigner he is on both paws. Is
+not that a lack of pride in his own race, in his own blood, in his own
+traditions? If you have the slightest grain of a sense of justice, even
+though no larger than the grain of caviar, you must admit the justice
+of my remarks. As to myself, I have been ashamed sometimes that I am a
+Pole.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That means that you committed the same sin with which you charge
+others,&quot; replied Gronski. &quot;If the tips of the wings of our eagle
+reached both seas, as at one time they did, perhaps Poles might be
+different. But at present--tell me--of what are they to be proud?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are twisting things. I am speaking of racial pride only, not
+political,&quot; answered Swidwicki. &quot;After all, may the devils take them. I
+prefer to drink.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Say what you will,&quot; asserted Dolhanski, &quot;but I will merely tell you
+this: if internal affairs were exclusively in their hands, some
+fooleries might take place, but we would not be fried in the sauce in
+which we are fried to-day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki turned to him with eyes glistening already a little
+abnormally.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear sir,&quot; he said, &quot;in order to govern a country it is necessary
+to have one of three things: either the greatest number, which
+the canaille has behind it--I beg pardon, I should have said the
+Democracy--or the greatest sound sense, which nobody amongst us
+possesses, or the most money, which the Jews have. And as I have
+demonstrated that our great gentlemen do not even have any sentiment of
+traditions, therefore what have they?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At least good manners, which you lack,&quot; retorted Dolhanski with
+aversion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. I will tell you what they have--if not all of them, then the
+second or third one: but I will tell it to you in a whisper, so as not
+to shock Gronski's virgin ears.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And leaning over to Dolhanski, he whispered a word to him, after which
+he snorted, maliciously:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not say that that is nothing, but it is not sufficient to govern
+the country with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Dolhanski frowned and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If that is so, then you surely belong to the highest aristocracy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of course! certainly! I have a diploma certified a few years ago in
+Aix-la-chapelle, the place of the coronation!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this, he again quaffed his wine and continued with a kind of
+feverish gayety:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, permit me to rail, permit me to scoff at men and things! I always
+do that internally but at times I must expectorate the gall. Permit me!
+For after all, I am a Pole, and for a Pole there perhaps cannot be a
+greater pleasure than defacing, belittling, pecking at, calumniating,
+spitting on, and pulling down statues from the pedestals. Republican
+tradition, is it not? In addition Providence so happily arranged it
+that a Pole loves that the most, and when he himself is concerned, he
+feels it most acutely. A delightful society!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are mistaken,&quot; replied Gronski, &quot;for in that respect we have
+changed prodigiously and in proof of it, I will cite one instance: When
+the painter Limiatycki received for his 'Golgotha' a grand medal in
+Paris, all the local little brushes at once fumed at him. So meeting
+him, I asked him whether he intended to retaliate, and he replied to me
+with the greatest serenity: 'I am serving my fatherland and art, but
+only stupidity cannot understand that, while only turpitude will not
+understand it.' And he was right, for whoever has any kind of wings at
+his shoulders and can raise himself a little in the air, need not pay
+attention to the mud of the streets.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tut, tut; mud is a purely native product, the same as other symptoms
+of your national culture, namely: filth, scandals, envy, folly,
+indolence, big words and little deeds, cheap politics, brawling, a
+relish for mass-meetings, banditism, revolvers, and bombs; if I wanted
+to mention everything I would not finish until late at night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I will throw in for you a few more things,&quot; said Gronski;
+&quot;drunkenness, cynicism, a stupid pose of despair, thoughtless
+hypercriticism, scoffing at misfortune, fouling one's own nest,
+spitting at blood and suffering, undermining faith in the future, and
+blasphemy against the nation. Have you yet enough?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have not enough of wine. Order some more, order some more!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will not order any more wine, but I will tell yet more, that you err
+in claiming that these are native products. They are brought by a
+certain wind which evidently has fanned you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Swidwicki, who this time had no desire to quarrel but did have a
+desire to drink, evidently wishing to change the subject of the
+conversation, unexpectedly exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Apropos of winds, what a pity that such sensible people as the
+Prussians commit one gross blunder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski, who had already risen to bid him farewell, was overcome
+temporarily by curiosity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What blunder?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That they assume super-villeiny to be superhumanity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In this you are right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I feel a contempt for myself as often as I am right.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then we will leave you with your wine and your contempt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Saying this, Gronski nodded to Dolhanski and they departed. Swidwicki's
+last words, however, caused him to reflect; so after a while he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now people's minds are haunted by the Prussians and they are reminded
+of them by the slightest cause. After all, Swidwicki's description of
+them was apposite.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you knew how little I am interested in Swidwicki's descriptions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nevertheless, you vie with him and talk in a similar strain,&quot; answered
+Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, pursuing further the train of his thoughts, he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nietzsche also did not perceive that the susceptibility and
+appreciation of other people's woes becomes manifest only upon the
+culmination of the creative ...&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good, good, but at this moment I am more interested in what Krzycki is
+going to do about Miss Anney.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Dolhanski, who could not endure Swidwicki, would have been sorely
+afflicted, if he had suspected that the same question occurred to the
+latter's mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Remaining alone, Swidwicki recalled Gronski's recital and began to
+laugh, as the thought of such unusual complications amused him
+immensely. He imagined to himself what excitement must have prevailed
+at Krzycki's and at Pani Otocka's, and how far the affair would agitate
+the circles of their relatives and acquaintances. And suddenly he began
+to soliloquize in the following manner:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And if I paid Miss Anney a visit? It even behooves me to leave her a
+card. That would be eminently proper. I may not find her in--that does
+not matter much, but if I should find her in, I will try to see whether
+her legs are not too bulky at the ankles. For culture, education, even
+polish may be acquired, but delicate ligaments of the legs and hands it
+is necessary to inherit through a whole series of generations. That
+furious Pauly, nevertheless, has a sufficiently thin ligature. The
+devil, however, knows who her father was, I will go. If I do not find
+one, I shall find the other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he went. He was admitted not by the man-servant but by Pauly; so he
+smiled at her in his most ingratiating manner and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good-day, pretty fennel-flower! Is Panna Hanka Skibianka at home?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What Hanka Skibianka?&quot; she asked in surprise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then, the little lady does not know the great tidings?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What great tidings? I do not know any.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That the mistress of the little lady is not named Miss Anney?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do not upset our heads.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I give the little lady my word of honor. Ask Pan Gronski, or Pan
+Krzycki, who is chewing off his fingers from mortification. I give you
+my word of honor. I also could tell you more, but if the little lady is
+not curious I will go. Here is my card for Panna Ski-bian-ka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The eyes of the girl sparkled with curiosity. She took the card
+mechanically.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not say that you should go, but I do not believe,&quot; she said
+hurriedly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I know yet more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will whisper it in your ear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It did not occur to Pauly that there was no necessity for Swidwicki
+speaking in a whisper. She leaned towards him with a palpitating heart
+and, though he flooded her with his breath, saturated with the odor of
+wine, she did not withdraw her head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is it?&quot; she repeated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That Panna Skibianka is a peasant woman from Zarnow!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is untrue!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As I love God.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And, saying this, he suddenly smacked her ear with a broad kiss.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>IV</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Miss Anney's letter bore the impress of extraordinary simplicity. At
+the beginning she said that from the moment when he proposed for her
+hand she was compelled to reveal her former name; while in the
+continuation it contained an equally simple account of herself and her
+family from the time of their departure from Rzeslewo. This sad course
+of events she related in the following words:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My father came from Galicia and had in America relatives of whom he
+heard that through labor they had amassed fortunes. Learning of this,
+he decided to settle there also and seek his fortune beyond the ocean.
+We left Rzeslewo at a time when you were in Warsaw. I knew how to write
+as I was taught that in the manor-house, and would have informed you
+about this if I had known your address. We went, not saying anything to
+anybody, to Hamburg, and at that place there occurred what often
+happens to peasant emigrants. The agent tricked us, defrauded us of our
+money, and placed us on a vessel bound not for America but for England.
+Thrown upon the pavements of London, we soon fell into dire want. For
+the passage to America there now was no means. My mother died of
+typhoid fever in a hospital and father, from despair and nostalgia,
+declined rapidly in health. Under these circumstances we were found by
+Mr. Anney, one of the best and noblest men in the world, a friend and
+patron of the Poles, who gave us employment. But the succor came too
+late, and my father died in the course of a year. I remained in the
+factory and worked in it until the accident which changed my status
+entirely. The Anney family had only one child, a daughter, whom they
+loved beyond everything in the world and surrounded with a solicitude
+all the greater because she was threatened by a pulmonary ailment. Once
+it happened that Miss Anney, while visiting the factory, was almost
+carried away by the driving-wheel of the machinery. I rushed to her
+assistance, imperilling a little my own life, and from that time the
+gratitude of the Anney family for me had no bounds. They took me from
+the factory to themselves, and in this manner I became the companion
+and afterwards the bosom friend of their daughter. A Pole, an emigrant
+of the year '63, a friend of Mr. Anney and a man well educated, taught
+us both, and me, separately, in Polish. I endeavored to benefit, as
+much as lay in my power, from these lessons, and after two years was
+able to approach a little the intellectual plane of my friend and my
+environment. But Agnes--for such was the Christian name of Miss
+Anney--began to fail in her health. Then Mr. Anney sold his factory and
+we all, including our instructor, removed to Italy. There about three
+years were passed in a search for the best climate for our dearest
+patient. All efforts proved unavailing, however, as God took His angel
+unto Himself. After Agnes' death, the Anneys, remembering that I loved
+with my whole soul our dead one, adopted me as their own child and gave
+me not only their family name, but desiring to overcome their despair,
+suffering, and sorrow, even the Christian name of the deceased.
+Nevertheless, the sorrow could not be overcome, and though I tried with
+my whole heart to be to them some sort of comfort in life, in the
+course of two years both followed their greatest love.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And this is the end of my history. And after that came those events
+which brought me nearer to you; therefore I desire to justify my
+conduct in your eyes. I have a right to the name which I bear, and my
+life from the time of the departure from Rzeslewo has been pure.
+Conscience reproaches me with only one new error. This was that I did
+not confess to the Anneys that I already was unworthy of their care.
+But for such a confession I lacked strength. I loved too much my Agnes
+and feared that they would separate me from her. Later I did not want
+to add to their affliction. I did not have the strength. At times,
+also, I think that now when they look upon me from heaven and see
+everything, they forgive me for keeping that secret. Beyond this I once
+more repeat and swear that my life has been pure. But in my memory I
+have only coffins and coffins, and of my Rzeslewo days there remains to
+me only the recollection of you. I could not forget either my sin or my
+happiness. Often during the life of my adopted sister, while gazing
+into her chaste eyes, I struggled with remorse, and at the same time I
+wept from intense longing. After that, being left alone in the world, I
+had nothing to cherish in my heart, and I began to yearn yet more.
+When, after the death of the Anneys, I became acquainted and grew
+intimate with Zosia Otocka in Brussels, I accidentally learned from a
+conversation that she was your relative. Then I related to her my
+entire life, not concealing anything, and she not only did not spurn
+me, but loved me yet more. Emboldened by her goodness, I confessed to
+her my longing for the old days and Rzeslewo. Perhaps it may be a new
+fault on my part that I confided to Zosia my insurmountable desire of
+seeing yet once more in my life, Jastrzeb, Rzeslewo, and--why should I
+not state the whole truth?--and you. Then Zosia said to me: 'I
+understand you; ride with me to Jastrzeb as Miss Anney, as you cannot
+do otherwise. Nobody will recognize you and you will take a reckoning
+with your own heart. Perhaps reality may extinguish the rainbow of
+recollections. If they are assuaged forever, so much the better for
+you; if he should fall in love with you, so much the worse for him; if
+your former echoes reawaken, then we will assume that this was
+predestination.' Such was Zosia's advice, and for that reason, when
+your mother invited her and Marynia, I also accompanied them to
+Jastrzeb. But I do not wish to pass for any better than I am. I confess
+that on the road I always had in mind Zosia's words: 'If he falls in
+love with you, so much the worse for him,' and I wished that to happen.
+I was certain that you had entirely forgotten me, and I thought that if
+now you fell in love with me without any requital, that it would be a
+sort of condign punishment for your forgetfulness and a kind of triumph
+for myself and--if not such a womanly revenge as books tell of,--at
+least a great solace to my self-love. But it happened otherwise, for I
+forgot to take into account that I had a heart, not of foreign books,
+but of a Polish village--simple and faithful. When I saw Rzeslewo,
+Jastrzeb, and you, I wanted only to weep and weep, as I wept at Pan
+Zarnowski's funeral, and I discovered within me that Hanka, who years
+before loved you with her first childish love and afterwards with such
+affection, did not love any one else. You know, sir, what happened
+further. If you do not return, I will not bear any resentment towards
+you, but do not harbor any ill-will against me. I, too, merely skirted
+along the rim of happiness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The signature was &quot;Hanka.&quot; Ladislaus' chin quivered from time to time
+while he was reading the letter and his eyes grew dim. He began to
+repeat the signature &quot;Hanka, Hanka.&quot; He rose abruptly and paced over
+the room with big steps. His thoughts rolled into a ball in his head
+like clouds in the heavens; they collected and scattered in all
+directions like a startled stud of horses on the wild steppes of the
+Ukraine. He read the letter a second and third time, and under its
+influence there began to glide before his eyes pictures of the past as
+distinct as if all that which occurred some time ago had happened but
+yesterday. He recalled those bright moonlight nights when he stole away
+to the mill, and that village girl, fragrant with the hay, who, to the
+question of whether she loved him, whispered in reply, &quot;Of course,&quot; and
+threw her yet half-childish arms around his neck and hugged him to her
+breast with such strength that no other love could make a sincerer
+avowal. He recollected that he nevertheless loved her at that time, and
+when he missed her, longed for her, and even inquired of the people
+about the blacksmith's family--but with reserve and faint-heartedly, as
+fear closed his lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Subsequently that girl was erased from his memory so completely that
+even the light pangs of conscience which he felt on her account
+vanished; nothing remained. It was well with him in the world and he
+sought new sensations, while she was seized by the whirlwind of life
+and was hurled like a wretched leaf upon a foreign land, where she
+suffered from sheer starvation. Nevertheless, neither at that time, nor
+later, when good people took care of her, did she forget him nor did
+she cease to long for him. Ladislaus was not a deep connoisseur of the
+human soul; he felt, nevertheless, that what for him was simply a love
+adventure, a shallow enjoyment of the senses, a transient impression
+which disperses to the winds like the fragrance of flowers, for her
+became a new life; a surrender of her whole being and whole soul, too
+pure and too noble for her to seek a new happiness upon new paths. And
+now he understood why that coveted Miss Anney of to-day, charming as a
+dream, brilliant, surrounded by affluence and arousing admiration,
+wrote to him that she had a heart not of foreign books but of a Polish
+village--simple and faithful. He understood also why the letter was
+signed &quot;Hanka.&quot; Suddenly and irrevocably were banished all his
+suspicions, and her words, &quot;my life from the moment of the departure
+from Rzeslewo has been pure,&quot; touched him to the extent that he began
+to upbraid himself that he should for a moment have thought that it
+could have been otherwise. At once he seemed to himself to be little,
+mean, and unworthy of that noble and exalted soul. But through his
+heart and head there coursed during the last moments so many thoughts,
+impressions, and feelings that he was uncertain whether the final
+sensibility of his own shortcomings and wretchedness would be lasting.
+Nevertheless, he was seized with an ever-increasing tenderness, and
+more and more became obliterated that difference between Hanka and Miss
+Anney which was so irritating to him in the first moments. Now, on the
+contrary, the recollection that this simple girl of old and that
+fascinating lady of to-day were one and the same woman penetrated him
+with a kind of thrill, resembling a thrill of joy. The memory that at
+one time he possessed the other began to waken in him, as it were, a
+hunger and a new passion for the present one, and the thought of her
+charms intensified the play of his young blood. But he strove to stifle
+within him those impressions with the consciousness of the
+responsibilities which were imposed upon him. Above all things he
+propounded to himself the question. What should a man of honor do who
+had betrayed and therefore wronged a girl, almost a child, who was in
+love with him, and later, after a few years, met her under a changed
+name and fell in love with her? There was only one answer; even if he
+did not fall in love, if her love continued, he ought to assume all the
+consequences of his acts. If she remained a simple-minded rustic who
+never could understand him, or if she had deviated from the path of
+rectitude, even in such a case, it would not, for his vexed soul, be
+sufficient reason for washing his hands and withdrawing from the
+affair; and so much the more, since the girl had bridged the
+intellectual and social chasm which separated them, and in addition
+ennobled her own soul and had not ceased to love. &quot;Yes it is so. I
+would spit in my own eyes,&quot; said Ladislaus (not thinking at that moment
+that in practice an act like that would be a trifle difficult to
+perform), &quot;if I hesitated any longer. There is only one thing to do and
+I will do that at once.&quot; Having formed this resolution, he took a deep
+breath like a man, from whose heart a heavy load has fallen--and as
+much as he at first became little in his own eyes, so now he began to
+gain in stature. He did not, however, propound the question, what would
+happen if Miss Anney did not have such wondrous eyes, gazing with a
+heavenly streak, nor such a countenance, whose color reminded him of
+the petals of a white rose, nor those other charms which attracted his
+eyes. He said to himself that many of his acquaintances could not
+afford to form a similar resolution; he was pleased with himself; and
+that it was easier for him to do so because he was impelled thereto by
+his heart and senses, he deemed not as lessening the worthiness of the
+act itself, but as his own good fortune. He foresaw, however, that he
+would yet have to do with his mother as well as with the so called
+opinion of society, which is not concerned about principles but only
+about gossip, and which seeks, above all things, food for its own
+stupid malice. But he expected to reconcile his mother, and as to the
+malicious, smiling ironically upon the slightest provocation, his
+nostrils, distended at the very thought, and his clenched teeth boded
+them no good. But this anticipated knightly action was a matter of the
+future; in the meantime his impetuous nature urged him to immediate
+action. He determined to go to his mother at once and definitely come
+to an understanding with her. Glancing, however, at his watch, he
+became aware of the fact that it was almost three o'clock in the
+morning. In view of this, that was impossible. Not feeling, however,
+the least need of sleep, and desiring absolutely to do something, he
+sat down to write letters. First, he inclosed Miss Anney's letter in an
+envelope, because he wanted to send it to his mother before the
+decisive interview took place; after which he started to write to Miss
+Anney, but soon stopped, as it occurred to him that since he gave his
+word that he would remain silent for a week, he did not have the right
+to do it. Instead, after a brief deliberation, he wrote a few words to
+Pani Otocka, praying that she would permit him to visit her that day.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Finally, when the dawn began to peer into the room and mingle with the
+light of the lamps, he thought of repose, but though he felt great
+weariness, he could not fall asleep, and mentally he conversed with his
+mother and Miss Anney until sunrise. He fell into a sound slumber only
+when the morning bustle in the hotel began and did not awake until
+late. Dressing himself, he rang for the servant and ordered him to
+deliver Miss Anney's letter to his mother, but at the last minute he
+made up his mind to take it to her himself. But in the rooms engaged by
+his mother he found only the younger members of the family and the
+French governess, who informed him that &quot;madame&quot; went to church early
+in the morning.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>V</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Krzycki had indeed gone to church and confession, for in the grief
+which befell her, she needed consolation and advice. And her grief was
+real and profound. She lived in times in which various ancient
+prejudices and prepossessions clashed, and were becoming more and more
+obliterated, yielding place to new democratic ideas. As she often heard
+that the wave of these new ideas might bring benefit and salvation to
+the country, she, notwithstanding that her habits and former
+conceptions conflicted with them, not only did not struggle against
+them, but quietly acquiesced in them in a passive manner. This was
+easier for her as it never occurred to her that personally she would
+ever have anything to do with them. For her it was the same as if
+somebody had installed modern furniture in a few rooms in Jastrzeb,
+which were not continually occupied. Let them stay there since fashion
+requires it and since in the other rooms there are old armchairs,
+heirlooms, in which one can rest comfortably. And now, suddenly she was
+ordered to move to that new part of the house; suddenly she was
+confronted by the fact that her son was in love with a peasant woman
+from Rzeslewo and was about to marry her. Then in the first moments
+everything within her was stirred up; the old instincts and customs
+began to cry out. That silent and passive acquiescence in the new ideas
+crumbled like a building of sand, and the whole course of events
+appeared to the indignant citizeness-noblewoman as an unworthy intrigue
+in which the victim to be sported with was her son and with him, the
+entire Krzycki family. Amazement that the chief partner and almost
+author of this intrigue could be a being whom she regarded as the
+incarnation of all feminine virtues, and whom she desired her son
+should marry, only aggravated her anger. In vain did Zosia explain to
+her that her son was the betrayer of an innocent child and Miss Anney
+was an angel, and that in bringing her to Jastrzeb, she did not have
+any sinister designs and did only that which every other woman in her
+place, sympathizing with a wronged and longing woman, would have done.
+&quot;If the most fervent wish of Miss Anney was to behold once more in her
+life the place in which her life was undone, and the man whom she could
+not forget and who was the author of her undoing, then it was due to
+her; and everybody who has the slightest heart ought to understand
+this. And let Aunt say,&quot; she continued, &quot;whether I could betray her
+secret and whether an impossible situation would not have been created
+for her.&quot; The usually quiet and gentle Zosia became so wrought up in
+defence of her friend that she plainly told Pani Krzycki that even if
+Laudie fell in love with Miss Anney without any requital that it would
+be only what he deserved and, besides, since &quot;Aninka&quot; did not accept
+his proposal and gave him a week's time for consideration, he could
+withdraw it; in such case, however, &quot;Aninka&quot; would not be the only one
+whose respect he forfeited. But all this was pouring oil upon fire and
+only increased the ire of Pani Krzycki who declared that, at any rate,
+she and her son were victims of a plot. After which she moved to a
+hotel, announcing at the time of her departure that her feet would
+never again cross the threshold of that house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nevertheless, the bitterness and anger which accumulated in her heart
+were not directed against Pani Otocka alone. Her son also had wounded
+her heart deeply and awakened a whole series of painful recollections,
+connected with the memory of her husband. For her husband, a man
+worshipped by her during the first years of their marital life for his
+manifold good qualities and extraordinary beauty, had caused her not a
+little mortification through his immoral life in relation to women in
+general and the female residents of Jastrzeb and its vicinity in
+particular. To Pani Krzycki it was no secret, that, in the course of
+long years, cows were led continually from the manor cow-houses as
+gifts or rather as rewards to various Kates and Marys and that
+in Jastrzeb could be found quite a number of step-brothers and
+step-sisters of her children. So she shed copious tears over this state
+of affairs until almost the last year of her husband's life. In her
+time she suffered in her own self-love and her womanly dignity as a
+wife and mother. Afterwards she forgave everything, but after the death
+of her husband, as a woman deeply religious, she lived in continual
+fear at the thought of the Divine Tribunal, before which the deceased
+appeared. For whole years she tried to supplicate for him forgiveness
+through tears, fasts, alms, and prayers. Above all she determined to
+bring up her son in such a manner that he would never fall into the
+errors of his father. She watched him in his boyhood days, like the eye
+in her head; she shielded him from all evil influences. After sending
+him to school she confided the care of him to her relative, a priest,
+and to Gronski, in whose morality she justly believed. And when the son
+grew up, when after finishing school, he attended the university, and
+afterwards assumed the management of the Jastrzeb estate, she had that
+bottomless, naïve faith, usual with women, upright and pious but
+unacquainted with the depravity of the world, that up to that time
+&quot;Laudie&quot; was as pure as a lily. And now unexpectedly the film over her
+eyes dropped. The son was following in the footsteps of his father. At
+this thought she was beset by despair. In her soul a protest truly
+vehement poured forth against the alliance of her son with a peasant
+woman, but having a very sensitive conscience she felt, after her
+conversation with Zosia, that Miss Anney had some claim on Ladislaus.
+Once or twice, this manner of extricating themselves from an onerous
+situation suggested itself to her mind; that Ladislaus in pursuance of
+a prearranged compact should propose to Miss Anney and she should
+refuse him. &quot;But do I know,&quot; she said to herself, &quot;how many similar
+Hankas may already be found in Jastrzeb?&quot; And a horror penetrated to
+the marrow of her bones at the thought that among those Hankas might be
+Ladislaus' step-sisters, for it seemed to her that the crimes of the
+father fatally dragged after them the yet greater crimes of the son and
+with them must follow damnation. &quot;Ah, Laudie! ah, Laudie!&quot; she repeated
+despondently, and she felt besides fear, such pain, such disappointment
+of heart and such profound resentment, that however much she understood
+that it was necessary to summon Ladislaus as soon as possible and
+ascertain how he had received the news that Miss Anney is Hanka and
+what he intended to do, nevertheless she could not persuade herself to
+see him at once. After removing from Pani Otocka's, the information
+that he was not at the hotel afforded her true relief. She immediately
+locked herself up in her room and determined, if he called, not to
+admit him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The following morning she went to church and to confession and after
+confession she begged her relative, the prelate, the same who in his
+time had charge of Ladislaus, for advice. Already she was calmer. The
+aged prelate received her and began with extraordinary particularity to
+question her about Miss Anney, her stay at Jastrzeb, about the course
+of events after the attempt on Ladislaus' life, and about the details
+in Hanka's life, of which Pani Krzycki had learned from Zosia:
+afterwards about the fears of Pani Krzycki herself, and finally after a
+long silence he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As to the sins, which Ladislaus, after this, the first sin of his
+youth, might have committed, that is only a conjecture, and a fear, and
+as we have no irrefutable proofs of them, we should not take them into
+account at all. There only remains the former Hanka and the Miss Anney
+of to-day. It is only with this one case that we have to do. So I
+desire to know how you, as a mother, regard her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Krzycki replied that she knew perfectly well that all people in
+the sight of God were equal, but she was concerned about the happiness
+of her son. Similar marriages were not usually happy. It may be that
+the reason for this is the malice of the world: it may be that the wife
+met with humiliation on the part of vain and malicious persons, but the
+husband must feel that also, in consequence of which irritation ensues
+and the relations grow from bad to worse even without any ill-will on
+either side. As to her son he is ambitious and sensitive as but few
+are, and even if he loved his wife most strongly, he would suffer if
+any one evinced towards her even a shade of disdain. Whoever lives in
+the world must reckon with everything, even with stupidity, even with
+malice, not to say with other considerations upon which marital
+happiness often depends.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The aged prelate listened, folding and unfolding according to his habit
+a silk handkerchief, and finally said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Reckoning with stupidity and malice may only mean guarding against
+them, not making any concessions to them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he began to look at Pani Krzycki with a penetrating gaze
+and asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Permit me to put one question to you: Why should your son necessarily
+be happy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She looked at him with surprise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, I am his mother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, but there are things more important than happiness, particularly
+temporal,--is it not true?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True,&quot; she answered quietly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That which you said in respect to temporal matters may be more or less
+just and may actually be the reasons which make such marriages less
+happy than others, but it is necessary above all things to propound to
+one's self the question. What in life is greater and what is less, what
+is more important and what is less important, and to act according to
+the dictates of conscience.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, how am I to act?&quot; asked Pani Krzycki.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The aged prelate looked at the crucifix hanging on the wall and
+quietly, but with emphasis, answered:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As a Christian.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A momentary silence followed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am satisfied with the advice,&quot; said Pani Krzycki, &quot;and I thank you.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>VI</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus, while his mother was in church and consulting the prelate,
+repaired, notwithstanding the early hour, to Pani Otocka. At the very
+beginning he raised to his lips both of her hands and kissed them so
+long that she, from that act alone, perceived his intentions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I knew it would be so! I knew it!&quot; she cried with emotion and joy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While he replied in a soft quivering voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did not require a week to perceive that I cannot live without her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I knew it,&quot; Zosia once more repeated. &quot;Have you spoken with your
+mother, yet?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No. Yesterday, I ran about the city senselessly, after which I rushed
+to Gronski's and went to the hotel very late, and this morning I was
+informed that Mother was in church.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Otocka again became anxious.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yesterday,&quot; she said, &quot;she was very angry and God grant that she may
+be reconciled, for on this all depends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not all,&quot; answered Ladislaus; &quot;not to speak of my great attachment for
+Mother, I esteem her immensely; and God sees that I would be pleased
+always to conform to her will. But that has its limits; when the
+happiness, not only of myself, but of the being most precious to me in
+the world, is concerned, then I cannot sacrifice that under any
+circumstances; I have pondered over this all night. I have a hope that
+Mother will consent; as I trust in her character and in that love which
+she has always shown to me. If, however, contrary to my hopes, it
+should appear otherwise, then I will tell her that this is a resolution
+which cannot now be and will not be revoked.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Maybe there is no necessity for that,&quot; said Pani Otocka, &quot;for Aninka
+also is concerned. Yesterday, after the letter which she wrote to you
+and after Pan Gronski's departure, we talked until late at night. She
+was very nervous and cried, but spoke thus: 'If he returns to me, not
+joyfully and with entire good-will, but only because he did not want to
+withdraw his word, then I will never consent to it. There is no pride
+in me. I did not even reckon with my own self-love, and wrote to him
+sincerely what was in my heart, but even if it should break I would not
+wed him, if it shall seem to him that he is lowering himself for me.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The dear, lovely creature!&quot; interrupted Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Otocka continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;After that she began to cry, and added that she would not consent to
+be the cause of an estrangement between mother and son.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, I repeat once more that my resolution cannot and shall not be
+revoked. Here my whole life is involved--and even if now Mother cannot
+find in her heart sufficient good-will, she will find it later. In the
+meantime I will do everything in order that my future wife should have
+in her also a mother, affectionate and grateful for her son's
+happiness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Can I repeat that to Miss Anney?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is just what I came for. But I have yet one more prayer. She took
+my word that for a week I would not return to her and she alone can
+release me from it. But in view of what I came here for, this would be
+downright, needless torture. Neither a week nor a year can change
+anything. Nothing, absolutely! Will Cousin deign to tell her that and
+beg of her from me, but beg very cordially, that she release me from my
+word?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With the greatest pleasure, and I have a hope this will not be a too
+difficult matter to adjust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thank you with my whole soul and now I will hurry to Mother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But before he left the room, Marynia rushed in and began to gaze
+sharply, now at her sister, then at Ladislaus. In reality she was not
+apprized of the secrets of the former relations between Ladislaus and
+Hanka, but she already knew that Miss Anney is the former Hanka; she
+knew everything which transpired afterwards and, loving Miss Anney very
+much, she was dying from uneasiness and curiosity as to what turn the
+affair would take. She was so pretty with that wistful gaze and uneasy
+face and, besides, she had such an amusing mien that Ladislaus, in
+spite of his emotions, at the sight of her, fell into a good humor.
+Zosia remained silent, not knowing whether he wished to speak of his
+affair of the heart before Marynia, while he, purposely, for sometime
+did not break the silence; finally he approached his little cousin and
+squeezing her hand, announced in a sepulchral voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Too late!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How too late,&quot; she asked alarmed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She is going to marry some one else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Panna--Kajetana.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he burst out into a sincere, jolly laugh. Marynia conjectured that
+matters could not stand so badly since Ladislaus was jesting. Desiring,
+however, to learn fully the good news, she began to stamp with her foot
+and importune like a child.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But how?--now, honestly. I could not sleep to-day! How? now, honestly.
+How?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Honestly, that hope and joy and happiness--there!&quot; answered Ladislaus,
+pointing in the direction of Miss Anney's quarters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, kissing his cousins' hands, he rushed out like a stone
+whirled from a sling, for he was in a great hurry.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the way he grew grave and even gloomy at the thought that the moment
+for his decisive interview with his mother was approaching.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He found her in the hotel, where she awaited him in her own room. The
+sight of his mother's face, serene and filled with an unusual kind of
+sweetness, gave him, for the time being, encouragement, but at the same
+time he thought that gentle persuasion, entreaties, and perhaps tears,
+would be heavier to bear than anger--and he asked in an uncertain
+voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did Mamma read her letter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did,&quot; she answered, &quot;but even before that I learned almost
+everything from Zosia, whom Miss Anney herself begged not to conceal
+anything from me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Gronski told me that Mamma became angry at Zosia?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, that is so, but that can be rectified. Now I want above all
+things to talk with you sincerely.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So Ladislaus began to narrate how in the first moments he was struck as
+if by a thunderbolt and how he could not reconcile himself to the
+thought that Hanka and Miss Anney were one and the same person. He
+confessed his vacillation, his doubts, suspicions, and the pain, which
+pierced him; and the internal strife and accounting with his conscience
+and everything through which he passed. But only after reading her
+letter, did he perceive that this pain had its origin in his love for
+her and that the struggle was a struggle with his own heart and
+happiness; then he ceased to waver; he could not imagine happiness
+otherwise than with that most precious being in the world, and without
+her he did not desire it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he said that when he became acquainted with her at
+Jastrzeb, as Miss Anney, from almost the first moment he was attracted
+to her by some incomprehensible force and she engrossed all his
+thoughts. He, of course, esteemed Zosia Otocka highly, and Marynia he
+regarded as a bright phenomenon. But admiration and love are two
+different things. Besides, he did not owe anything either to Zosia or
+to Marynia. They were kind while he was wounded and that was all. But
+to Miss Anney he probably owed his life, and he remembered that she for
+his sake placed herself in peril. With what could he repay her for
+that, and how could he make reparation for the former wrong, committed
+while she was still almost a child? Who was the worthier of the two?
+Was it he, who forgot and lived from day to day an easy, thoughtless,
+and spiritually slothful life, or she whom no new attachments could
+reconcile to their separation and who ennobled her mind and heart
+through suffering, yearning, and labor? &quot;I scarcely dare to believe.
+Mother,&quot; said he, &quot;that she not only absolves my injury, but has not
+ceased to love me. Perhaps it happened thus, because it was I who, for
+the first time in her life opened for her the doors to the world of
+happiness, but undoubtedly it was because hers is a totally exceptional
+nature. Yes, Mother! She is one of those who, in a pristine state even
+at the time when they are unable to realize things, possess that noble
+instinct, that sort of elevation of feeling that love ennobles indeed
+everything, but only when it is great, when it is for a whole lifetime;
+and those who love have such strength, such a depth of affection, that
+they are incapable of any other affection. But when such a one is
+found, then we can only thank God on our knees, and, in plain terms, my
+head is confused at the thought that for my transgression I meet with,
+not punishment, but fabulously good fortune. It may be that there are
+in the world more such women who can make a man happy, but I want to be
+happy only with this one; maybe there are others who ennoble and
+elevate everything about them, but I feel that through this one I will
+be better and better. Finally, this is a question not only of my
+happiness but also of my honor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here, folding his hands, he began to gaze into her eyes with a pleading
+look; after which he continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All this I intrust to Mamma's hands; my whole life, my entire future,
+and the peace of my conscience, and happiness and honor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Krzycki placed both of his palms to her temples and kissed his
+forehead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My Laudie,&quot; she said, &quot;I am an old woman and have various prejudices:
+so I will not tell you that from the first moments it was easy for me
+to assent to your intentions. Do you know that yesterday I became
+enraged at Zosia and until this morning, I persisted in my
+determination to oppose as far as it lay in my power your marriage. Be
+not surprised at this, since you admit that you were struck as if by
+lightning; then think, how it must have affected me, I, as is usual
+with a mother, had at the bottom of my soul the conviction that for you
+even a king's daughter would not be too high a mate. But it was not
+only the old mode of thought, not only a maternal vanity, and not only
+prejudices which inflamed my opposition. I feared also for your
+happiness. I would not have had anything against the person of Miss
+Anney herself, were it not for these other circumstances. I became
+acquainted with her at Jastrzeb and loved her sincerely; often I said,
+God grant that all our ladies could be like her. But learning who she
+is and what took place between you, I became alarmed at first at the
+thought that you might have committed similar offences in Jastrzeb.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, Mamma,&quot; answered Krzycki; &quot;I give my word for that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For you see I thought you were absolutely pure; so think what a blow
+it was to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus bowed to her hands, in order to hide his face, for
+notwithstanding the gravity of the moment, notwithstanding his sincere
+emotion and anxiety, the naïvete of his mother seemed to him something
+so unheard-of that he feared he might betray himself by an expression
+of astonishment, or what was worse, a smile. &quot;Ah,&quot; he thought, &quot;it is
+lucky that I have to swear only as to Jastrzeb, for I could not tell
+mother what I told Gronski, that a wise wolf never takes from that
+village where he keeps his lair.&quot; But simultaneously it occurred to him
+that one must be an angel to have such a delusion, and his adoration of
+his mother increased yet more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I took into consideration the world and the people among whom you
+must live. I knew that not a few would commend your conduct, but in
+reality you would have to endure a thousand petty annoyances and stings
+which would irritate and exasperate you until they caused a pain and
+bitterness even in your feeling towards your wife. I was concerned
+about your happiness which, in my blindness I craved above all things
+for you. And only to-day was the film taken off my eyes. Apparently
+such things we know and proclaim, but, nevertheless, with real surprise
+and as if it was something new, I heard that happiness is not the most
+important thing in life and that it ought not to be the greatest
+concern of a mother. And before that my heart was cleansed of its pride
+and I was commanded to be guided by my conscience: therefore, my
+Laudie, I cannot dissuade you from this marriage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus, hearing this, again bowed his head to his mother's hands and
+began to cover them with kisses.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, Mamma, dear,&quot; he repeated, &quot;ah, Mamma, how happy I am!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I,&quot; she answered; &quot;for I feared that your feeling might be
+superficial, founded upon a delusion and fancy; but, after this
+conversation, I see that you love Aninka truly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes! That is imbedded so deeply that it could only be torn from me
+with my life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I believe, I believe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus mutually assuring each other, they both spoke with absolute
+sincerity, and both at the same time deluded themselves. For Ladislaus
+had an inflammable head, greedy senses, and soft heart, but he lived
+principally on the exterior, and none of his feelings could spring from
+great depths as, on the whole, he was not a deep man.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But his mother, believing every one of his words as she believed in the
+gospel, said with great confidence:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May God bless you, my child. Let us at present speak of what is to
+come. I, of course, understand that once having agreed, it is necessary
+to agree not with half but with the whole heart: it is necessary to
+receive Aninka with open arms and give her to understand that it is she
+who is conferring a favor upon us for which we should be grateful.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, for she does,&quot; exclaimed Ladislaus with ardor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well, very well,&quot; answered Pani Krzycki, with a smile, &quot;now it
+becomes me to go to her and thank her myself. I assume also that Aninka
+will withdraw the condition that you should not call upon her for a
+week.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Zosia is to attend to that, but naturally Mamma's words will be more
+effective.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When do you want me to go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus again folded his palms:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At once, Mother dear, at once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well; will you wait for me here, or at Zosia's?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here; for Zosia might be with Marynia at the rehearsal. She sometimes
+accompanies her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Krzycki rose heavily from the chair, as that day, from the
+morning, had been trying for her and the rheumatism held her more and
+more strongly. Having, however, straightened out her limbs, she moved
+briskly ahead. The thought that she was troubling herself for her boy
+made it an agreeable task and exertion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But on the way she began to think of matters of which thus far there
+had been no mention between herself and her son. She belonged to that
+type of women, often found among the country nobility, who know
+perfectly well how to line the ideal cloak with a real lining. In her
+time the entire management of the Jastrzeb estate rested on her head,
+and on that account she had a multitude of worries and had habituated
+herself to struggle continually with them. So at the present time her
+mind turned to the material side of the affair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would consent to this marriage&quot; (she thought as if to justify
+herself to herself), &quot;even though Aninka did not have anything, but I
+am curious to know how much she can have.&quot; After which she began to
+fondle the hope that while Aninka might not have millions and for an
+Englishwoman might not be very rich, she might have what in Poland
+might be regarded as great opulence, though in England it might be
+deemed a modest fortune.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And amidst such meditations she rang Miss Anney's door-bell.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The visit passed off as could be expected. Pani Krzycki was honest,
+grateful, motherly and, at the moment when she surrendered the life and
+happiness of her son to the hands of Miss Anney, &quot;her dear daughter,&quot;
+she was, in a measure, pathetic. Miss Anney, too was in a measure,
+pathetic, also cordial and simple, quiet and collected as well, but she
+seemed to be acting with caution, though nothing whatever was said of
+the past. With Pani Krzycki there even remained an impression that
+there was by a hairbreadth too much of this &quot;reserve.&quot; She understood
+perfectly that it would be want of tact on Miss Anney's part if she
+displayed too much enthusiasm and conceded that she acted properly, but
+nevertheless she carried away at the bottom of her heart a little
+disappointment as it were, for there was hidden in her the conviction
+that the woman who would get &quot;Laudie&quot; and would bear his name, could be
+excused even though she went insane from joy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Returning to the hotel, she did not, however, confess to her son this
+thought, but began to load &quot;Aninka&quot; with praises and speak of her so
+warmly that tears stood in the eyes of both. Ladislaus, above all else,
+was anxious to know whether the &quot;taboo&quot; was removed and the prohibition
+recalled; having learned that such was the case, a quarter of an hour
+later, he was at Hanka's feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My beloved, my angel, my wife!&quot; he said, embracing her knees.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>VII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">A few days later, the old notary, Dzwonkowski, and Dr. Szremski came to
+visit Gronski. The latter, to whom this was an agreeable surprise, as
+he liked both, and, besides, esteemed the doctor highly, greeted them
+with great cordiality and began to ask the news of the city, the
+vicinity, and of themselves.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! We live, we live,&quot; answered the boisterous doctor. &quot;In these
+times, that is an art. But the police so far have not arrested us, the
+bandits have not shot us, the socialists have not blown us up into the
+air; so we not only live, but have come to Warsaw. I, because I must
+ride farther,--as far as Volhynia, and this gentleman,&quot; pointing to the
+notary, &quot;on account of the concert and Panna Marynia's participation in
+it. Having read of it in the daily newspapers he fell into such a state
+that at any moment I looked for an attack of apoplexy or aneurism.
+There was no help for it. I had to prescribe a stay in Warsaw as a
+cure. Finally, he cannot at all endure our little town any more, and is
+thinking only of giving up his office to some one and of moving here
+permanently. In his heart a fire is burning, and the snow melts, and
+ice melts and so forth. Ha!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">During these words, the old notary moved his jaws so furiously that his
+chin almost touched his nose; finally he declared:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The head splits! The head splits!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The same old quarrel?&quot; asked Gronski, laughing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quarrel?&quot; repeated the notary. &quot;It is not I who quarrel. He has shaken
+up my brain, shattered my nerves, stupefied me, torn to pieces,
+exhausted, cleaned out, sucked, and outtalked the remnants of strength
+within me. From yesterday, sir, on the whole road--a continual din and
+roar in the ears--and after that in the hotel; to-day, since morning,
+and now here. No, I cannot stand it, no, I cannot!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tut, tut. And who daily summons me? Who every day hangs out his tongue
+until it reaches the first button on his vest and orders me to examine
+it? Wait, sir. I will ride away and you will have to examine it
+yourself before a mirror.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you are really going to Volhynia? How about your patients?&quot; asked
+Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I fear that in the meantime they may get well; but it can't be helped,
+I must go!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And for how long?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know, but do not think very long. I am a Volhynian Mazur,
+from the minor nobility of that place, or as they say there of the
+single-manor nobles. They are mostly settled there as tenants of
+various petty nobles, but I have my own seat in partnership with a
+brother, an ex-judge, who has charge of the estate and to whom I am now
+riding.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But, of course, not because he is sick?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly, sir; he has become insane.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My God! Since when?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not long ago. From the time he became a 'local rights' man.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is so. The indigent, haughty noble took a notion to pose as a
+landed proprietor, hankered after the society of gentlemen, and got
+water on the brain. A month ago I sent him two thousand primers for our
+impoverished shabby gentility, of whom no one thinks and who
+involuntarily or rather in spite of their will, are there losing their
+Polish spirit. And would you believe it, sir, that he sent back to me
+the whole package, together with a letter in which he announced that he
+would not distribute the primers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why?&quot; asked Gronski, whom the narrative of the doctor began to
+interest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He wrote to me in the first place that they have decided to live and
+labor only for their own province and occupy themselves only with local
+or provincial affairs, and again they aim at some kind of synthesis of
+all nationalities, and thirdly they will Polonize nobody.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you were only concerned about primers for the children of the
+petty nobility, who are Polish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By them this is already styled Polonization, for it interferes with
+their 'synthesis.' We know in what that synthesis must end. May the
+devils take them, together with their diplomacy. But that is not
+enough! In the end, my ingenious brother informs me that he does not
+regard himself as a Pole, but only as a Volhynian with Polish culture
+and that this is his political position. Ah, sir, Stanczyk was wrong
+when he said that in Poland there are the most doctors. In Poland there
+are the most politicians. Every average Pole is a second Talleyrand, a
+second Metternich, a second Bismarck. He never participated in
+political life, is unacquainted with history, never passed through any
+schools, and never studied. That is nothing! He is by grace of God! He
+from nature has a pastille in his brain, of which he thinks that if he
+only lights it, then all the horse-flies and gnats, which suck our
+blood will be so hoaxed that they will cease to molest us. And every
+one is convinced that he alone sees clearly, that he alone has the
+exclusive measures, and that his diplomacy, county, local, provincial,
+or whatever you may call it, is a panacea. It never occurs to him, that
+with such county or local polities, this fatherland, as Yan Casimir
+said, would go into direptium gentium.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sir,&quot; said the aged notary to Gronski, pointing to the doctor, &quot;you
+have pressed in him such a button, that now he will not stop talking
+until we shall not be able to move hand or limb.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is not a button, that is a sore,&quot; answered Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And evidently it was a sore for the doctor, as he was so absorbed that
+he did not hear what was said about him, and began the following
+dialogue with his absent brother.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! So you are not a Pole but only a Volhynian with Polish culture?
+Very well! Then, in the first place I will tell you that you have
+repudiated your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather; that you
+have spat upon their graves; that you have renounced your traditions,
+your right of existence, that you have grown smaller, that you have
+deserted your own people and have gone to those who do not want you,
+who do not invite you and who treat you with contempt; that you hang in
+the air and you will look prettily under such conditions in your
+Volhynia. Again, I will tell you that you are not yet a turncoat, since
+that which you are doing, you do through stupid politics which in
+consequence of your ignorance you regard as wise, but you have paved
+the way for future turncoats. Your grandson or great-grandson will
+renounce Polish culture. And finally, if you say that you are not a
+Pole, but only a Volhynian, why do you not go back farther, even as far
+as Darwin? You could with equal justice say that you are not a Pole,
+but an orang-outang or a pithecanthrope with Polish culture? What? Bah!
+But you still say that you do not want to Polonize any one? How can you
+Polonize? Whether with a whip, with prison, by religious compulsion,
+with school, or with a gag on the native tongue? Tell me! But, if not
+denying your nationality you would shine with the example of your
+public Polish virtues, if you would give someone your Polish hunger for
+liberty, your Polish ability to understand the sufferings of others,
+your Polish love, your Polish hope, your faith in a better future, and
+through these reconcile him to Poland, then would you regard such a
+Polonization as premature, and bad politics? But in such case, I ask
+you, you dunce, have you anything better to offer, and why are you
+staying there where you settled? You don't know? And in the end you
+will not even know who you are. That I will tell you. You, Brother, are
+a weak character and above all have a weak head.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here he turned to Gronski:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is what I have to say to my brother and why I am riding to him.
+There is to be some kind of an assembly there, so I will say this, in
+other words, publicly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you would only go as quickly as possible,&quot; exclaimed the notary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And the doctor began to laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But as I have yet time, I will first attend Panna Marynia's concert.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By all means,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;ride, sir. Poland is not only being cut
+from the outside by inimical scissors, but she is beginning to be rent
+asunder internally. Ride, sir, and tell them that publicly. Perhaps
+some may be found who will be frightened at their amenableness to the
+future.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I think that such will be found. For, in the main, I assume that they,
+or at least a majority of them, thus far feel in the old way, and only
+speak as they do in order to loosen, even though for a moment, the
+noose which presses on their throats. But in this they are mistaken.
+The result will be that they will be despised and trampled upon, both
+from above and below.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When are you going?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The assembly meets in about ten days, so I actually will stay here
+about a week, for I have various matters to attend to in Warsaw. In the
+meantime, I will visit my acquaintances, and among others Pani Otocka,
+and the Krzyckis. How is Krzycki?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As well as a fish--and he is going to marry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, well. I will wager that it is with that beautiful Englishwoman?
+A pure flower!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. But it seems that this is not an English flower, only genuinely
+Polish, from a village meadow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For the Lord's sake. What are you saying?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is no longer any secret. Her name is Hanka Skibianka.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Gronski related the whole history of Miss Anney, omitting only
+that Ladislaus knew her while she was Hanka.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And they listened with astonishment, while the doctor slapped his knees
+with his palms and cried:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! If I had known that; ah, if I had known that!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, what would have happened? asked the notary testily.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What would have happened? I would have been in love with her not only
+under the ears but above. As it was, I only missed by a hair being in
+love with her. Ah, lucky but undeserving Krzycki! But such is my
+ill-luck. Let only one catch my fancy--lackaday! either some one takes
+her, or she is in love with somebody else. But it cannot be helped! I
+must see Miss Anney and tender her my best wishes. For after all
+Krzycki is a good boy. Such as he will not rebuild Poland, but a good
+boy, nevertheless. And such a comely rascal, that he ravishes the eye.
+I would like to see them together. That will be a couple--what!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you wish to see them, and have the time,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;then it
+will not be difficult, for we arranged yesterday at Pani Otocka's that
+to-day we will all be present at the rehearsal for the concert. I can
+take you gentlemen to-day to the rehearsal, and afterwards, the whole
+party can go to breakfast.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Exactly,&quot; exclaimed the notary, &quot;that is just what I came to ask you
+to do. I have dropped out of the old relations and I did not know to
+whom to apply--well!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski glanced at his watch.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If that is the case, all right; but we have still time. In the hall at
+this moment there is some kind of meeting or lecture, and such meetings
+usually drag beyond the designated time. After that, before they
+ventilate the hall and replace the chairs, a half hour will elapse. I
+have not omitted any rehearsal, so I know how things go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I will not omit any,&quot; said the notary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nevertheless, he grew so impatient that they left too early. Before the
+building stood about a dozen persons, evidently waiting for those in
+the hall; while from within there reached them a buzzing noise, at
+times shouts, applause, and the sound of the stamping of feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What kind of meeting is it?&quot; asked the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Really, I do not know,&quot; answered Gronski. &quot;Now we are full of that.
+There are political meetings, social conferences, literary lectures,
+and God knows what else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I envy Warsaw,&quot; exclaimed the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is not much to envy. At times it chances that something deserves
+attention, but oftener such absurdities take place that one feels
+ashamed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, they are already leaving,&quot; observed the notary; &quot;but why are they
+shouting so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us wait; that is some kind of a brawl,&quot; said Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact it evidently was a brawl, for from the roomy vestibule there
+rushed out on the wide stairs between ten, and twenty men, without caps
+or hats, who in the twinkling of an eye, formed a disorderly heap. In
+this heap, hands, canes, and umbrellas moved violently, and these
+motions were accompanied by a shrill shriek. Afterwards from the
+gyrating mob, shoved by tens of arms, shot out, as if from a sling,
+somebody, with bare head and tattered coat, who, leaping from the
+stairs, turned a somersault at the doctor's feet in such a manner as
+almost to tumble him and the notary on the ground.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Swidwicki!&quot; exclaimed Gronski with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki rose, and shaking his fist menacingly at the crowd, which,
+having ejected him outdoors, was again returning to the hall, began to
+say with a panting voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, it is you! They have warmed my hide--they have warmed my hide!
+They have broken my ribs a little, and torn my coat. But that is
+nothing! I also have crooked a few straight noses and have straightened
+out a few crooked ones. This is the second time that this has happened
+to me--ouch!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come with me. You cannot stay thus, with bare head and in such a
+coat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no!&quot; answered Swidwicki. &quot;Ouch! Let me recover my breath. Hey!
+Messenger!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And beckoning to a messenger, he said to him:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Citizen! Here are two pieces of coin and a wardrobe check. Go to the
+vestibule and fetch me my hat and topcoat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But for the Lord's sake what happened?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Directly, directly,&quot; said Swidwicki; &quot;but let me first dress. After
+that we will go to some confectioner's shop--ouch! For as soon as the
+meeting closes, they will begin to go out and, finding me here, they
+will be ready to administer a new drubbing to me and to you gentlemen
+to boot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So that was a meeting?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A meeting, conference, discussion, lecture--whatever you wish. Panna
+Sicklawer spoke on 'Imparting knowledge.' On the platform sat Pan
+Citronenduft, Panna Bywalkiewicz, Panna Anserowicz, Panna Kostropacka,
+the editor Czubacki, and others. The hall was packed to suffocation.
+Ouch! I enjoyed myself like a king.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We see,&quot; observed Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You think not? But introduce me to these gentlemen. For I am the hero
+of the day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hero Swidwicki, gentlemen; Notary Dzwonkowski and Dr. Szremski,&quot; said
+Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki squeezed the palms of Gronski's astonished companions; after
+which when the messenger brought the hat, cane, and top-coat he dressed
+himself and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With this cane I would be ready to wait for them here--but for to-day
+I have had enough. The meeting will last twenty minutes or longer. Let
+us go to some confectioner's shop, for I feel a pain in my legs and
+cannot stand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They went to a confectioner's. Swidwicki ordered for himself one and
+then a second glass of cognac, after which he began to talk:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That was an instructive meeting. Panna Sicklawer, I tell you
+gentlemen, is a Cicero in petticoats. When she started to impart
+knowledge to various meek creatures of the masculine gender and various
+magpies of fourteen years, of whom the audience mainly consisted, even
+I grew warm. The meek creatures applauded or else cried 'shame' when
+there was a talk of parents, and the magpies blushed so violently and
+fidgeted in their seats so much, that they seemed to sit on needles,
+and everything went along smoothly. Remarks were made by Pan
+Citronenduft, Panna Gotower and some maid, a native of far away Kars,
+whose name as well as I could hear it, had a Grecian or Spanish
+sound,--Nieodtego. The maturer portion of the auditors was also carried
+away by the enthusiasm, and I, though Gronski doubts it, enjoyed myself
+like a king. For you see, gentlemen, that I, from principle, have
+nothing against imparting knowledge,--nothing. Quite the reverse! Only,
+I am of the opinion, if an affair is to be jolly let it be really
+jolly. So then, after a few addresses, I rose, asked leave to speak and
+announced that I desired to recite a poem in honor of the gathering.
+They agreed to it and I received applause in advance. Then I began to
+declaim--indeed, not an original poem, but my own parody on the fable:
+'Once wanton little Thad.' But this did not continue long; it appeared
+that my Thaddy proved himself to be so wanton, that he was too wanton,
+even for them. They did not like also this; that in staring at Panna
+Nieodtego, I closed one eye. They began to shout 'Silence!' 'Fie!'
+'Away with him! This is jeering!' And here my ideal fable began to
+change into a real epic. For when in reply to the shout 'This is
+jeering,' I said, 'Well what did you think it was?' there was a
+universal roar of 'Put him out!' At least fifty hands grappled my
+shoulders and neck; a nice rumpus followed. They struck me, I struck
+back. Finally, they dumped me into the corridor: from the corridor on
+to the stairs, and into the street. The rest you gentlemen know. I
+repeat for the third time that I enjoyed myself like a king.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That to me is at least courage,&quot; said the doctor; &quot;it is necessary to
+stop such things, even by a scandal; so you did well, sir; you are a
+brave nationalist.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I, a nationalist,&quot; exclaimed Swidwicki, &quot;why, the day before yesterday
+I was thrown out of a meeting of the National Democrats. Indeed, a
+little more politely, but I was ejected.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski began to laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So this is your new sport?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But with this their conversation ended as their attention was attracted
+by the crowd returning from the lecture. Before the window flowed a
+black human stream, among which were a large number of striplings, and
+young girls with cheeks covered with blushes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When the stream finally passed by, there appeared after an interval the
+bright, vernal forms of Hanka, Marynia, and Pani Otocka, in the company
+of Krzycki.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>VIII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Upon the so called &quot;happiest period&quot; in Krzycki's life certain small
+shadows fell, and this for various reasons. If on the one hand his love
+for Hanka grew with each day, on the other there began various petty
+annoyances which his mother had foreseen. They were things almost
+imperceptible, about which one could not pick a quarrel, but which
+nevertheless stung. Thus it happened that the ladies of Gorek came to
+Pani Krzycki to invite her to the wedding of Kajetana to Pan Dolhanski,
+which wedding through a special dispensation of the church was to take
+place in a few days. Pani Krzycki in tendering them her good wishes
+announced that they could also do the same to her, owing to the
+betrothal of her son to Miss Anney. Then both, one after the other,
+began to heartily embrace her, which, though apparently a sign of their
+good wishes, looked more like condolence, the more so as Pani Wlocek
+did not utter anything besides the words, &quot;It is God's will,&quot; while
+Kajetana raised her eyes as piously as if she wanted to supplicate the
+Powers on high to comfort the heartbroken mother. Ladislaus laughed
+after their departure, but in his soul he wished that both would break
+their necks. When, however, a few days later it appeared that out of
+the entire circle of acquaintances only Hanka did not receive an
+invitation from these ladies, he wanted to start a brawl with
+Dolhanski: and his mother was barely able to restrain him with the
+declaration that neither she herself, nor Zosia, nor Marynia would
+attend the wedding. Krzycki was even angered because some of his
+acquaintances, in contrast to the ladies of Gorek, tendered to him
+their good wishes with excessive ardor, as if he had performed an
+heroic act. His marriage, as well as the antecedents of Hanka, became
+the subject of every conversation in &quot;society.&quot; Out in the world, great
+political changes could take place, bombs could explode, strikes could
+break out, but in the salons for a few days only Hanka was spoken of,
+various flabby dames, with eyes half closed, in a questioning tone,
+drawling through their teeth, &quot;Anka--Skubanka<a name="div2Ref_12" href="#div2_12"><sup>[12]</sup></a>--n'est
+ce pas?&quot; But
+while the good wishes of those who tendered them to Krzycki with such
+excessive ardor sprang from appreciation of the heroism with which he
+dared to take as wife &quot;Skubanka,&quot; Hanka's marriage settlement and the
+hope of &quot;plucking&quot; the millionaire in the future played an important
+rôle. This marriage settlement, which, agreeably with Pani Krzycki's
+anticipations, was, for local conditions, quite considerable, but by no
+means reached the millions, grew in public opinion with almost every
+hour, so that it attained almost fabulous proportions, and intensified
+the universal curiosity to the extent that when Hanka in the company of
+her two young female friends together with Pani Krzycki and her fiancé
+appeared at the races, all the lorgnettes were directed at their
+carriage. The flabby dames from &quot;high life,&quot; gazing at her radiant
+countenance, sparkling with happiness and health, indeed said that they
+could at once surmise that &quot;this is something a little different,&quot; and
+contended that in the present days this &quot;high life&quot; ought to open its
+delicate bosom to a person possessing such means for &quot;doing good.&quot; As
+to her comeliness, however, the opinion prevailed that she was not
+sufficiently pretty for one to lose his head and that Krzycki was
+marrying for money. His defence was undertaken only by the ladies from
+Gorek, who, meeting now many people, made it everywhere understood that
+their young neighbor did not always seek merely money, and that only
+when he was disappointed in other fancies, did he come to the
+conclusion that it was better to have money than nothing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus did things shape themselves externally. But on the sky of the
+betrothed pair appeared tiny clouds which, as Ladislaus' love became
+inflamed, appeared even with greater frequency. Hanka, habituated to
+English customs, did not at all hesitate to receive her fiancé at her
+home and pass with him long hours alone; to stroll with him over the
+city, to drive from the city without a chaperon, and even call him by
+his Christian name. She said to herself that in great and sincere love
+there also should be room for friendship and that it was necessary
+before one became a wife to be a sincere friend and comrade. She
+thought that Ladislaus would understand this and not only would love
+her all the more but also cherish her all the more. Once she had read
+in an English book that one might love and not cherish, and that in
+such a case love grows embittered to the degree that it may become
+perpetual unhappiness. So, desiring to avoid this and place her future
+life upon immovable foundations, she wished to win, besides love, the
+deepest possible friendship.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But here the misunderstandings between the engaged couple began. That
+golden-hair, that good friend, gazing with a heavenly light, that
+rose-colored, gay comrade who dressed herself in a light dress and
+spring hat, was so charming that Ladislaus cherished indeed without
+limit, but at every tête-à-tête lost his head. To Hanka it appeared
+that her betrothed, though he was enamoured to distraction and at the
+same time was a friend, should be the kind of a man upon whose
+shoulders she could at every moment press her head with perfect
+confidence that he would not abuse her trust and would not take
+advantage of their seclusion nor of any temporary weakness, nor of the
+gray hour, nor of the fact that love disarms and weakens a woman. He,
+on the contrary, perhaps because he lost his head, acted as if he
+thought that friendship and the relations of a comrade only added to
+the rights of betrothal. From this there was generated a mutual
+vigilance; in him a watchfulness for everything of which he might take
+advantage; in her a wariness of that which she ought to avoid. This
+vigilance, at first silent, soon lapsed into quarrels. They were
+followed by apologies, which would have intensified the love of both
+were it not that Ladislaus apologized too passionately. And this
+misunderstanding was in reality deeper than both thought, for when
+Hanka, remembering what once had taken place between them, believed
+that he should on that account be more continent, he, in moments when
+blinded by desire, seemed to fancy that very past, together with the
+burnt bridges, justified him in everything. From these causes, the
+enchanted edifice of their happiness from time to time became defaced
+and would have been defaced yet more strongly were it not for this,
+that in Ladislaus there was material for everything and there came upon
+him moments entirely different. Sometimes on clear nights when they sat
+on the balcony leading to the garden of Hanka's residence, and when
+from the neighboring balcony came the song of Marynia's violin,
+and the moonlight seemed to sleep quietly on the opposite walls, it
+also put to slumber Ladislaus' senses. His soul, lulled to sleep by
+the sight of the beloved being, bleaching like a white angel in the
+dusk,--intoxicated with the fragrance of leaves and flowers, winged by
+music, was dissolved into a kind of universal but sweet and chaste
+feeling, which enveloped Hanka and bore her towards the stars. The
+impressionable soul of the girl at such times was susceptible of this
+and was simply submerged in happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But these were transitory moments of tranquillity of mind. A moment
+later, while Ladislaus was bidding her good-night and when he kissed
+her hands and forehead, quickly there was awakened in him the eternal
+hungry desire, and he sought her lips and hugged her breast to his own;
+he lost his memory, and, when she broke away from his arms, he said
+that he did not promise her that he would be an English Quaker; and
+they parted, if not angry, as if both were humiliated and sad.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And that sadness fraternized with love.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But it often happened that Ladislaus disarmed Hanka with his great
+frankness which in reality was his chief attribute.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You, my Hanusia,&quot; he said to her once, after serious quarrel, &quot;would
+want that I should mount a ladder and stay on the highest round, for a
+time--Good!--I can! But to stay there forever I could not do any more
+than I could walk on stilts all the time. Do not imagine that I am
+something more than I am. I am an ordinary mortal, who only differs
+from others in this, that he loves you above everything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, Laudie,&quot; answered Hanka, &quot;I do not at all desire that you should
+be some great personage, for I remember that the Englishmen say that an
+honest man is the noblest work of God.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did a little mischief once, but I think I am honest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, but remember that not he is honest who does not do evil, but he
+who does good. In that everything is contained.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I agree to that. You will teach me that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And you me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha I we will keep house in Jastrzeb and will do all we can. There is
+much work to be done there and of the kind for which I am fitted. To be
+a good husbandman, to be good to the people, to instruct them; to
+teach, love, and enlighten; to be also a good citizen of the country
+and in case of necessity to die for it--for this, I give my word I am
+fit. Yes, it is so. And now you have me. But taking everything
+together, no evil will befall you with me, Hanusia,--I love you too
+much for any evil to befall you. Only, my golden one, my love, my rosy
+lady, do not command me to sit on the ladder, for that I cannot do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">His simplicity and sincerity propitiated Hanka. The thought of a joint
+life in Jastrzeb, of loving the folks whose child she was, of
+instructing them, of laboring over and for them, cheered and allured
+her more powerfully than anything else could do. To return to Poland
+and take charge of a Polish village was the plan which she formulated
+immediately after the death of the Anney family. And now just such a
+horizon was opened to her by this former &quot;young lord&quot; whom she loved
+while yet a simple girl. Therefore she was grateful to him: she was
+ready in her soul to exalt his good qualities, to exculpate his faults,
+to love him, and to persevere faithfully at his side, but in exchange
+she wanted nothing more than that he should love her not only with his
+senses, but with a true and chaste love, and that he should regard her
+above all things as his life companion, &quot;for better or for worse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And, for that reason, whenever there came to her moments in which it
+seemed to her that he saw in her principally an object for his desires
+and was unable to find, in himself strength to struggle with them and
+elevate his feelings to noble heights, doubt seized her heart and she
+could not resist the thought that he was not such as she would wish him
+to be.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But nevertheless,&quot; she consoled herself in her soul, &quot;that is a
+sincere and true nature, and where there is sincerity and truth,
+everything may be brought to light.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus on the contrary was in reality sincere to the degree that one
+could see through him--through and through, as though he were made of
+glass. The proof of this was the opinion which Dr. Szremski expressed
+about him in a conversation with Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To me,&quot; he said, &quot;the present-day Hanka Skibianka is ten times more
+interesting than the former Miss Anney, and I wish her happiness from
+my whole soul. But if she bases that happiness upon the feeling which
+Krzycki entertains for her, I fear that she will be disappointed. I do
+not wish to say anything bad of him. On the contrary, to me he is a
+sympathetic type, for he is immensely ours, immensely domestic. If he
+had lived a hundred years ago and been a Uhlan, he would have charged
+at Samo-Sierra no worse than Kozietulski and Niegolewski. Only he
+belongs to that species of men for whom it is easier to die for some
+idea or for some feeling than to live for them and to persevere in
+them. To turn to one idea or to one feeling, as a magnetic needle turns
+to the north, is not within their power nor their concern. They require
+distraction, amusement. And there is nothing strange in this. Consider
+only that for entire ages nobody was better off than the various
+Krzyckis and Gronskis--nobody. So they sucked of the pleasures of life,
+like juice of grapes. They ate, drank, played, dissipated--bah! they
+even fought for the pleasure of it. They were not vicious nor terrible,
+for a happy man cannot be totally vicious. They had in their hearts a
+certain feeling of humanity. They were indulgent to people who were
+subject to them, but above all things they were indulgent to
+themselves. Hence at the bottom of the Polish soul always lies
+indulgence. Then came the time of penance and that indulgence by right
+of inheritance, particularly in the spheres to which Krzycki belongs,
+remains. For him, neither love for woman nor for fatherland will
+suffice. He will love them and, in a given case, will perish for them,
+but in life he will indulge himself. And you see, sir, that it was just
+for this reason that I said that such as he will not rebuild Society.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And who will?&quot; asked Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The future generations--not the pot-bellied, not the easy-natured, not
+the chatterboxes, not the indulgers in sensual delights and the
+pleasures of life--no--apparently they are good for everything and fit
+for nothing--but only the hardy, the persistent, the quiet, and the
+practical. For them, misfortune and slavery have tilled the ground for
+a hundred years.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And the present day manures the ground,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;only it is a
+pity that this manure has such a rank smell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is not manure; that is sand blown from abroad which renders the
+soil sterile,&quot; replied the doctor with energy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to curse.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>IX</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Dolhanski, however, completely subdued his fiancée and his future
+mother-in-law, inasmuch as he prevailed upon them to call personally
+upon Hanka and invite her to the wedding. They were prompted to this by
+the consideration that at any rate it behooved them to preserve the
+outward semblance of good relations with their future neighbors from
+Jastrzeb, and they were persuaded in particular by the news, which he
+brought from the high spheres, that &quot;high life&quot; was reconciled to the
+idea of admitting Hanka into its fold, while he, on the other hand,
+wanted to see her at a close range in the church. After their visit,
+during which the mother and daughter, under the watchful eye of
+Dolhanski, acted not only properly but quite amiably, Pani Krzycki
+revoked her resolution, of not attending the nuptial rites.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">These took place early in the week at the Church of the Order of
+Visitation in the presence of a great concourse of dames from the
+&quot;grand world&quot; and Dolhanski's titled colleagues from the club. In this
+the desire to take a close view of the peasant-millionairess played as
+important a part as the wish to see Dolhanski. Those of his
+acquaintances who knew the ladies from Gorek had previously stated that
+he was taking a lady of wealth, but old and ludicrous; in consequence
+of which these good colleagues wanted to see what kind of mien he
+would have, so that they might afterwards have a subject for their
+gibes and jests. But in this respect they met with the most complete
+disappointment. Dolhanski, escorted on one side by Gronski, on
+the other by Count Gil, walked through the church with such
+self-confidence, such sangfroid, and with such a smile on his lips, as
+though he had the right and desire to jeer at his colleagues. The tall
+and gaunt young lady did not, after all, look so badly in her lace
+wedding dress. She had too much powder on her face; her veil was too
+long, and too much did she &quot;tremble like a leaf,&quot; which created an
+impression that this leaf did that a little purposely.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was nothing in her, however, to excite ridicule, and, when the
+two knelt before the altar, the dames and beaux, looking from the depth
+of the church, had to admit that in her slender white form there was
+some charm. But the eyes of those present were directed principally at
+Hanka who glided through the nave on Ladislaus' arm, like a light
+spring cloud. To the gentlemen of the club it seemed that from the
+moment of her entrance the church grew brighter. Count Gil, who found
+himself near her, behind the stalls, later stated in a certain salon
+that a rosy warmth radiated from her. Others at once corroborated this
+and to the mot of a dame that in order to find favor in men's eyes it
+was necessary that one must not only be a woman but also a radiator,
+they replied that it was absolutely necessary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meanwhile they envied Ladislaus Mr. Anney's millions and Hanka,
+who so absorbed to herself the general attention that Pani Otocka and
+Marynia passed by almost unobserved. Neither appeared to the best
+advantage that day. In Pani Otocka, Dolhanski's marriage aroused a
+certain disgust, which was reflected in her countenance, and Marynia
+opened her lips too widely out of curiosity, and besides, her bared
+arms were so thin and, as usual with immature girls, were so red that,
+they could only excite compassion. The ladies of the &quot;grand world,&quot;
+besides, did not look at one or the other for the further reason that
+Ladislaus, with his stature and visage of a Uhlan of the time of the
+Duchy of Warsaw, became the focus upon which the rays of their
+tortoise-shell lorgnettes were converged.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With the appearance of the priest silence fell and the rites began. The
+lorgnettes were now directed towards the altar. In the distance could
+be seen floating under the orange blossoms the bridal veil and
+Dolhanski's head, somewhat bald at the summit, over which crept the
+reflexes of the candles flickering in the dusk. Krzycki, bending
+towards Hanka, began to whisper: &quot;And we will soon--&quot; and she dropped
+her eyelids in sign of assent; after which when their eyes met, she
+blushed violently and raised her lace handkerchief to her lips, and
+later fixed her gaze upon the altar, for she recalled to her mind how,
+not long before, the candles flickered in the same manner in the Church
+of the Holy Cross, when together they prayed for their future
+happiness. Yes, soon they would kneel there again in order not to be
+separated for life, and this thought, so full of sweetness and at the
+same time of uneasiness of feeling, expanded her breast.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meanwhile in the silence could be heard the voice of the priest:
+&quot;Edward, do you take Kajetana, whom you see before you, for wife?&quot; and
+when Dolhanski firmly confirmed this and Kajetana mumbled that she
+wanted this Edward, their hands were bound by the stole and the rites
+rapidly approached an end; then the hymeneal party left the church. The
+bridal couple were to leave for a tour abroad within two hours, but
+before that in the dining-hall of the hotel a dinner awaited them, to
+which, of the relatives of the groom, only Pani Krzycki, Ladislaus,
+Hanka, as his betrothed, and the sisters were invited; of the more
+distant, Gronski and Count Gil, as groomsmen attended. The dinner with
+the inevitable toasts did not last long; after it the newly-married
+pair repaired to their separate apartments and after a certain time
+reappeared attired in their travelling clothes. Then began the usual
+bustle preceding a journey; trunks, small luggage, and bright
+travelling paraphernalia were hauled out. Dolhanski during the dinner
+and these last moments displayed such sangfroid and such phlegm that
+all the lords of England might envy him. Without the least haste he
+conversed with the gentlemen; he expressed his regrets to Marynia that
+he could not be at the concert; to Pani Otocka he said that he owed to
+her in a great measure his happiness of that day; and afterwards
+intrusted Gorek to the neighborly care of Krzycki, and bantered with
+Gronski, trying to persuade him to follow in his footsteps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This superb calmness of his contrasted strangely with the uneasiness
+and distraction of the bride. For a half hour before the departure and
+immediately after donning her travelling robe, she began to stare at
+her mother with an inquiring look as if awaiting from her something
+which was overlooked or forgotten and which under no circumstances
+ought to be overlooked. This continued so long that it attracted
+general attention, and when Pani Wlocek did not appear to understand
+the inquiring look, Kajetana beckoned her for a confidential talk in a
+room adjoining the dining-hall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To the ears of the guests there began to reach for a quarter of an hour
+some alarming though muffled cries of, &quot;Ah!&quot; and &quot;Oh!&quot; and after an
+interval the bride entered with her eyes covered by her palms. But
+after a while she dropped her hands alongside her dress and gazing at
+Dolhanski with the look of an antelope at a lion, she asked in an
+almost inaudible voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Edward, perhaps it is already time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski, Krzycki, and Count Gil bit their lips, while Dolhanski glanced
+at his watch and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We have yet five minutes.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>X</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The cloudlets looming between Hanka and Ladislaus began by degrees to
+be transformed into clouds. At times they ceased to mutually understand
+each other. Hanka was more and more disturbed by the thought whether
+Ladislaus, notwithstanding his good heart and his ability to appreciate
+everything which is exalted and noble, was not a weak character, that
+in a moment of sudden impulse or passionate ecstasy is unable to resist
+and cannot muster within himself sufficient strength, even though his
+own worth is involved, and at this thought she was oppressed by a deep
+sorrow. But she was yet more painfully nettled on another side of the
+matter. This was that she arrived at the conviction that his feelings
+towards her were better, purer and, as it were, more shy at the time
+when he thought that she was Miss Anney. She remembered various
+moments, both in Jastrzeb and in Warsaw, in which she was certain that
+this burning flame of love, which glowed in his heart, was at the same
+time a sacrificial flame of esteem. And now when she had told him that
+she is the former Hanka that pure fire has changed into an ignition of
+the senses. Why? Was the cause of this their former sin; was it that
+she was a peasant? In the answer to those questions lay the pain, for
+Hanka felt that whatever happened was the result of these causes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she was mistaken in thinking that Ladislaus did not understand that
+just for these two reasons he ought to act directly contrary, in order
+to efface in her the memory of sin and to raise her in her own eyes and
+to respect her as his future wife. He understood this quite clearly,
+and often it happened that after parting from her he upbraided himself,
+not mincing words, and in his soul made a solemn promise of
+reformation. But as in his easy life he had not accustomed himself to
+contend with anything and, above all, with himself, therefore this
+lasted but a short time--as long only as he was away from her, as long
+as he was not enveloped by the warmth emanating from her; only when he
+was not absorbed with her eyes; did not feel her hand in his own, and
+did not intoxicate himself with her feminine attractions. Then reason
+blinded in him and darkened; he became the slave of blood, full of
+sophisms, the agent of senses, and the recollection of the former
+Hanka, instead of repressing the temptation, only increased it the
+more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Under such conditions, sooner or later, the storm had to break above
+the heads of both and create desolation. Accordingly it burst sooner
+than Krzycki could have foreseen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One day, coming at the twilight hour to Hanka, he found her in a
+strange and unusual condition. She was agitated, her countenance was
+suffused with blushes, her eyes were red, and the hand which she
+tendered to him, palpably trembled. At the beginning she did not want
+to tell him what was the matter, but when they sat beside each other,
+he began to beg of her that she would not make anything a secret with
+him, but to tell him what occurred, not only as a fiancé, but as her
+best friend.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hanka was always conciliated by an appeal to friendship. Therefore
+after a while she said, smiling sadly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was not concerned about any secret but I preferred to keep to myself
+an unpleasantness. Did you, sir, ever notice my servant, Pauly?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">(Hanka from a certain time addressed her fiancé as &quot;sir,&quot; believing
+that in this manner she would hold him more easily at a proper
+distance.)</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pauly?&quot; repeated Ladislaus, and though, after all, he thus far had
+done nothing with which to reproach himself, a sudden disquiet arose in
+him. &quot;Pauly? Why of course! Why, she was at Jastrzeb and I saw her here
+everyday. What happened?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She created for me a horribly disagreeable scene and has left me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is just what I do not know. She always was very violent and
+nervous, but very honest. So I was attached to her and I thought that
+she would be attached to me. But for some time I have observed in her
+something like a dislike to me, with each day greater. Really, I never
+was harsh to her; even the contrary. So I attributed everything to the
+nerves. In the meantime, to-day, it came to an outburst and it is so
+disagreeable to me! so disagreeable!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hanka's voice faltered, and it could be seen that she felt the whole
+occurrence deeply. So Ladislaus pressed her hand to his lips and asked
+with sympathy:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What kind of outburst was it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This afternoon, or rather after Marynia's return from the rehearsal,
+we were to ride up town with Zosia. So, desiring to change my dress, I
+ordered her to hand it to me. Pauly went after it as usual and brought
+it, but suddenly she threw it upon the ground and began to trample upon
+it, and in addition screamed in a loud, shrill voice that she would
+serve me no longer. At first I was stupefied, for it occurred to me
+that she had become insane.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She surely is insane!&quot; interrupted Ladislaus; &quot;but what further?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She slammed the door and left. I did not see her any more. About an
+hour later somebody came for her things and wages.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Hanka began to shake her head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And nevertheless when I recall her dislike and what she told me in the
+last moments, I do not think that it was an attack of insanity; it was
+only an outburst of hatred, which she could no longer restrain in
+herself. And for me this is such a disappointment, such a
+disappointment!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My lady--Hanus,&quot; said Ladislaus, seizing both of her hands, &quot;is it
+worth while to take to heart the deed of a foolish vixen? For she is a
+foolish vixen--nothing more. It is enough to look at her. Calm
+yourself, Hanus,--this is only a momentary matter which it is necessary
+to forget as soon as possible. Remember who you are and who she is!
+Such times have come that everything is turned topsy-turvy. Such
+occurrences now take place everywhere. But they will pass away. In the
+meantime we two have so many reasons for joy that in view of them such
+wretched smarts ought to disappear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to press alternately her hands to his lips and to his
+breast and gaze in her eyes, but this increased her grief; for Hanka
+desiring to spare unnecessary disagreeableness to her betrothed and
+herself did not confess everything to him. She was particularly
+reticent about this, that the infuriated servant, on leaving, screamed
+at her in her eyes, &quot;You base peasant. You ought to serve me, not I
+you! Your place is with cows, not in the palace!&quot; Perhaps Hanka might
+not have taken these words so much to heart were it not for the
+previous friction in her relations with Ladislaus, and were it not for
+the thought that he transgressed certain bounds perhaps because she was
+his former sweetheart and a peasant. But just this reason caused the
+thorn to be imbedded in her heart more deeply and bred in her a fear as
+to future life in which similar scenes might be repeated more
+frequently.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So, also, his words about the happiness awaiting them were only drops
+overflowing the cup of bitterness, and his caresses affected the
+aggrieved girl like a child, who the more she is consoled the more
+disconsolate she becomes. There came to her a moment of weakness and
+exhaustion. The usual strength deserted her, her nerves were unstrung,
+and she began to sob, but feeling at the same time ashamed of her tears
+she buried her face in his breast.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hanus, my Hanus!&quot; repeated Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to kiss her light hair. Afterwards clasping her temples
+with his palms, he raised her tear-stained face and kissed off her
+tears. She did not defend herself; so after a while he sought with his
+mouth her quivering lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hanus! Hanus!&quot; he whispered in a panting voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The ferment of desire more and more obscured his reason, obscured his
+heart, his memory. He drank from the girl's lips while his breath held
+out, he forgot himself like a drunkard and finally seized her in his
+arms.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hanus! Hanus!&quot;</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">And it happened that he offended her grievously, that to the
+humiliation, which she had met that day, he added a new humiliation; to
+insult, a new insult--that an abyss plainly separated them!</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XI</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">When on the morning of the following day Ladislaus awoke after a brief
+feverish sleep, he was seized by grief and an insane rage at himself.
+He recalled everything which had taken place. He remembered that his
+parting with Hanka the day before was equivalent to being shown the
+door; there returned to him as a wicked echo his own wretched and
+dreadful words said in his passion at the time of separation, that if
+her resistance flowed from fear that later he might break their
+engagement, then let her know that it was an idle fear. And so he
+imputed this resistance to miserable motives. And he, a man who prided
+himself not only upon his good breeding but also upon a subtile sense
+of honor and personal worthiness--he, Krzycki, could act the way he did
+and say what he said. In the first moments after opening his eyes, it
+seemed to him that this was a point-blank impossibility; some kind of a
+continuation of the nightmare which throttled his slumber, which ought
+to disappear with the light of day.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But that nightmare was a heavy reality. It was incumbent upon him to
+take it into account and remedy it in some manner. He sat down to write
+a letter, in which he smote himself upon the breast, complained, and
+apologized. He said that no one was able to condemn him as he had
+condemned himself, and if he dared to beg for forgiveness it was only
+in hope that perhaps some voice, some echo of the better moments would
+intercede for him in her heart and would procure for him forgiveness.
+At the close he begged for an opportunity of repeating in person the
+words of the letter and for an answer, even in case the sentence
+pronounced against him was final.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But when the messenger who took the letter informed him upon his return
+that there was no answer, he fell into genuine despair. As a really
+spoiled child of life, unaccustomed to opposition and obstacles, and
+one convinced that everything was due him, it began to appear to him
+that this was more than he deserved; that he was the injured party. He
+would not admit, however, that all was lost. He indulged in the hope
+that Hanka might, before opening the letter, have announced that there
+was no answer and that after reading it she would be moved, would
+relent, and rescind her resolution. Sustained by this hope, he dressed
+himself, strolled over the city for an hour in order to give Hanka time
+to reckon with her heart, and afterwards rang the bell of her
+residence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But he was not received. Then it occurred to him to apply to Pani
+Otocka. After a while, he nevertheless perceived that the causes of his
+rupture with Hanka were of such a nature that it was impossible to
+discuss them either with Pani Otocka or his mother. In his soul he now
+began to accuse Hanka of downright cruelty, but at the same time the
+greater the difficulties interposed between them the greater was his
+grief. He could not, in any measure, be reconciled to the thought that
+whatever he regarded as his own should be taken away from him; and as
+is usual with weak persons, he began to commiserate himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From Pani Otocka he went to Gronski, regarding him as the only person
+with whom he could speak frankly and whose mediation would be
+effective. And here disappointment awaited him. Gronski had suffered
+for several days with his eyes and was not allowed to read; this put
+him into a bad humor, and for this reason he received Ladislaus more
+indifferently than usual. Ladislaus became convinced that it was
+difficult to speak of the rupture not only with Pani Otocka and his
+mother, but even with a man and old friend who knew of his former
+relations with Hanka. A feeling of shame plainly choked the words in
+his throat, and he began to beat about the bush and palliate things,
+talk in empty phrases about a misunderstanding and the necessity of a
+friendly mediation, so that Gronski at last asked, with a shade of
+impatience:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell me plainly about what you had a falling out, and then I can tell
+whether I will undertake to bring you together again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And evidently he did not attach much importance to the matter for he
+waved his hand and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It would be best if you made it up between yourselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; replied Ladislaus; &quot;this is more serious than you think, and we
+ourselves cannot come to any agreement.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, finally, what was it about?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Shame, exertion, and constraint were depicted upon Ladislaus' face.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In a moment of forgetfulness and ecstasy,&quot; he said, &quot;I passed--that
+is--I wanted to pass--certain limits--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he stopped abruptly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski began to look at him with amazed eyes and asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And she?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, if anything had happened there would not have been any rupture
+and I surely would not speak of it now. She ordered me to the door and
+not to show myself there any more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;May God bless her,&quot; exclaimed Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Silence ensued. Gronski walked with big paces over the room repeating
+every little while, &quot;It is unbelievable!&quot; and again, &quot;An unheard-of
+thing!&quot; and in addition his face became more and more severe and cold.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he sat down and, looking at Ladislaus, began to speak
+deliberately:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have known many people even among our aristocracy, in whom beneath
+the veneer of society, beneath high descent and all the pretensions of
+elegant breeding were concealed the ordinary coarse, low, peasant
+instincts. If this observation can be applied to you as a comfort,
+accept it, for I have no other for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A sudden wave of anger swept over Ladislaus' heart and brain. For a
+while he struggled with himself in order not to explode and answer
+insult with insult; in the end he subdued himself and replied in a
+hollow voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I deserve it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Gronski, not disarmed by this confession, continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, my dear sir, I will not undertake your defence, for I should act
+contrary to my convictions. To you less than to any one else was it
+allowable to indulge yourself, even out of regard for the past. And
+your fiancée must have so understood it, and besides she did not forget
+her extraction. To you it was less permissible! She was a hundred times
+right in showing you the door. The matter is really more serious than I
+thought, and so serious that I do not see any help for it. You did not
+respect Hanka, your future wife, and therefore yourself and your own
+honor. In view of this how can she honor you and what can she think of
+you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know,&quot; said Ladislaus in the same hollow voice, &quot;and I have said all
+this to myself in almost the same words. I wrote a letter to her
+this morning, begging for forgiveness--there was no answer. I went to
+her personally--I was not received. So I came to you as the last
+refuge--for--for me there pleads only one thing--I acted badly,
+brutally, and scurvily, but I have not ceased to love her. There is no
+life for me without her, and though you may not believe it,
+nevertheless it is so that under the frenzy which possessed me, under
+that froth which blinded me and under which I to-day sink, lies the
+feeling not only deep but pure--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski again began to measure with great steps the room for he was
+somewhat touched by Ladislaus' words.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While the latter continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If she will not read my letters and will not receive me, then I will
+not be able to tell her that. Hence it is imperative that some one
+should speak to her in my name. I cannot apply either to Mother or Pani
+Zosia in this. I thought that you, sir--but since you decline, I now
+have no one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Look, however, into the eyes of reality,&quot; said Gronski more gently,
+&quot;for it may be that her love for you was at once torn into shreds. In
+such case from where will she take it when she no longer possesses it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let her tell me so; that at least is yet due to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Again silence fell.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Listen,&quot; Gronski finally said, &quot;I always was a friend of yours and of
+your mother, but this mission which you want to intrust to me I cannot
+undertake. I cannot among other reasons, because if your fiancée does
+not reply to you, so likewise she may not reply to me. One look, one
+word, will close my mouth and with this it would end. But try another
+method. Panna Hanka comes quite often with Marynia to the rehearsals,
+at which I am always present, and afterwards I escort both home. Come
+with me. You may find an opportunity to speak with her. During the
+return home I will take Marynia and you will remain with her. I think
+that she will not repel you even though out of regard for Marynia, to
+whom she would not wish to divulge what had passed between you.--Then
+tell her what you have said to me and also beg her for an interview,
+which, if it cannot be otherwise--will be final. It will be necessary
+somehow to give to the world some plausible excuse for your rupture; so
+I presume she will agree to that. If not, we will think of something
+else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus began to wring his hands and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps through Zosia we could ascertain whether this is forever.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You understand that she may not have wished to discuss the cause of
+your rupture even with Pani Zosia.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I understand, I understand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you now have a fever,&quot; said Gronski, &quot;your hands are burning. Go,
+try to cool off and calm yourself.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz now beheld Marynia, indeed from a distance, but daily. Even
+on rainy days, when she did not walk to the rehearsals, but rode, he
+lay in wait on the stairway of the edifice, in order to see her alight
+from the carriage. On fair days he usually waited near her home, and
+afterwards followed after her to the hall. As among the employees in
+the building were found a few &quot;associates,&quot; these facilitated his
+admittance to the rehearsals. To hide in the boxes or in the seats at
+the end of the rows was easy, as during the rehearsals only the stage
+was fully lit up and in the auditorium itself the dusk was illumined by
+only a few lamps, which were lit in order that the handful of
+privileged lovers of music, who occupied the seats behind the
+orchestra, might not be plunged in complete darkness. Amidst these
+privileged ones, Laskowicz often recognized acquaintances,--Gronski,
+Pani Otocka, the old notary. Miss Anney, sometimes Krzycki, and two or
+three times, Dr. Szremski. But notwithstanding his hatred of Ladislaus
+and dislike of the doctor and Gronski, he was little occupied by them
+and thought of them very little, as his eyes could not even for a
+moment be torn from Marynia. He encompassed with his gaze her girlish
+form, standing out on the edge of the stage, bathed in a lustre of
+electricity, luminous of her own accord, and involuntarily she reminded
+him of that alabaster statuette, which the venerable canon deemed his
+greatest treasure. Laskowicz was not an educated man. His one-sided
+study of physics had contracted his intellectual horizon and he was
+incapable of rendering to himself a clear account of certain
+impressions. Nevertheless, when he gazed on that maid, with violin in
+hand, on her pure calm countenance, on the elongated outlines of her
+figure and dress, there awakened in him a half conscious feeling that
+in her there was something of poetry, and something of the church. She
+seemed to him an artless supernal vision, to which one might pray.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Accordingly he deified her in his wild, fanatical soul. But there raged
+within him a revolt against all divinities, therefore he fought with
+his own feelings and struggled to depress and weed them out to the last
+extremity. Intentionally he plucked off the wings of his own thoughts:
+intentionally he imposed fetters upon his vagaries and unchained his
+concupiscence. He discomfited himself, tortured himself, and suffered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Often he stood on the brink of madness--and in such cases he was ready
+to annihilate, slaughter, and set fire to the whole city in order to
+seize, amidst the bloodshed and conflagration, this silvery maid and
+possess her,--and afterward perish with her and all others. He imagined
+that during the revolutionary storm, which the waves of the proletariat
+would stir up, such an universal hour of annihilation might strike. But
+when reality scattered these dreams, when moments occurred in which it
+became plain that the people themselves put a muzzle upon the jaws of
+the revolutionary dragon, then the gory vision evaporated into vacuous
+smoke, and only exhaustion and confusion remained, for this gloomy
+proletaire felt that as long as he had strength the storm would rage,
+and that when it passed away he would sink into complete nothingness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hence, in his heart bitterness and jealousy accumulated more and more.
+He loved Marynia and at the same time he hated her, for he thought that
+she looked upon him as a worm which squirms at her feet, unworthy of a
+glance. He was confirmed in this conviction by the fact that his
+letters evidently did not make the slightest impression upon her and
+did not disturb her usual tranquillity. Laskowicz had given his word to
+Pauly that he would see Marynia only from a distance, and he could not
+approach her, because she was never out alone. But in reality he could
+not conjecture that those letters were received and burnt by Pani
+Otocka and that Marynia knew nothing about them. It appeared to him
+that his passionate appeals in which the words, &quot;Beloved! beloved!&quot;
+were repeated every little while, and those fiery outbursts in which he
+prostrated himself in humility at her adored feet must have represented
+him to her as the ruling king-soul shoving the human wave into the
+unknown future, and ought to have evoked some result. &quot;Let it be anger,
+let it be hatred,&quot; he said to himself in his soul, &quot;but here there is
+nothing! She passes by me as if I was a street cur; she does not see
+me; she does not deign to recognize me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In fact it was so. In the moments when they passed each other on the
+street, Marynia did not and could not recognize Laskowicz, for after
+his departure from Jastrzeb he allowed his youthful beard to grow, and
+afterwards, Swidwicki, in order to disguise him in the eyes of the
+police, bleached his beard, together with his mustache and the hair on
+his head, a light yellow. His clothes and spectacles also changed his
+appearance but he forgot about that, and he fretted with the
+supposition that her eyes do not see him or do not recognize him,
+firstly, because a recollection of him never comes to her mind, and
+again because she belongs to some kind of social Olympus and he to the
+&quot;proletarian garbage-box.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Under such impressions his anguish changed into fury. With savage
+satisfaction, he thought of this: that there might come a time when the
+fate of this &quot;sacred doll&quot; and all her kin would be in his hands. He
+persuaded himself that that moment would be a triumph for himself
+personally and for the &quot;good cause,&quot; and therefore he rejoiced at this
+conjunction. He pictured to himself what would happen when Marynia came
+to him to beg for a favor for herself and her relatives. Whether, at
+that time, he would prostrate himself on the ground before her and tell
+her to plant her foot on his head, or whether he would seize her in his
+arms and afterwards pass time away shamelessly--he did not know. He
+only had a feeling that he could do one or the other.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime he often said to himself that he ought not to see her
+any more, and decided to seek her no more, but on the following day he
+rushed to the place where he could meet her. He struggled with himself,
+he was torn inwardly, and became exhausted to such an extent that he
+began to fail in health. Want of such air as he breathed in Jastrzeb,
+the necessity of hiding from the police, uneasiness, lack of sleep,
+sudden and painful spiritual changes sapped his strength. He became
+haggard, swarthy, and at times he thought that death threatened not on
+the gallows but in a hospital.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In such a disposition was he found by Pauly, who after her scene with
+Hanka, dashed like a whirlwind into his little garret room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her face was so changed, so pale, so sickly and malignant, and her eyes
+glittered so feverishly that at the first glance he knew that she was
+driven to him by some extraordinary accident and he asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What has happened?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am no longer with that low peasant.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she remained silent for she could not catch her breath, and only
+her face was twitching nervously.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz understood only that she had abandoned her employment and
+looked at her with a questioning gaze, awaiting further explanations.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then, sir, you do not know,&quot; she broke out after a while, &quot;then you do
+not know that he is to marry her? And that she is no Englishwoman, but
+only a low peasant! And such a one I served! He is to marry her--a low
+peasant!--a low peasant!--he!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And her voice changed into a shrill nervous hiccough. Laskowicz was
+frightened at her transports, but at the same time breathed easily.
+Howsoever he might long since have conjectured that Krzycki's
+affections were directed towards Miss Anney and not towards Marynia, he
+was nevertheless pleased in his soul that reality corroborated those
+conjectures.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Living, however, in a world which no echoes of the higher social sphere
+reach, and knowing nothing of the transformation of Miss Anney into a
+Polish peasant woman, he began to interrogate Pauly minutely because
+the affair aroused his curiosity; he wished also to give time to the
+excited girl to calm herself. But this last was not an easy matter, and
+he long had to put questions to her to elicit the news which Swidwicki
+had first told her that Miss Anney was a simple peasant woman, but
+which, however, she did not at first believe, as he said it while under
+the influence of intoxicants. Only from the conversations which she
+overheard did she become convinced not only of the truth of the
+statement but also that Krzycki was to wed Miss Anney. Afterwards she
+peeped through the keyhole and saw him kneel before her and kiss her
+hands. Then she could not restrain herself any longer and at the first
+opportunity flung at the feet of her mistress her &quot;linen frock,&quot; and,
+reviling her as a base peasant, left her service.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here again indignation began to seize her so that Laskowicz from fear
+that she might have an attack of convulsions, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We will consult together about this, but only let the lady be
+pacified.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she replied with increasing irritation:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did not come here for you to pacify me. You, sir, have prated about
+our mutual wrongs and now you order me to be pacified. I want help and
+not your chatter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are anxious that he should not marry her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what else do you suppose?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In any case Laskowicz would have sided with the girl for he was
+obligated to do that by gratitude to her for saving his life, by the
+similarity of their lot, and those &quot;joint wrongs&quot; of which he himself
+had previously spoken to Pauly, and of which she now reminded him. But
+the existence of Krzycki at present ceased to stand in his way and Miss
+Anney's existence less so. Only one thing he could not forgive in her:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She was a peasant woman, she was a wage-earner, and afterwards became
+a female bourgeois. In this is the crime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In it or not in it, it is now I or she! Do you understand, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I understand, but what is to be done?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When you ran away from the police, I did not ask what was to be done.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I remember.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And you said at Swidwicki's that your people could accomplish
+everything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For it is so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So if he only does not marry her, then even let the world end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz began to look at her with his closely set eyes and after a
+moment commenced to speak slowly and with emphasis:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Krzycki was once already condemned and lives, thanks to you, lady, but
+if he gets a bullet in his head, then he will marry no one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she, hearing this, turned pale as a corpse; in the same moment she
+sprang at him with her finger-nails!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; she cried in a hoarse voice; &quot;what! he! Let but a hair fall
+from his head, then, I will have you all--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Laskowicz's patience, however, was exhausted. He was irritated, torn
+internally and sick; hence, after her threat, a wave of bitterness and
+rage flooded his brains. He started up and, glaring in her eyes,
+shouted!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do not threaten with betrayal, for that is death!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Death?&quot; she screamed. &quot;Death! this is what life is to me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And shoving her palm close to his face, she blew on it so that her
+breath moistened him, and repeated:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Look! This is what life is to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And to me,&quot; exclaimed Laskowicz.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For an interval they stared in each other's eyes like two odious and
+despairing souls. He recovered his wits first, and clasping his head
+with both hands, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, how unfortunate we are! oh!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes! yes!&quot; reiterated Panna Pauly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she began to sob hysterically.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then he commenced to quiet her. He promised her that nothing should
+befall Krzycki and that his marriage would not under any circumstances
+take place. He said that at that moment he could not indeed disclose to
+her what measures would be adopted, but he assured her that neither he
+nor his party would show any consideration to a mere female bourgeois,
+as here was involved a higher social justice, which does not need to
+take into account any particular individual. Pauly only understood that
+that &quot;low peasant&quot; would not wed the young master of Jastrzeb, and
+became appeased in some measure: and afterwards, both, from necessity,
+became occupied with other matters. It was imperative that some kind of
+shelter be found for the young girl: so Laskowicz placed her with &quot;a
+female associate&quot; residing in the neighborhood, who immediately went
+for her wages and belongings. He himself returned to his own rooms and
+began to revolve in his mind how he could repay Panna Pauly for saving
+his life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And in this feeling of gratitude lay the first reason why he took the
+matter to heart. A second reason was his own ill-luck and ill-fated
+love for Marynia which made him sensitive to similar strifes; and the
+third was that &quot;social justice&quot; which he mentioned to Pauly. As to the
+third reason he felt, however, the necessity of deliberating with his
+own soul in order that when the time for action arrived his hands would
+be untied, and under the pressure of this necessity he began to reason
+in the following fashion:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On the background of the general concern of the proletariat, personal
+affairs will appear. It might be said that the general concern is the
+sum-total of them all. In this respect whoever stands in defence of the
+personal affair of a proletaire by that act alone defends universal
+principles. But here comes the question of ethics. Whither are we
+tending? To universal justice. Ergo, our principle is moral for it is
+only the sum-total of personal affairs: therefore these personal
+affairs also must be moral. From this it follows that the proletaire,
+who is in the wrong in a controversy with a bourgeois, nevertheless has
+justice on his side simply because he is a proletaire. In this world
+everything is relative. A soldier, slaying his opponent in a war,
+commits manslaughter; therefore the act itself is not ethical. But as
+he commits it in defense of Fatherland, therefore, from the viewpoint
+of national welfare he acts ethically. If in addition thereto he has
+the spur of personal hatred to an antagonist, his act would gain in
+energy and would not lose its additional significance for Fatherland.
+For us, the Polish proletariat is the nation and the idea of their
+emancipation, the Fatherland. For this we wage war and if there is war,
+then murder and injuries are inflicted upon the antagonists; and even
+though the motives for them might be personal, they nevertheless are
+not only justifiable but are covered a hundred-fold by the universal
+welfare.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Besides,&quot;--he reasoned further--, &quot;the quintessence of our existence
+is unhappiness; and from unhappiness as well as, inversely, from
+happiness must blossom corresponding deeds. This is a necessity flowing
+from the nature of things; and with this ethics have nothing to do. I
+and that rabid girl are luckless, like homeless dogs; in view of which
+it is all one whether a wrong was perpetrated upon us intentionally or
+unintentionally; just as it is all one to the wolf whether the forester
+who shoots him in the head, hunted him purposely or whether they met by
+chance. The wolf has teeth to defend himself. That is his right. The
+moment has come when our fangs have grown; therefore we have the right
+to mangle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As to that girl, she is mangled by despair which can only be assuaged
+by revenge. Is it just? Will it be beneficial to the girl? That is all
+one. The wage-earners without work and bread drown their woes in
+alcohol; the bourgeois in case of pain injects morphine into himself,
+and for her, revenge will be alcohol and morphine. Whatever may be the
+consequences, she will destroy the happiness of the pampered; she will
+change their joy into tears; she will break their lives and raze a
+particle of that world, which lies heavily, like a nightmare, upon the
+breasts of the proletariat. So it is necessary to aid that revenge, for
+so does gratitude for saving life command; likewise common wrong, also
+the good of the cause.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In view of this, it already seemed to Laskowicz a matter of minor
+importance whether in that aid a rôle would be played by a knife, or by
+a revolver, or by casting upon Hanka some ignominy, after which nothing
+would remain for her to do but to fly and hide herself forever from
+human eyes. Neither opportunity nor willing hands were wanting. It was
+only necessary to deliberate upon the choice: and afterwards to act
+promptly and decisively.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With this he went to Pauly who agreed to everything. As a compensation
+he demanded that she should release him from his promise to see Marynia
+only from a distance, and he secured that with ease. He evidently
+wanted to have his hands untied also in that regard.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XIII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here is the answer which I finally received,&quot; said Ladislaus, handing
+a letter to Gronski; &quot;I could not expect anything else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I knew that you would receive it,&quot; replied Gronski, blinking with his
+ailing eyes and searching for his binocle, &quot;I was already informed of
+it by Pani Otocka, who from the beginning insisted that Miss Anney
+ought to answer you, and in the end prevailed upon her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus reddened and asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! So Zosia Otocka knows everything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She does and does not know. Miss Anney told her only this much; 'He
+did not forget that he is a young lord and I a peasant woman and we
+ceased to understand each other.' For her it was yet harder to speak of
+this than for you and that difficulty festers all the more the wound
+which, without it, is deep enough--But I cannot find the binocle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here it is,&quot; said Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski placed it on his nose and began to read:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You, yourself, sir, rent and trampled upon our joy, our happiness, my
+trust, and that deep attachment which I had for you. To your query of
+whether I can ever recover those feelings, I answer that I seek for
+them in vain. If ever I recover them I will inform you with the same
+sincerity with which I to-day say that I have in my heart only grief
+and sadness which for a joint life will not suffice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only so much!&quot; said Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My foresight,&quot; answered Gronski, &quot;is verified only too perfectly. The
+spring for the time being has dried up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To the bottom, to the bottom, not a drop for refreshment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski remained silent for a while; after which he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I think otherwise, nevertheless. This is not entirely hopeless. There
+remains sadness, grief and, as it were, the anticipation of the
+recurring swell. In reality, it will not flow to-day nor to-morrow.--In
+view of this, for you there remains either to persevere patiently and
+win anew that which you lost, or else, if you have not sufficient
+strength, to take some shears and sever the remaining threads.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Such shears I will not find. Do you remember, sir, what she did for me
+when I was wounded? I will not forget that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this Gronski shaded his eyes with his hand, gazed at Ladislaus
+intently and asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My dear sir, did you ever propound to yourself one question?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What one?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What pains you the more,--the loss of Miss Anney or your wounded
+self-love?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thank you, sir,&quot; answered Ladislaus, with irony. &quot;In reality, only
+self-love. Through it, I do not sleep, do not eat; through it, in the
+course of a few days, I have grown lean like a shaving and were it not
+for this living wound, life for me would be one perpetual round of
+pleasure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to laugh bitterly, while Gronski continued to gaze at him,
+not removing his hand from his ailing eyes, and thought:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That girl has an honest heart, and let her only see him; then she will
+forgive everything through compassion alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which he said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Listen, after a quarter of an hour, I will put on those dark
+spectacles and go to the rehearsal. Come with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How will that help me, now?&quot; exclaimed Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not know. I do not even guarantee that we will meet Miss Anney,
+for Marynia sometimes goes with a servant. But, in any event, you will
+not lose anything by it; so come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But further conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the doctor,
+the more unexpected, as he had announced, upon leaving Warsaw, that he
+would stay with his brother at least ten days.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is this? You have already returned!&quot; exclaimed Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A surprise, hey?&quot; vociferated the doctor. &quot;Yes! And for me it was a
+surprise! One medical visit, afterwards a fee supplemented with the
+amiable advice, 'Get out of here, while you are whole!' Lo, here I am.
+Oh, what a delightful journey!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How did this happen?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How did it happen? I will tell you immediately. But no! I know that at
+this hour you leave for that rehearsal: so I will go with you,
+gentlemen, and relate it to you on the way. That is such an amusing
+thing that it is worth while to hear it. Ha!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Accordingly after a while they went and the jovial doctor began to
+recite his Odyssey.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I arrived,&quot; he said, &quot;a little fatigued, for that is a distant
+journey, and besides it is necessary to change cars, wait for trains at
+the stations, and so forth--the usual order with us. I reached the
+country-seat late and after greeting my brother, I went to bed at once.
+But the following day I had barely unpacked the primers--you remember,
+gentlemen?--those I brought with me for the petty nobility--and I had
+barely reproved my 'provincial' brother, when an emergency call came
+summoning me to a high official who has an estate adjoining our seat
+and in summer resides with his family in the country. Ha! there was no
+help for it--I ride! And what appears? Why, a thimble stuck in a
+child's throat. I found the child already livid, but the moment I
+pulled the thimble out, the infant went away playing and everything was
+in the best order. There was nothing else to do. I saved a future
+dignitary to the empire, and to the parents an only son, as the
+other children were daughters. So the gratitude was immense. They
+pay--certainly! I wanted to ride away and iterated that there is
+nothing more to do. They would not let me go. Gratitude, breakfast,
+cordiality, friendship, overflowing of Slavonic feelings, and a chat
+which after a time passed into a political discussion. 'There is not,'
+says the dignitary, 'harmony amidst brothers. And what a pity! Religion
+and tongue divide their languages. But what is religion, if not only an
+outward form? God is one. It is the same to Him whether He is glorified
+in the Latin or the Slavonic language. Why, for Slavonians it is more
+seemly if in the Slavonic. And as to the tongue, then the various
+dialects could be limited to conversations at home. Why, however,
+should not one language be adopted, not only officially, but in
+literature? The convenience would be greater, the control easier.
+Then you would abandon your Catholicism and your dialects and accept
+ours--the one and the other,--but heartily and voluntarily. And harmony
+would immediately follow. The times for you would be better. There
+would be downright delight.'--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He mistook his man,&quot; interrupted Gronski, laughing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And that he should chance upon me,&quot; replied the doctor. &quot;I, gentlemen,
+am a deist, a philosopher, but a passable Catholic. Often it happens
+that I assail the church just as I assail Poland whenever anything
+occurs which displeases me. Only if some stranger does the same thing
+in my presence then--a strange thing!--I have a desire to knock out his
+teeth. Therefore I began to defend the Church as if I never in my life
+crawled out of a sacristy; bah, even better, in a way as if I was a
+Catholic apologist. 'If,' I said, 'religion is only an external form
+tell me just why should we abandon this form of ours, which is the most
+spiritualized, the most cultural, and the most beautiful. That
+Catholicism, with which you advise us to take our leave, has
+encompassed the entire West, organized society, produced European
+civilization, preserved learning, has founded universities, reared
+churches, which are masterpieces, gave us Saint Augustine, Dante,
+Petrarch, Saint Francis, and Saint Thomas, created the Renaissance,
+created Leonardo da Vinci's; &quot;Lord's Supper,&quot; Michelangelo's &quot;Tombs of
+the Medici,&quot; Raphael's &quot;School of Athens&quot; and &quot;Disputa,&quot; erected such
+temples as Saint Peter's, not counting others scattered throughout
+Italy and all over Europe. That Catholicism made us partakers of the
+universal culture, united us with the West, imprinted a European stamp
+upon our Polish soul, etc., etc.' And I talked in this strain until he
+interrupted me and said. 'In this is the misfortune, that it has united
+you with the West.' And I replied to that, 'A misfortune to whom, and
+to whom not a misfortune? But now we will speak of your proposition of
+renouncing the tongue and therefore the nationality. Know, sir, that
+this is an empty and foolish dream. That never will take place. I
+proclaim and insist in advance--never! But assuming for a moment an
+impossible thing, that a pestilence will so blight us, that our hearts
+will be so debilitated that we will say to ourselves &quot;Enough!--we can
+no longer be Poles!&quot; then what? Reflect, sir, objectively, like a man
+who has not lost the ability to think, what could restrain us from
+becoming Germans? Our Slavonic extraction? But we are Slavonians, just
+because we are Poles. You are a people who do not know how to live and
+do not permit anybody else to live. So what motive would keep us with
+you? Is it your peace? Your welfare? Your morality? Your
+administration? Your science? Your learning? Your wealth? Your power?
+Learn to look in the eyes of reality; cultivate in yourselves the
+ability to reckon with it, and you will understand that by
+denationalizing us you labor for some one else. But I reiterate yet
+once more that this is only a foolish dream; that the moment of
+renunciation will never come and if I spoke of it, it was only to
+answer those things which you suggested.'</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With this our conversation ended. They, in a yet higher degree than
+we, cannot endure unpleasant truths, so my dignitary changed into a
+decanter of iced water, and on the leave-taking merely said to me:
+'Well, you are too candid, young man, but I thank you for the child.' A
+half an hour later I was at home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can surmise what happened afterwards,&quot; said Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. As the thimble was removed, that same night I received an order
+to leave the next day by the first train.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be satisfied that it ended with that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am satisfied. I will stay a few days in Warsaw; I will see the
+notary; I will attend Panna Zbyltowska's concert. Certainly!
+Certainly!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here he addressed Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is your mother and your fiancée?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thank you. Mother is not badly, but will soon have to leave.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And desiring to hide his confusion, he began to gaze intently into the
+depths of the street, and after a while exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But look! I see Panna Marynia with a maid-servant, and with them some
+third person is walking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In reality about a hundred paces down the street Marynia could be seen
+approaching, accompanied by a maidservant, with the violin in a case.
+On the other side, though somewhat behind, walked a young man with a
+yellowish beard, who, leaning towards Marynia, appeared to speak to her
+in an earnest and vehement manner. She hastened her steps, turning her
+head aside, evidently not desiring to listen to him, while he, keeping
+pace with her, gesticulated violently.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My God! Some one is molesting her!&quot; said the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And all three rushed at full speed towards her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who is that? Who are you, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Marynia, seeing Gronski, seized his arm and trembling all over,
+began to cry:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Home! Take me home, sir!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski understood in a moment that nothing else could be done and that
+it was necessary to hurry, as otherwise Marynia might be embroiled in a
+vulgar street row. He was certain that Ladislaus in whom was
+accumulated an enormous supply of spleen and irritation, with his
+impulsive nature, would not permit the offence of the assailant to pass
+unpunished. So taking the girl aside, he placed her as soon as possible
+in a hackney-coach, which was passing by and ordered the coachman to
+drive to Pani Otocka's house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is nothing now. Everything is all right,&quot; he said on the way, to
+pacify the affrighted Marynia. &quot;From home we will send a message that
+there will be no rehearsal to-day, and with that it will end. It is
+nothing, nothing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to press her hand; after a while, he asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But who was that and what did he want?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pan Laskowicz,&quot; answered Marynia. &quot;I did not recognize him at first,
+but he told me who he was.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Gronski became distressed when he heard the name of the student, for it
+occurred to him that if the encounter with Ladislaus ended with the
+police, then the consequences for Laskowicz might prove fatal directly.
+But not desiring to betray his uneasiness before Marynia, and at the
+same time wishing to better quiet her, he spoke to her half jokingly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So that was Laskowicz? Then I already know what he wanted. Ah!
+Ah!--Some one begins to play not only on the violin but on the
+soul.--Only why did you allow yourself to be so frightened?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For he also threatened,&quot; answered Marynia. &quot;He threatened all
+terribly--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Such bugbears only children fear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True! Especially as I am to play for the hungry; they will not do any
+wrong to me or any of us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Assuredly not,&quot; confirmed Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Conversing thus, they reached home. Gronski surrendered Marynia to Pani
+Otocka's care and when, after a moment, Hanka appeared, he related to
+them everything which had occurred. He likewise had to quiet Pani
+Otocka, who, knowing of the letters, took the whole occurrence very
+much to heart and announced that immediately after the concert they
+would leave for Zalesin, and afterwards go abroad. After the lapse of a
+half hour he left and on the stairs met Ladislaus.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God be praised,&quot; he said, &quot;I see that it did not end with the police.
+Do you know that the man was Laskowicz?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And it seemed so to me,&quot; said Ladislaus with animation; &quot;but this one
+had light hair. How is Marynia?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She was frightened a little but now is well. Both ladies are at her
+side and dandle her like a little chicken. They are so occupied with
+her that Pani Otocka certainly will not receive you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I thought so; especially, if she is there,&quot; answered Ladislaus,
+with bitterness; &quot;so I will only leave my card and will return at once.
+Do you care to wait for me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Accordingly, he returned after a while, and when they were on the
+street, he began to say:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes! and to me it seemed that he was Laskowicz but I was puzzled by
+the light tuft of hair on his head and the spectacles. After all there
+was no time for thinking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Listen--you undoubtedly cudgelled him?&quot; asked Gronski.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And Ladislaus answered reluctantly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Far too much, for he is an emaciated creature, and he evidently did
+not have a revolver.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For some time they walked in silence; after which Gronski said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your mother needs a cure; the ladies will depart from here immediately
+after the concert and Miss Anney undoubtedly with them. I would advise
+you also to think about yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ladislaus waved his hand.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">At the same time in a garret in the quarters of the &quot;female associate,&quot;
+Laskowicz said to Pauly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pan Krzycki is a true gentleman. He battered me a while ago because I
+dared to approach her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he began to laugh through his set teeth.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XIV</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The day of the concert arrived. On the sofa in the sisters'
+dressing-room lay, ready at an early hour, Marynia's evening dress,
+white as snow, light as foam, transparent as the mist, and fragrant
+with violets which were to form her sole adornment. Previously, Pani
+Otocka and Gronski held a long and grave consultation over that dress,
+for both craved warmly that their beloved &quot;divinity&quot; should captivate
+not only the ears but the eyes. In the meanwhile the &quot;divinity&quot; bustled
+about all the rooms, now seizing the violin and repeating the more
+difficult passages, now taking the boxes of bon-bons which Gronski had
+sent to her; then joking with her sister and predicting fright at her
+first public appearance. This fright also possessed Pani Otocka who
+consoled herself only with the thought that Marynia indeed would
+tremble upon entering on the stage, but from the moment she began to
+play would forget everything. She knew also that a warm ovation awaited
+the beloved violinist, likewise numerous baskets of flowers, from the
+&quot;Committee for aiding the hungry,&quot; and from acquaintances.
+Notwithstanding their uneasiness both sisters felt a great joy in their
+souls, as the concert, owing to the arrivals during the racing season,
+promised to be highly successful, and it was already known that the
+receipts would be extraordinary. Marynia besides found a cure for her
+fright: &quot;When I think,&quot; she said to her sister, &quot;that so many eyes will
+gaze at me, my heart is in my mouth, but when I recollect that I am not
+concerned but only the poor, then I cease to fear. So I will save
+myself in this manner: entering upon the stage, I will repeat quietly,
+''Tis for the poor! 'tis for the poor!' and everything will come off in
+the best possible way!&quot; And when she spoke, her voice quivered with
+honest emotion as her young heart felt deeply the woes of the
+unfortunate who did not have any bread, and at the same time she felt
+proud and happy at the thought that she would be instrumental in their
+relief. She even experienced certain pangs of conscience on account of
+the new dress and the new satin shoes, as it occurred to her that this
+outlay might have been expended for bread.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">About noon Hanka came and took both sisters to her apartments for
+breakfast. Gronski, who was invited, did not appear, as at that time he
+was to meet a few journalists. Marynia took her violin with her with
+the intention of playing after the breakfast the first part of the
+programme, and in the meanwhile, waiting before they were seated at
+table, she began to look out from Hanka's salon through the open window
+on the street.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The day was fair and clear. During the night an abundant rain had
+fallen which settled the dust, washed the city's stone pavements,
+refreshed the grass plots, and laved the leaves on the trees. The air
+became fresh and bracing. From the two acacias, growing under the
+windows of Hanka's residence, which strewed the walk near them with
+petals white as snow, came a sweet scent, strong and intoxicating as if
+from a censer. Marynia partly closed her eyes and, moving her delicate
+nostrils, sated herself with the perfume with delight, after which she
+turned to the depth of the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It smells so sweet,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It does, little kitten,&quot; answered Hanka, interrupting a conversation
+with Pani Otocka. &quot;I purposely ordered the window to be opened.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And the acacias not only smelt sweet but seemed to sing, for both were
+cumbered by a countless diet of sparrows so that the leaves and flowers
+quivered from their chirping.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The maiden watched for some time with delighted eyes the small, nimble
+birds; after which her attention was directed to something entirely
+different. On the walk before the house, in the middle of the street
+and on the sidewalk on the opposite side, there began to gather and
+stand clusters of people who, raising their heads, gazed intently at
+the windows of Hanka's residence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Some wretchedly dressed people spoke with the doorkeeper standing at
+the gate, evidently questioning him about something. The clusters each
+moment became more numerous and, together with the passers-by, who
+remained out of curiosity, changed into a mob of several hundred heads.
+Marynia jumped back from the window.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Look,&quot; she cried, &quot;what is taking place on the street. Oh! oh! Perhaps
+they are the poor coming to thank me in advance? What shall I do if
+they come here? what shall I answer? I am not able.--Come, see!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And saying this, she drew her sister and Hanka to the window. The three
+young heads leaned out of the window on to the street, but in that
+moment an incomprehensible thing happened. A ragged stripling pulled
+out of his pocket a stone and hurled it with all his strength into the
+open window. The stone flew over Pani Otocka's head, rebounded on the
+opposite wall, and fell with noise upon the floor. Hanka, Marynia, and
+Zosia drew back from the window and began to look at each other with
+inquiring and startled eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime on the street resounded savage outcries; the rabble
+battered down the gate; on the stairs sounded the stamping of feet,
+after which in the twinkling of an eye the doors leading to the room
+burst open with a crash, and a mob, composed of Christians and some
+Jews, filled the residence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Away with the kept mistress! Strike! tear! smash!&quot; howled hoarse
+voices.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For the mercy of God! People, what do you want here?&quot; cried Hanka.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Away with the kept mistress! away with the kept mistress! through the
+window! on to the street!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a moment a young man-servant, who rushed to the assistance of the
+ladies, was thrown upon the ground and trampled upon. Amidst the
+dreadful commotion, which the mob increased more and more, the human
+beasts became unfettered. Women with disheveled hair, filthy striplings
+with the marks of crime upon their degenerate features, and all manner
+of ragamuffins with drunken faces, rushed at the furniture, divans, bed
+curtains, and everything which fell into their hands. In the residence
+an orgy of destruction prevailed. The rooms were filled with the stench
+of sweat and whiskey. The mob became infuriated; it broke, smashed,
+stole. On the street, under the windows piles of splintered furniture
+were formed. They threw out even the piano. Finally some ruffian, with
+a pock-marked visage, seized Marynia's violin and brandished it,
+desiring to shatter it on the wall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But she jumped to its aid and seized his fist with both hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is mine! that is mine!--I am to play for the poor--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let go!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will not let go!--that is mine!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let go, carrion!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is mine!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A shot was fired, and, simultaneously, Pani Otocka's scream pierced the
+air. Marynia stood for a moment with upraised hands and head inclined
+backwards; afterwards she reeled and fell back into Hanka's arms.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The shot and the murder overawed the crowd. The mob became silent, and
+after a moment began to scamper away, panic-stricken.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XV</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Krzycki, Zosia, and Hanka, and with them Gronski, Ladislaus, and
+Dr. Szremski surrounded the bed on which Marynia lay, after the
+operation and the extraction of the bullet. A second surgeon and his
+assistant sat aloof, awaiting the awakening of the patient. In the
+room, filled with the odor of iodoform, a profound stillness prevailed.
+Marynia had previously awoke immediately after the operation was
+performed, but stupefied still by the chloroform and weakened by the
+loss of blood, she soon sank again into a slumber. Her beautiful head
+lay motionless upon the pillow, her eyes were closed, and her
+countenance was waxen and transparent, as if she were already dead. In
+Pani Otocka and in Gronski, who but now sounded within himself the
+immensity of his affection for that child, despair whimpered with that
+quiet, terrible whimper, which lacerates, tugs and rends the bosom but
+fears to emerge on the surface. Both glanced time and again with alarm
+at Dr. Szremski who from time to time examined Marynia's pulse, but
+evidently he himself was uncertain whether that sleep would be final:
+he only nodded his head and placed his finger to his lips in sign of
+silence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nevertheless, their fears for the time being were vain, as after the
+lapse of an hour Marynia's eyebrows commenced to rise, quiver, and
+after a moment she opened her eyes. Her look, at the beginning, was
+dull and unconscious. Slowly, however, the stupefaction left her and
+consciousness of what had occurred as well as of the present moment
+returned. On her countenance appeared an expression of amazement and
+affliction, such as a child feels who has been punished cruelly and
+unjustly. Finally her pupils darkened and two tears coursed down her
+cheeks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For what?--for what?&quot; she whispered with her pallid lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Pani Otocka sat at her side and placed her palm on her hand. Gronski
+was seized with a desire to throw himself on the ground and beat his
+head on the floor, while the patient asked further in an amazed and
+mournful whisper:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For what?--for what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">God alone could answer that question. But in the meantime the doctor
+approached and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do not speak, child, for that harms.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So she became silent, but the expression of affliction did not
+disappear from her countenance, and tears continued to flow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her sister began to wipe them off; repeating in a subdued voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marynia, Marynia, calm yourself--you will be well--you are not
+dangerously wounded--no, no--the doctor guarantees that--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marynia raised her eyes at her as if she desired to divine whether she
+was telling the truth. It appeared, however, that she listened to her
+sister's words with a certain hope.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, she said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is sultry.--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The doctor opened the window of the room. Out in the open air the night
+was fair and starry. Waves of fresh air brought the scent of the
+acacias.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The patient lay for some time calm, but suddenly she began again to
+seek somebody with her eyes and asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is Pan Gronski here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am, dear, I am--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You, sir--will not--let me?--Truly--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To Gronski it seemed at that moment that he was enveloped by a deep
+night and that amidst that impenetrable darkness he answered in a
+strange voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she spoke with terror, her countenance growing more and more
+pallid:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I do not want to die--I am afraid--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And again tears began to trickle from her eyes--tears inconsolable,
+tears of a wronged child.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The entrance of a priest relieved the harrowing moment. It was the same
+old prelate, a relative of the Krzyckis and the Zbyltowskis, who
+previously shrived Pani Krzycki. Drawing nearer, he sat beside
+Marynia's bed and bending over her with a cheering smile, full of hope,
+said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How are you, dear child? Ah, the wretches!--But God is more powerful
+than they and everything will end well. I only came to ask about your
+health. God be praised the bullet is already extracted.--Now only
+patience is necessary and you will be patient--will you not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marynia winked her eyes as a token of acquiescence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The amiable old man continued in a more genial and as if jubilant
+voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! I knew that you would. Now I will tell you that there is something
+which often is more efficacious than all the medicines and bandages. Do
+you know what it is? The Sacrament! Ho! how often in life have I seen
+that people, who were separated from death by a hair, became at once
+better after confession, communion, and anointment, and after that
+recovered their health entirely. You, my dove, are surely far from
+death, but since it is a Christian duty, which helps the soul and body,
+it is necessary to perform it. Well, child?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marynia again winked her eyes in sign of assent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Those present retired from the room and returned only upon the sound of
+the little bell to be witnesses to the Communion. The patient, after
+receiving it, lay for some time with closed eyelids and a quiet
+brightness in her countenance, after which the moment of extreme
+unction arrived.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the room assembled, besides those previously present, the servants
+of the house; suppressing their sobs, they heard the customary prayers
+before the rite.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lord, Jesus Christ, who hast said through Thy apostle Saint James, 'Is
+any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the Church and
+let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
+Lord.' We implore Thee, Lord God, our Redeemer, for the grace of The
+Holy Ghost: have mercy upon this sick one, heal her wounds, pardon her
+sins, and banish from her all pains of soul and body and in Thy mercy
+return health completely to her, in order that, restored to life, she
+may again give herself up to good deeds. Oh Thou, who being God, livest
+and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, now and forever. Amen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The priest appeared to hurry. Quickly he took the vessel standing
+between two candles under the crucifix and approaching the patient he
+whispered the second, brief prayer required by the ritual, and at the
+same time began to administer extreme unction. He first touched the
+girl's eyelids, saying, &quot;Through this holy unction and His own most
+tender mercy, may the Lord pardon thee whatever sins or faults thou
+hast committed by sight&quot;; after that he anointed her ears to purge the
+sins which she might have committed through the sense of hearing; after
+that the lips; after that the hands, resembling two white lilies, which
+that day were to have played for the poor; and finally he blessed her
+whole body from head to feet--already purified of all blemish and
+already as truly angelic and immaculate as a lily in the field.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A half hour passed. To those present it seemed that the patient again
+succumbed to slumber. But unexpectedly she opened her eyes wide, and
+cried in a stronger, as if joyful, voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How much bread!--How much bread!--&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And she expired calmly.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">During the depth of the night, a young man came to the gate and asked
+the doorkeeper whether the little lady was still alive and, hearing
+that she had died, he left in silence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">An hour later in the garret of one of the houses near the Vistula a
+shot from a revolver was fired, and, filled with consternation, the
+inmates suddenly awakened from their sleep. The people in the
+neighboring rooms flocked to the place of the accident. The locked
+doors of the room were battered down but all aid was futile. On the bed
+lay the dead body of the student with his breast perforated by a shot.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The gloomy, tragic soul had already flown into darkness.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XVI</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">The room in which Marynia died was changed into a funeral chamber. The
+coffin stood in the middle, high, amidst burning candles and a whole
+forest of plants and flowers, of which such a number were amassed that
+they filled not only the chamber but even the anteroom and the
+stairway. The coffin was still open and in the brightness of the day,
+blended with the light of the wax-candles, Marynia could be seen
+dressed in that same dress in which she was to have appeared at the
+concert. The little metal cross which she held in her folded hands
+glittered like a sparkling spot on a dark background of plants. Her
+face was pensive, but without the slightest trace of suffering,--and at
+the same time as if she was absorbed in listening to voices, sounds,
+and tones, which were inaudible and incomprehensible to mortals.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Though the open windows there blew in from time to time a breeze,
+extinguishing here and there the unsteady flames of the candles and
+causing the leaves of the plants to rustle. On the acacias in front of
+the house the sparrows chirped boisterously; one would think that they
+were relating to each other feverishly what had happened; while at the
+side of the catafalque a human stream flowed. There came with wreaths,
+workingmen, for whose benefit the concert was to have been given, and
+at the sight of the barbarously slain little lady, they left with fire
+in their eyes and clenched fists. The intelligence of the monstrous and
+reckless crime attracted whole throngs of students, who determined to
+carry the coffin on their shoulders. In the meantime they moved slowly
+and quietly about the catafalque, gazing with bosoms swelling with
+sympathy and grief at the silvery profile of the girl, turned towards
+heaven, and unconsciously they recalled the words of the poet:</p>
+<div class="poem2">
+
+<p class="t0" style="text-indent:-4px">&quot;And now in pale satin enshrouded,<br>
+In silence, hands folded, she lies.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="continue">Horror, indignation, and at the same time curiosity aroused the city
+from centre to circumference. Even the streets in front of the house
+were thronged by great crowds--uneasy, being unable to explain to
+themselves how such a thing happened--and, as if, alarmed by the
+thought of what the future might bring forth, what other crimes might
+be committed and what other victims the uncertain morrow might devour.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The remains of Marynia were to be conveyed to the railway and from
+there to Zalesin where the tombs of the Otockis were located.
+Immediately after noon the coffin was taken off the stretchers and
+then, before its sealing, came for Pani Otocka and for Gronski the
+dreadful moment of viewing for the last time in life that beloved being
+who was for them a light and sun. If she had died of some sickness
+their despair might not have been less, but it would have been more
+intelligible to them. But she was murdered! They murdered this sweet
+and innocent child, just at a time when she wanted to aid people and
+when she rejoiced at the thought of that aid. Murdered was that
+incarnate song, that fragrant flower, sent by God for the joy of
+mankind! And in just this there was something which could not be
+confined within the limits of despair, but reached into the borders of
+madness. For lo, this is the last moment for beholding that love, that
+youth, that maidenly charm, that white victim of crime and mistake; and
+after that nothingness, darkness,--solitude.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But overstrained pain kills itself like a scorpion, it covers the
+intellect with darkness, and commands the blood to congeal in the
+veins. That happened with the sister of the slain. For a long time Dr.
+Szremski was uncertain whether he would be able to restore her to life.
+In the consternation and confusion it was hardly observed that into the
+chamber there rushed an insane woman and, whining mournfully, she flung
+herself upon the ground. Swidwicki led her away with the aid of the
+students and intrusted her to their care.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the meantime the coffin was sealed; the youths placed it on their
+shoulders and the funeral party moved towards the railway. After them
+marched a long procession, at the end of which empty carriages jogged
+along. The ever-increasing swarm flowed along the middle of the streets
+and sidewalks; and not until they reached the bridge did those who
+joined the procession only through curiosity begin to return home.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki approached Dr. Szremski, and for some time both walked in
+silence, not perceiving that they were remaining more and more behind
+the procession.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You knew the deceased?&quot; asked the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Otocki was my relative.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, what a horrible mistake it was?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But Swidwicki blurted out:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That was no mistake. That is the logical result of the times, and in
+those that are coming such accidents will become a customary, every-day
+occurrence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How do you understand that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The way it should be understood. That coffin has greater meaning than
+it seems. That is an announcement! A mistake? No! That was only an
+incident. Lo, to-day we are burying a harp, which wanted to play for
+the people, but which the rabble trampled upon with their filthy
+feet.--Wait, sir! Let things continue to proceed thus, and who knows
+whether, after ten or twenty years, we will not thus bury learning,
+art, culture, bah! even the entire civilization. And that not only here
+but everywhere. There will be an endless series of such events.--To me,
+after all, it is all one, but absolutely it is possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The doctor ruminated for some time in silence over Swidwicki's words;
+finally he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Swidwicki stood still, seized the doctor by the flap of his coat and
+shaking his goat-like beard, said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hear, sir, an atheist, or at least, a man who has nothing to do with
+any religion: knowledge without religion breeds only thieves and
+bandits.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The procession paused for a while on account of an obstruction on the
+road; so conversing, they drew nearer to the coffin; nevertheless,
+Swidwicki, though lowering his voice, did not cease to talk:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, sir--a great many people think the same as I do; only they
+have not the courage to say it aloud. After all, I reiterate it is all
+one to me,--we are lost past all help. With us there are only
+whirlpools.--And these, not whirlpools upon a watery gulf, beneath
+which is a calm depth, but whirlpools of sand. Now the whirlwind blows
+from the East and the sterile sand buries our traditions, our
+civilization, our culture--our whole Poland--and transforms her into a
+wilderness upon which flowers perish and only jackals can live.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here he pointed to Marynia's coffin:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lo, there is a flower which has withered. Do you know, sir, why I,
+though a relative, seldom visited them? Because I felt ashamed before
+her eyes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They reached the station and went upon the roadway, from which could be
+seen the coach, decorated with flowers and fir-tree boughs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are you riding to Zalesin?&quot; asked the doctor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am. I want to gaze at Pani Otocka. God knows what now will become of
+her. And see, sir, how Gronski looks. An old man--what? Now his Latin
+and books will not help him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who would not have felt this,&quot; answered the doctor. &quot;Krzycki also
+looks as if he were taken off the cross.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Krzycki? But perhaps it is because his matrimonial plans are broken.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Further conversation was interrupted by the orchestra which began to
+play Chopin's &quot;Funeral March.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>XVII</h3>
+
+<p class="normal">Dr. Szremski upon his return to the hotel began to ponder over
+Swidwicki's words, which were imbedded deeply in his memory. Before his
+eyes there glided a picture of the funeral procession and that coffin,
+with the victim, murdered by those to whom she wanted to do good. &quot;Yes,
+yes!&quot; he said to himself, &quot;that apparently was a mistake, but similar
+mistakes are the logical consequences of the unbridled, blind, animal
+instincts. We must admit that we are flying at break-neck speed into
+some bottomless abyss. And not only we. But is it allowable to conclude
+from this, that, as to-day we conducted song, murdered by the rabble,
+so after ten, twenty, or fifty years we will witness the burial of
+learning, culture, and civilization? Apparently--yes. It is high time
+that God, Who rules the world, should give new proofs that He in
+reality rules. It ought to thunder so that the earth would tremble--or
+what? Mankind are entering upon a road which is directly opposite to
+entire nature. For the whole endeavor of nature is to create as perfect
+beings as possible and through them to ennoble the species; and
+humanity perversely kills them as it did that angelic child, or else
+seizes them by the hair to drag them from the heights to the general
+level. And nevertheless this is but a specious appearance. If the
+engineers determined to excavate all the mountains and make the earth
+as smooth and even as a billiard ball, some convulsions would take
+place, some eruptions of volcanoes would occur, which would create new
+abysses and new heights. Of the Aryan spirit can be said that which the
+Grecians, enamoured with the soothing architectonical lines, said of
+the Roman arches: 'The arch will never fall asleep.' Likewise the Aryan
+spirit. The humanity, which possesses it, is incapable of drifting into
+infinity on one wave, thinking one thought and living in one idea. That
+which is to-day--will pass away. On the summits of reason, feeling, and
+will, new whirlwinds will generate and they will raise new waves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here the doctor's thoughts were apparently directed nearer to matters
+lying more on his heart, for he began to clench his fist and pace with
+big, uneasy steps about the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Will we,&quot; he said to himself, &quot;however, remain amidst these
+convulsions, waves, and whirlwinds? Whirlpools? Whirlpools!--and of
+sand! Sand is burying the whole of Poland and transforming her into a
+wilderness, on which jackals live. If this is so, then it would be best
+to put a bullet in the head.--I am curious as to what Gronski would say
+to this--but lightning has struck his head and it is of no use to speak
+to him.--We are lost past all help? That is untrue! Beneath these
+whirlpools which are whirling upon the surface of our life is something
+which Swidwicki did not perceive. There is more than elsewhere, for
+there is a bottomless depth of suffering. There plainly is not in the
+world greater misfortune than ours. With us the people awake in the
+morning and follow the plough in the field, go to the factory, to the
+offices, behind the benches in the shops, and all manner of labor--in
+pain. They go to sleep in pain. That suffering is as boundless as the
+expanse of the sea while the whirlpools are but ripples upon that
+expanse. And why do we suffer thus? Of course, we might, at once,
+to-morrow, breathe more freely and be happier. It would be sufficient
+for every one to say to Her, that Poland, of whom Swidwicki says that
+she is perishing, 'Too much dost Thou pain me, too much dost Thou
+vex me; therefore I renounce Thee and from this day wish to forget
+Thee.'--And nevertheless nobody says that; not even such a Swidwicki,
+who prevaricated when he said it is all one to him; not even they who
+throw bombs, and murder sisters and brothers!--And if it is so that we
+prefer to suffer than renounce Her, then where are the jackals and
+where is Her destruction? Jackals seek carrion, not suffering! So She
+lives in every one of us, in all of us together, and will survive all
+the whirlpools in the world. And we will set our teeth and will
+continue to suffer for Thee, Mother, and we--and if God so wills
+it,--and our children and grandchildren will not renounce neither Thee
+nor hope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Here Szremski was touched by his own thoughts, but dawn brightened his
+countenance. He found an answer to the question which Swidwicki thrust
+into his soul. Walking, he began to repeat: &quot;For nothing, nobody would
+consent to suffer thus.&quot; After which it occurred to his mind that to
+suffer for Her was not yet sufficient, for he began to rub his hands
+and turn up his rumpled sleeves, as if he wanted at once to do some
+important and urgent work. But, after a while, he observed that he was
+in the hotel, so he smiled, with his sincere, peculiar smile, and said
+aloud:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ha! It cannot be helped. To-morrow I must return to my hole and push
+the wheelbarrow along.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And suddenly he sighed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To my solitary hole.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After which, he, himself, not knowing why, recollected what Swidwicki
+had told him about the breaking of Krzycki's matrimonial engagement,
+and his thoughts, like winged birds, began to fly to Zalesin.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_01" href="#div2Ref_01">Footnote 1</a>: &quot;Even
+bird's milk is not lacking,&quot; a Polish proverbial
+expression signifying &quot;abundance,&quot; &quot;living in clover.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_02" href="#div2Ref_02">Footnote 2</a>: &quot;On the
+thief's head the cap burns:&quot; a Polish
+proverb meaning that persons, conscious of guilt, always fear
+detection.--Translator.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_03" href="#div2Ref_03">Footnote 3</a>: &quot;Sprinkled
+his eyes with poppy:&quot; proverbial expression
+denoting &quot;lulled to sleep.&quot;--Translator.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_04" href="#div2Ref_04">Footnote 4</a>: Kilinski
+was one of the bravest and most popular
+heroes who fought under Kosciuszko. He was a shoe-maker by
+trade.--Translator.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_05" href="#div2Ref_05">Footnote 5</a>: Bigos: a
+Polish dish of hashed meat and
+cabbage.--Translator.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_06" href="#div2Ref_06">Footnote 6</a>: Peter
+Skarga was the most famous pulpit orator in the
+history of Poland.--Translator.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_07" href="#div2Ref_07">Footnote 7</a>: &quot;Poland is
+not yet lost.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_08" href="#div2Ref_08">Footnote 8</a>: Referring
+to the Sacred Fire of pagan Lithuanians.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_09" href="#div2Ref_09">Footnote 9</a>: Mamalyga,
+a kind of porridge in Bessarabia, made
+principally of corn.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_10" href="#div2Ref_10">Footnote 10</a>: Piast;
+the name of the first King of Poland, who was a
+peasant.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_11" href="#div2Ref_11">Footnote 11</a>:
+Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, the last king of
+Poland.</p>
+
+<p class="hang1"><a name="div2_12" href="#div2Ref_12">Footnote 12</a>:
+&quot;Skubanka,&quot; a pun upon the word, &quot;skubac,&quot; to pluck.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>THE END</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><i>THE ZAGLOBA ROMANCES</i><br>
+<i>by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from</i><br>
+<i>the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin</i>.</h2>
+
+<h3>WITH FIRE AND SWORD</h3>
+
+<p class="hang1">An Historical Novel of Poland and Russia. Illustrated. Crown
+8vo. $1.50 <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="hang2">The first of the famous trilogy of historical romances of
+Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Their publication has been received as an event in
+literature. Charles Dudley Warner, in <i>Harper's Magazine</i>, affirms that the
+Polish author has in Zagloba <i>given a new creation to literature</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal"><i>A capital story</i>. The only modern romance with which it
+can be compared for fire, sprightliness, rapidity of action, swift changes, and
+absorbing interest is &quot;The Three Musketeers&quot; of Dumas.--<i>New York Tribune</i>.</p>
+
+
+<h3>THE DELUGE</h3>
+
+<p class="hang1">An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. A Sequel to
+&quot;With Fire and Sword.&quot; With map. 2 vols. Crown 8vo. $3.00 <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marvellous in its grand descriptions.--<i>Chicago Inter-Ocean</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Has the humor of a Cervantes and the grim vigor of Defoe.--<i>Boston
+Gazette</i>.</p>
+
+
+<h3>PAN MICHAEL</h3>
+
+<p class="hang1">An Historical Novel of Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine. A
+Sequel to &quot;With Fire and Sword&quot; and &quot;The Deluge.&quot; Crown 8vo. $1.50 <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The interest of the trilogy, both historical and romantic, is
+splendidly sustained.--<i>The Dial</i>, Chicago.</p>
+
+<hr class="W90">
+
+<h4>LITTLE, BROWN, &amp; COMPANY, <span class="sc">Publishers</span>
+<span class="sc">Boston, Massachusetts</span></h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>QUO VADIS</h2>
+
+<p class="hang1">A Narrative of the Time of Nero. By <span class="sc">Henryk
+Sienkiewicz</span>. Translated from the Polish by <span class="sc">Jeremiah
+Curtin</span>. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. $1.50 <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One of the greatest books of our day.--<i>The Bookman</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The book is like a grand historical pageant.--<i>Literary
+World</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of intense interest to the whole Christian civilization.--<i>Chicago
+Tribune</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Interest never wanes; and the story is carried through its
+many phases of conflict and terror to a climax that enthralls.--<i>Chicago
+Record</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As a study of the introduction of the gospel of love into the
+pagan world typified by Rome, it is marvellously fine.--<i>Chicago Interior</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The picture here given of life in Rome under the last of the
+Caesars is one of unparalleled power and vividness.--<i>Boston Home Journal</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One of the most remarkable books of the decade. It burns upon
+the brain the struggles and triumphs of the early church.--<i>Boston Daily
+Advertiser</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It will become recognized by virtue of its own merits as the
+one heroic monument built by the modern novelist above the ruins of decadent
+Rome, and in honor of the blessed martyrs of the early Church.--<i>Brooklyn
+Eagle</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Our debt to Sienkiewicz is not less than our debt to his
+translator
+and friend, Jeremiah Curtin. The diversity of the language, the rapid
+flow of thought, the picturesque imagery of the descriptions are all
+his.--<i>Boston Transcript</i>.</p>
+
+<hr class="W90">
+
+<h4>LITTLE, BROWN, &amp; COMPANY, <span class="sc">Publishers</span>
+<span class="sc">Boston, Massachusetts</span></h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>THE KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS</h3>
+
+<p class="hang1">An Historical Romance of Poland and Germany. By <span class="sc">
+Henryk Sienkiewicz</span>. Translated from the Polish
+by <span class="sc">Jeremiah Curtin</span>. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. $2.00 <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The greatest work Sienkiewicz has given us.--<i>Buffalo
+Express</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It seems superior even to &quot;Quo Vadis&quot; in strength and
+realism.--<i>The
+Churchman</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The construction of the story is beyond praise. It is
+difficult
+to conceive of any one who will not pick the book up with
+eagerness.--<i>Chicago Evening Post</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There are some scenes in the book that for power and
+excitement
+remind one of the great encounter between Ursus and the bull in &quot;Quo
+Vadis.&quot;--<i>Minneapolis Tribune</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Vivid, dramatic, and vigorous.... His imaginative power, his
+command of
+language, and the picturesque scenes he sets combine to fascinate the
+reader.--<i>Philadelphia Bulletin</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A book that holds your almost breathless attention as in a
+vise from
+the very beginning, for in it love and strife, the most thrilling of
+all worldly subjects, are described masterfully.--<i>The Boston Journal</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Another remarkable book. His descriptions are tremendously
+effective;
+one can almost hear the sound of the carnage; to the mind's eye the
+scene of battle is unfolded by a master artist.--<i>The Hartford
+Courant</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thrillingly dramatic, full of strange local color and very
+faithful to
+its period, besides having that sense of the mysterious and weird that
+throbs in the Polish blood and infects alike their music and
+literature.--<i>The St. Paul Globe</i>.</p>
+
+<hr class="W90">
+
+<h4>LITTLE, BROWN, &amp; COMPANY, <span class="sc">Publishers</span>
+<span class="sc">Boston, Massachusetts</span></h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2><i>OTHER NOVELS AND ROMANCES</i><br>
+<i>by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from</i><br>
+<i>the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin</i>.</h2>
+
+<h3>CHILDREN OF THE SOIL</h3>
+
+<p class="continue">Crown 8vo. $1.50 <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It must be reckoned among the finer fictions of our time, and
+shows its author to be almost as great a master in the field of the domestic
+novel as he had previously been shown to be in that of imaginative historical
+romances.--<i>The Dial</i>, Chicago.</p>
+
+
+<h3>HANIA, AND OTHER STORIES</h3>
+
+<p class="continue">With portrait. Crown 8vo. $1.50 <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the highest level of the author's genius.--<i>The Outlook</i>.</p>
+
+
+<h3>SIELANKA, A FOREST PICTURE</h3>
+
+<p class="continue">And Other Stories. With frontispiece. Crown 8vo. $1.50 <i>
+net</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They exhibit the masterly genius of Sienkiewicz even better
+than his longer romances. They abound in fine character-drawings and beautiful
+descriptions.--<i>Chicago Inter-Ocean</i>.</p>
+
+<h3>ON THE FIELD OF GLORY</h3>
+
+<p class="hang1">An Historical Romance of Poland in the Reign of King John
+Sobieski. 12mo. cloth. $1.50 <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+
+<h3>WITHOUT DOGMA</h3>
+
+<p class="hang1">A Novel of Modern Poland. (Translated from the Polish by Iza
+Young.) Crown 8vo. $1.50.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A human document read in the light of a great imagination.--<i>Boston
+Beacon</i>.</p>
+
+<hr class="W90">
+
+<h4>LITTLE, BROWN, &amp; COMPANY, <span class="sc">Publishers</span>
+<span class="sc">Boston, Massachusetts</span></h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Whirlpools, by Henryk Sienkiewicz
+
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diff --git a/37426.txt b/37426.txt
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+++ b/37426.txt
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Whirlpools, 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: Whirlpools
+       A Novel of Modern Poland
+
+Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
+
+Translator: Max A. Drezmal
+
+Release Date: September 15, 2011 [EBook #37426]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHIRLPOOLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://www.archive.org/details/whirlpoolsnovelo00sien
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               WHIRLPOOLS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                WORKS OF
+
+                           HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ
+
+                               *   *   *
+
+      Whirlpools
+      "Quo Vadis"
+      With Fire and Sword
+      The Deluge
+      Pan Michael
+      Children of the Soil
+      Hania, and Other Stories
+      Sielanka, a Forest Picture and Other Stories
+      The Knights of the Cross
+      Without Dogma
+      On the Field of Glory
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                               WHIRLPOOLS
+
+                        A Novel of Modern Poland
+
+
+
+                                   BY
+
+                           HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ
+
+             Author of "With Fire and Sword," "The Deluge,"
+                  "Quo Vadis," "Children of the Soil,"
+                         "Without Dogma," Etc.
+
+
+
+                    _TRANSLATED FROM THE POLISH BY_
+                             MAX A. DREZMAL
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 BOSTON
+
+                       LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+
+                                  1910
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                           _Copyright, 1910_
+
+                     By Little, Brown, and Company
+
+                               *   *   *
+
+                         _All rights reserved_
+
+                          Published June, 1910
+
+
+
+
+
+
+               THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+
+                              WHIRLPOOLS.
+
+
+
+
+                              PART FIRST.
+
+
+
+                                   I
+
+Gronski arrived at the Jastrzeb manor-house about midnight. In the
+house all were asleep excepting an old servant and the young heir,
+Ladislaus Krzycki, who awaited his guest with supper and greeted him
+with great cordiality, for notwithstanding the disparity in their ages
+they were bound by ties of an old intimacy. It continued from those
+days when Gronski, as a university student, surrounded with a tutelary
+friendship the youthful Krzycki, who was attending the gymnasium. Later
+they met frequently and the closer friendly relations between Gronski
+and the Krzycki family did not undergo any interruption.
+
+Therefore when, after the first greetings, they repaired to the
+dining-room the young heir of Jastrzeb again began to embrace Gronski.
+After a while, having seated him at the table, he shook from his eyes
+the remnants of drowsiness which had oppressed him, became thoroughly
+animated, and said with sincere happiness:
+
+"How immensely fortunate I am that at last we have you at Jastrzeb; and
+Mother, how she has been expecting you! I, whenever I am in Warsaw,
+always begin with you, but a year has passed since your last visit
+here."
+
+Gronski inquired about Pani Krzycki's health and that of the younger
+members of the household, after which he said:
+
+"It is, indeed, strange that I have not been out in the country, not
+only with you but elsewhere. In summer time they dispatch me every year
+to Carlsbad, and after Carlsbad one strays somewhere in the west.
+Besides, in Warsaw matters are now seething as in a caldron, and it is
+difficult to tear one's self from all this."
+
+The conversation, which started with a lengthy discussion of public
+affairs, was afterwards turned by Ladislaus towards private matters:
+
+"Did you," he said, "besides the notification of the death of Uncle
+Zarnowski, receive a letter from Mother? I ask for this reason: I
+mailed first the notification, and later in the day Mother decided to
+write the letter."
+
+"I received both and for that reason I am here. I tell you candidly I
+would not come merely to attend your uncle's funeral. It is true that a
+year ago, when he was in Warsaw for medical treatment, we dined
+together for several months at the same club, but that was all; though
+people were astonished that such a misanthrope, who avoided everybody,
+did not somehow run away from me. How were your relations? Were they
+cool to the end?"
+
+"Rather, there were none. He would not receive anybody and did not wish
+to see any one, not even his parish-priest. Extreme unction was
+administered by the Canon of Olchowa. When he became seriously ill, we
+visited him in Rzeslewo, but he received us with blunt discourtesy.
+Mother did not mind it and repeated her visits, though at times he was
+disagreeable towards her. As for myself, I confess that I did not call
+there again until he was in a very critical state."
+
+"Did he leave a large estate?"
+
+"Rzeslewo is a huge patch of that kind of soil in which you can
+anywhere plant at least onions. There is not one copper coin of
+indebtedness. At one time Uncle had a house in Warsaw, to which he
+removed the entire equipment from Rzeslewo, which was not, by any
+means, despicable. We thought that he would reside permanently in the
+city, but he later sold everything; from which I infer he must have
+left funds. Some, as is customary with people who are fond of
+exaggeration, say hundreds of thousands. The Lord only knows. But this
+much is certain: he inherited a great deal from his brothers. I do not
+know whether you have ever heard that there were three of them. One
+perished, while yet a student, in a duel at Dorpat; the other died,
+also young, from typhoid fever, and Uncle Adam got everything they
+left."
+
+"It is said that he lived very poorly."
+
+"He stayed a great deal in Warsaw and abroad for his health. How he
+lived there I do not know, but, after his return to Rzeslewo, very
+wretchedly. I think, however, that this was more due to whimsicality
+than to greed, for he was not greedy. You would not believe how that
+manor appeared; how everything was denuded and abandoned. In every room
+the roof was leaky, and if some unexpected guests or unknown relatives
+arrive for the funeral, I will have to invite them to Jastrzeb, for
+there I would not know where to house them."
+
+"Do you know of any other relatives?"
+
+"Yes, there are Pani Otocka and her sister; also Dolhanski, who
+undoubtedly will come, and ourselves. I have not heard of others,
+though in all probability they will be found, as in Poland everybody is
+related. Mother insists that we are the nearest, but, to tell the
+truth, we are not very close; as the deceased was a distant cousin of
+Mother's."
+
+"And Pani Otocka and Panna Marynia?"
+
+"Better ask Mother about that; yesterday for an hour she was expounding
+to me as to who was born to whom; what he was to whom; whom did who's
+sister marry, and what was who's relation to the deceased. I could not
+grasp it all. Those ladies will be here to-morrow at one o'clock, and
+with them an English lady, their friend."
+
+"I know; they told me about that in Warsaw, not knowing that they would
+chance upon the funeral. But that English lady speaks Polish almost as
+well as we do."
+
+"What? How is that?"
+
+"Her father owned a factory in which he employed many Polish workmen.
+The young lady, while a child, had a Polish nurse, and later some
+emigrant taught her Polish."
+
+"And that she should care for it!"
+
+"Among the English people you will find many odd characters, and this
+Mr. Anney was an odd character in this respect, that he could, like
+Lord Dudley, select for his heraldic device: '_Causas non fata
+sequor_,' because, like him, he also loved Poland, Polish history, and
+the Poles. The workmen were sometimes turbulent and caused him much
+annoyance, but this did not dishearten him. He established schools for
+them, procured priests, took charge of the orphans, etc."
+
+"That was a righteous man. But Miss Anney, is she pretty?--young?"
+
+"About Pani Otocka's age--a year younger or older--and they are very
+fond of each other. How long is it since you have seen Pani Otocka and
+Marynia?"
+
+"It is six years. Pani Otocka was not yet married and Panna Marynia
+Zbyltowska was a girl, perhaps ten years old, in short dresses. I well
+remember her because even then she played the violin and was regarded
+as a child-wonder. My mother drew nearer to them last summer in Krynica
+and has become extraordinarily captivated with them. She insisted that
+this winter I should renew their acquaintance, but they left Warsaw for
+the winter. Even then she commanded me to invite them in my own name to
+Jastrzeb, and a few days before the death of Uncle, she wrote to them
+to come for a lengthy visit. Day before yesterday we received a
+dispatch that they will come. You are on intimate terms with them?"
+
+"Yes, on intimate and very sincere terms," answered Gronski.
+
+"Because I wanted to speak with you a little about them, but the hour
+is late and you are after a journey. Perhaps it would be better to
+defer it until to-morrow."
+
+"I slept on the train and it is not far from the station to your place.
+Besides, I have the bad habit of not retiring to sleep before two
+o'clock."
+
+Ladislaus' countenance bore slight traces of perplexity. He poured out
+for himself a glass of wine, drank it, and then said:
+
+"The matter is somewhat delicate. I am certain that Mother has
+concocted some scheme. Perhaps she may have written to you about this
+and, if not, she will speak about it, because she is much concerned
+about your opinion, and in a certain contingency will ask your
+assistance. Several times she incidentally spoke about your influence
+with Pani Otocka. I believe that you have influence with everybody, not
+excluding my mother. For that reason I would like to ask a favor of
+you."
+
+Gronski glanced at the young nobleman and afterwards at the servant, as
+if he wanted to say: "Why is this witness here?" Ladislaus understood
+and said:
+
+"He is very deaf, so we can speak quite freely. He wheezes because he
+has the asthma."
+
+Afterwards he continued:
+
+"Mother for the past two years has been bent upon my getting married,
+so she bustles about, writes voluminous letters, and sends me every
+winter to Warsaw, and I am certain that last summer she was in Krynica
+not so much for her own health, which, God be praised, she preserves so
+well, but to look over the young ladies and make a selection. And there
+these cousins of mine have so bewitched her that she returned, as I
+surmise, with a prepared project."
+
+"I must give you warning," interrupted Gronski, "that so far as Panna
+Marynia is concerned you are building an edifice upon ice, as in the
+first place she is but sixteen; and again she will, at the end of
+autumn, return to the conservatory in Brussels; and thirdly her whole
+soul is wrapped up in her violin and in all probability will always
+remain there."
+
+"May it stay there. You say 'you are building,' but I not only am not
+building, but would prefer that Mother would not build, as it will be
+unpleasant for her. After all, my dear mother is the most upright soul
+in the world, and beyond doubt all she desires is that I should have a
+good and estimable woman for a wife; but I would prefer that my future
+spouse should not resemble too much a Grecian statue."
+
+"Well then?"
+
+"Well then, Panna Marynia is not involved but only an ideal and, at the
+same time, a warm young widow: to which arrangement I cannot by any
+means assent."
+
+"I will answer with a Lithuanian anecdote, according to which an old
+woman, to a peasant's assertion that he did not fear the master,
+replied, 'Because thou hast never seen him.' Likewise, you have never
+seen Pani Otocka, or have forgotten how she looks."
+
+But Ladislaus repeated:
+
+"Not for the world, even if she looked like a sacred painting."
+
+"Then perhaps you love another?"
+
+"Why, you yourself tormented me last winter about Panna Rose
+Stabrowska, and I admit that she has made an impression upon my heart.
+But I did not permit myself to fall in love with her, because I know
+her parents would not give her to me. I am not and will not be rich
+enough for them. For that reason I escaped from Warsaw before the close
+of the carnival. I did not wish to envenom with vain feeling my life or
+hers, if she should love me."
+
+"But in case of a will in your favor? Would you not rush into the smoke
+like a Uhlan of old? Is it not true?"
+
+"Most assuredly; but as I cannot depend upon that, and as that will not
+happen, there is no necessity of talking further about it."
+
+"You spoke, however, of asking a favor of me. In what can I serve you?"
+
+"I wanted to beg you not to fortify my mother in her designs as to Pani
+Otocka."
+
+"How queer you are! Why, when your mother perceives your disinclination
+towards her, she will banish the thought."
+
+"Yes, but there will remain a little regret for herself and for me. A
+person is always disappointed when his plans miscarry, and Mother is so
+eternally worried, though often without reason, because, after all, no
+ruin is threatening us. But she has so much confidence in your judgment
+that if you will explain to her that it is better to abandon those
+thoughts, she will abandon them. However, you will have to contrive it
+so that it will appear to her that she herself came to that conclusion.
+I know you can do it, and I rely upon your friendship."
+
+"My dear Laudie," said Gronski, "in these affairs I have less
+experience, and therefore less judgment, than the first female neighbor
+on the border of your estate. In your mother's letter there appears,
+word for word, the same expression: 'I rely upon your friendship.' In
+view of this, there remains only one thing to do, and that is not to
+meddle in the affair at all,--especially as I will candidly state to
+you that I entertain for Pani Otocka no less friendship than I do for
+you. Considering the matter from another light, it is peculiar that we
+should speak of Pani Otocka without considering her. It is allowable
+for your mother to believe that every woman, if you would but stretch
+out your hand towards her, would grab it with alacrity; but not for
+you. For you renounce things in such a way as if everything depended
+upon you, and I assure you that it is not so, and that if Pani Otocka
+should ever decide to marry, she will be exceedingly particular in her
+choice."
+
+"You are perfectly right," answered Krzycki, "but I am not, of course,
+so foolish or so vain as to imagine that the whole thing depends upon
+me. If I have expressed myself in an unsuitable manner, it is because I
+thought only of Mother and myself and not at all of Pani Otocka. All
+that I care about is that Mother should not urge me to seek her hand,
+as I conjecture I might, after all, get the mitten."
+
+Gronski scanned the shapely figure of the youth and answered with a
+certain benevolent petulance:
+
+"That is well, although I do not know whether you are talking
+sincerely; for men like you, the deuce knows why, have great luck with
+women and they know it perfectly well. What have you against Pani
+Otocka? Why, you hardly know her. Let me tell you that both of those
+ladies are of such high quality as you rarely find."
+
+"I believe it, I believe it; but, in the first place, Pani Otocka is
+fully three years younger than myself, which means that she is
+twenty-four, and yet she is a widow."
+
+"Then you have a prejudice against widows?"
+
+"I confess that I have. Let matrimony give me everything that it can
+possibly give, but a marriage with a widow will not give me all that. A
+widow!--To think that every word which the maiden blushingly and with
+palpitating heart whispers, the widow has already told to some one
+else: and that which in a maid is, as it were, a sacrifice to love, in
+a widow is but a repetition. No, I thank you, for a flower which
+somebody else has previously plucked. Good fortune is not inherited
+with a heritage, nor procured at second hand. Let not only matrimony,
+but also love, give me all they can give, and, if not, then I prefer
+remaining an old bachelor."
+
+"My dear," answered Gronski, "between the heart and a bag of money
+there is, however, a vast difference. Money, after you once part with
+it, you have no more, but the heart is a living organism which
+regenerates and creates new forces."
+
+"That may be,--in every case, however, the memory of the past remains.
+Finally, I am not enunciating any general theories, but merely my
+personal views. Plainly, I could not love a widow and I do want to love
+my wife, even though slightly. Otherwise what enjoyment would I have in
+life? A rural estate? Good! I am an agriculturist and I agree to plough
+and sow until death. But whoever imagines that this will give peace and
+happiness, simply has no conception of the load of care, bitterness,
+affliction, deception, self reproach, and strife with the bad will of
+mankind and nature which one must endure. There are, it is true,
+brighter moments, but far oftener one must defend himself against
+downright loathsomeness. Now I want at least this: that I shall return
+willingly home from the field or barn; that in the home there shall
+await me fresh, rosy, and tempting cheeks which I crave to kiss, and
+eyes into which I would long to gaze. I want to have some one on whom I
+can bestow all that is best in me. I speak of this, not as one who is
+infatuated with the romantic, but as a sober man who can keep accounts
+of expenditures and receipts, not only in husbandry but also in life."
+
+Gronski thought that in reality every matured masculine life should
+bear two faces; one with wrinkled brow, expressive of intense mental
+strain, turned towards the problems of humanity, and the other calm and
+peaceable at the fireside in the home.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I would be delighted with such a home as a refuge from
+care and in it 'fresh, rosy and tempting cheeks' as an attraction."
+
+Ladislaus, in his laughter, displayed his sound, shining teeth and
+answered joyously:
+
+"Ah, how it does delight me! the soul almost squeaks."
+
+And they both began to laugh.
+
+"But," said Gronski, "one must be lucky enough to find that and
+courageous enough to win."
+
+To Krzycki there suddenly came the recollection of a certain ball in
+Warsaw; of Panna Rose Stabrowska, her pensive eyes, and her white,
+half-childlike shoulders protruding from the net-lace like watery foam.
+He therefore sighed quietly.
+
+"Sometimes," he said, "courage also is necessary to bridle one's self."
+
+In the chamber for an interval could be heard only the measured
+tick-tack of the cumbrous clock and the wheezing of the asthmatic
+servant, who dozed, leaning against the sideboard.
+
+The hour was late, Gronski rose and, having roused himself from a
+momentary revery, said, as if speaking to himself:
+
+"And those ladies will be here to-morrow."
+
+Afterwards he added with a touch of sadness:
+
+"Ah, at your age it is not permissible to bridle one's self."
+
+
+
+                                   II
+
+The ladies did actually arrive at Jastrzeb the next day about noon,
+followed immediately afterwards by Dolhanski, who did not, however, see
+them on the road, because at the station he became occupied entirely
+with the receipt of the baggage and therefore arrived in a separate
+conveyance. The guests did not find Krzycki at home. As the burden of
+the funeral, and all cares connected with it, fell upon him, he left an
+hour earlier for Rzeslewo. The obsequies were to take place at three
+o'clock. Ladislaus' mother arrived at the Rzeslewo church with Pani
+Otocka, Panna Marynia, and their friend Miss Anney. In the second
+carriage Gronski and Dolhanski came, while the third and last one
+brought the younger members of the Krzycki family,--eleven-year-old
+Anusia and Stas, who was a year younger, together with their French
+instructress and the tutor, Laskowicz. Pani Krzycki reminded her son of
+his feminine relatives and introduced him to Miss Anney, but he barely
+had time to bow and cast a glance at her when he was summoned away on
+some matter relating to the final funeral arrangements. Alighting from
+the carriage, the ladies could scarcely press their way into the
+church, although an effort was made to clear a path for them, for in
+the church and adjacent enclosure an unusual throng held sway. The
+greater landed gentry were represented in extremely scant numbers, as
+the deceased Zarnowski did not associate with any one, and besides
+Jastrzeb, Gorek, and Wiatrak, did not visit any of the manors in the
+neighborhood. In their place, the Rzeslewo peasantry appeared as one
+man, with their wives and children. The reason for this was that from
+some unknown source and for some inexplicable reason, a rumor
+circulated among them that the deceased had bequeathed to them his
+entire fortune. Quite a number stood outside the church fence, and
+their loud voices and anxious faces indicated the impression which the
+rumor of the bequest had made upon them.
+
+After chanted vigils and a sufficiently long mass, white surpliced
+priests, preceded by a cross, appeared at the church doorway. After
+them the coffin was borne. The hearse stood ready to receive the
+remains, but peasants, in implicit faith of the bequest, lifted it upon
+their shoulders to carry to the cemetery, which was a verst distant and
+in which was located the tomb of the Zarnowskis. Gronski gave his arm
+to Pani Krzycki, Dolhanski to Pani Otocka, while the duty of escorting
+the light-haired Miss Anney fell to Krzycki. After an interval, the
+funeral cortege slowly proceeded in the direction of the cemetery.
+
+From under the shade of church lindens it soon advanced upon the
+field-road, flooded with sunshine, and extended itself in a long line.
+At the head went the priests; after them the coffin, swung high up on
+the shoulders of the peasants; the relatives and guests followed, and
+after them came swarms of gay peasant national dresses and feminine
+handkerchiefs gaudily spotted with yellow and red colors, which
+glaringly contrasted with the green, sprouting spring corn. Church
+flags, with skulls and pictures of saints, floated heavily in the
+golden air and at times heaved with a flap when assailed by the wind.
+In this manner, glistening in the sun, the crowd approached the poplars
+which shaded the cemetery. From time to time the chant of priests
+resounded, breaking out suddenly and with great sadness. Nearer the
+cemetery the peasants commenced the litany and gusts of wind seized
+these Polish and Latin songs and carried them with the odor of candles,
+which were continually blown out, and the scent of the drippings of the
+torches to the forests.
+
+Krzycki, who escorted Miss Anney, observed that her hand, which rested
+upon his arm, trembled considerably. It occurred to him that she
+probably had tired it, holding her parasol on the road from Jastrzeb to
+Rzeslewo, and he paid no more attention to it. In the conviction that
+such a solemnity as a funeral exempted him from starting the usual
+social conversation, he walked in silence. He was fatigued and hungry.
+Disordered thoughts rushed into his head. He thought of his uncle,
+Zarnowski, of his inability to mourn for him, of the funeral, of his
+newly-arrived cousins, and of yesterday's conversation with Gronski.
+At times he would gaze, abstractedly, at the near by fields and
+half-consciously would note that the winter-corn on the fertile
+Rzeslewo soil, as well as the spring grain, gave promise of a bountiful
+harvest. After a certain time he recollected that it would be proper
+for him to devote a little more attention to his companion.
+
+Somehow, after a few stealthy glances, his curiosity, which thus far
+had been deadened by fatigue, hunger, and ill-humor, was awakened. The
+proximity of a woman, young and, as he observed, stately, began to
+affect him. It seemed strange to him in the first place that he was
+conducting over the Rzeslewo highway an Englishwoman, who came, the
+Lord knew from where; that a short while before he was unacquainted
+with her and at present felt the warmth of her arm and hand. He
+observed also that her hand, tightly incased in a glove, though
+shapely, was not at all small; and he thought that the reasons for this
+were the English sports--tennis, rowing, archery, and the like. "Our
+Polish women," he thought, "look differently." Under the influence of
+these reflections upon English sports, it seemed to him that from this
+quaintly attired form some peculiar power, healthiness, and energy
+emanated. His companion began to interest him more and more. Leading
+her on his arm, he could see only her profile, upon which he bestowed
+increased attention. As a consequence of more exact observation, his
+curiosity intensified. In the first moments he conceded only that she
+was a comely and buxom person, but later he soliloquized in this
+fashion: "How vastly more stately and, sincerely speaking, more
+beautiful she is than Pani Otocka or that child, whose dresses reach to
+her ankles and whose soul, as Gronski says, is in the violin!" But
+this, however, was not the strict truth, for Pani Otocka, a slender
+brunette with the expression of a blonde, was of a type more exquisite
+and racial, and the "child" had a countenance simply angelic. But at
+that particular moment, if a secret ballot had been taken upon this
+question, Krzycki, owing perhaps to his opposition to his mother's
+designs, would have cast his vote for Miss Anney.
+
+After a certain time, it seemed to him that Miss Anney also was casting
+stealthy glances at him. He determined to catch her in the act and
+looked at her more openly. And then he saw something which astonished
+him in the highest degree. On the cheeks of the young Englishwoman tear
+after tear coursed. Her lips were compressed as if she desired to
+stifle her impressions and her hand, supported on his arm, did not
+cease to tremble.
+
+"Either this is affected sensibility," Krzycki thought, "or else her
+English nerves are jangled. Why the deuce should she weep over a man
+whom she never saw in her life? Unless it reminded her of her father's
+burial or that of some near relative?"
+
+Miss Anney did not look at all like a person with jangled nerves.
+Somehow, after a time, her emotion passed. She began to gaze with
+particular interest and attention upon the throng of people, the
+neighborhood, the fields, and the distant fringe of the forest as if
+she desired to retain them all permanently in her memory.
+
+"She should have taken a kodak with her," thought Ladislaus.
+
+They were already not far from the cemetery gates. But in the meanwhile
+a wind stronger than the former gusts broke loose. It swept suddenly
+across the field of sprouting grain, raised a cloud of dust on the
+highway, snuffed out the mendicant candles which were not extinguished
+before, and entwined Krzycki's neck with Miss Anney's long boa.
+
+She relinquished his arm and, freeing him from his ties, said in Polish
+with an almost imperceptible foreign accent:
+
+"I beg your pardon. The wind--"
+
+"That is nothing," answered Ladislaus. "Perhaps you would prefer to
+take a carriage, for the squalls are breaking out more frequently."
+
+"No, thank you," she replied; "I believe we are near the cemetery. I
+will walk alone, because I must hold my boa and dress."
+
+During this conversation they stood opposite each other for a moment
+and, although that moment was brief, Ladislaus made a new discovery.
+Not only did he confirm his previous opinion that Miss Anney was, in
+reality, very beautiful and had an extraordinarily transparent
+complexion, set off with light hair, but above all else that her blue
+eyes did not radiate with two separate beams, but rather with a single,
+gentle, blue, slightly misty, soulful light. He was unable to explain
+to himself in what lay the distinct and peculiar charm of that look,
+but he felt it perfectly.
+
+In the meantime, they reached the cemetery. A short prayer detained all
+at the gates, after which the funeral cortege moved between the
+poplars, swung by the winds, and crosses overgrown by luxuriant grass
+on the mounds, under which slept the Rzeslewo peasantry. The Zarnowski
+tomb stood in the centre. In its front walls could be seen an opening,
+knocked out for the reception of a new member of the family. At the
+side there were two masons, with whitened aprons, having at their feet
+prepared cement and a pile of new bricks. The coffin was placed upon
+the sand near the opening and the priests began a long chant over it.
+Their voices rose and then fell, like waves, in a rolling and dreamy
+rhythm, which was accompanied by the roar of the poplars, the flapping
+of the flags in the air, and the hum of prayers uttered, as if
+mechanically, by the peasants. Then the parish-priest of Rzeslewo began
+a discourse. As he did not live on good terms with the deceased, he
+commended his soul to the divine mercy rather than praised him. About
+could be seen the faces of the Zarnowski relatives, grave and
+appropriately grouped for the occasion, but no grief, not a tear. They
+were rather indifferent, with an expression of expectancy, and even
+tedium. The coffin appeared to be only awaiting the close of the rites,
+as if it was anxious to enter that vault and darkness, for which it was
+appropriately designed. In the meantime, after the sermon, songs began
+to ring. At moments they subsided, and then could be heard only the
+revelry of wind among the poplars. At last a high voice, as if
+startled, intoned "requiem aeternam" and fell suddenly like a pillar of
+dust twirled by the storm; and after a momentary silence "eternal
+repose," full of solace, resounded and the ceremony was over.
+
+On the coffin they threw a few handfulls of sand, and then pushed it
+into the opening which the masons began to wall up, laying brick upon
+brick and coating them with mortar. The barrier, which was to forever
+separate Zarnowski from the world and light, grew with each moment.
+Groups of peasants slowly left the cemetery. Two female neighbors from
+Gorek, a Pani Wlocek, an old and pathetic dame, and her daughter, who
+was not young, approached Pani Krzycki and felt it incumbent upon them
+to offer a "few words of consolation," which nobody expected and which
+were absolutely unnecessary. Gronski began to converse with Ladislaus:
+
+"Observe," he quietly said, looking at the work of the masons, "yet a
+few more bricks and then, as Dante says, 'Aeterna silenza.' No sorrow,
+not a tear; no one will ever come here expressly for him. Something
+similar awaits me, and you remember that thus they bury old bachelors.
+Your mother is quite right in wanting to have you married."
+
+"To tell the truth," answered Krzycki, "the deceased was not only an
+old bachelor, but also was unsocial. But finally, is it not all the
+same?"
+
+"After death, certainly. But during life, when you think of it, it is
+not at all the same. This 'lust for posthumous grief' may be illogical
+and foolish, but nevertheless it exists."
+
+"Whence does it come?"
+
+"From an equally unwise desire to outlive self. Look, the work is
+finished and Zarnowski is sealed up. Let us go."
+
+At the gates the rattle of the approaching carriages was heard. The
+party moved towards the exit. The ladies now were in the lead; after
+them the priests and guests walked, with the exception of Dolhanski,
+who was talking to the Englishwoman.
+
+Suddenly Ladislaus turned to Gronski and asked:
+
+"What is Miss Anney's Christian name?"
+
+"While we are in the cemetery you might have thought of something else.
+Her Christian name is Agnes."
+
+"A beautiful name."
+
+"In England it is quite common."
+
+"Is she rich?"
+
+"And that question you could defer to another time, but if you are in a
+hurry, ask Dolhanski. He knows those things best."
+
+"I ask you because I see him with her and hear him chattering in
+English."
+
+"Oh, that is a play within a play! He is after Pani Otocka."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Equally as old as it is fruitless. For it is yet difficult to
+ascertain with any exactness how much Miss Anney possesses, while the
+amount which the late Director Otocki left his wife is perfectly
+known."
+
+"I have a hope that my beautiful cousin will give him the mitten."
+
+"Which would increase a beautiful collection. But tell me, what do you
+think of your cousins?"
+
+"Certainly--Pani Otocka--certainly--both have what the Galicians call
+'something ennobling.' But Panna Marynia is still quite a child."
+
+Gronski directed his eyes at the slim and slender figure walking before
+them and said:
+
+"That is a child who could as well fly in the air as walk on earth."
+
+"An aeroplane or what?"
+
+"I warn you that she is the object of my highest adoration."
+
+"So I have heard. It is already known to all men."
+
+"Only they do not know that that adoration is not of a red color, but
+heavenly blue."
+
+"I do not understand that very well."
+
+"When you are better acquainted with her you will understand me."
+
+Krzycki, who was more interested in Miss Anney, wanted to turn the
+conversation to her, but they passed the gates, before which the horses
+waited. The young man proceeded to assist the ladies to their seats, in
+which operation he saw directed towards himself for a moment the
+soulful eyes of the Englishwoman. Preparatory to her departure, his
+mother asked him whether he had finished his duties connected with the
+funeral and whether he would return immediately to Jastrzeb.
+
+"No," he answered; "I have made an arrangement with the parish-priest
+that he should permit me to invite the priests to the rectory, and I
+must entertain them there. But as soon as I greet them and eat
+something, I will excuse myself to the guests and return as soon as
+possible."
+
+Here he bowed to the ladies, after which he removed his hands from the
+carriage, cast a glance at the chestnut thill-horse to see if he did
+not overreach, and shouted:
+
+"Go ahead!"
+
+The carriage trundled over the road on which the funeral cortege had
+passed. Of the participants who were dressed in surtouts, besides
+Ladislaus, only Dolhanski remained. He felt that, as a relative of the
+deceased, it was also his duty to entertain the priests who officiated
+at the obsequies; and besides, he had other reasons which induced him
+to remain in Ladislaus' company.
+
+They had barely settled in the britzska, when he began to look around
+among the peasants, who still stood here and there in groups, and then
+asked:
+
+"Where is the notary Dzwonkowski?"
+
+Ladislaus smiled and replied:
+
+"He rode ahead with the priests, but to-night you will see him at
+Jastrzeb, for he invited himself there."
+
+"So; then I regret that I did not return with the ladies. I wanted to
+wring from him some information regarding the will, and I thought that
+later that might not be possible."
+
+"Patience. The notary told me that the will is to be opened the day
+after to-morrow in his office and that we will have to drive over there
+for that purpose."
+
+"But I wished to know to-day whether it will be worth while for me to
+wait until to-morrow or the day after. If this precious uncle of ours
+has let us drift, as the saying is, upon a swift current of water, then
+Pani Wlocka was right in offering us words of consolation. I, at least,
+will need them for a long time."
+
+"How can you talk that way?"
+
+"I am saying aloud what you all secretly think. I am very anxious about
+that will. I care more for Dzwonkowski at the present moment than for
+the entire terrestial globe together with the five parts of the world;
+and more particularly since I have seen that he brought a bundle of
+papers with him."
+
+"As to that you may rest at ease. He is the greatest musico-maniac that
+I have ever met. He worships Panna Marynia, with whom he became
+acquainted at Krynica. From Gronski I have learnt that in the moonlight
+sonata, in the Benois arrangement for the violin, he arranged the notes
+for the flute and sent them to her in Warsaw. Today he wants to see how
+they will go. Therefore he invited himself to Jastrzeb, and he brought
+with him, besides the sonata, a bundle of other notes. I assure you
+that he will not want to talk or speak of anything else."
+
+"In that case, may the devils carry off Dzwonkowski's flute, Panna
+Marynia's violin, your Jastrzeb piano, and music in general."
+
+On this Ladislaus looked at him spitefully and said:
+
+"Be careful about our Jastrzeb piano, because if you hear a trio
+to-night, you will find Pani Otocka at the piano."
+
+"I have a hope that it will be, at least, as much out of tune as I am
+at present and, in that case, I will not envy either her or the
+auditors. But I see that Gronski has filled you with idle gossip.
+Good! Unlike him, I do not have an old bachelor's hankering after
+boarding-house misses and I like young teals only on a platter. Let him
+feast his eyes with his Marynia; let him pray to her, but let him leave
+me alone. They all have gone crazy on music there, and are ready to
+infect you in Jastrzeb. Only Miss Anney does not play on anything, and
+has a little sense."
+
+"Ah, Miss Anney does not play on anything?"
+
+"Yes. But that does not prevent her from playing, in a certain case,
+upon me or on you, but much more easily upon you than me."
+
+"Why more easily upon me?"
+
+"Because I am that particular kind of instrument that wants to know in
+advance how much the concert will bring."
+
+Ladislaus, accustomed of old to Dolhanski's cynicism, shrugged his
+shoulders, but did not have time to reply as they had in the meantime
+arrived at the rectory.
+
+
+
+                                  III
+
+Dolhanski, in fact, could not extract from the notary, anything but
+testy replies. Immediately after his reception at the rectory the old
+notary became very garrulous, but spoke with Ladislaus only about
+Marynia, for whom he had an unbounded admiration. At present he feared
+that Pani Krzycki might not consent to an evening musicale on the day
+of the funeral of a relative, and that fear did not cease to disturb
+him. Under this impression he began to demonstrate that music may as
+well be associated with death as with life; that impressive music
+always attends funerals, and that as mankind has not devised anything
+better than music, not even for the worship of God, therefore it may be
+taken for granted that music facilitates the flight of the soul to
+heaven, and even salvation. Ladislaus bit his mustache and, without
+qualification, concurred in this reasoning, knowing that the amiable
+old gentleman was wont to berate his opponents unmercifully. With this
+kind of talk, in which, to Dolhanski's great irritation, there was no
+mention of the will, they passed their time on the way to Jastrzeb.
+There they were served with tea. As the wind had subsided entirely
+before the setting sun and the evening was delightful, the ladies, with
+Gronski, were in the garden. When Ladislaus and his companions followed
+them, they found Pani Krzycki and Pani Otocka on the bank of the pond,
+while Miss Anney and Marynia were in a boat on the pond. A ruddy lustre
+permeated the whole air; the scent of elders, which grew near the
+water's edge, blended with the odor of the turf, duck-weed, and fish.
+The water was dark green on the border from alders and willows which
+hemmed it in, but in the centre, on the overflow, it was golden, with
+reflections of purple and peacock feathers. The boat floated towards
+the point, whose narrow girdle from the garden side served as a
+landing-place. Marynia sat in the middle of the boat, but Miss Anney,
+standing at the stern, manipulated it with a single oar, propelling and
+at the same time steering with uncommon skill. On the background of
+water and sky she loomed up from head to foot with strong and graceful
+form, her rounded bosom moving in unison with the movements of the oar.
+At moments she ceased to paddle and when the boat, gliding each moment
+more slowly, at last stood still upon the smooth water, there could be
+seen in the mirrored pellucidness another boat, another Marynia, and
+another Miss Anney. In this picture there was great pastoral calm. The
+lustre in the heavens grew ruddier as if the entire western world had
+been embraced in a conflagration. High above the pond, under the
+flaming cupola of heaven, strings of wild ducks appeared as if tied
+together by black crosses.
+
+The trees stood motionless and the silence was broken only by the
+sounds of the windmill, coming from the direction of the dam.
+
+After a while Miss Anney touched shore. Gronski, who was anxious that
+his "adoration" should not wet her feet, hastened to assist her out of
+the boat, while the Englishwoman leaped unassisted upon the sand and,
+approaching the company, said:
+
+"How charming it is here in Jastrzeb!"
+
+"Because the weather is fine," said Ladislaus, drawing nearer.
+"Yesterday it was cloudy, but to-night it is beautiful."
+
+And having scanned the heavens, he, like a true husbandman, added:
+
+"If it will continue thus, we will start mowing the hay."
+
+And Miss Anney gazed at him, as if she discovered something unusual in
+the sounds of those words, and began to repeat them in the same fashion
+that one repeats words which he desires to firmly implant in the
+memory.
+
+"The hay--the hay."
+
+The party turned towards the house, which was being bleached, or rather
+rouged, amidst the lime-trees, conversing a little about the funeral
+and the late Zarnowski, but more about the village, the spring evening,
+and music. Pani Krzycki assured the newly-arrived ladies that in
+Jastrzeb before their arrival music was not wanting, as there were so
+many nightingales in the park that at times they would not let any one
+sleep. At this Gronski, who was a man of great erudition, began to
+discourse upon country life; that, in truth, it was, from time
+immemorial, considered the only real and normal life. He mentioned
+incidentally the Homeric Kings, "who rejoiced in their hearts, counting
+sheaves with the sceptre," and various Roman poets. In conclusion he
+announced, as his opinion, that socialism will shatter to pieces upon
+agriculture and the soil, because it considers them only as a value,
+while they are also an affection, or, in other words, not only is a
+price placed upon them, but they are also loved. Men know what cares
+are coupled with country life, but in truth it is the only life they
+prize, as if in it "even bird's milk was not lacking."[1]
+
+To Pani Krzycki, who, next to her children, loved, above everything
+else in the world, Jastrzeb, the words of Gronski appealed very
+convincingly, but Dolhanski, recalling a village he once owned and
+squandered, replied, drawling his words as usual:
+
+"Bird's milk may not be lacking, but money is lacking. Besides, it is
+amusing to hear these eulogies upon country life pronounced by a rich
+man who could buy for himself a tract of land and settle in the
+country, but whom it is necessary to pull out of the city with hooks."
+Then addressing Gronski:
+
+"Apropos of your Homeric Kings, and with them your Virgils and Horaces,
+why, in their days there certainly were not such hotels on the Riviera
+and such clubs in Nice as at present."
+
+But this observation was passed in silence, or rather it was
+interrupted by a musical passage intoned to Marynia in an old wooden
+voice by the notary who wanted in this manner to illustrate the
+junction of two phrases in Bruch's concerto. Afterwards various other
+phrases incessantly resounded until the party returned to the house.
+Gronski knew the mania of the old man and envied him for having found
+something in life which filled it out so completely for him. He was a
+highly educated dilettante, but had settled upon nothing permanently in
+life and did not consecrate all his spiritual powers to anything
+exclusively. This was partly due to his environment, and partly to his
+own fault. The profoundest essence of his soul was a sad scepticism.
+One of his friends, Kloczewski, called him "an ecclesiastic in a
+dress-suit." Somehow, the final result of Gronski's meditation upon the
+future and human life, individual as well as collective, was the
+conviction that the future and the human life may, with time, become
+different, but never better. So he thought that it might be worth while
+not to spare efforts to make them sometime better, but it would not be
+worth while that they should be different only. This thought protected
+him, however, from the bordering pessimism, as he understood that the
+measure of happiness and misfortune rested not on the external, but in
+the man himself, and that as long as otherwise did not mean _better_,
+then by the same reasoning it did not also mean _worse_. At bottom he
+was persuaded that the one and the other were only a mistake and a
+delusion, and that everything, not excluding life, was one great
+vanity. In this manner, he revered, across the sea of ages, the true
+Ecclesia.
+
+But, being at the same time a man of sentiment, he fell in a continual
+clash with himself, his sentiment always craving for something, while
+his sad scepticism iterated that it was not worth while to desire
+anything. His feelings were preyed upon by the thought that his views
+were in conflict with life, while life was an imperative necessity.
+Therefore, whoever with doubts corroded its roots injured humanity, and
+Gronski did not desire to injure anybody, much less his own people. For
+this reason the ecclesiastic, contending that all was vanity, wrangled
+within him, with the patriot who said, for instance, that national
+suffering was not in vain. But this state of affairs bred within him
+such incessant discord that he envied men of action who journey through
+life without any whys or wherefores, as well as people who absolutely
+succumb to one great feeling.
+
+For the old notary and Marynia, such a great feeling was music; so that
+as often as Gronski saw them together, so often did he have before his
+eyes a living example that things do exist with which one can fill out
+his life from dawn until the last moments,--if only one does not
+subject them to a too close analysis.
+
+
+
+                                   IV
+
+At the supper the aged notary was occupied solely with music and
+Marynia. To the others, with the exception of the lady of the house,
+upon whom permission for the concert depended, he replied irascibly;
+especially to Dolhanski, who several times tried to elicit from him
+some information about the will. His angry and apoplectic face cleared
+up only after Pani Krzycki announced that she would have no objections
+to devoting the remainder of the evening to decorous music, and that
+she herself would be glad to listen to Marynia, whom she had not heard
+since the last charitable concert in Krynica.
+
+Towards the close of the supper the old gentleman again began to get
+impatient, remarking that it was a pity to waste time in eating, and
+discussing even music, if light and frivolous, with profane individuals
+who had no conception of the real art. He became more interested after
+listening to the reasonings of Gronski, who began to talk about the
+origin of music and refute the Darwinian theory that songs and the
+sounds of the primitive string instruments arose in some misty era of
+the human race from the amorous declarations and calls of men and women
+in the forests. Gronski shared the opinion of those who against these
+views cited the fact that among the most savage tribes no traces of
+love-songs exist, but in their place are found war-songs and martial
+music. The theory of calling through the forests appeared to the ladies
+more poetical. Gronski placated them with the statement that this did
+not lessen the civilizing importance of music, that it, with the dance,
+was one of the first factors which promoted among the scattered tribes
+of men a certain organization.
+
+"The Papuans," he said, "who gather together for the performance of a
+war or ceremonial dance in accordance with the rhythm of even their
+wildest music, by that act alone submit to something, introduce some
+kind of order, and form the first social ties."
+
+"That means," observed Dolhanski, "that every nation owes its origin to
+some primitive 'high-diddle-diddle, the cat and the fiddle.'"
+
+"Of course it is so," angrily answered the old notary.
+
+Afterwards turning to Gronski, he said: "Please proceed. We can at
+least learn something."
+
+"Yes, please proceed," repeated Marynia.
+
+So Gronski began further to speak of the history of music; how through
+the entire course of ages it served war, ceremonies of state, as well
+as religious and secular, and how considerably later it outspread its
+own wings, on which it soars as at present, like an eagle, over the
+entire human race.
+
+"A strange art," he concluded; "the most primitive; yet to-day resting
+more than any other upon science; the most precisely confined within
+certain technical requirements, as if bound by dams and dykes; yet the
+most illimitable, the most mystical; overflowing the borders of
+existence and life. Perhaps this gives it such incomprehensible power
+over the human soul; speaking the least expressive of tongues and at
+the same time the most idealistic. It is the most powerful spur to
+action. Yes, to the Polish regiments in the battle of Gravelotte the
+Prussian bands played 'Poland is not yet lost,' and everywhere you may
+behold the same. Play to the Frenchmen the 'Marseillaise,' the Germans
+'Wacht am Rhein,' how their hands begin to quiver! Even the eyes of
+phlegmatic Englishmen and Americans sparkle when they hear 'Rule
+Britania' or 'Yankee Doodle.' Strange art!--the most cosmopolitan and
+at the same time the most national,--universal and individual."
+
+"One thing you did not say and that is that of all arts it is the
+purest," added Pani Otocka.
+
+"Attempts have been made to illegitimatize it," answered Gronski, "but
+licentiousness never can be rhythmical nor harmonical, and for that
+reason from these attempts there was born an antichrist of music."
+
+But Ladislaus, who was a trifle bored and would have preferred to talk
+with the light-haired Miss Anney, spoke out with the evident desire to
+close the discussion.
+
+"Yes, it is plain that not only every nation but every man has his own
+music. I, for instance, am always willing to hear a concert or an
+opera, but I admit, that when sometimes the boys and girls at work in
+the field sing until the pitchforks and harrows ring, that is the only
+music for me."
+
+"Slavonian, Lechite, Piast--come to my arms," drawled Dolhanski.
+
+Ladislaus blushed a little from fear that the young Englishwoman and
+his refined female relatives might judge him too rustical, but they
+glanced at him with a certain sympathy. Only the beard of the old
+classical notary drooped with his nose in a manner boding no good, and
+from his lips he mumbled a half-distinct grumble:
+
+"To some folks it is sufficient, when anything jingles in their ears."
+
+But recollecting that it would not be agreeable to Pani Krzycki if
+caustic remarks were directed against her son, he cast an uneasy look
+at her and became silent.
+
+The supper was finished. The company went to the salon in which
+prevailed coolness and the slight scent of jasmine blown in from the
+garden by the light evening breezes before the windows were closed. In
+the glass doors appeared the big full moon, which but recently arose
+slowly in the heaven, still ruddy after a bath in the evening twilight.
+Pani Otocka sat at the piano; beside her the notary began to blow, as
+if with anger, into the flute; while behind them stood Marynia with a
+violin at her shoulder. Gronski with rapture gazed at her luxuriant
+dark hair; her peaceful, arched eyebrows under a forehead plainly
+immaculate; her small countenance; her slender, growing, childlike
+form, and thought that this sight alone would suffice for music, or at
+least that such a violinist might pass for its incarnation and symbol.
+Ladislaus, although he had previously enlisted in the ranks of the
+English faction, could not remove his eyes from her. After completing
+his university education, he had accompanied his mother on a journey to
+Italy. He visited various galleries and, though he lacked solid
+artistic culture, nevertheless the thought crossed his mind that this
+maiden with the bright and peaceful countenance, bending over the
+violin, might have served the old masters as a model for Saint Cecilia
+or for one of those angelic violin-players which he had seen in the
+paintings of Fra Angelico.
+
+The other listeners, like Pani Krzycki, her children, the instructress,
+and Miss Anney, gazed at her as if at a miracle-working image. Only
+one, Laskowicz, young Stas' tutor, did not share in the general
+rapture. He was a medical student who, owing to the closing of the
+university, was earning money by teaching for the further pursuit of
+his studies, and he found himself, together with his inexorable hatred
+for the "pampered" of this world, like Pilate in Credo, in this country
+home. His convictions by this time were not a secret to anybody in
+Jastrzeb; he was tolerated, however, with that improvident indulgence
+of which the Polish nobility is only capable, upon the principle that
+"the greatest radical must eat," and also in the hope that Stas was yet
+too young to be infected with the "evil spirit" by his tutor.
+
+To Laskowicz, when he looked at the gentle young lady, it seemed that
+she was a flower which grew higher than the hands of a proletaire could
+reach; therefore she was bred to the injury of the proletariat. This
+was sufficient for him to look on both sides with reluctance and a
+readiness to hate.
+
+But, in the meanwhile, the moment for beginning the concert had
+arrived. For some time Marynia had been drawing the bow over the
+chords, turning the ringlets of the violin, and passing her fingers
+over the notes, indicating something to her sister and the notary;
+afterwards silence ensued, interrupted only by the indistinct talk of
+the servants, assembled beyond the windows, who for the first time in
+their lives were to hear the young lady play on the violin.
+
+
+
+                                   V
+
+The first chords of the moonlight sonata are sounded and a vision
+begins. Lo! a pale ray creeps stealthily through a crevice and touches
+the forehead of a sleeper, as if it wanted to arouse thought;
+afterwards the lips, as if it wished to waken words, and later the
+bosom, as if it desired to stir the heart. But the weary body slumbered
+in a heavy sleep. In its place the soul emerges from its embrace, like
+a butterfly from a cocoon, and flies into space. The night is bright
+and silent. Below, alders are dimly wrapped in muslin mists. On the
+sylvan meadows nymphs dance their rites, accompanied by the playing of
+a faun on a flute. About, stand with flaming azure eyes, stags, crowned
+with antlers. On the heath, glow-worms glimmer; on the moss,
+phosphorate toadstools, under whose canopies tiny elfs watch the
+gambols. From the decaying vegetation and fens rise Jack-o'-lanterns
+which flit about lightly and mysteriously, as if seeking something in
+vain. The moon ascends each moment higher and higher, and bounteous dew
+falls.
+
+Over the vast fields rivers wind in silvery ribbons and tracks of the
+roadways can be seen leading to towns and castles. Through the narrow
+Gothic windows the moon's lustre invades silent castle-halls, where
+lurk the ghosts of dead knights and maidens. At the feet of the
+castles, cities slumber. In the calm light the roofs of houses whiten
+and crosses on the towers glitter. From the blossoming orchards, with
+the vapors rises the fragrance of flowers and grass. But lighter than
+the fragrance and the moonlight the winged soul soars higher and
+farther. The lowly habitations of men vanish; likewise vanish the
+forests, vales, sparkling shields of ponds, and the white threads of
+streams. Gradually lofty regions are attained.
+
+
+And lo, the mountains! Amidst the crags sleeps the translucent buckler
+of the lake. In the chasms lies concealed cool dusk. The needles of the
+glaciers shine verdantly. On the declivities and rocky nests rest the
+weary clouds and mists; and on the peaks, on the eternal snow the
+moonlight reposes. Even the wind has fallen asleep. How still,
+ethereal, and immense! Here the moon is the only sentinel of silence
+and the human soul the only living entity. Free as a mountain eagle,
+detached from the flesh, enamoured with the expanse, desolation, and
+silence, happy, and sad with a supernal sorrow, dissolved in the
+stillness, she hovers and courses above the precipices; and again flies
+farther on, entirely abandoned to pleasure, flight, and speed.
+
+
+And the mountains have already disappeared beneath her and lo! some
+voices rise and reach from below as if summoning her to them. It is the
+sea. It, alone, never sleeps; restless and vast, it dashes wave after
+wave against the shore, as if it were an immense pulsation of life. Its
+monstrous lungs heave and fall eternally and at times groan in
+complaint of endless toil.
+
+The ruffled expanse of the sea throbs with the opalescent lunar lustre
+and the silvery laces of stars, and on those illuminated tracks, in the
+distance appears, wakeful as the sea itself, a ship with sails and a
+sanguinary light in the rounded windows.
+
+
+But thou, oh soul, mountest higher and higher. Already the earth is
+left somewhere at the bottom of the abyss. Thou, light as down, dost
+pass feathery clouds, which have strayed upon the heights and dost
+pierce space flooded with splendor--empty and cool. There thou liest
+upon thine own wings and floatest about in luminous nothingness; higher
+and higher; and now doth scintillate and change color over thee, in
+gold and purple, the jewels of heaven, and thou dost frolic and swing
+in the unattainable ether, serene, freed from the dross of matter as
+if, beyond the limits of time and space, thou wert already partly
+admitted into heaven.
+
+
+The firmament of heaven grows each moment darker, but the moon, great
+as the world, shines more and more brightly. Already we behold her
+glistening plains, mangled, wild, studded by mountain peaks, perforated
+with the blackness of craters, bleak, frosty, and lifeless. Thus in the
+abyss of space appears this silvery, corpse-like wanderer, who speeds
+around the earth as if condemned by a divine command to a perpetual
+race. Above and about her, an immensity which the swooning brain is
+incapable of comprehending. A new galaxy of stars twinkle sanguinarily
+and powerfully, like distant fire-places. The music of spheres is
+heard. Here Eternity fans with her breath and a supernal chill
+prevails.
+
+
+Return, over-indulged swan, return, oh soul, before some occult rapids
+and whirlpools seize thee and tear thee forever from the earth.
+
+
+Thou returnest from the pinnacle of all-existence, bathed in the waves
+of infinity, purer and more perfect. Lo, thou furlest thy wings! Look,
+in the depths beneath are those downy, light clouds, which now thou
+greetest as thine own and kin. Below, the earth. The protuberances of
+the mountains flash to the moon; at their feet sobs the sea. And now
+lower, the vague outlines of forests, enveloped in mist. Again whiten
+the cities, silent towers and roofs of villages sunk in sleep. The
+night grows pale. On the moors, ostlers build fires and play on fifes.
+The roosters crow. The day breaks. It is dawn.
+
+
+The strains subsided and silence ensued. Marynia stood near the piano
+with a countenance, composed as usual, but seemingly, awakened from a
+dream.
+
+The aged notary sat for a while with bowed head, moving his toothless
+jaws; afterwards he rose, and when the young maid placed the violin
+beside the key-board, he ardently kissed her hands; after which he
+threw a challenging look at those present as if he sought the person
+who would dare to protest against that mark of homage or deem it a
+superfluous act. Nobody, however, protested because under the
+enchantment of that music that happened with the listeners which always
+happens with mankind, when fanned by the breath of genius. As sometimes
+in a dream it seems to a person that having shoved himself off the
+earth with his feet, he afterwards reels a long time in the air, so,
+too, their bodies became lighter, less material, as if deprived of
+those heavy and gross elements which bound them to the earth. Their
+nerves became more susceptible and subtle and their souls more
+volatile, approaching more closely those boundaries on which eternity
+begins. It was an unconscious feeling; after the passage of which the
+daily life was to encompass and drag them down. But during this
+momentary exaltation there awakened within them, unknown to themselves,
+a power of apprehending, appreciating, and feeling beauty, and in
+general such things as in their customary moods they had not felt and
+did not know that they could have felt.
+
+Even the young and unfledged physician, Laskowicz, notwithstanding all
+his prejudices, could not resist this influence. The moment when
+Marynia stood up to play, he began to scrutinize her from his dark
+corner in the salon and examine her form as an anatomist. He was
+conscious that there was something brutal in this, but such a viewpoint
+gave him satisfaction, as being proper for an investigator and a man of
+his convictions. He started to persuade himself that this young lady of
+the so called higher spheres was for him merely an object which one
+should examine in the same manner as a corpse on the dissecting-table
+is examined. So, when tuning her violin, she bent her head, he took a
+mental inventory of the Latin names of all her cranial bones, repelling
+the thought which, against his will, rushed to his head that this was,
+however, an extraordinarily noble skull. Afterwards, during the first
+moments after the beginning of the concert, he became occupied with the
+nomenclature of the muscles of her hands, arms, breast, limbs, outlined
+under her dress and whole figure. But as he was not only a medical
+student and a socialist, but also a young man, this anatomical review
+ended in the conclusion that this was a girl, not yet sufficiently
+developed, but exceedingly pretty and attractive, resembling a spring
+flower. From that moment he began, to a certain extent, to forgive her
+connection with spheres living "from the wrongs of the proletariat,"
+and could not get rid of the thought that if, as a result of some
+unheard-of social upheaval, such "a saintly doll" became dependent upon
+his favor or disfavor, then such a state of affairs would bring to him
+an indescribably coy delight.
+
+But when Beethoven placed his hands upon his head, there awakened
+within him better and higher instincts. He saw during the performance
+the lips and eyebrows of the young lady contract, and began to concede
+that "she, however, felt something." In consequence of this, his
+ill-will towards her began to melt away, although slowly and with
+difficulty. He half confirmed, half conjectured that not only the hands
+but also the soul played. He did not have sufficient culture for music
+to appeal to him as it did, for instance, to Gronski, nevertheless
+there awakened within him a certain dismal consciousness that this was
+something, like the air, which all breasts can breathe, regardless of
+whether they love or hate. Amazement seized him at the thought that
+there were things lying beyond the swarm of human passions. At the
+conclusion he so identified music with the figure of the playing girl
+that when the old notary, at the end of the concert, kissed her hands,
+he almost felt inclined to do the same.
+
+In the meanwhile, Ladislaus said to Miss Anney:
+
+"As long as Jastrzeb has been Jastrzeb, never yet has such music been
+heard. I am not a connoisseur, but must admit that this has captivated
+me. Besides, though I am often in the city, it has always so happened
+that I never have had an opportunity of seeing a woman play on the
+violin. And this is so beautiful that I now have an impression that
+only women should play the violin."
+
+"One gets such an impression when he hears Marynia play."
+
+"Assuredly. I even begin to understand Pan Gronski. You, of course,
+know that she is his adoration?"
+
+"The greatest in the world. And mine and everybody's who knows
+her,--and soon she will be yours."
+
+"I do not deny that she will be, only I doubt whether she will be the
+greatest."
+
+A temporary pause in the conversation followed, after which Ladislaus,
+not desiring that Miss Anney should take his words as an untimely
+compliment, added:
+
+"In any event, I owe her gratitude for music which is slightly
+different from that which we hear every evening in spring and summer."
+
+"What kind of music is that?"
+
+"From dusk to moon-rise the orchestra of frogs, and afterwards the
+concert of nightingales, which, after all, I do not hear, as, after
+daily toil, I am sound asleep. The frog band has already commenced.
+This also has its charm. If you care to hear it, let us go out upon the
+veranda. The night is almost as warm as in summer."
+
+Miss Anney rose and together they went on the veranda, which the
+servants, who listened under the windows to Marynia's performance, had
+already left, and only in the distance the blooming jasmines, shaded by
+the dusk, whitened. From the pond came the croakings of the
+confederation of frogs, drowsy and, at the same time, resembling choral
+prayers.
+
+Miss Anney for a while listened to these sounds and afterwards said:
+
+"Yes, this also has its charm, particularly on a night like this."
+
+"Are not nights the same in England?"
+
+"No, not as quiet. There is hardly a corner there to which the
+whistling of locomotives or the factory noises do not reach. I like
+your villages for their quiet and their distance from the cities."
+
+"So, then, this is not the first time that you have seen a Polish
+village?"
+
+"No. I have passed the last month with Zosia Otocka."
+
+"I wish that our Jastrzeb would find favor in your eyes. It is too bad
+that you chanced here upon a funeral. That is always sad. I saw that
+you were even affected."
+
+"It reminded me of something," answered Miss Anney.
+
+Whereupon, evidently desiring to change the subject of the
+conversation, she again began to peer into the depths of the garden.
+
+"How everything blooms and smells agreeably here!"
+
+"Those are jasmines and elders. Did you observe on the forest road,
+riding to Jastrzeb, that the edges of the woods are planted with
+elders? That is my work."
+
+"I only observed it at the bridge, where an old building stands. What
+kind of building is that?"
+
+"That is an ancient mill. At one time there was a great deal of water
+in the stream beside it, but later my uncle, Zarnowski, drained it off
+to the fish-ponds in Rzeslewo and the mill stood still. Now it is a
+ramshackle building in which for over ten years we have stored hay
+instead of keeping it in hayricks. Folks say that the place is haunted,
+but I myself circulated, in its time, that myth."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"First, so that they should not steal the hay, and again because it was
+of much concern to me that no one should pry in there."
+
+"What an invention!"
+
+"I told them that near the bridge during night-time the horses get
+frightened and that something in the mill laughs; which is true,
+because owls laugh there."
+
+"Perhaps it would have been better to have told them that something in
+there weeps."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"For greater effect."
+
+"I do not know. Laughter in the night in the solitude creates a greater
+impression. People fear it more."
+
+"And nobody peeps in there?"
+
+"Not a soul. Now, if they only would not steal the hay, it would be all
+the same to me, but at that time I was anxious to screen myself from
+the eyes of men--"
+
+Here Ladislaus bit his tongue, observing in the moonlight that Miss
+Anney's eyebrows frowned slightly. He understood that in repeating
+twice that it was important to him that no one should pry into the
+mill, he committed a breach of etiquette and, what was worse, had
+presented himself to the young English lady as some provincial boaster,
+who gives the impression that often he has been forced to seek various
+hiding-places. So desiring to erase the bad impression, he added
+quickly:
+
+"When a student, I wrote verses and for that reason sought solitude.
+But now all that has passed away."
+
+"That usually passes away," answered Miss Anney. And she turned to the
+doors of the salon, but without unnecessary haste, as if she desired to
+show Ladislaus that she accepted as good coin his explanations and that
+her return was not a manifestation of displeasure. He remained a while,
+angry at himself and yet more angry at Miss Anney for the simple reason
+that the indiscretion was committed solely by him and he could not
+blame her for anything.
+
+"In any case," he said to himself, "that is some deucedly penetrating
+Puritan."
+
+And he began to repeat, with some indignation, her last words:
+
+"That usually passes away."
+
+"Did she," he thought, "intend to give me to understand that from such
+grist as is in me nobody could bake any poetry. Perhaps it is true, and
+I know that better than anyone else, but it is unnecessary for anybody
+to corroborate the fact."
+
+Under the influence of these thoughts he returned to the salon in not
+quite good humor, but there the duties of host summoned him to his
+feminine cousins and that evening he did not converse any more with
+Miss Anney.
+
+
+
+                                   VI
+
+The notary left the same night because his official duties required his
+presence in the city the following morning. On the day after, Gronski,
+whom Pani Otocka requested to act as her representative, with Ladislaus
+and Dolhanski departed for the notarial bureau. All three were troubled
+and curious about the will, of which the notary did not drop a single
+hint. Dolhanski feigned a jocose mien and displayed more sangfroid than
+he really possessed. He was most anxious that something should "drop
+off" for him. He was a man who had squandered a large fortune, but, not
+having changed his habits, kept on living as if he had not lost
+anything. Therefore he sustained himself upon the surface of life by
+the aid of extraordinary, almost acrobatic, efforts, of which after all
+he made no secret. In general, he was a sponger and possessed a million
+faults, but also certain social qualities for which he was esteemed.
+Belonging to an aristocratic club, he played cards with unusual good
+luck, but irreproachably. He never borrowed money from people in his
+own sphere; never gossiped, and was a tolerably loyal friend. Lack of
+education he supplied with cleverness and a certain intellectual grasp.
+He jested about himself, but it was unsafe to jest at him, because he
+possessed, besides wit, a certain candor which bordered upon cynicism.
+So he was not only countenanced but willingly received. Gronski, for
+whom Dolhanski had such high regard that he permitted him alone to jest
+about him, said that if Dolhanski only had as great a gift of making
+money as he had of spending it, he would have been a millionaire.
+
+But while waiting for such a change, heavy moments fell upon Dolhanski,
+particularly in spring when the play at the club slackened or when the
+outing season began. Then he felt fatigued after the winter struggles
+and sighed for something to turn up which would not require any labor.
+The will of Zarnowski might be such a gratuity, although Dolhanski did
+not expect much, as during the lifetime of the deceased he did nothing
+to deserve it. He even frankly repeated that his precious uncle bored
+him. He reckoned, however, that something might be sliced off for him;
+enough for the temporary pacification of his creditors or, better
+still, for a trip to a fashionable, aristocratic French seaside resort.
+
+Before leaving Warsaw he announced in the club that he would return
+sitting upon a pillow stuffed with pawn-tickets. At present he
+attempted, with a certain affected humor, to convince Gronski and
+Ladislaus that by rights neither Pani Otocka with her sister, nor the
+Krzyckis, but himself ought to be the chief beneficiary.
+
+"One of the female cousins," he said, "is a warm widow, who has a fat
+fortune from her husband, and the other is a budding muse, who ought to
+be satisfied with ambrosia. What a pity, that I am not the sole
+relative of the deceased!"
+
+Here he addressed Ladislaus:
+
+"The Krzyckis, I think, need not be considered, because you have had,
+as I heard, a dispute about the Rzeslewo boundary. I hope that you will
+not get anything."
+
+"What is the use of your hoping?" said Gronski. "Limit, above all
+things, your wants."
+
+"You remind me of my lamented father," answered Dolhanski.
+
+"He certainly must have repeated that to you often."
+
+"Too often, and besides, he set himself up as an example, but I
+demonstrated to him, as plainly as two times two are four, that I could
+and ought to live on a higher scale than he."
+
+"What did you tell him?"
+
+"I spoke to him thus: Firstly, Papa has a son, while I am childless,
+and again, I am a better noble than he."
+
+"In what respect?"
+
+"Very plainly, since I can count one generation more in my line of
+nobility."
+
+"Bravo!" exclaimed Krzycki. "What did your father say to that?"
+
+"He called me a dunce, but I saw he was pleased with it. Ah, if my
+conceits would only please Pani Otocka as they once did Papa. But I am
+convinced that my constancy and my appetite will avail me naught. My
+dear cousin is after all more practical than she seems. You would
+imagine that both sisters live only on the fragrance of flowers; and
+yet when they learned of a possible inheritance, they hastily arrived
+at Jastrzeb."
+
+"I can assure you that you are mistaken. Mother invited them last year
+while in Krynica and now, at least a week before the death of Uncle
+Zarnowski, she reminded them of their promise. They wrote back that
+they could not come because they had a guest. Then mother invited the
+guest also."
+
+"If that is so, it is different. Now, not only do I understand your
+mother, but as you are a shapely youth and, in addition, younger than
+myself, I begin to fear for Cousin Otocka's fortune, which more justly
+belongs to me."
+
+"You need have no fear," answered Krzycki drily.
+
+"Does that mean that you prefer pounds to roubles? Considering the rate
+of exchange, I would prefer them also, but I fear that too many of them
+might have sunk in the Channel on the way from England."
+
+"If you are so much concerned about that," said Gronski, "you might ask
+Miss Anney about the precise amount. She is so sincere that she will
+reply to a certainty."
+
+"Yes, but it is necessary that I should believe her."
+
+"If you knew a little of human nature, you ought to believe her."
+
+"In any case, I would fear a misunderstanding; for if she answered me
+in Polish, she could make a mistake, and if in English, I might not
+understand her perfectly."
+
+"She speaks better Polish than you do English."
+
+"I admit that this astonishes me. Whence?"
+
+"Haven't I told you," answered Gronski, with some impatience, "that she
+was taught from childhood, because her father was an Englishman who had
+great sympathy for the Poles?"
+
+"De gustibus non est disputandem," answered Dolhanski.
+
+And afterwards he again began to speak of the deceased and of the old
+notary, mimicking the movements of his toothless jaws and the fury of
+his look; and finally he announced that if something was not "sliced
+off" for him he would either shoot himself upon Pani Otocka's threshold
+or else would drive over to Gorek and offer himself for the hand of
+Panna Wlocek.
+
+But Gronski was buried in thought about something else during the time
+of this idle talk, while Ladislaus heard him distractedly as his
+attention was attracted by the considerable number of peasant carts
+which they were continually passing by. Supposing that he had forgotten
+some market-day in the city, he turned to his coachman.
+
+"Andrew," he asked, "why are there so many carts on the road to the
+city?"
+
+"Ah, those, please your honor, are Rzeslewo peasants."
+
+"Rzeslewo? What have they to do there?"
+
+"Ah! please your honor, on account of the will of the deceased Pan
+Zarnowski; it is to give them Rzeslewo."
+
+Krzycki turned to Gronski.
+
+"I heard," he said, "that somebody circulated among them such a story,
+but did not think that they would believe it."
+
+And afterwards again to the coachman:
+
+"Who told them that?"
+
+The old driver hesitated somewhat in his reply:
+
+"The people gossip that it was the Tutor."
+
+Ladislaus began to laugh.
+
+"Oh, stupid peasants!" he said. "Why, he never in his life saw Pan
+Zarnowski. How would he know about the will?"
+
+But after a moment of meditation he said, partly to his companions and
+partly to himself:
+
+"Everything must have some object, so if Laskowicz did that, let some
+one explain to me why he did it."
+
+"Do you suspect him of it?" asked Gronski.
+
+"I do not know, for heretofore I had assumed that one could be a
+socialist and keep his wits in order."
+
+"Ah, so he is a bird of that nest? Tell me how long has he been with
+you and what manner of a man is he?"
+
+"He has been with us half a year. We needed an instructor for Stas and
+some one recommended him to us. We were informed that he would have to
+leave Warsaw for a certain time to elude the police and, in fact, for
+that reason received him more eagerly, thinking that some patriotic
+matter was involved. Later, when it appeared that he was of an entirely
+different calibre, mother would not permit his dismissal in hope that
+she might convert him. At the beginning she had lengthy heart-to-heart
+talks with him and requested me to be friendly with him. We treated him
+as a member of the family, but the result has been such that he hates
+us, not only as people belonging to a sphere which he envies, but also,
+as it seems, individually."
+
+"It is evident," said Dolhanski, "he holds it evil of you that you are
+not such as he imagined you would be; neither so wicked nor so stupid.
+And you may rest assured that he will never forgive that in you."
+
+"That may be so. In any case, he will shortly despise us from a
+distance, for after a month we part. I understand that one can and
+ought to tolerate all convictions, but there is something in him,
+besides his principles and hatreds, which is so conflicting with all
+our customs, and something so strange that we have had enough of him."
+
+"My Laudie," answered Dolhanski, "do not necessarily apply this to
+yourself, for I speak generally, but since you have mentioned
+toleration, I will tell you that in my opinion toleration in Poland was
+and is nothing else than downright stupidity, and monumental stupidity
+at that."
+
+"In certain respects Dolhanski is right," answered Gronski. "It may be
+that in the course of our history we tolerated various ideas and
+elements not only through magnanimous forbearance, but also because in
+our indolence we did not care to contend with them."
+
+To this Ladislaus, who did not like to engage in general argumentation,
+said:
+
+"That is all right, but all that does not explain why Laskowicz should
+spread among the peasants the news that Uncle Zarnowski devised
+Rzeslewo to them."
+
+"There is, as yet, no certainty that he did," answered Gronski. "We
+will very soon learn the truth at the notary's."
+
+
+
+                                  VII
+
+The hour was five in the afternoon. The ladies sat on the veranda, at
+tea, when the young men returned from the city. Miss Anney rose when
+they appeared and, not wishing to be present, as a stranger, at the
+family conversation, left on some pretext for her room. Pani Krzycki
+greeted them with slightly affected calm, because in reality the
+thought of the will did not leave her for a moment. She was not
+greedier than the generality of common mortals, but she was immensely
+concerned that, after her demise, at the distribution of the estate,
+Ladislaus should have enough to pay off the younger members of the
+family and to sustain himself at Jastrzeb. And some respectable bequest
+would in a remarkable manner facilitate the making of such payments.
+Besides, at the bottom of the noble soul of Pani Krzycki there lay
+hidden the faith that Providence owed, to a certain extent, greater
+obligations to the Krzycki family than to any ordinary family. For that
+reason, even if the whole of Rzeslewo fell to the lot of that family,
+she would with readiness and willingness submit to such a decree of
+Providence. Finally, descending from the blood of a people who in
+certain cases can sacrifice fortune, but love extraordinarily to
+acquire it without any effort, she fondled all day the thought that
+such an easy acquisition was about to occur.
+
+But in the countenances of Ladislaus and Gronski she could at once
+discern that they brought specific intelligence. Dolhanski, who was the
+first to alight from the carriage, was the first to begin the report.
+
+"I anticipate the question, what is the news?" he said, drawling his
+expressions with cold irony, "and I answer everything is for the best,
+for the Rzeslewo Mats and Jacks will have something with which they can
+travel to Carlsbad."
+
+Pani Krzycki grew somewhat pale and, turning to Gronski, asked:
+
+"What, in truth, gentlemen, have you brought with you?"
+
+"The will in its provisions is peculiar," answered Gronski, "but was
+executed in a noble spirit. Rzeslewo is devised for a peasants'
+agricultural school and the interest of the funds is to be devoted to
+sending the pupils of the school, who have finished their courses, for
+a year's or two years' practice in country husbandry in Bohemia."
+
+"Or, as I stated, to Carlsbad, Marienbad, Teplitz, and other places of
+the same character," explained Dolhanski.
+
+A moment of silence followed. Marynia, who was pouring the tea, began,
+with teapot in hand, to gaze with inquiring look at those present,
+desiring evidently to unriddle whether they praised or condemned it and
+whether it gave them pleasure or annoyance. Pani Otocka looked at
+Gronski with eyes which evinced delight; while Pani Krzycki leaned with
+both hands upon the cane which she used owing to rheumatism in her
+limbs, and after a certain time asked in a slightly hoarse voice:
+
+"So, it is for a public purpose?"
+
+"Yes," answered Gronski, "the organization of the school and afterwards
+the division of the funds for the stay in Bohemia is to be assumed by a
+special Directory of the Trust Society of this province, and the
+designated curator of the school is Laudie."
+
+"Too bad it is not I," interposed Dolhanski. "I would arrange it very
+quickly."
+
+"There are specific bequests," continued Gronski, "and these are very
+strange. He bequeaths various small sums to the household servants and
+ten thousand roubles to some Skibianka, daughter of a blacksmith at the
+Rzeslewo manor, who in his time emigrated to America."
+
+"Skibianka!" repeated Pani Krzycki with astonishment.
+
+Dolhanski bit off the ends of his mustache, smiled, and started to
+grumble that the nobility was always distinguished for its love of the
+common people, but Gronski looked at him severely; after which he drew
+from his pocket a memorandum and said:
+
+"That provision of the will is worded as follows: Whereas the parents
+of Hanka Skiba or Skibianka emigrated during my sojourn abroad for
+medical treatment, and I have not had the opportunity of ascertaining
+where they can be found, therefore I obligate my relative, Ladislaus
+Krzycki, to cause to be published in all the Polish newspapers printed
+in the United States and in Parana, advertisements. If the said legatee
+does not within two years appear to receive the bequest, the entire sum
+with interest becomes the property of the said Ladislaus Krzycki."
+
+"And I already have announced that I do not intend to accept that
+specific bequest," cried the young man excitedly.
+
+All eyes were turned toward him; he added:
+
+"I would not think of it; I would not think of it."
+
+"Why not?" asked his mother after a while.
+
+"Because I cannot. Let us suppose that the legatee appears, say for
+instance, within three years instead of two, what would happen? Would I
+pocket the bequest and drive her away? No! I could not do that.
+Finally, there are other considerations of which I do not wish to
+speak."
+
+In fact, only by these "other considerations," could such a
+considerable bequest to a simple village girl be explained; therefore
+Pani Krzycki became silent. After a while she said:
+
+"My Laudie, nobody will coerce, nor even try to persuade you to
+accept."
+
+But Dolhanski asked:
+
+"Tell me, is this some mythical disinterestedness or is it ill humor
+caused by your not receiving a greater bequest?"
+
+"Do not judge by yourself," answered Krzycki; "but I will tell you
+something which you certainly will not believe; since this estate is to
+be devoted to such an object as a peasants' agricultural school, I am
+highly delighted and have much greater esteem for the deceased. I give
+you my word that I speak with entire sincerity."
+
+"Bravo!" exclaimed Pani Otocka, "it is pleasant to hear that."
+
+Pani Krzycki looked with pride first upon her son, then upon Pani
+Otocka; and, though a feeling of disappointment lingered in her heart,
+said:
+
+"Well, let there be a peasants' school, if only our Jastrzeb peasants
+will be permitted to send their sons to it."
+
+"That does not admit of any doubt," explained Gronski. "There will be
+as many pupils as accommodations can be provided for. They may come
+from all parts, though preference is to be given to Rzeslewo peasants."
+
+"What do they say about the bequest?"
+
+"There were more than a dozen of them at the opening of the will, as
+they expected a direct gift of all the manor lands to them. Somebody
+had persuaded them that the deceased left everything to them to be
+equally divided. So they left very much displeased. We heard them say
+that this was not the genuine will and that they do not need any
+schools."
+
+"Most fully do I share their opinion," said Dolhanski, "and in this
+instance, contrary to my nature, I will speak seriously. For at present
+there is raging an epidemic of founding schools and no one asks for
+whom, for what, how are they to be taught in them, and what is the end
+to be attained. I belong to that species of birds who do not toil, but
+look at everything, if not from the top, then from the side, and,
+perhaps for that very reason, see things which others do not observe.
+So, at times, I have an impression that we are like those children, for
+instance, at Ostend, who build on the sea-shore forts with the sand.
+Every day on the beach they erect them and every day the waves wash
+them away until not a trace of them remains."
+
+"In a way you are right," said Gronski; "but there, however, is this
+difference: the children build joyfully and we do not."
+
+Afterwards he meditated and added:
+
+"However, the law of nature is such that children grow while the adults
+rear dykes, not of sand, but of stone upon which the weaves dash to
+pieces."
+
+"Let them be dashed to pieces as quickly as possible," exclaimed
+Ladislaus.
+
+But Dolhanski would not concede defeat.
+
+"Permit me then," he said, "since we have not yet grown up and have not
+yet started to build of stone, to remain a pessimist."
+
+Gronski gazed for a while into the depths of the garden like a man who
+was pondering over something and then said:
+
+"Pessimism--pessimism! We hear that incessantly nowadays. But in the
+meanwhile if there exists anything more stupid than optimism, which
+often passes for folly, it is particularly pessimism, which desires to
+pose as reason."
+
+Dolhanski smiled a trifle biliously and, turning to the ladies, said,
+pointing to Gronski:
+
+"Do not take this ill of him, ladies. It often happens for him in
+moments of abstraction to utter impertinences. He is a good--even
+intelligent--man, but has the unbearable habit of turning over
+everything, examining it from all sides, pondering over it, and
+soliloquizing."
+
+But Marynia suddenly flushed with indignation in defence of her friend
+and, shaking the teapot which at that moment she held in her hand,
+began to speak with great ardor:
+
+"That is just right, that is just sensible; that is what everybody
+ought to do--"
+
+Dolhanski pretended to be awe-stricken and, bowing his head, cried:
+
+"I am vanquished; I retreat and surrender arms."
+
+Gronski, laughing, kissed her hand, while she, abashed at her own
+vehemence and covered with blushes, began to ask:
+
+"Is it not the truth? Am I not right?"
+
+But Dolhanski already recovered his presence of mind.
+
+"That does not prove anything," he said.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because Gronski once promulgated this aphorism: It is never proper to
+follow the views of a woman, especially if by accident she is right."
+
+"I?" exclaimed Gronski. "Untangle yourself from me. I never said
+anything like that. Do not believe him, ladies."
+
+"I believe only you, sir," answered Marynia.
+
+But further conversation was interrupted by Pani Krzycki, who observed
+that it was time for the May mass. In the Jastrzeb manor-house, there
+was a room especially assigned for that purpose and known as the
+chapel. At the main wall, opposite the windows, stood an altar with a
+painting of the Divine Mother of Czestochowo. The walls, altar,
+painting, and even the candles were decorated with green garlands. On
+the side tables stood bouquets of elders and jasmines whose fragrance
+filled the entire room. Sometimes, when the rector of Rzeslewo arrived,
+he conducted the services; in his absence the lady of the house. All
+the inmates of the house, with the exception of Laskowicz, during the
+entire month of May met every evening in the chapel. At present the
+gentlemen followed the ladies. On the way Ladislaus asked Gronski:
+
+"Is Miss Anney a Catholic?"
+
+"To tell you the truth, I do not know," answered Gronski, "but it
+seems--but look, she is entering also. So she must be a Catholic.
+Perhaps her name is Irish."
+
+In the chapel the candles were already lit, though the sun had not
+entirely set and stood in the windows, low, golden, and ruddy, casting
+a lustre on the white cloth which covered the altar and on the heads of
+the women. At the very altar the lady of the house knelt, behind her
+the lady visitors; after them the female servants and the old asthmatic
+lackey, while the gentlemen stood at the wall between the windows. The
+customary songs, prayers, and litanies began. Their sweetness struck
+Gronski. There was in them something of spring and at the same time of
+the evening. The impression of the spring was created by the flowers,
+and of the evening by ruddy lustre entering through the windows, and
+the soft voices of the women who, repeating the choral words of the
+litanies, reminded one of the last chirp of birds, subsiding before the
+setting of the sun. "Healer of the sick. Refuge of sinners, Comforter
+of the afflicted," repeated Pani Krzycki; and those soft, subdued
+voices responded, "Pray for us,"--and thus did that country home pray
+on that May evening. Gronski, who was a sceptic, but not an atheist,
+like a man of high culture, at first felt the aesthetic side of this
+childlike "good-night" borne by these women to a benign deity.
+Afterwards, as if desiring to corroborate the truth of Dolhanski's
+assertion that he was wont to turn over every subject on every side and
+to ponder over every phenomenon, he began to meditate upon religious
+manifestations. It occurred to him that this homage rendered to a deity
+was an element purely ideal, possessed solely by humanity. He recalled
+that as often as he happened to be in church and saw people praying, so
+often was he struck by the unfathomable chasm which separates the world
+of man from the animal world. As a matter of fact, religious
+conceptions can only be formed by higher and more perfect organisms;
+therefore he drew the conclusion that if there existed beings ten times
+more intelligent than mankind, they would, in their own way, be ten
+times more religious. "Yes, but in their own way," Gronski repeated,
+"which perhaps might be very different." His spiritual drama (and he
+often thought that there were many people like him) was this: that the
+Absolute appeared to him as an abyss, as some synthetic law of all the
+laws of existence. Thus he presumed that according to a degree of
+mental development it was impossible to imagine that law in the form of
+the kindly old man or in the eye on the radiant triangle, unless one
+takes matters symbolically and assumes that the old man and the eye
+express the all-basis of existence, as the horizontally drawn eight
+denotes infinity. But in such case what will this all-basis be for him?
+Always night, always an abyss, always something inscrutable; barely to
+be felt by some dull sensation and not by any clear perception, from
+whose power can be understood the phenomenon of existence and an answer
+be made to the various whys and wherefores. "Mankind," mused Gronski,
+"possesses at the same time too much and too little intelligence. For,
+after all, to simply believe one must unreservedly shut the blinds of
+his intellectual windows and not permit himself to peer through them;
+and when he does open them he discovers only a starless night." For
+this reason he envied those middle-aged persons, whose intelligence
+reared mentally edifices upon unshaken dogmas, just as lighthouses are
+built upon rocks in the sea. Dante could master the whole field of
+knowledge of his time and yet, notwithstanding this, could traverse
+hell, purgatory, and paradise. The modern man of learning could not
+travel thus, for if he wished to pass in thought beyond the world of
+material phenomenon, he would see that which we behold in Wuertz's
+well-known painting, a decapitated head; that is, some element so
+undefined that it is equivalent to nothing.
+
+But the tragedy, according to Gronski, lay not only in the
+inscrutability of the Absolute, in the impossibility of understanding
+His laws, but also in the impossibility of agreeing on them and
+acknowledging them from the view point of human life. There exist, of
+course, evil and woe. The Old Testament explains them easily by the
+state of almost continual rage of its Jah. "Domine ne in furore tuo
+arguas me, neque in ira tua corripias me," and afterwards "saggittae
+tuae infixae sunt mihi et confirmasti super me manuo tuum." And once
+having accepted this blind fury and this "strengthening of the right
+hand," it is easy to explain to one's self in a simple manner
+misfortune. But already in the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes doubts
+whether everything in the world is in order. The New Testament sees
+evil in matter in contraposition to the soul; and that is clear.
+However, viewing the matter, in the abstract, as everything is a close
+chain of cause and effect, therefore everything is logical, and being
+logical it cannot per se be either evil or good, but may appear
+propitious or unfavorable in its relation to man. Besides, that which
+we call evil or misfortune may, according to the absolute laws of
+existence, and in its profundity, be wise and essential principles of
+development, which are beyond human comprehension, and therefore
+something which in itself is an advantageous phenomenon.
+
+Yes, but in such case, whence does man derive the power to oppose his
+individual thoughts and his concrete conceptions to this universal
+logic? If everything is a delusion, why is the human mind a force,
+existing, as it were, outside of the general laws of existence? There
+is this something, unprecedented and at the same time tragical, that
+man must be subjected to these laws and can protest against them. On
+earth spiritual peace was enjoyed only by the gods, and is now only by
+animals. Man is eternally struggling and crying veto, and such a veto
+is every human tear.
+
+And here Gronski's thoughts assumed a more personal aspect. He began to
+look at the praying Marynia and at first experienced relief. There came
+to his mind the purely aesthetic observation that Carpaccio might have
+placed such a maiden beside his guitar-player and Boticelli should have
+foreseen her. But immediately afterwards he thought that even such a
+flower must wither, and nothing withers or dies without pain. Suddenly
+he was seized with a fear of the future, which in her traveling-pouch
+carries concealed evil and woe. He recalled, indeed, the aphorism which
+he had uttered, a short time before, about pessimism; but that gave him
+no comfort, because he understood that the pessimism which flowed from
+the exertions of the intellect is different from the worldling's
+pessimism which Dolhanski, by shrugging his shoulders at everything,
+permitted himself to indulge in when free from card-playing. He
+moreover propounded to himself the question whether that debilitating
+pessimism could in any manner be well founded, and here unexpectedly
+there stood before his eyes another friend, entirely different from
+Dolhanski, though also a sceptic and hedonist,--Doctor Parebski. He was
+a college-mate of Gronski and in later years had treated him for a
+nervous ailment; therefore he knew him perfectly. Once, after listening
+to his various reflections and complaints about the impossibility of
+finding a solution of the paramount questions of life, Doctor Parebski
+said to him: "That is a pastime for which time and means are necessary.
+If you had to work for your bread as I have, you would not upset your
+own mind and the minds of others. All that reminds me of a dog chasing
+his own tail. And I tell you, look at that which environs you and not
+at your own navel; and if you want to be well, then--carpe diem!"
+Gronski at that time deemed these words somewhat brutal and more in the
+nature of medical than philosophical advice, but now when he recalled
+them he said to himself: "In truth the road on which, as if from bad
+habit, I am continually entering leads to nowhere; and who knows
+whether these women praying this moment with such faith are not,
+without question, more sensible than I am, not to say more at ease and
+happier?"
+
+In the meantime Pani Kryzcki began to speak: "Under Thy protection we
+flee. Holy Mother of God," and the women's voices immediately
+responded: "Our entreaties deign not to spurn and from all evil deign
+to preserve us forever." Gronski was swept by an intense longing for
+such a sweet, tutelary divinity who does not deign to scorn entreaties
+and who delivers us from evil. How well it would be with him if he
+could enjoy such peace of mind, and how simple the thought!
+Unfortunately he already had strayed too far away. He could, like
+women, yearn, but, unlike them, he could not believe.
+
+Gronski mentally reviewed the whole array of his acquaintances and
+noted that those who fervently believed, in the depths of their souls,
+were very few in number. Some there were who did not believe at all;
+others who wanted to believe and could not; some acknowledged from
+social considerations the necessity of faith, and finally there were
+those who were simply occupied with something else. To this latter
+category belonged men who, for instance, observed the custom of
+attending mass as they did the habit of eating breakfast every morning,
+or of donning a dress-coat each evening or wearing gloves. Through
+habit it entered into the texture of their lives. Here Gronski
+unwillingly glanced at Ladislaus, for it seemed to him that the young
+man was a bird from that grove.
+
+Such, in fact, was the case. Krzycki, however, was neither a dull nor
+thoughtless person. At the university he, like others, philosophized a
+little, but afterwards the current of his life carried him in another
+direction. There existed, indeed, beside Jastrzeb and the daily affairs
+connected therewith, other matters which deeply interested him. He was
+sincerely concerned about his native land, her future, the events which
+might affect her destiny, and finally--women and love. But upon faith
+he reflected as much as he did upon death, upon which he did not
+reflect at all, as if he was of the opinion that it was improper to
+think of them, since they in the proper time will not forget anybody.
+
+At present, moreover, owing to the guests, he was more than a hundred
+miles from thinking of such questions. At one time, while yet a
+student, when during vacation time he drove over with his mother to
+Rzeslewo to attend high mass, he cherished in the depths of his soul
+the poetical hope that some Sunday the rattle of a carriage would
+resound without the church doors and a young and charming princess,
+journeying from somewhere beyond the Baltic to Kiev, would enter the
+church; that he would invite her to Jastrzeb and later fall in love
+with her and marry her. And now here unexpectedly those youthful dreams
+were in some measure realized, for to Jastrzeb there came not one but
+three princesses of whom he could dream as much as he pleased, for
+behold, they were now kneeling before the family altar, absorbed in
+prayer. He began to gaze--now at Pani Otocka and then at the form of
+Marynia, which resembled a Tanagra figurine, and repeated to himself:
+"Mother desires to give one of them to me as a wife." And he had
+nothing against the idea, but thought of Pani Otocka, "That is a book
+which somebody has already read, while the other is a fledgeling who
+can play a violin." Ladislaus was of the age which does not take into
+calculation any woman under twenty years. After a while, as if
+unwillingly, he directed his eyes towards Miss Anney,--unwillingly
+because she formed the most luminous object in the room, for the
+setting sun, falling upon her light hair, saturated it with such lustre
+that the whole head appeared aflame. Miss Anney from time to time
+raised her hand and shaded her head with it as if she desired to
+extinguish the lustre, but as the rays each moment became less warm,
+she finally discontinued the action. At times she was hidden from view
+by the figure of some dark-haired girl, whom Ladislaus did not know,
+but who, he surmised, must be a servant of one of these ladies. Towards
+the close of the services the girl bowed so low that she no longer
+obscured the view of the light hair or the young and powerful
+shoulders.
+
+"That," he said to himself, "would be the greatest temptation, but
+mother would be opposed, as she is a foreigner."
+
+But suddenly, as if to rebuke his conscience, there came to his memory
+the pensive eyes and slender shoulders of Panna Stabrowska. Ah! if only
+Rzeslewo and the funds had fallen to his lot! But uncle bequeathed
+Rzeslewo for educational purposes and the funds for trips to Carlsbad
+by the Mats, as Dolhanski had said, and a few thousand for Hanka
+Skibianka. At this recollection his brow clouded and he drew his hand
+across his forehead.
+
+"I unnecessarily became excited before mother and the ladies," he said
+to himself, "but I must explain this matter to Gronski."
+
+Accordingly, at the close of the mass, he turned to him:
+
+"I want to speak with you about various matters, but only in four eyes.
+Is that satisfactory?"
+
+"All right," answered Gronski, "when?"
+
+"Not to-day, for I must first go to Rzeslewo to question the men, look
+over the estate, and then attend to the guests. It will be best
+to-morrow evening or the day after. We will take our rifles with us and
+go to the woods. Now there is a flight of woodcocks. Dolhanski does not
+hunt, so we will leave him with the ladies."
+
+"All right," repeated Gronski.
+
+
+
+                                  VIII
+
+The very next day, towards evening, they strolled with their rifles and
+a dog in the direction of the mill, and on the way Ladislaus began to
+narrate all that he had learned the previous day.
+
+"I was in Rzeslewo," he said, "but there you hear nothing good. The
+peasants insist that the will was forged and that the gentry twisted it
+about so that they could control, for their own benefit, the money and
+the lands. I am almost certain that Laskowicz is pouring oil upon that
+fire. But why? I cannot understand; nevertheless, that is the case. The
+landless, in particular, are wrought up and say that if the fortune is
+divided among them, they, themselves, will contribute for a school. In
+reality, they have no conception of the kind of school Zarnowski
+wanted, nor of the cost of establishing it."
+
+"In view of this, what do you intend to do?" asked Gronski.
+
+"I do not know. I will see. In the meantime I will try to convince
+them. I also begged the rector to explain the matter to them and spoke
+with a few of the older husbandmen. I seemed to have persuaded them;
+but unfortunately with them it is thus: that everyone, taken singly, is
+intelligent and even sensible, but when you talk to them together, it
+is like trying to smash a stone wall with your head."
+
+"That is nothing strange," answered Gronski; "take ten thousand doctors
+of philosophy together and they become a mob which is ruled by
+gesticulations."
+
+"That may be," said Ladislaus, "but I did not wish to speak of the will
+only. I also saw the old Rzeslewo overseer and learned a great many,
+intensely curious things. Figure to yourself that our guesses were
+wrong and that Hanka Skibianka is not the daughter of Uncle Zarnowski."
+
+"And that seemed so certain! But what kind of proof have you of this?"
+
+"Very simple. Skiba was a native of Galicia and emigrated to Rzeslewo
+with his wife and daughter when the latter was five years old. As
+Zarnowski, while well, stayed in the village like a wall, and at that
+time for at least ten years had not travelled anywhere, it is evident
+that he could not have been the father of that girl."
+
+"That decides the matter. I cannot understand why he bequeathed to her
+ten thousand roubles."
+
+"There is an interesting history connected with that," replied
+Ladislaus. "You must know that the deceased, though now it appears that
+he loved the peasants, always kept them under very strict control. He
+managed them according to the old system; that is, he abused them from
+morning till night. They say that when he cursed in the corridor you
+could hear him over half the village. A certain day he went into the
+blacksmith's shop and, finding something out of order, began to berate
+the blacksmith unmercifully. The smith bowed and listened in humility.
+It happened that little Hanka at that time was in front of the smithy
+and, seeing what was taking place, seized a little stick and started to
+belabor Zarnowski with it all over the legs. 'You will scold Tata, will
+you?' It is said that the deceased at first was dumbfounded, but
+afterwards burst into such laughter that his anger against the
+blacksmith passed away."
+
+"That Hanka pleases me."
+
+"So did she please Uncle. The very same day he sent a rouble to the
+smith's wife and ordered her to bring the child to the manor-house.
+From that time he became attached to her. He commanded the old
+housekeeper to teach her to read, and attended to it himself. The child
+likewise became devoted to him, and this continued for a number of
+years. In the end people began to say that the master wanted to keep
+the smith's daughter entirely at his residence and have her educated as
+a lady, but this, it seems, was untrue. He wanted to bring her up as a
+stout village lass and give her a dowry. The Skibas, whose only child
+she was, declared that they would not surrender her for anything in the
+world. Of course, I know only what the overseer told me, for our
+relations with the deceased were broken on account of the mill from
+which he drained the water for his ponds."
+
+"And later the Skibas emigrated."
+
+"Yes, but before that time Zarnowski began to fail in health and moved
+to Warsaw, and subsequently resided abroad; so that their relations
+relaxed. When the Skibas emigrated, the girl was seventeen. Uncle, on
+his return to Rzeslewo to die, longed for her and waited for some news
+of her. But as he had previously removed even his furniture from
+Rzeslewo to the city, she evidently assumed that he never would return
+and did not know where to write."
+
+"The bequest proves best that he did not forget her," said Gronski,
+"and from the whole will it appears that he was a man of better heart
+than people thought."
+
+"Surely," answered Ladislaus.
+
+For an interval they walked in silence; then Krzycki resumed the
+conversation.
+
+"As for myself, I prefer that she is not the daughter of the deceased."
+
+"Why? Has that any bearing on the bequest?"
+
+"No. Under no circumstances will I accept that bequest. Never!"
+
+"That is all very well, but tell me, why did you renounce it with such
+vehemence that everybody was astonished?"
+
+"There is one circumstance which neither Mother nor anybody else even
+suspects, but which I will sincerely confess to you. In the proper time
+I seduced that girl."
+
+Gronski stood still, gazed at Ladislaus, and ejaculated:
+
+"What's that?"
+
+As he was not prone to treat such matters with levity and, besides, the
+previous narrative of Krzycki had awakened within him a sympathy for
+Hanka, he frowned and asked:
+
+"For the fear of God! You seduced a child? And you say it was done in
+the proper time?"
+
+But Ladislaus replied quite calmly:
+
+"Let us not stop, for the dog has gone too far ahead of us," and here
+he pointed at the white spaniel running before them. "I did not seduce
+a child, for at that time she was sixteen. It happened more than seven
+years ago, while I was still a student and came to Jastrzeb on a
+vacation."
+
+"Were there any consequences?"
+
+"As far as I know there were none. You will understand that having
+returned the following vacation and not finding either her or the
+Skibas, I did not ask about them, for on the thief's head the cap
+burns.[2] But to-day I casually asked the overseer whether the Skibas
+had not probably emigrated because some mishap had befallen their
+daughter. He answered, 'No.'"
+
+"Then it is better for her and for you."
+
+"Certainly it is much better; for otherwise the matter would have been
+brought to light and would reach Mother's ears."
+
+"And in such case you would suffer much unpleasantness."
+
+There was irony in Gronski's voice, but Ladislaus, absorbed in his own
+thoughts, did not notice it and said:
+
+"In such case, I would have unpleasantness because Mother in such
+matters is exceedingly severe. So, to-day, after mature deliberation, I
+am like a wolf, who will commit no injury in the neighborhood where he
+keeps his nest, but at that time I was more headstrong and less
+careful."
+
+"May the deuce take you!" exclaimed Gronski.
+
+"For what?"
+
+"Nothing; speak on."
+
+"I have not much more to say. Recurring to the will, you now understand
+why I could not accept it."
+
+"Perhaps I do, but tell me 'thy exquisite reason,' as Shakespeare
+says."
+
+"Well, as to the seduction of a girl, that does happen in villages, but
+to seduce a girl and appropriate to one's own use that which had been
+provided for her,--why, that would be too much. And perhaps she may be
+suffering, in want, somewhere in America."
+
+"Everything is possible," answered Gronski.
+
+"So that if the advertisements, which I will make, do not reach her
+notice, in such case, I would be using her money, while she would die
+of starvation. No. Everything has its limits. I am not extraordinarily
+scrupulous, but there are some things which I plainly cannot do."
+
+"Tell me, but sincerely, do you entertain towards her any sentiment?"
+
+"I will tell you candidly that I completely forgot her. Now I have
+recalled her and, in truth, I cannot have any ill-will towards her. On
+the contrary, that kind of recollection cannot, of course, be
+disagreeable, unless it is linked with remorse. But we were mere
+children--and a pure accident brought us together."
+
+"Then permit me to ask one more question. If the deceased bequeathed to
+her the whole of Rzeslewo, and the funds, and if she did not within two
+years appear to claim them, would you renounce such a bequest?"
+
+"I cannot answer a question to which I have not given any
+consideration. I would not want to represent myself to you any better
+or any worse than I am. But this much is certain: I would publish the
+advertisements, and would publish them for the two years. But after
+all, of what importance to you can my answer be?"
+
+And here he abruptly paused, for from the direction of the adjacent
+birch grove some strange sound reached them, resembling a snort, and at
+the same time, above the tops of the birch and the lime-trees, there
+appeared upon the background of the twilight a gray bird, flying in a
+straight line to the underwood on the opposite side of the meadow.
+
+"Woodcock!" cried Krzycki, and he bounded forward.
+
+Gronski, following him, thought:
+
+"He certainly never read Nietzsche, and yet in his veins, together with
+the blood, there courses some noble super-humanity. If anybody betrayed
+his sister, he would have shot him in the head like a dog, but as a
+village girl is concerned, he does not feel the slightest uneasiness."
+
+Later they stopped at the edge of the birch grove. For a time intense
+silence prevailed; after which a strange voice resounded again above
+their heads and another woodcock appeared. Gronski fired and missed;
+Krzycki bettered--and they saw how, with descending flight, the fowl
+fell in the underwood farther off. The white dog for a while lingered
+in the dusk of the thicket and returned carrying the dead bird in his
+mouth.
+
+"She was already wounded when I fired," said Ladislaus. "It is your
+bird."
+
+"You are a gracious host," answered Gronski.
+
+And again silence ensued, which even the rustle of leaves did not
+disturb, as there was not a breath of air. But after a time two
+woodcocks snorted above their heads, one following the other, at which
+Gronski could not shoot, but Ladislaus winged both cleanly. Finally a
+more reckless one took pity on Gronski for she flew accommodatingly
+over him, as if she desired to save him any inconvenience. He himself
+felt ashamed at the thrill of pleasure he experienced when, after
+firing, he saw the bird hit the ground; and agreeable to his
+incorrigible habit of meditation upon every phenomenon, he came to the
+conclusion that his strange sensation could be attributed to the
+aboriginal times, when man and his family were dependent for
+subsistence upon skill in hunting. Thanks to this reasoning, he did not
+shoot at another bird that flew nearer the edge of the underwood and
+with which the flight evidently ended, as they waited for others in
+vain. In the meanwhile it grew dark, and after an interval the white
+spaniel emerged from the nightfall, and after him came Ladislaus.
+
+"We had a bootless chase," he said, "but that is nothing. In any case,
+there are four morsels for the ladies. Tomorrow we will try for more."
+
+"This was but a slight interruption in your confessions," answered
+Gronski, slinging his rifle over his shoulder.
+
+"My confessions?" said Ladislaus. "Aha!--yes."
+
+"You said that a mere accident brought you together."
+
+"That actually was the case. But we must now go ahead and you will
+kindly follow in my footsteps, as it is damp here in some places. This
+way we will reach the bridge and at the bridge we will have the road."
+
+Not until they were on the road did he commence his narrative:
+
+"It all began and ended in the mill, which even at that time served as
+a storage place for hay; and it did not continue more than a fortnight.
+It occurred thus: I once went out with a rifle to hunt for roebucks,
+for here roebucks come out in the evening at the clearing on the
+stream. It was very cloudy that day, but as it appeared to be clear in
+the west, I thought that the clouds would pass away. I took a position
+of a few hundred--and even more--steps from the mill, for nearer there
+was lying on the meadow, linen, which might scare the bucks; and about
+a half hour later I actually killed a buck. But in the meanwhile it
+began to rain, and in a short while there was such a downpour as I had
+never seen in Jastrzeb. I seized my buck by the hind legs and began to
+scamper off with all my might for the mill. On the way I noticed that
+some one had carried away the linen. I rushed into the mill and buried
+myself up to the ears in the hay, when I heard somebody breathing close
+by me. I asked: 'Who is that?' A thin voice answered me, 'I.' 'What
+kind of an I?' 'Hanka.' 'What are you doing here?' 'I came for the
+linen.' Then it began to thunder so much that I thought the mill would
+fall to pieces;--and not until it had subsided somewhat did I learn by
+the aid of continuous questions that my female companion was from
+Rzeslewo; that her family name was Skibianka, and that she finished her
+sixteenth year on St. Anne's Day. Then, and I give you my word, without
+any sinister will or intent, but only as a jest and because it is
+customary to talk that way with village maids, I said to her: 'Will you
+give me a kiss?' She did not answer, but as at that moment a thunder
+clap pealed, she nestled closer to me--perhaps from fright. And I
+kissed her on the very lips and, as I live, I had the same impression
+as if I had kissed a fragrant flower. So I repeated it twice, three
+times, and so on, and she returned the tenth or twentieth. When the
+storm passed away and it became necessary for us to part, I had her
+arms about my neck and at the same time my cheeks were wet with her
+tears,--for she cried, but I do not know whether from the loss of
+innocence or because I was leaving."
+
+Here, in spite of himself, the song of Ophelia, when insane, flitted
+through Krzycki's memory.
+
+Ladislaus continued:
+
+"On our departure she said that she knew I was the young lord of
+Jastrzeb; that she saw me every Sunday in Rzeslewo and gazed upon me as
+upon some miracle-working painting."
+
+"Ah, you certainly are handsome to the point of nauseousness,"
+interrupted Gronski, with a certain irritation.
+
+"Bah!--I have already three or four gray hairs."
+
+"Surely, from birth. How often did you meet thereafter?"
+
+"Before I left her, I asked her whether she could not slip away the
+following evening. She answered that she could, because in the evening
+she always gathered the linen, which was being bleached upon the
+meadow, for fear that some one might steal it, and that besides, in
+summer time she did not sleep in the cabin with her parents, but on the
+hay in the barn. After that we met every day. I had to conceal myself
+from the night watch, so I slunk out of the window into the garden,
+though this was an unnecessary precaution, for the watch slept so
+soundly that one time I carried off the trumpet and staff belonging to
+one of them. It was amusing also that, seeing Hanka only in the night
+time, I did not know how she really looked; though in the moonlight she
+appeared to me to be pretty."
+
+"And in church?"
+
+"Our collator's pew is near the altar, while the girls knelt in the
+rear. There are so many of the same red and yellow shawls, studded with
+so many flowers, that it is difficult to distinguish one from the
+other. At times it seemed to me that I saw her in the distance, but I
+could not see her perfectly. The vacation soon ended, and when I
+returned the following season the Skibas were gone."
+
+"Did you bid her farewell?"
+
+"I admit that I did not. I preferred to avoid that."
+
+"And did you ever long for her?"
+
+"Yes. In Warsaw I longed for her intensely, and during the first month
+I was deeply in love with her. After my return to Jastrzeb, when I
+again saw the mill the feeling revived, but at the same time I was
+content that everything should drop, as it were, into the water and
+that Mother should not know anything about it."
+
+Conversing in this manner, they turned from the side road to the shady
+walk leading to the manor-house, whose low lights, from a distance of
+about a verst, at times glistened through the boughs of the linden, and
+then again hid themselves, screened by the thick foliage. The night was
+starry and fair. It was, however, quite dark, for the moon had not yet
+risen and the copper glow upon the eastern sky announced its near
+approach. There was not the slightest breath of air. The great
+nocturnal stillness was broken by the barks of dogs, barely audible,
+from the distant slumbering village. Involuntarily, Gronski and
+Ladislaus began to speak in lower tones. However, everything was not
+asleep, for a few hundred paces from the walk, on the meadow near the
+river, firelights were intermittingly flashing.
+
+"Those are peasants pasturing the horses and catching crawfish by the
+lights of the resinous wood," said Krzycki. "I even hear one of them
+riding away."
+
+And in fact at that moment they heard on the meadows the clatter of the
+horse's hoofs, deadened by the grass, and immediately afterwards the
+loud voice of a herdsman resounded, who, amidst the nocturnal quiet,
+shouted in a drawling tone:
+
+"Wojtek--Bring with you some more fagots, for these are not
+sufficient."
+
+The night rider, having reached the road, soon passed by the chatting
+friends like a shadow. He, however, recognized the young heir, as in
+riding by them he pulled off his cap and saluted:
+
+"Praised be the Lord!"
+
+"Now and forever."
+
+And for some time they walked in silence.
+
+Ladislaus began to whistle quietly and to shout at the dog, but
+Gronski, who was cogitating upon what had occurred in the mill, said:
+
+"Do you know that if you were an Englishman, for instance, your idyl
+would have ended, in all probability, differently, and you would
+throughout your life have had a chaste remembrance, in which there
+would be great poetry."
+
+"We eat less fish, therefore have a temperament differing from the
+Englishmen. As to poetry, perhaps there also was a little of it in our
+affair."
+
+"It is not so much different temperament as different usages, and in
+that is the relief. They have a soul, healthier and at the same time,
+more independent, and do not borrow their morality from French books."
+
+After which he meditated for a while and then continued:
+
+"You say that in your relations there was a little poetry. Certainly,
+but looking at it only from Hanka's side, not yours. In her, really,
+there is something poetical, for, deducing from your own words, she
+loved you truly."
+
+"That is certain," said Ladislaus. "Who knows whether I ever in my life
+will be loved as much?"
+
+"I think that you will not. For that reason, I am astonished that this
+stone should drop into the depth of your forgetfulness and that you
+should have so completely effaced it."
+
+These words touched Krzycki somewhat, so he replied:
+
+"Candidly speaking, I related all this to you for the purpose of
+explaining why I do not accept the bequest, and, in the naivete of my
+soul, I thought that you would praise me. But you are only seeking sore
+spots. Indeed, I would, after all, have preferred that this had not
+happened, but, since it happened, it is best not to think of it. For if
+I had as many millions as there are girls seduced every year in the
+villages, I could purchase not only Rzeslewo, but one half of the
+county. I can assure you that they themselves do not look upon it as a
+tragedy, neither do such things end in misfortune. It would plainly be
+laughable if I took this to heart more than Hanka who in all
+probability did not take it to heart and does not."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"That is usually the case. But if it were the reverse, what can I do?
+Surely I will not journey across the ocean to seek her. In a book that
+might perhaps appear very romantic, but in reality I have an estate
+which I cannot abandon and a family which it is not permissible for me
+to sacrifice. Such a Hanka, with whom, speaking parenthetically, you
+have soured me by recalling, may be the most honest girl, but to marry
+her--of course I could not marry her; therefore what, after all, can I
+do?"
+
+"I do not know; but you must agree that there is a certain moral
+unsavoriness in the situation in which a man, after committing a wrong,
+afterwards asks himself or others, 'What can I do?'"
+
+"Oh, that was only a facon de parler," replied Krzycki, "for, on the
+whole, I know perfectly. I will publish the advertisements and with
+that everything will end. The penance, which the priest at the proper
+time imposed upon me, I have performed, and I do not intend to make any
+further atonement."
+
+To this Gronski said:
+
+"Sero molunt deorum molae. Do you understand what that means in Polish?"
+
+"Having assumed the management of Jastrzeb, I sowed all my latinity
+over its soil, but it has not taken root."
+
+"That means: The mills of the gods grind late."
+
+Krzycki began to laugh and, pointing his hand in the direction of the
+old mill, said:
+
+"That one will not grind anything any more; I guarantee that."
+
+Further conversation was interrupted by their meeting near the gates
+two indistinct forms, with which they almost collided, for though the
+moon had already ascended, in the old linden walk it was completely
+dark.
+
+Ladislaus thought that they were the lady visitors enjoying an evening
+stroll, but for certainty asked, "Who is there?"
+
+"We," answered an unknown feminine voice.
+
+"And who in particular?"
+
+"Servants of Pani Otocka and Miss Anney."
+
+The young man recalled the young girl whose dark head obstructed his
+view of the lustrous hair of the English woman during the May mass.
+
+"Aha!" he said. "Do not you young girls fear to walk in the darkness? A
+were-wolf might carry off one of you."
+
+"We are not scared," answered the same voice.
+
+"And perhaps I am a were-wolf?"
+
+"A were-wolf does not look like that."
+
+Both girls began to laugh and withdrew a few steps; at the same time a
+bright ray darted through the leaves and illumined the white forehead,
+black eyebrows, and the whites of the eyes of one of them, which
+glittered greenishly.
+
+Krzycki, who was flattered by the words that a werewolf did not look
+like that, gazed at those eyes and said:
+
+"Good-night!"
+
+"Good-night!"
+
+The ladies, with Dolhanski, were already in the dining-room, as the
+service of the supper awaited only the hunters who, after their return,
+withdrew to change their apparel. Marynia sat at one end of the table
+with the children and conversed a little with them and a little with
+Laskowicz, who was relating something to her with great animation,
+gazing all the time at her with intense fixedness and also with
+wariness that no one should observe him. Gronski, however, did observe
+him and, as the young student had interested and disquieted him from
+the time he learned of his agitation among the Rzeslewo peasants, he
+desired to participate in the conversation. But Marynia at that moment
+having heard the conclusion, joined the other ladies, who, having
+previously heard from the balcony the shooting in the direction of the
+old mill, inquired about the results of the hunt. It appearing that
+neither Miss Anney nor the two sisters had ever seen woodcocks except
+upon a platter, the old servant upon Krzycki's order brought the four
+lifeless victims. They viewed them with curiosity, expressed tardy
+commiseration for their tragic fate, and asked about their manner of
+life. Ladislaus, whom the animal world had interested from early years,
+began to relate at the supper the strange habits of those birds and
+their mysterious flights. While thus occupied he paid particular
+attention to Pani Otocka, for he was, for the first time, struck by her
+uncommonly fine stature. On the whole, he preferred other, less subtile
+kinds of beauty, and prized, above all else, buxom women. He observed,
+however, that on that night Pani Otocka looked extraordinarily
+handsome. Her unusually delicate complexion appeared yet more delicate
+in her black lace-stitched dress, and in her eyes, in the outlines of
+her lips, in the expression of her countenance, and in her whole form
+there was something so maidenly that whoever was not aware of her
+widowhood would have taken her for a maid of a good country family.
+Ladislaus, from the first arrival of these ladies, had indeed enlisted
+on the side of Miss Anney, but at the present moment he had to concede
+in his soul that the Englishwoman was not a specimen of so refined a
+race and, what was worse, she seemed to him that day less beautiful
+than this "subtile cousin."
+
+But at the same time he made a strange discovery, namely: that this
+observation not only did not lessen his sympathy for the light-haired
+lady, but in some manner moved him strongly and inclined him to a
+greater friendship for her; as if by that comparison with Pani Otocka
+he had done an undeserved wrong to the Englishwoman, for which he ought
+to apologize to her. "I must be on my guard," he thought, "otherwise I
+will fall." He began to search for the celestial flow in her eyes and,
+finding it, drank its dim azure, drop by drop.
+
+In the meantime Pani Krzycki, desirous of learning the earliest plans
+of the sisters, began to ask Pani Otocka whether they were going to
+travel abroad, and where.
+
+"The doctor," she said, "sends me to mineral baths on account of my
+rheumatism, but I would be delighted to spend one more summer with you
+somewhere."
+
+"And to us your sojourn at Krynica left the most agreeable memories,"
+replied Pani Otocka; "particularly, as we are in perfect health, we
+willingly would remain in the village and more willingly would invite
+Aunt to us, with her entire household, were it not that the times are
+so troublous and it is unknown what may happen on the morrow. But if it
+will quiet down. Aunt, after her recovery, must certainly pay us a
+visit."
+
+Saying this, she ardently kissed the hand of Pani Krzycki who said:
+
+"How good you are and how lovable! I would with all my heart go to you,
+only, with my health, I must not obey the heart but various hidden
+ailments. Besides, the times are really troublous and I understand it
+is rather dangerous for ladies to remain alone in the villages. Have
+you any reliable people in Zalesin?"
+
+"I do not fear my own people as they were very much attached to my
+husband, and now that attachment has passed to me. My husband taught
+them, above all things, patriotism, and at the same time introduced
+improvements which did not exist elsewhere. We have an orphanage,
+hospital, baths, stores, and fruit nurseries for the distribution of
+small trees. He even caused artesian wells to be sunk to provide enough
+healthful water for the village."
+
+Dolhanski, hearing this, leaned towards Krzycki and whispered:
+
+"A capitalist's fantasy. He regarded his wife and Zalesin as two
+playthings which he fondled, and played the role of a philanthropist
+because he could afford it."
+
+But Pani Krzycki again began to ask:
+
+"Who now is in charge of Zalesin?"
+
+And the young widow, having cast off a momentary sad recollection,
+answered with a smile:
+
+"In the neighborhood they say Dworski rules Zalesin.--He is the old
+accountant of my husband and is very devoted to us.--I rule Dworski,
+and Marynia rules me."
+
+"And that is the truth," interjected Miss Anney, "with this addition,
+and me also."
+
+To this Marynia shook her head and said:
+
+"Oh, Aunt, if you only knew how they sometimes twit me!"
+
+"Somehow I do not see that, but I think that the time will come when
+somebody will rule you also."
+
+"It has already come," broke out Marynia.
+
+"So? That is curious. Who is that despot?"
+
+And the little violinist, pointing with a quick movement of her little
+finger at Gronski, said:
+
+"That gentleman."
+
+"Now I understand," said Dolhanski, "why, after our return from the
+notary, he had a teapot full of hot water over his head."
+
+Gronski shrugged his shoulders, like a man who had been charged with
+unheard-of things, and exclaimed:
+
+"I? A despot? Why, I am a victim, the most hypnotized of all."
+
+"Then Pan Laskowicz is the hypnotizer, not I," answered the young miss,
+"for he himself at supper was telling me about hypnotism and explaining
+what it is."
+
+Gronski looked toward the other end of the table, in the direction of
+the student, and saw his eyes, strained, refractory, and glistening,
+fastened upon Marynia.
+
+"Aha!" he thought, "he actually is trying his powers upon her."
+
+He frowned and, addressing her, said:
+
+"Nobody in truth knows what hypnotism is. We see its manifestations and
+nothing more. But how did Laskowicz explain it to you?"
+
+"He told me what I already had heard before; that the person put to
+sleep must perform everything which the operator commands, and even
+when awakened must submit to the operator's will."
+
+"That is untrue," said Gronski.
+
+"And I think likewise. He claimed also that he could put me to sleep
+very easily, but I feel that he cannot."
+
+"Excellent! Do such things interest you?"
+
+"Hypnotism a little. But if it is to be anything mysterious, then I
+prefer to hear about spirits; especially do I like to hear the stories
+which one of our neighbors relates about fairies. He says they are
+called sprites, and indulge in all kinds of tricks in old houses, and
+they can be seen at night time through the windows in rooms where the
+fire is burning in the hearth. There they join hands and dance before
+the fire."
+
+"Those are gay fairies."
+
+"And not malicious, though mischievous. Our aged neighbor piously
+believes in them and quarrels about them with the rector. He says his
+house is full of them and that they are continually playing pranks:
+sometimes pulling the coils of the clock to make it ring; sometimes
+hiding his slippers and other things; making noise during the night;
+hitching crickets to nut-shells and driving with them over the rooms;
+in the kitchen they skim the milk and throw peas into the fire to make
+them pop. If you do not vex them, they are benevolent, driving away
+spiders and mice, and watching that the mushrooms do not soil the
+floor. This neighbor of ours at one time was a man of great education,
+but in his old age has become queer, and he tells us this in all
+seriousness. We, naturally, laugh at it, but I confess that I very much
+wish that such a world did exist;--strange and mysterious! There would
+be in it something so good and nice, and less sadness."
+
+Here she began to look off with dreamy eyes and afterwards continued:
+
+"I remember also that whenever we discussed Boecklin's pictures, those
+fauns, nymphs, and dryads which he painted, I always regretted that all
+that did not exist in reality. And sometimes it seemed to me that they
+might exist, only we do not see them. For, in truth, who knows what
+happens in the woods at noontime or night time, when no one is there;
+or in the mists during the moonlight or upon the ponds? Belief in such
+a world is not wholly childish, since we believe in angels."
+
+"I also believe in fairies, nymphs, dryads, and angels," answered
+Gronski.
+
+"Really?" she asked, "for you always speak to me as to a child."
+
+And he answered her only mentally:
+
+"I speak as with a child, but I idolize."
+
+But further conversation was interrupted by the servant, who informed
+Ladislaus that the steward of Rzeslewo had arrived and desired to see
+the "bright young lord" on a very important matter. Krzycki apologized
+to the company and with the expression, customary with country
+husbandmen, "What is up now?" left the room. As the supper was almost
+finished, they all began to move, after the example of the lady of the
+house, who, however, for a while endeavored in vain to rise, for the
+rheumatism during the past two days afflicted her more and more.
+Similar attacks occurred often and in such cases her son usually
+conducted her from room to room. But in this instance Miss Anney, who
+sat nearest to her, came to her assistance and, taking her in her arms,
+lifted her easily, skillfully, and without any exertion.
+
+"I thank you, I thank you," said Pani Krzycki, "for otherwise I would
+have to wait for Laudie. Ah, my God, how good it is to be strong!"
+
+"Oh, in me you have a veritable Samson," answered Miss Anney in her
+pleasant, subdued voice.
+
+But at that moment Ladislaus, who evidently recalled that he had to
+escort his mother, rushed into the room and, seeing what was taking
+place, exclaimed:
+
+"Permit me, Miss Anney. That is my duty. You will fatigue yourself."
+
+"Not the least."
+
+"Ah, Laudie," said Pani Krzycki, "to tell the truth, I do not know
+which one of you two is the stronger."
+
+"Is it truly so?" he asked, looking with rapt eyes upon the slender
+form of the girl.
+
+And she began to wink with her eyes in token that such was the fact,
+but at the same time blushed as if ashamed of her unwomanly strength.
+
+Ladislaus, however, assisted her to seat his mother at the table in the
+small salon, at which she was accustomed to amuse herself in the
+evenings by laying out cards to forecast fortunes. On this occasion he
+unintentionally brushed his shoulder against Miss Anney's shoulder and,
+when he felt those steel-like young muscles, a violent thrill suddenly
+penetrated through him and at the same time he was possessed by a
+perception of some elementary, unheard-of, blissful power. If he were
+Gronski and ever in his life had read Lucretius' hymn to Venus, he
+would have been able to know and name that power. But as he was only a
+twenty-seven-year-old, healthy nobleman, he only thought that the
+moments in which he would be free to hug such a girl to his bosom would
+be worth the sacrifice of Jastrzeb, Rzeslewo, and even life.
+
+But in the meanwhile he had to return to the steward of Rzeslewo, who
+waited for him in the office upon an urgent matter. Their talk lasted
+so long that when Ladislaus reappeared in the small salon, the young
+ladies had already withdrawn to their rooms. Only his mother, who was
+purposely waiting, desirous of knowing what was the matter, remained,
+with Gronski and with Dolhanski, who was playing baccarat with himself.
+
+"What is the news?" asked Pani Krzycki.
+
+"Absolutely nothing good. Only let Mamma not get alarmed, for we are of
+course here in Jastrzeb and not in Rzeslewo; and eventually we can
+brush this aside with our hands. But nevertheless, strange things are
+occurring there and Kapuscinski, in any event, did right to come here."
+
+"For the Lord's sake, who is Kapuscinski?" exclaimed Dolhanski,
+dropping the monocle from his eye.
+
+"The steward of Rzeslewo. He says that some unknown persons, probably
+from Warsaw, appeared there and are acting like gray geese in the
+skies. They issue commands, summon the peasants, incite them, promising
+them the lands and even order them to take possession of the stock.
+They predict it will be the same in all Poland as it is in Rzeslewo--"
+
+"And what of the peasants? what of the peasants?" interrupted Pani
+Krzycki.
+
+"Some believe them, while others do not. The more sensible, who attempt
+to resist, are threatened with death. The manor farm-hands will not
+obey Kapuscinski and say that they will only pasture and feed the
+cattle, but will not touch any other work. About fifteen of the tenants
+are preparing to go to the woods with hatchets and they declare that,
+if the foresters interfere with their right to cut wood, they will give
+them a good drubbing. Kapuscinski has lost his head completely and came
+to me, as one of the executors of the will, for advice."
+
+"And what did you tell him?"
+
+"As he declared to me that he was not certain of his life in Rzeslewo,
+I advised him by all means to pass the night with us in Jastrzeb. I
+wanted first to consult Mother and you, for in fact, advice under the
+circumstances is difficult to give and the situation is grave. Of
+course such a situation cannot continue very long, and sooner or later
+the peasants themselves will suffer the most by it. This we must
+positively prevent. I will candidly state that for the past two days, I
+have been considering whether it would not be better if I renounced the
+curatorship of the new school and Rzeslewo matters in general. I
+hesitated only because it is a public service, but in truth, I have so
+much work to attend to here in Jastrzeb, that I do not know on what I
+shall lay my hands first. But now, since it is necessary to rescue the
+peasants, and since a certain amount of danger is connected with it, I
+cannot retreat."
+
+"I will fear about you, but I understand you," said Pani Krzycki.
+
+"I think that by all means, I should drive over to-morrow morning to
+Rzeslewo, but if I do not secure a hearing there, then what is to be
+done?"
+
+"You will not get any," said Dolhanski, not pausing in his distribution
+of the cards.
+
+"If you go, I will go with you," announced Pani Krzycki.
+
+"Ah, that would be the only thing needful! Let Mamma only think that in
+such a case I would be terribly hampered and certainly would not gain
+anything."
+
+After which he kissed her hand and said:
+
+"No, no! Mamma does not understand that matters would be worse and, if
+Mamma insists, then I would rather not go at all."
+
+Gronski propped his head upon his hand and thought that it was easier
+to analyze at a desk the various phases of life than to offer sound
+advice in the presence of urgent events. Dolhanski at last stopped
+playing baccarat with himself and said:
+
+"The position we are placed in passes all comprehension. But were we in
+any other country, the police would be summoned and the matter would
+end in a day."
+
+To this Ladislaus replied with some anger:
+
+"As for that, permit me! I will not summon the police; not only not
+against those peasants, but not even against those forbidden figures
+who now haunt Rzeslewo. No, never!"
+
+"Very well; long live an epoch of true freedom!"
+
+"Who knows," said Gronski, "but that the summoning of the police would
+just suit these gentlemen?"
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"Because they themselves, at the proper season, would disappear, but
+later would incite the people again and would cry all over Poland,
+'Behold! who appeals to the police against peasants.'"
+
+"That is a pertinent observation," said Ladislaus; "now I understand
+various things which I did not comprehend before."
+
+"From the opening of the will," said Dolhanski, "Rzeslewo and its
+inhabitants did not concern me in the least. However, one thought
+occurred to me while dealing the cards. Laudie will drive over to
+Rzeslewo to-morrow on a fruitless errand. He may receive only a sound
+beating, without benefiting anybody--"
+
+"It has never yet come to that, and that is something I do not fear.
+Our family has lived in Jastrzeb from time immemorial, and the peasants
+of this neighborhood would not raise their hands against a Krzycki--"
+
+"Above all, do not interrupt me," said Dolhanski. "If you do not get a
+sound thrashing--and I assume that you may not--then you will not
+secure a hearing, as you yourself foresaw a little while ago. If we
+two, that is, Gronski and myself, went over there, we would not effect
+anything because they have seen us at the funeral, and the estimable
+Slavonians of Rzeslewo look upon us as men who have a personal interest
+in the matter. It will be necessary that some one unknown go there, who
+will not argue, but who will act as if he had the right and power and
+will command the peasants to behave peaceably. Since you are so much
+concerned about them, that will be the only way. So, then, since by
+virtue of the unfathomable decrees of Providence there exist in this
+beloved land of ours National Democrats, whom, parenthetically
+speaking, I cannot endure any more than the seven-spot of clubs, but
+who, in all probability, have fists as sweaty and as heavy as the
+socialists,--could you not settle this matter with their assistance?"
+
+"Of course, naturally, naturally!" exclaimed Gronski; "the peasants,
+after all, have great confidence in the National party."
+
+"I also belong to that party with my whole heart," said Krzycki, "but,
+sitting, like a stone, in Jastrzeb, I do not know to whom to apply."
+
+"In any case, not to me," said Dolhanski.
+
+But Gronski, though he did not belong to any faction, thoroughly knew
+the city and easily suggested the addresses and the manner in which the
+party could be notified. He afterwards said:
+
+"And now I will give you one word of advice, the same which you,
+Laudie, gave Kapuscinski, namely, that we go to sleep, for you,
+especially, madam,"--here he addressed the lady of the house--"were
+entitled to that long ago. Is it agreed?"
+
+"Agreed," answered Ladislaus; "but wait a few minutes. After conducting
+Mother, I will accompany you upstairs."
+
+Within a quarter of an hour he returned, but instead of bidding his
+guests the promised "good-night" he drew closer to them and resumed the
+interrupted conversation.
+
+"I did not wish to relate everything before Mother," he said, "in order
+not to alarm her. But in fact the matter is much worse. So, speaking
+first of what concerns us, imagine for yourself that those strangers
+immediately after their arrival asked first of all about Laskowicz, and
+that Laskowicz was in Rzeslewo this afternoon and returned here an hour
+before we came back from the hunt. Now it is positively certain that we
+have in our midst an agitator."
+
+"Then throw him out," interrupted Dolhanski. "If I were in your place,
+I would have done that long ago, if only for the reason that he has
+eyes set closely to each other, like a baboon. In a man that indicates
+fanaticism and stupidity."
+
+"Unquestionably I will be done with him to-morrow, and I would end with
+him even to-day, notwithstanding the late hour, were it not that I
+desire first to calm down and not create any foolish disturbance. I do
+not like this, and I would not advise those apostles to peer into
+Jastrzeb. As I live, I would not advise it."
+
+"Have they any intention of paying you a visit?"
+
+"Certainly. If not to me personally, then to my farmhands. They
+announced in Rzeslewo that they would cause an agrarian strike in the
+entire vicinity."
+
+"Then my advice, to drive out one wedge with another, is the most
+feasible."
+
+"Assuredly. I will adopt that course without delay."
+
+"I know," said Gronski, "that they want to inaugurate agrarian strikes
+throughout the whole country. They will not succeed as the peasant
+element will repel their efforts. They, like most people from the
+cities, do not take into account the relation of man to the soil.
+Nevertheless, there will be considerable losses and the confusion will
+increase, and this is what they chiefly care for. Ah! Shakespeare's
+'sun of foolery' not only shines in our land, but is in the zenith."
+
+"If we are talking of that kind of a sun, we can, like a former king of
+Spain, say that it never sets in our possessions."
+
+But Gronski spoke farther:
+
+"Socialism--good! That, of course, is a thing more ancient than
+Menenius Agrippa. That river has flown for ages. At times, when covered
+by other ideas, it coursed underground, and later emerged into the
+broad daylight. At times it subsides, then swells and overflows. At
+present we have a flood, very menacing, which may submerge not only
+factories, cities, and countries, but even civilization. Above all, it
+threatens France, where comfort and money have displaced all other
+ideas. Socialism is the inevitable result of that. Capital wedded to
+demagogism cannot breed any other child; and if that child has the head
+of a monster and mole, so much the worse for the father. It
+demonstrates that superfluous wealth may be a national danger. But this
+is not strange. Privilege is an injustice against which men have fought
+for centuries. Formerly the princes, clergy, and nobility were vested
+with it. To-day nobody has any; money possesses all. In truth, Labor
+has stepped forth to combat with it."
+
+"This begins to smell to me like an apology for socialism," observed
+Dolhanski.
+
+"No. It is not an apology. For, above all things, viewing this matter
+from above, what is this new current but one more delusion in the human
+chase after happiness? For myself, I only contend that socialism has
+come, or rather, it has gathered strength, because it was bound to
+grow. I care only about its looks and whether it could not have a
+different face. And here my criticism begins. I do not deem socialism a
+sin in the socialists, but only that the idea in their school assumes
+the lineaments of an malignant idiot. I accuse our socialists of
+incredible stupidity; like that of the ants who wrangled with and bit
+the working ants, while the ant-eater was lying on the ant-hill and
+swallowing them by thousands."
+
+"True," cried Ladislaus.
+
+"And, of course," concluded Gronski, "on our ant-hills there lie a
+whole herd of ant-eaters."
+
+Here Dolhanski again dropped the monocle from his eye.
+
+"That you may not retire to sleep under a disagreeable impression," he
+said, "I will tell you an anecdote which will illustrate what Gronski
+has said. During the last exposition in Paris, one of the black kings
+of French Congo, having heard of it, announced his wish to see it. The
+Colonial government, which was anxious to send as many exotic figures
+as possible to Paris, not only consented, but sent to this monarch a
+few shirts with the information that in France such articles of attire
+were indispensable. Naturally the shirts excited general admiration and
+surprise. The King summoned ministers, priests, and leaders of parties
+for a consultation as to how such a machine was to be put on. After
+long debates, which undoubtedly could not be held without bitter
+clashes between the native rationalists and the native nationalists and
+progressionists, all doubts were finally set at rest. The king pulled
+the sleeves of the shirt over his legs, so that the cuffs were at his
+ankles. The bottom edge of the shirt, which in this instance became the
+top, was fastened under his arm-pits by a string in such a manner that
+the bosom was on his back and the opening was at his neck--somewhat
+lower. Delighted with this solution of the difficulty, the ruler
+acknowledged that the attire, if not entirely, was, at least in certain
+respects, very practical and, above all, extraordinarily striking."
+
+"Good," said Gronski, laughing, "but what connection has that with what
+I had previously said?"
+
+"Greater than may appear to you," replied Dolhanski; "for the fact is
+that the various Slavonians are prepared to bear liberty and the
+socialists socialism in the same manner as that negro king wore his
+European shirt."
+
+Saying this, he replaced the monocle in his eye and announced that as
+in virtuous Jastrzeb and in such company there could not be any talk of
+a "night card party," he would take his leave and go to sleep. The
+others decided to follow his example. Ladislaus took the lamp and began
+to light the way for the guests. On the stairs he turned to them with a
+countenance which depicted ill humor and said:
+
+"May the deuce take it, but all these disturbances must occur at a time
+when we have in Jastrzeb such lovely ladies."
+
+"Beware," answered Dolkanski, "and know that nothing can be concealed
+from my eyes. When you assisted Miss Anney to conduct your mother, you
+looked like an electrical machine. If anybody drew a wire through
+you, you could illuminate not only the mansion but the adjoining
+out-buildings."
+
+Ladislaus raised the lamp higher so that the light would not fall upon
+his countenance, for he felt at that moment that he blushed like a
+student.
+
+
+
+                                   IX
+
+Ladislaus Krzycki possessed such a happy nature that, having once lain
+down to sleep, he could a few minutes later fall into a deep slumber
+which would continue until the morning. That night, however, he could
+not fall asleep because the impressions of the day, together with the
+parting words of Dolhanski, had led him into a state of exasperation
+and anger. He was angry at Rzeslewo; at the disturbances which were
+taking place there; at Dolhanski because he had observed the impression
+which the young girl had made upon him--and particularly because he
+himself had afforded him an opportunity to comment upon it--and finally
+at the innocent Miss Anney. After a time, rolling from side to side, he
+opened an imaginary conversation with her, in which he assumed the role
+of a man, who, indeed, does not deny that he is deeply under the spell,
+nevertheless, can view matters soberly and sanely. Therefore he
+admitted to Miss Anney that she was handsome and amiable; that she had
+an immensely sympathetic voice, a strange, fascinating look, and a body
+like marble--ah, what a body! Nevertheless, he made the explicit
+reservation that she must not think that he loved her to distraction,
+or was even smitten with her. He would concede anything to her that she
+desired, but to admit that he was in love with her was as far removed
+from his thoughts as love is from matrimony, of which, of course, there
+could not be any talk. Above all, she was a foreigner, and Mother in
+that respect had her prejudices, justly so; and he himself would prefer
+to have at his side during the remainder of his life a Polish soul and
+not a foreign one. True, there was something homelike in her, but after
+all, she was not a Pole. "Identical blood has its own meaning; it
+cannot be helped," he further told Miss Anney. "So, since you are an
+Englishwoman, marry some Englishman or Scotchman, provided, however,
+you do not require me to form the acquaintance of such an ape and
+become intimate with him, for that is something I can dispense with
+perfectly." And at that moment he was seized with such a sudden,
+unexpected antipathy to that eventual Englishman "with projecting jaw"
+and Scotchman "with bare knees," that he felt that upon a trivial
+misunderstanding he could flog them. But through this attack of rage he
+roused himself completely from that half-drowsy, half-wakeful condition
+in which whimsical fancies mingle, and having recovered his senses, he
+experienced a great relief in the thought that the betrothed person
+beyond the sea was only a figment of his imagination, and at the same
+time a wave of gratitude towards Miss Anney surged in his heart. "Here
+I am, quarrelling with her and making reservations," he thought, "while
+she is snugly nestling her bright head upon a pillow and peacefully
+slumbering." Here again his blood began to frisk, but soon the perverse
+musings vanished. This became easier for him, as he was encompassed by
+a yearning for honest affection and for that future being, yet unnamed,
+who was to share his life. Again he resumed his imaginary conversation
+with Miss Anney, but this time in a meek spirit. He assured her, with a
+certain melancholy, that he was not solicitous about her, as he well
+knew that even if there were no obstacles she certainly would not have
+him, but that he was anxious that his future life-companion should
+resemble her a little; that she should have the same look and the same
+magnetic strength to which, if he did not succumb it would be a
+miracle. As to Miss Anney personally, plainly speaking, he owed only
+gratitude. Of course, nowhere was it so well with him as at his beloved
+Jastrzeb, but nevertheless he could not deny that in that exclusive den
+it became lively and bright after her arrival; and that after her
+departure it would become darker, more dreary and monotonous than ever
+before. So for those bright moments he would willingly kiss her hand
+and, if that seemed insufficient to her, then her feet. In the meantime
+he begged her pardon for the mad thoughts which passed through his
+brain when he brushed against her shoulder in the salon, for though he
+was always of the opinion that responsiveness upon her part was worth
+the sacrifice of life, yet at the same time he had to contend that
+Dolhanski was a blockhead and cynic who meddled with matters which did
+not concern him and who was unworthy of notice. Here renewed rage
+against Dolhanski possessed him, and he continued for some time to toss
+from side to side until finally the late hour, youth, hungry for sleep,
+and weariness sprinkled his eyes with poppy.[3]
+
+There was, however, in the Jastrzeb manor-house another who did not
+sleep and who talked with a person not present, and that was Laskowicz.
+After all that had taken place and what had been revealed in the past
+few days, he was prepared for his farewell parting with the Krzycki
+family, as he well knew that his further presence in Jastrzeb would be
+intolerable. And nevertheless he desired at present to stay in it, even
+though for a few days, in order that he might gaze longer upon Panna
+Marynia and, as he called it, "further narcotize himself." Somehow,
+from the first moment he had heard her play, she actually absorbed his
+thoughts in a way that no woman up to that time had done. Foremost
+among the prepared formulae which he, with dogmatic faith, had adopted
+to judge mankind with, was the precept that a woman belonging to the
+so-called pampered class was a thoughtless creature. In the meantime he
+had to dissent at once from that formula as a soul had spoken to him
+through the violin. Later he was astonished to find in that young lady
+two entities, one of which manifested itself in music as a finished
+artist, concentrated, filled with exaltation within herself, dissolved
+in the waves of tones and playing as if she drew the bow over her own
+nerves; the other appeared in every-day life in her customary relations
+with people. The latter seemed at the first glance of the eye, if not
+an insignificant, a common girl, full of simplicity and even gaiety,
+who screamed like a cat when Dolhanski, for instance, said things
+disagreeable to her; who jested with Gronski, telling him absurdities
+about spirits or, to the great alarm of Gronski and her older sister,
+fled into the garden for a boat ride on the pond. Laskowicz did not
+fully comprehend the world and was not a subtle person; nevertheless,
+he observed in the "common girl" something which made her, as it were,
+a little divinity, haloed with a quiet worship. Evidently she herself
+did not appear to be conscious of this and, viewing such a state of
+affairs as something which was self-understood, she lived the life of a
+flower or a bird. Confident that she will not suffer any harm from any
+one, gentle, bright, living beyond the misery and wretchedness of life,
+beyond its cares, beyond its chilling winds which dim the eyes with
+tears, beyond the dust which defiles, she resembled a pure spring which
+people look upon as blessed and whose translucency they fear to muddy.
+It seemed that the environment did not exact of her anything more than
+that she should exist, just as nothing more is demanded of a
+masterpiece.
+
+To Laskowicz, as often as he gazed at her, there came recollection of
+his childhood days. He and his older brother, who, a few years before
+falling into consumption had committed suicide on the Riviera, were the
+sons of a woman who conducted near one of the churches in Warsaw a shop
+for the sale of consecrated wax candles, medals, rosaries, and
+pictures. Owing to this, both brothers were, in a way, bred upon the
+church portals and were in constant relations with the priests. Once it
+happened that the aged canon, the rector of the church, bought at an
+auction an alabaster statuette of some saint, and for an unknown reason
+took it for granted that it was not only the work, but the masterpiece
+of Canova. The statuette, which, in reality, was pretty and finely
+executed, after consecration, was placed in a separate niche near one
+of the altars under the name of Saint Apollonia and from that time the
+gentle old rector surrounded it with great worship as a holy relic and
+with more particular care as the greatest church rarity. He led his
+guests and more pious parishioners before it and commanded them to
+admire the work and got angry if any one ventured to make any critical
+observation. In fact, the admiration of the canon was shared by the
+organist, the sexton, the church servants, and both boys. The thought
+that Panna Marynia amidst her environment was such a Saint Apollonia
+unwittingly suggested itself to Laskowicz. For that reason, after the
+first impression he called her "a saintly doll." But he also recalled
+that when in the course of time he lost his faith--and he lost it in
+the gymnasium where, speaking parenthetically, he completed his studies
+with the aid of the venerable canon--he often was beset with a desire
+to demolish that alabaster statuette. At present he was consumed with a
+greater desire, for it bordered upon a passion, to destroy this living
+one. And yet he did not in the least bear her any hatred. On the
+contrary, he could not resist the charm of this maiden, so loved by
+all, any more than one can resist the charm of dawn or spring. It even
+happened that what vexed and exasperated him also at the same time
+attracted him towards her with an uncontrollable force. Consequently he
+was drawn to her by her appurtenance to this world, the existence of
+which he deemed a social injustice, crime, and wrong; she attracted him
+in spite of his internal anguish, and even by the thought that beside
+such a flower the proletariat was but manure. A lure for him was her
+refined culture and her art, though he regarded such things as
+superfluous and unnecessary for people of deflorated life; the
+fascination was her utter dissimilarity to the women whom he met up to
+the time of his arrival at the village, and her whole form was an
+intoxication. Never before was he under the same roof with a being like
+her; therefore he forgot himself and lost his head at the sight of her,
+and though he had not yet familiarized himself with the power which
+began to play in his bosom and had not christened it with the name of
+love, the truth was that during the past few days he was aflame like a
+volcano and loved her to distraction. He vaguely felt, however, that in
+this passion there was something of the lust of a negro for a white
+woman, and what was more, that in that particular love there was
+apostasy to principles. So then in the same germ he poisoned her with
+the virus of hatred and the wolfish propensity of annihilation.
+
+And now he was summoning this "saintly doll" to come to him. Accepting,
+indiscriminately, and also with all that exaggeration peculiar to
+fanaticism and youth, everything which the books published as the
+results of the latest researches or phenomena in the domain of science,
+he believed that hypnotism was a secret and gigantic power which, when
+applied, would become invincible. Holding himself on the strength of
+experiments tried among his classmates as a hypnotizer, and considering
+the delicate and impressionable young girl an excellent medium, he was
+most firmly convinced that he could put her to sleep and command her
+from a distance. Conscience, indeed, whispered to him that what he
+contemplated doing was an abuse of science, but he silenced that voice,
+persuading himself that it would at the same time be a triumph of a
+proletaire over this world, for which it is not permissible to have any
+pity, and that a man belonging to the camp which had declared a war of
+life and death on the entire social structure and "had appraised at
+their true worth" all current ideas has the right to and must be
+heedless.
+
+Above all, however, he yearned to subjugate this elegant and immaculate
+maiden, to dominate not merely her body and soul, but also her will; to
+transform her into something like himself; to draw her to himself, to
+awaken within her the slumbering feminine instincts, to open before her
+the closed doors of passion; to inflame her, to embrace her, to toy
+with her, and afterwards keep her forever close to his bosom. And at
+that thought he was beset by a strange joy like that which madmen feel
+while profaning objects held in reverence and fear, and,
+simultaneously, lust and love within him intensified. He felt that
+after all that and for all of that, he would love this booty of his,
+this sacrifice, to distraction.
+
+But as he was a madman only about the heart of a maid, and not a
+depraved man, he was at times possessed by a tenderness so great that
+if his summons were productive of any results he might not pass the
+bounds of transgression. But these were transient moments; after which,
+straining the whole strength of his will and the sight of his closely
+set eyes in the direction of Marynia's sleeping chamber he said and
+commanded: "Rise!--do not light the candles--do not awaken your
+sister--open the door quietly and walk in darkness on the path of my
+thoughts until you come to me, to my arms, to my bosom!" And he
+imagined that at any moment he would behold her, resembling that
+alabaster statuette, entering with the mechanical step of a
+somnambulist in a single gown, silvery, dreamy, with head tilted
+backward, with closed eyes and opened lips drinking the lustre of the
+moon which shone in the windows. Afterwards he listened in the silence
+and, concentrating yet more powerfully his will, he repeated again with
+emphasis as if each word was chiselled out of stone: "Rise! do not
+light the candles--do not waken your sister--open the door--go on the
+path of my thoughts--and come!"
+
+Horrible indeed would have been the fate of the young lady were it not
+for one fortunate circumstance, and that was that she never dreamt of
+rising, opening the door, going on the path of his thoughts, etc. On
+the contrary, she slept as peacefully as if an angel had bent over her
+and with the movements of her wings had driven away from her
+disquieting and feverish dreams. The little household fairies of
+Jastrzeb, such as those about which she spoke to Gronski, also did not
+disturb her repose. Perhaps some of them chased the moths from the
+windows in order that they might not make any noise by striking the
+window-panes; perhaps others, climbing the curtains and window sashes,
+gazed at her from a distance with their keen little eyes and whispered
+to each other: "Sleep, little maiden, who played for us on the
+violin--sleep--hush--let us not waken her." And though a desire to turn
+the pins of the violin and touch the chords with their tiny fingers may
+have taken hold of them, they did not, however, do so, through honesty
+and hospitality. Through the openings of the shutters the moonlight
+streamed in, brightening the interior and slowly advancing on the
+opposite wall. The silence was great; only somewhere beyond the house
+the night-watch on the premises whistled; while within the house the
+old standing clock, which measured the lives of several generations,
+continued to speak with resignation the "Tick!--Tack!--Tick!" of the
+seconds sinking into the past.
+
+And Laskowicz in the course of time issued further commands from his
+room which reached no one's knowledge. A strange thing! Inwardly
+something was telling him with sober, almost absolute certainty that
+the maid would not come and he nevertheless believed that she ought to
+have come. Not until a long time elapsed, did the consciousness dawn
+upon him that if she did not come, then he, together with his
+hypnotism, played the role of an addle-pated fool. Finally fatigue,
+disaffection, and anger at himself gripped him. Sleep irrevocably left
+him. Hour flew after hour. In the east the sky was deepening and it was
+becoming green. Soon the rosy lower border was striped with the
+transparent riband of dawn. The young student, not undressing himself
+at all, opened the window to breathe the bracing morning air. In the
+garden the first chirp of the birds began, and from the direction of
+the not distant pond, with the odor of the acacias, came the cries of
+herons and the subdued, as if yet sleepy, quacks of the wild ducks.
+After a while the sweep of the well creaked in the village.
+
+It then occurred to Laskowicz that this was the last daybreak he was to
+behold in Jastrzeb; that on the morrow he would wake in the city and
+would not see either Panna Marynia or little Anusia whom only, of all
+the inmates of that Jastrzeb mansion, he liked; and he felt a little
+sorrow. But as he understood that, after the arrival of his party
+associates at Rzeslewo and yesterday's visit of the steward Kapuscinski
+to Krzycki, it was unavoidable, he preferred to tender his resignation
+rather than suffer a dismissal. With this intention, he decided to
+write a letter to Ladislaus and inform him that he had enough of
+pedagogical work. He foresaw that eventually they would have to see
+each other, if only at the payment of the salary, and as a dispute
+about principles might arise which might go very far, he had a revolver
+ready for certain contingencies. He deemed that, before that happened,
+a dry, peremptory letter would be a step more consonant with his pride;
+therefore, when it was quite bright, he sat down immediately to write.
+
+Krzycki awoke, though not in the dusk, nevertheless with the rise of
+the sun, for in the country he thus habituated himself to wake,
+regardless of whether he retired to bed early or late. He felt in his
+bones that he had had too little rest and, stretching out his arms, he
+said to himself that he would be repaid only in case Miss Anney at some
+time would learn that he lost that sleep for her sake and would pity
+him, though slightly. Meanwhile he recalled to his mind all that he was
+to do that day and formulated the following plan; he would rouse
+himself, drive out the lassitude in his bones; afterwards, before
+breakfast, would drive over to Rzeslewo and "look a little in the eyes
+of those worthies;" and if possible talk with the peasants; later he
+would return; after breakfast he would finish with Laskowicz and send
+him away with the team which was to bring the physician; the balance of
+his time, he would devote to the guests, to writing letters, and to the
+farm. He positively determined to go to Rzeslewo, because, though he
+agreed in his heart with Dolhanski that for the nonce he would be
+unable to accomplish anything, nevertheless, he did not wish the ladies
+to think that he stayed away through fear.
+
+Having arranged everything in this manner, he carelessly put on his
+clothes and, slipping his feet into his slippers, repaired to the
+bath-room, without any foreboding that he would meet with an unusual
+accident and that he was soon to see, not in truth such an alabaster
+statuette as the one Laskowicz was raving about all night, but, at any
+rate, something resembling Diana in a fountain. In the second in which
+he opened the door he saw streams of water splashing and beheld under a
+shower-sprinkler a nude, female figure, strewed with pearls of azure,
+with head somewhat inclined, and hands raised to her hair, whose black
+waves concealed her face. This lasted only a twinkle of the eye. A
+suppressed scream and the slam of the closed door resounded
+simultaneously. Krzycki rushed like the gale for his room; excited and
+at the same time shocked, he clutched with shaking hand a decanter,
+filled a glass of water, gulped it, and began to repeat confusedly:
+"What has happened? Who is she? For God's sake, what has happened?" In
+the first moments he conjectured that she might have been Pani Otocka,
+or Marynia, and in such a case the misadventure would be appalling.
+Those ladies would undoubtedly leave Jastrzeb at once and it would
+perhaps be incumbent upon him to propose marriage to the one whom he
+had seen in such paradisiacal shape. "But was it my fault?" he thought.
+"Why didn't she lock the door? There was a bolt." He drank another
+glass of water to cool his agitated blood and to think more calmly of
+what he was to do and who that nymph was. Somehow after an interval he
+reached the conclusion that she could not have been either of the
+sisters. Firstly, why should they rise so early? and again, both were
+slim, while this form was stouter and on the whole was built so,
+that--Oh! Oh! Finally, he became satisfied that it surely must have
+been no other than the brunette who obstructed his view of Miss Anney
+during the mass and whom he met on the dark walk when returning with
+Gronski from the hunt. If such was the case, nothing terrible had
+happened, but rather the contrary. It occurred to his mind that those
+blue window-panes were an excellent device, for in such a light the
+spectacle was delightful. At the thought of this, he felt the necessity
+of drinking a third glass of water. This, however, he did not do, but
+instead, after an interval, went again to the bath-room, which now was
+vacant, and after a cool bath dressed himself and hastened to the
+stable. There he ordered a horse to be saddled and sped away on a
+gallop for adjacent Rzeslewo.
+
+The day was mild; the hour very early. But all nature was already awake
+and bedewed, bathed in the sun, she appeared to simply cry out with
+joy, just as village maids from an excess of life and health sing unto
+forgetfulness, "Oj dana! Oj dana!" Birds carolled until the leaves on
+the trees trembled. In the distant oak grove resounded the coo-cooing
+of the cuckoo; yellow thrushes whistled amidst the boughs of lofty
+trees; from the depths of the forest, sounding like the noise of a
+sawmill, came the outcries of an old raven, watching a crowded nest,
+while from time to time the shrieks of a jay, resembling a laugh, burst
+forth.
+
+Ladislaus rode out of the woods onto the open roadway. Here on one side
+was a stretch of waving grain; on the other a meadow--from which odors
+of turf and spring were wafted,--all overgrown with marigold and
+rose-campion, quivering in the solar warmth and under the gentle breath
+of the wind, as if in delight. This delight, this widespread joy and
+luxuriance of life overflowed in the breast of Ladislaus. He felt
+within himself such a vigor of youth and strength that he was prepared
+to challenge to a hand-to-hand combat full hundreds of socialists and
+at the same time press the whole world to his heart, especially women
+under the age of thirty. The white vision of that Diana, enveloped in a
+shell of blue pearls, again began to glide before his eyes, but he now
+thought that if, instead of dark tresses on the bowed head of that
+goddess, he had seen golden, he would have probably toppled over.
+
+Amidst such sights and impressions he arrived at Rzeslewo, where,
+however, in conformity with Dolhanski's prediction, he was unable to
+accomplish anything. The "worthies" whom he wanted to look in the eyes
+had left during the night time for the city; the husbandmen were in the
+field, each upon his own patch of ground; the blinds of the rectory
+were shut, as the rector for the last few days was feeling unwell. In
+the manor out-building where the laborers dwelt there was not a sign of
+a living soul. Later the old keeper of the stockyard informed him that
+the hired help, after watering the stock, drove it out into the pasture
+and went without asking the permission of any one to a church festival
+at Brzesno, whither many of the husbandmen and tenants had also gone.
+
+So, then, here was a strike of farm-hands and open contumacy, but
+Krzycki was helpless. He only ordered the aged keeper of the stockyard
+to tell the hired help that there would come to Rzeslewo to establish
+order certain gentlemen before whom the vagabonds, who were there the
+previous day, would abscond as soon as they heard of them; after which
+he turned back and in half an hour was in Jastrzeb.
+
+A servant told him that all were still asleep, excepting Laskowicz, who
+had charged him with the delivery of a letter. Krzycki took it and went
+with it to the office. Having read its contents, he rang for the
+servant.
+
+"Was he dressed when he gave you the letter?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and was packing his things."
+
+"Ask him if he can come to my office, and if he can, request him to
+step in."
+
+After a while, the young student entered the room.
+
+Krzycki motioned to him to take a seat in the chair, which was near his
+desk.
+
+"Good day, sir! I learn from your letter that you wish to leave
+Jastrzeb and that, at once. I presume that you have cogent reasons for
+this step. I therefore regard any discussion of them as superfluous,
+and will not detain you. Here you have what is due to you and the
+horses will be ready at any time you desire."
+
+But Laskowicz, who in money matters was extremely scrupulous, after
+counting the money, said:
+
+"You are paying me my whole salary, but as I am leaving before the
+expiration of the term, I am not entitled to pay for the last month."
+
+And somewhat discourteously he flung the unearned balance upon the
+desk.
+
+Krzycki's cheeks quivered slightly about the mustache, but as he had
+pledged himself before Gronski that he would not create any disturbance
+and had made the same promise to himself, he quietly replied:
+
+"As you please."
+
+"As for the departure," said Laskowicz, "I would prefer to leave at
+once."
+
+"As you please," repeated Krzycki. "In an hour I will send after the
+physician for my mother and if it is convenient for you, you may go
+with that team."
+
+"Very well."
+
+"Then the whole thing is settled. I will give orders at once."
+
+Saying this, he rose and closed the desk, as if he wished to intimate
+that the interview was over. Laskowicz glared at him with eyes blazing
+with hatred. He did not seek any broil, but anticipating one, he stood
+before Krzycki, bent like a bow. Meanwhile nothing approaching an
+altercation occurred and the revolver, which he had ready for a certain
+contingency, was of no service to him. There was no reference even to
+the letter, though that was indited in harsh and rude terms.
+Nevertheless there was something offensive in the cold tones in which
+Krzycki spoke, something insulting in the eagerness with which he
+accepted his offer of departure. To Laskowicz, who viewed everything
+from his own standpoint, it seemed that the icy conversation
+accentuated something else, namely, the attitude of a wealthy man who
+owned Jastrzeb, a desk filled with money, horses, and equipages,
+towards a poor, homeless fellow. But it did not occur to him at that
+moment that he on his part had done nothing to improve their relations,
+but on the contrary had done a great deal to make them worse, and that
+from the time of his arrival he had shut himself, like a turtle in a
+shell, in a doctrine inimical to these people. Everything conduced to
+stir the bile within him to such a degree that he actually regretted
+that the matter did not end in a personal encounter. But as in the
+words of Krzycki there was nothing which gave him a pretext for one, he
+abruptly left the room without any leave-taking and with redoubled
+rancor.
+
+Ladislaus rang to have the horses ready within an hour, and as it
+happened to be Friday, he ordered the gardener to catch some fish;
+after which he began to consider whether the affair with Laskowicz had
+terminated in a desirable way. He was pleased and displeased with
+himself. He felt a certain satisfaction and even pride in the fact that
+he could be laconic and firm, cold but polite, and that he did not
+stoop to any ruffianly dispute. But at the same time, notwithstanding
+his pride, a certain disrelish remained, for which he could not account
+as he was not sufficiently developed psychologically. He kept repeating
+to himself that such scenes are always disagreeable, and so was the
+whole business. In reality there was another reason for it. His whole
+behavior, which appeared to him so temperate, sensible, and well-nigh
+diplomatic, did not emanate from his temperament, but in direct
+opposition to his not too deep, but open and impulsive nature. If he
+had acted in keeping with it, he either would have come to blows with
+the young student or else would have said something like this: "You
+have strewn our path with thorns and have upset the minds of our
+people, but since you are leaving, give me your hand and may you fare
+well." The one or the other act would have been more consistent with
+his character, and he would not have experienced that jarring which he
+could not understand, but felt none the less.
+
+But further reflections were interrupted by the servant with the
+announcement that breakfast was ready and that the guests were at the
+table. In fact, all had already assembled in the dining-room, through
+which pervaded the odor of coffee and the hum of the samovar. At the
+sight of the white dresses of the ladies and their fresh, well-rested
+countenances, Ladislaus' soul gladdened to such an extent that he
+immediately forgot all squabbles and vexations. By way of greeting, he
+kissed Pani Otocka's hand; then, as if absent-mindedly, that of Miss
+Anney, but so forcibly that she reddened like a cherry; after which he
+squeezed Marynia's hand, saluted the gentlemen and began to cry
+merrily:
+
+"Coffee! coffee! From the rise of the sun I drank only two glasses of
+water and I am as hungry as a wolf."
+
+"Was that a cure? Did you have a fever?" asked Dolhanski.
+
+"Perhaps I did have a fever, but nevertheless I had a horseback ride to
+Rzeslewo and transacted a thousand matters."
+
+"How is it in 'rustic-angelic' Rzeslewo," interrupted Dolhanski.
+
+"There is nothing further that is disturbing. Those trouble makers whom
+I wished to look at, in the eyes, are gone. But now above all things, I
+want coffee and will not answer any more questions."
+
+Marynia, as the substitute of Pani Krzycki, who remained in bed owing
+to rheumatism, poured out the coffee for him, and he also kissed the
+hand of his young cousin; whereat she was pleased as she fancied that
+it added to her dignity.
+
+"That is due me as a vice-hostess," she said, shaking her head.
+
+"And especially taking age into consideration," added Dolhanski.
+
+She did not show him her tongue only because she was too well-bred.
+
+But Dolhanski, who suffered from catarrh of the stomach, gazed
+enviously at Ladislaus, eating with such relish, and said:
+
+"What an appetite! A genuine cannibal."
+
+"Go also over the road a mile before breakfast and you will have the
+same appetite. But cannibal or no cannibal, when I entered this room, I
+was ready to devour even this bouquet of flowers which is before me."
+
+"The time will come when the country nobility will not have anything
+else to eat," replied Dolhanski.
+
+But Marynia quickly seized the bouquet and, laughing, shoved it to the
+other side of the table.
+
+"After coffee there is no fear," cried Ladislaus. "But what beautiful
+field flowers! Did you ladies pick them?"
+
+"We are sleepy-heads," answered Pani Otocka; "they were gathered by
+Aninka's servant."
+
+Aninka was the pet name which both sisters gave Miss Anney.
+
+Ladislaus turned a sharp glance towards the ladies, but as their faces
+were perfectly calm, he thought:
+
+"She gathered the flowers and did not mention the mishap."
+
+And Miss Anney, turning the bouquet about and examining it, said:
+
+"An apple-blossom is in the middle,--the good-for-nothing girl plucked
+it from some little tree, for which she must be reprimanded; these are
+spearwort, those primroses, and those pennyroyal, which are now coming
+out."
+
+"It is, however, astonishing that you speak Polish so well," observed
+Dolhanski; "why, you even know the names of plants."
+
+"I heard them from the lips of the village maids in Zalesin at
+Zosia's," answered Miss Anney. "Besides, I evidently possess linguistic
+abilities for I learned from them to speak in a rustic style."
+
+"Truly," cried Ladislaus, "could you say something in peasant fashion.
+Say something, Miss Anney! Do!" he entreated, folding his hands as if
+in prayer.
+
+She began to laugh and feigning shyness, bowed her head and putting the
+back part of her hand to her forehead, as bashful peasants girls
+usually do, said, drawling each word somewhat:
+
+"I would do that only I do not dare--"
+
+Laughter and bravos resounded; only Pani Zosia glanced at her with a
+peculiar look and she, by becoming confused, enhanced her beauty to
+such an extent that Ladislaus was completely captivated.
+
+"Ah! now one could lose his head," he cried with unfeigned ardor. "I
+pledge my word, one could lose his head."
+
+And Gronski, who in common with the others fell into good humor, said
+in a low voice:
+
+"And even consummatum est."
+
+But further conversation was interrupted by the rattle of the carriage
+wheels which could be heard in the courtyard and ceased at the balcony.
+
+"What is that?" asked Gronski.
+
+"I am sending for the doctor for Mother," answered Ladislaus, rising.
+"Whoever has any errands in the city may speak."
+
+Dolhanski and Gronski also rose and went out with him into the
+vestibule.
+
+"I was about to ask you for a horse," said Gronski. "I know that you
+have but one saddle for ladies in Jastrzeb, so I ordered another one
+and must receive it in person at the post-office. I did not want to
+speak about it before the ladies as it is to be a surprise."
+
+"Good!" answered Krzycki, "but I will give you another carriage, for
+Laskowicz is leaving by this one and you surely would prefer not to
+ride with him."
+
+"He?" cried Dolhanski. "You do not know him then. He is ready to ride
+with old Aunt Beelzebub, if he could pull her by the tongue and do all
+the talking and descanting."
+
+"There is a little truth in that," said Gronski. "I am a veritable
+chatterbox. Indeed, I will willingly go with Laskowicz and will try to
+get him into a talkative mood for, after all, he does interest me. Did
+you conclude with him this morning?"
+
+"Yes. I must see Mother for a while and tell her about it. I finished
+with him and in addition finished peaceably. I, at least, was perfectly
+calm."
+
+"So much the better. Go to your mother and I will go to my room for a
+linen duster; for the dust on the road must be quite thick. I will be
+back soon."
+
+In fact he returned in a few minutes, dressed in a linen coat. About
+the same time a servant brought down Laskowicz's trunk, and soon the
+latter appeared, wrapped up in himself and gloomy as night, for the
+thought that he would not behold his "alabaster statuette" filled him
+with pain and sorrow; the more so, as after those hypnotic exertions,
+when daylight restored him to his senses, he began to feel guilty of an
+offence against her. Instead of swallowing with unnecessary haste his
+breakfast in his room upstairs, he might have come downstairs and gazed
+upon Pani Marynia for half an hour longer; but he had not wished to do
+that because, in the first place, he had not cared to meet Krzycki and,
+again, he felt that in such company he would enact the role of Pilate
+in Credo. At that moment he regretted that he had not come down and
+feasted his eyes with her form for the last time.
+
+But a pleasant surprise awaited him when the young ladies, in the
+company of Dolhanski and Ladislaus, came out on the balcony; and
+afterwards little Anusia, with whom he was always on friendly terms,
+having learned that he was leaving, ran with eyes overflowing with
+tears, pouting lips, and a bunch of flowers in her chubby fist to bid
+him good-bye. The young student took the flowers from her, kissed her
+hand, and with heavy heart sat in the carriage beside Gronski, who in
+the meantime was chatting with Pani Otocka.
+
+Anusia descended the stairs of the balcony and stood close to the
+carriage doors; upon perceiving which Marynia hastened after her and,
+evidently fearing that the little girl might be jolted when the
+carriage started to move, took her hand and began to comfort her.
+
+"Of course he will not forget you," she said, bending over the little
+girl, "he surely will write to you and when he becomes very lonesome,
+will return."
+
+After which, raising her eyes directly at Laskowicz:
+
+"Is it not true, sir? You will not forget her?"
+
+Laskowicz gazed into the depths of the pellucid pupils of her eyes, as
+if he wished to penetrate them to the bottom, and being really moved,
+replied with emphasis:
+
+"I will not forget."
+
+"Ah, you see," and Marynia pacified Anusia.
+
+But at that moment Krzycki approached.
+
+"Mother directed me to bid you God-speed." And he immediately shouted
+to the driver: "Drive on."
+
+The carriage moved, described a circle in the courtyard, and
+disappeared on the avenue beyond the gate.
+
+Miss Anney and the two sisters now went to Pani Krzycki, desiring to
+keep her company at breakfast, which she on the days of her painful
+suffering ate in bed. Ladislaus, recalling that he ordered some fish to
+be caught, walked directly across the garden towards the pond to see
+whether the catch was successful.
+
+But before he reached the bank, at a turning of the shady yoked elm
+lane, he unexpectedly met his morning's vision of "Diana in the
+fountain."
+
+At the sight of him the maid stood still; at first her countenance
+flushed as if a live flame passed through it; after which she grew so
+pale that the dark down above her lips became more marked, and she
+stood motionless, with downcast eyes and heaving breast, bewildered and
+abashed.
+
+But he spoke out with perfect freedom:
+
+"Good-day! good-day! Ah, what is your name?"
+
+"Pauline," she murmured, not raising her eyes.
+
+"A beautiful name." After which, he smiled somewhat roguishly and
+added:
+
+"But Panna Pauly--the next time--there is a bolt."
+
+"I will drown myself," cried the maid in a hysterical voice.
+
+And he began to speak in persuasive tones:
+
+"Why? For what? Why, no one is to blame,--that was a pure accident. I
+will not tell anybody about it and that I had seen such beauty; that
+was only my luck."
+
+And he proceeded to the fishing place.
+
+She followed his shapely form with her tear-dimmed eyes and stood on
+the spot for quite a while in reverie, for it seemed to her that by
+reason of the secret known to them alone something had transpired
+between them which would unite them forever.
+
+And afterwards when she recollected how that charming young heir of
+Jastrzeb had seen her, she shuddered from head to foot.
+
+
+
+                                   X
+
+Gronski was a man of gentle and kindly disposition. Notwithstanding his
+penchant for philosophical pessimism, he was not a pessimist in his
+relations to men and life. Speaking in other words, in theory he often
+thought like Ecclesiastes; in practice he preferred to tread in the
+footsteps of Horace, or rather as Horace would have trodden had he been
+a Christian. Continual communing with the ancient world gave him a
+certain serenity, not divested indeed of melancholy, but peaceful and
+harmonious. Owing to his high education and extensive reading, which
+enabled him to come in contact with all ideas which found lodgment in
+the human mind and familiarize himself with all forms of human life, he
+was exceedingly tolerant, and the most extreme views did not lead him
+into that condition which would cause him to screech like a frightened
+peacock. This deep forbearance and this conviction that all that is
+taking place has to occur, did not deprive him of energy of thoughts or
+words; it deprived him, however, in some measure of the ability to act.
+He was more of a spectator than an actor on the world's stage, but a
+well-disposed spectator, acutely susceptible and extraordinarily
+curious. He sometimes compared himself to a man sitting on the bank of
+a river and watching its course, who knows indeed that it must roll on
+and disappear in the sea, but who is nevertheless interested in the
+movements of its waves, its currents, its whirlpools, mists rising from
+its depths, and the play of light upon its waters. Besides his genuine
+love of ancient languages and authors, Gronski was interested in
+politics, science, literature, art, the contemporary social tendencies,
+and finally in the private affairs of mankind; and this last to such an
+extent that he was reluctantly charged with undue love of knowledge of
+his fellow-men. From this general, lively curiosity flowed his
+loquacity and desire to expatiate upon anything which passed before his
+eyes. He was well aware of this, and jocosely justified himself before
+his friends by citing Cicero, who according to him was one of the
+greatest discoursers and meddlers whose memory is preserved by history.
+Aside from these weaknesses, Gronski possessed a highly developed
+capacity for sympathizing with human suffering and human thoughts, and
+was on the whole a man of fine sentiment. Poland he loved sincerely as
+he wished her to be; that is, noble, enlightened, cultured, as European
+as possible, but not losing her Lechite traits, and holding in her hand
+the flag with the white eagle. That eagle seemed to him to be one of
+the noblest symbols on earth.
+
+Within the compass of his personal feelings, as a man and aesthete, he
+loved Marynia, but it was a love of a heavenly-blue hue, not scarlet.
+At the beginning he admired within her, as he said, "the music and the
+dove;" afterwards, not having any near relatives, he became attached to
+her like an older brother to a little sister, or as a father to a
+child. She, on her part, grateful for this attachment and at the same
+time esteeming his mind and character, reciprocated with her whole
+heart.
+
+In the main, human sympathy and friendship encompassed Gronski, for
+even strangers, even people separated from him by a chasm of belief and
+convictions, even those whom he annoyed with his habit of pressing his
+forefinger to his forehead and thinking aloud, esteemed him for his
+ability to sympathize, his humanity and forbearance, which were like
+the open doors of a hospitable house.
+
+Laskowicz also felt this. If he was to ride with Dolhanski, for
+instance, he would have preferred to go afoot and carry his luggage on
+his back. But Dolhanski in Jastrzeb pretended not to see him at all,
+while Gronski always greeted him amiably, and several times opened a
+conversation with him which never was lengthy for the reason that
+Laskowicz limited it and broke it off. Now, however, sitting beside
+Gronski he was pleased with his company. He cherished in his soul a
+hope that Gronski, speaking of the persons remaining in Jastrzeb, would
+say something about Panna Marynia and he craved to hear her name.
+Besides, he was moved by the leave-taking with little Anusia, for it
+happened for the first time in his life that any one bidding him
+farewell had tears in her eyes, and he was grateful to the chance which
+afforded him an opportunity of exchanging a few words with Panna
+Marynia before driving away. So his heart melted and he was willing to
+talk sincerely, especially with a man against whom he felt no
+antipathy.
+
+Somehow they did not wait long, for they had barely reached the end of
+the avenue when Gronski, with the kind and confidential anxiety of an
+older man who does not understand what has taken place and is ready to
+grumble, placed his hand upon his knee and said:
+
+"My dear sir, what mischief have you stirred up in Rzeslewo? It may now
+come to some serious collisions, and it is said that you people intend
+to do the same everywhere."
+
+"In Rzeslewo we did what the good of our idea demanded," answered
+Laskowicz.
+
+"But an agricultural school is involved and such schools are absolutely
+necessary for the people. Why did you circulate the story among the
+peasants that the land was to be divided among them?"
+
+Laskowicz hesitated as to whether to leave the question unanswered, but
+he was disarmed by Gronski's countenance, at once benevolent and
+worried, so he replied:
+
+"Every party must keep its eyes upon everything in order to know what
+is occurring in the country and take advantage of its opportunities. In
+the case of Rzeslewo I was the eye of the party, and in the further
+course of time I acted in accordance with the directions sent to me. In
+reality, we could not foresee how the deceased would dispose of his
+estate. But that is all one. We do not need schools founded by the
+classes with which we are at war and conducted in their spirit."
+
+"You do not need them, but the people need them."
+
+"The people can learn husbandry without the assistance of the nobility
+as soon as they own something on which they can learn. The lands of the
+nobles will be more beneficial to them than their schools. They have
+tilled that soil of Rzeslewo for hundreds of years, and if you figure
+at the rate of one penny for each day's labor, that land has been paid
+for a hundred times more than it is worth."
+
+"But you arouse merely a desire for land; you cannot give it. Besides,
+permit me, sir, to say that in respect to your doctrine you are
+illogical. For, of course, your aim is to nationalize the land. Now
+such land as that of Rzeslewo, for instance, donated for school
+purposes is, in a manner, nationalized; but a partition of it among the
+peasants would disintegrate it into individual ownership by a number of
+small holders."
+
+"The nationalization of land is our ultimate object, therefore distant.
+In the meantime we want to get the people into our camp, so we use such
+means as will lead to that end. We cannot give the land, but the people
+themselves can take it."
+
+"The most you can accomplish is to get them to take it. Assume that in
+Rzeslewo the husbandmen, tenants, and hired hands seize the land and
+divide it between them. What follows? Do you not see the clashes, the
+knouting, the courts and sanguinary executions which will overtake
+them?"
+
+"Do you not believe that this would be water for our mill? The more
+there is of that, the sooner our end will be attained."
+
+"And so I guessed rightly," said Gronski, recalling his statement to
+Ladislaus and Dolhanski that the summoning of the police would be
+playing into the hands of the agitators.
+
+Laskowicz wanted to ask what Gronski had guessed rightly, but the
+latter forestalled him and continued:
+
+"There is another singular thing. If misfortune overtakes any one of
+you, whether imprisonment, deportation, or death, then we, that is, the
+people who do not belong to your ranks, the people against whom you
+have declared war to the death, say: 'Too bad! such zeal! what a
+pity--such misguided sacrifice! how deplorable,--such a young head!'
+and we grieve for you. But you do not regret those people whose
+defenders you proclaim yourself to be. You arrange industrial strikes
+and pull the string until it breaks and later, when the manufacturers
+tie it again it becomes shorter than ever before. Already thousands are
+dying of starvation. And now you want an agricultural strike, after
+which bread becomes dearer and scarcer. Who suffers by this? Again the
+people. Truly at times it is impossible to resist the thought that you
+love your doctrines more than the people."
+
+To this Laskowicz answered in a harsh, hollow voice:
+
+"That is war. There must be sacrifices."
+
+Gronski involuntarily looked at him and, seeing his eyes set so closely
+to each other, thought:
+
+"No! Such eyes really can only look straight ahead and are incapable of
+taking in a wider horizon."
+
+For some time they rode in silence. A light southern breeze rose and
+bore with the cloud of dust the odor of the horses' sweat. From
+thickets on the wayside flew swarms of horse-flies, which pestered the
+horses so much that the coachman brushed their backs with the whip and
+swore.
+
+Suddenly Gronski asked:
+
+"Sacrifices! But to what divinity do you offer those sacrifices? What
+is your aim and what do you want?"
+
+"Daily bread and universal liberty."
+
+"But in the meantime, instead of bread, you give them stones. As to
+liberty, you will please, sir, take into consideration two thoughts.
+The first can be expressed thus: Woe to the nations that love liberty
+more than fatherland! Naturally I am not speaking of subjugated
+nations, for in such a situation the conceptions of liberty and
+fatherland become almost identical. But consider, sir, what really
+caused the political downfall of Poland and what is blighting France,
+which before our eyes is falling apart like a barrel without hoops? A
+second thought which often comes to my mind is that liberty crossing
+the boundaries set by national prosperity and safety is necessary only
+for rogues. You certainly will regard this last opinion as the acme of
+retrogression, but it is none the less the truth."
+
+Laskowicz's face reflected suspicion and offence, but it was so
+apparent that Gronski did not allude to him personally, and was only
+enunciating a general view, that he did not break off further
+conversation.
+
+"Liberty of association and syndicates," he said, "by the aid of which
+the proletariat is defending itself, do not endure any limitations.
+You, sir, after all confuse the conceptions of the people and the
+empire;--as a realist you are concerned above all about the empire."
+
+And Gronski began to laugh:
+
+"I, a realist?" he said. "I do not belong to the realists. They are not
+foolish people and on the whole act in good faith, but they commit one
+error. They go out to plough for the spring sowing in December; that is
+when the ploughshares cannot break the frozen ground. Or if you prefer
+another comparison, they buy their summer clothing during the severest
+winter season. I do not know; perhaps the sun will at some time shine
+and it will be warm, as everything in this world is possible, but in
+the meantime the ears are frost-bitten and the moths destroy the
+clothes."
+
+And thinking only of the realists, he continued:
+
+"Realists desire to reckon with this reality, which does not want to
+reckon with them or anybody else. For assume, sir, for example, that
+the name of a faction is Peter and this Peter in perfect sincerity
+turns to Reality and says: 'Listen, oh Maiden! I am prepared to
+acknowledge you and even love you, but in return permit me to stand on
+my own feet, to breathe a little and stretch out my aching bones.' And
+Reality with true Ural affability answers: 'Peter, my son Peter, you
+are wandering from the subject, and I take away from you the right to
+speak. I am not concerned about your acknowledging or loving me, but
+only that you should unbutton yourself, divest yourself of certain
+clothes which, speaking parenthetically, may be of service to me; that
+you should again lie upon that bench and as to the rest trust in my
+power and whip.' If any realist heard me he might dispute this, but in
+his soul, he would concede the justness of the illustration."
+
+"You will admit, then," exclaimed Laskowicz, with a certain triumph,
+"that we alone are hitting this Reality on the head?"
+
+"You are hitting her," answered Gronski, "but your fists rebound from
+her stony head and land in the pit of your own community, which loses
+its remnant of breath and swoons. By this, you even aid Reality."
+
+And here recollecting what he had said about the anthills and
+ant-eaters, he repeated it to Laskowicz.
+
+But Laskowicz would not agree to the comparison, observing that it had
+only a specious appearance of the truth, for the human conditions could
+not be adjusted by conditions existing in an ant-hill.
+
+"Whoever aspires to make the proletariat powerful by the same act gives
+the nation new strength sufficient to repel all attacks and blows. Only
+on this road can anything be gained, though only for the simple reason
+that it will have allies in the proletariat of adjoining countries, who
+from enemies will become friends."
+
+"That would only be a coalition at the bottom," said Gronski.
+
+"And for that reason irrepressible and effectual. For we are
+continually hearing of Poland! Poland! But those who all the time are
+repeating that combine with Poland various things which have outlived
+their usefulness, such as religion, church, and conservatism, which
+cover her with mould or with corpses which already are rotting. We
+alone unite Poland with an idea, powerful, young, and vital, if only
+for the reason that all youth is with us."
+
+"In the first place, not all youth, nor even one half," answered
+Gronski; "and again, the church has survived and will survive many a
+social movement; and thirdly, your idea is as ancient as poverty itself
+on this earth. If you desire, sir, to contend that the form which La
+Salle and Marx gave it is new, then I will answer you thus: Your modern
+socialism has too thick tufts of hair on its scalp, but when it begins
+to get bald, none will scoff at it so much as the young."
+
+"You are continually speaking in aphorisms, but fortunately aphorisms
+are like paper lanterns hung on the trees of dialectics; in the dark
+they can be seen; in the broad daylight they are extinct."
+
+"Behold another aphorism, cut and dried," answered Gronski, laughing.
+"No, sir, that which I said had another meaning. I wanted to say that
+the socialist commonwealth, if you ever establish one, will be such a
+surrender of human institutions, such a jamming of man into the
+driving-wheels of the general mechanism, such a restraint and slavery
+that even the present kingdom of Prussia, in comparison, would be a
+temple of liberty. And in reality, a reaction would set in at once. The
+press, literature, poetry, and art, in the name of individualism and
+its freedom, would declare an inexorable war; and do you know, sir, who
+would carry the banner of the opposition? Youth! That is as true as
+that those lapwings are now flying over that meadow."
+
+And here he pointed at a flock of lapwings, hovering over a field on
+which cattle were grazing. After which he added:
+
+"In France it is already beginning. Not long ago a few thousand
+students paraded the streets of Paris, shouting: 'Down with the
+Republic!'"
+
+"That is merely swinging around in a circle," replied Laskowicz; "that
+was a clash with radicalism and not with us. We also despise it. The
+bourgeoisie imagine that radicalism in a certain emergency will shield
+them from the revenge of the proletariat, but they are deceiving
+themselves. In the meanwhile they are clearing the way for the
+revolution."
+
+"In this I admit you are right;" answered Gronski, "I saw in Cairo how
+the _sais_ ran before the carriages of the pashas shouting, 'Out of the
+way! Out of the way!' Radicalism is performing the same service for
+you."
+
+"Yes," corroborated Laskowicz, with a brightened countenance.
+
+Gronski took off his spectacles to wipe off the dust and winked his
+eyes.
+
+"But amongst you there are also differences. The French socialism is
+different, so is the German, and the English, and in their midst we
+find opposing camps. For that reason I shall not speak of socialism in
+general. I am only interested in the home product, of which you are an
+agent; for, from what you have said, I infer that you belong to the
+so-called Polish Socialistic party."
+
+"Yes," answered Laskowicz with energy.
+
+Gronski replaced the cleaned spectacles and unfurled all his sails:
+
+"You claim, therefore, that in the name of Poland you have joined youth
+with a powerful idea, through which you have infused into her veins new
+blood. And I reply that this idea, whatever it may be, has degenerated
+in your minds to the extent that it ceased to be a social idea and has
+become a social disease. You have infected Poland with a disease and
+nothing more. The new Polish edifice must be constructed with bricks
+and stones and not with bombs and dynamite. And in you there is neither
+brick nor stone. You are only a shriek of hatred. You have abandoned
+the old gospels and are incapable of creating a new one; in consequence
+of which you cannot offer any pledge of life. Your name is Error and
+for that reason the resultant force of your activities will be contrary
+to you presuppositions. By pulling the strings of strikes you lead the
+people to naught else than to debility and wretchedness and from feeble
+beggars you are not able to build a powerful Poland. That is the actual
+fact. Besides, on one and the same head you cannot wear two caps unless
+one is underneath. So I ask which is underneath? Is your socialism only
+a means of building Poland? Or is your Poland only a bait and catchword
+to gather the people into your camp? The socialists, who call
+themselves socialists without any qualifications and do not insist that
+the same entity can be fish and fowl at the same time, are, I admit,
+more logical. But you mislead the people. The truth is that even if you
+wanted to you could not do anything Polish, for there is nothing Polish
+in you. The schools from which you graduated did not take away the
+language, for they could not do that, but they molded your minds and
+souls in such a manner that you are not Poles, but Russians despising
+Russia. How Poland and Russia will fare by this is another matter, but
+such is the case. To you it seems that you are making a revolution, but
+it is an ape of a revolution, and in addition a foreign one. You are
+the evil flower of a foreign spirit. It is enough to take your
+periodicals, your writers, poets, and critics! Their whole mental
+apparatus is foreign. Their real aim is not even socialism nor the
+proletariat, but annihilation.--Firebrand in hand, and at the bottom of
+their souls hopelessness and the great nihil! And of course we know
+where it originated. The Galician socialism likewise is not an Apollo
+Belvedere, but nevertheless it has different lineaments and less broad
+cheek-bones. There is not in it this rabidness and also this despair
+and sorrow which conflicts with the Latin culture. You are like certain
+fruit: on one side green, on the other rotten. You are sick. That
+sickness explains the limitless want of logic, based on this; that
+crying against wars, you create war; decrying courts-martial, you
+condemn without any trial; and denouncing capital punishment, you
+thrust revolvers in the hands of the people and say, 'Kill.' This
+disease also explains your insane outbreaks, your indifference to
+consequences, and to the fate of those ill-fated men whom you make your
+tools. Let them assassinate, let them rob the treasuries, but whether
+later they will hang in the halter is a matter of little consequence to
+you. Your nihil permits you to spit upon blood and ethics. You open
+wide the doors to notorious scoundrels and allow them to represent not
+their own villany, but your idea. You, generally speaking, carry ruin
+with you and join Poland to that ruin. In your party there are, without
+doubt, men of conviction and good faith, but blind, who in their
+blindness are serving a different master than they imagine."
+
+Gronski knew that he was speaking in vain, but whether from habit, or
+because he wanted to relieve himself of all that had accumulated within
+him, he talked until the rattle of the wheels on the city pavements
+drowned his words. They parted rather coldly before the hotel, for
+Gronski's views touched the young medical student to the quick. He did
+not admit that Gronski was in the least right, but that such views
+should be entertained filled him with rage and indignation. He indeed
+said to himself, "It is not worth while answering, but our minds are
+not foreign, and our idea is new. Society is like a person who, having
+for many years lived in a house, is always reluctant to move into
+another though that other is much better." Nevertheless the words of
+Gronski stung him so deeply that at that moment he hated him as much as
+he did Krzycki and would have given a great deal if he could trample
+upon and crush the charges, so odious to him. Unfortunately for him he
+lacked time for it, and besides, weariness after a sleepless night
+began to overpower him more and more.
+
+Gronski went to the post-office, received a package with the saddle,
+and afterwards drove to the doctor's, but learning that the latter
+would not be free for an hour, he left the carriage at his door and
+went to visit the old notary and at the same time deliver to him an
+invitation from Krzycki to visit Jastrzeb.
+
+The notary was pleased to receive the invitation, as he had decided to
+visit the Krzyckis without one, in order, as he said, to behold the
+"eyes of his head" and hear her miracle-working violin. In the meantime
+he began to speak about the events which had occurred in the city and
+neighborhood. He was so impressed and affected by them that his
+customary choler left him, and in his words there was an undertone of
+bitter sorrow and heavy anxiety for the future of the community, which
+seemed to have lost its head. Factory strikes and to some extent
+agricultural strikes were spreading. In the city the lime-kilns had
+ceased to burn and the cement works were at a standstill. The
+workingmen, who, not having any savings, formerly lived from hand to
+mouth, in the first moments lacked bread. After the example of Warsaw,
+a local committee was organized for the purpose of collecting funds to
+prevent starvation. But as a result, this peculiar situation was
+created: the people most opposed to the cessation of work encouraged it
+by furnishing food to the idle. "A veritable round of errors!" said the
+worried old gentleman. "Do not give; then starvation follows and
+despair hurls the workingman into the arms of the socialists; give, and
+you also are playing into their hands, because they have something with
+which to support the strike and can convince the people of their
+omnipotence." He further related that outside of the committee the
+socialists were collecting money, or rather were extorting it from the
+timid by threats; that they called upon him but he told them that he
+would give for bread but not for bombs. They then threatened him with
+death, for which he had them thrown out of his office.
+
+For a while he remained silent for the inborn choler assumed supremacy
+over sorrow; he also began to roll his eyes angrily and moved his jaws
+furiously, as if he wanted to eat all the socialists, together with
+their red standard.
+
+Afterwards, when his rage had spent itself, he continued:
+
+"Day before yesterday they sent me a sentence of death which they
+surely will execute, as they have declared war against the government
+and they butcher their own countrymen. Well, that is a small matter!
+Three days ago they killed a master tinner and two workingmen in the
+cement factory. In Wilczodola, a few versts from here, they waylaid and
+maimed Pan Baezynski and robbed the branch office of the governmental
+whiskey monopoly besides. Szremski, that doctor for whom you came and
+whose optimism sticks like a bone in my throat, says that it is but a
+passing storm! Yes, everything does pass away, individuals as well as
+whole nations. I fear that ours too is passing away; for we have become
+a nation of bandits and banditism never can be a permanent institution.
+Well! The people, after these acts of violence, have in reality become
+tired of robbing for the benefit of their party and now prefer to rob
+on their own account. Do I know whether we will arrive alive at
+Krzyckis to-day? Bah! Krzycki ought to be more on his guard than any
+one else. He passes for a rich man and for that reason they will keep
+him in their eye. I will go to Jastrzeb for if I am to be assassinated,
+before it takes place I want to hear once more our child-wonder. But in
+truth, Krzycki, instead of inviting more guests, should dismiss those
+who are staying there now. The doctor, if he had any sense, would find
+an excuse for dispersing them all to-morrow."
+
+"I heard that he is an excellent man," said Gronski.
+
+"An excellent devil!" answered the notary. "You remember whom you have
+among you, and it is only about her that I am concerned."
+
+Gronski, though disquieted and distressed by Dzwonkowski's narrative,
+could not refrain from laughing when he heard the last admonition, for
+translated into plain words it meant, "May the deuce impale you all, if
+only no evil befalls the little violinist." But whenever Marynia was
+involved he himself was always willing to subscribe to similar
+sentiments; therefore he began to pacify the aged official by telling
+him that in Jastrzeb there were, counting the guests and manor people,
+too many hands and too many arms to have any fears of an attack; and
+that, besides, Pani Krzycki's probable departure would end the visit of
+the guests. Further conversation was broken by the arrival of Doctor
+Szremski who, having dashed in like a bomb, announced that he was free
+for the remainder of the day and could ride with Gronski.
+
+Gronski gazed at him with great interest, for even in Warsaw he heard
+of him as an original and prominent personality, in the favorable
+meaning of those words.
+
+He was quite a young man, with tawny hair, swarthy like a gypsy, with a
+countenance alive with fire, bubbling with health, somewhat loud and
+brisk in his manners. In the city he played an uncommon role not only
+because he had the largest medical practice, but because he belonged to
+the most active men in any field. He entered into every project as if
+to an attack, and thanks to a sober and an exceptional temper of mind,
+whatever he did was done, on the whole, sensibly and well. He was, as
+it were, a personification of that phenomenon, frequent in Poland,
+where, when amidst a public not only trammelled but negligent and
+indolent by nature, a man of energy and with an idea is found, he is
+able to accomplish more than any German, Frenchman, or Englishman could
+have done. He himself participated in every undertaking and compelled
+others to work with such spirit that he was nicknamed "Doctor Spur." He
+established secret schools, reading rooms, nurseries for the children,
+economical associations, and for everything he gave money, of which he
+earned a great deal, though he treated gratis throngs of the penniless.
+The local socialists hated him, for by his popularity and influence
+with the workingmen he frustrated their efforts. The authorities looked
+at him with suspicion and with an evil eye. A man who loved his
+country, organized life, spread enlightenment, and donated money for
+public uses, must in their eyes be a suspicious character and deserved
+at least deportation to a "distant province." Fortunately for him, the
+governor's wife imagined that she was suffering from some nervous
+ailment and the local captain of the gendarmery was actually troubled
+with incipient aneurism of the aorta. So then the governor's wife, who
+through her connections had made her husband governor and ruled the
+province as she pleased, was of the opinion that if it were not for
+this "l'homme qui rit" (as she called the doctor), eternal mourning
+would have befallen the governor, and the captain of the gendarmes
+feared alike the gubernatorial connections and the aneurism. He had
+indeed prepared a report which he regarded as the masterpiece of his
+life; and perhaps he became ill because he dared not send it to the
+higher authorities. Sometimes in his dreams, he arrested the doctor,
+subjected him to an examination, forced him to divulge his accomplices,
+and dreamt also that the report might be used in case the governor and
+himself were transferred to another province; but it was only a dream.
+In reality the report reposed on the bottom of a drawer and the doctor,
+who read it (for the captain showed it to him in proof of what he could
+have done but did not do), laughed so ingenuously and was so confident
+of himself that it occurred to the captain's mind that in reality there
+was no joking with the governor's wife or the aneurism.
+
+The doctor laughed because he was by nature unusually jovial. In
+certain cases he could think and speak gravely, but at chance meetings
+and at casual talks, in which there was no time for weighty discourse,
+he preferred to slide over the surface of the subject, scatter jests,
+and tell anecdotes, which later were repeated over the city, and which
+he himself much enjoyed. His optimism and beaming countenance created
+incurable optimism and hope and good thoughts wherever he appeared. He
+joked with the sick about their sickness and with jokes dispelled their
+fears. His mirth won the people and a well-grounded medical knowledge
+and efficacious watchfulness over their health and lives assured him a
+certain kind of sway over them. For this reason he did not mind the
+"big fish," or in fact anybody. Such was the case with the notary whose
+perpetual choler and irascibility were known all over the city, so that
+social relations with him were maintained only by those who were
+exceptionally interested in music. The doctor, who also cracked jokes
+about music, sought his company, purposely to nettle him and afterwards
+to tell about his outbreaks, to his own amusement and that of his
+hearers.
+
+And now he rushed in with the crash of a squall, became acquainted with
+Gronski, asked about the health of Pani Krzycki and about the pretty
+ladies staying in Jastrzeb of whom he had already heard; after which,
+observing the distressed face of the notary, he exclaimed merrily:
+
+"What a mien! Is it so bad with us in this world, or what? Seventy-five
+years! A great thing! Truly it is not the age of strength, but it is
+the strength of the age! Please show your pulse!"
+
+Here, without further asking the notary, he grabbed his hand, and
+pulling out his watch, began to count:
+
+"One, two--one, two!--one, two! Bad! It is the pulse of one in love.
+There are symptoms of a slight heartburn! Such is usually the case.
+Such a machine cannot last more than twenty-five years,--at the most
+thirty. Thank you!"
+
+Saying this he dropped the old man's hand, whose mien brightened in
+expectation, for he thought that twenty-five years added to what he had
+already lived would make quite a respectable age.
+
+Pretending, however, to scowl, he answered:
+
+"Always those jokes! The doctor thinks that I care for those wretched
+twenty-five years. It is not worth while living now. Of course you know
+what is taking place. I have such a mien because I was just talking
+with Pan Gronski about it. I also have a heartburn. Well, I ask what
+will become of us if all the people should follow the socialists?"
+
+But the doctor began to swing his arms and deny this categorically. Not
+all the people, nor a half, nor a hundredth part. And even those who
+say that they belong to the socialists say so under terror or through
+misapprehension.
+
+"I will give you gentlemen two examples," he said. "I live on a lower
+floor and beneath me in the basement there is a locksmith's shop. This
+morning I overheard fragments of a conversation between my servant and
+the locksmith. The locksmith said, 'I am a socialist; there is nothing
+more to be said about it.' 'Why is nothing more to be said?' said my
+servant. 'Then you do not believe in God and do not love Poland.' 'And
+why should I not believe in God and love Poland?' 'Because the
+socialists do not believe in God and do not love Poland.' And the
+locksmith replied, 'So? Then may sickness plague them.' That is the way
+people belong to the socialists. I do not say all, but a great many.
+Ha!"
+
+And he began to laugh.
+
+"The doctor always finds an anecdote," grumbled the notary; "but let us
+tell the truth, thousands belong to them."
+
+"Then why do they not elect one deputy in the kingdom?" retorted the
+doctor. "Bombs explode loudly, so they can be heard better than any
+other work. But how many thousands participated in the national parade?
+Do these also belong to them? When in a factory ten men manage to hang
+a red flag on the chimney it seems that the whole factory is red, but
+that is not true."
+
+"Why do not the others tear it down?"
+
+"Simple reason! Because the police tear it down."
+
+"And also because the socialists have revolvers and the others have
+not," added Gronski.
+
+"Undoubtedly," continued the doctor. "I have ten times closer relations
+with the workingmen than any manager of a factory. I go into their
+dwellings and know their home life. I know them. Socialism is engaged
+in a struggle with the bureaucracy; so it seems to many that they
+belong to it. But, to the outrages only the worst and most ignorant
+element assents. The latter soon change into bandits, and that is not
+surprising. Their consciences have been taken away from them and
+revolvers are given to them. But the majority--the better and more
+honest majority--have under the ribs Polish hearts; and for that reason
+this demon, who wants to snatch and carry them away, called himself, as
+a bait, Polish. Ah! they only need schools, enlightenment, a knowledge
+of Polish history, in order not to allow themselves to be hoodwinked!
+Ay, that is what they need! Ay, ay!"
+
+And in his gesticulations, he seized the old man's arm and began to
+turn him around.
+
+"Schools, Pan Notary, schools; for the Lord's mercy!"
+
+Blood rushed to the notary's head from indignation.
+
+"Are you crazy!" he yelled. "Why do you jolt me like a pear?"
+
+"True," said the doctor, leaving him alone. "True, but the extent to
+which these poor fellows misapprehend things is enough to cause one to
+weep and laugh at the same time."
+
+"No, not to laugh," said Gronski.
+
+"Do you know, sir, that at times, yes," exclaimed the doctor; "for
+listen to my second instance. Last Sunday, being tired as a dog, I
+drove out to the Gorczynski woods, just outside of the city, for a
+little airing. In the woods from the opposite direction came more than
+a dozen of workingmen who evidently were enjoying a May outing. I saw
+one of them carrying a red flag on a newly whittled stick. He probably
+brought it in his pocket and fastened it when they got to the woods.
+'Good!' I thought to myself, 'Socialists!' And now, when they were
+near, the one who carried the flag sang lustily to the tune of
+'Bartoszu! Bartoszu!' that which I will repeat to you, and I pledge my
+word, I will not add or subtract anything.
+
+
+            'Kosciuszko, though a cobbler,
+            Oj, soundly thrashed the Germans,
+            Oj, soundly thrashed the Germans;
+            Only, it is a great pity
+            For us, that he drowned.
+            Only it is a great pity
+            For us, that he drowned.'"
+
+
+"Ah, honest simplicity!" exclaimed Gronski. "I would embrace him and
+present him with a history of Poland of recent times."
+
+"Wait, sir," shouted the doctor. "I stopped my socialists of strange
+rites. It appeared that almost all were known to me and I said: 'For
+the fear of God, citizens, Kosciuszko was not a cobbler, he never
+thrashed the Germans, and he did not drown, only Prince Joseph
+Poniatowski did. Come to me and I will give you a book about
+Kosciuszko, Kilinski,[4] and Prince Joseph Poniatowski, for you have
+made of them a bigos.[5] They began to thank me and then I asked: 'What
+has become of the eagle on your flag? did he go hunting for mushrooms?'
+They became confused. The flag-bearer started to explain why they had
+no eagle. 'Why, may it please the doctor,' he said, 'they told us: Do
+not take a flag with an eagle, for if they take the flag away from you,
+they will insult the eagle and you will suffer shame and disgrace.'
+Yes. In this manner they cheat the Polish heart of our own people."
+
+But the notary did not want to part with his black spectacles.
+
+"Well, what of it?" he asked. "Do you claim that if it was not for this
+and that there would not be any socialism amongst us?"
+
+"There is socialism over the entire world," rejoined the doctor,
+"therefore there must be with us. Only if it was not for this and that,
+there would not accompany it highway robbery, savagery, and blindness;
+there would not be this modern socialism which has styled itself
+Polish, though its pitch can be smelt a mile away."
+
+"Bravo!" cried Gronski. "I said the same thing in other words to
+another person on the road from Jastrzeb."
+
+"Ay, Jastrzeb," said the doctor looking at his watch. "Here we are
+talking and it is time that we started."
+
+"Perhaps the notary can go with us," said Gronski. "The carriage has
+seats for four."
+
+"I can. Only I will take my flute with me. Well!" answered the notary.
+
+"Well!" repeated Szremski, mimicking him. "Aha, the flute! Then there
+will be a serenade in Jastrzeb, while here the socialists will rob the
+office."
+
+The notary who was going after his flute, suddenly turned around,
+sniffed vehemently, and said:
+
+"To-day they sent me a sentence of death."
+
+"Bah! I already have received two of them," merrily answered the
+doctor.
+
+A quarter of an hour later they were on the road to Jastrzeb. On this
+occasion, Gronski and the doctor drew so closely to each other and
+talked so much, that, as Gronski said later, there was not a place in
+which to stick a pin.
+
+
+
+                                   XI
+
+The distance between the city and Jastrzeb was not more than a mile and
+a half. For this reason Gronski, the notary, and Szremski reached their
+destination before four o'clock. They were expected for dinner but in
+the meantime Ladislaus conducted the ladies over the sawmill; so the
+doctor repaired to Pani Krzycki and Gronski ordered the saddle unpacked
+and taken to Marynia's room. In a half hour the young company returned
+and, greeting the notary, assembled in the salon to await the dinner.
+The notary at the sight of Marynia forgot all about death sentences,
+about the outrages perpetrated in the city, about socialism and the
+whole world and, after kissing her hand, appropriated her exclusively
+for himself. Gronski began to initiate Pani Otocka into the reasons of
+his trip to the city, while Krzycki conversed with Miss Anney and
+became as engrossed with her as if there were no one else in the room.
+It was apparent that his exclamation on that morning that "one could
+lose his head" was but a confirmation of a symptom which intensified
+more and more with each moment. His uncommonly handsome young face
+glowed as if from the dawn, for in his bosom he did have the dawn of a
+new, happy feeling, which beamed through the eyes, the smile on the
+lips, through every motion, and through the words he addressed to Miss
+Anney. The spell held him more and more; a secret magnet drew him with
+steadily increasing power to this light-haired maid, looking so young,
+buxom, and alluring. He did not even attempt to resist that power.
+Gronski observed that he evinced his rapture too plainly and that in
+the presence of his mother he should have acted with more
+circumspection. Miss Anney also felt this, as from time to time blushes
+suffused her countenance and she pushed back her chair a little,
+besides glancing about at those present as if in fear that the
+excessive affability of the young host towards her might attract too
+much attention. But the matter, however, was agreeable to her, for in
+her eyes a certain joy flamed. Only Dolhanski gazed at her from time to
+time; the others were mutually occupied.
+
+The appearance of the doctor ended the conversations. Krzycki, after
+introducing him to the ladies, together with them began to inquire
+about the health of the patient, but the doctor was evidently
+disinclined to speak at any length, for he answered in a few words and
+in accordance with his habit spoke so loudly that Dolhanski, in his
+surprise, placed the monocle on his eye.
+
+"Nothing serious! Monsummano! Monsummano! or something like that! I
+will prescribe everything! Nothing serious! Nothing!"
+
+"But what is Monsummano?" asked Ladislaus.
+
+"That is a warm hole in Italy in which rheumatism is boiled out. A kind
+of purgatory after which salvation follows! Besides Italy, a delightful
+journey! I will prescribe everything in detail."
+
+Gronski, who often had travelled over Italy, also knew this place and
+began to describe it to the curious ladies. In the meantime Ladislaus
+talked about his mother's health with the doctor, who, however,
+listened to him inattentively, repeating, "I will prescribe
+everything," shaking his head, and looking about him, as if with
+curiosity, at each of the ladies in rotation. Suddenly he slapped his
+hand on his knee with a thwack which could be heard all over the room
+and exclaimed:
+
+"What marvellous faces there are in Jastrzeb and what skulls! Ha!"
+
+Dolhanski dropped his monocle, the ladies looked amazed, but Krzycki
+began to laugh.
+
+"The doctor has a habit of thinking aloud," he said.
+
+"And bawling out yet more loudly," grumbled the notary.
+
+"How is your flute?" the doctor replied, laughingly.
+
+But at that moment the servant announced that dinner was ready. Hearing
+this, Pani Otocka turned with a peculiar smile to her sister and said:
+
+"Marynia, your hair is all disheveled. Look at yourself in a glass."
+
+The young lady raised her hands to her head, but as there were no
+mirrors in the salon, she, a little confused, said:
+
+"Beg pardon, I will return immediately."
+
+She hastened to her room, but soon returned still more confused with
+blushes and with a radiant countenance.
+
+"A ladies' saddle!" she began to cry, "a most beautiful ladies'
+saddle!"
+
+And passing her eyes over those present, she pointed at Gronski:
+
+"Was it you?"
+
+"I confess," said Gronski, spreading out his hands and bowing his head.
+
+She, on her part, had such a desire to kiss his hand that if the doctor
+and the notary had not been present, she certainly would have done so.
+In the meanwhile she began to thank him with effusive and perfectly
+childish glee.
+
+"I see, Panna Marynia, that you are fond of horseback riding," said
+Szremski.
+
+"I am fond of everything."
+
+"There you have it," cried the amused doctor.
+
+"Only secure a gentle horse; otherwise it will not be hard to meet with
+accidents," observed the notary.
+
+It soon became apparent that such a one could be procured, for on the
+economical Jastrzeb estate horses were the only item of which a strict
+account was not kept. Krzycki indeed maintained that they could be bred
+profitably, but he did not breed them for gain but from that
+traditional love of them, the immoderateness of which the reverend
+Skarga,[6] a few centuries before, censured in his ancestors in the
+eloquent words: "Dearer to you is the offspring of a mare than the Son
+of God!" Horses therefore were not wanting in Jastrzeb and the
+conversation about them and horsemanship continued, to the great
+dissatisfaction of the notary, throughout the whole dinner. Those
+present learned that Marynia was not entirely a novice, for at Zalesin,
+at her sister's, she rode in summer time almost daily in the company of
+the old manager on a clumsy, lanky pony, named Pierog. Her sister would
+not permit her to ride on any other horse and "what enjoyment could
+there be riding on Pierog?" She stated that this Pierog had a nasty
+habit of returning home, not when she wanted to, but when he desired
+to, and no urging nor threats could swerve him from his purpose when
+once formed. She also sincerely envied Miss Anney who rode so well and
+had ridden all the horses in Zalesin, even those unaccustomed to the
+saddle. But in England all the ladies ride on horseback, while with us
+somebody is worrying about somebody else. She hoped, however, that in
+Jastrzeb with so many skilled riders, "Zosia" will not have any fears
+about her; and that immediately after dinner they will go on an
+equestrian excursion and that she will be allowed to join the party,
+without, thank God, Pierog.
+
+Ladislaus, in whom expectations of distant horseback jaunts in Miss
+Anney's company had excited fond hopes, and whom, as well as the
+others, the story about Pierog had put into good humor, turned to
+Marynia and said:
+
+"I will give you a horse with iron legs, who is called 'Swimmer'
+because he can swim excellently. As for an excursion, the day is long
+and we could arrange one, if it were not that it is beginning to get
+cloudy."
+
+"It will surely clear up," answered Marynia, "and I will dress myself
+right after dinner."
+
+In fact, after dinner the guests were barely able to finish their black
+coffee before she appeared on the veranda, dressed in a black,
+tight-fitting riding-habit. In it she was simply charming, but so
+slender and tall that Gronski, gazing at her with his usual admiration,
+was the first to begin jesting:
+
+"A real little flute," he said. "The wind will carry off such a
+woodcock, especially since it is commencing to blow."
+
+And a strong blast of the western, warm wind really began to bend the
+tree-tops and drive here and there over the heavens clouds which on the
+azure background assumed large, ruddy, and globular forms.
+
+Ladislaus, however, gave orders to saddle the horses and soon
+thereafter hastened to the stables to supervise the work. Miss Anney
+went upstairs to change her clothes; Gronski and Dolhanski followed her
+example. On the veranda remained only Pani Zosia, the doctor, the
+notary, and, attired as an equestrienne, Marynia, who cast uneasy
+glances alternately at the stables and at the sky, which was becoming
+more and more cloudy. After a time the first drops of rain began to
+fall and immediately thereafter a more important hindrance to their
+excursion occurred, for unexpectedly neighbors from Gorek, Pani Wlocek
+and daughter, the same who attended the funeral of Zarnowski, arrived
+in a carriage. In view of this, the horseback jaunt had to be
+abandoned.
+
+The Wlocek ladies came to ascertain the condition of Pani Krzycki's
+health and at the same time to beg Ladislaus for advice and succor, for
+in Gorek an agricultural strike had suddenly broke out among the manor
+and farmhouse laborers. The old coachman could hardly be induced to
+drive them to Jastrzeb for he was threatened with a beating. Both
+ladies were much frightened, much powdered, and more pathetic than
+ever. After the first greetings, mutual introductions, and a short talk
+about Pani Krzycki's rheumatism, the mother, at the after-dinner tea,
+addressed Ladislaus in doleful terms, adjuring him to hasten, like a
+knight of old, to the defence of oppressed innocence. She said that she
+was not concerned about herself, as after the losses she had survived
+and the suffering she had undergone, "the silent grave" in the Rzeslewo
+cemetery was the most appropriate refuge for her; but an orphan
+remained who still had some claims upon life. Let him extend some
+friendly protection and shield from blows and attacks this lone orphan
+for whom she herself was ready to sacrifice her life. To this the
+orphan replied that she too was not concerned about herself but about
+the peace of Mamma;--and in this manner the conversation changed almost
+exclusively in to a dialogue between these ladies in which the words,
+"Allow me, child," "Permit me, Mamma," were repeated every minute and
+in which the immoderate willingness of both parties to be immolated
+became in the end almost tart. Ladislaus, knowing these ladies of old,
+listened gravely; Pani Zosia looked at the bottom of her cup, not
+daring to glance at Marynia, who contracted the corners of her mouth;
+the notary sniffed and chewed; and the doctor ejaculated his "Ha!" with
+such resonance that the flies whisked off the net mantle which covered
+the butter and pastry.
+
+But, in the meanwhile, out-of-doors the storm and thunder began to rage
+and interrupted the sacrificial dialogue between mother and daughter.
+The rooms darkened; on the windows for a time the patter of the shower
+was heard; and the lightning illuminated the cloudy firmament. But this
+lasted a brief while; after which Ladislaus began to reply and promise
+aid to the ladies, always with becoming gravity but at the same time
+with a peculiar kind of expression on his face which portended that the
+young wag had a surprise concealed in his bosom. He announced,
+therefore, that he was ready to mount a horse and invest Gorek with his
+care; afterwards he quieted the ladies with the assurances that the
+manifestations which had so alarmed them were transient; that in
+Rzeslewo, it was temporarily the same, but that undoubtedly within a
+short time means of foiling that evil would be found. In conclusion he
+turned to Pani Wlocek and, pointing at Dolhanski, unexpectedly said:
+
+"I do not know whether my protection will be effective for I must watch
+at the same time over Rzeslewo and over Jastrzeb, in which at present
+we have such agreeable guests. But here is Pan Dolhanski, a man well
+known for his courage, energy, and sagacity, who has given me the best
+advice about Rzeslewo. If he wished to aid you or if he agreed to take
+into his hands the affairs of Gorek and Kwasnoborz, I am certain that
+he would establish order there in the course of a few days, and under
+his wings, ladies, no dangers could befall you."
+
+All eyes, and particularly the eyes of the mother and daughter, were
+now directed at Dolhanski. But if Ladislaus, who wanted to revenge
+himself on him for his "officiousness," calculated that he would get
+him into an unexpected scrape, he was mistaken, for Dolhanski coolly
+bowed to the ladies from Gorek and replied, drawling each word as
+usual:
+
+"With the greatest pleasure, but we must wait until the rain stops."
+
+"Then, sir, you agree to be our knight?" cried Pani Wlocek, extending
+her hands towards him and at the same time gazing at him with a
+suddenly awakened curiosity and surprise.
+
+"With the greatest pleasure," repeated Dolhanski; "the strike will be
+over to-morrow."
+
+His complete self-assurance impressed everybody, particularly the
+ladies from Gorek. At the same time, the cold tone in which he spoke
+affected Pani Wlocek so much that for a while she lost her usual
+pathetic volubility and after an interval she replied:
+
+"In the name of an orphan, I thank you."
+
+But the orphan apparently preferred to thank him herself, for she
+stretched out both hands towards Dolhanski and after a brief silence,
+which might be explained by her emotions, spoke in a voice resembling
+the rustle of leaves:
+
+"I am concerned about mamma."
+
+"So am I," Dolhanski assured her.
+
+But the mother and daughter now turned to each other:
+
+"Allow me, child; here I am nothing."
+
+"Permit me, Mamma; Mamma is everything."
+
+"But I beg pardon, child--"
+
+"Pardon me, Mamma,--"
+
+And the strife about the burnt offerings began anew. It did not,
+however, last long, as, firstly, the doctor began to make so much noise
+that they could be heard with difficulty and then, Pani Krzycki, whom
+the young physician permitted to rise and move to an armchair, sent a
+message asking the ladies to visit her. After their departure the
+doctor went to the office to write out specifically where and how the
+cure should be conducted; the notary became occupied with his flute in
+the vestibule. Gronski, Dolhanski, and Ladislaus for a while remained
+alone.
+
+Then Dolhanski addressed Ladislaus:
+
+"What are these Gorek and Kwasnoborz?"
+
+"About fifteen hundred acres, and there is also Zabianka."
+
+"So I have heard. And the soil?"
+
+"Almost the same as at Rzeslewo. In Zabianka it is said to be better."
+
+"So I have heard. The state of the fortune?"
+
+"Bad and good. Bad, because these ladies will not invest in anything.
+Good, because they have no debts and every penny which flows from the
+husbandry, after it gets into the stockings, never beholds daylight
+again."
+
+"That is what I have been waiting for," said Dolhanski.
+
+"They are as stingy as they are pathetic, and who knows whether they
+are not stingier?"
+
+"Let them hoard."
+
+And Gronski began to laugh and quoted:
+
+"Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves--sic vos non vobis mellificates
+apes--"
+
+"Yes," said Dolhanski.
+
+After which suddenly to Gronski:
+
+"To-morrow I will propose for the hand of Cousin Otocka."
+
+"To-day you are full of surprises," replied Gronski.
+
+"Wait! And I will be given the mitten."
+
+"Without any doubt."
+
+"But I want to have a clear conscience. After which I will drive over
+to Gorek."
+
+"That is already known. And you will quell the agitated waves of a
+strike."
+
+"In the course of a day. As you see me here."
+
+After which he pointed at Ladislaus.
+
+"That simplex servus Dei became unwittingly an instrument in the hands
+of Providence. The Lord often avails Himself of pigmies. For this, when
+you become bankrupt in Jastrzeb, apply to me at Gorek."
+
+"Provided that before that time you are not reduced to the same level,"
+responded Ladislaus, laughing. "You are an excellent leveller."
+
+"We live in an age of universal levelling. But what is Panna Wlocek's
+Christian name?"
+
+"Kajetana."
+
+"Plait-il?"
+
+"Kajetana," repeated Krzycki. "Her father's christian name was Kajetan
+and she was named in memory of him."
+
+"Tell me then why that well-stocked Kajetana preserved herself in her
+virgin state until the age of thirty or more?"
+
+"Thirty-five, to be accurate. That is what my mother said not long ago.
+She remembers the day of her birth. As to why she is unmarried the
+reason is plain. Parties were not wanting but those ladies looked too
+high. In the neighborhood, we only have the common nobility; and among
+the Krzyckis there was not a bachelor of suitable age. You, in this
+respect, would correspond to their fantasy--"
+
+"That is well!" answered Dolhanski, "only that name! Kajetana!
+Kajetana! That seems to be a kind of carriage or boat! Do I know?"
+
+Gronski and Ladislaus regarded Dolhanski's announcement as a joke, as
+one of the sallies of wit which often crossed his mind. He, however,
+kept his word, for on the following day he proposed to Pani Otocka with
+due gravity and, after receiving an equally grave refusal, rode off to
+Gorek and settled there for a time. The young ladies, and even Pani
+Krzycki, were greatly amused and interested in all this, especially
+when the news reached them that the agrarian strike in Gorek ended the
+same day on which Dolhanski appeared. And it also ended a few days
+later in Rzeslewo, partly from the force of circumstances, from the
+conviction innate in the peasant soul that the "holy land" is not to be
+trifled with, and partly owing to the news which spread over the
+village that somebody from some kind of a committee was to come and
+decide the whole matter. Such was the case with the manor servants. The
+peasants and husbandmen did not want to agree to any school and would
+not relinquish the possession of the manor lands, but awaited this
+somebody in equal fear and hope, sacredly believing that not the will
+nor the law but some unknown power would decide everything. In the
+villages, in the meantime, more peaceful days ensued, and though the
+daily papers brought intelligence of increased commotion in the cities,
+Ladislaus believed that the local storm had passed away. This belief
+was shared by the guests. As the doctor had announced that Pani
+Krzycki's departure depended upon the first signs of alleviation of her
+suffering, Ladislaus determined to take the best advantage he could of
+the brief time the young ladies were to remain in Jastrzeb. The
+horseback excursions began and unless prevented by rain took place
+every morning. They were particularly agreeable to Ladislaus because
+Gronski, riding leisurely, kept company with his "adoration," while he
+could pass hours alone with Miss Anney. Both were expert riders; they
+usually dashed ahead and most frequently disappeared from view in the
+distance. At times, they set off at full gallop, and intoxicated
+themselves with the mad speed, the air, the sun, and each other. At
+other times they rode abreast, slowly, stirrup to stirrup, and then the
+silence into which they fell, anxious, full of inexpressible delight,
+linked them with ties yet stronger than those with which their
+conversation bound them. With a glance Krzycki scanned the figure of
+the golden-haired maiden, resembling on horseback the divine Grecian
+forms or those on Etruscan vases, and feasted his eyes. He listened to
+her voice and it seemed to him that it was music still nearer
+perfection than that which poured forth from Marynia's violin. At times
+when he assisted her to mount her horse, he had to exert the full
+strength of his will to refrain from pressing her foot to his lips and
+forehead. And often he thought that if he ever dared to do so, he would
+desire to remain in that position as long as possible. To this feminine
+being all his thoughts were impelled, and through the might and flight
+of his feeling, his desires ceased to be like crawling serpents and
+became like winged birds, capable of soaring unto heaven. His love each
+day became more like a whirlpool which drags to itself and engulfs
+everything. It seemed to Ladislaus that the air, the sun, the fields,
+the forests, the meadows, the scent of the trees and flowers, the song
+of birds and the evening playing of Marynia,--all these were only some
+of the elements of that love which belonged to Miss Anney and entered
+into her being and, without her, would be insignificant and without
+essence. Moreover, the whirlpool seized him and plunged him more and
+more deeply with a power to which each day he offered less resistance,
+for the simple reason that the abyss appeared to him to be the abyss of
+happiness. Ladislaus now did not surrender her to any Englishman "with
+protruding jaw" or any Scot "with bare knees," and would not have given
+her up for the whole of England and Scotland. He ceased trying to
+persuade himself that this was a type of woman, which he might have
+loved and, instead, he confessed to himself sincerely that she was a
+woman whom he did love. Love generated in him a bright and determined
+will; so now he thought, with the strict logic of feeling, that he
+craved to win this, to him, most precious and most desired being, to
+take and retain her for his whole life. There was only one road leading
+to that: therefore he determined to enter upon it with that heedless
+willingness which a man, who desires to be happy, evinces. Sometimes
+also a confession quivered upon his lips. He restrained it however and
+deferred it from day to day, at first owing to a timidity which every
+enamoured heart feels, and again through calculation. For if Love is
+blind, it certainly is not so to whatever may bring it benefits. It can
+even weigh benefits and obstacles upon such delicate scales that in
+this regard it is perhaps the most cautious, the most prescient, and
+the shrewdest of human feelings. In fact Ladislaus observed that his
+mother and Miss Anney were bound by a sympathy which, on the part of
+youth, health, and strength was productive of a certain friendly care,
+and on the part of weakness and old age, of gratitude. All three ladies
+were solicitous about his mother, but neither the solicitude of Pani
+Otocka, nor that of Marynia, was so vigilant or so efficacious as the
+watchfulness of Miss Anney. Pani Krzycki candidly said that even
+Ladislaus could not move from room to room with such dexterity the
+armchair to which temporary disability had riveted her; that he could
+not anticipate and humor her wants as could this light-haired "good
+English diviner."
+
+To Krzycki, it frequently occurred that certainly this "good diviner"
+did all that through kindness and sincere friendship, but also because
+she wanted to conciliate his mother. And his heart trembled with joy at
+the thought that the moment would arrive when the wishes of his mother
+would coincide with that for which he, himself, most strongly yearned.
+He feared that a premature avowal might sever the ties which were being
+formed and for that reason he checked the word, which often burned his
+lips like a flame.
+
+After all, there was an avowal in their silence and glances. Ladislaus
+did not dare and, until that time, did not wish to tell her plainly
+that he loved her; he wanted, however, with each word to clear the path
+and approach that eagerly desired moment. In the meantime it happened
+that, either from lack of breath he could not speak at all, or else he
+said something entirely different from what he intended to say. Once
+when they rode amidst luxuriant winter corn and when a light breeze
+bent towards them the rye stalks, together with the red poppy and the
+gray fescue-grass, he decided to tell her that all Jastrzeb bowed at
+her feet; and he said, with a great beating of his heart, in a hollow
+voice not his own, "that in places the grain is lying down." After
+which, in his soul, he called himself an idiot and fretted at the
+supposition that a similar opinion of him must have crossed her mind.
+It seemed to him that she, beyond comparison, exercised a better
+self-control and that she could always say just what she wished to say.
+Consequently, even at times when partly through coquetry and partly
+because of her habit of repeating his expressions like an echo, she
+answered, for instance, "that in places the grain is lying down," he
+discerned in her words an unheard-of significance and later pondered
+over them for hours.
+
+But he also had, particularly in the morning, moments of greater
+tranquillity of mind and greater peace, in which his words were not
+like a disarrayed rank of soldiers, each one marching in a different
+direction. At times, the themes for these quieter conversations were
+furnished by some external objects, but oftener by anxiety occasioned
+by the impending separation. Krzycki at such times hid behind his
+mother and in her name expressed that which he did not dare to say in
+his own.
+
+"I can imagine," he said the day following the second visit of the
+doctor, "how Mother will long for you."
+
+And the maiden, to whom it evidently occurred that not only the mother
+but the son would long for her, looked at him a little teasingly, with
+the hazy light of her strange eyes, and replied:
+
+"I am such a bird of flight that your mother will soon become
+disaccustomed to me."
+
+"Oh, I warrant you that she will not," exclaimed Ladislaus.
+
+After which, he added:
+
+"I know Mother; she has fallen in love with you immensely."
+
+"Why, hardly ten days have elapsed since we arrived. Is it possible to
+fall in love so soon?"
+
+To this Ladislaus replied with deep conviction:
+
+"It is! I give you my word, it is!"
+
+There was something so naive in the manner and tone of the reply that
+Miss Anney could not refrain from laughing. But he observed this and
+began to speak rapidly as if he wished to explain and justify himself:
+
+"For do we know whence love comes? Often at the first glance of the eye
+upon a human face we have such an impression as if we found some one
+whom we were seeking. There are certain unalterable forces which
+mutually attract people, although before that time they may have never
+met and though they had lived far away from each other."
+
+"And must such persons always meet each other?"
+
+"No," he answered, "I think not always. But then perhaps they are
+continually yearning, not knowing for what, and feel an eternal vacuity
+in life."
+
+And here, in spite of his will, the sincere poetry of youth and
+sentiment spoke through his lips:
+
+"You called yourself a bird of flight," he said. "Beloved also is that
+bird, only not as a bird which flies away but rather as a bird which
+flies hitherward. For it flies unexpectedly from somewhere in the
+distance--from beyond the mountains, from beyond the sea, and nests in
+the heart, and begins to sing such a song that one hearing it would
+fain close his eyes and never waken again."
+
+And thus he spoke until he grew pale from emotion. For a time he was
+agitated, like a whirlwind, by the desire to dismount from his horse
+and embrace the feet of the maiden with his arms and cry: "Thou art
+that beloved one: therefore do not fly away, my dear bird!" But
+simultaneously he was seized by a prodigious fear of that night which
+would encompass him if his entreaty should prove futile.
+
+So he merely uncovered his head, as if he wanted to display his heated
+forehead. A long silence, which fell between them, was only interrupted
+by the snorting of the horses, which now proceeded in an ambling pace,
+emitting under the bridles a white foam.
+
+After which Miss Anney spoke in a subdued voice which sounded a little
+like a warning:
+
+"I hear Pan Gronski approaching with Marynia."
+
+In fact the other couple soon approached, happy and animated. Marynia,
+a few paces away, exclaimed:
+
+"Pan Gronski was telling me such beautiful things about Rome. I am
+sorry that you did not hear them."
+
+"More about the neighborhood of Rome, than Rome itself," said Gronski.
+
+"Yes. I was in Tivoli. I was in Castel Gandolfo, in Nemi. Wonders! I
+will tease Zosia until in truth we will go there and Pan Gronski with
+us."
+
+"Will you take me along?" asked Miss Anney.
+
+"Of course! We will all go in the autumn or next spring. Did you folks
+also talk about a trip?"
+
+For a time there was no response.
+
+"No," Miss Anney finally replied. "We were talking about birds of
+flight."
+
+"Why, now it is spring and birds do not fly away."
+
+"Nevertheless, you ladies are making preparations for flying away,"
+answered Ladislaus with a sigh.
+
+"True," rejoined Marynia; "but that is because Aunt is going away; and
+she"--here she pointed at Miss Anney with her riding whip--"has urged
+us all three to go where the doctor is sending Aunt."
+
+After which she said to Ladislaus:
+
+"You would not believe, sir, how honest she is and how she loves Aunt."
+
+"I, not believe? I?" cried Ladislaus with ardor.
+
+But Miss Anney, who a short time before had asked him whether one could
+fall in love so soon, became greatly confused and, dropping the reins,
+began with both hands to set something right on her hat, wishing to
+cover with them her countenance which glowed like the dawn.
+
+Ladislaus had heaven in his heart, and Marynia, for some time, gazed
+with her pellucid eyes, now at him and then at Miss Anney, for it was
+no secret to her that Krzycki was in love up to his ears, and this
+aroused her curiosity and amused her indescribably.
+
+
+
+                                  XII
+
+"See what I received to-day," said Ladislaus, handing Gronski a letter
+which came with others in the morning mail.
+
+Gronski glanced at it and knit his brow.
+
+"Ah!" he said, "a death sentence."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"With the seal of the P. P. S. They are distributing them quite
+prodigally."
+
+"Yes, just like the opposite party."
+
+"Both are alike. The notary also has one and the doctor several. What
+do you think of it?"
+
+"Je m'en fiche! But the situation amuses me. I do not know whether you
+have heard that the Provincial guards have unearthed a secret school in
+Jastrzeb, which I founded a year ago because my conscience commanded me
+to. It is a case which I greased but have not yet greased sufficiently.
+As a result, I now have suspended over me the fists of the authorities
+and the fists of the socialists. Enjoyable, is it not?"
+
+"It has often occurred to me that elsewhere people could not live under
+such conditions, and we not only live but laugh quite merrily."
+
+"For such is our sinewy Lechite nature."
+
+"Perhaps that is so. You must, nevertheless, be on your guard and it
+will be necessary to send the ladies away."
+
+"It will be necessary, it will be necessary," repeated Ladislaus. "And
+abroad too, for it is unsafe in Warsaw. But please do not say anything
+about this foolish sentence to Mother or any one else."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Mother positively insists upon my accompanying her, and I do not try
+to shun that--oh, no, not in the least! But summer is approaching and
+after that there will be the harvest. The overseer is an honest man but
+before my departure I must give him some specific instructions how and
+what he is to do. After they all leave, I would like to stay yet for a
+week or ten days. Mother will not be alone and without care, as in the
+first place the younger members of the family will be with her, and
+again you heard Cousin Marynia say that the ladies will go wherever
+Mother would be. Through all my life I will ever be grateful to Miss
+Anney for that proposal; for to Mother nothing could be better or more
+agreeable."
+
+"And for her son also, it seems to me," said Gronski, laughing.
+
+Ladislaus remained silent for a time; after which he began to press the
+palms of his hands on his temples and replied:
+
+"Yes. For why should I deny that which I confessed to myself and which
+everybody sees but Mother, who has not observed it because she seldom
+saw us together. But she also has fallen in love with Miss Anney. Who
+would not love her? Such a dear, golden creature. I have not, as yet,
+said anything to Mother because she has her mind set upon Pani Otocka
+and it will be unpleasant for her to give up the thought. I fear she
+might be offended. After all, I only know what is taking place within
+me, and nothing more. I dare not even say that I have any reasons for
+my illusion. I fear that it may all at once burst like a soap-bubble.
+Ah! How unhappy I would be. Already I cannot see anything in this world
+beyond her. Candidly speaking, I do not know what to do with myself,
+Jastrzeb, and life."
+
+And grasping Gronski's hand, he continued:
+
+"If you would only speak with Pani Otocka and ascertain from her
+whether I may have hope; for they are friends and certainly do not keep
+any secrets from each other. If you would only do this for me; and in
+due time speak with Mother! But with Pani Otocka as soon as possible!
+Will you do it?"
+
+"I have spoken with Pani Otocka about that," replied Gronski, "but
+what, do you suppose, she answered? That she could not tell me anything
+as Miss Anney confided to her a certain personal secret which she was
+not at liberty to divulge. I admit that this surprised me. In reality,
+the secret cannot be anything derogatory to Miss Anney, as otherwise
+Pani Otocka would not be on such cordial and intimate terms with her.
+They are like sisters, and in Warsaw they lived together, almost door
+to door. After all, Pani Otocka, it seemed to me, was sincerely in your
+favor and, at times, I received the impression that she was concerned
+in having matters come to the pass which they have. As for Marynia, she
+wriggles her little ears and with that it ends. In any case, be assured
+that you have not enemies in those ladies and, if you want to know my
+personal views, much less in Miss Anney."
+
+"Would to God! Would to God!" answered Ladislaus. "You have given me a
+little encouragement and I breathe more easily."
+
+"But you, I see, have fallen unto your ears," observed Gronski.
+
+"I give you my word that I prefer one of her fingers or the ray of her
+hair to all the women in the world. I never had a conception that one
+could thus surrender himself. At times I do not know what is happening
+to me or what will occur, for only think: I have Jastrzeb, the estate,
+the Rzeslewo affairs, Mother's departure, and here I cannot think of
+anything but her--but her--and to nothing else can I apply my mind. I
+regret every moment in which I do not gaze upon her. To-day, for
+instance, I received a summons from the Directory to come in reference
+to the will and Rzeslewo, and I postpone the matter until tomorrow. I
+cannot--plainly--I cannot! I would go at night were it not that the
+Directory is closed for the night."
+
+"Remember, however, the death sentence."
+
+"May the devil take them with their sentence, or let them finally shoot
+me in the head. I would still be thinking of her, especially after what
+you have told me. But how do you know that Pani Otocka is in my favor?
+Those are honest, golden hearts, both of those cousins! How did you say
+it? That they are not my enemies? Thank God, even for that! For, why
+should they hate me? But please speak with Pani Otocka again. I am not
+concerned about her betraying any secret but only that, knowing Miss
+Anney, she should say something one way or the other--you know what I
+want--certainty--even though a morsel--"
+
+"Certainly," said Gronski, laughing, "I will seek an opportunity
+to-day."
+
+"Thank you! Thank you!"
+
+In fact an opportunity was easily found, as Pani Otocka also had some
+news which she desired to impart to Gronski, and with this object she
+sent her maid to him with an invitation to meet her on the yoked elm
+walk, near the pond. When they met there she gave him, just as
+Ladislaus had done a while before, a letter which arrived in the same
+morning's mail and said:
+
+"Please read it and advise me what to do with it."
+
+It was a letter from Laskowicz to Marynia and its tenor was as follows:
+
+"A great idea is like a gigantic bird: her wings cast a shadow over the
+earth, while she hovers in the sun.
+
+"Whoever does not fly upwards with her is surrounded by darkness.
+
+"And darkness is death.
+
+"In that darkness, I behold Thee, like an alabaster statuette. This
+night the sounds of thy music reach me.
+
+"And lo, in my lonely chamber I think of Thee and grieve for Thee.
+
+"For Thou couldst be a beam-feather in the wings of this gigantic bird
+idea and inhale the pure air of the dizzy heights and play in glory to
+the legions of the living; and Thou breathest the air of tombs and
+playest to a life which is moribund and to souls that wither; and not
+to people but to ghosts.
+
+"I grieve for Thee, my silvery one.
+
+"And my thoughts fly to Thee like eagles.
+
+"For heretofore there was imbedded in my strength a part of human
+happiness but there was not in it my own happiness.
+
+"Now Thou suddenly glidest before my eyes like a light, and through my
+ears like music, and hast filled my bosom with a yearning for things I
+had not known before, and hast filled me with Thine own indispensable
+quintessence and a consciousness of my happiness.
+
+"Therefore I loved Thee the same night when I beheld Thee and heard
+Thee for the first time.
+
+"Henceforth, though Thou are not near me, I am with Thee and will
+follow wherever Thou wilt be.
+
+"For Thou art necessary to my existence and I am to Thee, in order to
+resuscitate Thee.
+
+"In order to snatch Thee from destruction; from amidst those who are
+about to die.
+
+"In order to surrender Thee to the great idea, and the exalted, and the
+light, and the living hosts who suffer from a dearth of bread and
+music.
+
+"Thee and Thy music.
+
+"May extermination not fail upon you both.
+
+"Oh, beloved one.
+
+
+"A certain night I summoned Thee but Thou didst not hear me and didst
+not come. Now I extend my hands towards Thee and say unto Thee: Come
+and slumber in my heart.
+
+"And when the time of awakening comes, I will wake Thee for a brief
+moment of pleasure, which love gives for the toil without an end and
+which the idea demands.
+
+"For toil and perchance for martyrdom.
+
+"But in that martyrdom for the dawn of a new life, there is greater
+happiness than in the dusk, mephitic air, ashes and mould of graves.
+
+"Therefore come even for martyrdom.
+
+"And until our existence floats into the sea of nothingness, abide with
+me.
+
+"Oh, beloved one."
+
+
+Gronski's countenance reflected perturbation. For a time he and Pani
+Otocka walked in silence.
+
+"What shall I do with this, and what does it mean?"
+
+"This is a disagreeable and vexatious matter, and the letter means that
+Laskowicz, who never in his life saw a being like Marynia, has fallen
+in love with her from the first acquaintance, as he himself says. I
+observed that after a few days and if I did not say anything to you
+about it, it was because Laskowicz was soon to leave. But he has fallen
+in love with his head and not his heart, for otherwise, instead of
+high-flown expressions, borrowed, as it were, from some school of
+literature, he would have found simpler and more sincere words. His
+exaltation may be sincere, it may waste and destroy him like a fever;
+it may last for whole years, but its chief source is the head and not
+the heart."
+
+But Pani Otocka, who at the moment was not in the least interested in
+an analysis of Laskowicz's feelings, interrupted a further
+disquisition:
+
+"But what are we to do, in view of this? How are we to act? It is about
+Marynia that I am concerned."
+
+"You are right," answered Gronski. "Pardon my untimely reflections, but
+it is always better to know with whom and with what one has to do. My
+opinion is that it would be best not to do anything, just as if this
+letter had not arrived. You may return it to Laskowicz, but that would
+be exceedingly contemptuous: this letter deserves, perhaps, to be
+thrown into a fireplace, but in my opinion it does not merit contempt.
+It is, if you will permit me to thus express myself, nervous and
+insolent, but it preserves a certain measure in its expressions and
+there is nothing brutal in it. Besides it expresses rather the thoughts
+which came to Laskowicz's mind than any actual hopes, and to that
+extent it might be explained to Marynia that this is not a letter to
+her but a poem for her, not quite felicitously conceived. And Marynia?
+What impression did it make upon her and what does she say?"
+
+"Marynia," answered Pani Otocka with a certain comic uneasiness, "is a
+little offended, a little worried and frightened, but in the innermost
+recesses of her heart, she is a little proud that somebody should have
+written such a letter to her."
+
+"Oh, I was certain of that," exclaimed Gronski, laughing involuntarily.
+
+After a while he began to speak seriously.
+
+"No doubt other letters will come and as these maybe more glaring, we
+will have to persuade the little one that she should not read them. If
+you will permit, I will undertake that, after which, you ladies ought
+to go to Warsaw, and, in a short time, journey abroad and the matter
+will end of itself."
+
+"To tell the truth," responded Pani Otocka, "I want to leave Jastrzeb
+as soon as possible. We are not necessary for Aunt but are rather a
+hindrance in the preparations for her departure, and I confess that I
+am possessed by fear. Please read that letter again carefully. Why,
+there are threats there against all the residents of Jastrzeb and even
+against Marynia if she stays with us."
+
+Gronski thought of Ladislaus receiving at the same time a death
+sentence, and in the first moments it occurred to him that it might
+have some connection with Laskowicz's letter. But after a while he
+recollected that similar sentences were sent to the doctor and even the
+aged notary: therefore to pacify Pani Otocka, he said:
+
+"These are times of continual menaces and everybody receives them, but
+I do not think that Laskowicz intended to warn Marynia of any imminent
+attack threatening us in Jastrzeb. He undoubtedly wished to say that
+the waves of socialism will sweep away all who do not float with it,
+and therefore us. But as the peace of yourself and Marynia is involved,
+as to leaving, why of course! Why should we not leave even to-morrow?"
+
+"I already thought of that, but Aunt urged us to wait for her and
+Aninka promised her that."
+
+"Then let her remain, and you ladies leave. Ah, so Miss Anney delays
+the departure? Good news for Laudie! May I tell him that? A while ago,
+he begged me to learn something from you,--for the poor fellow barely
+lives. He is the most love-sick swain within the boundaries of the
+Commonwealth."
+
+"So it has gone as far as that?"
+
+"It has! Evidently there is something inflammatory in the atmosphere of
+Jastrzeb. Here everybody falls in love, either openly or in secret."
+
+Hearing this, Pani Otocka unexpectedly blushed like a fifteen-year-old
+girl, and though this happened often and upon the most trivial
+provocation, Gronski being unable to surmise what had passed through
+her mind, looked at her with a certain wonder.
+
+"How then?" he said. "There are Laudie, Laskowicz, and Dolhanski. But
+Dolhanski has the most energy, for, after his latest repulse, he
+immediately decamps upon a new expedition, while Laudie fears."
+
+"What?" asked Pani Otocka, raising her eyes.
+
+"First, a repulse from which he thinks he could not recover, and,
+again, a discussion with his mother which awaits him."
+
+"Perhaps something else awaits Cousin Laudie, but he need not fear
+about Aninka."
+
+"He will die from joy when I tell him that, but in my way, I, who am
+known to you as a meddler, could die from curiosity."
+
+"What of it, when I have no right to speak about it?"
+
+"Not even when we leave Jastrzeb?"
+
+"Not even then. After all, everything will soon clear up."
+
+"In such case, I have procured enough for the nonce, and in the
+meanwhile I will return to Laudie to tell him the good news and apprise
+him of our departure. I will not mention anything about Laskowicz's
+letter, for tomorrow he will set off for the city and, if they met, a
+nasty encounter might result."
+
+
+
+                                  XIII
+
+Ladislaus, however, did not go to the city on the day following his
+conversation with Gronski, for he was notified that the meeting of the
+executors of Zarnowski's will was postponed for one week. The reason
+for this was that in two days a convention of the citizens of the
+vicinity was to commence in reference to providing insurance for the
+superannuated rural officials and manor-servants, and also in regard to
+the more burning question of introducing the Polish language into the
+communes,--a question in which the communal justices as well as the
+villagers were interested. Ladislaus determined, by all means, to
+participate in these debates, but as they were to take place in the
+forenoons, he formulated a plan of going to them every morning and
+returning home in the afternoon. In view of the proximity of Jastrzeb
+to the city, this plan was quite feasible.
+
+However, he was disappointed in the hope that he could devote those two
+days exclusively to the guests, or rather to the most precious of
+guests in Jastrzeb, as the disorders in Rzeslewo broke out with renewed
+virulence and they required almost all his time. The strike of the
+manor help, indeed, ceased so completely that the intervention, which
+Dolhanski advised, became superfluous and it was necessary to restrain
+it. But in the meantime individual tenants and some of the husbandmen
+began to commit depredations in the forest. Ladislaus, at the head of
+the local and Jastrzeb foresters, sought these disorderly persons, who,
+indeed, hid at the sight of him: nevertheless they assumed a very
+threatening attitude towards the servants, promising to all swift
+vengeance. The foresters received bulky letters, assuring them "that
+they would get a bullet in the head, and the heir also would." But the
+heir, who was not wanting in youthful energy and was not averse to
+adventure, did not at all neglect the defence of the Rzeslewo forests,
+and, what was more, he personally rushed over to Rzeslewo and summoning
+the malefactors, declared that he would invoke courts and punishment.
+
+And afterwards, he repaired at the designated time to the conference.
+It was to be the last day of the sojourn in Jastrzeb of Pani Otocka,
+Marynia, and Gronski, who decided to leave on the following day for
+Warsaw. Miss Anney, at Pani Krzycki's solicitation, agreed to remain
+for a few days, and leave with her. Ladislaus announced that he would
+return as soon as possible in order to spend the evening with all of
+them and to listen for the last time to Marynia's bewitching violin. He
+also said that he would induce the notary and the doctor to come with
+him.
+
+As a result, they waited dinner for them. In the meantime, about four
+o'clock, Gronski sat in his room writing a letter to Dolhanski,
+Marynia, upstairs, played her daily exercises, Pani Otocka sat with the
+patient, and Miss Anney went out on the balcony, ostensibly to
+photograph the old and lofty trees which enclosed the courtyard on two
+sides, but in reality to see whether he, whom they expected at home,
+was returning. So instead of photographing, she began to lose her sight
+and soul in the shady depths of the old linden roadway. Hope that soon
+she would behold in that depth a cloud of dust, horses, and carriages,
+and that afterwards the lively form of a youth would leap out, filled
+her with a quiet joy. Lo, after a while she would see before her that
+countenance, stately, sympathetic, and sincere; those eyes, whose every
+glance spoke to her a hundred times more than the lips, and would hear
+that voice which penetrated to her heart and thrilled it like music. At
+this thought, Miss Anney was encompassed with such sweet, calm feeling,
+as if she were a child and as if some loved hand were lightly rocking
+her to sleep; as if she were resting in a boat, which the gentle waves
+bore somewhere into a distance, unknown, but radiant. To permit herself
+to be rocked, to allow herself to be borne, to confide in the waves, to
+not think, for the time being, of where the boat will stop,--this was
+all that the heart of the maiden, at such moments, desired. But at
+other moments, when she propounded to herself the question, "What will
+happen further?" she looked with faith into the future. Sometimes when
+sleep refused to close her eyes, there flitted through her mind, like
+dark butterflies, uncertainties and fears, but even then she said to
+herself that the heaven may become cloudy in the future, but at present
+she was enjoying charming, fair weather, and every day was like a
+flower, and she plucked those flowers, one after another and laid them
+upon her bosom. So she thought that for this it was worth while to live
+and even to die.
+
+And at that moment, though her soul was dissolving in the sun, in the
+serene atmosphere, in the rustle of leaves and in the great pastoral
+calm, flooded with light, she had no desire to die, for it seemed to
+her that, with the air, she inhaled joyful appeasement. Everything
+about her began to lose the mark of reality and change into an azure
+vision of happiness, half dreamy, half wakeful. From this revery she
+was aroused by the sight, awaiting which she had sat for almost an hour
+on the balcony. Lo, at the uttermost end of the roadway her eagerly
+desired cloud of dust appeared and it approached with unusual rapidity.
+Miss Anney recollected herself. In the first moments she wanted to
+retire. "It is necessary, it is necessary," she said to herself,
+"otherwise he will be apt to think that I was waiting for him." And she
+would have been sincerely indignant had any one suggested to her that
+such was the case. But suddenly her knees became so weak that she sat
+again, clutching the camera in order that it might appear that when
+found on the balcony she was taking photographs. In the meantime the
+cloud drew nearer the gates of entry, continuing with the same speed.
+Soon in harmony with the picture which the maiden had previously
+formed, the gray heads of the fore horses emerged from the dust. Like
+lightning, an impression of joy shook Miss Anney. "How he is flying and
+how anxious he is!" But immediately afterwards, as she began to wonder
+at the amazing speed, she thought that the horses were frightened.
+They were already so close to the gates that she could perceive the
+wind-tossed manes, the distended bloody nostrils and the frantic
+motions of the horses' feet. Suddenly she rose and her eyes reflected
+horror, for she observed that the coachman sat, bent so that only the
+top of his head could be seen--without a cap. In the meantime the
+intractable horses dashed through the gate; at the winding, the
+coachman fell off and the carriage with slightly diminished speed swung
+in a semi-circle along the border of the flower-bed. In the carriage,
+on the rear seat, Ladislaus sat alone, with his head tilted upwards and
+propped upon a carriage cushion. A cry of terror escaped from Miss
+Anney's breast. The horses, in the twinkle of an eye, reached the
+balcony and being accustomed to stop before it, implanted their hoofs
+in the ground. Ladislaus moved and, pale as a corpse, with blood
+streaming over his collar and coat sleeves, staggered from the
+carriage; when the maiden hurried towards him, he cried, grasping the
+air with his mouth:
+
+"Nothing!... I am wounded, but it is nothing!"
+
+And he toppled to the ground at her feet.
+
+And she, in a moment raised him with a strength, amazing in a woman,
+and supporting him with her arms and breast, began to shriek:
+
+"Save him! Help! Help!"
+
+
+
+
+                              PART SECOND.
+
+
+
+                                   I
+
+When Miss Anney raised the wounded young man, the household servants
+were in the other part of the house. Nearest to her--for they were in
+the vestibule playing billiards--were Pani Zosia and Marynia. These
+ladies rushed upon the balcony and, seeing Miss Anney supporting the
+disabled youth, emulating her example, began to shout at the top of
+their voices. She, in the meantime, placed him upon a bench on the
+balcony and enclosing him in her arms, called for water. Both sisters
+hurried to the sideboard for it and alarmed the whole house. Gronski
+and everything living collected there. In the first moments Gronski
+lost his head and when he recovered his senses he sent Pani Otocka to
+Ladislaus' mother to apprise her of the occurrence. In the meanwhile
+Miss Anney ordered the servants to carry the wounded man. She, herself,
+was compelled for a while to attend to her maid, who at the sight of
+Ladislaus, began to scream and then fell into hysterical convulsions.
+Gronski hastened to the stable to dispatch horses for the doctor.
+
+But before the wounded man was borne to his room his mother came
+precipitately. At the news of the misfortune, she forgot about her
+rheumatism and assisted in the removal of her son, and in undressing
+and laying him in bed. Afterwards she began to wash out the wounds with
+a sponge. Ladislaus, owing to a copious flow of blood, fell into a long
+faint, and, after regaining consciousness for a brief interval, fainted
+again: in consequence of which he could not give any information about
+the occurrence. He only repeated several times, "In the woods, in the
+woods!" From which they could infer that the attack took place, not
+upon the public highway but on the borders of Rzeslewo or Jastrzeb.
+
+In the meantime, the rattle of a britzka resounded before the balcony
+and, a moment later, Gronski summoned Miss Anney from her room, where
+she was hastily changing her clothes, which were covered with blood.
+
+"I am riding alone," he said. "The coachman is on the sick list and the
+housekeeper has taken charge of him. None of the grooms want to go. All
+are scared and positively refuse. Only the old lackey is willing to
+drive, but I think that he cannot drive any better than I can."
+
+"It is imperatively necessary to drive for the doctor at once,"
+answered Miss Anney, pressing the palms of her hands to her burning
+cheeks, "but it is also necessary to prepare for the defence of the
+house. Please hurry to the farmers' quarters and send for the forest
+rangers to come with their arms. Otherwise those men will be apt to
+break in here and administer the finishing blow to him."
+
+"That is true."
+
+And she continued hurriedly:
+
+"It is necessary to send some one for the men in the sawmill and arm
+them with firearms. The field hands will follow their example. In all
+probability an assault will be made upon the manor-house and here are
+only women. You must assume charge of the defence. Please go at once,
+and do send for the forest rangers."
+
+Gronski admitted the propriety of the advice, and proceeded immediately
+to the farmers' buildings. It was within the range of possibility that
+the assailants, not knowing the result of their shooting, might wish to
+ascertain and perhaps finish their work. This had happened in several
+instances, and in view of this, all, and, more particularly, the women,
+were concerned. Gronski was not an energetic man, but no coward, and
+the thought of the being most precious to him in the world, Marynia,
+infused him with energy. He immediately sent the field hands for the
+forest rangers, as well as to the sawmill, where a dozen or more men
+worked, of whom it was known in the manor, as well as in the village,
+that they read "The Pole" and did not fear any one. The manor domestics
+very quickly recovered from their consternation. The reason for this
+was that the wounded coachman, though he did not see the assailants who
+had fired from thickets, claimed with great positiveness that "the
+Rzeslewo people attacked the young heir" on account of disputes about
+the forest. This removed from the affair the awe of mystery; and a
+peasant does not fear danger but mystery. Besides, as there existed
+between the men of Jastrzeb and the men of Rzeslewo an ancient grudge,
+dating from the time of the wrangle about bounding the stream, as soon
+as the news of the attempt of the Rzeslewo men spread over the village,
+those of Jastrzeb ceased not only to fear, but a desire for revenge was
+bred in them. The manor servants began to feel ashamed now that they
+had refused to drive for the doctor. Others, hearing that Rzeslewo
+wished to make an onslaught on Jastrzeb manor, seized pitchforks and
+pulled out pickets from the fences. Gronski, aware of the death
+sentence received by Ladislaus, viewed the matter differently, but kept
+his opinion to himself, understanding that a peasant, though he often
+suddenly displays unusual terror, when once he starts to pull out
+pickets from fences, does not fear anybody whatsoever.
+
+Therefore delighted with this turn of affairs, he took with him a stout
+groom, who undertook to convey him to the city. But here a surprise
+awaited him, for before the balcony there was not a trace of the
+britzka and on the balcony stood the old lackey Andrew, with dejected
+face, and Marynia, pale, terror-stricken, with tears in her eyes, and
+who seeing him began to cry:
+
+"How could you, sir, permit her to ride alone? How could you do it?"
+
+"Miss Anney drove alone to the city!" exclaimed Gronski.
+
+And his countenance reflected such amazement that it was easy to
+perceive that it had happened without his knowledge or consent.
+
+"My God!" he said, "she sent me to the farmhouses to arrange the
+defence, and it never occurred to me that in the meantime she would
+jump into the britzka and drive away. It never occurred to me for a
+moment."
+
+But Marynia did not stop her lamentations.
+
+"They will kill her in the woods; they will kill her," she repeated,
+wringing her hands.
+
+Gronski, in order to quiet her, assured her that he would send out
+succor at once, but returning to the farmhouses, he began to reason
+that if he, himself, set out after her on horseback he would accomplish
+nothing and would leave the house without a masculine head, and if he
+should send the field laborers, before they reached the forest Miss
+Anney would outstrip them. It was possible for them to insure, fairly
+well, her safe return, but to insure her safe passage through the woods
+in the direction of the city it was absolutely too late.
+
+This was likewise acknowledged by Dolhanski, who not knowing of
+anything, returned by chance a half an hour later from Gorek to
+Jastrzeb. Hearing of the occurrence and Miss Anney's expedition, he
+could not refrain from exclaiming:
+
+"But that is a brave girl. I wish I was Krzycki."
+
+After which, going with Gronski to see the injured man, he added:
+
+"We will have to go out to meet her. I will attend to that."
+
+Ladislaus was already completely conscious and wanted to rise. He did
+not do so on account of his mother's entreaties and adjurations. His
+two friends did not tell him who had gone after the doctor. They only
+informed him that the doctor would arrive without delay and, after a
+short while, left, having something else to attend to. Dolhanski now
+assumed command over the improvised garrison which was to defend the
+manor-house. Gronski did not expect to find in him such an
+extraordinary supply of energy, sangfroid and self-confidence. He soon
+imparted this feeling to the household servants and the foresters; and
+the organization of the defence was not difficult. Two Jastrzeb forest
+rangers and one from Rzeslewo, who came later, had their own firearms,
+and in the manor-house were found Ladislaus' six fowling-pieces and, of
+these, two were short rifles. Dolhanski distributed this entire arsenal
+among men who knew how to use the weapons. A few servants from the
+village, who had participated in the Japanese war, appeared. Under
+these circumstances there was no fear of a sudden and unexpected
+attack. The workingmen from the sawmill, being of the Nationalistic
+persuasion, were anxious "that something should happen," so that they
+could "show how the teeth of uninvited guests are cleaned."
+
+Having arranged everything in this manner, Dolhanski intrusted the
+defence of the manor-house and the women to Gronski. Before that,
+however, he calmed them as to Miss Anney with the assurance that he
+returned from Gorek through the selfsame forest and rode in safety.
+This was the actual fact. But what was stranger, he did not meet the
+Englishwoman, from which they inferred that the courageous but prudent
+young lady evidently drove on another side road. However, as the
+distance to the city was not great and her return might be expected
+soon, he proceeded to meet her, taking along with him two forest
+rangers armed from head to foot. Gronski again was compelled to admire
+the shrewdness and ingenuity with which he issued in the name of the
+"Central Government" a command to the peasants of the village, that
+they should, in case they heard shots in the forest, rush in a body to
+their aid. The peasants did not know what this "Central Government"
+was. Neither did Dolhanski. He only knew that the name alone would
+create an impression, and the supposition that it was some Polish
+authority would ensure it a willing obedience.
+
+But these were superfluous precautions, as it appeared that there was
+no one in the Jastrzeb and Rzeslewo forests which extended along the
+other side of the road. The miscreants who fired at Krzycki had
+decamped with due haste, evidently from fear of pursuit; or else they
+awaited the night, concealed in some distant underwood belonging to
+other villages. One of the forest rangers, who had previously fully
+questioned the coachman about the place of the ambush, found, while
+beating the adjacent thickets, empty revolver cartridge shells, in
+consequence of which the supposition arose that the attack was
+perpetrated by Rzeslewo peasants. Dolhanski did not doubt that what
+happened was a sequel of the death sentence, of which he learned from
+Gronski. But this seemed to him "much more interesting." He thought
+that to meet the assailants and settle the issue in a proper manner
+would be a sort of hazard not devoid of a certain charm. And, in fact,
+soon a few more empty shells were found, but further search was without
+any results.
+
+Then Dolhanski turned towards the highway leading to the city, and a
+half an hour later met Miss Anney, driving the britzka as fast as the
+horses could run; on the rear seat was the doctor.
+
+It was market-day in the city. It happened therefore that at that time
+a dozen or more carts from Jastrzeb and Rzeslewo were returning
+homeward, and there was considerable bustle on the road. In consequence
+of this, Miss Anney did not become frightened at the sight of three
+armed men approaching her from an opposite direction, and, after a
+while, recognizing Dolhanski, she began to slacken the speed of the
+horses.
+
+"How is the wounded man?"
+
+"Conscious. Good."
+
+"How is it in the house?"
+
+"Nothing new."
+
+"God be praised."
+
+The britzka again rolled on and after an interval was hidden in a cloud
+of dust, and Dolhanski, having naught else to do, returned also to
+Jastrzeb.
+
+The forest rangers who were walking behind him began to converse with
+each other and interchange their ideas of a lady "who drives as well as
+the best coachman." But in Dolhanski's eyes there lingered also the
+picture of a young and charming maiden, with reins in hand, glowing
+countenance and wind-tossed hair. How much resolution and vivacity
+there was in all this! Never before did Miss Anney appear to him so
+enchanting. He knew from Gronski in what manner she had dashed to the
+city, and he was sincerely captivated by her. "That is not one of our
+transparent, jelly maidens who quiver at the slightest cause," he said
+to himself, "that is life, that is bravery, that is blood." He always
+admired everything which was English, beginning with the House of Lords
+and ending with the manufactured products of yellow leather, but at the
+present time his admiration waxed yet greater. "If her marriage portion
+is reckoned not in Polish gold pieces but in guineas," he soliloquized
+farther, "then Laudie was born with a caul." As he was an egotist, as
+well as a man of courage, he, after a while, ceased to bother his head
+about Krzycki and the danger which threatened all, and began to
+ruminate over his own situation in the world. He recollected that at
+one time he could have sold himself for a fat marriage settlement but
+with such an appendage that he preferred to renounce all. But if he had
+only found such an appendage as Miss Anney! And suddenly he was beset
+by regret that, after making her acquaintance, he had not been more
+attentive to her and had not tried to arouse in her an interest in
+himself. "Who knows," he thought, "whether at the proper time, that was
+not possible." But, in such case, it was proper for him to appear
+before her as more knightly and romantic and less sardonic and fond of
+club life. Evidently that was not her genre. Above all he could pot
+delude himself as to Pani Otocka. Dolhanski, from a certain time, had
+suspected his cousin of a secret attachment for Gronski, and at the
+same time could not understand what there was in Gronski that a woman
+could like. At the present time he was harassed by certain doubts about
+himself, for he felt, contrary to the good opinion which he entertained
+of himself, that there was something lacking in him; that in his
+internal mechanism some kind of wheel was wanting, without which, the
+entire mechanism did not go as it should. "For if," he cogitated
+farther, "I can sustain myself upon the surface, only through a rich
+marriage and my genre pleases neither Pani Otocka, nor Miss Anney, nor
+women in general, then I am a twofold ass: first because I thought I
+could please and again because I cannot afford to change." And he felt
+that he could not afford to change because of his indolence and from a
+fear that he would appear ridiculous.
+
+"In view of this it will perhaps be necessary to end with Kajetana with
+her appurtenances."
+
+In a sour temper he returned to Jastrzeb and, having given orders to
+the night watch, he went into the house where he received better news.
+The doctor announced that Ladislaus had a lacerated left shoulder, but
+as the shot was fired from below and went upwards, the bullet coursed
+above the lungs. The second shot grazed over the ribs, tearing a
+considerable portion of the flesh, while the third one carried off the
+tip of the small finger. The wounds were painful but not dangerous. The
+coachman received a scalp wound. The most severely injured was the left
+forehorse, who, however, owing to the small calibre of the bullet was
+able to gallop with the other horses, but died an hour after the
+return.
+
+All of which, however, tended to prove that the attack was not the
+swift revenge of the landless of Rzeslewo in defence of the forest
+rights, but a premeditated attempt. For this reason Gronski was of the
+opinion that Pani Otocka and Marynia ought to leave the following day.
+He wanted to escort them himself to the railroad station and then
+return. But both declared that they would remain until all were able to
+leave. On this occasion Marynia, for the first time in her life,
+quarrelled with Gronski and the matter actually ended in this, that
+Gronski had to yield. After all, the departure was not delayed for a
+long time, for the doctor promised that if great caution was observed,
+they could transfer the injured man to Warsaw in the course of a week.
+No one suggested an immediate departure to Miss Anney.
+
+The rest of the evening was passed in conference. About ten o'clock Dr.
+Szremski, having performed all that was required of him, wanted to
+leave for the city, but out of regard for Pani Krzycki he remained for
+the night, and as he was much fatigued, he went to Gronski's room and
+fell asleep at once. The ladies divided the work among themselves in
+this manner: the two sisters were to watch Pani Krzycki, who after the
+temporary excitement suffered severely from heart trouble and asthma.
+Miss Anney in conjunction with Gronski undertook to pass the night with
+the wounded young man.
+
+
+
+                                   II
+
+Out in the world the first glow of dawn was just visible when Ladislaus
+awoke, after a fitful and slightly feverish sleep. He did not feel
+badly; only a thirst was consuming him; he began to seek with his eyes
+for some one near who could give him water, and espied Miss Anney
+sitting at the window. She must have watched a long time for she dozed,
+with her hands resting inertly upon her knees, and her head was bowed
+so low that Ladislaus at first caught only a glimpse of her light hair,
+illuminated by the light of the green lamp. She immediately started up
+however, as if she had a premonition that the patient was awake, and it
+seemed to him that she divined his thoughts, for, approaching
+noiselessly, she asked:
+
+"Do you wish any water?"
+
+Krzycki did not answer; he only smiled and winked his eyes in sign of
+assent; when she handed the drink to him, he eagerly drained the glass,
+and afterwards gently taking her hand in his own, which was uninjured,
+he pressed it to his lips and held it there a long time.
+
+"My dearest ... my guardian angel," he whispered.
+
+And again he pressed her hand to his lips.
+
+Miss Anney did not even withdraw her hand; only with the other one she
+took the glass and placed it upon the small cupboard standing near the
+bed. She bent over him and said:
+
+"It is necessary for you to keep quiet.--I will be with you until you
+get well, but now it is essential that you think only of your health;
+only of your health."
+
+Her voice sounded in tones of quiet and gentle persuasiveness.
+Ladislaus dropped her hand. For some time he moved his lips, but not a
+word could be heard. Evidently, he was weakened from emotion, as he
+grew pale and beads of perspiration stood upon his forehead.
+
+Miss Anney began to wipe his face with a handkerchief and continued:
+
+"Please be calm. If I thought that I was harming you, I would not come
+here, and I do want to be with you now. Not a word about anything until
+the wounds are healed; not a word. Promise me that."
+
+A moment of silence ensued.
+
+"Let the lady retire for a rest," Krzycki said in a pleading voice.
+
+"I will go, I will go, but I am not at all tired. During the first half
+of the night, Pan Gronski sat up at your side and I slept. Really, I am
+not tired and I will sleep during the day. But you, sir, try to sleep.
+All that is necessary is for you not to look at me, and close your
+eyes. Then sleep will come of itself. Good-night, or rather good-day,
+for the day is breaking in the world."
+
+In fact the morning's dawn reddened and gilded the sky, and the sun was
+about to rise at any moment. The light of the green lamp grew paler
+each moment and was merging into the brightness of the day. Ladislaus,
+desiring to show how he obeyed every word of his beloved guardian,
+closed his eyes, pretending to sleep, but after a while footsteps were
+heard in the hallway and the doctor entered accompanied by Miss Anney's
+maid, whose turn it now was to attend to the patient. The doctor was so
+terribly drowsy that instead of eyes he had two slits surrounded by
+swollen eyelids, but he was as jovial and noisy as usual. He examined
+the bandages, admitted that the dressing was in proper shape, felt the
+pulse, and found everything in good order. Afterwards he opened the
+windows to freshen the air which was saturated with iodoform.
+
+"A splendid morning," said he. "Health flows from the skies. Let the
+windows remain open all day. As soon as they hitch the horses, I shall
+return to the city for I have patients who cannot wait. But I will come
+back in the evening and bring a nurse for our wounded friend."
+
+After which, addressing Miss Anney, he said:
+
+"Only do not let it get into your head to drive for me, alone. The
+injured man is getting along nicely--a slight fever, very slight. I
+will see Pani Krzycki before I leave. Do not let her leave her bed all
+day, and let her nieces watch her. To you, sir, I recommend the bed. It
+is permissible to inhale but not to breathe one's last breath. Ha! I
+will return about five in the evening, unless indeed, I am forced on
+the road to swallow a few pills from the socialist pharmacy. That is a
+stylish medicine and, it must be confessed, acts quickly."
+
+"How is Mother?" asked Ladislaus in alarm.
+
+At this the doctor again turned to Miss Anney.
+
+"Order him to lie quiet for he will not mind me. Your mother has more
+than fifteen years. Yesterday she started up suddenly, forgetting her
+rheumatism and weak heart action, laid you in bed, waited for my
+arrival; was present at the dressing, and after learning that there was
+no danger--at once! bah!--it was necessary to put her to bed. That is
+always the way with our women. But nothing is the matter with your
+mother; the usual reaction after a nervous strain. When she came to
+herself, I ordered her to remain in bed and not to appear here under
+the penalty of death--for you. With that, I restrained her. Otherwise
+she would have stuck here all night. Now your filigree cousins are
+watching her. They also almost turned topsyturvy; then I would have had
+four patients in one house. That would be a harvest--ha? Luckily there
+was to be found in this house one soul with different nerves, who did
+not swoon poetically. Ha!"
+
+"How he is chattering," thought Ladislaus.
+
+But the doctor began to gaze with great respect at Miss Anney and
+continued:
+
+"Rule Britannia! It is a pleasure to look at you, as I love God! What
+health, what nerves! She sat up all night until the morning,--and
+nothing! As if she freshly shook the dew off herself! I repeat once
+more, it is a pleasure to behold you. I am going to the dining-room to
+see if they will not give me some coffee before I leave, for I am
+hungry."
+
+But before he left he said to Miss Anney and her maid:
+
+"Let the lady go with me and drink something warm before going to
+sleep, and you, little miss, sit here beside Pan Krzycki. It will be
+necessary to take his temperature and write it down. In case anything
+happens let Pan Gronski know. I will tell him to look in here
+occasionally. Good-by!"
+
+Allowing Miss Anney, who smiled at the wounded man and repeated
+"Good-by," to pass before him, he followed her. In the dining-room,
+they found not only coffee, but the two sisters with Gronski and
+Dolhanski. The former had sat up all night with Pani Krzycki, whose
+illness was much more serious than the doctor told the son. At one time
+it was even so serious that it was doubtful whether she would revive
+from a long faint. Both "filigree" sisters were almost worn out, and
+Marynia had eyelids of actual lily color. Gronski, by all means, wanted
+the doctor to examine her and prescribe something strengthening.
+
+But he, feeling her pulse for a while, said:
+
+"I will prescribe for you, miss, as a medicine, a certain maxim of
+Confucius, which says, 'If thou wouldst know the truth, it is better to
+sit than stand, better to lie down than sit, and rather than lie down,
+it is better to sleep.'"
+
+"That is all very well," she answered, "but after all that has taken
+place, I do not know whether I can sleep."
+
+"Then let some one sing to you the lullaby, 'Ah, ah! Two little
+kittens'; but only not your sister, as for her I prescribe the
+same--until it is effective."
+
+The rattle of the britzka interrupted further conversation. The doctor
+swallowed the hot coffee and took his leave. Dolhanski followed him and
+mounted a horse, held by a stable-boy. He announced that he would
+accompany the doctor through the forest.
+
+"If that is for my safety, then it is absolutely unnecessary," said the
+doctor.
+
+"I ride on horseback daily," replied Dolhanski, "and besides I want to
+see whether some May party has not again come to the Jastrzeb forest."
+
+"No," answered the doctor, laughing. "I do not think that they will
+reappear so soon. They have in these matters a certain method. They
+prefer to be the hunters rather than the quarry, and understand that
+now it might come to a man hunt. In about a week or two, when they find
+out that their attempt was unsuccessful, it will be necessary to be
+more guarded."
+
+"When will Krzycki be able to leave?"
+
+"It all depends upon the purity of his blood; and I presume that it is
+pure. After all, it will not be necessary to wait in Jastrzeb for a
+complete cure. He had a pretty close call; that cannot be gainsaid. For
+if I had not come the same day, infection might have set in. But the
+antiseptic did its work. Ah, that Englishwoman who looks through a
+heavenly mist. There is a woman for me. What? Would you believe that at
+first I was upset with indignation at you gentlemen for permitting her
+to drive under those circumstances? Only later did she tell me the
+actual facts. If I do not fall in love with her, I am a marinated
+herring without milt."
+
+"I would not advise it," said Dolhanski, "as it seems that in that
+territory there already has appeared a William the Conqueror."
+
+"Do you think so? It may be possible! That also has occurred to my
+mind."
+
+"Was it because the English prudery has disappeared in a corner?"
+
+"No. Nursing a wounded man is a woman's duty and, in view of that,
+prudery must retire to a corner. Even yesterday's expedition
+demonstrated only courage and energy. But through that heavenly mist
+there reach our wounded friend such warm rays that--oh! But that does
+not prevent me from being in love. If old Dzwonkowski fell in love with
+your little cousin why should not I indulge in the same pleasure."
+
+"In the same way you might fall in love with Saint Cecilia," said
+Dolhanski. "My cousin is not a woman on two feet, but a symbol."
+
+And he stopped abruptly for he heard some voices coming from the depth
+of the forest and he sped his horse towards them.
+
+"Nevertheless this clubman does not carry his soul on his shoulder,"
+thought the doctor.
+
+But it was only a false alarm, as it was merely village boys tending
+cattle. The doctor, who alighted from the britzka to rush to
+Dolhanski's assistance in case of need, soon saw them among the forest
+thickets. After a while Dolhanski reappeared and pressing on his eye
+the monocle which some twigs had displaced, said:
+
+"That is only an innocent rural picture; cowherds and cows trespassing
+in other people's forests; nothing more."
+
+After which he bade the doctor adieu and returned to the house.
+
+Miss Anney had not yet retired to sleep, for he found her conversing
+with Gronski and engaged in winding iodoform gauze. At the sight of
+him, she raised her eyes from her work and asked:
+
+"Anything new in the forest?"
+
+"Yes, indeed; something has happened to the doctor. He has been shot."
+
+At this, both suddenly rose, startled:
+
+"What? Where? In the forest?"
+
+"No! In Jastrzeb," answered Dolhanski.
+
+
+
+                                  III
+
+Ladislaus complied in every particular with Miss Anney's injunctions
+for, immediately after she left, he dozed again and did not waken until
+the rays of the sun, which had ascended high in the heaven, fell
+on his head. He then knit his brows and, having partly shaken off
+his drowsiness, requested that the roller-blinds be lowered. The
+black-haired maid approached the window, wishing to lower them, but as
+she did this too eagerly and did not retain her hold on the string, the
+roller-blind dropped so suddenly that it loosened completely from the
+fastenings and tumbled down on the window sill. Then the maid, ashamed
+of her awkwardness, leaped upon the chair and from the chair to the
+sill and began to place anew the rollers in the rings. Krzycki looked
+at her bent form; at her upraised arms and at her black coiled hair,
+with a not yet conscious gaze, blinking his eyes as if he could not
+recall for the time being who that was; and not until she jumped from
+the frame, displaying at the same time graceful and plump limbs in
+black stockings, did he know who was before him; and he said:
+
+"Ah! It is Panna Pauly."
+
+"It is I," answered the girl. "I beg your pardon for making so much
+noise."
+
+She blushed like a rose under his glance, and he recollected how he
+once saw her attired only in azure watery pearls; so he gazed at her
+with greater curiosity and said:
+
+"That does not matter. I thank you, little Miss, for your solicitude."
+
+At the same time, as a sign of gratitude, he moved the hand lying on
+the bed-quilt but feeling simultaneously a piercing pain, he made a wry
+face and hissed.
+
+And she sat on the edge of the bed, leaned over him, and asked with
+intense anxiety:
+
+"Does it pain?"
+
+"It does."
+
+"Can I hand you anything? Shall I call any one?"
+
+"No, no."
+
+For a certain time, silence followed. Ladislaus frowned and clinched
+his teeth; after which, drawing a deep breath, he said, as if with a
+certain rage:
+
+"This was done for me by those scoundrels."
+
+"Oh, if they only fell into my hands," she replied through her set
+teeth.
+
+Such a fathomless hatred glistened in her eyes and her entire
+countenance assumed such an expression of cruelty, that it might serve
+as a model for a Gorgon face. Ladislaus was so astonished at this sight
+that he forgot about his pain.
+
+Again silence ensued. The maid recollected herself after a while, but
+her cheeks grew so pale that the dark down above her lips became more
+marked:
+
+She then asked: "What can I do to relieve you?"
+
+Her voice now rang with such cordial solicitude that Ladislaus smiled
+and answered:
+
+"Nothing, unless it be to commiserate with me."
+
+And in a moment she was transported with spasmodic grief; she flung her
+face at his feet, and, embracing them with her arms, began to kiss them
+through the quilt. Her raven-like head and bent body shook from
+sobbing.
+
+"Why little lady! Panna Pauly!" cried Ladislaus.
+
+And he was compelled to repeat this several times before she heard him.
+Finally she rose and, covering her eyes with her hands, went to the
+window, pressed her face against the pane, and for some time remained
+motionless. Afterwards she began to wipe her eyes and readjust her
+hair, as if in fear that somebody, entering unexpectedly, might surmise
+what had taken place.
+
+In the meantime, all the moments in which he had come in contact with
+her coursed through Ladislaus' mind, commencing with meeting her on the
+dark path, when she told him that a were-wolf did not look like that,
+and the vision in the bath-room, until his conversation with her, after
+that vision, on the yoked elm grove near the pond. He recalled how from
+that time she alternately reddened and grew pale at the sight of him;
+how she drooped her eyes and how she sent them after him whenever it
+seemed to her that he was not observing. From one view, Ladislaus
+accepted this as the sequel of the incident in the bath-room; from
+another as admiration for his shapeliness. This admiration, indeed,
+flattered his masculine vanity, but he did not give it much thought,
+as, having his mind absorbed with Miss Anney, her servant did not
+concern him. Now, however, he understood that this was something more
+than the blandishments of an artful chambermaid after a handsome young
+heir, and that this maiden had become distractedly infatuated with him
+and in a kind of morbid manner. His love for Miss Anney was too deep
+and true for him to be pleased with such a state of affairs or for him
+to think that after his wounds were healed he could take advantage of
+the maiden's feelings in the fashion of a gallant. On the contrary, the
+thought that he had unwittingly aroused such feelings appeared
+disagreeable and irksome to him. He was seized by a fear of what might
+result from it. There came to him, as if in a vision, troubles, scenes,
+and entanglements, which such a passion might produce. He understood
+that this was a fire with which he could not thoughtlessly play; that
+he would have to be careful and not give her any encouragement. He
+decided also, notwithstanding the pity and sympathy he felt in the
+depth of his heart for the maiden, to avoid in the future all
+conversations, all jests, and everything which might draw her nearer to
+him, encourage intimacy, or provoke in the future outbursts similar to
+the one of that day. It even occurred to him to request Miss Anney not
+to send her to him any more, but he abandoned that resolution,
+observing that it might cause sorrow or cast upon him a shadow of
+ludicrousness. Finally he came to the conclusion that above all it was
+incumbent upon him not to ask the maid about anything; not to demand
+any explanation as to the meaning of that outbreak and those tears, and
+to behave coolly and distantly.
+
+In the meantime the maiden, at the window, having regained her
+composure, again approached the bed and spoke in a meek and hesitating
+voice:
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir. Be not angry at me, sir."
+
+He closed his eyes and only after an interval replied:
+
+"Little lady, I am not angry, but I need peace."
+
+"I beg pardon," she repeated yet more meekly.
+
+However she observed that he spoke in a different tone, drier and
+colder than previously, and intense uncertainty was depicted upon her
+countenance, for she did not know whether this was the momentary
+dissatisfaction of the patient, who, in reality, did desire quiet or
+whether it was the displeasure of the young heir at her--a servant
+maid--having dared to betray her feelings. Fearing, however, to again
+offend him, she became silent and seating herself upon the chair which
+Miss Anney had occupied, she took from the commode the work which
+previously had been brought and began to sew, glancing from time to
+time with great uneasiness, and as if in fear, at Ladislaus. He also
+cast stealthy glances at her, and seeing her regular features, as if
+carved out of stone, her sharply outlined brows, the dark down above
+her lips, and the energetic, almost inflexible, expression of her face,
+he thought that it would be much easier for a man who could arouse the
+thoughts and feelings of such a girl to form various ties than later to
+be able to free himself from them.
+
+
+
+                                   IV
+
+Contrary to expectations, the doctor did not arrive that day, owing to
+an unusual number of engagements and a few important operations which
+he was compelled to perform without delay. Instead, he sent a young
+hospital attendant, skilled in dressing wounds, with a letter in which
+he requested Gronski to inform the ladies that they should consider his
+postponed visit as proof that no danger actually threatened the wounded
+man. Ladislaus, however was not pleased with this news, for the wounds
+tormented him acutely; particularly the flesh torn by the bullet along
+the ribs afflicted him painfully; and besides, his mother felt worse.
+The asthmatic spell recurred, after which a general weakness followed,
+so that notwithstanding her warmest wishes she was not able to rise
+from her bed. Pani Otocka did not leave her for the entire day, and at
+night her place was to be taken by Miss Anney, who, however, needing
+rest after the recent events and, passing a sleepless night, was sent
+to sleep by both sisters and Gronski. The role of the housekeeper of
+Jastrzeb was assumed by Marynia, for she wanted by all means to be
+useful, and was not permitted to attend to the patients. Instead, she
+was intrusted with all the keys; the management of the house; with
+conferring and taking an accounting with the cook whom she feared a
+little and did not like, because he looked upon her as if she was a
+child who was amusing herself rather than one upon whose shoulders
+rested the responsibility of superintending everything. She adopted a
+mien full of importance, but nevertheless "the dear gentleman," that is
+Gronski, had to promise that he would be present, as if by chance, in
+the room when the accounting was taking place.
+
+As, after the arrival of the doctor on the third day, it appeared that
+Ladislaus' condition was quite favorable and Pani Krzycki's asthmatic
+spells were leaving her and her nerves were getting in order, the
+general aspect of Jastrzeb became calmer and happier. Dolhanski began
+to fill with a certain humor the role of a generalissimo of all the
+armed forces of Jastrzeb while Gronski played the part of military
+governor. The doctor brought with him a second nurse, who thenceforth
+was to alternate with the one who came previously. This relieved the
+ladies of the house of the necessity of continual watchfulness and
+unnecessary fatigue. Ladislaus alone was dissatisfied with the
+arrangement, for he understood that now Miss Anney would not pass days
+and nights in his chamber, and that in all probability he would not see
+her until he was able to leave his bed. In fact, it happened that way.
+Several times during the day she would come to the anteroom, send
+through the attendants whatever was needed, inquire about his health
+and also send a "good-night" or "good-day" but would not enter the
+room. Ladislaus sighed, swore quietly, and made life miserable for his
+attendants, and when he learned from Dolhanski of the enthusiasm with
+which the doctor spoke of Miss Anney he began to suspect him of
+purposely sending the attendants in order to make it more difficult for
+him to see her. His mother rose the fourth day and, feeling much
+better, visited him daily and sat up with him for hours. Ladislaus
+often asked himself the question whether she surmised his feelings.
+They were indeed known to all the guests in the house, but there was a
+possibility that she did not suspect anything, as for a considerable
+time before the occurrence in the forest she did not, in truth, leave
+her room; in consequence of which she seldom saw her son and Miss Anney
+together. Krzycki often deliberated over the question whether he should
+speak with his mother at once about it or defer the matter to a later
+date. In favor of the first thought, there was the consideration that
+his mother, while he lay in bed wounded, would not dare to interpose
+any strenuous objections from fear that his condition might grow worse.
+But on the other hand, such calculation, in which his beloved one and
+the whole happiness of his life were involved, appeared to him that day
+as miserable craftiness. He thought besides that to extort an assent
+from his mother through his sickness would be something derogatory to
+Miss Anney, before whom the doors of the Jastrzeb manor-house and the
+arms of the entire family should be widely and joyfully opened. But he
+was restrained by another consideration. And this was that,
+notwithstanding the conversation he at one time had with Gronski,
+notwithstanding the words he exchanged with the lady, notwithstanding
+her solicitude, her sacrifices, and the courage with which she did not
+hesitate to drive for the doctor, and finally notwithstanding the
+visible marks of feeling which could be discerned in every glance she
+bestowed upon him, Ladislaus doubted and did not dare to believe in his
+own good fortune. He was young, inexperienced, in love not only up to
+his ears but like a student; therefore full of alternating
+uncertainties, hopes, joys, and doubts. He doubted also himself. At
+times he felt at his shoulders wings, as it were, and in his soul a
+desire for lofty flights; a latent ability to perform acts clearly
+heroic; and at other times he thought: "Who am I, that such a flower
+should fall upon my bosom? There are people who are endowed with
+talent; who possess education; and others who have millions, and I,
+what? I am a mere nobleman farmer, who will all his life dig the soil,
+like a mole. Have I then the right to pinion to such a life, or rather
+to confine in a sort of cage such a paradisiacal bird, which soars
+freely across the firmament for the delectation and admiration of
+mankind?" And he was seized by despair. But when he pictured to himself
+that the moment might arrive when this paradisiacal bird might fly away
+forever from him, then he looked upon it with amazement as if upon a
+calamity which he did not deserve. He also had his hours of hope,
+especially in the morning when he felt better and stronger. Then he
+recalled everything that had taken place between them, from her first
+arrival at Jastrzeb and his meeting her at Zarnowski's funeral until
+that last night when he pressed her hand to his lips and gained greater
+confidence. Why, at that time, she told him "not a word about anything
+until the wounds are healed." Therefore through that alone she gave to
+him the right to repeat to her that she was dearer to him than the
+whole world and to surrender into her hands his fate, his future, and
+his entire life. Let her do with them what she will.
+
+In the meanwhile his mother will accustom herself to her, will grow
+more intimate, and become more attached to her. And her maternal heart
+is so full of admiration and gratitude for what Miss Anney had done for
+him that from her lips fell the words "God sent her here." Ladislaus
+smiled at the thought that his mother, however, ascribed the sacrifices
+and courage of the young maiden not to any ardent feeling but to an
+exceptionally honest heart, as well as to English training, which was
+conducive to energy alike in men and women. And she had likewise
+repeated to Pani Otocka several times that she would like to bring up
+her Anusia to be such a brave woman; give her such strength, health,
+and such love for her "fellow-men." Pani Otocka smiled also, hearing
+these praises, and Ladislaus thought that Miss Anney perhaps would not
+have done the same for her fellow-men, and this thought filled him with
+happiness.
+
+Eventually he became quite certain that his mother would consent to his
+marriage with Miss Anney, but he was anxious as to how she would agree.
+And in this regard he was much distressed. His mother, judged by former
+requirements and conceptions, was a person of more than medium
+education. She possessed high social refinement, read a number of
+books, and was proficient in the French and Italian languages. During
+her younger days she passed considerable time abroad, but only her
+closest friends could tell how many national and hereditary prejudices
+were concealed in her and to what extent all that was not Polish,
+particularly if it did not of necessity come from France, appeared to
+her peculiar, outlandish, strange, and even shocking. This appeared
+accidentally once before the attack upon Ladislaus when she saw Miss
+Anney's English prayer-book and, opening it, noticed a prayer beginning
+with "Oh Lord." Belonging to a generation which did not study English,
+and having lived in retirement for many years in Jastrzeb, Pani Krzycki
+could not imagine the Lord other than a being with yellow whiskers,
+dressed in checkered clothes, and to Marynia's great amusement could
+not by any means understand how the Divinity could be thus addressed.
+In vain Ladislaus explained to her that in the French and Polish
+languages analogical titles are given to God. She regarded that as
+something different, and exacted a promise from Miss Anney that she
+would pray from a Polish book, which she promised to buy for her.
+
+Finally the fact that Miss Anney was not in all probability a member of
+the nobility would play an important part. Ladislaus feared that his
+mother, having consented to the marriage, might in the depths and
+secrecy of her soul, deem it a mesalliance. This thought irritated and
+depressed him immeasurably and was one of the reasons why he postponed
+his consultation with his mother until their arrival in Warsaw.
+
+He was angered yet more at his enforced confinement in his bed; so that
+for three days he declared each evening that he would rise the
+following morning, and when on the fourth day Miss Anney and Marynia
+said to him through the doorway, "Good-day," he actually did get up,
+but in his weakened condition, he suffered from dizziness and was
+forced to lie down again. He was steadily improving, however; he
+continued to sigh more and more and felt his inactivity most keenly.
+
+"I have got enough of this loquacious doctor," he said to Gronski,
+"enough of dressings and iodoform. I envy not only you, sir, but even
+Dolhanski, who is roaming about on my horses all over creation, and
+very likely reaches as far as Gorek."
+
+"He does," answered Gronski gayly, "and this leads me to think that he
+makes a mystery of it, for he has ceased to talk about those ladies."
+
+This was but a half truth for Dolhanski did actually go to Gorek but
+did not remain entirely silent about the ladies, for returning the next
+day, he entered Ladislaus' room, bearing with him still the odor of the
+horse, and said:
+
+"Imagine to yourself that the Wlocek ladies received a command from
+some kind of committee from under a dark star to pay under the penalty
+of death one thousand roubles for 'party' purposes."
+
+"There you have it!" cried Gronski. "Now that is becoming an every-day
+occurrence. Who knows whether similar commands are not awaiting us upon
+our desks in Warsaw?"
+
+"Well, what of it?" asked Ladislaus.
+
+"Nothing," answered Dolhanski; "those ladies first argued as to who was
+to first expose her breast to shield the other; then fainted; after
+that they came to, then began to bid each other farewell, and finally
+asked me my advice as to what was to be done."
+
+"And what advice did you give them?"
+
+"I advised them to tell the executors of the command, who would come
+for the money, that their plenipotentiary and treasurer, Pan Dolhanski,
+resided at such and such address in Warsaw."
+
+"Really, did you advise them to do that?"
+
+"I give you my word."
+
+"In such a case, they will undoubtedly call upon you."
+
+"You can imagine what rich booty they will get! I also will have some
+recreation in these tedious times."
+
+"Pardon me," said Gronski, "the times are trying; that is certain, but
+no one can say that they are tedious."
+
+"But for whom?" answered Dolhanski. "If I ever borrow money from you,
+then I will have to conform to your inclination, but before that time
+you cannot draw me into any political discussion. In the meantime I
+will only tell you this much, that I am the only social microbe that
+can remain at perfect peace. All that I require is that 'bridge' should
+be going normally at the club and soon this will be impossible. These
+times may be interesting to you but not for me."
+
+"At any rate," observed Gronski, "a certain ventilation of torpid
+conditions is taking place, and since you compared yourself to a
+microbe, by the same token, you admit that these are times for
+disinfection."
+
+At this Dolhanski turned to Ladislaus.
+
+"Thank Gronski," he said, "for the disinfection started with you; from
+which the plain inference is to be drawn that you are a more harmful
+microbe than I am."
+
+"Get married, get married," answered Ladislaus banteringly; "for you, a
+good marriage settlement would be the best cure for pessimism."
+
+"That may be possible, as in that case, I may have something with which
+I can leave this dear country and settle elsewhere. I once told you
+that Providence speaks through the lips of little innocents. But I
+should have thought of marriage when in the perspective there were no
+Goreks, but instead, four million franks."
+
+"Did you have such an opportunity?"
+
+"As you see me here. It happened in Ostend; an old Belgian relict of a
+manufacturer of preserves, and having cash to the amount specified,
+wanted to marry me and that for the waiting."
+
+"And what?"
+
+"And nothing. I remember what Pan Birkowski, who at that time was in
+Ostend, told me. 'Do business,' he said. 'At the worst, you may leave
+the old woman two millions and leave her in the lurch, and you can take
+two millions with you and enjoy yourself like a king.'"
+
+"And what did you say to that?"
+
+"And I said this to that: What is that? Am I to give from my own
+hard-earned money two millions to an ugly old woman? For nothing! And
+now I think that for a mere quibble, I permitted a fortune to slip away
+from me and that the time may come when owing to a 'retirement from
+business' I will have to sacrifice myself for a smaller price."
+
+Gronski and Ladislaus began to laugh, but Dolhanski, who spoke with
+greater bitterness than they supposed, shrugged his shoulders and said:
+
+"Amuse yourselves, amuse yourselves. One of you already has received a
+taste of the times and the other, God grant, will not escape so easily.
+Nice times, indeed! Chaos, anarchy, political orgy, lack of any kind of
+authority, the dance of dynamite with the knout, and the downfall of
+'bridge.' And you laugh!"
+
+
+
+                                   V
+
+Nevertheless that which Dolhanski said about a want of any kind of
+authority appeared to be not exactly the truth, for, after an interval
+of one week, the authorities did give signs of life.
+
+An imposing armed force, together with gendarmes and police, made its
+appearance.
+
+Of course the perpetrators of the attempt upon Krzycki did not wait a
+whole week for the arrival at Jastrzeb of a military relief, as they
+evidently had engagements in other parts of the county. As a result the
+Jastrzeb, as well as the Rzeslewo, forests appeared to be deserted.
+
+In lieu of this, about a score of men in Jastrzeb, itself, were placed
+under arrest. Among these were the two forest rangers, the old coachman
+who was wounded at the time of the attack, and all the workingmen at
+the sawmill.
+
+In the manor-house all the passports were verified with exceeding care,
+reports were written, and the host, hostess, and guests, not excluding
+the ladies, were subjected to a strict examination.
+
+From these examinations it developed that in reality they did not come
+on account of the attempt upon the proprietor of Jastrzeb, but for the
+purpose of apprehending a dangerous revolutionist, a certain Laskowicz,
+who, according to the most reliable information secured by the police,
+was hiding in Jastrzeb and was shielded by its denizens.
+
+The declaration of the Krzyckis to the police, that in due season the
+passport of Laskowicz was forwarded, and if Laskowicz had left the city
+he must have received it, as well as the assurances of all present that
+Laskowicz was not in Jastrzeb did not find any credence.
+
+The authorities were too experienced and shrewd to believe such
+nonsense and they detected in them "an evil design, and want of
+sincerity and cordial candor."
+
+The house also was subjected to a most painstaking search, beginning in
+the garret and ending in the cellar. They knocked on the walls to
+ascertain whether there were any secret hiding places. They searched
+among the dresses and linen of the women; in the hearth, under the
+divans, in the drawers, in the boxes for phenicine pastilles, which
+Gronski brought with him; and finally in the manor outbuildings, in the
+mangers of the stable, in the milk churners, in the tar-boxes, and even
+in the beehives, whose inmates, undoubtedly being permeated with the
+evil-disposition prevalent in Jastrzeb, resisted the search in a manner
+as evil disposed as it was painful.
+
+But as the search, notwithstanding its thoroughness and the
+intelligence with which it was conducted, was not productive of any
+results, they took a hundred and some tens of books, the farm register,
+the entire private correspondence of the hosts as well as the guests,
+the bone counters used in playing cards, a little bell with a
+Napoleonic figure, a safety razor, a barometer, and, notwithstanding
+the license which Krzycki possessed, all the fowling pieces, not
+excepting a toy-gun with which corks were shot and which belonged to
+little Stas.
+
+Ladislaus himself would have been undoubtedly arrested as an
+accomplice, if the doctor, who treated the captain for his heart
+trouble, had not arrived and if Dolhanski, growing impatient beyond all
+endurance, had not shown the captain a message before sending it to the
+city. It was addressed to the highly influential general W., with whom
+Dolhanski played whist at the club, and it complained of the brutality
+and the arbitrariness of the search.
+
+This to a considerable extent cooled off the ardor of the captain and
+his subordinates, who previously, at the scrutiny of the passports, had
+learned that Dolhanski was a member of the club.
+
+In this manner Ladislaus preserved his liberty, supplemented by police
+surveillance, and little Stas regained his toy-gun for shooting corks.
+The captain could not return the arms as he had peremptory orders in
+black and white to confiscate even the ancient fowling-pieces of the
+whole community.
+
+"Doux pays! Doux pays!" cried Dolhanski after the departure of the
+police. "Revolvers now can be found only in the hands of the bandits.
+In view of this I will submit to a demission as the commander-in-chief
+of the Jastrzeb armed forces, land as well as naval. We are now
+dependent upon the kindness or unkindness of fate."
+
+"Go to Warsaw, ladies and gentlemen, to-morrow," said the doctor; "here
+there is no joking."
+
+"Let us go to Warsaw," repeated Dolhanski, "and, not losing any time,
+enroll in the ranks of the believers in expropriation. I regard social
+revolutionists as the only insurance association in this country which
+does really insure."
+
+"From accidents," added Krzycki; "and we shall insure with my personal
+friend and 'accomplice' Laskowicz."
+
+To this Dolhanski replied:
+
+"That accomplice gave you a payment on account. In the future you will
+receive yet more."
+
+To Gronski's mind came thoughts of the personal enmity of the young
+medical student to Krzycki and the letter of Laskowicz to Marynia, of
+which he among the men in Jastrzeb alone knew.
+
+It was quite probable that Laskowicz saw in Ladislaus a rival and
+future aspirant for the hand of Panna Marynia who, besides, had nipped
+in the bud his work in Rzeslewo and that he might have thought that he
+actually could gratify his hatred from personal consideration, and in
+the name of the "cause."
+
+Laskowicz, himself, in his own way, might have been an honest man, but
+the party ethics were, in relation to the antiquated morality,
+revolutionary, and sanctioned such things.
+
+But at present there was not much time to ponder over that; so after a
+while Gronski waved his hand and said:
+
+"Whether or not the hand of Laskowicz is imbrued in this the future
+will show. Now we must think of something else. I assert positively
+that I will take away my ladies from here, but I wish that the entire
+Jastrzeb family would follow my example."
+
+After which, he addressed the doctor.
+
+"Would it be safe for Ladislaus to travel to-morrow?"
+
+"He? Even as far as England," answered the doctor.
+
+Gronski and Dolhanski laughed at these words but Ladislaus blushed like
+a student and said:
+
+"It will be necessary to inform the ladies."
+
+"And to-morrow the general exodus will take place," added Gronski.
+
+And he went to the ladies, who received the news of the decision with
+evident relief. Both sisters decided to have Pani Krzycki at their
+residence in Warsaw, but she, desiring to be with her son, would not
+accept the invitation; and only consented when Gronski announced that
+he would take Ladislaus to his home and guaranteed that he should not
+suffer for want of care and comfort. Miss Anney, whose apartments were
+directly opposite to those of Pani Otocka also offered her rooms for
+the use of the younger members of the Krzycki family and their female
+teachers. In the meanwhile the doctor permitted Ladislaus to get up, so
+that he would not have to start on his journey directly from his bed.
+In the evening the entire company assembled on the garden veranda.
+There was missing only Dolhanski who rode off to Gorek, for he had
+decided to advise Pani Wlocek and Panna Kajetana to remove to the city
+likewise. Ladislaus, after a considerable loss of blood and a somewhat
+lengthy confinement in bed, looked pale and miserable, but his
+countenance had acquired a more subtile expression and actually become
+handsome. At the present time the ladies were occupied with him, as an
+invalid, with extraordinary watchfulness. He was a person who attracted
+general sympathy; therefore, though from time to time his eyes grew
+dim, he assured his mother that it was well with him, and he really was
+delighted to breathe the fresh evening air. At times he was overcome by
+a light drowsiness. Then he closed his eyelids and the conversation
+hushed, but when he opened them again he saw directed towards himself
+the eyes of his mother and, illuminated by the setting sun, the young
+faces of the ladies, which appeared to him simply angelic. He was
+surrounded by love and friendship; therefore it was well with him. His
+heart surged with feelings of gratitude, and at the same time with
+regret that those good Jastrzeb days would soon end. In his soul he
+cherished a hope that he would not be absent from Jastrzeb long, and
+promised himself a speedy return, and he promised this with all the
+strength with which a person craves happiness. Nevertheless, the times
+were so strange, so uncertain, and so many things might happen which it
+was impossible to foresee, that involuntarily a fear generated in his
+heart as to what turn the current of events would take; what the future
+of the country would be, and what, in a year or two, would become of
+Jastrzeb, which, indeed, became precious to him for it opened before
+him the portals, beyond which he beheld the great brightness of
+happiness. Love, as well as a bird, needs a nest. So Ladislaus plainly
+could not conceive of himself and the light-haired lady being anywhere
+else than at Jastrzeb. For this, his heart beat with redoubled force,
+when glancing at her, he indulged in fancies and imagined that perhaps
+after a year, or sooner, she will sit upon the same veranda, as the
+lady of the house and as his wife. Then he turned towards her and asked
+her with his soul and eyes: "Dost thou guess and perceive my thoughts?"
+But she, perhaps because she was restrained by the presence of so many
+witnesses, did not reply to his glances; sitting as if immersed in
+thought and letting her gaze follow the swallows, which flitted so
+nimbly above the trees of the garden and the pond. Ladislaus, when he
+now looked at her was impressed, as if with certain admiration, at the
+contrast between her full-grown form, powerful arms, and well developed
+bosom and her small, girlish face. But he saw in all this only a new
+charm and spell under whose powers there flew at times through his love
+a burning desire similar indeed to pain and stifling the breath in his
+breast.
+
+In the meantime the sun sank measurably and began to bathe in the ruddy
+evening twilight. From the freshly mown lawns came a strong fragrance
+of the little hay heaps, which were warmed by the daily summer heat.
+Somehow the air with the approach of night became more bracing, for,
+from the alder-trees bordering on the pond, came from time to time a
+cool breath, so weak and light, however, that the leaves on the trees
+did not stir. The swallows described curves higher and higher above the
+reddened surface of the pond. In the lofty poplars with trimmed tops a
+stork clattered in his nest, now stooping with his head backward and
+then lowering it as if bowing to the setting sun or officiating at the
+evening vespers.
+
+"I will play something as a farewell to Jastrzeb," Marynia suddenly
+announced.
+
+"Ah, beloved creature!" said Gronski; "shall I go for the stand and
+notes?"
+
+"No. I will play something from memory."
+
+And saying this, she handed to Miss Anney an album with views of
+Jastrzeb, and hurried upstairs. In a short time she returned with her
+violin. For a time she kept it propped on her shoulder and raising her
+eyes upwards, considered what she should play. She selected Schumann's
+"Ich grolle nicht." The overflowing tones filled the quiet of the
+garden. They began to sing, muse, long, and weep; oscillate, hush, and
+slumber, and with them the human soul acted in unison. Sorrow became
+more melancholy, yearning more longing, and love more tender and deeply
+enamoured. And "the little divinity" continued playing--white in her
+muslin dress--calm, with pensive eyes lost somewhere in the illimitable
+distance, immaculate, and as if borne to heaven by music and her own
+playing. To Gronski it seemed that he had before him some kind of
+mystic lily, and he began in his soul to say to her, as it were, a
+litany, in which every word was a worship of the little violinist,
+because she was playing and she awoke in him a love as destitute of the
+slightest earthly dross as if she were not a maiden composed of blood
+and flesh, but in reality some kind of mystic lily.
+
+Marynia had ceased to play and her hand, with the violin, hung at her
+side. No one thanked her; no one uttered a word, for the strains of
+that music lingered with all and, echo-like, it was yet playing within
+them. Pani Otocka unwittingly drew nearer to Gronski as if they were
+attracted towards each other by their mutual worship of this beloved
+child. In Pani Krzycki's eyes glittered tears, which under the spell of
+the music were contributed and provoked by memories of former years and
+the present suffering of her son and fresh worries about him, and the
+uncertainty of the future. Miss Anney sat in reverie, holding
+unknowingly between her knees the album, which during Marynia's playing
+had dropped from her hands; and through the open doors, in the already
+dimmed depths of the salon, could be seen the indistinct form of a
+woman, who evidently also was listening to the music.
+
+A somewhat stronger breeze which blew from the alder-trees awoke all,
+as if from a half-dream. Then Pani Krzycki turned towards her son:
+
+"A chill is coming from the pond. Perhaps you may wish to return to
+your room."
+
+"No," he answered, "I feel better than I have felt for a long time."
+
+And he began to assure her that he did not feel any chill and
+afterwards appealed to the doctor, who, lulled to sleep by the music,
+could not at once understand what was the matter.
+
+"Can Laudie remain?" asked Pani Krzycki.
+
+"He can, he can; only as soon as the sun disappears, it will be
+necessary to cover him better."
+
+Afterwards the doctor looked at his watch and added:
+
+"It is time for me to go, but I have had so few evenings like this that
+it is a hardship to leave. As God sees, it is a hardship."
+
+And here he began to rub his fatigued brow with the palm of his hand.
+Pani Krzycki and Ladislaus declared that they would not permit him to
+leave before supper. The doctor again looked at his watch, but before
+he could make any reply there appeared upon the veranda the same
+feminine figure that had been listening to the music in the depths of
+the parlor, but this time with two plaids upon her arm.
+
+"Is that you, Pauly?" said Miss Anney. "Ah, how sensible you are."
+
+And Panna Pauly began to cover Ladislaus with the plaids. She placed
+one over his shoulders and the other around his limbs. In doing this
+she knelt and bent in such a way that for a moment her breast rested on
+Krzycki's knee.
+
+"Thank you, little Miss, thank you," he said, somewhat confused.
+
+She glanced quickly into his eyes and then left without a word.
+
+"But I have taken your plaids," Ladislaus said addressing Miss Anney.
+
+"That does not matter. I am dressed warmly. Only, you, sir, will have
+to take care that the wounded shoulder is well covered."
+
+And approaching him, she began to push lightly and carefully a corner
+of the plaid between the back of the chair and his shoulder.
+
+"I am not hurting you?" she asked.
+
+"No, no. How can I thank you?"
+
+And he looked at her with such enamoured eyes that for the first time
+it occurred to his mother that there might be something more than
+gratitude in this.
+
+She glanced once or twice at Pani Zosia's delicate countenance, and
+sighed, and her heart was oppressed with fear, disquiet, and regret.
+This was her ideal for her son; this was her secret fancy. She, indeed,
+had fallen in love with her whole soul with the young Englishwoman, and
+if foreign blood did not course in her veins, she would not have had
+any objections, but nevertheless this first fleeting suspicion that the
+structure, which she, in her soul, had erected from the moment she
+became intimate with Zosia, might crumble, was to her immeasurably
+disagreeable. For a time she felt, as it were, a dislike for Miss
+Anney. She determined also from that moment to observe them both more
+carefully, and to speak with Gronski.
+
+But in the further course of the evening her hopes revived, for when
+the company returned to the salon it seemed to her after a time that
+what she had seen on the veranda was an illusion. In fact that day did
+not end for Ladislaus and Miss Anney as serenely as the setting sun had
+augured. A cooler wind blew between them, and Pani Krzycki could not
+know that the reason for it, on the part of her boy, was jealousy. Miss
+Anney, after the return to the parlor, began, on the side, a
+conversation with the doctor which continued so long that Ladislaus
+became irritated. He observed that she spoke not only with animation,
+but also with a desire to please. He saw the brightened visage of the
+doctor, from which it was easy to read that the conversation afforded
+him sincere pleasure, and a serpent stung Ladislaus' heart. He could
+not overhear what Miss Anney was saying. It seemed to him only that she
+was urging something. On the other hand, the doctor could not speak so
+quietly, but to Krzycki's eavesdropping ears from time to time came
+such fragmentary expressions as "I intended to do that, only after a
+week"; "Ha!" "Some may object"; "If that is the case, very well"; "It
+is well known how England conquers"; "Good, good."
+
+Ladislaus decided with all possible coolness to ask Miss Anney whom
+England had now subjugated and whether the newspapers had made any
+mention of it, but when Miss Anney and the doctor at the conclusion of
+their tete-a-tete had rejoined the rest of the company, he changed his
+plan and, with the offended dignity of a schoolboy who is ready not
+only to spite those dear to him but also himself, he determined to
+cover himself with the cloak of indifference. With this view he turned
+to Zosia and began to inquire about the Zalesin estate and begged her
+permission to inspect it; and she told him that it would give her great
+pleasure. He thanked her so warmly that his mother was led into an
+error. Miss Anney tried several times to participate in the
+conversation, but receiving from him indifferent replies, surprised and
+slightly touched, began to listen to what Gronski was saying.
+
+After supper the doctor announced that he would have to leave. For a
+while he spoke with Gronski, and then took his leave of the ladies,
+repeating, "Until to-morrow; at the railway station." He advised
+Ladislaus to return immediately to his room and secure a good rest
+before proceeding on his journey. Gronski, after escorting the doctor
+to the gate, accompanied Ladislaus to his room, and when they found
+themselves alone, perceiving his mien and easily surmising the cause
+asked: "What ails you? You are so agreeable."
+
+And Krzycki answered with some irritation: "I am still feeling weak;
+otherwise I am as usual."
+
+But Gronski shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"These," said he, "are the usual misunderstandings of lovers, but you,
+above all, are a child and caused her unpleasantness. And do you know
+what for? Simply because she urged Szremski to accompany you to
+Warsaw."
+
+Ladislaus' heart quivered, but he put a good face on a bad matter and
+would not yet be reconciled.
+
+"I do not feel at all weak and can get along without his assistance."
+
+To this Gronski replied:
+
+"Good-night to you and your logic."
+
+And he left the room.
+
+But Ladislaus when he was undressed and in bed, suddenly felt tears
+welling in his eyes and began with extraordinary tenderness to beg
+pardon of--the pillow.
+
+
+
+                                   VI
+
+Gronski, who by nature was very obliging and devoted to his friends,
+was at the same time a man of ample means and high culture; in
+consequence of which Ladislaus found in his home not only such care as
+sincere good will alone can bestow, and comforts, but also various
+things which were lacking in Jastrzeb. He found, especially, books, a
+few paintings, engravings, and various small objects of vertu;
+moreover, the residence was spacious, well-ventilated, and not
+over-crowded with unnecessary articles. Thanks to the host a highly
+intellectual and esthetic atmosphere prevailed, in which the young heir
+felt indeed smaller and less self-confident than in Jastrzeb, but which
+he breathed with pleasure. He was seized, however, with a fear that by
+a lengthy stay he would cause his older friend trouble, and on the
+following evening he began to argue with Gronski about going to a
+hotel.
+
+"Even the doctor considers me well," he said. "The best proof of it is
+that he permits me to go about the city in three days."
+
+"I heard something about five," answered Gronski.
+
+"But that was yesterday; so, not counting to-day, three remain. You
+have your habits which you must not change on my account. It is indeed
+a pleasure to look at all these things; so I will come here, but it is
+one thing to visit you for an hour, or even two, and another to
+introduce confusion into your mode of life."
+
+"I will only say this," answered Gronski, "Pani Otocka and Panna
+Marynia regard me as an old bachelor and promised to make a call
+to-morrow, or the day after, as they have often done before, in the
+company of Miss Anney. Do you see that armchair? On it, during the
+music-playing, sat your light-haired beauty. Go, go to the hotel, and
+we will see who, besides your mother, will visit you."
+
+"You are too good."
+
+"I am an old egotist. You see that I have a few old household effects,
+which, during the course of my life, I have collected; but one thing,
+though I were as rich as Morgan and Jay Gould combined, I can
+unfortunately never buy, and that is youth. And you have so much of it
+that you could establish a bank and issue stock. From you rays plainly
+emanate. Let them illuminate and warm me a little. In other words, do
+not worry, and keep quiet if you are comfortable here with me."
+
+"I only do not desire to be spoiled by too much attention, for,
+speaking sincerely, I feel I am strong enough now."
+
+"So much the better. Thank God, Miss Anney, and the doctor that the
+journey did not injure you. That is what I feared a little."
+
+"It did not hurt me, neither did it help."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"Because I had a hope that on the road I could tell my bright queen
+that which I hid in my soul, but in the meantime it developed that this
+was a foolish hope. We sat in the compartment like herrings. The doctor
+hung over me continually, like a hangman over a good soul, and there
+was not a chance, even for a moment."
+
+"Never, never make any avowals in a railway car, for in the rumble and
+noise the most pathetic passages are lost. Finally, as Laskowicz has
+not dispatched you to the other world, you will easily find an
+opportunity."
+
+"Do you really think that it was the work of Laskowicz?"
+
+"No. But if ever I should ascertain that it was he, I would not be much
+surprised; for such a situation, in which one could gratify self and
+serve a good cause, occurs rarely."
+
+"How gratify self and serve a good cause?"
+
+"Good in his judgment. Do you not live from human sweat and blood?"
+
+"That is very true. But why should my death afford him any
+gratification personally?"
+
+"Because he has conceived a hatred for you; has fallen in love with
+some one and regards you as a rival."
+
+Hearing this, Ladislaus jumped up as if scalded.
+
+"What, would he dare?"
+
+"I assure you that he would dare," replied Gronski quietly, "only he
+made a mistake. But that he is not wanting in courage he gave proofs
+when he wrote an avowal of love to Marynia."
+
+Ladislaus opened wide his eyes and began to wink:
+
+"What was that?"
+
+"I did not want to speak to you about it in Jastrzeb, as at that time
+you often drove to the city. I feared that you might meet him and might
+start a disagreeable brawl. But at present I can tell you every thing;
+Laskowicz has fallen in love with Marynia and wrote a letter to her,
+which of course remained unanswered."
+
+"And he thought that I also am in love with Marynia."
+
+"Permit me; that would not be anything extraordinary. He might have
+overheard something. Whoever is in love usually imagines that every one
+is reaching after the object of his love. Understand that Laskowicz did
+not confide in me, but that is my hypothesis which, if it is erroneous,
+so much the better for Laskowicz. The party sent you a death sentence
+in consequence of his reports and this was working in his hand for
+personal reasons. After all, he may not have participated personally in
+the attempt--"
+
+"Did you see him after that letter?"
+
+"How could I see him, since he wrote after his departure. But it was
+lucky that I advised Pani Otocka to burn that lucubration, for if the
+letter had been found during the search at Jastrzeb, you can readily
+understand what inferences the acuteness of the police might have
+drawn."
+
+Anger glittered in Ladislaus' eyes.
+
+"I prefer that Miss Anney be not involved," he said; "nevertheless I
+would not advise Laskowicz to meet me. That such a baboon, as Dolhanski
+says, should dare to lift his eyes to our female relative in our home
+and, in addition thereto, write to her--this I regard plainly as an
+insult which I cannot forgive."
+
+"In all probability you will never meet him; so you will not move a
+finger."
+
+"I? Then you do not know me. Why not?"
+
+"Among other reasons, out of consideration for our pleasant situation.
+Consider; duels they will not accept and in this they are right. What
+then? Will you cudgel him with a cane or pull his ears?"
+
+"That is quite possible."
+
+"Wait! In the first place there was nothing in the letter resembling an
+insult and, again, what further? The police would take you both into
+custody, and there they would discover that they had caught Laskowicz,
+a revolutionary bird, whom they have been seeking for a long time and
+would send him to Siberia, or even hang him. Can you take anything like
+that upon your conscience?"
+
+"May the deuce take these times," cried Ladislaus. "A man is always in
+a situation from which there is no escape."
+
+"As is usual between two anarchies," answered Gronski. "After all, this
+is a slight illustration."
+
+Further conversation was stopped by the entrance of a servant who
+handed to Gronski a visiting card and he, glancing at it, said:
+
+"Ask him to step in."
+
+Afterwards he asked Ladislaus:
+
+"Do you know Swidwicki?"
+
+"I have heard the name, but am not acquainted with the man."
+
+"He is a relative of Pani Otocka's deceased husband. A very peculiar
+figure."
+
+At that moment Swidwicki entered the room. He was a man of forty years,
+bald, tall, lean, with an intelligent and sour face, and at the same
+time impudent. He was attired carelessly in a suit which appeared to
+fit him too loosely. He had, however, something which betrayed his
+connection with the higher social spheres.
+
+"How is Swidwa?" Gronski began.
+
+After which he introduced him to Ladislaus and continued:
+
+"What has happened to you? I have not seen you for an age."
+
+"Why, you were out of the city."
+
+"Yes; but before that time you did not show up for a month."
+
+"In my old age I have become an anchorite."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I am wearied by the folly of men who pass for reasonable
+beings and by the malice of men who pose as good. Finally, I now roam
+all over the streets from morning until night. Ah! There exist 'Attic
+Nights,' 'Florentine Nights,' and I have a desire to write about
+'Warsaw Days.' Delightful days! Titles of the separate chapters 'Hands
+up! The Rabble on Top.' 'Away with the Geese.' Do you know that at this
+moment there are so many troops patrolling the streets that any one
+else in my place would have been arrested ten times."
+
+"I know, but how do you manage to avoid it?"
+
+"I walk everywhere as peacefully as if in my own rooms. The way I do it
+is simple. As often as I am not drunk, I pretend to be drunk. You would
+not believe what sympathy and respect an intoxicated person commands.
+And in my opinion this is but just, for whoever is 'under the
+influence' from morning till night is innocent and well thinking; upon
+him the so-called social order can rely with confidence."
+
+"Surely. But the social order which depended upon such people would not
+stand upon steady legs."
+
+"Who, to-day, does stand on steady legs? Doctrines intoxicate more than
+alcohol--therefore at this moment all are drunk. The empire is
+staggering, the revolution is reeling, the parties are floundering, and
+a third person stands on the side and looks on. Soon all will tumble to
+the ground. Then there will be order, and may it come as soon as
+possible."
+
+"You ought to be that third person."
+
+"The third person is the German and we are fools. We begin by falling
+to loggerheads, and have reached such a state that the only salvation
+for our social soul would be a decent civil war."
+
+Here he became silent and after a while turned to Ladislaus.
+
+"I see that your eyes are wide open, but nevertheless it is so. A civil
+war is a superb thing. Nothing like it to clarify the situation and
+purify the atmosphere. But to be led to such a situation and not to be
+able to create it is the acme of misfortune or folly."
+
+"I confess that I do not understand," said Ladislaus.
+
+Gronski motioned with his hand and remarked:
+
+"Do not attempt to, for after every fifteen minutes of conversation you
+will not know what is black and what is white and your head will swim,
+or you will get a fever, which as a wounded man you should try to
+avoid."
+
+"True," said Swidwicki, "I had heard and even read in some newspaper of
+the occurrence and paid close attention to it because in your home Pan
+Gronski and Pani Otocka with her sister were being entertained. I am a
+relative of the late aged Otocka. Those women must have been scared.
+But if they think that they are safer here in the city they are
+mistaken."
+
+"Judging from what can be seen, it is really no safer here. Have you
+seen those ladies yet?"
+
+"No, I do not like to go there."
+
+At this, Ladislaus, who by nature was impetuous and bold, frowned, and
+looking Swidwicki in the eyes, replied:
+
+"I do not ask the reason, for that does not interest me, but I give you
+warning that they are my relatives."
+
+"Whose cause a young knight would have to champion," answered
+Swidwicki, gazing at Ladislaus. "Ah, no! If I had any intention of
+saying anything against the ladies I would not say it, as Gronski would
+throw me down the stairs and I have a favor to ask of him. What I said
+is the highest praise for them and simply gall and wormwood for me."
+
+"Beg pardon, again; I do not understand."
+
+"For you see that for the average Pole to have respect for any one and
+not to be able to sharpen his teeth upon him is always annoying. I
+cannot speak of the ladies as I would wish, that is, disparagingly. I
+cannot endure ideal women; besides that, whenever it happens that I
+pass an evening with them, I become a more decent man and that is a
+luxury which in these times we cannot afford."
+
+Ladislaus began to laugh and Gronski said:
+
+"I told you that surely your head would swim."
+
+After which to Swidwicki:
+
+"If he should get any worse, I will induce him to send the doctor's and
+apothecary's bill to you."
+
+"If that is the case, I will go," answered Swidwicki, "but you had
+better come with me into another room for I have some business with you
+which I prefer to discuss without witnesses."
+
+And, taking leave of Ladislaus, he stepped out. Gronski accompanied him
+to the ante-room and after a while returned, shrugging his shoulders:
+
+"What a strange gentleman," said Ladislaus. "I hope I am not
+indiscreet, but did he want to borrow any money from you?"
+
+"Worse," answered Gronski. "This time it was a few Falk engravings. I
+positively refused as he most frequently returns money or rather he
+lets you take it out of his annuity, but books, engravings, and such
+things he never gives back."
+
+"Is he making a collection?"
+
+"On the contrary he throws or gives them away; loans or destroys them.
+Do I know? You will now have an opportunity of meeting him oftener, for
+though I refused to loan them, I permitted him to come here to look
+over and study them. He undoubtedly is writing a book about Falk."
+
+"Ah, so he is a literary man."
+
+"He might have been one. As you will meet him, I must warn you a little
+against him. I will describe him briefly. He is a man to whom the Lord
+gave a good name, a large estate, good looks, great ability, and a good
+heart, and he has succeeded in wasting them all."
+
+"Even a good heart?"
+
+"Inasmuch as he is a rather pernicious person, it is better that he
+does not write. For you see that it may happen that somebody's brains
+decay, just as with people, sick with consumption, their lungs decay.
+But no one has the right to feed the nation with the putrefaction of
+his lungs or his brains. And there are many like him. He does not act
+for the public weal but merely for his own private affairs. Do you know
+how he accounts for not accomplishing anything in his life? In this
+way: that to do so one must believe and to believe it is necessary to
+have a certain amount of stupidity which he does not possess. I am not
+speaking now of religious matters. He simply does not believe that
+anything can be true or false, just or unjust, good or bad. But Balzac
+wisely says: 'Qui dit doute, dit impuissance.' Swidwicki is irritated
+and filled with bitterness by the fact that he is not anything;
+therefore he saves himself by paradoxes and turns intellectual
+somersaults. I once saw a clown who amused the public by giving his cap
+various strange and ridiculous shapes. Swidwicki does the same with
+truth and logic. He is also a clown, but an embittered and spiteful
+one. For this reason he always holds an opinion opposite to that of the
+person with whom he is speaking. This happens particularly when he is
+drunk, and he gets drunk every night. Then to a patriot he will say
+that fatherland is folly; in the presence of a believer he will scoff
+at faith; to a conservative he will say that only anarchy and
+revolution are worth anything; to the socialist that the proletariat
+have 'snouts.' I have heard how he thus expressed himself, and only for
+this reason, that he, 'a superman,' might have something to hit at when
+the notion seizes him. And thus it is always. In discussion he shines
+with paradoxes, but sometimes it chances that he says something
+striking because in all criticism there is some justice. If you wish, I
+will arrange such a spectacle, though for me he has a certain regard,
+firstly, because he likes me, and again because I have rendered him a
+few services in life. He promised to repay me with black ingratitude,
+but in the meantime he does not molest me with such energy as the
+others."
+
+"And no one has yet broken his bones," observed Ladislaus.
+
+"He does not, in the least, retreat from that. He himself seeks trouble
+and there is not a year in which he does not provoke some encounter."
+
+"In the taverns?"
+
+"Not only there. For belonging by name and family connections to the so
+called higher walks of life, he has many acquaintances there. Two years
+ago, indeed, the artists gave him a good cudgelling in a tavern; and,
+for instance, Dolhanski (their dislike is mutual) shot him last spring
+in a duel."
+
+"Ah, that was when I heard his name; now I remember."
+
+"Perhaps you heard it before, for previously he had a few affairs about
+women, as, in addition, he is a great ladies' man. Finally he is an
+unbridled rogue."
+
+"As to women? or up to date?"
+
+"He is not an old man. For some time he has been in the state where he
+likes not ladies but their maids. Fancy that not long ago he was so
+smitten with Miss Anney's maid,--the same brunette who nursed you a
+little in Jastrzeb,--that for a time he was continually dogging her
+steps. He said that once she reviled him on the stairway but this
+charmed him all the more."
+
+Krzycki at the mention of the brunette who nursed him in Jastrzeb
+became so confused that Gronski noticed it, but not knowing what had
+passed between him and Pauline, judged that the enamoured youth was
+offended at the thought that such an individual as Swidwicki should
+bustle about Miss Anney. So desiring to remove the impression, he
+remarked:
+
+"He says that he does not like to call upon those ladies, but Pani
+Otocka does not welcome him at all with enthusiasm. She receives him
+merely out of respect for the memory of her husband, who was his cousin
+and who, at one time, was the conservator of his estate. After all, it
+is probable that Swidwicki feels out of place among such ladies."
+
+"For microbes do not love a pure atmosphere."
+
+"This much is certain: there is within him 'a moral insanity.' I have
+become accustomed to him, but there are certain things in him I cannot
+endure. You have no idea of the contemptuous pity, the dislike, and the
+downright hatred with which he expresses himself about everything which
+is Polish. And here I call a halt. Notwithstanding our good relations,
+it almost came to a personal encounter between us. For when he began to
+squirt his bilious wit, a certain night, on all Poland, I said to him,
+'That lion is not yet dead, and if he dies we know who alone is capable
+of kicking at a dying lion.' He did not come here for over a month, but
+was I not right? I understand how some great hero, who was repaid with
+ingratitude, might speak with bitterness and venom of his country, but
+Swidwicki is not a Miltiades or a Themistocles. And such an outpouring
+of bile is directly pernicious, for he, with his immensely flashing
+intellect, finds imitators and creates a fashion, in consequence of
+which various persons who have never done anything for Poland whet
+their rusty wits upon this whetstone. I understand criticism, though it
+be inexorable, but when it becomes a horse or rather an ass from which
+one never dismounts, then it is bad, for it takes away the desire to
+live from those who, however, must live--and is vile, because it is
+spitting upon society, is often sinful and, above all, unprecedentedly
+unfortunate. Pessimism is not reason but a surrogate of reason;
+therefore, a cheat, such as the merchant who sells chiccory for coffee.
+And such a surrogate you now meet at every step in life and in
+literature."
+
+Here Gronski became silent for a while and raised his brows; and
+Krzycki said:
+
+"From what you say, I see that Swidwicki is a big ape."
+
+"At times, I think that he is a man incredibly wretched, and for that
+reason I did not break off relations with him. Besides he has for me a
+kind of attachment and this always disarms one. Finally, I confess
+openly that I have the purely Polish weakness, which indulges and
+forgives everything in people who amuse us. He at times is very
+amusing, especially when in a talking mood and when he is tipsy to a
+certain degree."
+
+"But finally, if he does not work but talks, from what does he live?"
+
+"He does not belong to the poor class. Once he was very wealthy; later
+he lost a greater portion of his fortune. But in the end the late
+Otocki who was a most upright man, and very practical besides, seeing
+what was taking place, took the matter in his own hands, saved
+considerable and changed the capital into an annuity. From this
+Swidwicki receives a few thousand roubles annually, and though he
+spends more than he ought to, he has something to live upon. If he did
+not drink, he would have a sufficiency: one passion he does not
+possess, namely, cards. He says that for cards one must have the
+intellect of a negro. From just that arose the encounter with
+Dolhanski. But after all, they could not bear each other of old. Both,
+as some one had said, are commercial travellers, dealing in cynicism
+and competing with each other."
+
+"Between the two, I, however, prefer Dolhanski," said Krzycki.
+
+"Because he amuses you, and Swidwicki has not thus far had the
+opportunity. Eternally, it is the same Polish weakness," answered
+Gronski.
+
+After a while he added:
+
+"In Dolhanski it is easier to see the bottom."
+
+"And at that bottom, Panna Kajetana."
+
+"At present it may, in truth, be so. Do you know that Dolhanski brought
+those ladies with him on the train which followed ours? He told me also
+that they would at once pay a visit to your mother and Pani Otocka."
+
+"You will really call upon them to-day?"
+
+"Yes, I call there daily. But as you are not permitted to go out, I
+will invite the ladies to come here to-morrow afternoon for tea."
+
+"I thank you most heartily. I am not allowed to go out but I could
+drive over."
+
+"My servant told me that by order of the Party a strike of the
+hackdrivers will begin to-morrow morning."
+
+"Then how can those ladies ride over here to-morrow?"
+
+"In the private carriages. Unless they are forbidden to ride in
+private.--"
+
+"In that case Mother will be unable to see me."
+
+"If it is quiet upon the streets, I will conduct her here and escort
+her home. At times it is so that one day the streets are turbulent as
+the sea, and the next, still and deserted. In reality it is a relative
+security; for whoever goes out to-day in the city cannot feel certain
+that he will return. If not these then the others may stick in your
+side a knife or a bayonet. But for women it is comparatively safe."
+
+"Under these circumstances, it would be better if my mother did not
+visit me at all. I prefer to stay out those three days which Szremski
+has imposed upon me, to exposing her or any of those ladies to peril.
+Please postpone that 'five o'clock.'"
+
+"Perhaps it will be necessary to do that. But your mother will not
+consent to not seeing you for three days. Maybe some one else will
+importune me that I should not defer the party."
+
+Ladislaus' face glowed with deep and tender joy.
+
+"Tell Mother that worry about her may harm me and cause a fever, and
+tell that other one that I kiss the hem of her dress."
+
+"No. Such things you must say yourself."
+
+"Oh, that I could not only tell her that as soon as possible, but do
+it. In the meantime I have a favor to ask of you. Please send your
+servant to the city. If he is afraid let him call a messenger. I would
+like to send that other one a few flowers."
+
+"Then send also some to your cousins, as otherwise your mother will be
+prematurely surprised."
+
+"Surely she would be astonished, for owing to her sickness she saw us
+so little together that she could not take in the situation. But soon I
+will confess all to her."
+
+"I will only tell you what Pani Otocka said to me. She said this: 'Let
+Ladislaus not speak with his mother before his final interview with
+Aninka as otherwise he would be unable to tell her everything.'"
+
+Krzycki looked Gronski quickly in the eyes.
+
+"And do you not know what the matter is?"
+
+"You know that I have never been accused of a lack of curiosity,"
+answered Gronski, "but I judged that Pani Otocka has sufficient reasons
+for remaining silent, and, therefore, I did not question her about
+anything."
+
+
+
+                                  VII
+
+Gronski actually did postpone his "five o'clock." Pani Krzycki,
+however, visited her son, sometimes twice in a day, claiming justly
+that less danger threatened an elderly woman than any one else.
+Ladislaus passed long hours with her, speaking about everything, but
+mostly about Miss Anney. After Gronski's admonition, he did not,
+indeed, confess to his mother his feelings for the young Englishwoman
+and did not mention a word about his intentions, but the fact, alone,
+that her name was continually on his lips, that he ascribed his
+preservation to her alone, and incessantly talked about the debt of
+gratitude which he and his family owed to her, gave his mother much to
+think about. The suspicion, which had flitted through her mind on the
+eve of their departure from Jastrzeb, returned and became more and more
+strongly fortified. She did not, indeed, take it for granted that
+Ladislaus had already taken an unbreakable resolution but came to the
+conclusion that he was "smitten" and finally that the light-haired
+maiden had made a greater impression upon him than had his cousin
+Otocka. This filled her with sorrow. During the journey and their few
+days' sojourn in Warsaw she took a fancy to Miss Anney for her
+demeanor, simplicity, and complaisance; but "Zosia Otocka" was the
+little eye in her head. From the moment she met her in Krynica, she
+never ceased dreaming of her for her son. She judged that, in respect
+to nobility and delicacy of sentiment, no one could compare with her.
+She regarded her as a chosen soul and the incarnation of womanly
+angelicalness. She had awaited her arrival with palpitation of the
+heart, not supposing for a moment that Ladislaus would not be
+captivated by her figure, her sweet countenance, that maidenly charm,
+which, notwithstanding her widowhood, she preserved in full bloom. And
+until the end Pani Krzycki indulged in the hope that all would end
+according to her desires, not taking into account the fleeting
+impression in Jastrzeb; only during the journey to Warsaw and in the
+course of the last few days did she note that it might happen
+otherwise, and that Ladislaus' eyes were enraptured by another flower.
+She preferred, however, not to question him for she thought that it
+might yet pass away.
+
+He, in the meantime, chafed as if imprisoned, and would undoubtedly
+have not observed those few days which the doctor stipulated, were it
+not for the fact that he had made a promise to his mother in Miss
+Anney's presence, and feared to create an opinion in her eyes that he
+was a man who did not keep his word. After the advice which Pani
+Otocka, through the instrumentality of Gronski, gave him that he should
+first speak with Miss Anney, it became more unendurable for him to sit
+in the house. From morning till night he racked his brain as to what
+that could be and could arrive at no satisfactory solution. The day
+following the conversation with Gronski, he decided to ask Pani Otocka
+about it by letter and sat down with great ardor to write. But after
+the first page he was encompassed by doubt. It seemed to him that he
+could not express that which he wished. He understood that, under the
+address of Pani Otocka, he was really writing to Miss Anney. So he
+yearned to make it a masterpiece, and in the meantime came to the
+conclusion that it was something so bungling and maladroit that it was
+impossible to forward it. Finally he lost all faith in his stylistic
+accomplishments, and this spoilt his humor so far that he again began
+to ask himself in his soul whether such "an ass," who is unable to
+indite three words, has the right to aspire to such an extraordinary
+and in every respect perfect being as "She." Gronski, however,
+comforted him with the explanation that the letter was not a success
+because from the beginning the project was baffling and under such
+circumstances no one could succeed. After which he also called his
+attention to another circumstance, namely, that from Pani Otocka's
+words and her advice that an interview with Miss Anney should precede
+any talk with his mother could be drawn the inference that there
+everything was prepared for an explosion, and all means preventative of
+a heart-break had been provided. Mirth immediately returned to
+Ladislaus and he began to laugh like a child and afterwards again sent
+to the three ladies bouquets of the most magnificent roses which Warsaw
+could provide.
+
+The day concluded yet more propitiously, for proofs of appreciation
+arrived. They were brought to Gronski's house by Panna Pauly in the
+form of a small and perfumed note, on which was written by the hand of
+the light-haired divinity the following words: "We thank you for the
+beautiful roses and hope for an early meeting." Further came the
+signatures of Agnes Anney, Zosia Otocka, and Marynia Zbyltowska.
+Krzycki pronounced the letter a masterpiece of simplicity and
+eloquence. He certainly would have kissed each letter of it separately,
+were it not for the fact that before him stood Panna Pauly, with
+clouded face, and eyes firmly fixed upon him--uneasy and already full
+of suspicious jealousy, though obviously not knowing against which one
+of the three ladies it was to be directed. Krzycki, not concealing the
+joy which the letter gave him, turned to her and said:
+
+"What is new, little Miss? Are the ladies well?"
+
+"Yes. My mistress instructed me to inquire about your health."
+
+"Kindly thank her. It is excellent, and if I am not shot again, I will
+not die from the first shooting."
+
+And she, not taking her bottomless eyes off him, replied:
+
+"God be praised."
+
+"But that you, little Miss, should not fear to go out in such turbulent
+times!"
+
+"The lackey was afraid, but I do not fear anything and wanted to see
+for myself how you were."
+
+"There is a daring body for me! I am grateful to you, little Miss.
+Since this stupid strike of hackmen ended to-day, it is better for you
+to return by hack. Please accept this--for--"
+
+While saying this, he began to search for his purse, and taking a
+five-rouble gold piece, he offered it to her. At the same time he felt
+that he was doing something improper, and even terrible. It was so
+disagreeable to him that he became confused and reddened, but it seemed
+to him that any other method of showing his gratitude would be food for
+the feeling which he perceived in her and which he wished to dispel,
+because of some strange kind of fear intensified even by the fact that
+the girl was Miss Anney's maid.
+
+Therefore he began to repeat with a forced and slightly silly smile:
+
+"Please, Panna Pauly, take it, please--"
+
+But she withdrew her hand and her face darkened in a moment.
+
+"I thank you," she said. "I did not come for that."
+
+And she turned towards the door. To the dissatisfaction with himself
+which Krzycki felt was joined pity for her. Therefore he followed her a
+few steps.
+
+"Let not the little lady be offended," he said; "here, of course, was
+no other thought than of her safety. It was only about this that I was
+concerned. Shall the servant summon a carriage?--"
+
+But she did not answer and left the house. Krzycki, walking to the
+window, gazed for some time at her graceful form, disappearing in the
+depths of the street; and suddenly again appeared before his eyes the
+vision of the white statue in azure drops of water. There was, however,
+something exasperating in her; and unwillingly there occurred to the
+frail young gentleman the thought that if she were not Miss Anney's
+maid, and if he had known her formerly, that as two and two are four he
+would have succumbed to temptation.
+
+But at present another, greater power had snatched away his thoughts
+and heart. After a while he returned to the letter and began to read it
+anew: "We thank you for the beautiful roses and hope for an early
+meeting." And so they want to see him over there. The day after
+to-morrow he will not be sitting here, bound by the chains of his own
+words, but will go there and gaze in those wonderful eyes, looking with
+a heavenly stream, and will so press his lips to her beloved hands that
+in one kiss he will tell everything which he has in his heart. Words
+will be later only an echo. And imagination bore him like an
+unmanageable horse. Perhaps that idolized maid may at once fall into
+his arms; perhaps she may close those wonderful eyes and offer her lips
+to him. At this thought a thrill passed through Krzycki from his feet
+to his head and it seemed to him that all the love, all the impulses,
+and all the desires which ever existed and exist in the world at
+present were hoarded in him alone.
+
+
+
+                                  VIII
+
+Gronski spent the entire next day in the city; at night he was at Pani
+Otocka's, so that he did not return home until near midnight. Krzycki
+was not yet asleep and as his mother, on account of the disturbances on
+the streets could not visit him that day, he awaited with impatience
+Gronski's return, and immediately began to question him about the news
+in the city and of the ladies.
+
+"The news in the city is bad," answered Gronski; "about noon I heard
+the firing of musketry in the factory district. Before calling upon
+Pani Otocka, I was at a meeting in the Philharmonic at which
+representatives of some of the warring factions met, and do you know
+what kind of an impression I took away with me? Why, that,
+unfortunately, Swidwicki in certain respects was right and that we have
+come to the pass where only a civil war can clear the atmosphere. In
+this would be the greater tragedy for it would, at the same time, be
+the final extinction. But of this later. I have a head so tired and
+nerves so shattered that to-day I cannot think of such things."
+
+Here he rang for the servant, and notwithstanding the late hour
+directed him to prepare tea. Then he continued:
+
+"But from Pani Otocka I bring news. You would not believe your ears
+when I tell you what happened. Why this afternoon, before my arrival,
+Laskowicz called on those ladies."
+
+Krzycki dropped from his hand the cigar which he was smoking.
+
+"Laskowicz?" he asked.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But the police are looking for him."
+
+"They are looking for him in the country and not in Warsaw. The police,
+like all the rest, have lost their heads. After all, it is easier to
+hide in a large city. But, really, if he himself flew into their hands,
+they might clutch him."
+
+"But what did he want from Pani Otocka?"
+
+"According to my conjectures, he wanted to see Marynia, but came
+ostensibly for a contribution for revolutionary purposes. After all,
+they are now continually soliciting contributions."
+
+"And did the ladies give?"
+
+"No. They told him that they would not give anything for the
+revolution, and for the hungry and those deprived of employment they
+had already sent as much as they could to a newspaper office. In fact,
+this was the truth. Pani Otocka donated a considerable amount, and Miss
+Anney also. Laskowicz attempted to explain to them that a refusal would
+expose the refractory to dangers and for that reason he came to them
+personally to shield them from it. He was very much displeased and
+incensed, particularly as he saw only Pani Zosia and Miss Anney, for
+Marynia did not appear. He announced however that he would come again."
+
+"Let him try!" cried Ladislaus, clenching his fists.
+
+But afterwards he asked with surprise:
+
+"How did he get in there, and why did they receive him?"
+
+"The male servants throughout the whole city are terror-stricken and
+the words 'From the Party' everywhere open the doors like the best
+pick-lock. But Laskowicz did not have to use even these means, as it
+happened that Pani Otocka's footman was in the cellar and he was
+admitted by Miss Anney's maid, who knew him from Jastrzeb and thought
+that he came as a good acquaintance."
+
+"In any case she acquitted herself foolishly."
+
+"My dear sir, what could she know about him? Of course, no one told her
+what he was and she saw him among us; she saw how he rode away to the
+city with me and that he was the tutor of the younger members of your
+family. That he participated in the attack upon you, also, could not
+have occurred to her mind, for from our side that is only a supposition
+which we did not confide to the ladies, in order not to disquiet them,
+and much less to her."
+
+"Perhaps she herself is a socialist."
+
+"I doubt it, for after the attempt, hearing that you were wounded, it
+is said she wailed so bitterly that she could be heard all over
+Jastrzeb; she invoked all the punishments of hades upon your would-be
+assassins. Miss Anney was much affected by that. I remember also that
+when it was rumored that the Rzeslewo people did it, she vowed to set
+fire to Rzeslewo. Ah, you always have luck--"
+
+"I do not care for such luck. But as to Laskowicz she, of course, saw
+during the search at Jastrzeb that they were seeking him."
+
+"Well, what of it? Were you not persecuted for establishing a school?
+In this country all sympathy is always on the side of the fugitive.
+Imagine for yourself that when Miss Anney forbade her to admit
+Laskowicz any more, she became indignant. Evidently it seemed to her
+that Miss Anney did that from fear of the police."
+
+"Miss Anney gave indisputable proofs that she does not fear anything."
+
+"So I also do not suspect her of fear, nor Pani Otocka. But, instead, I
+confess to you what I fear. That madman, if he does not personally
+appear there, will hover about them, and what is more will write
+letters; all letters now travel undoubtedly through the black cabinets.
+If I knew where I could find him, I would warn him above all things not
+to dare to write any more."
+
+"I will warn him of that and something else, if I can only meet him."
+
+"Since he visited the ladies, he may come to see me. We had, while
+riding together from Jastrzeb, a discussion which he has not forgiven
+me."
+
+"If he comes here, do you give me carte blanche?"
+
+"I would not think of it. Previously I had propounded to you the
+question whether if, as a result of a personal encounter with you, he
+was arrested you could take upon your soul his destruction, and you
+answered 'No.' Now I will ask you differently: If Laskowicz, tracked
+and pursued as a wild animal, hid in your house, would you not endeavor
+to hide him or assist him in escaping?"
+
+To this Krzycki replied in anger, but without hesitation:
+
+"I would help him--the dog's blood."
+
+"Ah, you see!" observed Gronski. "You curse, but admit. If they come to
+me for a contribution--it is all the same whether with or without
+Laskowicz--I will tell them that I will give for people destitute of
+bread but will not give for bombs, dynamite, and strike propaganda. I
+will tell them more: that in collecting contributions for a revolution
+from people who do not want to give and who give only from fear, they
+degrade their own citizens."
+
+"Perhaps that is of import to them. The more the higher strata become
+cowardly, the easier it will be for them."
+
+"That may be, but in such case they are the full brethren of all those
+who purposely and of old have debased the community."
+
+And Krzycki pondered and said:
+
+"With us these things are often done--from above and from below."
+
+Gronski glanced at him with a certain surprise as if he did not expect
+from his lips such a remark.
+
+"You are right," he declared; "from above, a continual lowering of
+great ideals, from below, because at present they are being directly
+trampled upon."
+
+"Bah! There remain yet the solid multitude of country peasantry."
+
+"Again you are right," replied Gronski. "Formerly Dabrowski's March[7]
+was the watchword for a hundred thousand, to-day it is the watchword
+for ten millions. Blessed be folk-lore!"
+
+They remained silent. Gronski for a time walked about the room, taking,
+according to his custom, the eyeglasses off his nose and replacing
+them. After which, he said:
+
+"Do you know what surprises me? This: that in such times and under such
+conditions, people can think of their private happiness and their
+private affairs. But nevertheless such is the law of life, which no
+power can suppress."
+
+"Have you me in mind?"
+
+"In theory, I am verifying a fact which in practice even you confirm.
+For lo, at this moment it is as if an earthquake took place; the
+buildings tumble, people perish, subterranean fires burst forth and you
+and Miss Anney love each other and think of founding a new nest."
+
+"How did you say it?" Krzycki asked with radiant countenance, "'you
+love each other.'"
+
+"I said 'you love each other,' for such is the case. You, after all,
+are more in love than she."
+
+"Certainly," answered Ladislaus, "there is nothing strange in that; but
+what inference do you draw?"
+
+"This, which you have not heretofore either directly or indirectly
+asked and have not even tried to ascertain, namely, how much can Miss
+Anney bring to you. In a rural citizen this is proof that the
+thermometer shows the highest temperature of love."
+
+"I give you my word, I would take her in a single dress," answered
+Krzycki.
+
+"But you would rather she had something?"
+
+"I will answer sincerely that I would. There are many neighbors poorer
+than I am and a piece of bread will never be lacking to us. But at
+Jastrzeb there are three of us--counting Mother, four. I am heir of
+one-fourth and the unsalaried manager of the three-fourths belonging to
+my family and Mother. I would wish that Jastrzeb would solely belong to
+myself and my wife, and in succession to my children, if we have any."
+
+"As to that, I have no doubt; but as to a dowry, I am not tormented by
+unnecessary fears," said Gronski. "Miss Anney lives, travels, dresses,
+and resides in comfort, but she is not a person who would desire to
+create false impressions. I assume that she does not possess millions,
+but her fortune, particularly in comparison to our condition, may
+appear even more considerable than we might have thought."
+
+"Let her have it or not have it," exclaimed Krzycki, "if she only will
+give herself to me. Whoever possesses that jewel can be crowned with it
+like a king."
+
+"I foresee a coronation soon," replied Gronski, laughing.
+
+
+
+                                   IX
+
+On account of Marynia's birthday, Miss Anney with her maid went to buy
+flowers. The day before, Gronski told her that he saw in one of the
+stores Italian rosy lilies, such as are sold in whole bundles in the
+vicinity of Lucca and Pisa, but which are cultivated but little in the
+conservatories of Warsaw and seldom imported into the country. As
+Marynia had inquired about them with great curiosity. Miss Anney
+decided to purchase for her all that could be found in the store. The
+previous evening she bantered Gronski, telling him that she would
+forestall him in the purchase, for he, as a known sleepy-head, would be
+unable to leave his home early enough. Determined to play a joke upon
+him, she left the house at eight in the morning, so as to be present at
+the opening of the store. She had, besides, a letter prepared, with the
+words "They are already bought," which she intended to send to Gronski
+by Pauly, and exulted at the thought that Gronski would receive it at
+his morning coffee.
+
+In fact everything went according to her plans, for she was the first
+buyer at the store. She was disappointed only in this: that there were
+too few lilies. There was only one flower-pot, containing about a dozen
+stalks with flowers. So the decoration of Marynia's whole room with
+them was out of the question. But for just this reason Miss Anney
+eagerly bought the one sample and, paying the price asked for it,
+directed that it be sent to the Otocka residence. She was annoyed,
+however, when informed in the store that the gardener delivering
+flowers could not come until noon-time, for she desired that Marynia
+should have them before she rose from bed.
+
+"In that case," she said, turning to Pauly, "call a hack and we will
+take the flower-pot with us."
+
+But Pauly, who, though she behaved quite indifferently and even
+refractorily in respect to her mistress and also to Pani Otocka, had a
+sort of exceptional adoration, bordering on sympathy, for Marynia,
+replied:
+
+"Let Madame permit me to carry these flowers alone. In the hack they
+will be shaken up and may fall off."
+
+"But you are to go with the letter to Pan Gronski and, besides, you
+will tire yourself with the flower-pot."
+
+"Pan Gronski's residence is on the way; and what if I do tire myself a
+little for the golden little lady. May I not do that much for her?"
+
+Miss Anney understood that a refusal would cause her great vexation,
+therefore she said:
+
+"Very well. You are an honest soul. But if it should be too heavy for
+you, take a hack. I will go to church."
+
+And she went to church to pray for Ladislaus, who was that day to leave
+the house for the first time and pass the evening at Pani Otocka's,
+owing to Marynia's birthday. She expected that the following day he
+would visit her and she wanted also to commit that day to divine
+protection.
+
+Pauline, taking the lilies, went in an opposite direction towards
+Gronski's residence. After a few score of steps the flower-pot filled
+with earth began to grow heavy; so, shifting it from one arm to the
+other, she thought:
+
+"If it was for any one else, I would throw everything upon the ground,
+but she is such a bird that it is hard not to love her--I would carry
+for her even two such flowerpots and I would not do her any harm.--Even
+in case--he loved her alone."
+
+And at this gloomy thought her countenance darkened yet more. In her
+heart, capable only of extreme feelings, began a struggle between her
+strange adoration for Marynia and her blind and passionate love for
+Krzycki; it was accompanied by the terrible and hopeless consciousness
+that under no circumstance could he be hers, as he was a young lord,
+heir, almost prince royal, and she a simple girl for sewing, setting
+the parlor in order, and household work. To this was added immediately
+a feeling of a prodigious wrong. Why, she might have been born also a
+"little lady" and not brought up in an orphan asylum, under the care of
+sisters of charity, but in a rich lordly home. Why was it not so,
+instead of the vile work of the servant's station awaiting her till
+death?
+
+And here it occurred to her mind that there is now, however, a kind of
+people, a kind of "party," which wants to take away property from the
+rich, distribute it among the poor, level all people, so that there
+will be no rich men and paupers, no servants and lords, no wrong of any
+kind in the world; and in the place thereof, all ranks will be one and
+the same, and liberty will be identical. She had heard of this from the
+servants in the house, from the craftsmen, from the salesmen in the
+stores to which she went to make purchases, and also through
+overhearing the conversations of the "gentility." It surprised her that
+these people were called socialists, for heretofore a "socialist" and a
+madman roaming over the streets with knife in hand meant to her one and
+the same thing. For a time after the attack upon Krzycki, when the
+report was spread that the socialists did it, she even felt for them
+such furious and blind hatred that she was willing to poison them or
+bake them upon live fires. Later, when the servants in Jastrzeb began
+to repeat that the young heir was waylaid not by them, but by people of
+Rzeslewo, this hatred became extinguished. But subsequently, when the
+girl learned more accurately what the socialists aimed at and who they
+were, she was but little interested in them. She partly regarded their
+ideas as foolish and partly thought of other things more personal, and
+finally, she distinguished in Poland only "her own" and "not her own,"
+loving, not knowing why, the first, and hating indiscriminately all the
+others. It was not until the last few days that it began to dawn in her
+head that among her own there existed terrible and painful differences;
+that for some there was wealth, for others poverty; that for a few
+there was enjoyment and for others toil; for some, laughter, for
+others, tears; for some, happiness, for others, woe and injury.
+
+This became clear to her, particularly at that moment when with greater
+suffering than ever before she became aware that this young gentleman,
+to whom her soul and body were urged, was simply an inaccessible star,
+on which she was barely permitted to gaze. And although nothing had
+happened that day which particularly irritated her and nothing had
+altered, she was possessed by a despair such as she never felt before.
+
+But the course of her gloomy meditations was finally interrupted by an
+external incident. Notwithstanding the early hour, she observed on the
+corner of the precinct a large crowd of people, agitated by some
+uneasiness. Their faces were turned towards the depth of a cross
+street, as if something unusual was taking place there. Some rushed
+forward while others retreated with evident fear. Some, arguing
+heatedly and pointing at something with their hands, looked upwards to
+the roofs of the houses. From all directions flocked new crowds of
+workingmen and striplings. Among the hack-drivers standing on the
+corner an unusual commotion prevailed: the drivers, in groups of
+varying numbers, wheeled their horses about in different directions as
+though they wished to blockade the street. Suddenly shrill cries
+resounded and then shots. In one moment an indescribable confusion
+arose. The throng swung to and fro and began to scamper; the cries
+sounded shriller and shriller each moment. It was evident that they
+were pursuing somebody. The girl, with her lilies, stood as if
+thunderstruck, not knowing what to do. Then, suddenly from amidst the
+hacks, a man dashed out, bent forward with lowered head, and at full
+speed ran towards her. On the way he flung away his cap and snatched a
+hat from the head of a stripling who, understanding the situation in
+the twinkle of an eye, did not even quiver. The hack-drivers began yet
+more zealously to block the street, evidently with a view to make the
+pursuit more difficult. But right behind them again rattled the
+revolver shots, and amidst the general cries and tumult already could
+be heard the shrill sounds of the police whistles and the hoarse,
+bellowing shouts of "Catch him! catch him!" A blind, excessive fright
+now seized Pauly, and she began to run, squeezing unconsciously to her
+bosom the flower-pot with the lilies, as if she wanted to save her own
+child.
+
+But she had barely run a dozen or more steps when a panting, low voice
+began to cry close behind her:
+
+"Lady, give me the flowers! For the mercy of God, lady, give me the
+flowers! Save!"
+
+The girl turned about suddenly with consternation, and indescribable
+amazement was reflected in her eyes, for she recognized Laskowicz.
+
+He, having violently wrested from her the flower-pot, to which, not
+knowing what she was doing, she clung with all her strength, whispered
+further:
+
+"Perhaps they will not recognize me. I will tell them that I am a
+gardener. Save me, little lady! Perhaps they will not recognize. I am
+out of breath!"
+
+She wanted to run farther but he restrained her.
+
+In the meantime, from among the chaos of hacks, a dozen or more
+policemen and civil agents emerged. The majority of the mob moved at a
+running pace in a direction opposite to the one in which Laskowicz and
+the girl were going, and undoubtedly they intentionally moved that way
+in order to deceive the pursuers. To better hoodwink the police, cries
+of "Catch him!" resounded among the laborers. Some workingman began to
+whistle shrilly on his fingers, imitating the sound of a police
+whistle. Accordingly the policemen and agents plunged headlong after
+the dense mob. At the intersection of the streets only a few stood
+still, and these, after a moment's irresolution, set off in the other
+direction, but they ran at full speed by the girl and the man with the
+light hat, carrying flowers. Rushing ahead they seized a few
+workingmen, but other workingmen rescued them in a moment. Pauly and
+Laskowicz walked farther.
+
+"They missed me," said the student. "Here no one would betray. They
+missed! Those flowers and another's hat fooled them. I thank you,
+little lady; I thank you from my whole soul, and until my death I will
+never be able to sufficiently repay you."
+
+But she, not having yet entirely recovered from her amazement, began to
+ask:
+
+"What happened? Where did you come from?"
+
+"From the roof; they pounced upon us in a printing plant. The others
+will get a year or two and nothing more will happen to them--but for
+me, there would be the halter."
+
+"How did you manage to escape?"
+
+"When we got on the roof, I slid down the gutter-pipe. I might have
+broken my neck. It was not until I reached the street that they
+observed me. They fired shots at me, but luckily I was not hit, for the
+blood would have betrayed me. Whoever was alive helped me, and I was
+hidden by the hacks. They did not see how I changed a cap for a hat.
+But if it was not for my female associate it would have been all over
+with me."
+
+"What female associate?"
+
+"I speak of you, little lady, thus. Amongst us such is the custom."
+
+"Then do not call me that, for I am no female associate."
+
+"That is a pity. But this is not the time to speak of that. Once more I
+thank you for the rescue, though it is for a short time."
+
+"Why for a short time?"
+
+"Because I do not know what to do with myself, where to go, and where
+to hide. Every night I sleep in a different place but they are seeking
+for me everywhere."
+
+"That is true. They were searching for you in Jastrzeb. Do you know
+that there was a police-search there?"
+
+"Was there?"
+
+"Yes. Gendarmes, police, and soldiers came. They almost put everybody
+under arrest."
+
+"Oh, they would not arrest them--"
+
+The clatter of horses' hoofs and the rattle of the horseshoes over the
+stony pavements interrupted for a while their conversation. From a side
+street ahead rode out a Cossack patrol, consisting of several scores of
+men. They rode slowly, with carabines resting upon their thighs and
+looked about cautiously. At the sight of them, Pauly became somewhat
+pale, while Laskowicz began to whisper:
+
+"That is nothing. They see that I am carrying flowers from the store.
+They will take me for a gardener and will ride by."
+
+In fact they did pass by.
+
+"They are now arresting every moment people on the streets in whole
+crowds," said Laskowicz. "To some one else that would be a small
+matter; but if I once fall into their clutches, I will never be able to
+get out again."
+
+"Well, what do you intend to do?"
+
+"Carry these flowers for you, little lady."
+
+"And after that?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"Of course you must have some acquaintances who will hide you."
+
+"I have, I have! But the police have their eyes upon all my
+acquaintances. Every night there is a search. For the last two nights I
+slept in a printing establishment, but today they discovered the
+printing press."
+
+A moment of silence followed.
+
+After which Laskowicz again spoke in a gloomy voice:
+
+"There is now no help for me. I will deliver these flowers and go
+wherever my eyes will take me."
+
+But in the heart of the girl suddenly there awoke a great pity for him.
+Before that she was indifferent to him. At present she only saw in him
+a Polish student hunted, like a mad dog, by people whom she of old
+despised.
+
+Therefore on her energetic and obstinate countenance, inflexible
+determination was depicted.
+
+"Come what may, I will not desert you," she said, knitting her dark
+brows.
+
+Laskowicz was suddenly seized with a desire to kiss her hand and would
+have done so if they were not on the street. He was moved not only by
+the hope of escape, but also by the fact that this girl, who hardly
+knew him, who did not belong to his camp, was ready to expose herself
+to the greatest dangers in order to come to his aid.
+
+"What can the little lady do? Where will she hide me?" he asked
+quietly.
+
+But she walked on with brows knitted by the strain of continuous
+thinking, and finally said:
+
+"I know. Let us go."
+
+He shifted the flower-pot to the left hand. "I must tell you," he said
+with lowered voice, "that the least punishment for concealing me is
+Siberia. I must tell you that! And I might cause your destruction, but
+in the first moments--the little lady understands--the instinct of
+preservation--there was no time for reflection."
+
+The little lady did not very well understand what the instinct of
+preservation was, but instead understood something else. This was that
+if she brought him, as she intended, to Gronski's, she would expose to
+danger not only Gronski but also Krzycki.
+
+And under the influence of this thought she stood as if stupefied.
+
+"In such a case, I do not know what I can do," she said.
+
+"Ah, you see, little lady," answered the student, as if in sorrow,
+while she, on her part, again began to rack her brains. It never
+occurred to her to conduct Laskowicz to Miss Anney's or Pani Otocka's.
+She felt that here masculine help was necessary and that it was
+imperative to find some one who would not fear and for whom she,
+herself, did not care. Therefore she mentally reviewed the whole array
+of Miss Anney's and Pani Otocka's acquaintances.--Pan Dolhanski?
+No!--He might be afraid or else send them to the devil and sneer at
+them. Dr. Szremski? He had probably left the city. Ah, were it not for
+this "young lord" she would conduct this poor fellow to Pan Gronski,
+for even if he did not receive him, at the worst he would give good
+advice, or would direct them to somebody. And suddenly it came to her
+mind that if Siberia threatened the person who concealed Laskowicz, Pan
+Gronski would not direct them to anybody; but if he could, he would
+direct them to only one man, whom she also knew. And on this thought,
+she dusted her dress with her hands and, turning to Laskowicz, said:
+
+"I know now! Let us try."
+
+After which, standing for a while, she continued:
+
+"Let us enter this house, here, at once. You will wait with the flowers
+in the hallway and I will deliver the letter upstairs and return. Do
+not fear anything, for the doorkeeper here knows me and he is a good
+man. After that I may lead you somewhere."
+
+Saying this, she entered the gate and, leaving Laskowicz below, rang,
+after a moment, Gronski's bell.
+
+Gronski, rising that day earlier than usual, was already dressed and
+sat with Krzycki having tea. When Pauly handed him the letter, he read
+it and, laughing, showed it to Ladislaus; after which he rose and went
+to his writing desk to write an answer. During this time Ladislaus
+began to question her about the health of his mother and the younger
+ladies.
+
+"I thank you, the ladies are well, but my lady has already gone down
+town."
+
+"So early? And is not your lady afraid to go alone about the city?"
+
+"My lady went with me and bought flowers for Panna Marynia and after
+that she went to church."
+
+"To what church did she go?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+Panna Pauly knew well, but she was hurt by his asking her about her
+mistress; while he, conjecturing this, ceased to question her further,
+for he had previously resolved to converse with her as little as
+possible.
+
+So, silence--a little embarrassing--ensued between them, and continued
+until Gronski returned with the letter.
+
+"Here is the answer," he said; "let the little lady bow for us to the
+ladies and say that to-day we both will be there, for Pan Krzycki's
+imprisonment is now ended."
+
+"I thank you," replied Pauly, "but I have yet a favor,--I would like to
+learn the address of Pan Swidwicki?"
+
+Gronski looked at her with astonishment.
+
+"Did the ladies request you to ask?"
+
+"No--I just wanted to know--"
+
+"Panna Pauly," said Gronski, "Pan Swidwicki lives at No. 5 Oboznej, but
+it is not very safe for young girls to go to him."
+
+She colored to the ears from fear that the "young lord" might think
+something bad about her.
+
+And she hesitated for a while whether she should tell that Laskowicz
+was in the hallway and that it was necessary to hide him, as otherwise
+destruction awaited him. But again she recollected that Laskowicz had
+been sought in Jastrzeb and that Krzycki, on account of that had been
+almost arrested. A fear possessed her that perhaps Gronski himself
+might want to hide the student and in such case would jeopardize the
+young lord. She looked once or twice at the shapely form of Krzycki and
+decided to remain silent.
+
+But Gronski spoke further:
+
+"I do not advise you to go to him. I do not advise it. It is said that
+you once gave him a tongue-lashing."
+
+And she, raising her head, answered at once haughtily and indignantly:
+
+"Then I will give him a tongue-lashing a second time; but I have some
+business with him."
+
+And bowing, she left. Gronski shrugged his shoulders and said:
+
+"I cannot understand what she is concerned about. There is something
+strange in that girl, and I tell you that your future lady gives
+evidence of holy patience, that she has not dismissed her before this.
+She always says that she is a violent character but has a golden heart,
+and that may be possible. I know, however, from Pani Otocka that the
+golden heart enacts for her such scenes as no one else would tolerate."
+
+
+
+                                   X
+
+In the evening of Marynia's birthday, Ladislaus and Miss Anney for a
+time found themselves at some distance from the rest of the company, at
+a cottage piano, decorated with flowers. His eyes shone with joy and
+happiness. He felt fortunate that his imprisonment had ended and that
+he could again gaze upon this, his lady, whom he loved with the whole
+strength of a young heart.
+
+"I know," he told her, "that you were this morning in the city and
+bought flowers. I learned this from your maid, who brought the letter
+to Pan Gronski. Afterwards you went to church. I asked her to which
+one, as I wanted to go there, but the maid did not know."
+
+"That is strange, for she knows that I always go to the Holy Cross, and
+at times I even take her with me. I am there, daily, at the morning
+mass."
+
+"She told me that she did not know," answered Ladislaus. "Will you be
+there to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes; unless the weather should be very inclement."
+
+Ladislaus lowered his voice:
+
+"I ask because I have a great and heartfelt prayer. Permit me to come
+there at the same hour and before the same altar."
+
+Blushes suffused Miss Anney's countenance and her breast began to move
+more quickly. She inclined her head somewhat and placing the edge of
+the fan to her lips answered in a low voice:
+
+"I have not the right to forbid nor to permit. The church is open to
+all the pious."
+
+"Yes. But I want to kneel a while beside you--together, and not with
+customary humility; but for a special purpose. As to my piety, I will
+candidly state that I believe in God, ah! especially now--I believe
+in God and in His goodness; but heretofore I have not been very
+pious--just like all others. When, however, a whole life is concerned,
+then even a man, totally unbelieving, is ready to kneel and pray. To
+kneel beside you, that alone is an immense boon, for it is as if one
+had beside him an angel. And I want to beg for something else: and that
+is that we should together, at the same time, say 'Under Thy protection
+we flee, Holy Mother of God.'"
+
+Ladislaus became pale from emotion and on his forehead beads of
+perspiration appeared. For a time he remained silent, to permit the too
+violent beating of his heart to subside. After which he again spoke:
+
+"'We flee'--that will mean us both. Nothing more, dear, dearest lady,
+nothing more. After that I will go, and in the afternoon, if you
+permit, I will come to your residence and will tell you everything
+which has collected within me from the time I first saw you in
+Jastrzeb. In your hands, lady, lies my fate, but I must, I must divulge
+it all; otherwise my bosom will burst. But if you, lady, will agree to
+a joint prayer of 'Under Thy protection,' before that time, then I
+shall be so happy that I do not know how I will survive until
+to-morrow."
+
+And she looked at him guilelessly and straight in his eyes with the
+celestial streak of the hazy pupils of her eyes and answered:
+
+"Come to church to-morrow."
+
+And Ladislaus whispered:
+
+"And not to be able to fall at your feet at this moment--not to be able
+to fall at your feet!"
+
+But Miss Anney tapped lightly, as if reluctantly, his hand, resting on
+the piano with her own, which was incased in a white glove, and walked
+away, for, not forgetting herself to the same extent as Ladislaus, she
+noticed that they were observed. Owing to Marynia's birthday there
+assembled that evening at Pani Otocka's quite a considerable gathering
+of acquaintances. The notary, Dzwonkowski, appeared; also, an old
+neighbor from the vicinity of Zalesin; and besides these Dolhanski and
+both Wlocek ladies, who after a previous exchange of visits, were
+invited by Pani Otocka. Gronski actually appeared the earliest and well
+nigh played the role of host, in which part he was assisted by the
+former teacher of Marynia, the violinist Bochener, not less in love
+with her, and finally Swidwicki, who on that day was exceptionally
+sober. Pani Otocka was occupied with the Wlocek ladies; Gronski
+conversed with Swidwicki in so far as he did not direct his eyes after
+Marynia, who, in her white dress, adorned with violets, slender, almost
+lithesome, actually looked like an alabaster statuette. But she, and
+with her Pani Krzycki, began to look with especial attention at
+Ladislaus and Miss Anney. The little ears of Marynia reddened from
+curiosity, while on Pani Krzycki's countenance there appeared
+uneasiness, and, as if it were, a shadow of dissatisfaction.
+
+But Miss Anney, breaking off her conversation with Ladislaus,
+approached directly towards his mother and sat down in a chair beside
+her.
+
+"Pan Ladislaus is so happy," she said, "that his confinement is ended."
+
+"I see," answered Pani Krzycki, "but I fear that conversation fatigues
+him yet. What did he say to you with such animation?"
+
+For a moment, Miss Anney inclined her head and began to smooth out with
+her fingers the folds of her bright dress as if troubled, but later,
+having evidently formed a sudden resolution, she raised her frank eyes
+straight at Pani Krzycki, just as she had previously at Ladislaus, and
+replied:
+
+"He said such pleasant and loving things; that he wants to go to church
+to-morrow and say 'Under Thy protection'--together with me--"
+
+In her eyes there were no interrogatories, nor uneasiness, nor
+challenge, but great goodness and truth.
+
+Pani Krzycki, on the other hand, was put out of countenance by the
+candor of the reply, so that at first she was silent. It seemed to her
+that what heretofore was a doubtful, blurred, and indistinct
+supposition, lightened up and plainly emerged upon the surface, but she
+tried to disbelieve it; so, after a certain hesitation, she replied:
+
+"Laudie otherwise would be ungrateful. He owes you so much--and I
+also."
+
+Miss Anney understood perfectly that Pani Krzycki wanted to give her to
+understand that the motive of Ladislaus' words was only gratitude, but
+she had no time to reply to the remark, as at that time across the arm
+of her chair the slender form of Marynia was leaning:
+
+"Aninka, may I trouble you to step over here for a moment?"
+
+"Certainly," answered Miss Anney.
+
+And rising, she left. Pani Krzycki eyed her and sighed. There was in
+that beautiful form so much youth, health, radiance, so many golden
+tresses, glances, so much bloom, warmth, and womanly fascination, that
+an older and experienced woman, like Pani Krzycki, was forced to admit
+in her soul that it would have been rather incomprehensible if
+Ladislaus had remained indifferent to all those charms.
+
+And sighing for the second time, she thought:
+
+"Why did Zosia bring her to Jastrzeb?"
+
+And she began to seek with her eyes Pani Otocka, who at that moment was
+approaching the door to greet an elderly gentleman with a white leonine
+mane and the same kind of white beard who, evidently being almost
+blind, stood on the threshold and gazed over the salon through his
+gold-rimmed spectacles.
+
+Finally espying Pani Otocka, he seized both her hands and commenced to
+kiss them with great ardor, while she greeted him with that shy grace,
+peculiarly her own, which made her resemble a young village maid.
+
+"How sweet she is and how lovable!" Pani Krzycki said to herself.
+
+But her further meditations and regrets were interrupted by Swidwicki,
+who, taking the chair vacated by Miss Anney, said:
+
+"But your son, benefactress, is a genuine Uhlan from under Somo-Sierra.
+What a race! what a type! I, who everywhere fancy beauty as a setter
+does partridges, observed this at once to Gronski. Only put a sabre in
+his hand and place him on horseback. Or at some exhibition! plainly on
+exhibition, as a notable specimen of the race. Ah, what blood with
+milk! The women must rave over him!"
+
+Pani Krzycki, notwithstanding her internal worries, was pleased to hear
+these words, for Ladislaus' shapeliness was from his childhood days a
+source of pride and joy for her. But in reality, she did not deem it
+proper to admit this before Swidwicki.
+
+"I do not attach any importance to that," she answered, "and I thank
+God that it is not the only thing that can be said of my son."
+
+And Swidwicki snapped his fingers and said:
+
+"You do attach importance to it, madame, you do, and so do I, and those
+ladies only pretend that they do not--that young Englishwoman as well
+as even that translucent little porcelain maid; though apparently she
+thinks of nought but music.... Perhaps the least of all Pani Zosia, but
+only because from a certain time she too sedulously reads Plato."
+
+"Zosia--Plato!" exclaimed Pani Krzycki.
+
+"I suspect so, and even am certain for otherwise she would not be so
+Platonic."
+
+"Why, she is not versed in Greek."
+
+"But Gronski is, and he can translate for her."
+
+Pani Krzycki gazed with astonishment at Swidwicki and broke off the
+conversation. Becoming acquainted with him only that evening and having
+no idea that he was a man who, for a quip, for a wretched play on words
+and from habit, was ready always and everywhere to talk stuff and
+nonsense in the most reckless manner, she could not understand why he
+said that to her. Nevertheless his words were for her, as it were, a
+ray illuminating things which heretofore she had not observed. She
+found new proofs that her heartfelt and secret wishes would always
+remain a dream without substance--and she sighed for the third time.
+
+"Ah, then it is so," she thought to herself in her soul.
+
+"Yes, yes," Swidwicki continued. "My cousin is very Platonic and in
+addition a trifle anaemic."
+
+In his laughter there was a kind of bitterness and even malice, so that
+Pani Krzycki again looked at him with astonishment.
+
+In the meantime Marynia led Miss Anney to another chamber. Her ears
+each moment became redder and her eyes sparkled with a perfectly
+childish curiosity. So pressing her little nose to Miss Anney's cheek,
+she began to whisper:
+
+"Tell me! Did he propose to you at the piano? Did he propose? Tell me
+now."
+
+And Miss Anney, embraced her neck with her arms and kissing her
+cordially, whispered in her ear:
+
+"Almost."
+
+"What?--at the piano! I guessed it at once! Ho, ho! I am thoroughly
+conversant with such matters. But how was that? Almost? How, almost?"
+
+"For I know that he loves me--"
+
+"Laudie? What did he say to you?"
+
+"He did not even have to say it."
+
+"I understand, I understand perfectly."
+
+Miss Anney, though her eyes were moist, began to laugh, and, hugging
+the little violinist again, said:
+
+"Let us now return to the salon."
+
+"Let us return," answered Marynia.
+
+On the way she said with delighted countenance:
+
+"You and Zosia, thought that I saw nothing, and I--oho!"
+
+In the salon they chanced upon a political discussion. The tall elderly
+gentleman with the white mane, who was a colleague and friend of the
+late Otocki and at the same time editor of one of the principal dailies
+in Warsaw, said:
+
+"They think that this is a new state of affairs, which henceforth is
+bound to continue, but it is an attack of hysteria, after which
+exhaustion and prostration will follow. I have lived long in the world
+and often have witnessed similar phenomena. Yes, it is so. It is a
+stupid and wicked revolution."
+
+If Swidwicki had heard from some madman that this was a wise and
+salutary revolution, he undoubtedly would have been of the opinion of
+the old editor, but, as he esteemed lightly journalists in general, he
+was particularly angered at the thought that the amiable old gentleman
+passed in certain circles as a political authority; so he began at once
+to dispute.
+
+"Only the bottomless naivete of the conservatives," he said, "is
+capable of demanding from a revolution reason and goodness. It
+is the same as demanding, for instance, of a conflagration that it
+should be gentle and sensible. Every revolution is the child of the
+passions--unreason and rage--and not of love. Its aim is to blow up the
+old forms of folly and evil and forcibly introduce into life the new."
+
+"And how do you picture to yourself the new?"
+
+"In reality as also foolish and wicked--but new. Upon such transitions
+our history is based, and even the annals of mankind in general."
+
+"That is the philosophy of despair."
+
+"Or of laughter."
+
+"If of laughter, then it is egoism."
+
+"Yes, that is so. My partisanship begins with me and ends with me."
+
+Gronski impatiently smacked his lips; while the editor took off his
+spectacles and, winking with his eyes, began to wipe them with a
+handkerchief.
+
+"I beg pardon," he said with great phlegm. "Your party affiliations may
+be very interesting but I wanted to speak of others."
+
+"Less interesting--"
+
+But the old journalist turned to Gronski.
+
+"Our socialists," he said, "have undertaken the reconstruction of a new
+house, forgetting that we live huddled together in only a few rooms,
+and that in the others dwell strangers who will not assent to it; or
+rather, on the contrary, they will permit the demolition of those few
+rooms, but will not allow their reconstruction."
+
+"Then it is better to blow up the whole structure with dynamite,"
+interjected Swidwicki.
+
+But this remark was passed over in silence; after which Gronski said:
+
+"One thing directly astonishes me, and that is that the conservatives
+turn with the greatest rage not against the revolutionists, but against
+the national patriots, who do not desire a revolution and who alone
+have sufficient strength to prevent it. I understand that a foreign
+bureaucracy does this, but why should our patres conscripti clear the
+way in this for them?"
+
+The editor replaced the spectacles, wetted his finger in the tea
+seeking the cup, afterwards raised it to his lips, drank, and replied:
+
+"The reason of that is their greater blindness and sense."
+
+"Please explain!" exclaimed Swidwicki, who was a little impressed by
+this reply.
+
+And the neighbor from Zalesin, who eagerly listened to the words of the
+journalist, asked:
+
+"How is that, sir benefactor? I do not understand."
+
+"Yes, it is so," answered the editor. "Their greater blindness is due
+to the narrower horizon, to the lack of ability to look ahead into the
+future, into those times and ages which are yet to come, for which it
+is a hundred times more important that the great Sacred Fire.[8] should
+not be extinguished than that any immediate paltry benefits should be
+obtained. It is necessary to have a sense of coming events, and this
+they do not possess. They are a little like Esau who relinquished his
+heritage for a pot of lentils. And for us it is not allowable to
+relinquish anything. Absolutely nothing! On the other hand, when
+concerned about isolated moments, about ranks and connections in a
+given instant of time, the conservatives are a hundred times more
+sensible, adroit--commit far less errors in details and view matters
+more soberly. I speak of this with entire impartiality for I myself am
+a nonpartisan."
+
+"Who is right neither in the present time nor will be in the future,"
+interposed Swidwicki. "After all, I agree that the difference between
+the views of politicians favoring reconciliation and sentimental
+patriots and zealots in general lies in this, that from political
+moderation you can immediately coin money, though at times counterfeit,
+but from sentimental politics,--only in the future. History confirms at
+every stage that what one hundred, fifty, or twenty years ago appeared
+to be political or social insanity, to-day has entered into being. And
+it will be ever thus in the further course of time."
+
+"That may be," said Gronski, "but it is only just so far as radicalism
+of ideas or the furies of feeling do not strike terror in a great,
+stupid, immediate act. For if this occurs a crime is perpetrated, and
+error is born which menaces the future. This happens frequently."
+
+"And I assume that this is just what the conservatives fear," answered
+the journalist, "an excessively warm patriotism--and it must be
+admitted, often improvident and absurd in its manifestations--strikes
+them with terror. Formerly they feared that the peasants, who read 'The
+Pole' might take to their scythes. At present they have gooseflesh when
+some zealot breaks out with a word about the future kingdom of Poland."
+
+"Kingdom of Poland!" said Swidwicki, snorting ironically. "I will tell
+you gentlemen an anecdote. A certain Russian official became insane and
+suffered from a mania of greatness. In reality his delusion lay in
+this, that he attained the highest position in heaven as well as on
+earth. And whom do you suppose that he imagined himself to be?"
+
+"Well! God?"
+
+"More."
+
+"I confess that my imagination reels," answered Gronski.
+
+"Ah, you see! In the meantime he invented a position still higher, for
+he represented himself as the 'presiding officer' of the Holy Trinity.
+Understand? That there was a committee consisting of God, the Father,
+the Son, and the Holy Ghost--and he was its chairman. Is not that
+more?"
+
+"True, but why do you cite that anecdote?"
+
+"As a proof that for diseased brains there are no impossibilities and
+that only such brains can think of a kingdom of Poland."
+
+Gronski remained silent for a while, and then said: "Twenty millions of
+people are something tangible, and permit me to say that the
+chairmanship of the Holy Trinity is a greater impossibility. What do
+you know about the future and who can divine it? The most you can say
+is that in view of the present conditions the thought of creating
+anything like it by force, through revolution, would be a mistake, and
+even a crime. But our nation will be devoured only when it allows
+itself to be devoured. But if it does not? If through great and noble
+efforts it shall bring forth enlightenment, social discipline,
+prosperity, science, literature, art, wealth, sanitation, a quiet
+internal strength, then what? And who to-day can tell what shape in the
+future the political and social conditions will assume? Who can vouch
+that the systems of government of the present day may not entirely
+change, that they will not fall and will not be adjudged as idiotic and
+criminal as to-day we regard tortures? Who can divine what governments
+will arise in that great sea which is humanity? The man who, for
+instance, in the time of Cicero would have said that social economy
+could exist without slavery would have been deemed crazy, and,
+nevertheless, to-day slavery does not exist. And in our political
+relations something similar might take place. To-day's conditions of
+coercion might change into voluntary and free unions. I do not know
+whether it will be so, but you do not know that it will not be so. In
+view of this, I see the necessity of quiet and iron labor, but I do not
+see the necessity of the repudiation or renunciation of any ideals--and
+I will tell you too that the Pole who does not bear that great ideal,
+at the bottom of his soul, is in a measure a renegade; and I do not
+understand why he does not renounce everything."
+
+"Write that in verse and in Latin," answered Swidwicki with impatience,
+"for in that manner you will upset the heads of a less number of men."
+
+"Then our present day antagonists may themselves say to us: 'Arrange
+matters to suit yourselves.' At the present moment it may seem a naive
+fancy, but the future carries in its bosom such surprises, as not only
+the shortsighted politicians have not dreamed of, but even philosophers
+who can look ahead."
+
+After which, having evidently sufficient of this discussion, he added:
+
+"But enough of this. I suspend the argument and pause. To-day we must
+occupy ourselves not with politics, but with the young lady whose
+birthday we celebrate and whom undoubtedly such things weary."
+
+Saying this, he turned to Marynia, standing at Miss Anney's side, but
+she, shaking her little head, replied at once with great ardor:
+
+"On the contrary! I am of the same opinion as Pan Gronski."
+
+And she blushed to her ears, for all began to laugh, while Swidwicki
+replied:
+
+"If that is so, then everything is settled."
+
+Ladislaus smiled at Marynia's embarrassment, though in truth he did not
+know what it all was about, as his whole soul surged in his enamoured
+eyes, gazing at Miss Anney. She stood between two chairs, calm,
+smiling, white in her light dress, cheery as the summer dawn, and only
+after the close of the discussion rosier than usual, and he plainly
+devoured her with his gaze. His thoughts and heart raged within him. He
+looked at her radiant countenance, on her bare arms, chiseled as if out
+of warm marble, at her developed strong breast, on the sinuous pliant
+lines of her figure, on her knees turned towards him and outlined under
+her light dress, and he was seized by a whirlwind of desires, which
+struggled with the feeling of worship and respect which he entertained
+for this maiden, pure as a tear. His pulse commenced to beat strangely
+and on his forehead appeared a braid of veins. At the thought that she
+was to be his wife and that all these treasures would be his, he was
+enveloped by a fire of blood, and at the same time by some kind of
+debility so great that at times he was uncertain whether he would be
+able to lift the chair. At the same time he quarrelled with himself. He
+became indignant from his whole soul at that "animal" which he could
+not subdue within himself, and upbraided himself to the last words
+because he did not love her--"that angel"--as he should love her, that
+is with the love which only kneels and idolizes. So, in thought, he
+fell on his knees before his loved one, embraced her limbs, and
+implored forgiveness, but when he imagined that his lips kissed her
+feet, again lust seized him by the hair. And in this struggle he felt
+not only unworthy of her, not only "a beast," but at the same time a
+half-baked and ludicrous blunderer, deprived of that reason, peace, and
+self-control which a true man should possess.
+
+He was also possessed by astonishment that everything which could
+promise delight should also at the same time torment him. Fortunately,
+his further torments and meditations were interrupted by music, with
+which an evening at Pani Otocka's had to conclude. Bochener sat at the
+piano, the irascible notary began to blow in his flute, and Marynia
+stood aside with the violin, and if those present were not accustomed
+to the sight of her, they would have been astonished at the change
+which took place in her. The beautiful but childish face of a delighted
+and inquisitive girl assumed in a single moment an expression of
+gravity and profound calm. Her eyes became thoughtful and sad. On the
+red background of the salon her slim form appeared like a design of the
+best style on a painted church window. There was something in her
+plainly hieratic.
+
+A trio began. The gentle tones began to rock Ladislaus' agitated soul.
+His senses gradually fell asleep and his desires were extinguished. His
+love metamorphosed into a great winged angel who carried his loved one
+in his arms as if a child, and soared with her in the immeasurable
+space before an altar composed of the lustre of the evening twilight
+and the nocturnal lights of stars.
+
+The hour was late, when Gronski, Swidwicki, and Ladislaus left Pani
+Otocka's. On the streets they met few pedestrians, but every few paces,
+they encountered the military and police patrol, which stopped them and
+asked for passports. This time Swidwicki did not pretend to be
+intoxicated, for he fell into a bad humor just because at Pani Otocka's
+he had to content himself with two glasses of wine. So, showing the
+policeman the passport, he pointed to his dress-suit and white cravat
+and asked them surlily whether socialists or bandits dressed in that
+manner.
+
+"If only lightning would smite the one and the other," he said,
+striking the sidewalk with his cane. "In addition, everything is
+closed, not only the restaurants in the hotels, but even the
+pharmacies, in which in an extreme case, vin de coca or alcohol can be
+procured. The pharmacies are striking! We have lived to see that! The
+doctors also ought to strike and then the grave-diggers will
+unwillingly have to strike also. May the devil seize all! At home I
+have not a single bottle; so throughout the entire night I will not be
+able to sleep a wink and to-morrow I will be as if taken off the
+cross--"
+
+"Come with us," said Gronski, "perhaps we may find a bottle of
+something and black coffee."
+
+"You have saved not only my life but that of my 'associate,' especially
+if two bottles are found."
+
+"We will seek. But what kind of associate are you speaking of?"
+
+"True, you yet know nothing. I will relate it over a glass."
+
+It was not far to Gronski's residence, so soon they were seated
+around a table on which was found a bottle of noble Chambertin and a
+coffee-percolator with black coffee, steaming in a delicious manner.
+
+Swidwicki regained his spirits.
+
+"Those ladies," he said, "are real angels, and for the reason that it
+is there, as if in Paradise, where happiness consists in gazing upon
+eternal brightness and listening to the archangel choir."
+
+Here he addressed Krzycki:
+
+"I observed that this suffices for you and Gronski--but for me it is
+absolutely too little."
+
+"Only do not begin to sharpen your tongue on those ladies," replied
+Gronski, "for I shall order the bottle removed instanter."
+
+Swidwicki hugged it with both hands.
+
+"I idolize--all three," he exclaimed with comic precipitancy.
+
+"Of what kind of associate were you speaking?"
+
+Swidwicki swallowed the wine and, closing his eyes, for a while
+appraised its value.
+
+"I have with me from this morning some kind of gallows-bird, for whom
+the police are looking and, if they find him with me, they will
+probably hang us both."
+
+"You, however, have given him shelter?"
+
+"I gave him shelter because he was brought by one whom I could not
+refuse."
+
+"I will wager that it was some woman."
+
+"That is true. I can add that she is comely and one of those who excite
+in me a responsive electric current. But I cannot tell you her name, as
+she begged me to keep that secret."
+
+"I do not ask," said Gronski, "but as to the current I have no doubt,
+as otherwise you would fear to place yourself in jeopardy."
+
+To this Swidwicki said:
+
+"Know this, that I do not fear anything in the world, and this gives me
+in this enslaved country such an unheard of independence as is not
+enjoyed by any one else."
+
+Saying this, he drained the glass to the bottom and exclaimed:
+
+"Long live liberty--but only my own."
+
+"Nevertheless, all this demonstrates that you have a little good in
+your heart."
+
+"Not in the least. I did that, firstly, because I expect a reward,
+on which, after all, in such virtuous company, I prefer not to
+dilate--unless after a second bottle--and again, because I will have
+some one upon whom I can vent my spleen and assert my ascendency. I
+assure you that my gallows-bird will not sleep upon roses--and who
+knows whether after a week he will not prefer the gallows to my
+hospitality?"
+
+"That is possible. But in the meantime?"
+
+"In the meantime I bought for him Allen's Waters in order to bleach the
+black tufts of hair on his head into a light color. 'Are te
+biondegiante'--as during Titian's time. I feel also a little
+satisfaction at the thought that the police will stand on their heads
+to find him and will not get him."
+
+"But if they find him?"
+
+"I doubt it. Do you remember that for a certain time I had a footman, a
+native of Bessarabia, whom you knew? Over two months ago he robbed me
+and ran away. He has already written to me from New York with a
+proposition which I will not repeat to you. A superb type! Perfectly
+modern. But before his escape he begged me to return to him his
+passport, as now they are asking about passports every moment. But I
+mislaid it in some book and could not find it. But recently--two or
+three days ago--I accidentally found it, so that my gallows-bird will
+have not only blond hair but also a passport."
+
+"And will he not rob you like his predecessor?"
+
+"I told him that he ought to do that, but he became indignant. It seems
+to me that he is boiling with indignation from morning until night, and
+if in the end he should steal from me it would be from indignation that
+I could suppose anything like that of him. That little patroness who
+shoved him on my neck vouches also that he is honest, but did not even
+tell me his name. Clever girl! For she says thus: 'If they find him,
+then you can excuse yourself on the plea that you did not know who he
+was.' And she is right--though when some marks of gratitude are
+concerned, she scratches like a cat. For her, I expose myself to the
+halter, and when I wanted from her a little of that--then I almost got
+it in the snout."
+
+Gronski knit his brows and began to sharply eye Swidwicki; after which,
+he said:
+
+"Miss Anney's servant asked me this morning about your residence. Tell
+me, what does that mean?"
+
+Swidwicki again drank the wine.
+
+"Ah, she also called--she was there. Pani Otocka sent through her an
+invitation."
+
+"Pani Otocka sent you an invitation through Pauly. Tell that to some
+one else."
+
+"About what are you concerned?" asked Swidwicki, with jovial
+effrontery. "She ordered her to send the invitation through a messenger
+but the messengers since last night are on a strike. Now everybody
+strikes. Girls also,--with the exception of the 'female associates,'
+particularly the old and ugly ones. These, if they strike, then sans le
+vouloir."
+
+The reply appeared to Gronski to be satisfactory, as in reality
+messengers had been absent from the streets since the previous day.
+Then Swidwicki turned the conversation into another direction.
+
+"I received him," he said, "not to save an ass, but because I am bored
+and it just suited me. Some wise Italian once said that the divinity
+which holds everything in this world in restraint is called la
+paura,--fear; and the Italian was right. If the people did not fear,
+nothing would remain--not a single social form of life! On this ladder
+of fear there are numerous rounds and the highest is the fear of death.
+Death! That is a real divinity! Reges rego, leges lego, judice judico!
+And I confess that I, whose life has been passed in toppling from
+pedestals various divinities, had the most difficulty in overcoming
+this divinity. But I overcame it and so completely that I made it my
+dog."
+
+"What did you do?"
+
+"A dog, which as often as it pleases me, I stroke over the hair,
+as for instance now, when I received that revolutionary booby. But that
+is yet nothing! See under what terror people live: the executioner's
+axe, the gallows, the bullet, cancer, consumption, typhoid fever,
+tabes--suffering, pain, whole months and years of torture--and why?
+Before the fear of death. And I jeer at that. Me, hangman will not
+execute, cancer will not gnaw, consumption will not consume, pain will
+not break, torture will not debase, for I shout, in a given moment, at
+this divinity before which all tremble, as at a spaniel: 'Lie down!'"
+
+After which he laughed and said:
+
+"And that mad booby of mine, however, hid himself as if before death.
+Tell me what would happen if people actually did not fear?"
+
+"They would not be themselves," answered Gronski. "They desire life,
+not death."
+
+
+
+                                   XI
+
+Swidwicki did not lie when he said that he did not know the name of the
+revolutionist to whom he promised an asylum, for in reality Pauly had
+made a secret of it. She so arranged it with Laskowicz on the way. The
+young student, learning that Swidwicki, to whom the girl was conducting
+him, was an acquaintance of Gronski and Pani Otocka, in the first
+moments became frightened inordinately. He recollected the letters
+which he had written to Panna Marynia, and his odious relations with
+Krzycki upon whom his party a short time previously perpetrated an
+attack. Personally he did not participate in it and the suggestion did
+not emanate from him, but on the other hand he did not have the
+slightest doubt that the committee issued the death sentence as a
+result of his reports designating Krzycki as the chief obstacle to
+their propaganda, and he remembered that he did nothing to prevent the
+attempt, and was even pleased in his soul that a man, hateful to him
+and at the same time a putative rival, would be removed from his path.
+
+For a time he even felt, owing to this "washing of hands," a certain
+internal disgust; at the intelligence, however, that the attack was
+unsuccessful he experienced, as it were, a feeling of disappointment.
+And now he was going to seek shelter with a man who was a relative of
+Pani Otocka and who might have heard of the letters to Marynia and his
+relations with Krzycki. This was a turn of affairs, clearly fatal,
+which might frustrate the best intentions of Panna Pauly.
+
+Considering all this he began to beg the girl not to mention his name,
+giving as a reason that in case the police should find him, Swidwicki
+would be less culpable.
+
+Pauly admitted the full justness of this; after a while, however, she
+observed that if Pan Gronski should ever visit Swidwicki then
+everything would be disclosed.
+
+"Yes," answered the student, "but I need that refuge for only a few
+days; after which I will look for another, or else my chiefs may
+dispatch me abroad."
+
+"What chiefs?" asked Pauly.
+
+"Those who desire liberty and bread for all, and who will not tolerate
+that some one should be raised above you, little lady, either in rank
+or money."
+
+"I do not understand. How is that? I would not be a servant and would
+not have a mistress?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Pauly was struck by the thought that in that case she would be nearer
+to her "young lord," but not having time to discuss this any longer,
+she repeated:
+
+"I do not understand. Later, I will question you about it, but now let
+us proceed."
+
+And they walked hurriedly ahead, in silence, until they reached
+Swidwicki's door. On the ringing of the bell, he opened it himself.
+With surprise but also with a smile he saw Pauly in the dark hallway
+and afterwards catching sight of Laskowicz, he asked:
+
+"What is he here for? Who is he?"
+
+"May we enter and may I speak with you in private?" asked the girl.
+
+"If you please. The more private, the more agreeable it will be to me."
+
+And they entered. The student remained in the first room. The master of
+the house conducted Pauly to another and closed the door after him.
+
+Laskowicz began to examine the large room, full of disorder, with
+books, and engravings, and an abundance of bottles with white and blue
+labels. On the round table, near the window, piled with daily
+newspapers, stood a bottle with the legend: "Vin de Coca; Mariani," and
+a few ash trays with charred lighters for cigars and cigarettes. The
+furniture in the room was heavy and evidently when new was costly but
+it was now dirty. Hanging on the wall were pictures, among them a
+portrait of Pani Otocka, while yet a young unmarried lady. In one
+corner protruded the well known statue of the Neapolitan Psyche with
+mutilated skull.
+
+The student placed the flower-pot with the Italian lilies on the table
+and began to eavesdrop. His life was involved, for if shelter was
+denied to him he undoubtedly would be arrested that day. Through the
+closed door came to him from time to time Swidwicki's outbursts of
+laughter, and the conversing voices, in which the voice of the girl
+sounded at times as if entreating, and at other moments angry and
+indignant. This lasted a long time. Finally the doors opened and the
+first to enter was Pauly, evidently angry, and with burning cheeks;
+after her came Swidwicki, who said:
+
+"Very well. Since the beautiful Pauly so wishes it, I will not tell any
+one who brought to me this Sir Ananias, and will keep him under cover,
+but on condition that Pauly will prove a little grateful to me."
+
+"I am grateful," answered the girl with irritation.
+
+"These are the proofs," said Swidwicki, displaying marks on the back of
+his hands. "A cat could not scratch any better. But to only look at
+little Pauly, I will agree even to that. The next time we will have
+some candy."
+
+"Good-by till we meet again."
+
+"Till we meet. May it be as frequent as possible."
+
+The girl took the pot with the flowers and left. Then Swidwicki thrust
+his hands into his pockets and began to stare at Laskowicz as if he had
+before him, not a human being, but some singular animal. Laskowicz
+looked at him in the same way, and during that short interval they
+acquired for each other a mutual dislike.
+
+Finally Swidwicki asked:
+
+"Ah, esteemed Sir Benefactor, of what party? Socialist, anarchist, or
+bandit? I beg of you! without ceremony! I do not ask your name, but it
+is necessary to be acquainted somehow."
+
+"I belong to the Polish Socialist Party," answered the student with a
+certain pride.
+
+"Aha! Then to the most stupid one. Excellent. That is as if some one
+said: To the atheistic-Catholic or to the national-cosmopolitan? I am
+truly delighted to bid you welcome."
+
+Laskowicz was not in the least meek by nature, and besides he
+understood in a moment that he had before him a man with whom he would
+gain nothing by meekness; so, gazing straight into Swidwicki's eyes, he
+replied almost contemptuously:
+
+"If you, sir, can be a Catholic and Pole, I can be a socialist and
+Pole."
+
+But Swidwicki laughed.
+
+"No, Sir Chieftain," he said, "Catholicism is a smell. One can be a cat
+and have a fainter or stronger odor, but one cannot be a cat and dog in
+one and the same person."
+
+"I am no chieftain; only a third-class agent," retorted Laskowicz.
+"You, sir, have given me a refuge and yourself the right to mock me."
+
+"Exactly, exactly! But for that I shall not require any gratitude. We
+can, after all, change the subject. Sit down, Sir Third-class Agent.
+What is new? How is His Majesty, the king."
+
+"What king?"
+
+"Why the one you serve and who to-day has the most courtiers; the one
+who, most of all, cannot endure the truth and most easily gulps
+adulation; the one, who in winter smells of whiskey and in summer of
+sour sweat,--that mangy, lousy, scabby, stinking, gracious, or rather,
+ungracious ruler of the day. King Rabble."
+
+If Laskowicz had heard the most monstrous blasphemies against a holy
+object, which heretofore mankind venerated, he would not have been more
+horrified than at the words which passed Swidwicki's lips. For him it
+was as if he were struck on the head with a club, for it never crossed
+his mind that any one would have dared to utter anything like that. His
+eyes became dim, his jaws tightened convulsively, his hands began to
+tremble. In the first moments he was possessed by an irrepressible
+desire to shoot Swidwicki in the head with the revolver he carried with
+him and afterwards slam the door and go wherever his eyes would take
+him, or else to place the barrel to his ear and shatter his own head,
+but he lacked the strength. All night long he had toiled in the
+printing plant; after which he had fled over the roofs and through the
+streets like a wild animal. He was fatigued, hungry, and exhausted with
+the frightful experiences of that morning. So he suddenly staggered on
+his feet, became as pale as a corpse, and would have tumbled upon the
+ground if a chair had not stood close by, into which he sank heavily,
+as if dead.
+
+"What is this? What in the devil ails you?" asked Swidwicki.
+
+And he began to assist him. He poured out of a bottle the remainder of
+the cognac and forced him to drink it; afterwards he lifted him from
+the chair and led him to another room and almost forcibly put him in
+his own bed.
+
+"What the devil!" he repeated; "how do you feel?"
+
+"Better," answered Laskowicz.
+
+Swidwicki glanced at his watch.
+
+"In about ten minutes, the old woman who serves here ought to come. I
+will order her to bring something to eat. In the meanwhile lie
+quietly."
+
+Laskowicz obeyed this advice, as he could not do otherwise. Lying
+there, however, he for a time knit his brow, and evidently his mind was
+laboring. Then he said:
+
+"That king--about whom you inquired--is--starving--"
+
+"May the devil take him!" replied Swidwicki. "The bourgeoisie will feed
+him, and for this he at the first opportunity will cut their throats.
+But do not take to heart too seriously whatever I say; for I say the
+same and stronger things to all parties. All! Do you understand, sir?"
+
+The bell interrupted further conversation. Laskowicz trembled like an
+aspen leaf.
+
+"That is my old woman. I recognize the ring," said Swidwicki. "She is
+earlier to-day than usual. Very well. I will order her to bring food at
+once."
+
+In fact, after a quarter of an hour, food was placed on the table.
+Refreshed, Laskowicz came entirely to himself and did not think of
+forsaking his new shelter. Swidwicki began to open and rummage through
+various drawers. Finally, finding a passport, he handed it to Laskowicz
+and said:
+
+"Before you, Sir Benefactor, become dictator of all Poland you will
+call yourself Zaranczko. You come from Bessarabia and have served with
+me a year. If they should catch you and, with you, me, repeat only one
+expression, '_Mamalyga_,[9] _mamalyga_.'"
+
+In this manner Laskowicz was installed in Swidwicki's home.
+
+
+
+                                  XII
+
+The morning after Marynia's birthday was unusually gloomy. The western
+wind drove heavy black clouds, which hung over the city, foretelling a
+storm. The atmosphere became oppressive and sultry. When Ladislaus
+entered the church it was completely dark within. In the Chapel of the
+Divine Mother a quiet votive mass commenced almost with his entry, and
+the flickering little flames of the candles, lighted before the altar,
+poorly illuminated the darkness. Ladislaus began to search with his
+eyes for Miss Anney and he recognized her by the light hair protruding
+from under her hat. She knelt in the first pew, her hands crossed in
+prayer and resting upon an open book. Seeing Ladislaus, she nodded her
+head and drew aside, to make room for him, not pausing in her prayers.
+He wanted to speak to her but did not dare, and only kneeling, drew
+somewhat towards himself the book so that they might pray from it
+together. It was, however, so dark that he could read nothing and after
+a while he became convinced that he could not pray at all. He was
+seized by great emotion, for he understood that a new epoch in his life
+had commenced, and that this moment, in which by the consent of Miss
+Anney he knelt at her side before the altar to mutually entreat God for
+blessing, signified more than any other avowals, and that it was the
+first sanctification of their loves and their joint future lives. He
+was possessed by a sense of his happiness, but at the same time by some
+kind of solemn apprehension at the thought that everything would soon
+cease to be only a dream, only a fancy, only a phantom of happiness,
+and become realized and accomplished. Through his mind glided the
+interrogatories,--How will he be able to bear this happiness, what will
+he do with it, and how will he acquit himself,--and from these
+questions there was bred in him a sense of immense responsibility,
+surcharged with fear. It was like certain worries which hitherto, as a
+free man, he had not known or at least had not met face to face. And he
+saw before him cares more direct and immediate. The moment of his
+interview with his mother was approaching; there were also some secret
+obstacles, which Gronski mentioned, and it was incumbent upon him to
+weigh everything, to plan, settle various matters, and set aside
+anticipated difficulties. In truth, now, if ever, it was worth while
+and necessary to trust to the Divine favor, invoke the All-provident
+aid, and deliver her to the care of the Future. Ladislaus observed that
+similar feelings and similar thoughts must have swayed Miss Anney as
+her countenance was calm, composed, grave, and even sad. The little
+flames of the candles were reflected in her upraised eyes and for a
+while it seemed to Ladislaus that he saw tears in those eyes.
+Apparently with the whole strength of her soul she committed him and
+herself to God. And thus they knelt beside each other, shoulder to
+shoulder, heart to heart, and already united, happy, and a little
+timorous. Ladislaus, having suppressed the whirlwind of thoughts, at
+last began to pray and said to God, "Do with me whatever Thou wilt, but
+grant her happiness and peace." And a prodigious overflowing wave of
+love deluged his bosom. His prayer became at the same time a solemn
+espousal and internal oath that he would never wrong that most precious
+being in the world, and that those eyes would never weep for his sake.
+
+In the meantime the votive mass was nearing its close. When the priest
+turned from the altar, his words, in the half-empty chapel, were as if
+dreamy and like whispering amidst sighs--as usually happens at the
+early morning mass. But at times they were deafened by thunders, as the
+storm began outside. The windows of the chapel darkened yet more, and
+from time to time livid lightning illuminated the panes; after which
+the darkness grew yet denser, and on the altar the little flames of the
+candles twinkled uneasily. The priest turned around once more; "Dominus
+vobiscum!" after which, "Ite missa est." Afterwards he blessed the
+assembled and retired. The small number of faithful who heard the mass
+followed his example. Only they two remained. Then she began to say in
+a whisper, broken by emotion, "Under Thy protection we flee. Holy
+Mother of God," and the further words "Our entreaties deign not to
+spurn and from all evil deign to preserve us forever," were said
+jointly with Ladislaus, and in this manner the entire prayer concluded.
+
+After this, silence fell between them, was broken only after a long
+while by Ladislaus.
+
+"We will have to wait," he said in a low voice. "The storm is yet
+continuing."
+
+"Very well," answered Miss Anney.
+
+"My dear, dearest lady--"
+
+But she placed her finger to her lips and silence again ensued. They
+did not, however, have to wait very long, for the summer storms come
+and pass away like birds. After the lapse of a quarter of an hour they
+left the church. The streets were flooded by the rain, but through the
+rifts of the scattered and rent clouds the sun shone brightly and, it
+seemed, moistly. Miss Anney's eyes winked under the flood of light and
+her countenance was as if she was awakened from a dream. But her
+composure and gravity did not pass away. Ladislaus, on the other hand,
+at the sight of the sun, and the bustle and life on the streets, was at
+once imbued with gayety and hope. He glanced once and again at his
+companion and she seemed to him as wonderful as a dream, charming as
+never before, and adorable simply beyond measure and bounds. He felt
+that he was capable of seizing her at that moment in his arms; of
+showing her to the sun, the clouds, the city, the human multitude, and
+exclaiming: "Behold my wealth, my treasure; this is the joy of my
+life!" But, conjecturing properly that Miss Anney would not assent to
+any manifestations like that, he subdued this impulse and directed his
+thoughts to more important matters.
+
+"My adored lady," said he, "I must give utterance to words which burn
+my lips. When may I come to see you?"
+
+"To-day at four," she replied; "I also have to tell you something upon
+which everything depends."
+
+"Everything depends upon you, lady, and upon nothing else."
+
+But her clear cheeks were suffused with confused blushes: her eyes
+shone as if with disagreeable uneasiness; and she replied:
+
+"God grant--you do not know, sir--you do not know sir--" she repeated
+with emphasis. "We will be alone.--But now we must part."
+
+Ladislaus escorted her to the carriage, kissed her hands and remained
+alone. Her words, corroborating that which Gronski had intimated as a
+result of his interviews with Pani Otocka, disquieted him, however, but
+only for a short time, as he was too much in love to suppose that it
+could change his love or swerve him from his purpose. At the mere
+thought of this he shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Women," he said to himself, "are always full of scruples and to actual
+difficulties they add chimerical ones."
+
+After which, he returned home in the best of humor, and besides
+Gronski, found there Dolhanski.
+
+"Behold," exclaimed Gronski, "lo, here is Dolhanski the bachelor.
+Congratulate him for he is going to marry."
+
+"No?" Truly? asked Ladislaus, amused.
+
+"With Panna Kajetana Wlocek," added Dolhanski, with sangfroid and
+extraordinary gravity.
+
+"Then I tender my best wishes from the whole heart. When is the
+wedding?"
+
+"Very soon, on account of the weather, famine, fire, and war, also
+similar exceptional circumstances. In a week. Without publication of
+the banns, on an _indult_. After the wedding, the same night a trip
+abroad."
+
+"And you say all this seriously?"
+
+"With the greatest seriousness in the world. Observe the exquisite
+consequences."
+
+"Here Dolhanski spread out his fingers and began to enumerate:"
+
+"Primo, my credit is resurrected, as a Hindoo fakir, who, buried in the
+ground for a whole month, awakes after exhumation to a new life;
+secundo: Gorek is without a copper coin of indebtedness and without
+society; tertio: my marriage settlement surpasses my expectations;
+quarto: my fiancee from good luck has grown so beautiful that you would
+not recognize her."
+
+"What are you saying?" cried Ladislaus, ingenuously.
+
+
+
+                                  XIII
+
+Promptly at four, Ladislaus appeared at Miss Anney's. She received him
+feelingly and for a greeting offered both hands which he began to press
+alternately to his lips and his forehead. Afterwards they sat beside
+each other and for a long time heard only the quickened beating of
+their own hearts and the faint sounds of the clock on the writing-desk.
+They reciprocally glanced at each other but neither was able to say the
+first word. After a while life could glow for them like a new dawn,
+glistening with joy and happiness, but, for the time being, it was
+heavy, embarrassing, the more embarrassing the longer the silence
+continued.
+
+Finally, Ladislaus from a feeling, that, if he kept silent much longer,
+he would appear ridiculous, mustered enough courage and spoke in a
+broken voice, whose sounds appeared strange to him!
+
+"From this morning I have a little hope--and nevertheless my heart
+beats as if I did not have any--I could not say a single word until I
+caught my breath--but that is nothing strange as my whole life is
+concerned.--Lady, you long ago, of course, surmised how deeply--how
+with my whole soul I love you,--you knew this long ago--is it not so?"
+
+Here he again inhaled the air, took a deep breath, and continued:
+
+"To-day in the church I said to myself this: 'If she will hear me, if
+she does not spurn me, if she consents to be my own for my whole
+life--my wife--then I vow solemnly to God before this altar that I will
+love and honor her; that I will never wrong her and will give her all
+the happiness which is in my power.' And I swear to you that this is
+the truth--It only depends upon you, lady, that it shall be so--upon
+your consent--upon your faith in me."
+
+Saying this, he again raised Miss Anney's hands to his lips and
+imprinted upon them a long imploring kiss and she leaned towards him so
+that her hair lightly brushed his forehead, and quietly replied:
+
+"I consent and believe with my whole soul--but this does not depend
+upon me alone."
+
+"Only upon you, lady," exclaimed Ladislaus.
+
+And believing that Miss Anney had his mother in mind, he began to say
+with a brightened face and deep joy in his voice:
+
+"My mother desires my happiness above all things and I assure you that
+she will come here with me to beg of you; and with me she will thank
+you for this great, this ineffable boon, and in the meantime I on my
+knees thank--"
+
+He wanted to drop on his knees before her and embrace her limbs with
+his arms, but she began to restrain him and say with feverish haste:
+
+"No, no. Do not kneel, sir,--you must first hear me. I consent, but I
+must confess things upon which everything depends. Please calm
+yourself."
+
+Ladislaus rose, again sat beside her and said, with anxious surprise:
+
+"I listen, my dearest lady."
+
+"And I must compose myself a little," replied Miss Anney.
+
+After which she rose, and approaching the window, pressed her forehead
+against the pane.
+
+For some time silence again ensued.
+
+"What is it?" spoke out Krzycki.
+
+Miss Anney withdrew her forehead from the pane. Her countenance was
+calmer, but her eyes were dimmed as if with tears. Approaching the
+table, she sat down opposite to Ladislaus.
+
+"Before I relate what it is now necessary for me to state," she said,
+"I have a great favor to ask of you. And if you--love me truly--then
+you will not refuse--"
+
+"Lady, if you demanded my life, I would not refuse it. I pledge you my
+word," he exclaimed.
+
+"Very well. Give me your word. Then I will be certain."
+
+"I pledge it in advance and swear upon our future happiness that I will
+comply with your every wish."
+
+"Very well," repeated Miss Anney. "Then I first beg of you, by all you
+hold most precious, not to feel at all bound by anything you have said
+to me just now."
+
+"I not feel bound? In what way? Of course, it may not be binding upon
+you, lady--but on me--"
+
+"Well, then, I release you from all obligations and consider that
+nothing has been said. You promised me that you would not refuse me
+anything, but this is not all."
+
+"Not all?"
+
+"No, I am anxious that after what I shall tell you, you shall not give
+me any answer--and for a whole week shall not return to me and shall
+not try to see me."
+
+"But in the name of God, what is it?" cried Ladislaus; "why should I
+suffer a week of torments? What does this mean?"
+
+"And for me it also will be a torment," she answered in a soft voice.
+"But it is necessary, it is imperative. You will have to explain
+everything to yourself; weigh everything, unravel and decide
+everything--and form a resolution--afterwards you may return or may not
+return--and a week for all that will be rather too little."
+
+And perceiving the agitation on Ladislaus' face, she hurriedly added,
+as if alarmed:
+
+"Sir, you promised--you pledged me your word!"
+
+Ladislaus drew his hand across the hair of his head; after which he
+began to rub his forehead with his palm.
+
+"I gave the word," he said at last, "because you requested it,
+lady--but why?"
+
+And Miss Anney turned pale to the eyes; for a while her lips quivered
+as though she struggled vainly to draw the words from her bosom, and
+only after an interval did she reply:
+
+"Because--atone time I--did not bear the name of Anney."
+
+"You did not bear the name of Anney?"
+
+"I--am--Hanka Skibianka."
+
+Ladislaus rose, staggered like a drunken man, and began to stare at her
+with a bewildered look.
+
+And she added in almost a whisper:
+
+"Little master!--'tis I--of the mill."
+
+And tears coursed quietly over her pallid countenance.
+
+
+
+
+                               PART III.
+
+
+
+                                   I
+
+Krzycki left Miss Anney's with a sensation as if lightning had struck
+directly in front of him and suddenly stunned him. He could neither
+collect nor connect his thoughts; he was not even in a condition to
+realize his situation nor reflect upon it. The only impression, or
+rather feeling, which in the first moments remained was a feeling of
+illimitable amazement. On the way he repeated every little while,
+"Hanka Skibianka! Hanka Skibianka!" and seemed incapable of doing aught
+else. He did not find Gronski at home, as the latter had left
+immediately after the noon hour, telling the servant that he would
+return late at night. So he went to his room, locked himself in without
+knowing why; afterwards he flung himself into an armchair and sat
+abstractedly for over an hour. After the lapse of that time, he opened
+his trunk and began to pack things into it with excessive zeal, until
+finally he propounded to himself the question: "Why am I doing this?"
+Not being able to find an answer, he abandoned that work and only
+resumed it when he came to the unexpected conclusion that in any case
+he would have to move away from Gronski's.
+
+Having finished, he put on his hat and left, without any well-defined
+object, for the city. For a while a desire rose in him to call upon his
+mother and Pani Otocka, but he stifled it at once. For what? It seemed
+to him that he had nothing to tell his mother about himself and his
+intentions; and that he could talk with her only about this unheard-of
+intelligence, the discussion of which would be for him, beyond all
+expression, afflicting. Unconsciously, he reached the Holy Cross Church
+and wanted to enter it, but the hour was late and the church was
+locked. The morning of that day and the joint prayer with her stood
+vividly before his eyes. Ah, how sincerely he prayed; how he loved her;
+how he loved her! And now he could not resist the impression that this
+light-haired, idolized lady, with whom he said in that chapel "Under
+Thy Protection," and Hanka Skibianka were two different beings. And he
+felt in his heart a kind of disenchantment with which he began to
+contend. For why was he nevertheless so acutely affected by it? Was it
+because Hanka was a peasant girl and he a nobleman? No! Miss Anney
+never represented herself as an English noblewoman, and a Polish
+peasant is no worse than an English commoner. He could not clearly
+perceive that the reason of it lay in this: that Miss Anney through her
+descent alone, foreign and distant, appeared to him a sort of princess,
+and Hanka was a near and domestic girl from Zarnow. She aroused less
+curiosity and therefore was less attractive. She was so much easier,
+therefore, cheaper to him. In vain he recalled and repeated that this
+Hanka is that same light-haired lady, charming as a dream, alluring,
+genteel, womanly, responding in sentiment to every thought and every
+word; the feeling of disenchantment was more powerful than those
+thoughts, and that charm of exoticism, which suddenly was lacking in
+the girl, minimized her worth in his eyes.
+
+But, besides this, there was something else, in view of which the
+disenchantment and all unexpected impressions stood aside and became
+matters of secondary importance. This was, that he had once possessed
+that girl--body and soul. She was at that time almost a child--a flower
+not yet in full bloom which he plucked and carried for some time at his
+bosom. The memory of that could be a reproach only for him; no fault
+whatever weighed on her. He recollected those moonlight nights on which
+he stole to the mill; those whispers which were one quiet song of love
+and intoxication, interrupted only by kisses; he recalled how he
+clasped to his heart her girlish body, fragrant with the hay of the
+fields; how he drank the tears from her eyes and how he said to her
+that he would give up for her all the ladies of all the courts. The
+idyl passed, but now there wafted upon him from her the breath of the
+first youthful years, the first love, the first ecstasy, and the truly
+great poetry of life. Besides, there was truth in what he had confided
+to Gronski in Jastrzeb: that the girl loved him as no other woman in
+the world surely would love him. And at the thought of this, his heart
+began to melt. Together with the wave of recollection, Hanka returned
+and again engaged his thoughts.
+
+Yes. But that was Hanka and she is Miss Anney. In Ladislaus, from the
+time he fell in love with her, his senses leaped wildly towards her
+like a pack of yelping hounds; but he held them in leash because at the
+same time he knelt before his beloved. She was to him an object of
+desire but at the same time a sacred relic; something so inaccessible,
+exalted, pure, and mysterious in its virginity that at the thought that
+the moment would arrive when he would be the master of those treasures
+and secrets appeared to him a delight beyond all measure of delight;
+all the more fathomless as it was, united, as it were, with a
+sacrilege. And now he had to say to himself that this sacrilege he had
+already committed; that the charm of something unknown was dispelled;
+that in this vestal there were for him no mysteries and that he had
+already drunk from that cup. And this again was one lure less; one
+disenchantment more. In this manner Miss Anney muddied his recollection
+of the field peasant-girl, Hanka,--Hanka depreciated the charm of Miss
+Anney. Both were so different, so unlike each other, that, being unable
+to merge them into one entity, he vainly intensified that jarring
+impression with a feeling of disquietude and pain.
+
+In this vexation of spirit there occurred to him one wicked, low, and
+ugly thought. In what manner did the poor and simple Hanka change into
+the brilliant Miss Anney? In what manner could a gray sparrow from
+under a village thatched hut be transformed into a paradisiacal bird?
+Hanka was a betrayed girl; therefore the bridges had been burnt behind
+her. Amidst the wealth of a foreign land, beautiful but poor girls have
+before them only one road to the acquisition of affluence and even
+polish, and that was the road of shame. Hanka found one patron who took
+care of her in the appropriate manner; how many similar patrons and
+protectors could Miss Anney find? At the thought of this Krzycki's head
+swam. Conscience said to him, "You opened those gates before her," and
+at the same time he was seized by such anger at Miss Anney and himself
+that if the life or death of both rested in his hands, he would at that
+moment have selected death. Something within him was rent asunder;
+something crashed. It seemed to him that again, just above his head,
+pealed lightning, which stunned him and burnt, within him, to a crisp,
+the ability to think.
+
+He wandered a long time over the city. He himself did not know in what
+manner he again found himself before Pani Otocka's home, but he did not
+enter for he once more felt that at that time he could not speak with
+his mother. He returned to his own house late at night. Gronski was
+already at home, and for an hour had been waiting for him with the tea.
+
+"Good evening," he said, "I have returned from your mother's."
+
+And Ladislaus asked him with blunt impetuosity, "Do you know who Miss
+Anney is?"
+
+"I do. Pani Otocka told me."
+
+A moment of silence followed.
+
+"What do you say to this?"
+
+"I could ask you that question."
+
+Ladislaus sat heavily in the chair, drew his palm over his forehead and
+replied with bitter irony:
+
+"Ah, I have time. I was given a week for consideration."
+
+"That is not too much," answered Gronski, looking at him questioningly.
+
+"Certainly. Does Mother also know?"
+
+"Yes. Pani Otocka told her everything."
+
+Again silence ensued.
+
+"My dear Laudie," said Gronski, "I can understand that this must have
+shocked you, and for that reason I will not speak with you of it until
+you calm down and regain your equipoise. You must also become familiar
+with and well weigh the reasons why Miss Anney told only Pani Otocka
+who she was and why she came to Jastrzeb under her new name, to which,
+after all, she has a perfect right. Here is a letter from her. She
+requested me to deliver it to you to-morrow and that is why I did not
+hand it to you as soon as you appeared. At present I do not think that
+it would be proper to defer the matter. But do not open it at once nor
+in my presence. Put it away and read it when alone, when you can ponder
+over every word. Positively do this. That which has happened moved me
+to such an extent that for the time being I could not speak of it
+calmly. To-day I can only give you this advice: be a man and do not
+allow yourself to be swept away by the current of impressions. Row!"
+
+To this Ladislaus, who sobered up a little under the influence of these
+words, said:
+
+"I thank you, sir. I will read the letter in privacy. It is now so
+indispensable to me that I trust, sir, that you will not take it ill of
+me if I no longer abuse your hospitality. I am sincerely and cordially
+grateful to you for everything, but I must lock myself up. How long--I
+do not know. When I am myself again, I will come to you to discuss
+everything, God grant, more calmly. Now in reality, I see that I was
+justly given one week's time. But besides time, I feel the need of my
+own den. I cannot get rid of various thoughts, immensely bitter and
+even horrible. To-day they hold me by the head and it is necessary that
+I should hold them by the head--and for that reason I want to have my
+own den."
+
+"You know how willing I am to please you," answered Gronski; "I
+understand you, and though in advance I decided not to torment you with
+any questions, nevertheless, do what is best for yourself. I must tell
+you also that your mother is moving to a hotel, as she is offended with
+Pani Otocka. She took umbrage because she did not tell her at once in
+Jastrzeb who Miss Anney was."
+
+"I confess that I do not understand that--"
+
+"Nevertheless, that would have been directly contrary to what those
+ladies desired. Pani Otocka's intentions were the noblest. Time will
+elucidate and equalize everything. Even Marynia did not know anything,
+not only because Pani Zosia was bound by her word, but also because she
+did not deem it proper to acquaint her with your former behavior and
+your relations with the Hanka of former days. With Hanka--Miss Anney!
+That was an unheard-of turn of affairs. Do you remember our
+conversation in Jastrzeb when we went hunting for woodcock? Do you
+remember?"
+
+"I remember, but I cannot speak of it."
+
+"Yes, better not speak of it at this time. Miss Anney's letter
+undoubtedly will clear up the dark sides of the affair and explain what
+is now unintelligible. If you desire to read it at once, I will go and
+leave you here."
+
+"I am very curious about it and for just that reason I will take my
+leave of you."
+
+"But you will pass this night with me?"
+
+"I have packed my things and the hotels are always open."
+
+"In such case good-by!--and remember what I told you. Row! Row!"
+
+After a moment Gronski remained alone. He also was agitated,
+distressed, but curious to the highest degree. When after Ladislaus'
+confessions in Jastrzeb, he said to him that "the mills of the gods
+grind late," he spoke it in a way one utters, off-hand, any maxim to
+which one does not attach any real significance. In the meantime life
+verified it in a manner fabulous but nevertheless logical. For as a
+fable only appeared the transformation of Hanka into Miss Anney, but
+that Miss Anney desired to see the man, whom, as a child, she loved in
+her first transports of love and the place which bound her with so many
+memories, tender and sad, was a matter natural and intelligible. And,
+of course, she could not return to Jastrzeb and stay under the Krzycki
+roof-tree otherwise than under a changed name. And thus it happened;
+and the later events rolled on with their own force until they reached
+the moment when it was necessary to reveal the secret. Gronski knew
+already from Pani Otocka everything which she could tell him and
+absolved from all sin her as well as Miss Anney. Nevertheless, he
+understood that an unprecedented situation was created, and such a knot
+was twisted that the untangling of it was impossible to foresee. It
+could only be untwined by Krzycki, and even he stood not only in the
+presence of new difficulties but, as it were, in the presence of a new
+person.
+
+
+
+                                   II
+
+The very next day after the escape from the police Pauly visited
+Laskowicz and afterwards called to see him as often as she could find
+leisure time, selecting, nevertheless, hours when Swidwicki was not at
+home. But this did not present great difficulties as Swidwicki usually
+rose about noon, after which he went away and did not return until late
+at night. The girl was not induced to make these frequent visits by any
+sentimentality nor exceptional benevolence for the young student. She
+even felt, particularly in the first moments, that she could despise
+him. But women love in general to look at close range at their good
+deeds and to behold, even daily, the people for whom they have become
+providential angels; and again Laskowicz, with every word, disclosed to
+her worlds of whose existence she heretofore had never guessed. About
+socialists thus far she knew almost nothing, except what a certain old
+female cook once told her, that "they do not believe in God and do not
+eat ducks"; and she only heard that they threw bombs and shot from
+revolvers. After the attack upon Krzycki howsoever much she, together
+with all the servants in Jastrzeb, was convinced that it was
+perpetrated by Rzeslewo men, nevertheless, the supposition that it
+might have been the socialists reached her ears, and then she was
+inflamed against them with a temporary ungovernable hatred. But now she
+was learning that they were people of an entirely different stamp. She
+did not yet understand what in general they wanted, but understood in
+particular that those people desired that she, Paulina Kielkowna,
+should be a kind of lady like Miss Anney or Pani Otocka. And as a bee
+sips juice from flowers, so she, from the words of the young fanatic,
+extracted nourishment for her envy, her pain, her feelings. Her heart
+began to draw her towards that "Party," which appeared to her as a
+Providence and as a power; and to this was joined the purely feminine
+curiosity of the awful secrets of that power. Laskowicz quickly
+observed that the seed fell upon fit soil; and when once, for uttering
+inadvertently a disparaging word against Krzycki, the girl almost
+scratched out his eyes, he surmised her secret and determined to
+exploit her, not only for the good of the cause but also for his own
+personal ends.
+
+Although Pauly was not the servant of Pani Otocka but of Miss Anney,
+she nevertheless dwelt in the same house; so he could, through her,
+secure news of Marynia, which he craved with all his soul; he could
+quiet his fears as to Krzycki's intentions, could speak of her and hear
+her name; and finally could gain information as to when and where he
+could see her, though from a distance. And he questioned Panna Pauly
+about all this; at first cautiously and casually, afterwards more and
+more, and at last so incessantly that this began to surprise and anger
+her. Prone to extremes, and more capable of hatred than affection, she
+worshipped, by way of exception, Marynia, regarding her as a sort of
+supernal being, and this worship in her was as violent as was her
+hatred. On the other hand, on the ideal path, in the direction of
+universal equality and dislike of the higher classes she made in a
+brief time considerable progress. She could not however, cast off at
+once her former notions, and she frequently had sudden relapses to
+them. Hence at one time, when Laskowicz as usual began to hurl
+questions at her about Panna Marynia, she answered him testily:
+
+"Why are you always talking about Panna Zbyltowska?"
+
+"Perhaps I am in love with her," retorted the student, knitting his
+brow.
+
+At this her eyes in a moment blazed with rage.
+
+"What more yet?"
+
+And he began to peer at her keenly and asked:
+
+"Why does the little lady say 'what more yet'?"
+
+"For you are as suited for her as I am--"
+
+And she paused abruptly, but he finished:
+
+"To Pan Krzycki, for instance."
+
+Then she burst into a greater rage yet.
+
+"Why do you meddle in matters that do not concern you?"
+
+"I do not meddle in anything. I say only if the little lady fell in
+love with him and if I, hearing of it, said 'What more yet?' that would
+be disagreeable to the little lady? And it would be justly
+disagreeable. For if the priests prate that it is permissible to love
+even God, why not a human being? It is permissible for the little lady,
+it is permissible for me, it is permissible for everybody, for that is
+the law of nature and therefore our law."
+
+The words seconded that which was hidden in the girl's heart too much
+for her anger to remain, so she only glanced at Laskowicz, as if in
+sorrow, and replied:
+
+"Eh! Much good will come of that law!"
+
+"It will come or not come, in time. After all, if we adjusted the world
+in our own way, no dog would bark at such things. Is not the little
+lady worthy of Krzycki? Why not? Is it because he is richer? That is
+just what we are trying to prevent. Then what? Education? Lady, spit
+upon it. That education you can teach to a monkey. It is he, if the
+little lady wanted him, who ought yet to kiss the little lady's feet."
+
+But she again became impatient and replied:
+
+"Idle talk."
+
+"I also want only to say that in case I should fall in love with Panna
+Marynia and the little lady with Krzycki, our lot would be identical
+and the wrong the same."
+
+"Wrong in what?"
+
+"In the vile institutions of this world; in this, that such riff-raff
+as ourselves are permitted to love only to suffer, and we are not
+allowed to raise our eyes even upon the bourgeoisie, even though the
+hearts within should whine like dogs."
+
+"True," answered the girl through set teeth. "But what of it?"
+
+"This: that we ought to give to each other our hands, as brother and
+sister, and not be angry at each other, but assist one another. Who
+knows whether one may not be of service to the other?"
+
+"Eh! In what way can we help each other?"
+
+And he again began to gaze fixedly at her with his eyes set so closely
+to each other and said, uttering each word slowly:
+
+"I do not know whether Krzycki is in love with Panna Marynia or with
+that Englishwoman whom the little lady serves; or perhaps with neither
+of them."
+
+In one moment Pauly's face was covered with a pallor; afterwards a
+flame passed over it, which in turn gave way to pallor. In her soul
+there might have been dumb fears, but up to that time she had dared not
+put to herself any questions. Those ladies were entertained in Jastrzeb
+as guests. Pani Otocka and Panna Marynia were Krzycki's relatives;
+therefore there was nothing unusual in their relations. On the other
+hand, when the "Englishwoman" in Jastrzeb drove for the doctor and
+later nursed the wounded man, that was a time when the heart of the
+girl raged with jealousy and uneasiness. Afterwards she was placated by
+the thought that such a young nobleman would not wed a foreign
+"intruder," no matter how wealthy, but, at present, jealousy pierced
+her like a knife.
+
+Laskowicz continued:
+
+"The little lady asked in what way we can help one another, did she
+not?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"At least in--revenge,"
+
+After which, he changed the conversation.
+
+"Let the little lady come to me and, if I sometimes inquire about
+anything, let her not get angry. If at times it is hard for her, it is
+not easy for me. One lot, one wrong. Let the little lady come. I do not
+want to live with Swidwicki any longer. He is a peculiar man. I know
+that he did not take me out of the goodness of his heart, but as he
+placed himself in peril on my account I must endure everything from
+him. In the meantime he so maligns our party that I feel an impulse to
+shoot him in the head or stab him with a knife."
+
+"Why do you argue with that old goat?"
+
+"Because he talks and I must listen. Often he goads me into a reply.
+Somebody else for lesser things would get a knife under the ribs."
+
+"But I will not be able to hide you a second time, for I do not know
+where."
+
+"No. I myself will find some sort of hole; I have already thought of
+that. Our people will help. I now have a passport and am bleached
+yellow on the head. Some of my associates could not recognize me. Even
+if I am caught they will not try me as Laskowicz but as Zaranczko of
+Bessarabia, unless some one should betray me, but such there is not
+among us."
+
+"Only be careful, sir, and when you know where to hide, let me know. I
+will not betray."
+
+"I know, I know; such do not betray."
+
+After which he suddenly asked:
+
+"Why does not the little lady want to agree that we should call each
+other 'associates'? Amongst us we all speak that way."
+
+But she rebuffed him at once.
+
+"I told you once I cannot endure that."
+
+"Ah, if it is so, then it is hard."
+
+Pauly began to prepare for home. Laskowicz on the leave-taking made a
+second departure from the customs governing his associates, for he
+kissed her hand. Previously he had noticed that this raised her in her
+own eyes; that it flattered her and brought her into a good humor.
+Although not by nature over-intelligent, he observed that the
+principles of the Party alone would not entirely hold her, and that he
+would have in that girl an aid capable of all extremes, but only so far
+as her own personality entered into the play. This lowered the opinion
+which he held of her and his gratitude to her. He nevertheless
+submitted to this despotism, remembering that he owed to her his life.
+
+At present he had, besides, a favor to ask of her; so at the door he
+kissed her hand a second time and said:
+
+"Panna Pauly--the same lot, the same wrong. Let the little lady answer
+yet one more question. Where can I see though from a distance--though
+from a distance--"
+
+"Whom?" she asked, knitting her brows.
+
+"Panna Marynia."
+
+"If from a distance, then I will tell," she replied reluctantly. "The
+little lady is to play for the starving working people and at noon goes
+to the rehearsals."
+
+"Alone?"
+
+"No, with Pani Otocka or with my mistress; but sometimes with one of us
+servants."
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"But only from a distance--do you understand, sir,--for otherwise you
+will fare badly."
+
+And after these words, which sounded like a menace, she left him. The
+next moment Laskowicz heard through the door Swidwicki's voice and
+laughter, after which something resembling a scuffle, a suppressed
+scream, and--the sound of hasty footsteps on the stairs; finally
+Swidwicki stumbled into the room, drunk.
+
+"What were you doing here?" he asked.
+
+"Nothing," answered Laskowicz.
+
+And he began to scan the room, evidently desiring to satisfy himself
+whether he could not detect some signs of disorder, and repeated:
+
+"Nothing!"
+
+"I give you my word of honor," the student exclaimed with energy.
+
+At this Swidwicki leered at him, fingering his disheveled beard and
+said:
+
+"Then you are a fool!"
+
+After which he flung himself upon the sofa, for he had partaken of a
+sumptuous breakfast and was sleepy.
+
+
+
+                                  III
+
+Laskowicz's extreme fanaticism could not in reality harmonize with the
+extreme cynical scepticism of Swidwicki, who in addition took advantage
+of the situation not only beyond measure, but to the point of cruelty.
+He himself spoke of it and boasted about it to Gronski, when he met him
+in the restaurant, to which Gronski went after Krzycki's removal.
+
+"I have enough of my revolutionary maggot," he said, "I have enough of
+him, especially since I have satisfied myself that personally he is
+honest and will not pilfer any money from my pocket-book. From that
+time he has bored me. As for harboring such a simpleton one might go to
+Siberia. I regarded it in the beginning as a species of sport. I
+thought I would have a permanent sensation of a certain anxiety and, in
+the meantime, I have not experienced anything of the kind. The only
+satisfaction which I have is to point out to him his own stupidity and
+that of his party. By that I drive him to rabidness."
+
+"But that he cares to argue with you--"
+
+"He does not want to but is unable to restrain himself. His temperament
+and fanaticism carry him away."
+
+"At one time I met a similar individual," answered Gronski, "and not
+very long ago--out in the country, in Jastrzeb. He was a student, a
+tutor of Stas, whom Krzycki later discharged because he incited the
+field hands and was an agitator among peasants of the neighborhood."
+
+"Ah," ejaculated, with a strange smile, Swidwicki, to whom it occurred
+that Pauly also was at Jastrzeb.
+
+"What? Why do you smile?" asked Gronski.
+
+"Oh, nothing. Speak further."
+
+"I rode with him once to the city and on the way had quite a chat with
+him."
+
+"According to your habit."
+
+"According to my habit. Now among empty phrases, which only dull minds
+would accept as genuine coin, he said some interesting things. I
+learned a little about the angle from which they view the world."
+
+"My maggot at times says interesting things. Yesterday I led him into
+the admission that socialists of the pure water regard as their
+greatest enemies the peasants and the radical members of the
+bourgeoisie. I began to pour oil on the fire and he unbosomed himself.
+An unsophisticated peasant aspires to ownership, and that aspiration
+the devil cannot eradicate, and as to the bourgeoisie he spoke thus:
+'What harm,' he said, 'do these few nobles and priests who infest the
+world do to us? Our enemy is the bourgeois, rich or poor. Our enemy is
+the radical, who thinks that as soon as he shouts that he does not
+believe in God and priests that he buys us. Our enemy is that boaster,
+who speaks in the name of the common people and is ready to tickle us
+under the armpits, so that we should smile on him. He is the one who
+fawns on us, like a dog at a roll of butter, and preserves all the
+instincts of a bourgeois.' And he chattered further until I said: 'Hold
+on! Why, you are with the radicals "fratres Helenae!"' And he to this:
+'That is not true! The radical, wealthy bourgeois, who from fear dyes
+in red and borrows the standard and methods from us, introduces
+confusion in minds and drabbles in the mud our idea; and the poor one,
+if he annually saves even the smallest amount, injures us for he offers
+to work at a lower price than the pure proletaire, who always is as
+poor as Job. We,' he said, 'will put the knife, above all things, to
+the throats of the bourgeois for latent treachery lurks in him.' Thus
+he chattered and I was willing to concede justice to him, if in general
+I believed in justice, but I did not concede it yet for another reason,
+and that is, he is too stupid to have reasoned out such things. It was
+evident that he repeated what others taught him. In fact I did not
+neglect to tell him so."
+
+Further discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Dolhanski who,
+observing Gronski, approached him, although he disliked to meet
+Swidwicki.
+
+"How are you?" he said, "My ladies took a trip to Czestochowo; so I am
+free. Will you permit me to be seated with you?"
+
+"Certainly, certainly. Why, these are your last days."
+
+"It would be worth while even for that reason to drink a little
+bottle," observed Swidwicki, "particularly as it is, besides, my
+birthday."
+
+"If the calendar was a wine-cellar and the dates in it bottles, then
+your birthday would occur every day," answered Gronski.
+
+"I swear to you upon everything at which I jeer, that, contrary to my
+habit and inclination, this time I speak the truth."
+
+Saying this, he nodded to the waiter and ordered him to bring two
+bottles, calculating that afterwards more would be forthcoming. In the
+meantime Dolhanski said:
+
+"I met Krzycki to-day. He looks poorly; somehow not himself, and he
+told me that he does not live with you but in a hotel. Did you by
+chance quarrel?"
+
+"No. But he moved away from me and Pani Krzycki from Pani Otocka's."
+
+"There is some kind of epidemic," exclaimed Swidwicki, "for my
+cutthroat is leaving me."
+
+"Perhaps something has passed between Krzycki and Miss Anney," said
+Dolhanski. "I supposed that they were getting quite intimate. Did they
+part--or what?"
+
+"A marchpane, that Englishwoman," interrupted Swidwicki; "but her maid
+has more electricity in her."
+
+Gronski hesitated for a while; after which he said:
+
+"No, they have not parted, but something has occurred. I do not know
+why I should make a secret of that which, sooner or later, you will
+find out. It has developed that Miss Anney is not the born, but
+adopted, child of the rich English manufacturer, lately deceased, Mr.
+Anney, and of his late wife."
+
+"Well, if the adoption gives her all the rights, and particularly the
+right of inheritance, is it not all the same to Krzycki?"
+
+"The adoption gives her all rights; nevertheless it is not entirely the
+same to Krzycki, for it appears that Miss Anney is the daughter of a
+blacksmith of Rzeslewo and is named Hanka Skibianka."
+
+"Ha!" cried Swidwicki, "Perdita has been found but not the king's
+daughter. What does the pretty Florizel say to this?"
+
+But Dolhanski began to stare at Gronski as if he saw him for the first
+time in his life.
+
+"What are you saying?"
+
+"The actual fact."
+
+"Sapristi! But that is a nursery tale. Sapristi! You are joking."
+
+"I give you my word it is so. She herself told that to Krzycki."
+
+"I like that expression of astonishment on Dolhanski's face," exclaimed
+Swidwicki. "Man, come to yourself."
+
+Dolhanski restrained himself, for he always proclaimed that a true
+gentleman never should be surprised.
+
+"I remember now," he said, "that this is the Skibianka to whom Uncle
+Zarnowski bequeathed a few thousand roubles."
+
+"The same."
+
+"Therefore his daughter."
+
+"Fancy to yourself otherwise. Skiba came from Galicia to Rzeslewo with
+a wife and a child a few years old."
+
+"Therefore of pure peasant blood."
+
+"A Piast's,[10] a Piast's," cried Swidwicki.
+
+"Absolutely pure," answered Gronski.
+
+"And what does Laudie say?"
+
+"He swallowed the tidings and is trying to digest them," again blurted
+out Swidwicki.
+
+"That substantially is the case. He found himself in a new situation
+and locked himself up. It dumfounded him a little, and he desires to
+come to himself."
+
+"He was enamoured to the point of ludicrousness but now he will
+probably break off."
+
+"I do not admit that, but I repeat, that, in view of the changed
+situation, he has fallen into a certain internal strife, which he must
+first quell."
+
+"I candidly confess that I would break off all relations
+unconditionally."
+
+"But if Kaska or Hanka had a hundred thousand pounds?" asked Swidwicki.
+
+"In such a case--I would have fallen into a strife," answered
+Dolhanski, phlegmatically.
+
+After a while he continued:
+
+"For it seems that it is nothing, but in life it may appear to be
+something. Omitting the various cousins, 'Mats' and 'Jacks,' who
+undoubtedly will be found; there also will be found dissimilar
+instincts, dissimilar dispositions, and dissimilar tastes. Why, the
+deuce! I would not want a wife who suddenly might be ruled by an
+unexpected passion for amber rosaries, for shelling peas, for swingling
+flax, for picking fruit, or for gathering mushrooms, not to say berries
+and nuts, and walking barefooted."
+
+Here he turned to Gronski.
+
+"Shrug your shoulders, but it is so."
+
+"That would not shock me," said Swidwicki, "only, if I were to marry
+Miss Anney, I would just stipulate that she at times should go about
+barefooted. When I am in the country, nothing affects me so much as the
+sight of the bare feet of girls. It is true that they often have
+erysipelas about the ankles, which comes from the prickle of the
+stubblefields. But I assume that Miss Anney has not got erysipelas."
+
+"One cannot talk with you in a dignified manner."
+
+"Why?" replied Swidwicki. "Let Krzycki now clip coupons from his
+dignity but not we. Did you say that he belongs to the National
+Democrats?"
+
+"No, not I. But what connection has that with Miss Anney?"
+
+"Oh,--oh, a nobleman--a National Democrat--has found out that his flame
+has peasant blood in her veins and nevertheless his belly on that
+account has begun to ache; nevertheless, he is stung by that deminutio
+capitis."
+
+"Who told you that? Besides, it should be permutatio, not deminutio."
+
+"Yes! The English wares take on the appearance of a domestic product
+and fall in value. Justly, justly."
+
+"Do you know who could with perfect independence enter into a marriage
+under such conditions?" asked Dolhanski. "A truly great gentlemen."
+
+"But not Polish," exclaimed Swidwicki.
+
+"There you are already beginning! Why not Polish?"
+
+"Because a Polish gentleman has not sufficient faith in his own blood;
+he plainly has not sufficient pride to believe that he will elevate a
+woman to himself and not lower himself to her."
+
+Gronski began to laugh:
+
+"I did not expect that charge from your lips," he said.
+
+"Why? I am an individualist, and in so far as I do not regard myself as
+a specimen of the basest race, so far do I regard myself as a specimen
+of the best. According to me one belongs to the aristocracy only
+through lucky chance; that is, when one brings into the world a
+suitable profile and corresponding brain. But Dolhanski, for instance,
+in so far as he has not purchased portraits of ancestors at an
+auction--and our other gentlemen--judge that blood constitutes that
+appurtenance. Now granting these premises, I contend that our tories do
+not know how to be proud of their blood."
+
+"At home," said Gronski, "you vent your spleen upon the socialists, and
+here you wish to vent it upon the aristocracy."
+
+"That does not diminish my merits. I have a few pretty remarks for the
+National Democracy."
+
+"I know, I know. But how will you prove that which you said about the
+Polish tories?"
+
+"How will I prove it? By the Socratic method--with the aid of
+questions. Did you ever observe when a Polish gentleman abroad becomes
+acquainted with a Frenchman or Englishman? I, while I had money, passed
+winters in Nice or in Cairo and saw a number of them. Now, every time I
+propounded to myself the question which now I put to you: why the devil
+it is not the Frenchman or Englishman who tries to please the Pole, but
+the Pole them? Why is it that only the Pole fawns, only the Pole
+coquets? Because he is almost ashamed of his descent; and if by chance
+a Frenchman tells him that from his accent he took him for a Frenchman,
+or an Englishman takes him for an Englishman, then he melts with joy,
+like butter in a frying-pan! Ah, I have seen such coquettes by the
+score--and it is an old story. Such coquetry, for instance, Stanislaus
+Augustus[11] possessed. At home, the Polish gentleman at times knows
+how to hold his nose high. Before a foreigner he is on both paws. Is
+not that a lack of pride in his own race, in his own blood, in his own
+traditions? If you have the slightest grain of a sense of justice, even
+though no larger than the grain of caviar, you must admit the justice
+of my remarks. As to myself, I have been ashamed sometimes that I am a
+Pole."
+
+"That means that you committed the same sin with which you charge
+others," replied Gronski. "If the tips of the wings of our eagle
+reached both seas, as at one time they did, perhaps Poles might be
+different. But at present--tell me--of what are they to be proud?"
+
+"You are twisting things. I am speaking of racial pride only, not
+political," answered Swidwicki. "After all, may the devils take them. I
+prefer to drink."
+
+"Say what you will," asserted Dolhanski, "but I will merely tell you
+this: if internal affairs were exclusively in their hands, some
+fooleries might take place, but we would not be fried in the sauce in
+which we are fried to-day."
+
+Swidwicki turned to him with eyes glistening already a little
+abnormally.
+
+"My dear sir," he said, "in order to govern a country it is necessary
+to have one of three things: either the greatest number, which
+the canaille has behind it--I beg pardon, I should have said the
+Democracy--or the greatest sound sense, which nobody amongst us
+possesses, or the most money, which the Jews have. And as I have
+demonstrated that our great gentlemen do not even have any sentiment of
+traditions, therefore what have they?"
+
+"At least good manners, which you lack," retorted Dolhanski with
+aversion.
+
+"No. I will tell you what they have--if not all of them, then the
+second or third one: but I will tell it to you in a whisper, so as not
+to shock Gronski's virgin ears."
+
+And leaning over to Dolhanski, he whispered a word to him, after which
+he snorted, maliciously:
+
+"I do not say that that is nothing, but it is not sufficient to govern
+the country with."
+
+But Dolhanski frowned and said:
+
+"If that is so, then you surely belong to the highest aristocracy."
+
+"Of course! certainly! I have a diploma certified a few years ago in
+Aix-la-chapelle, the place of the coronation!"
+
+Saying this, he again quaffed his wine and continued with a kind of
+feverish gayety:
+
+"Ah, permit me to rail, permit me to scoff at men and things! I always
+do that internally but at times I must expectorate the gall. Permit me!
+For after all, I am a Pole, and for a Pole there perhaps cannot be a
+greater pleasure than defacing, belittling, pecking at, calumniating,
+spitting on, and pulling down statues from the pedestals. Republican
+tradition, is it not? In addition Providence so happily arranged it
+that a Pole loves that the most, and when he himself is concerned, he
+feels it most acutely. A delightful society!"
+
+"You are mistaken," replied Gronski, "for in that respect we have
+changed prodigiously and in proof of it, I will cite one instance: When
+the painter Limiatycki received for his 'Golgotha' a grand medal in
+Paris, all the local little brushes at once fumed at him. So meeting
+him, I asked him whether he intended to retaliate, and he replied to me
+with the greatest serenity: 'I am serving my fatherland and art, but
+only stupidity cannot understand that, while only turpitude will not
+understand it.' And he was right, for whoever has any kind of wings at
+his shoulders and can raise himself a little in the air, need not pay
+attention to the mud of the streets."
+
+"Tut, tut; mud is a purely native product, the same as other symptoms
+of your national culture, namely: filth, scandals, envy, folly,
+indolence, big words and little deeds, cheap politics, brawling, a
+relish for mass-meetings, banditism, revolvers, and bombs; if I wanted
+to mention everything I would not finish until late at night."
+
+"Then I will throw in for you a few more things," said Gronski;
+"drunkenness, cynicism, a stupid pose of despair, thoughtless
+hypercriticism, scoffing at misfortune, fouling one's own nest,
+spitting at blood and suffering, undermining faith in the future, and
+blasphemy against the nation. Have you yet enough?"
+
+"I have not enough of wine. Order some more, order some more!"
+
+"I will not order any more wine, but I will tell yet more, that you err
+in claiming that these are native products. They are brought by a
+certain wind which evidently has fanned you."
+
+But Swidwicki, who this time had no desire to quarrel but did have a
+desire to drink, evidently wishing to change the subject of the
+conversation, unexpectedly exclaimed:
+
+"Apropos of winds, what a pity that such sensible people as the
+Prussians commit one gross blunder."
+
+Gronski, who had already risen to bid him farewell, was overcome
+temporarily by curiosity.
+
+"What blunder?" he asked.
+
+"That they assume super-villeiny to be superhumanity."
+
+"In this you are right."
+
+"I feel a contempt for myself as often as I am right."
+
+"Then we will leave you with your wine and your contempt."
+
+Saying this, Gronski nodded to Dolhanski and they departed. Swidwicki's
+last words, however, caused him to reflect; so after a while he said:
+
+"Now people's minds are haunted by the Prussians and they are reminded
+of them by the slightest cause. After all, Swidwicki's description of
+them was apposite."
+
+"If you knew how little I am interested in Swidwicki's descriptions."
+
+"Nevertheless, you vie with him and talk in a similar strain," answered
+Gronski.
+
+After which, pursuing further the train of his thoughts, he said:
+
+"Nietzsche also did not perceive that the susceptibility and
+appreciation of other people's woes becomes manifest only upon the
+culmination of the creative ..."
+
+"Good, good, but at this moment I am more interested in what Krzycki is
+going to do about Miss Anney."
+
+Dolhanski, who could not endure Swidwicki, would have been sorely
+afflicted, if he had suspected that the same question occurred to the
+latter's mind.
+
+Remaining alone, Swidwicki recalled Gronski's recital and began to
+laugh, as the thought of such unusual complications amused him
+immensely. He imagined to himself what excitement must have prevailed
+at Krzycki's and at Pani Otocka's, and how far the affair would agitate
+the circles of their relatives and acquaintances. And suddenly he began
+to soliloquize in the following manner:
+
+"And if I paid Miss Anney a visit? It even behooves me to leave her a
+card. That would be eminently proper. I may not find her in--that does
+not matter much, but if I should find her in, I will try to see whether
+her legs are not too bulky at the ankles. For culture, education, even
+polish may be acquired, but delicate ligaments of the legs and hands it
+is necessary to inherit through a whole series of generations. That
+furious Pauly, nevertheless, has a sufficiently thin ligature. The
+devil, however, knows who her father was, I will go. If I do not find
+one, I shall find the other."
+
+And he went. He was admitted not by the man-servant but by Pauly; so he
+smiled at her in his most ingratiating manner and said:
+
+"Good-day, pretty fennel-flower! Is Panna Hanka Skibianka at home?"
+
+"What Hanka Skibianka?" she asked in surprise.
+
+"Then, the little lady does not know the great tidings?"
+
+"What great tidings? I do not know any."
+
+"That the mistress of the little lady is not named Miss Anney?"
+
+"Do not upset our heads."
+
+"I give the little lady my word of honor. Ask Pan Gronski, or Pan
+Krzycki, who is chewing off his fingers from mortification. I give you
+my word of honor. I also could tell you more, but if the little lady is
+not curious I will go. Here is my card for Panna Ski-bian-ka."
+
+The eyes of the girl sparkled with curiosity. She took the card
+mechanically.
+
+"I do not say that you should go, but I do not believe," she said
+hurriedly.
+
+"And I know yet more."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I will whisper it in your ear."
+
+It did not occur to Pauly that there was no necessity for Swidwicki
+speaking in a whisper. She leaned towards him with a palpitating heart
+and, though he flooded her with his breath, saturated with the odor of
+wine, she did not withdraw her head.
+
+"What is it?" she repeated.
+
+"That Panna Skibianka is a peasant woman from Zarnow!"
+
+"That is untrue!"
+
+"As I love God."
+
+And, saying this, he suddenly smacked her ear with a broad kiss.
+
+
+
+                                   IV
+
+Miss Anney's letter bore the impress of extraordinary simplicity. At
+the beginning she said that from the moment when he proposed for her
+hand she was compelled to reveal her former name; while in the
+continuation it contained an equally simple account of herself and her
+family from the time of their departure from Rzeslewo. This sad course
+of events she related in the following words:
+
+"My father came from Galicia and had in America relatives of whom he
+heard that through labor they had amassed fortunes. Learning of this,
+he decided to settle there also and seek his fortune beyond the ocean.
+We left Rzeslewo at a time when you were in Warsaw. I knew how to write
+as I was taught that in the manor-house, and would have informed you
+about this if I had known your address. We went, not saying anything to
+anybody, to Hamburg, and at that place there occurred what often
+happens to peasant emigrants. The agent tricked us, defrauded us of our
+money, and placed us on a vessel bound not for America but for England.
+Thrown upon the pavements of London, we soon fell into dire want. For
+the passage to America there now was no means. My mother died of
+typhoid fever in a hospital and father, from despair and nostalgia,
+declined rapidly in health. Under these circumstances we were found by
+Mr. Anney, one of the best and noblest men in the world, a friend and
+patron of the Poles, who gave us employment. But the succor came too
+late, and my father died in the course of a year. I remained in the
+factory and worked in it until the accident which changed my status
+entirely. The Anney family had only one child, a daughter, whom they
+loved beyond everything in the world and surrounded with a solicitude
+all the greater because she was threatened by a pulmonary ailment. Once
+it happened that Miss Anney, while visiting the factory, was almost
+carried away by the driving-wheel of the machinery. I rushed to her
+assistance, imperilling a little my own life, and from that time the
+gratitude of the Anney family for me had no bounds. They took me from
+the factory to themselves, and in this manner I became the companion
+and afterwards the bosom friend of their daughter. A Pole, an emigrant
+of the year '63, a friend of Mr. Anney and a man well educated, taught
+us both, and me, separately, in Polish. I endeavored to benefit, as
+much as lay in my power, from these lessons, and after two years was
+able to approach a little the intellectual plane of my friend and my
+environment. But Agnes--for such was the Christian name of Miss
+Anney--began to fail in her health. Then Mr. Anney sold his factory and
+we all, including our instructor, removed to Italy. There about three
+years were passed in a search for the best climate for our dearest
+patient. All efforts proved unavailing, however, as God took His angel
+unto Himself. After Agnes' death, the Anneys, remembering that I loved
+with my whole soul our dead one, adopted me as their own child and gave
+me not only their family name, but desiring to overcome their despair,
+suffering, and sorrow, even the Christian name of the deceased.
+Nevertheless, the sorrow could not be overcome, and though I tried with
+my whole heart to be to them some sort of comfort in life, in the
+course of two years both followed their greatest love.
+
+"And this is the end of my history. And after that came those events
+which brought me nearer to you; therefore I desire to justify my
+conduct in your eyes. I have a right to the name which I bear, and my
+life from the time of the departure from Rzeslewo has been pure.
+Conscience reproaches me with only one new error. This was that I did
+not confess to the Anneys that I already was unworthy of their care.
+But for such a confession I lacked strength. I loved too much my Agnes
+and feared that they would separate me from her. Later I did not want
+to add to their affliction. I did not have the strength. At times,
+also, I think that now when they look upon me from heaven and see
+everything, they forgive me for keeping that secret. Beyond this I once
+more repeat and swear that my life has been pure. But in my memory I
+have only coffins and coffins, and of my Rzeslewo days there remains to
+me only the recollection of you. I could not forget either my sin or my
+happiness. Often during the life of my adopted sister, while gazing
+into her chaste eyes, I struggled with remorse, and at the same time I
+wept from intense longing. After that, being left alone in the world, I
+had nothing to cherish in my heart, and I began to yearn yet more.
+When, after the death of the Anneys, I became acquainted and grew
+intimate with Zosia Otocka in Brussels, I accidentally learned from a
+conversation that she was your relative. Then I related to her my
+entire life, not concealing anything, and she not only did not spurn
+me, but loved me yet more. Emboldened by her goodness, I confessed to
+her my longing for the old days and Rzeslewo. Perhaps it may be a new
+fault on my part that I confided to Zosia my insurmountable desire of
+seeing yet once more in my life, Jastrzeb, Rzeslewo, and--why should I
+not state the whole truth?--and you. Then Zosia said to me: 'I
+understand you; ride with me to Jastrzeb as Miss Anney, as you cannot
+do otherwise. Nobody will recognize you and you will take a reckoning
+with your own heart. Perhaps reality may extinguish the rainbow of
+recollections. If they are assuaged forever, so much the better for
+you; if he should fall in love with you, so much the worse for him; if
+your former echoes reawaken, then we will assume that this was
+predestination.' Such was Zosia's advice, and for that reason, when
+your mother invited her and Marynia, I also accompanied them to
+Jastrzeb. But I do not wish to pass for any better than I am. I confess
+that on the road I always had in mind Zosia's words: 'If he falls in
+love with you, so much the worse for him,' and I wished that to happen.
+I was certain that you had entirely forgotten me, and I thought that if
+now you fell in love with me without any requital, that it would be a
+sort of condign punishment for your forgetfulness and a kind of triumph
+for myself and--if not such a womanly revenge as books tell of,--at
+least a great solace to my self-love. But it happened otherwise, for I
+forgot to take into account that I had a heart, not of foreign books,
+but of a Polish village--simple and faithful. When I saw Rzeslewo,
+Jastrzeb, and you, I wanted only to weep and weep, as I wept at Pan
+Zarnowski's funeral, and I discovered within me that Hanka, who years
+before loved you with her first childish love and afterwards with such
+affection, did not love any one else. You know, sir, what happened
+further. If you do not return, I will not bear any resentment towards
+you, but do not harbor any ill-will against me. I, too, merely skirted
+along the rim of happiness."
+
+The signature was "Hanka." Ladislaus' chin quivered from time to time
+while he was reading the letter and his eyes grew dim. He began to
+repeat the signature "Hanka, Hanka." He rose abruptly and paced over
+the room with big steps. His thoughts rolled into a ball in his head
+like clouds in the heavens; they collected and scattered in all
+directions like a startled stud of horses on the wild steppes of the
+Ukraine. He read the letter a second and third time, and under its
+influence there began to glide before his eyes pictures of the past as
+distinct as if all that which occurred some time ago had happened but
+yesterday. He recalled those bright moonlight nights when he stole away
+to the mill, and that village girl, fragrant with the hay, who, to the
+question of whether she loved him, whispered in reply, "Of course," and
+threw her yet half-childish arms around his neck and hugged him to her
+breast with such strength that no other love could make a sincerer
+avowal. He recollected that he nevertheless loved her at that time, and
+when he missed her, longed for her, and even inquired of the people
+about the blacksmith's family--but with reserve and faint-heartedly, as
+fear closed his lips.
+
+Subsequently that girl was erased from his memory so completely that
+even the light pangs of conscience which he felt on her account
+vanished; nothing remained. It was well with him in the world and he
+sought new sensations, while she was seized by the whirlwind of life
+and was hurled like a wretched leaf upon a foreign land, where she
+suffered from sheer starvation. Nevertheless, neither at that time, nor
+later, when good people took care of her, did she forget him nor did
+she cease to long for him. Ladislaus was not a deep connoisseur of the
+human soul; he felt, nevertheless, that what for him was simply a love
+adventure, a shallow enjoyment of the senses, a transient impression
+which disperses to the winds like the fragrance of flowers, for her
+became a new life; a surrender of her whole being and whole soul, too
+pure and too noble for her to seek a new happiness upon new paths. And
+now he understood why that coveted Miss Anney of to-day, charming as a
+dream, brilliant, surrounded by affluence and arousing admiration,
+wrote to him that she had a heart not of foreign books but of a Polish
+village--simple and faithful. He understood also why the letter was
+signed "Hanka." Suddenly and irrevocably were banished all his
+suspicions, and her words, "my life from the moment of the departure
+from Rzeslewo has been pure," touched him to the extent that he began
+to upbraid himself that he should for a moment have thought that it
+could have been otherwise. At once he seemed to himself to be little,
+mean, and unworthy of that noble and exalted soul. But through his
+heart and head there coursed during the last moments so many thoughts,
+impressions, and feelings that he was uncertain whether the final
+sensibility of his own shortcomings and wretchedness would be lasting.
+Nevertheless, he was seized with an ever-increasing tenderness, and
+more and more became obliterated that difference between Hanka and Miss
+Anney which was so irritating to him in the first moments. Now, on the
+contrary, the recollection that this simple girl of old and that
+fascinating lady of to-day were one and the same woman penetrated him
+with a kind of thrill, resembling a thrill of joy. The memory that at
+one time he possessed the other began to waken in him, as it were, a
+hunger and a new passion for the present one, and the thought of her
+charms intensified the play of his young blood. But he strove to stifle
+within him those impressions with the consciousness of the
+responsibilities which were imposed upon him. Above all things he
+propounded to himself the question. What should a man of honor do who
+had betrayed and therefore wronged a girl, almost a child, who was in
+love with him, and later, after a few years, met her under a changed
+name and fell in love with her? There was only one answer; even if he
+did not fall in love, if her love continued, he ought to assume all the
+consequences of his acts. If she remained a simple-minded rustic who
+never could understand him, or if she had deviated from the path of
+rectitude, even in such a case, it would not, for his vexed soul, be
+sufficient reason for washing his hands and withdrawing from the
+affair; and so much the more, since the girl had bridged the
+intellectual and social chasm which separated them, and in addition
+ennobled her own soul and had not ceased to love. "Yes it is so. I
+would spit in my own eyes," said Ladislaus (not thinking at that moment
+that in practice an act like that would be a trifle difficult to
+perform), "if I hesitated any longer. There is only one thing to do and
+I will do that at once." Having formed this resolution, he took a deep
+breath like a man, from whose heart a heavy load has fallen--and as
+much as he at first became little in his own eyes, so now he began to
+gain in stature. He did not, however, propound the question, what would
+happen if Miss Anney did not have such wondrous eyes, gazing with a
+heavenly streak, nor such a countenance, whose color reminded him of
+the petals of a white rose, nor those other charms which attracted his
+eyes. He said to himself that many of his acquaintances could not
+afford to form a similar resolution; he was pleased with himself; and
+that it was easier for him to do so because he was impelled thereto by
+his heart and senses, he deemed not as lessening the worthiness of the
+act itself, but as his own good fortune. He foresaw, however, that he
+would yet have to do with his mother as well as with the so called
+opinion of society, which is not concerned about principles but only
+about gossip, and which seeks, above all things, food for its own
+stupid malice. But he expected to reconcile his mother, and as to the
+malicious, smiling ironically upon the slightest provocation, his
+nostrils, distended at the very thought, and his clenched teeth boded
+them no good. But this anticipated knightly action was a matter of the
+future; in the meantime his impetuous nature urged him to immediate
+action. He determined to go to his mother at once and definitely come
+to an understanding with her. Glancing, however, at his watch, he
+became aware of the fact that it was almost three o'clock in the
+morning. In view of this, that was impossible. Not feeling, however,
+the least need of sleep, and desiring absolutely to do something, he
+sat down to write letters. First, he inclosed Miss Anney's letter in an
+envelope, because he wanted to send it to his mother before the
+decisive interview took place; after which he started to write to Miss
+Anney, but soon stopped, as it occurred to him that since he gave his
+word that he would remain silent for a week, he did not have the right
+to do it. Instead, after a brief deliberation, he wrote a few words to
+Pani Otocka, praying that she would permit him to visit her that day.
+
+Finally, when the dawn began to peer into the room and mingle with the
+light of the lamps, he thought of repose, but though he felt great
+weariness, he could not fall asleep, and mentally he conversed with his
+mother and Miss Anney until sunrise. He fell into a sound slumber only
+when the morning bustle in the hotel began and did not awake until
+late. Dressing himself, he rang for the servant and ordered him to
+deliver Miss Anney's letter to his mother, but at the last minute he
+made up his mind to take it to her himself. But in the rooms engaged by
+his mother he found only the younger members of the family and the
+French governess, who informed him that "madame" went to church early
+in the morning.
+
+
+
+                                   V
+
+Pani Krzycki had indeed gone to church and confession, for in the grief
+which befell her, she needed consolation and advice. And her grief was
+real and profound. She lived in times in which various ancient
+prejudices and prepossessions clashed, and were becoming more and more
+obliterated, yielding place to new democratic ideas. As she often heard
+that the wave of these new ideas might bring benefit and salvation to
+the country, she, notwithstanding that her habits and former
+conceptions conflicted with them, not only did not struggle against
+them, but quietly acquiesced in them in a passive manner. This was
+easier for her as it never occurred to her that personally she would
+ever have anything to do with them. For her it was the same as if
+somebody had installed modern furniture in a few rooms in Jastrzeb,
+which were not continually occupied. Let them stay there since fashion
+requires it and since in the other rooms there are old armchairs,
+heirlooms, in which one can rest comfortably. And now, suddenly she was
+ordered to move to that new part of the house; suddenly she was
+confronted by the fact that her son was in love with a peasant woman
+from Rzeslewo and was about to marry her. Then in the first moments
+everything within her was stirred up; the old instincts and customs
+began to cry out. That silent and passive acquiescence in the new ideas
+crumbled like a building of sand, and the whole course of events
+appeared to the indignant citizeness-noblewoman as an unworthy intrigue
+in which the victim to be sported with was her son and with him, the
+entire Krzycki family. Amazement that the chief partner and almost
+author of this intrigue could be a being whom she regarded as the
+incarnation of all feminine virtues, and whom she desired her son
+should marry, only aggravated her anger. In vain did Zosia explain to
+her that her son was the betrayer of an innocent child and Miss Anney
+was an angel, and that in bringing her to Jastrzeb, she did not have
+any sinister designs and did only that which every other woman in her
+place, sympathizing with a wronged and longing woman, would have done.
+"If the most fervent wish of Miss Anney was to behold once more in her
+life the place in which her life was undone, and the man whom she could
+not forget and who was the author of her undoing, then it was due to
+her; and everybody who has the slightest heart ought to understand
+this. And let Aunt say," she continued, "whether I could betray her
+secret and whether an impossible situation would not have been created
+for her." The usually quiet and gentle Zosia became so wrought up in
+defence of her friend that she plainly told Pani Krzycki that even if
+Laudie fell in love with Miss Anney without any requital that it would
+be only what he deserved and, besides, since "Aninka" did not accept
+his proposal and gave him a week's time for consideration, he could
+withdraw it; in such case, however, "Aninka" would not be the only one
+whose respect he forfeited. But all this was pouring oil upon fire and
+only increased the ire of Pani Krzycki who declared that, at any rate,
+she and her son were victims of a plot. After which she moved to a
+hotel, announcing at the time of her departure that her feet would
+never again cross the threshold of that house.
+
+Nevertheless, the bitterness and anger which accumulated in her heart
+were not directed against Pani Otocka alone. Her son also had wounded
+her heart deeply and awakened a whole series of painful recollections,
+connected with the memory of her husband. For her husband, a man
+worshipped by her during the first years of their marital life for his
+manifold good qualities and extraordinary beauty, had caused her not a
+little mortification through his immoral life in relation to women in
+general and the female residents of Jastrzeb and its vicinity in
+particular. To Pani Krzycki it was no secret, that, in the course of
+long years, cows were led continually from the manor cow-houses as
+gifts or rather as rewards to various Kates and Marys and that
+in Jastrzeb could be found quite a number of step-brothers and
+step-sisters of her children. So she shed copious tears over this state
+of affairs until almost the last year of her husband's life. In her
+time she suffered in her own self-love and her womanly dignity as a
+wife and mother. Afterwards she forgave everything, but after the death
+of her husband, as a woman deeply religious, she lived in continual
+fear at the thought of the Divine Tribunal, before which the deceased
+appeared. For whole years she tried to supplicate for him forgiveness
+through tears, fasts, alms, and prayers. Above all she determined to
+bring up her son in such a manner that he would never fall into the
+errors of his father. She watched him in his boyhood days, like the eye
+in her head; she shielded him from all evil influences. After sending
+him to school she confided the care of him to her relative, a priest,
+and to Gronski, in whose morality she justly believed. And when the son
+grew up, when after finishing school, he attended the university, and
+afterwards assumed the management of the Jastrzeb estate, she had that
+bottomless, naive faith, usual with women, upright and pious but
+unacquainted with the depravity of the world, that up to that time
+"Laudie" was as pure as a lily. And now unexpectedly the film over her
+eyes dropped. The son was following in the footsteps of his father. At
+this thought she was beset by despair. In her soul a protest truly
+vehement poured forth against the alliance of her son with a peasant
+woman, but having a very sensitive conscience she felt, after her
+conversation with Zosia, that Miss Anney had some claim on Ladislaus.
+Once or twice, this manner of extricating themselves from an onerous
+situation suggested itself to her mind; that Ladislaus in pursuance of
+a prearranged compact should propose to Miss Anney and she should
+refuse him. "But do I know," she said to herself, "how many similar
+Hankas may already be found in Jastrzeb?" And a horror penetrated to
+the marrow of her bones at the thought that among those Hankas might be
+Ladislaus' step-sisters, for it seemed to her that the crimes of the
+father fatally dragged after them the yet greater crimes of the son and
+with them must follow damnation. "Ah, Laudie! ah, Laudie!" she repeated
+despondently, and she felt besides fear, such pain, such disappointment
+of heart and such profound resentment, that however much she understood
+that it was necessary to summon Ladislaus as soon as possible and
+ascertain how he had received the news that Miss Anney is Hanka and
+what he intended to do, nevertheless she could not persuade herself to
+see him at once. After removing from Pani Otocka's, the information
+that he was not at the hotel afforded her true relief. She immediately
+locked herself up in her room and determined, if he called, not to
+admit him.
+
+The following morning she went to church and to confession and after
+confession she begged her relative, the prelate, the same who in his
+time had charge of Ladislaus, for advice. Already she was calmer. The
+aged prelate received her and began with extraordinary particularity to
+question her about Miss Anney, her stay at Jastrzeb, about the course
+of events after the attempt on Ladislaus' life, and about the details
+in Hanka's life, of which Pani Krzycki had learned from Zosia:
+afterwards about the fears of Pani Krzycki herself, and finally after a
+long silence he said:
+
+"As to the sins, which Ladislaus, after this, the first sin of his
+youth, might have committed, that is only a conjecture, and a fear, and
+as we have no irrefutable proofs of them, we should not take them into
+account at all. There only remains the former Hanka and the Miss Anney
+of to-day. It is only with this one case that we have to do. So I
+desire to know how you, as a mother, regard her."
+
+Pani Krzycki replied that she knew perfectly well that all people in
+the sight of God were equal, but she was concerned about the happiness
+of her son. Similar marriages were not usually happy. It may be that
+the reason for this is the malice of the world: it may be that the wife
+met with humiliation on the part of vain and malicious persons, but the
+husband must feel that also, in consequence of which irritation ensues
+and the relations grow from bad to worse even without any ill-will on
+either side. As to her son he is ambitious and sensitive as but few
+are, and even if he loved his wife most strongly, he would suffer if
+any one evinced towards her even a shade of disdain. Whoever lives in
+the world must reckon with everything, even with stupidity, even with
+malice, not to say with other considerations upon which marital
+happiness often depends.
+
+The aged prelate listened, folding and unfolding according to his habit
+a silk handkerchief, and finally said:
+
+"Reckoning with stupidity and malice may only mean guarding against
+them, not making any concessions to them."
+
+After which he began to look at Pani Krzycki with a penetrating gaze
+and asked:
+
+"Permit me to put one question to you: Why should your son necessarily
+be happy?"
+
+She looked at him with surprise.
+
+"Why, I am his mother."
+
+"Yes, but there are things more important than happiness, particularly
+temporal,--is it not true?"
+
+"True," she answered quietly.
+
+"That which you said in respect to temporal matters may be more or less
+just and may actually be the reasons which make such marriages less
+happy than others, but it is necessary above all things to propound to
+one's self the question. What in life is greater and what is less, what
+is more important and what is less important, and to act according to
+the dictates of conscience."
+
+"Well, how am I to act?" asked Pani Krzycki.
+
+The aged prelate looked at the crucifix hanging on the wall and
+quietly, but with emphasis, answered:
+
+"As a Christian."
+
+A momentary silence followed.
+
+"I am satisfied with the advice," said Pani Krzycki, "and I thank you."
+
+
+
+                                   VI
+
+Ladislaus, while his mother was in church and consulting the prelate,
+repaired, notwithstanding the early hour, to Pani Otocka. At the very
+beginning he raised to his lips both of her hands and kissed them so
+long that she, from that act alone, perceived his intentions.
+
+"I knew it would be so! I knew it!" she cried with emotion and joy.
+
+While he replied in a soft quivering voice:
+
+"I did not require a week to perceive that I cannot live without her."
+
+"I knew it," Zosia once more repeated. "Have you spoken with your
+mother, yet?"
+
+"No. Yesterday, I ran about the city senselessly, after which I rushed
+to Gronski's and went to the hotel very late, and this morning I was
+informed that Mother was in church."
+
+Pani Otocka again became anxious.
+
+"Yesterday," she said, "she was very angry and God grant that she may
+be reconciled, for on this all depends."
+
+"Not all," answered Ladislaus; "not to speak of my great attachment for
+Mother, I esteem her immensely; and God sees that I would be pleased
+always to conform to her will. But that has its limits; when the
+happiness, not only of myself, but of the being most precious to me in
+the world, is concerned, then I cannot sacrifice that under any
+circumstances; I have pondered over this all night. I have a hope that
+Mother will consent; as I trust in her character and in that love which
+she has always shown to me. If, however, contrary to my hopes, it
+should appear otherwise, then I will tell her that this is a resolution
+which cannot now be and will not be revoked."
+
+"Maybe there is no necessity for that," said Pani Otocka, "for Aninka
+also is concerned. Yesterday, after the letter which she wrote to you
+and after Pan Gronski's departure, we talked until late at night. She
+was very nervous and cried, but spoke thus: 'If he returns to me, not
+joyfully and with entire good-will, but only because he did not want to
+withdraw his word, then I will never consent to it. There is no pride
+in me. I did not even reckon with my own self-love, and wrote to him
+sincerely what was in my heart, but even if it should break I would not
+wed him, if it shall seem to him that he is lowering himself for me.'"
+
+"The dear, lovely creature!" interrupted Ladislaus.
+
+Pani Otocka continued:
+
+"After that she began to cry, and added that she would not consent to
+be the cause of an estrangement between mother and son."
+
+"No, I repeat once more that my resolution cannot and shall not be
+revoked. Here my whole life is involved--and even if now Mother cannot
+find in her heart sufficient good-will, she will find it later. In the
+meantime I will do everything in order that my future wife should have
+in her also a mother, affectionate and grateful for her son's
+happiness."
+
+"Can I repeat that to Miss Anney?"
+
+"That is just what I came for. But I have yet one more prayer. She took
+my word that for a week I would not return to her and she alone can
+release me from it. But in view of what I came here for, this would be
+downright, needless torture. Neither a week nor a year can change
+anything. Nothing, absolutely! Will Cousin deign to tell her that and
+beg of her from me, but beg very cordially, that she release me from my
+word?"
+
+"With the greatest pleasure, and I have a hope this will not be a too
+difficult matter to adjust."
+
+"I thank you with my whole soul and now I will hurry to Mother."
+
+But before he left the room, Marynia rushed in and began to gaze
+sharply, now at her sister, then at Ladislaus. In reality she was not
+apprized of the secrets of the former relations between Ladislaus and
+Hanka, but she already knew that Miss Anney is the former Hanka; she
+knew everything which transpired afterwards and, loving Miss Anney very
+much, she was dying from uneasiness and curiosity as to what turn the
+affair would take. She was so pretty with that wistful gaze and uneasy
+face and, besides, she had such an amusing mien that Ladislaus, in
+spite of his emotions, at the sight of her, fell into a good humor.
+Zosia remained silent, not knowing whether he wished to speak of his
+affair of the heart before Marynia, while he, purposely, for sometime
+did not break the silence; finally he approached his little cousin and
+squeezing her hand, announced in a sepulchral voice:
+
+"Too late!"
+
+"How too late," she asked alarmed.
+
+"She is going to marry some one else."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Panna--Kajetana."
+
+And he burst out into a sincere, jolly laugh. Marynia conjectured that
+matters could not stand so badly since Ladislaus was jesting. Desiring,
+however, to learn fully the good news, she began to stamp with her foot
+and importune like a child.
+
+"But how?--now, honestly. I could not sleep to-day! How? now, honestly.
+How?"
+
+"Honestly, that hope and joy and happiness--there!" answered Ladislaus,
+pointing in the direction of Miss Anney's quarters.
+
+After which, kissing his cousins' hands, he rushed out like a stone
+whirled from a sling, for he was in a great hurry.
+
+On the way he grew grave and even gloomy at the thought that the moment
+for his decisive interview with his mother was approaching.
+
+He found her in the hotel, where she awaited him in her own room. The
+sight of his mother's face, serene and filled with an unusual kind of
+sweetness, gave him, for the time being, encouragement, but at the same
+time he thought that gentle persuasion, entreaties, and perhaps tears,
+would be heavier to bear than anger--and he asked in an uncertain
+voice:
+
+"Did Mamma read her letter?"
+
+"I did," she answered, "but even before that I learned almost
+everything from Zosia, whom Miss Anney herself begged not to conceal
+anything from me."
+
+"Gronski told me that Mamma became angry at Zosia?"
+
+"Yes, that is so, but that can be rectified. Now I want above all
+things to talk with you sincerely."
+
+So Ladislaus began to narrate how in the first moments he was struck as
+if by a thunderbolt and how he could not reconcile himself to the
+thought that Hanka and Miss Anney were one and the same person. He
+confessed his vacillation, his doubts, suspicions, and the pain, which
+pierced him; and the internal strife and accounting with his conscience
+and everything through which he passed. But only after reading her
+letter, did he perceive that this pain had its origin in his love for
+her and that the struggle was a struggle with his own heart and
+happiness; then he ceased to waver; he could not imagine happiness
+otherwise than with that most precious being in the world, and without
+her he did not desire it.
+
+After which he said that when he became acquainted with her at
+Jastrzeb, as Miss Anney, from almost the first moment he was attracted
+to her by some incomprehensible force and she engrossed all his
+thoughts. He, of course, esteemed Zosia Otocka highly, and Marynia he
+regarded as a bright phenomenon. But admiration and love are two
+different things. Besides, he did not owe anything either to Zosia or
+to Marynia. They were kind while he was wounded and that was all. But
+to Miss Anney he probably owed his life, and he remembered that she for
+his sake placed herself in peril. With what could he repay her for
+that, and how could he make reparation for the former wrong, committed
+while she was still almost a child? Who was the worthier of the two?
+Was it he, who forgot and lived from day to day an easy, thoughtless,
+and spiritually slothful life, or she whom no new attachments could
+reconcile to their separation and who ennobled her mind and heart
+through suffering, yearning, and labor? "I scarcely dare to believe.
+Mother," said he, "that she not only absolves my injury, but has not
+ceased to love me. Perhaps it happened thus, because it was I who, for
+the first time in her life opened for her the doors to the world of
+happiness, but undoubtedly it was because hers is a totally exceptional
+nature. Yes, Mother! She is one of those who, in a pristine state even
+at the time when they are unable to realize things, possess that noble
+instinct, that sort of elevation of feeling that love ennobles indeed
+everything, but only when it is great, when it is for a whole lifetime;
+and those who love have such strength, such a depth of affection, that
+they are incapable of any other affection. But when such a one is
+found, then we can only thank God on our knees, and, in plain terms, my
+head is confused at the thought that for my transgression I meet with,
+not punishment, but fabulously good fortune. It may be that there are
+in the world more such women who can make a man happy, but I want to be
+happy only with this one; maybe there are others who ennoble and
+elevate everything about them, but I feel that through this one I will
+be better and better. Finally, this is a question not only of my
+happiness but also of my honor."
+
+Here, folding his hands, he began to gaze into her eyes with a pleading
+look; after which he continued:
+
+"All this I intrust to Mamma's hands; my whole life, my entire future,
+and the peace of my conscience, and happiness and honor."
+
+Pani Krzycki placed both of his palms to her temples and kissed his
+forehead.
+
+"My Laudie," she said, "I am an old woman and have various prejudices:
+so I will not tell you that from the first moments it was easy for me
+to assent to your intentions. Do you know that yesterday I became
+enraged at Zosia and until this morning, I persisted in my
+determination to oppose as far as it lay in my power your marriage. Be
+not surprised at this, since you admit that you were struck as if by
+lightning; then think, how it must have affected me, I, as is usual
+with a mother, had at the bottom of my soul the conviction that for you
+even a king's daughter would not be too high a mate. But it was not
+only the old mode of thought, not only a maternal vanity, and not only
+prejudices which inflamed my opposition. I feared also for your
+happiness. I would not have had anything against the person of Miss
+Anney herself, were it not for these other circumstances. I became
+acquainted with her at Jastrzeb and loved her sincerely; often I said,
+God grant that all our ladies could be like her. But learning who she
+is and what took place between you, I became alarmed at first at the
+thought that you might have committed similar offences in Jastrzeb."
+
+"No, Mamma," answered Krzycki; "I give my word for that."
+
+"For you see I thought you were absolutely pure; so think what a blow
+it was to me."
+
+Ladislaus bowed to her hands, in order to hide his face, for
+notwithstanding the gravity of the moment, notwithstanding his sincere
+emotion and anxiety, the naivete of his mother seemed to him something
+so unheard-of that he feared he might betray himself by an expression
+of astonishment, or what was worse, a smile. "Ah," he thought, "it is
+lucky that I have to swear only as to Jastrzeb, for I could not tell
+mother what I told Gronski, that a wise wolf never takes from that
+village where he keeps his lair." But simultaneously it occurred to him
+that one must be an angel to have such a delusion, and his adoration of
+his mother increased yet more.
+
+And she continued:
+
+"Then I took into consideration the world and the people among whom you
+must live. I knew that not a few would commend your conduct, but in
+reality you would have to endure a thousand petty annoyances and stings
+which would irritate and exasperate you until they caused a pain and
+bitterness even in your feeling towards your wife. I was concerned
+about your happiness which, in my blindness I craved above all things
+for you. And only to-day was the film taken off my eyes. Apparently
+such things we know and proclaim, but, nevertheless, with real surprise
+and as if it was something new, I heard that happiness is not the most
+important thing in life and that it ought not to be the greatest
+concern of a mother. And before that my heart was cleansed of its pride
+and I was commanded to be guided by my conscience: therefore, my
+Laudie, I cannot dissuade you from this marriage."
+
+Ladislaus, hearing this, again bowed his head to his mother's hands and
+began to cover them with kisses.
+
+"Ah, Mamma, dear," he repeated, "ah, Mamma, how happy I am!"
+
+"And I," she answered; "for I feared that your feeling might be
+superficial, founded upon a delusion and fancy; but, after this
+conversation, I see that you love Aninka truly."
+
+"Yes! That is imbedded so deeply that it could only be torn from me
+with my life."
+
+"I believe, I believe."
+
+Thus mutually assuring each other, they both spoke with absolute
+sincerity, and both at the same time deluded themselves. For Ladislaus
+had an inflammable head, greedy senses, and soft heart, but he lived
+principally on the exterior, and none of his feelings could spring from
+great depths as, on the whole, he was not a deep man.
+
+But his mother, believing every one of his words as she believed in the
+gospel, said with great confidence:
+
+"May God bless you, my child. Let us at present speak of what is to
+come. I, of course, understand that once having agreed, it is necessary
+to agree not with half but with the whole heart: it is necessary to
+receive Aninka with open arms and give her to understand that it is she
+who is conferring a favor upon us for which we should be grateful."
+
+"Yes, for she does," exclaimed Ladislaus with ardor.
+
+"Very well, very well," answered Pani Krzycki, with a smile, "now it
+becomes me to go to her and thank her myself. I assume also that Aninka
+will withdraw the condition that you should not call upon her for a
+week."
+
+"Zosia is to attend to that, but naturally Mamma's words will be more
+effective."
+
+"When do you want me to go?"
+
+Ladislaus again folded his palms:
+
+"At once, Mother dear, at once."
+
+"Very well; will you wait for me here, or at Zosia's?"
+
+"Here; for Zosia might be with Marynia at the rehearsal. She sometimes
+accompanies her."
+
+Pani Krzycki rose heavily from the chair, as that day, from the
+morning, had been trying for her and the rheumatism held her more and
+more strongly. Having, however, straightened out her limbs, she moved
+briskly ahead. The thought that she was troubling herself for her boy
+made it an agreeable task and exertion.
+
+But on the way she began to think of matters of which thus far there
+had been no mention between herself and her son. She belonged to that
+type of women, often found among the country nobility, who know
+perfectly well how to line the ideal cloak with a real lining. In her
+time the entire management of the Jastrzeb estate rested on her head,
+and on that account she had a multitude of worries and had habituated
+herself to struggle continually with them. So at the present time her
+mind turned to the material side of the affair.
+
+"I would consent to this marriage" (she thought as if to justify
+herself to herself), "even though Aninka did not have anything, but I
+am curious to know how much she can have." After which she began to
+fondle the hope that while Aninka might not have millions and for an
+Englishwoman might not be very rich, she might have what in Poland
+might be regarded as great opulence, though in England it might be
+deemed a modest fortune.
+
+And amidst such meditations she rang Miss Anney's door-bell.
+
+The visit passed off as could be expected. Pani Krzycki was honest,
+grateful, motherly and, at the moment when she surrendered the life and
+happiness of her son to the hands of Miss Anney, "her dear daughter,"
+she was, in a measure, pathetic. Miss Anney, too was in a measure,
+pathetic, also cordial and simple, quiet and collected as well, but she
+seemed to be acting with caution, though nothing whatever was said of
+the past. With Pani Krzycki there even remained an impression that
+there was by a hairbreadth too much of this "reserve." She understood
+perfectly that it would be want of tact on Miss Anney's part if she
+displayed too much enthusiasm and conceded that she acted properly, but
+nevertheless she carried away at the bottom of her heart a little
+disappointment as it were, for there was hidden in her the conviction
+that the woman who would get "Laudie" and would bear his name, could be
+excused even though she went insane from joy.
+
+Returning to the hotel, she did not, however, confess to her son this
+thought, but began to load "Aninka" with praises and speak of her so
+warmly that tears stood in the eyes of both. Ladislaus, above all else,
+was anxious to know whether the "taboo" was removed and the prohibition
+recalled; having learned that such was the case, a quarter of an hour
+later, he was at Hanka's feet.
+
+"My beloved, my angel, my wife!" he said, embracing her knees.
+
+
+
+                                  VII
+
+A few days later, the old notary, Dzwonkowski, and Dr. Szremski came to
+visit Gronski. The latter, to whom this was an agreeable surprise, as
+he liked both, and, besides, esteemed the doctor highly, greeted them
+with great cordiality and began to ask the news of the city, the
+vicinity, and of themselves.
+
+"Ha! We live, we live," answered the boisterous doctor. "In these
+times, that is an art. But the police so far have not arrested us, the
+bandits have not shot us, the socialists have not blown us up into the
+air; so we not only live, but have come to Warsaw. I, because I must
+ride farther,--as far as Volhynia, and this gentleman," pointing to the
+notary, "on account of the concert and Panna Marynia's participation in
+it. Having read of it in the daily newspapers he fell into such a state
+that at any moment I looked for an attack of apoplexy or aneurism.
+There was no help for it. I had to prescribe a stay in Warsaw as a
+cure. Finally, he cannot at all endure our little town any more, and is
+thinking only of giving up his office to some one and of moving here
+permanently. In his heart a fire is burning, and the snow melts, and
+ice melts and so forth. Ha!"
+
+During these words, the old notary moved his jaws so furiously that his
+chin almost touched his nose; finally he declared:
+
+"The head splits! The head splits!"
+
+"The same old quarrel?" asked Gronski, laughing.
+
+"Quarrel?" repeated the notary. "It is not I who quarrel. He has shaken
+up my brain, shattered my nerves, stupefied me, torn to pieces,
+exhausted, cleaned out, sucked, and outtalked the remnants of strength
+within me. From yesterday, sir, on the whole road--a continual din and
+roar in the ears--and after that in the hotel; to-day, since morning,
+and now here. No, I cannot stand it, no, I cannot!"
+
+"Tut, tut. And who daily summons me? Who every day hangs out his tongue
+until it reaches the first button on his vest and orders me to examine
+it? Wait, sir. I will ride away and you will have to examine it
+yourself before a mirror."
+
+"Then you are really going to Volhynia? How about your patients?" asked
+Gronski.
+
+"I fear that in the meantime they may get well; but it can't be helped,
+I must go!"
+
+"And for how long?"
+
+"I do not know, but do not think very long. I am a Volhynian Mazur,
+from the minor nobility of that place, or as they say there of the
+single-manor nobles. They are mostly settled there as tenants of
+various petty nobles, but I have my own seat in partnership with a
+brother, an ex-judge, who has charge of the estate and to whom I am now
+riding."
+
+"But, of course, not because he is sick?"
+
+"Certainly, sir; he has become insane."
+
+"My God! Since when?"
+
+"Not long ago. From the time he became a 'local rights' man.'"
+
+"Ah."
+
+"That is so. The indigent, haughty noble took a notion to pose as a
+landed proprietor, hankered after the society of gentlemen, and got
+water on the brain. A month ago I sent him two thousand primers for our
+impoverished shabby gentility, of whom no one thinks and who
+involuntarily or rather in spite of their will, are there losing their
+Polish spirit. And would you believe it, sir, that he sent back to me
+the whole package, together with a letter in which he announced that he
+would not distribute the primers."
+
+"Why?" asked Gronski, whom the narrative of the doctor began to
+interest.
+
+"He wrote to me in the first place that they have decided to live and
+labor only for their own province and occupy themselves only with local
+or provincial affairs, and again they aim at some kind of synthesis of
+all nationalities, and thirdly they will Polonize nobody."
+
+"But you were only concerned about primers for the children of the
+petty nobility, who are Polish."
+
+"By them this is already styled Polonization, for it interferes with
+their 'synthesis.' We know in what that synthesis must end. May the
+devils take them, together with their diplomacy. But that is not
+enough! In the end, my ingenious brother informs me that he does not
+regard himself as a Pole, but only as a Volhynian with Polish culture
+and that this is his political position. Ah, sir, Stanczyk was wrong
+when he said that in Poland there are the most doctors. In Poland there
+are the most politicians. Every average Pole is a second Talleyrand, a
+second Metternich, a second Bismarck. He never participated in
+political life, is unacquainted with history, never passed through any
+schools, and never studied. That is nothing! He is by grace of God! He
+from nature has a pastille in his brain, of which he thinks that if he
+only lights it, then all the horse-flies and gnats, which suck our
+blood will be so hoaxed that they will cease to molest us. And every
+one is convinced that he alone sees clearly, that he alone has the
+exclusive measures, and that his diplomacy, county, local, provincial,
+or whatever you may call it, is a panacea. It never occurs to him, that
+with such county or local polities, this fatherland, as Yan Casimir
+said, would go into direptium gentium."
+
+"Sir," said the aged notary to Gronski, pointing to the doctor, "you
+have pressed in him such a button, that now he will not stop talking
+until we shall not be able to move hand or limb."
+
+"That is not a button, that is a sore," answered Gronski.
+
+And evidently it was a sore for the doctor, as he was so absorbed that
+he did not hear what was said about him, and began the following
+dialogue with his absent brother.
+
+"Ah! So you are not a Pole but only a Volhynian with Polish culture?
+Very well! Then, in the first place I will tell you that you have
+repudiated your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather; that you
+have spat upon their graves; that you have renounced your traditions,
+your right of existence, that you have grown smaller, that you have
+deserted your own people and have gone to those who do not want you,
+who do not invite you and who treat you with contempt; that you hang in
+the air and you will look prettily under such conditions in your
+Volhynia. Again, I will tell you that you are not yet a turncoat, since
+that which you are doing, you do through stupid politics which in
+consequence of your ignorance you regard as wise, but you have paved
+the way for future turncoats. Your grandson or great-grandson will
+renounce Polish culture. And finally, if you say that you are not a
+Pole, but only a Volhynian, why do you not go back farther, even as far
+as Darwin? You could with equal justice say that you are not a Pole,
+but an orang-outang or a pithecanthrope with Polish culture? What? Bah!
+But you still say that you do not want to Polonize any one? How can you
+Polonize? Whether with a whip, with prison, by religious compulsion,
+with school, or with a gag on the native tongue? Tell me! But, if not
+denying your nationality you would shine with the example of your
+public Polish virtues, if you would give someone your Polish hunger for
+liberty, your Polish ability to understand the sufferings of others,
+your Polish love, your Polish hope, your faith in a better future, and
+through these reconcile him to Poland, then would you regard such a
+Polonization as premature, and bad politics? But in such case, I ask
+you, you dunce, have you anything better to offer, and why are you
+staying there where you settled? You don't know? And in the end you
+will not even know who you are. That I will tell you. You, Brother, are
+a weak character and above all have a weak head."
+
+Here he turned to Gronski:
+
+"This is what I have to say to my brother and why I am riding to him.
+There is to be some kind of an assembly there, so I will say this, in
+other words, publicly."
+
+"If you would only go as quickly as possible," exclaimed the notary.
+
+And the doctor began to laugh.
+
+"But as I have yet time, I will first attend Panna Marynia's concert."
+
+"By all means," said Gronski, "ride, sir. Poland is not only being cut
+from the outside by inimical scissors, but she is beginning to be rent
+asunder internally. Ride, sir, and tell them that publicly. Perhaps
+some may be found who will be frightened at their amenableness to the
+future."
+
+"I think that such will be found. For, in the main, I assume that they,
+or at least a majority of them, thus far feel in the old way, and only
+speak as they do in order to loosen, even though for a moment, the
+noose which presses on their throats. But in this they are mistaken.
+The result will be that they will be despised and trampled upon, both
+from above and below."
+
+"When are you going?"
+
+"The assembly meets in about ten days, so I actually will stay here
+about a week, for I have various matters to attend to in Warsaw. In the
+meantime, I will visit my acquaintances, and among others Pani Otocka,
+and the Krzyckis. How is Krzycki?"
+
+"As well as a fish--and he is going to marry."
+
+"Well, well. I will wager that it is with that beautiful Englishwoman?
+A pure flower!"
+
+"Yes. But it seems that this is not an English flower, only genuinely
+Polish, from a village meadow."
+
+"For the Lord's sake. What are you saying?"
+
+"That is no longer any secret. Her name is Hanka Skibianka."
+
+Here Gronski related the whole history of Miss Anney, omitting only
+that Ladislaus knew her while she was Hanka.
+
+And they listened with astonishment, while the doctor slapped his knees
+with his palms and cried:
+
+"Ah! If I had known that; ah, if I had known that!"
+
+"Well, what would have happened? asked the notary testily.
+
+"What would have happened? I would have been in love with her not only
+under the ears but above. As it was, I only missed by a hair being in
+love with her. Ah, lucky but undeserving Krzycki! But such is my
+ill-luck. Let only one catch my fancy--lackaday! either some one takes
+her, or she is in love with somebody else. But it cannot be helped! I
+must see Miss Anney and tender her my best wishes. For after all
+Krzycki is a good boy. Such as he will not rebuild Poland, but a good
+boy, nevertheless. And such a comely rascal, that he ravishes the eye.
+I would like to see them together. That will be a couple--what!"
+
+"If you wish to see them, and have the time," said Gronski, "then it
+will not be difficult, for we arranged yesterday at Pani Otocka's that
+to-day we will all be present at the rehearsal for the concert. I can
+take you gentlemen to-day to the rehearsal, and afterwards, the whole
+party can go to breakfast."
+
+"Exactly," exclaimed the notary, "that is just what I came to ask you
+to do. I have dropped out of the old relations and I did not know to
+whom to apply--well!"
+
+Gronski glanced at his watch.
+
+"If that is the case, all right; but we have still time. In the hall at
+this moment there is some kind of meeting or lecture, and such meetings
+usually drag beyond the designated time. After that, before they
+ventilate the hall and replace the chairs, a half hour will elapse. I
+have not omitted any rehearsal, so I know how things go."
+
+"And I will not omit any," said the notary.
+
+Nevertheless, he grew so impatient that they left too early. Before the
+building stood about a dozen persons, evidently waiting for those in
+the hall; while from within there reached them a buzzing noise, at
+times shouts, applause, and the sound of the stamping of feet.
+
+"What kind of meeting is it?" asked the doctor.
+
+"Really, I do not know," answered Gronski. "Now we are full of that.
+There are political meetings, social conferences, literary lectures,
+and God knows what else."
+
+"I envy Warsaw," exclaimed the doctor.
+
+"There is not much to envy. At times it chances that something deserves
+attention, but oftener such absurdities take place that one feels
+ashamed."
+
+"Oh, they are already leaving," observed the notary; "but why are they
+shouting so?"
+
+"Let us wait; that is some kind of a brawl," said Gronski.
+
+In fact it evidently was a brawl, for from the roomy vestibule there
+rushed out on the wide stairs between ten, and twenty men, without caps
+or hats, who in the twinkling of an eye, formed a disorderly heap. In
+this heap, hands, canes, and umbrellas moved violently, and these
+motions were accompanied by a shrill shriek. Afterwards from the
+gyrating mob, shoved by tens of arms, shot out, as if from a sling,
+somebody, with bare head and tattered coat, who, leaping from the
+stairs, turned a somersault at the doctor's feet in such a manner as
+almost to tumble him and the notary on the ground.
+
+"Swidwicki!" exclaimed Gronski with astonishment.
+
+Swidwicki rose, and shaking his fist menacingly at the crowd, which,
+having ejected him outdoors, was again returning to the hall, began to
+say with a panting voice:
+
+"Ah, it is you! They have warmed my hide--they have warmed my hide!
+They have broken my ribs a little, and torn my coat. But that is
+nothing! I also have crooked a few straight noses and have straightened
+out a few crooked ones. This is the second time that this has happened
+to me--ouch!"
+
+"Come with me. You cannot stay thus, with bare head and in such a
+coat."
+
+"No, no!" answered Swidwicki. "Ouch! Let me recover my breath. Hey!
+Messenger!"
+
+And beckoning to a messenger, he said to him:
+
+"Citizen! Here are two pieces of coin and a wardrobe check. Go to the
+vestibule and fetch me my hat and topcoat."
+
+"But for the Lord's sake what happened?"
+
+"Directly, directly," said Swidwicki; "but let me first dress. After
+that we will go to some confectioner's shop--ouch! For as soon as the
+meeting closes, they will begin to go out and, finding me here, they
+will be ready to administer a new drubbing to me and to you gentlemen
+to boot."
+
+"So that was a meeting?"
+
+"A meeting, conference, discussion, lecture--whatever you wish. Panna
+Sicklawer spoke on 'Imparting knowledge.' On the platform sat Pan
+Citronenduft, Panna Bywalkiewicz, Panna Anserowicz, Panna Kostropacka,
+the editor Czubacki, and others. The hall was packed to suffocation.
+Ouch! I enjoyed myself like a king."
+
+"We see," observed Gronski.
+
+"You think not? But introduce me to these gentlemen. For I am the hero
+of the day."
+
+"Hero Swidwicki, gentlemen; Notary Dzwonkowski and Dr. Szremski," said
+Gronski.
+
+Swidwicki squeezed the palms of Gronski's astonished companions; after
+which when the messenger brought the hat, cane, and top-coat he dressed
+himself and said:
+
+"With this cane I would be ready to wait for them here--but for to-day
+I have had enough. The meeting will last twenty minutes or longer. Let
+us go to some confectioner's shop, for I feel a pain in my legs and
+cannot stand."
+
+They went to a confectioner's. Swidwicki ordered for himself one and
+then a second glass of cognac, after which he began to talk:
+
+"That was an instructive meeting. Panna Sicklawer, I tell you
+gentlemen, is a Cicero in petticoats. When she started to impart
+knowledge to various meek creatures of the masculine gender and various
+magpies of fourteen years, of whom the audience mainly consisted, even
+I grew warm. The meek creatures applauded or else cried 'shame' when
+there was a talk of parents, and the magpies blushed so violently and
+fidgeted in their seats so much, that they seemed to sit on needles,
+and everything went along smoothly. Remarks were made by Pan
+Citronenduft, Panna Gotower and some maid, a native of far away Kars,
+whose name as well as I could hear it, had a Grecian or Spanish
+sound,--Nieodtego. The maturer portion of the auditors was also carried
+away by the enthusiasm, and I, though Gronski doubts it, enjoyed myself
+like a king. For you see, gentlemen, that I, from principle, have
+nothing against imparting knowledge,--nothing. Quite the reverse! Only,
+I am of the opinion, if an affair is to be jolly let it be really
+jolly. So then, after a few addresses, I rose, asked leave to speak and
+announced that I desired to recite a poem in honor of the gathering.
+They agreed to it and I received applause in advance. Then I began to
+declaim--indeed, not an original poem, but my own parody on the fable:
+'Once wanton little Thad.' But this did not continue long; it appeared
+that my Thaddy proved himself to be so wanton, that he was too wanton,
+even for them. They did not like also this; that in staring at Panna
+Nieodtego, I closed one eye. They began to shout 'Silence!' 'Fie!'
+'Away with him! This is jeering!' And here my ideal fable began to
+change into a real epic. For when in reply to the shout 'This is
+jeering,' I said, 'Well what did you think it was?' there was a
+universal roar of 'Put him out!' At least fifty hands grappled my
+shoulders and neck; a nice rumpus followed. They struck me, I struck
+back. Finally, they dumped me into the corridor: from the corridor on
+to the stairs, and into the street. The rest you gentlemen know. I
+repeat for the third time that I enjoyed myself like a king."
+
+"That to me is at least courage," said the doctor; "it is necessary to
+stop such things, even by a scandal; so you did well, sir; you are a
+brave nationalist."
+
+"I, a nationalist," exclaimed Swidwicki, "why, the day before yesterday
+I was thrown out of a meeting of the National Democrats. Indeed, a
+little more politely, but I was ejected."
+
+Gronski began to laugh.
+
+"So this is your new sport?"
+
+But with this their conversation ended as their attention was attracted
+by the crowd returning from the lecture. Before the window flowed a
+black human stream, among which were a large number of striplings, and
+young girls with cheeks covered with blushes.
+
+When the stream finally passed by, there appeared after an interval the
+bright, vernal forms of Hanka, Marynia, and Pani Otocka, in the company
+of Krzycki.
+
+
+
+                                  VIII
+
+Upon the so called "happiest period" in Krzycki's life certain small
+shadows fell, and this for various reasons. If on the one hand his love
+for Hanka grew with each day, on the other there began various petty
+annoyances which his mother had foreseen. They were things almost
+imperceptible, about which one could not pick a quarrel, but which
+nevertheless stung. Thus it happened that the ladies of Gorek came to
+Pani Krzycki to invite her to the wedding of Kajetana to Pan Dolhanski,
+which wedding through a special dispensation of the church was to take
+place in a few days. Pani Krzycki in tendering them her good wishes
+announced that they could also do the same to her, owing to the
+betrothal of her son to Miss Anney. Then both, one after the other,
+began to heartily embrace her, which, though apparently a sign of their
+good wishes, looked more like condolence, the more so as Pani Wlocek
+did not utter anything besides the words, "It is God's will," while
+Kajetana raised her eyes as piously as if she wanted to supplicate the
+Powers on high to comfort the heartbroken mother. Ladislaus laughed
+after their departure, but in his soul he wished that both would break
+their necks. When, however, a few days later it appeared that out of
+the entire circle of acquaintances only Hanka did not receive an
+invitation from these ladies, he wanted to start a brawl with
+Dolhanski: and his mother was barely able to restrain him with the
+declaration that neither she herself, nor Zosia, nor Marynia would
+attend the wedding. Krzycki was even angered because some of his
+acquaintances, in contrast to the ladies of Gorek, tendered to him
+their good wishes with excessive ardor, as if he had performed an
+heroic act. His marriage, as well as the antecedents of Hanka, became
+the subject of every conversation in "society." Out in the world, great
+political changes could take place, bombs could explode, strikes could
+break out, but in the salons for a few days only Hanka was spoken of,
+various flabby dames, with eyes half closed, in a questioning tone,
+drawling through their teeth, "Anka--Skubanka[12]--n'est ce pas?" But
+while the good wishes of those who tendered them to Krzycki with such
+excessive ardor sprang from appreciation of the heroism with which he
+dared to take as wife "Skubanka," Hanka's marriage settlement and the
+hope of "plucking" the millionaire in the future played an important
+role. This marriage settlement, which, agreeably with Pani Krzycki's
+anticipations, was, for local conditions, quite considerable, but by no
+means reached the millions, grew in public opinion with almost every
+hour, so that it attained almost fabulous proportions, and intensified
+the universal curiosity to the extent that when Hanka in the company of
+her two young female friends together with Pani Krzycki and her fiance
+appeared at the races, all the lorgnettes were directed at their
+carriage. The flabby dames from "high life," gazing at her radiant
+countenance, sparkling with happiness and health, indeed said that they
+could at once surmise that "this is something a little different," and
+contended that in the present days this "high life" ought to open its
+delicate bosom to a person possessing such means for "doing good." As
+to her comeliness, however, the opinion prevailed that she was not
+sufficiently pretty for one to lose his head and that Krzycki was
+marrying for money. His defence was undertaken only by the ladies from
+Gorek, who, meeting now many people, made it everywhere understood that
+their young neighbor did not always seek merely money, and that only
+when he was disappointed in other fancies, did he come to the
+conclusion that it was better to have money than nothing.
+
+Thus did things shape themselves externally. But on the sky of the
+betrothed pair appeared tiny clouds which, as Ladislaus' love became
+inflamed, appeared even with greater frequency. Hanka, habituated to
+English customs, did not at all hesitate to receive her fiance at her
+home and pass with him long hours alone; to stroll with him over the
+city, to drive from the city without a chaperon, and even call him by
+his Christian name. She said to herself that in great and sincere love
+there also should be room for friendship and that it was necessary
+before one became a wife to be a sincere friend and comrade. She
+thought that Ladislaus would understand this and not only would love
+her all the more but also cherish her all the more. Once she had read
+in an English book that one might love and not cherish, and that in
+such a case love grows embittered to the degree that it may become
+perpetual unhappiness. So, desiring to avoid this and place her future
+life upon immovable foundations, she wished to win, besides love, the
+deepest possible friendship.
+
+But here the misunderstandings between the engaged couple began. That
+golden-hair, that good friend, gazing with a heavenly light, that
+rose-colored, gay comrade who dressed herself in a light dress and
+spring hat, was so charming that Ladislaus cherished indeed without
+limit, but at every tete-a-tete lost his head. To Hanka it appeared
+that her betrothed, though he was enamoured to distraction and at the
+same time was a friend, should be the kind of a man upon whose
+shoulders she could at every moment press her head with perfect
+confidence that he would not abuse her trust and would not take
+advantage of their seclusion nor of any temporary weakness, nor of the
+gray hour, nor of the fact that love disarms and weakens a woman. He,
+on the contrary, perhaps because he lost his head, acted as if he
+thought that friendship and the relations of a comrade only added to
+the rights of betrothal. From this there was generated a mutual
+vigilance; in him a watchfulness for everything of which he might take
+advantage; in her a wariness of that which she ought to avoid. This
+vigilance, at first silent, soon lapsed into quarrels. They were
+followed by apologies, which would have intensified the love of both
+were it not that Ladislaus apologized too passionately. And this
+misunderstanding was in reality deeper than both thought, for when
+Hanka, remembering what once had taken place between them, believed
+that he should on that account be more continent, he, in moments when
+blinded by desire, seemed to fancy that very past, together with the
+burnt bridges, justified him in everything. From these causes, the
+enchanted edifice of their happiness from time to time became defaced
+and would have been defaced yet more strongly were it not for this,
+that in Ladislaus there was material for everything and there came upon
+him moments entirely different. Sometimes on clear nights when they sat
+on the balcony leading to the garden of Hanka's residence, and when
+from the neighboring balcony came the song of Marynia's violin,
+and the moonlight seemed to sleep quietly on the opposite walls, it
+also put to slumber Ladislaus' senses. His soul, lulled to sleep by
+the sight of the beloved being, bleaching like a white angel in the
+dusk,--intoxicated with the fragrance of leaves and flowers, winged by
+music, was dissolved into a kind of universal but sweet and chaste
+feeling, which enveloped Hanka and bore her towards the stars. The
+impressionable soul of the girl at such times was susceptible of this
+and was simply submerged in happiness.
+
+But these were transitory moments of tranquillity of mind. A moment
+later, while Ladislaus was bidding her good-night and when he kissed
+her hands and forehead, quickly there was awakened in him the eternal
+hungry desire, and he sought her lips and hugged her breast to his own;
+he lost his memory, and, when she broke away from his arms, he said
+that he did not promise her that he would be an English Quaker; and
+they parted, if not angry, as if both were humiliated and sad.
+
+And that sadness fraternized with love.
+
+But it often happened that Ladislaus disarmed Hanka with his great
+frankness which in reality was his chief attribute.
+
+"You, my Hanusia," he said to her once, after serious quarrel, "would
+want that I should mount a ladder and stay on the highest round, for a
+time--Good!--I can! But to stay there forever I could not do any more
+than I could walk on stilts all the time. Do not imagine that I am
+something more than I am. I am an ordinary mortal, who only differs
+from others in this, that he loves you above everything."
+
+"No, Laudie," answered Hanka, "I do not at all desire that you should
+be some great personage, for I remember that the Englishmen say that an
+honest man is the noblest work of God."
+
+"I did a little mischief once, but I think I am honest."
+
+"Yes, but remember that not he is honest who does not do evil, but he
+who does good. In that everything is contained."
+
+"I agree to that. You will teach me that."
+
+"And you me."
+
+"Ha I we will keep house in Jastrzeb and will do all we can. There is
+much work to be done there and of the kind for which I am fitted. To be
+a good husbandman, to be good to the people, to instruct them; to
+teach, love, and enlighten; to be also a good citizen of the country
+and in case of necessity to die for it--for this, I give my word I am
+fit. Yes, it is so. And now you have me. But taking everything
+together, no evil will befall you with me, Hanusia,--I love you too
+much for any evil to befall you. Only, my golden one, my love, my rosy
+lady, do not command me to sit on the ladder, for that I cannot do."
+
+His simplicity and sincerity propitiated Hanka. The thought of a joint
+life in Jastrzeb, of loving the folks whose child she was, of
+instructing them, of laboring over and for them, cheered and allured
+her more powerfully than anything else could do. To return to Poland
+and take charge of a Polish village was the plan which she formulated
+immediately after the death of the Anney family. And now just such a
+horizon was opened to her by this former "young lord" whom she loved
+while yet a simple girl. Therefore she was grateful to him: she was
+ready in her soul to exalt his good qualities, to exculpate his faults,
+to love him, and to persevere faithfully at his side, but in exchange
+she wanted nothing more than that he should love her not only with his
+senses, but with a true and chaste love, and that he should regard her
+above all things as his life companion, "for better or for worse."
+
+And, for that reason, whenever there came to her moments in which it
+seemed to her that he saw in her principally an object for his desires
+and was unable to find, in himself strength to struggle with them and
+elevate his feelings to noble heights, doubt seized her heart and she
+could not resist the thought that he was not such as she would wish him
+to be.
+
+"But nevertheless," she consoled herself in her soul, "that is a
+sincere and true nature, and where there is sincerity and truth,
+everything may be brought to light."
+
+Ladislaus on the contrary was in reality sincere to the degree that one
+could see through him--through and through, as though he were made of
+glass. The proof of this was the opinion which Dr. Szremski expressed
+about him in a conversation with Gronski.
+
+"To me," he said, "the present-day Hanka Skibianka is ten times more
+interesting than the former Miss Anney, and I wish her happiness from
+my whole soul. But if she bases that happiness upon the feeling which
+Krzycki entertains for her, I fear that she will be disappointed. I do
+not wish to say anything bad of him. On the contrary, to me he is a
+sympathetic type, for he is immensely ours, immensely domestic. If he
+had lived a hundred years ago and been a Uhlan, he would have charged
+at Samo-Sierra no worse than Kozietulski and Niegolewski. Only he
+belongs to that species of men for whom it is easier to die for some
+idea or for some feeling than to live for them and to persevere in
+them. To turn to one idea or to one feeling, as a magnetic needle turns
+to the north, is not within their power nor their concern. They require
+distraction, amusement. And there is nothing strange in this. Consider
+only that for entire ages nobody was better off than the various
+Krzyckis and Gronskis--nobody. So they sucked of the pleasures of life,
+like juice of grapes. They ate, drank, played, dissipated--bah! they
+even fought for the pleasure of it. They were not vicious nor terrible,
+for a happy man cannot be totally vicious. They had in their hearts a
+certain feeling of humanity. They were indulgent to people who were
+subject to them, but above all things they were indulgent to
+themselves. Hence at the bottom of the Polish soul always lies
+indulgence. Then came the time of penance and that indulgence by right
+of inheritance, particularly in the spheres to which Krzycki belongs,
+remains. For him, neither love for woman nor for fatherland will
+suffice. He will love them and, in a given case, will perish for them,
+but in life he will indulge himself. And you see, sir, that it was just
+for this reason that I said that such as he will not rebuild Society."
+
+"And who will?" asked Gronski.
+
+"The future generations--not the pot-bellied, not the easy-natured, not
+the chatterboxes, not the indulgers in sensual delights and the
+pleasures of life--no--apparently they are good for everything and fit
+for nothing--but only the hardy, the persistent, the quiet, and the
+practical. For them, misfortune and slavery have tilled the ground for
+a hundred years."
+
+"And the present day manures the ground," said Gronski, "only it is a
+pity that this manure has such a rank smell."
+
+"That is not manure; that is sand blown from abroad which renders the
+soil sterile," replied the doctor with energy.
+
+And he began to curse.
+
+
+
+                                   IX
+
+Dolhanski, however, completely subdued his fiancee and his future
+mother-in-law, inasmuch as he prevailed upon them to call personally
+upon Hanka and invite her to the wedding. They were prompted to this by
+the consideration that at any rate it behooved them to preserve the
+outward semblance of good relations with their future neighbors from
+Jastrzeb, and they were persuaded in particular by the news, which he
+brought from the high spheres, that "high life" was reconciled to the
+idea of admitting Hanka into its fold, while he, on the other hand,
+wanted to see her at a close range in the church. After their visit,
+during which the mother and daughter, under the watchful eye of
+Dolhanski, acted not only properly but quite amiably, Pani Krzycki
+revoked her resolution, of not attending the nuptial rites.
+
+These took place early in the week at the Church of the Order of
+Visitation in the presence of a great concourse of dames from the
+"grand world" and Dolhanski's titled colleagues from the club. In this
+the desire to take a close view of the peasant-millionairess played as
+important a part as the wish to see Dolhanski. Those of his
+acquaintances who knew the ladies from Gorek had previously stated that
+he was taking a lady of wealth, but old and ludicrous; in consequence
+of which these good colleagues wanted to see what kind of mien he
+would have, so that they might afterwards have a subject for their
+gibes and jests. But in this respect they met with the most complete
+disappointment. Dolhanski, escorted on one side by Gronski, on
+the other by Count Gil, walked through the church with such
+self-confidence, such sangfroid, and with such a smile on his lips, as
+though he had the right and desire to jeer at his colleagues. The tall
+and gaunt young lady did not, after all, look so badly in her lace
+wedding dress. She had too much powder on her face; her veil was too
+long, and too much did she "tremble like a leaf," which created an
+impression that this leaf did that a little purposely.
+
+There was nothing in her, however, to excite ridicule, and, when the
+two knelt before the altar, the dames and beaux, looking from the depth
+of the church, had to admit that in her slender white form there was
+some charm. But the eyes of those present were directed principally at
+Hanka who glided through the nave on Ladislaus' arm, like a light
+spring cloud. To the gentlemen of the club it seemed that from the
+moment of her entrance the church grew brighter. Count Gil, who found
+himself near her, behind the stalls, later stated in a certain salon
+that a rosy warmth radiated from her. Others at once corroborated this
+and to the mot of a dame that in order to find favor in men's eyes it
+was necessary that one must not only be a woman but also a radiator,
+they replied that it was absolutely necessary.
+
+In the meanwhile they envied Ladislaus Mr. Anney's millions and Hanka,
+who so absorbed to herself the general attention that Pani Otocka and
+Marynia passed by almost unobserved. Neither appeared to the best
+advantage that day. In Pani Otocka, Dolhanski's marriage aroused a
+certain disgust, which was reflected in her countenance, and Marynia
+opened her lips too widely out of curiosity, and besides, her bared
+arms were so thin and, as usual with immature girls, were so red that,
+they could only excite compassion. The ladies of the "grand world,"
+besides, did not look at one or the other for the further reason that
+Ladislaus, with his stature and visage of a Uhlan of the time of the
+Duchy of Warsaw, became the focus upon which the rays of their
+tortoise-shell lorgnettes were converged.
+
+With the appearance of the priest silence fell and the rites began. The
+lorgnettes were now directed towards the altar. In the distance could
+be seen floating under the orange blossoms the bridal veil and
+Dolhanski's head, somewhat bald at the summit, over which crept the
+reflexes of the candles flickering in the dusk. Krzycki, bending
+towards Hanka, began to whisper: "And we will soon--" and she dropped
+her eyelids in sign of assent; after which when their eyes met, she
+blushed violently and raised her lace handkerchief to her lips, and
+later fixed her gaze upon the altar, for she recalled to her mind how,
+not long before, the candles flickered in the same manner in the Church
+of the Holy Cross, when together they prayed for their future
+happiness. Yes, soon they would kneel there again in order not to be
+separated for life, and this thought, so full of sweetness and at the
+same time of uneasiness of feeling, expanded her breast.
+
+In the meanwhile in the silence could be heard the voice of the priest:
+"Edward, do you take Kajetana, whom you see before you, for wife?" and
+when Dolhanski firmly confirmed this and Kajetana mumbled that she
+wanted this Edward, their hands were bound by the stole and the rites
+rapidly approached an end; then the hymeneal party left the church. The
+bridal couple were to leave for a tour abroad within two hours, but
+before that in the dining-hall of the hotel a dinner awaited them, to
+which, of the relatives of the groom, only Pani Krzycki, Ladislaus,
+Hanka, as his betrothed, and the sisters were invited; of the more
+distant, Gronski and Count Gil, as groomsmen attended. The dinner with
+the inevitable toasts did not last long; after it the newly-married
+pair repaired to their separate apartments and after a certain time
+reappeared attired in their travelling clothes. Then began the usual
+bustle preceding a journey; trunks, small luggage, and bright
+travelling paraphernalia were hauled out. Dolhanski during the dinner
+and these last moments displayed such sangfroid and such phlegm that
+all the lords of England might envy him. Without the least haste he
+conversed with the gentlemen; he expressed his regrets to Marynia that
+he could not be at the concert; to Pani Otocka he said that he owed to
+her in a great measure his happiness of that day; and afterwards
+intrusted Gorek to the neighborly care of Krzycki, and bantered with
+Gronski, trying to persuade him to follow in his footsteps.
+
+This superb calmness of his contrasted strangely with the uneasiness
+and distraction of the bride. For a half hour before the departure and
+immediately after donning her travelling robe, she began to stare at
+her mother with an inquiring look as if awaiting from her something
+which was overlooked or forgotten and which under no circumstances
+ought to be overlooked. This continued so long that it attracted
+general attention, and when Pani Wlocek did not appear to understand
+the inquiring look, Kajetana beckoned her for a confidential talk in a
+room adjoining the dining-hall.
+
+To the ears of the guests there began to reach for a quarter of an hour
+some alarming though muffled cries of, "Ah!" and "Oh!" and after an
+interval the bride entered with her eyes covered by her palms. But
+after a while she dropped her hands alongside her dress and gazing at
+Dolhanski with the look of an antelope at a lion, she asked in an
+almost inaudible voice:
+
+"Edward, perhaps it is already time?"
+
+Gronski, Krzycki, and Count Gil bit their lips, while Dolhanski glanced
+at his watch and said:
+
+"We have yet five minutes."
+
+
+
+                                   X
+
+The cloudlets looming between Hanka and Ladislaus began by degrees to
+be transformed into clouds. At times they ceased to mutually understand
+each other. Hanka was more and more disturbed by the thought whether
+Ladislaus, notwithstanding his good heart and his ability to appreciate
+everything which is exalted and noble, was not a weak character, that
+in a moment of sudden impulse or passionate ecstasy is unable to resist
+and cannot muster within himself sufficient strength, even though his
+own worth is involved, and at this thought she was oppressed by a deep
+sorrow. But she was yet more painfully nettled on another side of the
+matter. This was that she arrived at the conviction that his feelings
+towards her were better, purer and, as it were, more shy at the time
+when he thought that she was Miss Anney. She remembered various
+moments, both in Jastrzeb and in Warsaw, in which she was certain that
+this burning flame of love, which glowed in his heart, was at the same
+time a sacrificial flame of esteem. And now when she had told him that
+she is the former Hanka that pure fire has changed into an ignition of
+the senses. Why? Was the cause of this their former sin; was it that
+she was a peasant? In the answer to those questions lay the pain, for
+Hanka felt that whatever happened was the result of these causes.
+
+But she was mistaken in thinking that Ladislaus did not understand that
+just for these two reasons he ought to act directly contrary, in order
+to efface in her the memory of sin and to raise her in her own eyes and
+to respect her as his future wife. He understood this quite clearly,
+and often it happened that after parting from her he upbraided himself,
+not mincing words, and in his soul made a solemn promise of
+reformation. But as in his easy life he had not accustomed himself to
+contend with anything and, above all, with himself, therefore this
+lasted but a short time--as long only as he was away from her, as long
+as he was not enveloped by the warmth emanating from her; only when he
+was not absorbed with her eyes; did not feel her hand in his own, and
+did not intoxicate himself with her feminine attractions. Then reason
+blinded in him and darkened; he became the slave of blood, full of
+sophisms, the agent of senses, and the recollection of the former
+Hanka, instead of repressing the temptation, only increased it the
+more.
+
+Under such conditions, sooner or later, the storm had to break above
+the heads of both and create desolation. Accordingly it burst sooner
+than Krzycki could have foreseen.
+
+One day, coming at the twilight hour to Hanka, he found her in a
+strange and unusual condition. She was agitated, her countenance was
+suffused with blushes, her eyes were red, and the hand which she
+tendered to him, palpably trembled. At the beginning she did not want
+to tell him what was the matter, but when they sat beside each other,
+he began to beg of her that she would not make anything a secret with
+him, but to tell him what occurred, not only as a fiance, but as her
+best friend.
+
+Hanka was always conciliated by an appeal to friendship. Therefore
+after a while she said, smiling sadly:
+
+"I was not concerned about any secret but I preferred to keep to myself
+an unpleasantness. Did you, sir, ever notice my servant, Pauly?"
+
+(Hanka from a certain time addressed her fiance as "sir," believing
+that in this manner she would hold him more easily at a proper
+distance.)
+
+"Pauly?" repeated Ladislaus, and though, after all, he thus far had
+done nothing with which to reproach himself, a sudden disquiet arose in
+him. "Pauly? Why of course! Why, she was at Jastrzeb and I saw her here
+everyday. What happened?"
+
+"She created for me a horribly disagreeable scene and has left me."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"That is just what I do not know. She always was very violent and
+nervous, but very honest. So I was attached to her and I thought that
+she would be attached to me. But for some time I have observed in her
+something like a dislike to me, with each day greater. Really, I never
+was harsh to her; even the contrary. So I attributed everything to the
+nerves. In the meantime, to-day, it came to an outburst and it is so
+disagreeable to me! so disagreeable!"
+
+Hanka's voice faltered, and it could be seen that she felt the whole
+occurrence deeply. So Ladislaus pressed her hand to his lips and asked
+with sympathy:
+
+"What kind of outburst was it?"
+
+"This afternoon, or rather after Marynia's return from the rehearsal,
+we were to ride up town with Zosia. So, desiring to change my dress, I
+ordered her to hand it to me. Pauly went after it as usual and brought
+it, but suddenly she threw it upon the ground and began to trample upon
+it, and in addition screamed in a loud, shrill voice that she would
+serve me no longer. At first I was stupefied, for it occurred to me
+that she had become insane."
+
+"She surely is insane!" interrupted Ladislaus; "but what further?"
+
+"She slammed the door and left. I did not see her any more. About an
+hour later somebody came for her things and wages."
+
+Here Hanka began to shake her head.
+
+"And nevertheless when I recall her dislike and what she told me in the
+last moments, I do not think that it was an attack of insanity; it was
+only an outburst of hatred, which she could no longer restrain in
+herself. And for me this is such a disappointment, such a
+disappointment!"
+
+"My lady--Hanus," said Ladislaus, seizing both of her hands, "is it
+worth while to take to heart the deed of a foolish vixen? For she is a
+foolish vixen--nothing more. It is enough to look at her. Calm
+yourself, Hanus,--this is only a momentary matter which it is necessary
+to forget as soon as possible. Remember who you are and who she is!
+Such times have come that everything is turned topsy-turvy. Such
+occurrences now take place everywhere. But they will pass away. In the
+meantime we two have so many reasons for joy that in view of them such
+wretched smarts ought to disappear."
+
+And he began to press alternately her hands to his lips and to his
+breast and gaze in her eyes, but this increased her grief; for Hanka
+desiring to spare unnecessary disagreeableness to her betrothed and
+herself did not confess everything to him. She was particularly
+reticent about this, that the infuriated servant, on leaving, screamed
+at her in her eyes, "You base peasant. You ought to serve me, not I
+you! Your place is with cows, not in the palace!" Perhaps Hanka might
+not have taken these words so much to heart were it not for the
+previous friction in her relations with Ladislaus, and were it not for
+the thought that he transgressed certain bounds perhaps because she was
+his former sweetheart and a peasant. But just this reason caused the
+thorn to be imbedded in her heart more deeply and bred in her a fear as
+to future life in which similar scenes might be repeated more
+frequently.
+
+So, also, his words about the happiness awaiting them were only drops
+overflowing the cup of bitterness, and his caresses affected the
+aggrieved girl like a child, who the more she is consoled the more
+disconsolate she becomes. There came to her a moment of weakness and
+exhaustion. The usual strength deserted her, her nerves were unstrung,
+and she began to sob, but feeling at the same time ashamed of her tears
+she buried her face in his breast.
+
+"Hanus, my Hanus!" repeated Ladislaus.
+
+And he began to kiss her light hair. Afterwards clasping her temples
+with his palms, he raised her tear-stained face and kissed off her
+tears. She did not defend herself; so after a while he sought with his
+mouth her quivering lips.
+
+"Hanus! Hanus!" he whispered in a panting voice.
+
+The ferment of desire more and more obscured his reason, obscured his
+heart, his memory. He drank from the girl's lips while his breath held
+out, he forgot himself like a drunkard and finally seized her in his
+arms.
+
+"Hanus! Hanus!"
+
+
+And it happened that he offended her grievously, that to the
+humiliation, which she had met that day, he added a new humiliation; to
+insult, a new insult--that an abyss plainly separated them!
+
+
+
+                                   XI
+
+When on the morning of the following day Ladislaus awoke after a brief
+feverish sleep, he was seized by grief and an insane rage at himself.
+He recalled everything which had taken place. He remembered that his
+parting with Hanka the day before was equivalent to being shown the
+door; there returned to him as a wicked echo his own wretched and
+dreadful words said in his passion at the time of separation, that if
+her resistance flowed from fear that later he might break their
+engagement, then let her know that it was an idle fear. And so he
+imputed this resistance to miserable motives. And he, a man who prided
+himself not only upon his good breeding but also upon a subtile sense
+of honor and personal worthiness--he, Krzycki, could act the way he did
+and say what he said. In the first moments after opening his eyes, it
+seemed to him that this was a point-blank impossibility; some kind of a
+continuation of the nightmare which throttled his slumber, which ought
+to disappear with the light of day.
+
+But that nightmare was a heavy reality. It was incumbent upon him to
+take it into account and remedy it in some manner. He sat down to write
+a letter, in which he smote himself upon the breast, complained, and
+apologized. He said that no one was able to condemn him as he had
+condemned himself, and if he dared to beg for forgiveness it was only
+in hope that perhaps some voice, some echo of the better moments would
+intercede for him in her heart and would procure for him forgiveness.
+At the close he begged for an opportunity of repeating in person the
+words of the letter and for an answer, even in case the sentence
+pronounced against him was final.
+
+But when the messenger who took the letter informed him upon his return
+that there was no answer, he fell into genuine despair. As a really
+spoiled child of life, unaccustomed to opposition and obstacles, and
+one convinced that everything was due him, it began to appear to him
+that this was more than he deserved; that he was the injured party. He
+would not admit, however, that all was lost. He indulged in the hope
+that Hanka might, before opening the letter, have announced that there
+was no answer and that after reading it she would be moved, would
+relent, and rescind her resolution. Sustained by this hope, he dressed
+himself, strolled over the city for an hour in order to give Hanka time
+to reckon with her heart, and afterwards rang the bell of her
+residence.
+
+But he was not received. Then it occurred to him to apply to Pani
+Otocka. After a while, he nevertheless perceived that the causes of his
+rupture with Hanka were of such a nature that it was impossible to
+discuss them either with Pani Otocka or his mother. In his soul he now
+began to accuse Hanka of downright cruelty, but at the same time the
+greater the difficulties interposed between them the greater was his
+grief. He could not, in any measure, be reconciled to the thought that
+whatever he regarded as his own should be taken away from him; and as
+is usual with weak persons, he began to commiserate himself.
+
+From Pani Otocka he went to Gronski, regarding him as the only person
+with whom he could speak frankly and whose mediation would be
+effective. And here disappointment awaited him. Gronski had suffered
+for several days with his eyes and was not allowed to read; this put
+him into a bad humor, and for this reason he received Ladislaus more
+indifferently than usual. Ladislaus became convinced that it was
+difficult to speak of the rupture not only with Pani Otocka and his
+mother, but even with a man and old friend who knew of his former
+relations with Hanka. A feeling of shame plainly choked the words in
+his throat, and he began to beat about the bush and palliate things,
+talk in empty phrases about a misunderstanding and the necessity of a
+friendly mediation, so that Gronski at last asked, with a shade of
+impatience:
+
+"Tell me plainly about what you had a falling out, and then I can tell
+whether I will undertake to bring you together again."
+
+And evidently he did not attach much importance to the matter for he
+waved his hand and said:
+
+"It would be best if you made it up between yourselves."
+
+"No," replied Ladislaus; "this is more serious than you think, and we
+ourselves cannot come to any agreement."
+
+"Well, finally, what was it about?"
+
+Shame, exertion, and constraint were depicted upon Ladislaus' face.
+
+"In a moment of forgetfulness and ecstasy," he said, "I passed--that
+is--I wanted to pass--certain limits--"
+
+And he stopped abruptly.
+
+Gronski began to look at him with amazed eyes and asked:
+
+"And she?"
+
+"Why, if anything had happened there would not have been any rupture
+and I surely would not speak of it now. She ordered me to the door and
+not to show myself there any more."
+
+"May God bless her," exclaimed Gronski.
+
+Silence ensued. Gronski walked with big paces over the room repeating
+every little while, "It is unbelievable!" and again, "An unheard-of
+thing!" and in addition his face became more and more severe and cold.
+
+After which he sat down and, looking at Ladislaus, began to speak
+deliberately:
+
+"I have known many people even among our aristocracy, in whom beneath
+the veneer of society, beneath high descent and all the pretensions of
+elegant breeding were concealed the ordinary coarse, low, peasant
+instincts. If this observation can be applied to you as a comfort,
+accept it, for I have no other for you."
+
+A sudden wave of anger swept over Ladislaus' heart and brain. For a
+while he struggled with himself in order not to explode and answer
+insult with insult; in the end he subdued himself and replied in a
+hollow voice:
+
+"I deserve it."
+
+But Gronski, not disarmed by this confession, continued:
+
+"No, my dear sir, I will not undertake your defence, for I should act
+contrary to my convictions. To you less than to any one else was it
+allowable to indulge yourself, even out of regard for the past. And
+your fiancee must have so understood it, and besides she did not forget
+her extraction. To you it was less permissible! She was a hundred times
+right in showing you the door. The matter is really more serious than I
+thought, and so serious that I do not see any help for it. You did not
+respect Hanka, your future wife, and therefore yourself and your own
+honor. In view of this how can she honor you and what can she think of
+you?"
+
+"I know," said Ladislaus in the same hollow voice, "and I have said all
+this to myself in almost the same words. I wrote a letter to her
+this morning, begging for forgiveness--there was no answer. I went to
+her personally--I was not received. So I came to you as the last
+refuge--for--for me there pleads only one thing--I acted badly,
+brutally, and scurvily, but I have not ceased to love her. There is no
+life for me without her, and though you may not believe it,
+nevertheless it is so that under the frenzy which possessed me, under
+that froth which blinded me and under which I to-day sink, lies the
+feeling not only deep but pure--"
+
+Gronski again began to measure with great steps the room for he was
+somewhat touched by Ladislaus' words.
+
+While the latter continued:
+
+"If she will not read my letters and will not receive me, then I will
+not be able to tell her that. Hence it is imperative that some one
+should speak to her in my name. I cannot apply either to Mother or Pani
+Zosia in this. I thought that you, sir--but since you decline, I now
+have no one."
+
+"Look, however, into the eyes of reality," said Gronski more gently,
+"for it may be that her love for you was at once torn into shreds. In
+such case from where will she take it when she no longer possesses it?"
+
+"Let her tell me so; that at least is yet due to me."
+
+Again silence fell.
+
+"Listen," Gronski finally said, "I always was a friend of yours and of
+your mother, but this mission which you want to intrust to me I cannot
+undertake. I cannot among other reasons, because if your fiancee does
+not reply to you, so likewise she may not reply to me. One look, one
+word, will close my mouth and with this it would end. But try another
+method. Panna Hanka comes quite often with Marynia to the rehearsals,
+at which I am always present, and afterwards I escort both home. Come
+with me. You may find an opportunity to speak with her. During the
+return home I will take Marynia and you will remain with her. I think
+that she will not repel you even though out of regard for Marynia, to
+whom she would not wish to divulge what had passed between you.--Then
+tell her what you have said to me and also beg her for an interview,
+which, if it cannot be otherwise--will be final. It will be necessary
+somehow to give to the world some plausible excuse for your rupture; so
+I presume she will agree to that. If not, we will think of something
+else."
+
+Ladislaus began to wring his hands and said:
+
+"Perhaps through Zosia we could ascertain whether this is forever."
+
+"You understand that she may not have wished to discuss the cause of
+your rupture even with Pani Zosia."
+
+"I understand, I understand."
+
+"But you now have a fever," said Gronski, "your hands are burning. Go,
+try to cool off and calm yourself."
+
+
+
+                                  XII
+
+Laskowicz now beheld Marynia, indeed from a distance, but daily. Even
+on rainy days, when she did not walk to the rehearsals, but rode, he
+lay in wait on the stairway of the edifice, in order to see her alight
+from the carriage. On fair days he usually waited near her home, and
+afterwards followed after her to the hall. As among the employees in
+the building were found a few "associates," these facilitated his
+admittance to the rehearsals. To hide in the boxes or in the seats at
+the end of the rows was easy, as during the rehearsals only the stage
+was fully lit up and in the auditorium itself the dusk was illumined by
+only a few lamps, which were lit in order that the handful of
+privileged lovers of music, who occupied the seats behind the
+orchestra, might not be plunged in complete darkness. Amidst these
+privileged ones, Laskowicz often recognized acquaintances,--Gronski,
+Pani Otocka, the old notary. Miss Anney, sometimes Krzycki, and two or
+three times, Dr. Szremski. But notwithstanding his hatred of Ladislaus
+and dislike of the doctor and Gronski, he was little occupied by them
+and thought of them very little, as his eyes could not even for a
+moment be torn from Marynia. He encompassed with his gaze her girlish
+form, standing out on the edge of the stage, bathed in a lustre of
+electricity, luminous of her own accord, and involuntarily she reminded
+him of that alabaster statuette, which the venerable canon deemed his
+greatest treasure. Laskowicz was not an educated man. His one-sided
+study of physics had contracted his intellectual horizon and he was
+incapable of rendering to himself a clear account of certain
+impressions. Nevertheless, when he gazed on that maid, with violin in
+hand, on her pure calm countenance, on the elongated outlines of her
+figure and dress, there awakened in him a half conscious feeling that
+in her there was something of poetry, and something of the church. She
+seemed to him an artless supernal vision, to which one might pray.
+
+Accordingly he deified her in his wild, fanatical soul. But there raged
+within him a revolt against all divinities, therefore he fought with
+his own feelings and struggled to depress and weed them out to the last
+extremity. Intentionally he plucked off the wings of his own thoughts:
+intentionally he imposed fetters upon his vagaries and unchained his
+concupiscence. He discomfited himself, tortured himself, and suffered.
+
+Often he stood on the brink of madness--and in such cases he was ready
+to annihilate, slaughter, and set fire to the whole city in order to
+seize, amidst the bloodshed and conflagration, this silvery maid and
+possess her,--and afterward perish with her and all others. He imagined
+that during the revolutionary storm, which the waves of the proletariat
+would stir up, such an universal hour of annihilation might strike. But
+when reality scattered these dreams, when moments occurred in which it
+became plain that the people themselves put a muzzle upon the jaws of
+the revolutionary dragon, then the gory vision evaporated into vacuous
+smoke, and only exhaustion and confusion remained, for this gloomy
+proletaire felt that as long as he had strength the storm would rage,
+and that when it passed away he would sink into complete nothingness.
+
+Hence, in his heart bitterness and jealousy accumulated more and more.
+He loved Marynia and at the same time he hated her, for he thought that
+she looked upon him as a worm which squirms at her feet, unworthy of a
+glance. He was confirmed in this conviction by the fact that his
+letters evidently did not make the slightest impression upon her and
+did not disturb her usual tranquillity. Laskowicz had given his word to
+Pauly that he would see Marynia only from a distance, and he could not
+approach her, because she was never out alone. But in reality he could
+not conjecture that those letters were received and burnt by Pani
+Otocka and that Marynia knew nothing about them. It appeared to him
+that his passionate appeals in which the words, "Beloved! beloved!"
+were repeated every little while, and those fiery outbursts in which he
+prostrated himself in humility at her adored feet must have represented
+him to her as the ruling king-soul shoving the human wave into the
+unknown future, and ought to have evoked some result. "Let it be anger,
+let it be hatred," he said to himself in his soul, "but here there is
+nothing! She passes by me as if I was a street cur; she does not see
+me; she does not deign to recognize me."
+
+In fact it was so. In the moments when they passed each other on the
+street, Marynia did not and could not recognize Laskowicz, for after
+his departure from Jastrzeb he allowed his youthful beard to grow, and
+afterwards, Swidwicki, in order to disguise him in the eyes of the
+police, bleached his beard, together with his mustache and the hair on
+his head, a light yellow. His clothes and spectacles also changed his
+appearance but he forgot about that, and he fretted with the
+supposition that her eyes do not see him or do not recognize him,
+firstly, because a recollection of him never comes to her mind, and
+again because she belongs to some kind of social Olympus and he to the
+"proletarian garbage-box."
+
+Under such impressions his anguish changed into fury. With savage
+satisfaction, he thought of this: that there might come a time when the
+fate of this "sacred doll" and all her kin would be in his hands. He
+persuaded himself that that moment would be a triumph for himself
+personally and for the "good cause," and therefore he rejoiced at this
+conjunction. He pictured to himself what would happen when Marynia came
+to him to beg for a favor for herself and her relatives. Whether, at
+that time, he would prostrate himself on the ground before her and tell
+her to plant her foot on his head, or whether he would seize her in his
+arms and afterwards pass time away shamelessly--he did not know. He
+only had a feeling that he could do one or the other.
+
+In the meantime he often said to himself that he ought not to see her
+any more, and decided to seek her no more, but on the following day he
+rushed to the place where he could meet her. He struggled with himself,
+he was torn inwardly, and became exhausted to such an extent that he
+began to fail in health. Want of such air as he breathed in Jastrzeb,
+the necessity of hiding from the police, uneasiness, lack of sleep,
+sudden and painful spiritual changes sapped his strength. He became
+haggard, swarthy, and at times he thought that death threatened not on
+the gallows but in a hospital.
+
+In such a disposition was he found by Pauly, who after her scene with
+Hanka, dashed like a whirlwind into his little garret room.
+
+Her face was so changed, so pale, so sickly and malignant, and her eyes
+glittered so feverishly that at the first glance he knew that she was
+driven to him by some extraordinary accident and he asked:
+
+"What has happened?"
+
+"I am no longer with that low peasant."
+
+And she remained silent for she could not catch her breath, and only
+her face was twitching nervously.
+
+Laskowicz understood only that she had abandoned her employment and
+looked at her with a questioning gaze, awaiting further explanations.
+
+"Then, sir, you do not know," she broke out after a while, "then you do
+not know that he is to marry her? And that she is no Englishwoman, but
+only a low peasant! And such a one I served! He is to marry her--a low
+peasant!--a low peasant!--he!"
+
+And her voice changed into a shrill nervous hiccough. Laskowicz was
+frightened at her transports, but at the same time breathed easily.
+Howsoever he might long since have conjectured that Krzycki's
+affections were directed towards Miss Anney and not towards Marynia, he
+was nevertheless pleased in his soul that reality corroborated those
+conjectures.
+
+Living, however, in a world which no echoes of the higher social sphere
+reach, and knowing nothing of the transformation of Miss Anney into a
+Polish peasant woman, he began to interrogate Pauly minutely because
+the affair aroused his curiosity; he wished also to give time to the
+excited girl to calm herself. But this last was not an easy matter, and
+he long had to put questions to her to elicit the news which Swidwicki
+had first told her that Miss Anney was a simple peasant woman, but
+which, however, she did not at first believe, as he said it while under
+the influence of intoxicants. Only from the conversations which she
+overheard did she become convinced not only of the truth of the
+statement but also that Krzycki was to wed Miss Anney. Afterwards she
+peeped through the keyhole and saw him kneel before her and kiss her
+hands. Then she could not restrain herself any longer and at the first
+opportunity flung at the feet of her mistress her "linen frock," and,
+reviling her as a base peasant, left her service.
+
+Here again indignation began to seize her so that Laskowicz from fear
+that she might have an attack of convulsions, said:
+
+"We will consult together about this, but only let the lady be
+pacified."
+
+But she replied with increasing irritation:
+
+"I did not come here for you to pacify me. You, sir, have prated about
+our mutual wrongs and now you order me to be pacified. I want help and
+not your chatter."
+
+"You are anxious that he should not marry her?"
+
+"And what else do you suppose?"
+
+In any case Laskowicz would have sided with the girl for he was
+obligated to do that by gratitude to her for saving his life, by the
+similarity of their lot, and those "joint wrongs" of which he himself
+had previously spoken to Pauly, and of which she now reminded him. But
+the existence of Krzycki at present ceased to stand in his way and Miss
+Anney's existence less so. Only one thing he could not forgive in her:
+
+"She was a peasant woman, she was a wage-earner, and afterwards became
+a female bourgeois. In this is the crime."
+
+"In it or not in it, it is now I or she! Do you understand, sir?"
+
+"I understand, but what is to be done?"
+
+"When you ran away from the police, I did not ask what was to be done."
+
+"I remember."
+
+"And you said at Swidwicki's that your people could accomplish
+everything."
+
+"For it is so."
+
+"So if he only does not marry her, then even let the world end."
+
+Laskowicz began to look at her with his closely set eyes and after a
+moment commenced to speak slowly and with emphasis:
+
+"Krzycki was once already condemned and lives, thanks to you, lady, but
+if he gets a bullet in his head, then he will marry no one."
+
+But she, hearing this, turned pale as a corpse; in the same moment she
+sprang at him with her finger-nails!
+
+"What!" she cried in a hoarse voice; "what! he! Let but a hair fall
+from his head, then, I will have you all--"
+
+Laskowicz's patience, however, was exhausted. He was irritated, torn
+internally and sick; hence, after her threat, a wave of bitterness and
+rage flooded his brains. He started up and, glaring in her eyes,
+shouted!
+
+"Do not threaten with betrayal, for that is death!"
+
+"Death?" she screamed. "Death! this is what life is to me!"
+
+And shoving her palm close to his face, she blew on it so that her
+breath moistened him, and repeated:
+
+"Look! This is what life is to me."
+
+"And to me," exclaimed Laskowicz.
+
+For an interval they stared in each other's eyes like two odious and
+despairing souls. He recovered his wits first, and clasping his head
+with both hands, said:
+
+"Oh, how unfortunate we are! oh!"
+
+"Yes! yes!" reiterated Panna Pauly.
+
+And she began to sob hysterically.
+
+Then he commenced to quiet her. He promised her that nothing should
+befall Krzycki and that his marriage would not under any circumstances
+take place. He said that at that moment he could not indeed disclose to
+her what measures would be adopted, but he assured her that neither he
+nor his party would show any consideration to a mere female bourgeois,
+as here was involved a higher social justice, which does not need to
+take into account any particular individual. Pauly only understood that
+that "low peasant" would not wed the young master of Jastrzeb, and
+became appeased in some measure: and afterwards, both, from necessity,
+became occupied with other matters. It was imperative that some kind of
+shelter be found for the young girl: so Laskowicz placed her with "a
+female associate" residing in the neighborhood, who immediately went
+for her wages and belongings. He himself returned to his own rooms and
+began to revolve in his mind how he could repay Panna Pauly for saving
+his life.
+
+And in this feeling of gratitude lay the first reason why he took the
+matter to heart. A second reason was his own ill-luck and ill-fated
+love for Marynia which made him sensitive to similar strifes; and the
+third was that "social justice" which he mentioned to Pauly. As to the
+third reason he felt, however, the necessity of deliberating with his
+own soul in order that when the time for action arrived his hands would
+be untied, and under the pressure of this necessity he began to reason
+in the following fashion:
+
+"On the background of the general concern of the proletariat, personal
+affairs will appear. It might be said that the general concern is the
+sum-total of them all. In this respect whoever stands in defence of the
+personal affair of a proletaire by that act alone defends universal
+principles. But here comes the question of ethics. Whither are we
+tending? To universal justice. Ergo, our principle is moral for it is
+only the sum-total of personal affairs: therefore these personal
+affairs also must be moral. From this it follows that the proletaire,
+who is in the wrong in a controversy with a bourgeois, nevertheless has
+justice on his side simply because he is a proletaire. In this world
+everything is relative. A soldier, slaying his opponent in a war,
+commits manslaughter; therefore the act itself is not ethical. But as
+he commits it in defense of Fatherland, therefore, from the viewpoint
+of national welfare he acts ethically. If in addition thereto he has
+the spur of personal hatred to an antagonist, his act would gain in
+energy and would not lose its additional significance for Fatherland.
+For us, the Polish proletariat is the nation and the idea of their
+emancipation, the Fatherland. For this we wage war and if there is war,
+then murder and injuries are inflicted upon the antagonists; and even
+though the motives for them might be personal, they nevertheless are
+not only justifiable but are covered a hundred-fold by the universal
+welfare."
+
+"Besides,"--he reasoned further--, "the quintessence of our existence
+is unhappiness; and from unhappiness as well as, inversely, from
+happiness must blossom corresponding deeds. This is a necessity flowing
+from the nature of things; and with this ethics have nothing to do. I
+and that rabid girl are luckless, like homeless dogs; in view of which
+it is all one whether a wrong was perpetrated upon us intentionally or
+unintentionally; just as it is all one to the wolf whether the forester
+who shoots him in the head, hunted him purposely or whether they met by
+chance. The wolf has teeth to defend himself. That is his right. The
+moment has come when our fangs have grown; therefore we have the right
+to mangle.
+
+"As to that girl, she is mangled by despair which can only be assuaged
+by revenge. Is it just? Will it be beneficial to the girl? That is all
+one. The wage-earners without work and bread drown their woes in
+alcohol; the bourgeois in case of pain injects morphine into himself,
+and for her, revenge will be alcohol and morphine. Whatever may be the
+consequences, she will destroy the happiness of the pampered; she will
+change their joy into tears; she will break their lives and raze a
+particle of that world, which lies heavily, like a nightmare, upon the
+breasts of the proletariat. So it is necessary to aid that revenge, for
+so does gratitude for saving life command; likewise common wrong, also
+the good of the cause."
+
+In view of this, it already seemed to Laskowicz a matter of minor
+importance whether in that aid a role would be played by a knife, or by
+a revolver, or by casting upon Hanka some ignominy, after which nothing
+would remain for her to do but to fly and hide herself forever from
+human eyes. Neither opportunity nor willing hands were wanting. It was
+only necessary to deliberate upon the choice: and afterwards to act
+promptly and decisively.
+
+With this he went to Pauly who agreed to everything. As a compensation
+he demanded that she should release him from his promise to see Marynia
+only from a distance, and he secured that with ease. He evidently
+wanted to have his hands untied also in that regard.
+
+
+
+                                  XIII
+
+"Here is the answer which I finally received," said Ladislaus, handing
+a letter to Gronski; "I could not expect anything else."
+
+"I knew that you would receive it," replied Gronski, blinking with his
+ailing eyes and searching for his binocle, "I was already informed of
+it by Pani Otocka, who from the beginning insisted that Miss Anney
+ought to answer you, and in the end prevailed upon her."
+
+Ladislaus reddened and asked:
+
+"Ah! So Zosia Otocka knows everything."
+
+"She does and does not know. Miss Anney told her only this much; 'He
+did not forget that he is a young lord and I a peasant woman and we
+ceased to understand each other.' For her it was yet harder to speak of
+this than for you and that difficulty festers all the more the wound
+which, without it, is deep enough--But I cannot find the binocle."
+
+"Here it is," said Ladislaus.
+
+Gronski placed it on his nose and began to read:
+
+"You, yourself, sir, rent and trampled upon our joy, our happiness, my
+trust, and that deep attachment which I had for you. To your query of
+whether I can ever recover those feelings, I answer that I seek for
+them in vain. If ever I recover them I will inform you with the same
+sincerity with which I to-day say that I have in my heart only grief
+and sadness which for a joint life will not suffice."
+
+"Only so much!" said Ladislaus.
+
+"My foresight," answered Gronski, "is verified only too perfectly. The
+spring for the time being has dried up."
+
+"To the bottom, to the bottom, not a drop for refreshment."
+
+Gronski remained silent for a while; after which he said:
+
+"I think otherwise, nevertheless. This is not entirely hopeless. There
+remains sadness, grief and, as it were, the anticipation of the
+recurring swell. In reality, it will not flow to-day nor to-morrow.--In
+view of this, for you there remains either to persevere patiently and
+win anew that which you lost, or else, if you have not sufficient
+strength, to take some shears and sever the remaining threads."
+
+"Such shears I will not find. Do you remember, sir, what she did for me
+when I was wounded? I will not forget that."
+
+At this Gronski shaded his eyes with his hand, gazed at Ladislaus
+intently and asked:
+
+"My dear sir, did you ever propound to yourself one question?"
+
+"What one?"
+
+"What pains you the more,--the loss of Miss Anney or your wounded
+self-love?"
+
+"I thank you, sir," answered Ladislaus, with irony. "In reality, only
+self-love. Through it, I do not sleep, do not eat; through it, in the
+course of a few days, I have grown lean like a shaving and were it not
+for this living wound, life for me would be one perpetual round of
+pleasure."
+
+And he began to laugh bitterly, while Gronski continued to gaze at him,
+not removing his hand from his ailing eyes, and thought:
+
+"That girl has an honest heart, and let her only see him; then she will
+forgive everything through compassion alone."
+
+After which he said:
+
+"Listen, after a quarter of an hour, I will put on those dark
+spectacles and go to the rehearsal. Come with me."
+
+"How will that help me, now?" exclaimed Ladislaus.
+
+"I do not know. I do not even guarantee that we will meet Miss Anney,
+for Marynia sometimes goes with a servant. But, in any event, you will
+not lose anything by it; so come."
+
+But further conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the doctor,
+the more unexpected, as he had announced, upon leaving Warsaw, that he
+would stay with his brother at least ten days.
+
+"How is this? You have already returned!" exclaimed Gronski.
+
+"A surprise, hey?" vociferated the doctor. "Yes! And for me it was a
+surprise! One medical visit, afterwards a fee supplemented with the
+amiable advice, 'Get out of here, while you are whole!' Lo, here I am.
+Oh, what a delightful journey!"
+
+"How did this happen?"
+
+"How did it happen? I will tell you immediately. But no! I know that at
+this hour you leave for that rehearsal: so I will go with you,
+gentlemen, and relate it to you on the way. That is such an amusing
+thing that it is worth while to hear it. Ha!"
+
+Accordingly after a while they went and the jovial doctor began to
+recite his Odyssey.
+
+"I arrived," he said, "a little fatigued, for that is a distant
+journey, and besides it is necessary to change cars, wait for trains at
+the stations, and so forth--the usual order with us. I reached the
+country-seat late and after greeting my brother, I went to bed at once.
+But the following day I had barely unpacked the primers--you remember,
+gentlemen?--those I brought with me for the petty nobility--and I had
+barely reproved my 'provincial' brother, when an emergency call came
+summoning me to a high official who has an estate adjoining our seat
+and in summer resides with his family in the country. Ha! there was no
+help for it--I ride! And what appears? Why, a thimble stuck in a
+child's throat. I found the child already livid, but the moment I
+pulled the thimble out, the infant went away playing and everything was
+in the best order. There was nothing else to do. I saved a future
+dignitary to the empire, and to the parents an only son, as the
+other children were daughters. So the gratitude was immense. They
+pay--certainly! I wanted to ride away and iterated that there is
+nothing more to do. They would not let me go. Gratitude, breakfast,
+cordiality, friendship, overflowing of Slavonic feelings, and a chat
+which after a time passed into a political discussion. 'There is not,'
+says the dignitary, 'harmony amidst brothers. And what a pity! Religion
+and tongue divide their languages. But what is religion, if not only an
+outward form? God is one. It is the same to Him whether He is glorified
+in the Latin or the Slavonic language. Why, for Slavonians it is more
+seemly if in the Slavonic. And as to the tongue, then the various
+dialects could be limited to conversations at home. Why, however,
+should not one language be adopted, not only officially, but in
+literature? The convenience would be greater, the control easier.
+Then you would abandon your Catholicism and your dialects and accept
+ours--the one and the other,--but heartily and voluntarily. And harmony
+would immediately follow. The times for you would be better. There
+would be downright delight.'--"
+
+"He mistook his man," interrupted Gronski, laughing.
+
+"And that he should chance upon me," replied the doctor. "I, gentlemen,
+am a deist, a philosopher, but a passable Catholic. Often it happens
+that I assail the church just as I assail Poland whenever anything
+occurs which displeases me. Only if some stranger does the same thing
+in my presence then--a strange thing!--I have a desire to knock out his
+teeth. Therefore I began to defend the Church as if I never in my life
+crawled out of a sacristy; bah, even better, in a way as if I was a
+Catholic apologist. 'If,' I said, 'religion is only an external form
+tell me just why should we abandon this form of ours, which is the most
+spiritualized, the most cultural, and the most beautiful. That
+Catholicism, with which you advise us to take our leave, has
+encompassed the entire West, organized society, produced European
+civilization, preserved learning, has founded universities, reared
+churches, which are masterpieces, gave us Saint Augustine, Dante,
+Petrarch, Saint Francis, and Saint Thomas, created the Renaissance,
+created Leonardo da Vinci's; "Lord's Supper," Michelangelo's "Tombs of
+the Medici," Raphael's "School of Athens" and "Disputa," erected such
+temples as Saint Peter's, not counting others scattered throughout
+Italy and all over Europe. That Catholicism made us partakers of the
+universal culture, united us with the West, imprinted a European stamp
+upon our Polish soul, etc., etc.' And I talked in this strain until he
+interrupted me and said. 'In this is the misfortune, that it has united
+you with the West.' And I replied to that, 'A misfortune to whom, and
+to whom not a misfortune? But now we will speak of your proposition of
+renouncing the tongue and therefore the nationality. Know, sir, that
+this is an empty and foolish dream. That never will take place. I
+proclaim and insist in advance--never! But assuming for a moment an
+impossible thing, that a pestilence will so blight us, that our hearts
+will be so debilitated that we will say to ourselves "Enough!--we can
+no longer be Poles!" then what? Reflect, sir, objectively, like a man
+who has not lost the ability to think, what could restrain us from
+becoming Germans? Our Slavonic extraction? But we are Slavonians, just
+because we are Poles. You are a people who do not know how to live and
+do not permit anybody else to live. So what motive would keep us with
+you? Is it your peace? Your welfare? Your morality? Your
+administration? Your science? Your learning? Your wealth? Your power?
+Learn to look in the eyes of reality; cultivate in yourselves the
+ability to reckon with it, and you will understand that by
+denationalizing us you labor for some one else. But I reiterate yet
+once more that this is only a foolish dream; that the moment of
+renunciation will never come and if I spoke of it, it was only to
+answer those things which you suggested.'
+
+"With this our conversation ended. They, in a yet higher degree than
+we, cannot endure unpleasant truths, so my dignitary changed into a
+decanter of iced water, and on the leave-taking merely said to me:
+'Well, you are too candid, young man, but I thank you for the child.' A
+half an hour later I was at home."
+
+"I can surmise what happened afterwards," said Gronski.
+
+"Yes. As the thimble was removed, that same night I received an order
+to leave the next day by the first train."
+
+"Be satisfied that it ended with that."
+
+"I am satisfied. I will stay a few days in Warsaw; I will see the
+notary; I will attend Panna Zbyltowska's concert. Certainly!
+Certainly!"
+
+Here he addressed Ladislaus.
+
+"How is your mother and your fiancee?"
+
+"Thank you. Mother is not badly, but will soon have to leave."
+
+And desiring to hide his confusion, he began to gaze intently into the
+depths of the street, and after a while exclaimed:
+
+"But look! I see Panna Marynia with a maid-servant, and with them some
+third person is walking."
+
+In reality about a hundred paces down the street Marynia could be seen
+approaching, accompanied by a maidservant, with the violin in a case.
+On the other side, though somewhat behind, walked a young man with a
+yellowish beard, who, leaning towards Marynia, appeared to speak to her
+in an earnest and vehement manner. She hastened her steps, turning her
+head aside, evidently not desiring to listen to him, while he, keeping
+pace with her, gesticulated violently.
+
+"My God! Some one is molesting her!" said the doctor.
+
+And all three rushed at full speed towards her.
+
+"Who is that? Who are you, sir?"
+
+And Marynia, seeing Gronski, seized his arm and trembling all over,
+began to cry:
+
+"Home! Take me home, sir!"
+
+Gronski understood in a moment that nothing else could be done and that
+it was necessary to hurry, as otherwise Marynia might be embroiled in a
+vulgar street row. He was certain that Ladislaus in whom was
+accumulated an enormous supply of spleen and irritation, with his
+impulsive nature, would not permit the offence of the assailant to pass
+unpunished. So taking the girl aside, he placed her as soon as possible
+in a hackney-coach, which was passing by and ordered the coachman to
+drive to Pani Otocka's house.
+
+"There is nothing now. Everything is all right," he said on the way, to
+pacify the affrighted Marynia. "From home we will send a message that
+there will be no rehearsal to-day, and with that it will end. It is
+nothing, nothing."
+
+And he began to press her hand; after a while, he asked:
+
+"But who was that and what did he want?"
+
+"Pan Laskowicz," answered Marynia. "I did not recognize him at first,
+but he told me who he was."
+
+Gronski became distressed when he heard the name of the student, for it
+occurred to him that if the encounter with Ladislaus ended with the
+police, then the consequences for Laskowicz might prove fatal directly.
+But not desiring to betray his uneasiness before Marynia, and at the
+same time wishing to better quiet her, he spoke to her half jokingly:
+
+"So that was Laskowicz? Then I already know what he wanted. Ah!
+Ah!--Some one begins to play not only on the violin but on the
+soul.--Only why did you allow yourself to be so frightened?"
+
+"For he also threatened," answered Marynia. "He threatened all
+terribly--"
+
+"Such bugbears only children fear."
+
+"True! Especially as I am to play for the hungry; they will not do any
+wrong to me or any of us."
+
+"Assuredly not," confirmed Gronski.
+
+Conversing thus, they reached home. Gronski surrendered Marynia to Pani
+Otocka's care and when, after a moment, Hanka appeared, he related to
+them everything which had occurred. He likewise had to quiet Pani
+Otocka, who, knowing of the letters, took the whole occurrence very
+much to heart and announced that immediately after the concert they
+would leave for Zalesin, and afterwards go abroad. After the lapse of a
+half hour he left and on the stairs met Ladislaus.
+
+"God be praised," he said, "I see that it did not end with the police.
+Do you know that the man was Laskowicz?"
+
+"And it seemed so to me," said Ladislaus with animation; "but this one
+had light hair. How is Marynia?"
+
+"She was frightened a little but now is well. Both ladies are at her
+side and dandle her like a little chicken. They are so occupied with
+her that Pani Otocka certainly will not receive you."
+
+"And I thought so; especially, if she is there," answered Ladislaus,
+with bitterness; "so I will only leave my card and will return at once.
+Do you care to wait for me?"
+
+"Very well."
+
+Accordingly, he returned after a while, and when they were on the
+street, he began to say:
+
+"Yes! and to me it seemed that he was Laskowicz but I was puzzled by
+the light tuft of hair on his head and the spectacles. After all there
+was no time for thinking."
+
+"Listen--you undoubtedly cudgelled him?" asked Gronski.
+
+And Ladislaus answered reluctantly:
+
+"Far too much, for he is an emaciated creature, and he evidently did
+not have a revolver."
+
+For some time they walked in silence; after which Gronski said:
+
+"Your mother needs a cure; the ladies will depart from here immediately
+after the concert and Miss Anney undoubtedly with them. I would advise
+you also to think about yourself."
+
+Ladislaus waved his hand.
+
+
+At the same time in a garret in the quarters of the "female associate,"
+Laskowicz said to Pauly:
+
+"Pan Krzycki is a true gentleman. He battered me a while ago because I
+dared to approach her."
+
+And he began to laugh through his set teeth.
+
+
+
+                                  XIV
+
+The day of the concert arrived. On the sofa in the sisters'
+dressing-room lay, ready at an early hour, Marynia's evening dress,
+white as snow, light as foam, transparent as the mist, and fragrant
+with violets which were to form her sole adornment. Previously, Pani
+Otocka and Gronski held a long and grave consultation over that dress,
+for both craved warmly that their beloved "divinity" should captivate
+not only the ears but the eyes. In the meanwhile the "divinity" bustled
+about all the rooms, now seizing the violin and repeating the more
+difficult passages, now taking the boxes of bon-bons which Gronski had
+sent to her; then joking with her sister and predicting fright at her
+first public appearance. This fright also possessed Pani Otocka who
+consoled herself only with the thought that Marynia indeed would
+tremble upon entering on the stage, but from the moment she began to
+play would forget everything. She knew also that a warm ovation awaited
+the beloved violinist, likewise numerous baskets of flowers, from the
+"Committee for aiding the hungry," and from acquaintances.
+Notwithstanding their uneasiness both sisters felt a great joy in their
+souls, as the concert, owing to the arrivals during the racing season,
+promised to be highly successful, and it was already known that the
+receipts would be extraordinary. Marynia besides found a cure for her
+fright: "When I think," she said to her sister, "that so many eyes will
+gaze at me, my heart is in my mouth, but when I recollect that I am not
+concerned but only the poor, then I cease to fear. So I will save
+myself in this manner: entering upon the stage, I will repeat quietly,
+''Tis for the poor! 'tis for the poor!' and everything will come off in
+the best possible way!" And when she spoke, her voice quivered with
+honest emotion as her young heart felt deeply the woes of the
+unfortunate who did not have any bread, and at the same time she felt
+proud and happy at the thought that she would be instrumental in their
+relief. She even experienced certain pangs of conscience on account of
+the new dress and the new satin shoes, as it occurred to her that this
+outlay might have been expended for bread.
+
+About noon Hanka came and took both sisters to her apartments for
+breakfast. Gronski, who was invited, did not appear, as at that time he
+was to meet a few journalists. Marynia took her violin with her with
+the intention of playing after the breakfast the first part of the
+programme, and in the meanwhile, waiting before they were seated at
+table, she began to look out from Hanka's salon through the open window
+on the street.
+
+The day was fair and clear. During the night an abundant rain had
+fallen which settled the dust, washed the city's stone pavements,
+refreshed the grass plots, and laved the leaves on the trees. The air
+became fresh and bracing. From the two acacias, growing under the
+windows of Hanka's residence, which strewed the walk near them with
+petals white as snow, came a sweet scent, strong and intoxicating as if
+from a censer. Marynia partly closed her eyes and, moving her delicate
+nostrils, sated herself with the perfume with delight, after which she
+turned to the depth of the room.
+
+"It smells so sweet," she said.
+
+"It does, little kitten," answered Hanka, interrupting a conversation
+with Pani Otocka. "I purposely ordered the window to be opened."
+
+And the acacias not only smelt sweet but seemed to sing, for both were
+cumbered by a countless diet of sparrows so that the leaves and flowers
+quivered from their chirping.
+
+The maiden watched for some time with delighted eyes the small, nimble
+birds; after which her attention was directed to something entirely
+different. On the walk before the house, in the middle of the street
+and on the sidewalk on the opposite side, there began to gather and
+stand clusters of people who, raising their heads, gazed intently at
+the windows of Hanka's residence.
+
+Some wretchedly dressed people spoke with the doorkeeper standing at
+the gate, evidently questioning him about something. The clusters each
+moment became more numerous and, together with the passers-by, who
+remained out of curiosity, changed into a mob of several hundred heads.
+Marynia jumped back from the window.
+
+"Look," she cried, "what is taking place on the street. Oh! oh! Perhaps
+they are the poor coming to thank me in advance? What shall I do if
+they come here? what shall I answer? I am not able.--Come, see!"
+
+And saying this, she drew her sister and Hanka to the window. The three
+young heads leaned out of the window on to the street, but in that
+moment an incomprehensible thing happened. A ragged stripling pulled
+out of his pocket a stone and hurled it with all his strength into the
+open window. The stone flew over Pani Otocka's head, rebounded on the
+opposite wall, and fell with noise upon the floor. Hanka, Marynia, and
+Zosia drew back from the window and began to look at each other with
+inquiring and startled eyes.
+
+In the meantime on the street resounded savage outcries; the rabble
+battered down the gate; on the stairs sounded the stamping of feet,
+after which in the twinkling of an eye the doors leading to the room
+burst open with a crash, and a mob, composed of Christians and some
+Jews, filled the residence.
+
+"Away with the kept mistress! Strike! tear! smash!" howled hoarse
+voices.
+
+"For the mercy of God! People, what do you want here?" cried Hanka.
+
+"Away with the kept mistress! away with the kept mistress! through the
+window! on to the street!"
+
+In a moment a young man-servant, who rushed to the assistance of the
+ladies, was thrown upon the ground and trampled upon. Amidst the
+dreadful commotion, which the mob increased more and more, the human
+beasts became unfettered. Women with disheveled hair, filthy striplings
+with the marks of crime upon their degenerate features, and all manner
+of ragamuffins with drunken faces, rushed at the furniture, divans, bed
+curtains, and everything which fell into their hands. In the residence
+an orgy of destruction prevailed. The rooms were filled with the stench
+of sweat and whiskey. The mob became infuriated; it broke, smashed,
+stole. On the street, under the windows piles of splintered furniture
+were formed. They threw out even the piano. Finally some ruffian, with
+a pock-marked visage, seized Marynia's violin and brandished it,
+desiring to shatter it on the wall.
+
+But she jumped to its aid and seized his fist with both hands.
+
+"That is mine! that is mine!--I am to play for the poor--"
+
+"Let go!"
+
+"I will not let go!--that is mine!"
+
+"Let go, carrion!"
+
+"That is mine!"
+
+A shot was fired, and, simultaneously, Pani Otocka's scream pierced the
+air. Marynia stood for a moment with upraised hands and head inclined
+backwards; afterwards she reeled and fell back into Hanka's arms.
+
+The shot and the murder overawed the crowd. The mob became silent, and
+after a moment began to scamper away, panic-stricken.
+
+
+
+                                   XV
+
+Pani Krzycki, Zosia, and Hanka, and with them Gronski, Ladislaus, and
+Dr. Szremski surrounded the bed on which Marynia lay, after the
+operation and the extraction of the bullet. A second surgeon and his
+assistant sat aloof, awaiting the awakening of the patient. In the
+room, filled with the odor of iodoform, a profound stillness prevailed.
+Marynia had previously awoke immediately after the operation was
+performed, but stupefied still by the chloroform and weakened by the
+loss of blood, she soon sank again into a slumber. Her beautiful head
+lay motionless upon the pillow, her eyes were closed, and her
+countenance was waxen and transparent, as if she were already dead. In
+Pani Otocka and in Gronski, who but now sounded within himself the
+immensity of his affection for that child, despair whimpered with that
+quiet, terrible whimper, which lacerates, tugs and rends the bosom but
+fears to emerge on the surface. Both glanced time and again with alarm
+at Dr. Szremski who from time to time examined Marynia's pulse, but
+evidently he himself was uncertain whether that sleep would be final:
+he only nodded his head and placed his finger to his lips in sign of
+silence.
+
+Nevertheless, their fears for the time being were vain, as after the
+lapse of an hour Marynia's eyebrows commenced to rise, quiver, and
+after a moment she opened her eyes. Her look, at the beginning, was
+dull and unconscious. Slowly, however, the stupefaction left her and
+consciousness of what had occurred as well as of the present moment
+returned. On her countenance appeared an expression of amazement and
+affliction, such as a child feels who has been punished cruelly and
+unjustly. Finally her pupils darkened and two tears coursed down her
+cheeks.
+
+"For what?--for what?" she whispered with her pallid lips.
+
+Pani Otocka sat at her side and placed her palm on her hand. Gronski
+was seized with a desire to throw himself on the ground and beat his
+head on the floor, while the patient asked further in an amazed and
+mournful whisper:
+
+"For what?--for what?"
+
+God alone could answer that question. But in the meantime the doctor
+approached and said:
+
+"Do not speak, child, for that harms."
+
+So she became silent, but the expression of affliction did not
+disappear from her countenance, and tears continued to flow.
+
+Her sister began to wipe them off; repeating in a subdued voice:
+
+"Marynia, Marynia, calm yourself--you will be well--you are not
+dangerously wounded--no, no--the doctor guarantees that--"
+
+Marynia raised her eyes at her as if she desired to divine whether she
+was telling the truth. It appeared, however, that she listened to her
+sister's words with a certain hope.
+
+After which, she said:
+
+"It is sultry.--"
+
+The doctor opened the window of the room. Out in the open air the night
+was fair and starry. Waves of fresh air brought the scent of the
+acacias.
+
+The patient lay for some time calm, but suddenly she began again to
+seek somebody with her eyes and asked:
+
+"Is Pan Gronski here?"
+
+"I am, dear, I am--"
+
+"You, sir--will not--let me?--Truly--"
+
+To Gronski it seemed at that moment that he was enveloped by a deep
+night and that amidst that impenetrable darkness he answered in a
+strange voice:
+
+"No, no!"
+
+And she spoke with terror, her countenance growing more and more
+pallid:
+
+"I do not want to die--I am afraid--"
+
+And again tears began to trickle from her eyes--tears inconsolable,
+tears of a wronged child.
+
+The entrance of a priest relieved the harrowing moment. It was the same
+old prelate, a relative of the Krzyckis and the Zbyltowskis, who
+previously shrived Pani Krzycki. Drawing nearer, he sat beside
+Marynia's bed and bending over her with a cheering smile, full of hope,
+said:
+
+"How are you, dear child? Ah, the wretches!--But God is more powerful
+than they and everything will end well. I only came to ask about your
+health. God be praised the bullet is already extracted.--Now only
+patience is necessary and you will be patient--will you not?"
+
+Marynia winked her eyes as a token of acquiescence.
+
+The amiable old man continued in a more genial and as if jubilant
+voice:
+
+"Ah! I knew that you would. Now I will tell you that there is something
+which often is more efficacious than all the medicines and bandages. Do
+you know what it is? The Sacrament! Ho! how often in life have I seen
+that people, who were separated from death by a hair, became at once
+better after confession, communion, and anointment, and after that
+recovered their health entirely. You, my dove, are surely far from
+death, but since it is a Christian duty, which helps the soul and body,
+it is necessary to perform it. Well, child?"
+
+Marynia again winked her eyes in sign of assent.
+
+Those present retired from the room and returned only upon the sound of
+the little bell to be witnesses to the Communion. The patient, after
+receiving it, lay for some time with closed eyelids and a quiet
+brightness in her countenance, after which the moment of extreme
+unction arrived.
+
+In the room assembled, besides those previously present, the servants
+of the house; suppressing their sobs, they heard the customary prayers
+before the rite.
+
+"Lord, Jesus Christ, who hast said through Thy apostle Saint James, 'Is
+any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the Church and
+let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
+Lord.' We implore Thee, Lord God, our Redeemer, for the grace of The
+Holy Ghost: have mercy upon this sick one, heal her wounds, pardon her
+sins, and banish from her all pains of soul and body and in Thy mercy
+return health completely to her, in order that, restored to life, she
+may again give herself up to good deeds. Oh Thou, who being God, livest
+and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, now and forever. Amen."
+
+The priest appeared to hurry. Quickly he took the vessel standing
+between two candles under the crucifix and approaching the patient he
+whispered the second, brief prayer required by the ritual, and at the
+same time began to administer extreme unction. He first touched the
+girl's eyelids, saying, "Through this holy unction and His own most
+tender mercy, may the Lord pardon thee whatever sins or faults thou
+hast committed by sight"; after that he anointed her ears to purge the
+sins which she might have committed through the sense of hearing; after
+that the lips; after that the hands, resembling two white lilies, which
+that day were to have played for the poor; and finally he blessed her
+whole body from head to feet--already purified of all blemish and
+already as truly angelic and immaculate as a lily in the field.
+
+A half hour passed. To those present it seemed that the patient again
+succumbed to slumber. But unexpectedly she opened her eyes wide, and
+cried in a stronger, as if joyful, voice:
+
+"How much bread!--How much bread!--"
+
+And she expired calmly.
+
+
+During the depth of the night, a young man came to the gate and asked
+the doorkeeper whether the little lady was still alive and, hearing
+that she had died, he left in silence.
+
+An hour later in the garret of one of the houses near the Vistula a
+shot from a revolver was fired, and, filled with consternation, the
+inmates suddenly awakened from their sleep. The people in the
+neighboring rooms flocked to the place of the accident. The locked
+doors of the room were battered down but all aid was futile. On the bed
+lay the dead body of the student with his breast perforated by a shot.
+
+The gloomy, tragic soul had already flown into darkness.
+
+
+
+                                  XVI
+
+The room in which Marynia died was changed into a funeral chamber. The
+coffin stood in the middle, high, amidst burning candles and a whole
+forest of plants and flowers, of which such a number were amassed that
+they filled not only the chamber but even the anteroom and the
+stairway. The coffin was still open and in the brightness of the day,
+blended with the light of the wax-candles, Marynia could be seen
+dressed in that same dress in which she was to have appeared at the
+concert. The little metal cross which she held in her folded hands
+glittered like a sparkling spot on a dark background of plants. Her
+face was pensive, but without the slightest trace of suffering,--and at
+the same time as if she was absorbed in listening to voices, sounds,
+and tones, which were inaudible and incomprehensible to mortals.
+
+Though the open windows there blew in from time to time a breeze,
+extinguishing here and there the unsteady flames of the candles and
+causing the leaves of the plants to rustle. On the acacias in front of
+the house the sparrows chirped boisterously; one would think that they
+were relating to each other feverishly what had happened; while at the
+side of the catafalque a human stream flowed. There came with wreaths,
+workingmen, for whose benefit the concert was to have been given, and
+at the sight of the barbarously slain little lady, they left with fire
+in their eyes and clenched fists. The intelligence of the monstrous and
+reckless crime attracted whole throngs of students, who determined to
+carry the coffin on their shoulders. In the meantime they moved slowly
+and quietly about the catafalque, gazing with bosoms swelling with
+sympathy and grief at the silvery profile of the girl, turned towards
+heaven, and unconsciously they recalled the words of the poet:
+
+
+                 "And now in pale satin enshrouded,
+                  In silence, hands folded, she lies."
+
+
+Horror, indignation, and at the same time curiosity aroused the city
+from centre to circumference. Even the streets in front of the house
+were thronged by great crowds--uneasy, being unable to explain to
+themselves how such a thing happened--and, as if, alarmed by the
+thought of what the future might bring forth, what other crimes might
+be committed and what other victims the uncertain morrow might devour.
+
+The remains of Marynia were to be conveyed to the railway and from
+there to Zalesin where the tombs of the Otockis were located.
+Immediately after noon the coffin was taken off the stretchers and
+then, before its sealing, came for Pani Otocka and for Gronski the
+dreadful moment of viewing for the last time in life that beloved being
+who was for them a light and sun. If she had died of some sickness
+their despair might not have been less, but it would have been more
+intelligible to them. But she was murdered! They murdered this sweet
+and innocent child, just at a time when she wanted to aid people and
+when she rejoiced at the thought of that aid. Murdered was that
+incarnate song, that fragrant flower, sent by God for the joy of
+mankind! And in just this there was something which could not be
+confined within the limits of despair, but reached into the borders of
+madness. For lo, this is the last moment for beholding that love, that
+youth, that maidenly charm, that white victim of crime and mistake; and
+after that nothingness, darkness,--solitude.
+
+But overstrained pain kills itself like a scorpion, it covers the
+intellect with darkness, and commands the blood to congeal in the
+veins. That happened with the sister of the slain. For a long time Dr.
+Szremski was uncertain whether he would be able to restore her to life.
+In the consternation and confusion it was hardly observed that into the
+chamber there rushed an insane woman and, whining mournfully, she flung
+herself upon the ground. Swidwicki led her away with the aid of the
+students and intrusted her to their care.
+
+In the meantime the coffin was sealed; the youths placed it on their
+shoulders and the funeral party moved towards the railway. After them
+marched a long procession, at the end of which empty carriages jogged
+along. The ever-increasing swarm flowed along the middle of the streets
+and sidewalks; and not until they reached the bridge did those who
+joined the procession only through curiosity begin to return home.
+
+Swidwicki approached Dr. Szremski, and for some time both walked in
+silence, not perceiving that they were remaining more and more behind
+the procession.
+
+"You knew the deceased?" asked the doctor.
+
+"Otocki was my relative."
+
+"Ah, what a horrible mistake it was?"
+
+But Swidwicki blurted out:
+
+"That was no mistake. That is the logical result of the times, and in
+those that are coming such accidents will become a customary, every-day
+occurrence."
+
+"How do you understand that?"
+
+"The way it should be understood. That coffin has greater meaning than
+it seems. That is an announcement! A mistake? No! That was only an
+incident. Lo, to-day we are burying a harp, which wanted to play for
+the people, but which the rabble trampled upon with their filthy
+feet.--Wait, sir! Let things continue to proceed thus, and who knows
+whether, after ten or twenty years, we will not thus bury learning,
+art, culture, bah! even the entire civilization. And that not only here
+but everywhere. There will be an endless series of such events.--To me,
+after all, it is all one, but absolutely it is possible."
+
+The doctor ruminated for some time in silence over Swidwicki's words;
+finally he exclaimed:
+
+"Ah, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge."
+
+Swidwicki stood still, seized the doctor by the flap of his coat and
+shaking his goat-like beard, said:
+
+"Hear, sir, an atheist, or at least, a man who has nothing to do with
+any religion: knowledge without religion breeds only thieves and
+bandits."
+
+The procession paused for a while on account of an obstruction on the
+road; so conversing, they drew nearer to the coffin; nevertheless,
+Swidwicki, though lowering his voice, did not cease to talk:
+
+"Ay, sir--a great many people think the same as I do; only they
+have not the courage to say it aloud. After all, I reiterate it is all
+one to me,--we are lost past all help. With us there are only
+whirlpools.--And these, not whirlpools upon a watery gulf, beneath
+which is a calm depth, but whirlpools of sand. Now the whirlwind blows
+from the East and the sterile sand buries our traditions, our
+civilization, our culture--our whole Poland--and transforms her into a
+wilderness upon which flowers perish and only jackals can live."
+
+Here he pointed to Marynia's coffin:
+
+"Lo, there is a flower which has withered. Do you know, sir, why I,
+though a relative, seldom visited them? Because I felt ashamed before
+her eyes."
+
+They reached the station and went upon the roadway, from which could be
+seen the coach, decorated with flowers and fir-tree boughs.
+
+"Are you riding to Zalesin?" asked the doctor.
+
+"I am. I want to gaze at Pani Otocka. God knows what now will become of
+her. And see, sir, how Gronski looks. An old man--what? Now his Latin
+and books will not help him."
+
+"Who would not have felt this," answered the doctor. "Krzycki also
+looks as if he were taken off the cross."
+
+"Krzycki? But perhaps it is because his matrimonial plans are broken."
+
+Further conversation was interrupted by the orchestra which began to
+play Chopin's "Funeral March."
+
+
+
+                                  XVII
+
+Dr. Szremski upon his return to the hotel began to ponder over
+Swidwicki's words, which were imbedded deeply in his memory. Before his
+eyes there glided a picture of the funeral procession and that coffin,
+with the victim, murdered by those to whom she wanted to do good. "Yes,
+yes!" he said to himself, "that apparently was a mistake, but similar
+mistakes are the logical consequences of the unbridled, blind, animal
+instincts. We must admit that we are flying at break-neck speed into
+some bottomless abyss. And not only we. But is it allowable to conclude
+from this, that, as to-day we conducted song, murdered by the rabble,
+so after ten, twenty, or fifty years we will witness the burial of
+learning, culture, and civilization? Apparently--yes. It is high time
+that God, Who rules the world, should give new proofs that He in
+reality rules. It ought to thunder so that the earth would tremble--or
+what? Mankind are entering upon a road which is directly opposite to
+entire nature. For the whole endeavor of nature is to create as perfect
+beings as possible and through them to ennoble the species; and
+humanity perversely kills them as it did that angelic child, or else
+seizes them by the hair to drag them from the heights to the general
+level. And nevertheless this is but a specious appearance. If the
+engineers determined to excavate all the mountains and make the earth
+as smooth and even as a billiard ball, some convulsions would take
+place, some eruptions of volcanoes would occur, which would create new
+abysses and new heights. Of the Aryan spirit can be said that which the
+Grecians, enamoured with the soothing architectonical lines, said of
+the Roman arches: 'The arch will never fall asleep.' Likewise the Aryan
+spirit. The humanity, which possesses it, is incapable of drifting into
+infinity on one wave, thinking one thought and living in one idea. That
+which is to-day--will pass away. On the summits of reason, feeling, and
+will, new whirlwinds will generate and they will raise new waves."
+
+Here the doctor's thoughts were apparently directed nearer to matters
+lying more on his heart, for he began to clench his fist and pace with
+big, uneasy steps about the room.
+
+"Will we," he said to himself, "however, remain amidst these
+convulsions, waves, and whirlwinds? Whirlpools? Whirlpools!--and of
+sand! Sand is burying the whole of Poland and transforming her into a
+wilderness, on which jackals live. If this is so, then it would be best
+to put a bullet in the head.--I am curious as to what Gronski would say
+to this--but lightning has struck his head and it is of no use to speak
+to him.--We are lost past all help? That is untrue! Beneath these
+whirlpools which are whirling upon the surface of our life is something
+which Swidwicki did not perceive. There is more than elsewhere, for
+there is a bottomless depth of suffering. There plainly is not in the
+world greater misfortune than ours. With us the people awake in the
+morning and follow the plough in the field, go to the factory, to the
+offices, behind the benches in the shops, and all manner of labor--in
+pain. They go to sleep in pain. That suffering is as boundless as the
+expanse of the sea while the whirlpools are but ripples upon that
+expanse. And why do we suffer thus? Of course, we might, at once,
+to-morrow, breathe more freely and be happier. It would be sufficient
+for every one to say to Her, that Poland, of whom Swidwicki says that
+she is perishing, 'Too much dost Thou pain me, too much dost Thou
+vex me; therefore I renounce Thee and from this day wish to forget
+Thee.'--And nevertheless nobody says that; not even such a Swidwicki,
+who prevaricated when he said it is all one to him; not even they who
+throw bombs, and murder sisters and brothers!--And if it is so that we
+prefer to suffer than renounce Her, then where are the jackals and
+where is Her destruction? Jackals seek carrion, not suffering! So She
+lives in every one of us, in all of us together, and will survive all
+the whirlpools in the world. And we will set our teeth and will
+continue to suffer for Thee, Mother, and we--and if God so wills
+it,--and our children and grandchildren will not renounce neither Thee
+nor hope."
+
+Here Szremski was touched by his own thoughts, but dawn brightened his
+countenance. He found an answer to the question which Swidwicki thrust
+into his soul. Walking, he began to repeat: "For nothing, nobody would
+consent to suffer thus." After which it occurred to his mind that to
+suffer for Her was not yet sufficient, for he began to rub his hands
+and turn up his rumpled sleeves, as if he wanted at once to do some
+important and urgent work. But, after a while, he observed that he was
+in the hotel, so he smiled, with his sincere, peculiar smile, and said
+aloud:
+
+"Ha! It cannot be helped. To-morrow I must return to my hole and push
+the wheelbarrow along."
+
+And suddenly he sighed:
+
+"To my solitary hole."
+
+After which, he, himself, not knowing why, recollected what Swidwicki
+had told him about the breaking of Krzycki's matrimonial engagement,
+and his thoughts, like winged birds, began to fly to Zalesin.
+
+
+
+                               FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: "Even bird's milk is not lacking," a Polish proverbial
+expression signifying "abundance," "living in clover."]
+
+[Footnote 2: "On the thief's head the cap burns:" a Polish
+proverb meaning that persons, conscious of guilt, always fear
+detection.--Translator.]
+
+[Footnote 3: "Sprinkled his eyes with poppy:" proverbial expression
+denoting "lulled to sleep."--Translator.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Kilinski was one of the bravest and most popular
+heroes who fought under Kosciuszko. He was a shoe-maker by
+trade.--Translator.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Bigos: a Polish dish of hashed meat and
+cabbage.--Translator.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Peter Skarga was the most famous pulpit orator in the
+history of Poland.--Translator.]
+
+[Footnote 7: "Poland is not yet lost."]
+
+[Footnote 8: Referring to the Sacred Fire of pagan Lithuanians.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Mamalyga, a kind of porridge in Bessarabia, made
+principally of corn.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Piast; the name of the first King of Poland, who was a
+peasant.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, the last king of
+Poland.]
+
+[Footnote 12: "Skubanka," a pun upon the word, "skubac," to pluck.]
+
+[]
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+                         _THE ZAGLOBA ROMANCES_
+                _by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from
+                    the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin_.
+
+                          WITH FIRE AND SWORD
+An Historical Novel of Poland and Russia. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. $1.50
+_net_.
+
+The first of the famous trilogy of historical romances of Poland,
+Russia, and Sweden. Their publication has been received as an event in
+literature. Charles Dudley Warner, in  _Harper's Magazine_,  affirms
+that the Polish author has in Zagloba  _given a new creation to
+literature_.
+
+_A capital story_.  The only modern romance with which it can be
+compared for fire, sprightliness, rapidity of action, swift changes,
+and absorbing interest is "The Three Musketeers" of Dumas.--_New York
+Tribune_.
+
+
+                               THE DELUGE
+
+An Historical Novel  of  Poland, Sweden, and Russia. A Sequel to "With
+Fire and Sword." With map. 2 vols. Crown 8vo. $3.00 _net_.
+
+Marvellous in its grand descriptions.--_Chicago Inter-Ocean_.
+
+Has the humor of a Cervantes and the grim vigor of Defoe.--_Boston
+Gazette_.
+
+
+                              PAN MICHAEL
+
+An Historical Novel of Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine. A Sequel to
+"With Fire and Sword" and "The Deluge." Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+The interest of the trilogy, both historical and romantic, is
+splendidly sustained.--_The Dial_,  Chicago.
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+                  LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers
+                         Boston, Massachusetts
+
+
+                               QUO VADIS
+
+A Narrative of the Time of Nero. By Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from
+the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+One of the greatest books of our day.--_The Bookman_.
+
+The book is like a grand historical pageant.--_Literary World_.
+
+Of intense interest to the whole Christian civilization--_Chicago
+Tribune_.
+
+Interest never wanes; and the story is carried through its many phases
+of conflict and terror to a climax that enthralls.--_Chicago Record_.
+
+As a study of the introduction of the gospel of love into the pagan
+world typified by Rome, it is marvellously fine.--_Chicago Interior_.
+
+The picture here given of life in Rome under the last of the Caesars is
+one of unparalleled power and vividness.--_Boston Hom. Journal_.
+
+One of the most remarkable books of the decade. It burns upon the brain
+the struggles and triumphs of the early church.--_Boston Daily
+Advertiser_.
+
+It will become recognized by virtue of its own merits as the one heroic
+monument built by the modern novelist above the ruins of decadent Rome,
+and in honor of the blessed martyrs of the early Church.--_Brooklyn
+Eagle_.
+
+Our debt to Sienkiewicz is not less than our debt to his translator
+and friend, Jeremiah Curtin. The diversity of the language, the rapid
+flow of thought, the picturesque imagery of the descriptions are all
+his.--_Boston Transcript_.
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+
+                  LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
+                         BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                        THE KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS
+
+An Historical Romance of Poland and Germany. By Henryk Sienkiewic.
+Translated from the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin. Illustrated. Crown 8vo.
+$2.00 _net_.
+
+The greatest work Sienkiewicz has given us.--_Buffalo Express_.
+
+It seems superior even to "Quo Vadis" in strength and realism.--_The
+Churchman_.
+
+The construction of the story is beyond praise. It is difficult
+to conceive of any one who will not pick the book up with
+eagerness.--_Chicago Evening Post_.
+
+There are some scenes in the book that for power and excitement
+remind one of the great encounter between Ursus and the bull in "Quo
+Vadis."--_Minneapolis Tribune_.
+
+Vivid, dramatic, and vigorous.... His imaginative power, his command of
+language, and the picturesque scenes he sets combine to fascinate the
+reader.--_Philadelphia Bulletin_.
+
+A book that holds your almost breathless attention as in a vise from
+the very beginning, for in it love and strife, the most thrilling of
+all worldly subjects, are described masterfully.--_The Boston Journal_.
+
+Another remarkable book. His descriptions are tremendously effective;
+one can almost hear the sound of the carnage; to the mind's eye the
+scene of battle is unfolded by a master artist.--_The Hartford
+Courant_.
+
+Thrillingly dramatic, full of strange local color and very faithful to
+its period, besides having that sense of the mysterious and weird that
+throbs in the Polish blood and infects alike their music and
+literature.--_The St. Paul Globe_.
+
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+
+                  LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
+                         BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                      _OTHER NOVELS AND ROMANCES_
+                _by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from_
+                    _the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin_.
+
+
+                          CHILDREN OF THE SOIL
+
+Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+It must be reckoned among the finer fictions of our time, and shows its
+author to be almost as great a master in the field of the domestic
+novel as he had previously been shown to be in that of imaginative
+historical romances.--_The Dial_, Chicago.
+
+
+                        HANIA, AND OTHER STORIES
+
+With portrait. Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+At the highest level of the author's genius.--_The Outlook_.
+
+
+                       SIELANKA, A FOREST PICTURE
+
+And Other Stories. With frontispiece. Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+They exhibit the masterly genius of Sienkiewicz even better than his
+longer romances. They abound in fine character-drawings and beautiful
+descriptions.--_Chicago Inter-Ocean_.
+
+
+                         ON THE FIELD OF GLORY
+
+An Historical Romance of Poland in the Reign of King John Sobieski.
+12mo. cloth. $1.50 _net_.
+
+
+                             WITHOUT DOGMA
+
+A Novel of Modern Poland. (Translated from the Polish by Iza Young.)
+Crown 8vo. $1.50 _net_.
+
+A human document read in the light of a great imagination.--_Boston
+Beacon_.
+
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+
+                  LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
+                         BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Whirlpools, by Henryk Sienkiewicz
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHIRLPOOLS ***
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