"I give theft Books,
for the founding if a College in tHy Colony"
LINONIAN AND BROTHERS LIBRARY
THE DELUGE.
an Otstoncal l3o\jel
of
POLAND, SWEDEN, AND RUSSIA.
a sequel to
"WITH FIRE AND SWORD."
BY
HENRYK SIENK1EWICZ.
TRANSLATED FROM THE POLISH BY
JEREMIAH CURTIN.
IN TWO VOLUMES,
Vol. I.
LITTLE,
BOSTON:
BROWN, AND COMPANY.
1891.
Copyright, 1891,
By Jeremiah Curtin.
r;ul:5C
o \ Khu
Tx'j
Sanibersttg $3ress:
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge.
TO HON. CHARLES A. DANA,
Editor of "The Sun,"
New York.
Sir, — I beg to dedicate to you this translation of a remarkable
work, touching a period eventful in the history of the Poles, and
the Slav race in general. You will appreciate the pictures of battle
and trial contained in these volumes, for you know great events
not from books merely but from personal contact. You receive
pleasure from various literatures, and from considering those points
of character by which nations and men are distinguished; hence,
as I think, The Deluge will give you some mental enjoyment,
and perhaps turn your -attention to a new field of history.
JEREMIAH CURTIN.
' Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Ethnology,
November 25, 1891.
INTRODUCTION.
The wars described in The Deluge are the most compli¬
cated and significant in the whole career of the Common¬
wealth, for the political motives which came into play
during these wars had their origin in early and leading
historical causes.
The policy of the Teutonic Knights gave the first of its
final results in the war of 1655, between Sweden and Po¬
land, since it made the elector independent in Prussia, where
soon after, his son was crowned king. The war with Great
Russia in 1654, though its formal cause came, partly at
least, from the struggle of 1612, in which the Poles had
endeavored to subjugate Moscow, was really roused by
the conflict of Southern Russia with Poland to win re¬
ligious and material equality.
The two fundamental events of Polish history are the
settlement of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia, through the
action of the Poles themselves; and the union of Poland
with Lithuania and Russia by the marriage of Yadviga, the
Polish princess, to Yagyello, Grand Prince of Lithuania.
Before touching on the Teutonic Knights, a few words
may be given to the land where they began that career
which cut off Poland from the sea, took from the Poles
their political birthplace, and gave its name and territory
to the chief kingdom of the new German Empire, the
kingdom which is in fact the creator and head of that
Empire.
Prussia in the thirteenth century extended from the
Vistula eastward to the Niemen, and from the Baltic south¬
ward about as far as it does at present. In this territory
lived the Prussians. East of the Niemen lived the Lithu¬
anians, another division of the same stock of people. West
of the Vistula lay Pomorye,1 now Pomerania, occupied at
that time exclusively by Slavs under Polish dominion.
1 Means " On the sea."
vi
INTRODUCTION.
The Prussians, a people closely related to the Slavs, were
still Pagans, as were also the Lithuanians; and having a
more highly developed religion than either the pre-Christian
Slavs or the Germans, their conversion was likely to be of a
more difficult nature.
At the end of the tenth and in the beginning of the thir¬
teenth centuries attempts were made to convert the Prus¬
sians ; but the only result was the death of the missionaries,
who seem to have been too greatly filled with zeal to praise
their own faith and throw contempt on that of the people
amoug whom they were really only guests and sojourners.
Finally, a man appeared more adroit and ambitious than
others, — Christian, a monk of Olivka, near Dantzig. This
monk, we are told, had a knowledge of the weak points of
men, spoke Prussian as well as Polish, was not seeking the
crown of martyrdom, and never made light of things held
sacred by those to whom he was preaching. After a few
years his success was such as to warrant a journey to Rome,
where he explained to Innocent III. the results of his labor.
The Pope encouraged the missionary, and in 1211 in¬
structed the Archbishop of Gnezen to aid Christian with
his co-workers and induce secular princes to help them.
Christian returned from Rome with renewed zeal; but
instead of being helped he was hindered, for tribute and
labor were imposed on his converts by the secular power.
Since the new religion was coupled with servitude, the
Prussians were roused greatly against it.
Christian strove to obtain relief for his converts, but in
vain. Then, taking two native followers, he made a second
journey to Rome, was created first Bishop of Prussia, and
returned again to the field.
The great body of Prussians now considered all converts
as traitors. The priests of the native religion roused the
people, and attacked those persons as renegades who had
deserted the ancient faith and were bringing slavery to the
country. They went farther and fell upon Mazovia, whence
the propaganda had issued. Konrad, unable to defend
himself, bought them off with rich presents. The newly
made converts were killed, captured, or driven to deep
forests.
Christian turned to the Pope a third time, and implored
him to direct against Prussia those Poles who were going
to the Holy Land.
The Archbishop of Gnezen was instructed from Rome to
INTRODUCTION.
vii
make this change, and the Poles were summoned against
Prussia for the following year. The crusade was preached
also in Germany.
Warriors arrived from both countries in fairly large
numbers, and during their presence ruined villages and
churches were rebuilt in the district of Culm, where the
conversions had taken place mainly. In a couple of
seasons the majority of the warriors found their way home
again. A second crusade was proclaimed, and men re¬
sponded freely. All these forces were simply guarding the
missionaries and the converts, — a position which could
not endure.
Christian, seeing this, formed the plan of founding an
order of armed monks in Poland like the Knights of the
Sword in Livonia. Konrad gave his approval at once.
The Bishop of Modena, at that time papal legate in
Poland, hastened the establishment of the order ; for to him
it seemed the best agent to bend the stiff necks of idolaters.
Permission to found the order was obtained from the Pope,
and a promise of means to maintain it from Konrad.
Christian, who had interested Rome and the West in his
work, now gave great praise before the world to the Prince
of Mazovia, who thereupon rewarded him with a gift of
twelve castles and one hundred villages, reserving merely
sovereign rights without income. This gift was confirmed
to the Bishop of Prussia by Honorius III.
Christian labored so zealously that in 1225 he conse¬
crated twenty-five superior knights in his new order, which
received the same rules as the Livonian Knights of the
Sword, — that is, the rules of the Templars.
The new knights were called Brothers of Dobjin, from
the castle of Dobjin, which Konrad gave them as a resi¬
dence, adding the district of Leslin near Inovratslav as a
means of support.
As soon as the Brothers had settled in their castle, they
attacked the Prussians, ruined villages, and brought in
plunder. The enraged Prussians collected large forces, and
attacked the land of Culm, with the intent to raze Dobjin.
On hearing this, Konrad with his own troops and a general
levy hastened to the relief of the order.
A bloody and stubborn battle of two days' duration was
fought with great loss on both sides. Konrad, despairing
of victory, left the field, thus causing the complete over¬
throw of the Poles. The surviving Brothers of Dobjin
viii
INTRODUCTION.
took refuge in the castle, which the Prussians were unable
to capture. The order, shattered at its very inception,
hoped for reinforcements from abroad; but the Pope at
that juncture was sending a crusade to Palestine, and would
not permit a division in the forces of the West. The
Prussians, elated with victory, plundered at pleasure the
lands bordering on their own.
In this disaster Christian conceived the idea of calling in
the Teutonic Knights against Prussia. This idea, suicidal
from a Polish point of view, was accepted by the Prince of
Mazovia.
The Teutonic Order was founded in Palestine near the
end of the twelfth century to succeed some German hos¬
pitallers who had resided in Jerusalem till the capture of
the city by Saracens in 1187.
In a few years the new order became military, and under
the patronage of Frederick, Duke of Suabia, afterward the
Emperor Frederick II., acquired much wealth, with great
imperial and papal favor. Under Herman Von Salza, who
was grand master from 1210 to 1239, the future of the
order was determined, its main scene of action transferred
to the West, and that career begun which made the Teu¬
tonic Order the most remarkable of the weapon-bearing
monks of Europe. Herman Von Salza — a keen, crafty man,
of great political astuteness and ambition — had determined
to win separate territory for the order, and the dignity of
Prince of the Empire for the grand master.
Nothing therefore could be more timely for his plans
than the invitation from the Prince of Mazovia, who in 1225
sent envoys to Herman ; especially since the order had just
been deprived in Transylvania of lands given to support it
while warding off heathen Rumanians.
The envoys offered the Teutonic master Culm and some
adjoining lands for the order, in return for curbing the
Prussians. Herman resolved to accept, should the Emperor
prove friendly to the offer. He hastened to Frederick at
Rimini, explained the whole question, received a grant in
which Konrad's endowment was confirmed; besides the
order was given all the land it could conquer and make
subject to the Emperor alone. The grand master's next
care was to obtain papal approval.
Two envoys from Herman were sent to Poland, where they
obtained, as the chronicles of the order relate, a written
title to Culm and the neighboring land as well as to all
INTRODUCTION.
ix
Prussia which they could conquer. Near Torun (Thorn)
a wooden fortress was built, called in German Fogelsang
(Bird-song). This fortress Avas the first residence of the
knights, who later on had so much power and such influence
in the history of Poland.
Only two years later did Herman send his knights to
Culm. One of the first acts was to purchase for various
considerations, from the Bishop of Plotsk and from Chris¬
tian, the Bishop of Prussia, their rights over the lands
granted them in Culm. The labor of conversion began, and
soon the grand master prevailed on the Pope to proclaim
throughout Europe a crusade against Prussia.
From Poland alone came twenty thousand men, and
many more from other parts of Europe. When the knights
had made a firm beginning of Avork, their design of indepen¬
dence Avas revealed. They wished to be rid of even a sIioav
of submission to the Prince of Mazovia. They raised the
question by trying to incorporate the remaining Brothers of
Dobjin, and thus acquire the grant given them by Konrad.
They had disputes also Avith Bishop Christian and the
Bishop of Plotsk. In 1234 the Bishop of Modena Avas sent
as papal legate to settle the disputes. The legate decided,
to the satisfaction of the bishops, that of all lands won from
the Pagans tAvo thirds were to be retained by the knights
and one third given to the bishops, the church administra¬
tion being under the order in its own tAvo thirds. For the
Prince of Mazovia nothing Avas left, though he asserted
sovereign rights in Culm and Prussia, and Avould not permit
the order to acquire the grant given the Brothers of Dobjin
by incorporating the remaining members of that body.
The Teutonic Order Avould not recognize the sovereignty
of the Polish prince, and insisted on incorporating the
Brothers of Dobjin. The order, knowing that Konrad
Avould yield only under constraint, placed its possessions
at the feet of the Pope, made them the property of the
Holy See. This action found success; the Pope declared
Culm and all the acquisitions of the order the property of
Saint Peter, Avhich the church for a yearly tax then gave
in feudal tenure to the Teutonic Knights, who therefore
could not recognize in those regions the sovereignty of any
secular prince. In August, 1234, the Pope informed Kon¬
rad in a special bull of the position of the order, and
enjoined on him to aid it with all means in his power.
The Polish prince could do nothing; he could not even
X
INTRODUCTION.
prevent the incorporation of the majority of the remaining
Brothers of Dobjin, and of the lands and property given
for their use he was able to save nothing but the castle of
Dobjin.
Konrad now found himself in a very awkward position;
he had introduced of his own will a foreign and hostile
power which had all Western Europe and the Holy See to
support it, which had unbounded means of discrediting the
Poles and putting them in the wrong before the world; and
these means the order never failed to use. In half a cen¬
tury after their coming the knights, by the aid of volun¬
teers and contributions from all Europe^ had converted
Prussia, and considered Poland and the adjoining parts of
Lithuania as sure conquests to be made at their own
leisure and at the expense of all Western Christendom.
The first Polish territory acquired was Pomerania. The
career of the knights was easy and successful till the union
of Poland and Lithuania in 138G. In 1410, at the battle
called by the names both of Griinwald and Tannenberg,
the power of the order was broken. Some years later
Pomerania was returned to Poland, and the order was
allowed to remain in East Prussia in the position of a
vassal to the Commonwealth. In this reduced state the
knights lived for a time, tried to gain allies, but could not;
the most they did — and that was the best for the German
cause — was to induce xilbert, a member of the Franconian
branch of the Hohenzollerns, to become grand master. He
began to reorganize the order, and tried to shake off alle¬
giance to Poland; but finding no aid in the Empire or
elsewhere, he acted on Luther's advice to introduce Prot¬
estantism and convert Prussia into a secular and hereditary
duchy. This he did in 1525. Poland, with a simplicity
quite equal to that of Konrad, who called in the order at
first, permitted the change. The military monks married,
and were converted into hereditary nobles. Albert became
Duke of Prussia, and took the oath of allegiance to Po¬
land. Later the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg inherited
the duchy, became feudatories of Poland as well as electors
at home. This was the position during the Avar betAATeen
SAveden and Poland described in The Deluge. Frederick
William, known as the Great Elector, Avas ruling at that
time in Brandenburg and Prussia. He acted with great
adroitness and success; paying no attention to his oath as
vassal, he took the part of one side, and then of the other
INTRODUCTION.
xi
when he saw fit. He fought 011 the Swedish side in the
three days' battle around Warsaw in which Yan Kazimir
was defeated. This service was to be rewarded by the
independence of Prussia.
Hardly had the scale turned in favor of Poland when the
Great Elector assisted Yan Kazimir against Sweden ; and
in the treaty of Wehlau (1657) Poland relinquished its
rights over Prussia, which thus became sovereign and inde¬
pendent in Europe. This most important change was con¬
firmed three years later at the peace of Oliva.
Frederick, son of the Great Elector, was crowned "King
in Prussia" at Konigsberg in 1701. The Elector of Bran¬
denburg became king in that territory in which he had no
suzerain.
At the first division of Poland, Royal Prussia of The
Deluge, the territory lying between the Vistula and Bran¬
denburg, went to the new kingdom; and Brandenburg, Pom-
erania, and Prussia became continuous territory.
The early success of the Teutonic Knights was so great
that in the third half century of their rule on the Baltic
their power overshadowed Poland, which was thus seriously
threatened. Toward the end of the fourteenth century, how¬
ever (1386), the Poles escaped imminent danger by their
union with Lithuania and Russia. Through this most impor¬
tant connection they rose at once from a position of peril to
one of safety and power.
This union, brought about through the marriage of the
Polish princess Yadviga to Yagyello, Grand Prince of
Lithuania, and by exceedingly adroit management on the
part of the Polish nobles and clergy, opened to the Poles
immense regions of country and the way to vast wealth.
Before the union their whole land was composed of Great
and Little Poland, with Mazovia (see map); after the union
two thirds of the best lands of pre-Tartar Russia formed
part of the Commonwealth.
Since Poland managed to place and maintain itself at the
head of affairs, though this roused at all times opposition
of varying violence in the other two parts of the Common¬
wealth, the social ideals and political structure of Poland
prevailed in Lithuania and Russia, so far as the upper
classes were concerned. In Lithuania, by the terms of the
union, all were obliged to become Catholic ; in different parts
of Russia, which was Orthodox, the people were undisturbed
in their religion at first; but after a time the majority of
xii
INTRODUCTION.
the nobles became Catholic in religion, and Poles in lan¬
guage, name, manners, and ideas. To these was added a
large immigration of Polish nobles seeking advancement
and wealth. All Russia found itself after a time under
control of an upper class which was out of all sympathy
with the great mass and majority of the people.
During the Yagyellon dynasty, which lasted from 1386 to
1572, the religious question was not so prominent for any
save nobles ; but ownership of their own land and their own
labor was gradually slipping away from the people. During
the reign of Sigismund III. (1587-1632), religion was pushed
to the foreground, the United Church was brought into
Russia; and land and religion, which raise the two greatest
problems in a State, the material and the spiritual, were the
main objects of thought throughout Russia.
Under Vladislav in 1648 the storm burst forth in
Southern Russia. There was a popular uprising, the most
wide-spread and stubborn in history, during which the Poles
lost many battles and gained one great victory, that of
Berestechko ; the Southern Russians turned to the North,
and selected the Tsar Alexai Mihailovich as sovereign.
Jan. 8, 1654, there was a great meeting in Pereyaslav,1
at which Bogdan Hmelnitski, hetman of the Zaporojian
army and head of all Southern Russia, after he had con¬
sulted with the Cossacks, took his place in the centre of
the circle, and in presence of the army, the people, and
Buturlin, the envoy of Alexai Mihailovich, said: —
" Gentlemen, Colonels, Essauls, Commanders of hundreds,
the whole Zaporojian army, and all Orthodox Christians,
You know how the Lord delivered us from the hands of
our enemies who persecuted the Church of God and were
envenomed against all Christians of our Eastern Orthodoxy.
We have lived six years without a sovereign, in endless
battles against our persecutors and enemies who desire to
root out the church of God, so that the Russian name may
not be heard in our land. This position has grown unendur¬
able, and we cannot live longer without a sovereign. There¬
fore we have assembled a council before the whole people so
that you with us may choose from four sovereigns that one
whom you wish. The first is the Sovereign of Turkey, who
has invited us under his authority many times through his
1 Pereyaslav will be remembered by the readers of Fire axd Sword
as the place where the Polish commissioners with Adam Kisel brought
the baton and banner from the king to Hmelnitski.
INTRODUCTION.
xiii
envoys; tlie second is the Khan of the Crimea; the third
the King of Poland, who, if we wish, may receive us into
former favor; the fourth is the Orthodox sovereign, the
Tsar and Grand Prince Alexai Mihailovich, the sole ruler
of all Russia, whom we have been imploring six years with
unceasing petitions. Choose whom you like. The Sover¬
eign of Turkey is a Mussulman ; you all know how our
brethren, the Greeks, Orthodox Christians, suffer, and what
persecution they endure from godless men. A Mussulman
also is the Khan of the Crimea, whom we took into friend¬
ship of necessity, by reason of the unendurable woes which
we passed through. Of persecutions from Polish lords
it is needless to speak; you know yourselves that they
esteemed a Jew and a dog more than a Christian, our
brother. But the great Orthodox sovereign of the East
is of one faith with us, one confession of the Greek rite;
we are one spiritual body with the Orthodoxy of Great Rus¬
sia, having Jesus Christ for our head. This great sover¬
eign, this Christian Tsar, taking pity on the suffering of
our Orthodox church in Little Russia, giving ear to our six
years' entreating, has inclined his heart to us graciously,
and was pleased to send with his favor dignitaries from
near -his person. If we love him earnestly, we shall not
find a better refuge than his lofty hand. If any man is
not agreed with us, let him go whither he pleases; the road
is free — "
Here the whole people shouted: "We choose to be under
the Orthodox sovereign ; better to die in our Orthodox faith
than to go to a hater of Christ, to a Pagan!"
Then the Pereyaslav colonel, Teterya, passed around in
the circle, and asked in every direction: " Are all thus
agreed ? "
"All with one spirit," was the answer.
The hetman now said: " May the Lord our God strengthen
us under the strong hand of the Tsar."
The people shouted back in one voice: " God confirm us !
God give us strength to be one for the ages ! "
The hetman, the army, and the representatives of South¬
ern Russia took the oath of allegiance to the Tsar. The
result of this action was a war between the Commonwealth
on one side, and Northern and Southern Russia on the
other. The Commonwealth being thus occupied on the
east, Sweden decided to attack on the west.
The war between Russia and the Commonwealth lasted
xiv
INTRODUCTION.
thirteen years, and ended with a truce of thirteen years
more, made at Andrusovo. By this agreement the city and
province of Smolensk went to Russia, and all the left bank
of the Dnieper, while Kieff was to be occupied by Poland
after two years. This truce became a treaty during the
reign of Sobyeski. Kieff remained with the Russians, and
peace was unbroken till the second half of the following
century, when all Russia west of the Dnieper was restored
to the East in nearly the same limits which it had before
the Tartar invasion; excepting the territory included in
G-alicia, and known as Red Russia.
Jeremiah Curtin.
Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Ethnology,
November 25, 1891.
REMARKS ON PERSONAGES IN « THE DELUGE."
Yan Kazimir was a son of Sigismund III., who was a son of
King John of Sweden and Catherine, daughter of Sigismund I. of
Poland.
John of Sweden was succeeded by his son Sigismund, who under
the name of Sigismund III. was elected King of Poland in 1587 to
succeed his mother's brother, Sigismund Augustus, the last descend¬
ant of Yagyello in the male line.
Sigismund III. was dethroned by the Swedes, and his issue ex¬
cluded from the succession. Duke Charles, the ablest of Gustavus
Vasa's sons, and uncle of Sigismund, was made king as Charles IX.
This Charles IX. was father of Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus
Adolphus was succeeded by his only daughter, Christina, who would
not marry, and who after reigning for a time resigned in favor of
her cousin Karl Gustav of Zweibriicken,1 son of the only sister of
Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus Yasa was therefore the great-grand¬
father of both Yan Kazimir and Karl Gustav, who were thus second
cousins. The Polish Vasas laid claim to the Swedish crown, there¬
by causing the Commonwealth during sixty years much loss in
money and men. Yan Kazimir relinquished this claim when he
made peace with Sweden.
Before his election Yan Kazimir, being a cardinal, was dispensed
from his vows by the Pope. Chosen king, he married Louise Marie,
daughter of the Duke of Nevers, a woman of strong will and much
beauty.
Discouraged and wearied by many wars and reverses, and more
than all by the endless dissensions of magnates, Yan Kazimir re¬
signed the kingly office in 1668, and retired to France. Being now
a widower, he became Abbot of St. Germain and St. Martin,
and lived on his stipend from these foundations, for the Poles re¬
fused to continue his pension. It seems, however, that he did not
remain in seclusion till the end, for he is mentioned as marrying
in secret a widow who had once been a laundress. He died in 1672,
remembering the world much more than the world remembered
him.
Yan Zamoyski, one of the most celebrated nobles in Polish his¬
tory, was the grandfather of Sobiepan Zamoyski. The time of
Zamoyski's success was during the reign of Stephen Batory, who
gave him more offices and power than any citizen of the Common-
1 "Two-bridges," the Bipont of page 523, Yol. II.
xvi REMARKS ON PERSONAGES IN " THE DELUGE."
wealth had ever enjoyed. As castellan of Cracow, he was the first
among lay senators; as starosta of the same territory, he had ex¬
tensive jurisdiction over criminals in Little Poland ; as hetman, he
was commander of all the military forces of the kingdom; as chan¬
cellor, he held the seals, without which no official act of the king
had validity.
Perhaps the most notable action in Zamoyski's career as a
civilian during Batory's reign was his treatment of the Zborovskis,
one of whom he had beheaded, and another condemned to decapi¬
tation and infamy. The hatred of the Zborovskis for Zamoyski
became so intense that later on they tried to seat their ^candidate,
Maximilian of Austria, in opposition to Sigismund 1II., Zamoyski's
choice and that of the majority. The Zborovski party brought
their candidate to the gate of Cracow, intending to enthrone him
with armed hand. Zamoyski repulsed and pursued them to Silesia,
where he defeated and made Maximilian prisoner. The Austrian
Archduke was held in captivity till he renounced all claim to the
throne. This is the captivity to which Sobiepan refers on page
324, Vol. II.
Zamoyski had Sigismund impeached in 1592, not to condemn him,
but to give him a lesson. Zamoyski's course in this affair, and his
last speech in the Diet of 1605 are his most prominent acts during
a reign in which he was first in opposition, as he had been first on
the king's side during Batory's time. Zamoyski died in 1605,
alarmed, as Lelevel says, for the future of his country.
Sobiepan Zamoyski, who conceived such a friendship for Zagloba,
married the daughter of Henri de la Grange, a captain in the guard
of Philip, Duke of Orleans. After Zamoyski's death, his widow, a
woman of great beauty and ambition, married Sobyeski, subse¬
quently elected king to succeed Michael Vishnyevetski, who is men¬
tioned on page 253, Vol. II.
Kmita, the hero of The Deluge, was probably of the Kmitas of
Little Poland, and of those who inherited lands granted Poles in
Lithuania and Russia after the union.
Kmitsits, which means "son of Kmita," as "starostsits" means
" son of a starosta," is the name used by Sienkiewicz ; but as that
word would baffle most English readers, I have taken Kmita, the
original form of the family name. Kmita is mentioned in Solovy-
off s Russian history as co-operating with Sapyeha and Charnyetski
against Hovanski and Dolgoruki; in that connection he is called
Kmitich.
NOTES.
POLISH ALPHABET.
Since the Polish alphabet has many peculiar phonetic combi¬
nations which are difficult for one who does not know the lan¬
guage, it was decided to transliterate the names of persons and
places in which such combinations occur in this work. The fol¬
lowing are the letters and combinations which are met with most
frequently : —
Polish Letters.
C
ch
cz
rz
sz
szcz
w
z
English Sounds.
. ts
. h
. ch
r followed by the French j
. sh
. shell
J
In this transliteration ch retains its ordinary English sound. J
is the French j; the vowels e, i, u, are, respectively, ai in " bait,"
ee in " beet," oo in "pool," when long; when short, " bet," " bit,"
"put" would represent their values. /, when unaccented and
followed by a vowel, is sounded as y.
The following names will illustrate the method of this trans¬
literation : —
Polish Form of Name. Form in Transliteration,
Potocki Pototski
Chudzynski Hudzynski
Czarnkowski Oharnkovski
Rzendzian Jendzian
Bleszynski Pdeshynski
Szandarowski Shandarovski
Szczaniecki Shchanyetski
Wlostowski Vlostovski
Zyromski Jyromski
In Jendzian and Jechytsa, — the only names, as I believe,
beginning in Polish with rz in this work, — the initial r has been
xviii
NOTES.
omitted in the transliteration on account of the extreme diffi¬
culty, for any one not a Pole, of pronouncing r followed by the
French j.
ACCENT.
All Polish words, with few exceptions, are accented 011 the syl¬
lable next the last, the penult. The exceptions are foreign names,
some compounds, some words with enclitics. Polish names of
men and places are accented, with very few exceptions, on the
penult.
>.OP0I "'.(sandomirjv )
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> T R A N S Y Lr \
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\ VANIA ^
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER I.
There was in Jmud a powerful family, the Billeviehes,
descended from Mendog, connected with many, and re¬
spected, beyond all, in the district of Rossyeni. The Bille¬
viehes had never risen to great offices, the highest they had
filled were provincial; but in war they had rendered the
country unsurpassed services, for which they were richly
rewarded at various times. Their native nest, existing to
this day, was called Billeviche; but they possessed many
other estates, both in the neighborhood of Rossyeni and
farther on toward Krakin, near Lauda, Shoi, Nyevyaja, and
beyond Ponyevyej. In later times they branched out into
a number of houses, the members of which lost sight of
one another. They all assembled only when there was a
census at Rossyeni of the general militia of Jmud on the
plain of the invited Estates. They met also in part under
the banners of the Lithuanian cavalry and at provincial
diets; and because they were wealthy and influential, even
the Radzivills, all powerful in Lithuania and Jmud, had
to reckon with them.
In the reign of Yan Kazimir, the patriarch of all the
Billeviehes, was Heraclius, colonel of light-horse and under-
chamberlain of Upita. He did not dwell in the ancestral
nest, which was rented at- that time by Tomash, the
sword-bearer of Rossyeni; Heraclius Billevich owned also
Yodokty, Lyubich, and Mitruny, situated near Lauda, sur¬
rounded, as if with a sea, by agriculturists of the petty
nobility.
Besides the Billeviehes there were only a few of the more
considerable families in the neighborhood, such as the Sollo-
hubs, the Montvills, the Schyllings, the Koryznis, the Sit-
Binskis, — though there was no lack of smaller nobility of
VOL. I. — 1
o
THE DELUGE.
these names ; finally, the whole river region of Lauda was
thickly studded with so-called " neighborhoods," or, m com¬
mon parlance, zastsianki,1 occupied by the nobility of Lauda,
renowned and celebrated in the history of J mud.
In other neighborhoods of the region the families took
their names from the places, or the places from the families,
as was customary in Podlyasye ; but along the river region
of Lauda it was different. In Morezi dwelt the Stakyans,
whom Batory in his time settled there for bravery at Pskoff;
in Volmontovichi, on good land, swarmed the Butryms, the
bulkiest fellows in all Lauda, noted for few words and
heavy hands, — men who in time of provincial diets, raids
on property, or wars were wont to go in close rank and in
silence. The lands in Drojeykani and Mozgi were managed
by the numerous Domashevich.es, famed hunters ; these men
tramped through the wilderness of Zyelonka as far as Wil-
komir on bear-trails. The Gashtovts occupied Patsuneli;
their women were famous for beauty, so that finally all
pretty girls around Krakin, Ponyevyej, and Upita were
known as Patsuneli girls. The Sollohubs Mali were rich
in horses and excellent cattle, bred in forest pastures.
The Gostsyeviches in Goshchuni made tar in the woods,
from which occupation they were called Gostsyevichi
Charni (Black) or Dymni (Smoky), — the Black or Smoky
Gostsyeviches.
There were other villages and families also. The names
of many of them are still extant; but these villages are
not situated as before, and men call them by other names.
Wars came too with misfortunes and fires, villages were
not always rebuilt on the ruins ; in a word, much has
changed. But in that time old Lauda was still flourishing
in its primeval estate; and the nobles had reached their
highest repute a few years before, when, fighting at Loyovo
against the uprisen Cossacks, they covered themselves with
great glory under the lead of Yanush Radzivill.
All the Lauda men served in the regiment of old Hera-
clius Billevich, — the richer with two horses, the poorer
with one, and the poorest as attendants. In general
these nobles were warlike, and especially enamoured of a
knightly career; but in questions which formed the ordi¬
nary subjects of discussion at a provincial diet they were less
1 This word means technically " villages inhabited by petty nobles • "
etymologically it means " behind walls," — hence, " beyond or outside th«
walls," as above.
THE DELUGE.
3
skilled. They knew that there was a king in Warsaw ; that
Radzivill and Pan Hlebovich were starostas in Jmud, and
Pan Billevich at Yodokty in Lauda. That was sufficient
for them ; and they voted as Pan Billevich instructed them,
convinced that he wanted the same as Pan Hlebovich, and
that the latter went hand in hand with Radzivill. Radzivill
was the king's arm in Lithuania and Jmud; the king was
the consort of the Commonwealth, the father of the legion
of nobles.
Pan Billevich was, in fact, a friend rather than a client
of the powerful oligarchs in Birji, and a greatly esteemed
one at that; for at every call he had a thousand voices and
a thousand Lauda sabres, — and sabres in the hands of the
Stakyans, the Butryms, the Domasheviches, or the Gash-
tovts were despised at that period by no man 011 earth. It
was only later that everything changed, just at the time
when Pan Heraclius Billevich was no more.
This father and benefactor of the nobles of Lauda died .
in 1654. In that year a terrible war 1 flamed forth along
the whole eastern line of the Commonwealth; Pan Bille¬
vich did not go to it, for his age and his deafness did not
permit; but the Lauda men went. When tidings came that
Radzivill was defeated at Shklov, and the Lauda regiment in
an attack on the hired infantry of France was cut almost to
pieces, the old colonel, stricken by apoplexy, yielded his soul.
These tidings were brought by a certain Pan Michael
Volodyovski, a young but very famous warrior, who instead
of Heraclius had led the Lauda regiment by appointment of
Radzivill. The survivors came with him to their inherited
fields, wearied, weighed down, and famished; in common
with the whole army, they complained that the grand het-
man, trusting in the terror of his name and the spell of
victory, had rushed with small forces on a power ten times
greater than his own, and thus had overwhelmed the army
and the whole country.
But amid the universal complaining not one voice was
raised against Yolodyovski. On the contrary, those who
had escaped lauded him to the skies, relating wonders of his
skill and his deeds. And the only solace left the survivors
was the memory of the exploits performed under the young
colonel's leadership, — how in the attack they had burst
through the first line of reserves as through smoke;
1 This war was carried on by the Tsar Alexis, father of Peter the
Great and son of Michael Romanoff. See Introduction.
4
THE DELUGE.
how later they fell on the French mercenaries and cut to
pieces with their sabres the foremost regiment, 011 which
occasion Fan Volodyovski with his own hand killed the
colonel; how at last, surrounded and under fire from four
sides, they saved themselves from the chaos by desperate
lighting, falling in masses, but breaking the enemy.
Those of the Lauda men who, not serving in the Lithu¬
anian quota, were obliged to form a part of the general
militia, listened in sorrow but with pride to these narratives.
It was hoped on all sides that the general militia, the final
defence of the country, would soon be called. It was
agreed already that Volodyovski would be chosen captain of
Lauda in that event; for though not of the local residents,
there was no man among them more celebrated than he.
The survivors said, besides, that he had rescued the lietman
himself from death. Indeed, all Lauda almost bore him in
its arms, and one neighborhood seized him from another.
The Butryms, the Domasheviches, and the Gashtovts dis¬
puted as to whose guest he should be for the longest period.
He pleased that valiant nobility so much that when the
remnant of Radzivill's troops marched to Birji so as to be
brought to some order after the defeat, he did not go with
others, but passing from village to village took up his abode
at last in Patsuneli with the Gashtovts, at the house of Pa-
kosh Gashtovt, who had authority over all in that place.
In fact, Pan Volodyovski could not have gone to Birji in
any event, for he was so ill as to be confined to the bed.
First an acute fever came on him ; then from the contusion
which he had received at Tsybihovo he lost the use of his
right arm. The three daughters of his host, who were
noted for beauty, took him into their tender care, and vowed
to bring back to his original health such a celebrated cava¬
lier. The nobility to the last man were occupied with the
funeral of their former chief, Heraclius Billevich.
After the funeral the will of the deceased was opened
from which it transpired that the old colonel had made his
granddaughter, Aleksandra Billevich, daughter of the chief
hunter of Upita, the heiress of all his property with the ex¬
ception of the village of Lyubich. Guardianship over
her till her marriage he confided to the entire nobility of
Lauda —
"who, as they were well wishing to me," continued he in the will
"and returned kindness for kindness, let them do the same too
for the orphan in these times of corruption and wickedness, when
THE DELUGE.
5
no one is safe from the license of men or free of fear; let them
guard the orphan from mischance, through memory of me.
" They are also to see that she has safe use of her property with
the exception of the village of Lyubich, which I give, present, and
convey to the young banneret of Orsha, so that he may meet no
obstacle in entering into possession of it. Should any man wonder
at this my affection for Andrei Kmita, or see in it injustice to my
own granddaughter Aleksandra, he must and should know that I
held in friendship and true brotherly love from youthful years till
the day of his death the father of Andrei Kmita. I was with him
in war, he saved my life many times; and when the malice and envy
of the Sitsinskis strove to wrest from me my fortune, he lent me
his aid to defend it. Therefore I, Heraclius Billevich, utider-
chamberlain of Upita, and also an unworthy sinner standing now
before the stern judgment of God, went four years ago, while alive
and walking upon the earthly vale, to Pan Kmita, the father, the
sword-bearer of Orsha, to vow gratitude and steady friendship.
On that occasion we made mutual agreement, according to ancient
noble and Christian custom, that our children — namely his son
Andrei and my granddaughter Aleksandra — were to be married, so
that from them posterity might rise to the praise of God and the
good of the State, which I wish most earnestly; and by the will here
written I bind my granddaughter to obedience unless the banneret
of Orsha (which God forbidj stain his reputation with evil deeds
and be despoiled of honor. Should he lose his inheritance near
Orsha, which may easily happen, she is to take him as husband
with blessing; and even should he lose Lyubich, to pay no heed to
the loss.
" However, if by the special favor of God. my granddaughter
should wish in praise of Him to make an offering of her virginity
and put on the habit of a nun, it is permitted her to do so, for I
know that the praise of God is to precede that of man."
In such fashion did Pan Heraclius Billevich dispose of his
fortune and his granddaughter, at which no one wondered
much. Panna Aleksandra had been long aware of what
awaited her, and the nobles had heard from of old of the
friendship between Billevich and the Kmitas ; besides, in
time of defeat the thoughts of men were occupied with
other things, so that soon they ceased to talk of the will.
But they talked of the Kmitas continually in the house
at Yodokty, or rather of Pan Andrei, for the old sword-
bearer also was dead. The younger Kmita had fought at
Shklov with his own banner and with volunteers from
Orsha. Then he vanished from the eye; but it was not
admitted that he had perished, since the death of so noted
a cavalier would surely not have escaped notice. The
Kmitas were people of birth in Orsha, and lords of con-
6
THE DELUGE.
siderable fortune; but the flame of war hacl ruined those
regions. Districts and entire lands were turned into
deserts, fortunes were devoured, and people perished.
After the crushing of Radzivill no one offered firm resist¬
ance. Gosyevski, full hetman, had no troops; the het-
mans of the Crown with their armies in the Ukraine
were struggling with what strength they had left and
could not help him, exhausted as well as the Common¬
wealth by the Cossack wars. The deluge covered the
land more and more, only breaking here and there against
fortified walls; but the walls fell one after another, as had
fallen Smolensk. The province of Smolensk, in which lay
the fortune of the Kmitas, was looked on as lost. In the
universal chaos, in the general terror, people were scat¬
tered like leaves in a tempest, and no man knew what
had become of the banneret of Orsha.
But war had not reached Jmud yet. The nobles of
Lauda returned to their senses by degrees. " The neigh¬
borhoods " began to assemble, and discuss both public and
private affairs. The Butryms, readiest for battle, mut¬
tered that it would be necessary to go to Rossyeni to
the muster of the general militia, and then to Gosyevski,
to avenge the defeat of Shklov; the Domasheviches, the
hunters, had gone through the wilderness of Rogovo by
the forests till they found parties of the enemy and
brought back news; the Smoky Gostsyeviches smoked
meat in their huts for a future expedition. In private
affairs it was decided to send tried and experienced men
to find Pan Andrei Kmita.
The old men of Lauda held these deliberations under
the presidency of Pakosh Gashtovt and Kassyan Butrym,
two neighborhood patriarchs. All the nobility, greatly
flattered by the confidence which the late Pan Bille-
vich had placed in them, swore to stand faithfully by
the letter of the will, and to surround Panua Aleksandra
with well-nigh fatherly care. This was in time of war,
when even in places to which war had not come dis¬
turbance and suffering_ were felt. On the banks of the
Lauda all remained quiet, there were no disputes, there
was no breaking through boundaries on the estates of the
young heiress, landmarks were not shifted, no ditches
were filled, no bianded pine-trees were felled on forest
borders, no pastures were invaded. On the contrary, the
heiress was aided with provisions, — whatever the neigh-
THE DELUGE.
7
borhood had ; for instance, the Stakyans on the river sent
salt-fish, wheat came from the surly Butryms at Voimon-
tovichi, hay from the Gashtovts, game from the Domashe-
viches (the hunters), tar and pitch from the Gostsyeviches.
Of Panna Aleksandra no one in the villages spoke other¬
wise than as " our lady," and the pretty girls of Patsuneli
waited for Pan Kmita perhaps as impatiently as she.
Meanwhile came the summons calling the nobility. The
Lauda men began to move. He who from being a youth
had grown to be a man, he whom age had not bent, had
to mount his horse. Yan Kazimir arrived at Grodno, and
fixed that as the place of general muster. There, then,
they mustered. The Butryms in silence went forth ; after
them others, and the Gashtovts last, — as they always did,
for they hated to leave the Patsuneli girls. The nobles
from other districts appeared in scant numbers only, and
the country was left undefended; but God-fearing Lauda
had appeared in full quota.
Pan Yolodyovski did not march, for he was not able yet
to use his arm; he remained therefore as if district com¬
mander among the women. The neighborhoods were de¬
serted, and only old men and women sat around the fires
in the evening. It was quiet in Ponyevyej and Upita;
they were waiting on all sides for news.
Panna Aleksandra in like manner shut herself in at
Yodokty, seeing no one but servants and her guardians
of Lauda.
8
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER II.
The new year 1655 came. January was frosty, but dry;
a stern winter covered sacred Jmud with a white coat
three feet thick, the forests were bending and breaking
under a wealth of snow bunches, snow dazzled the eyes
during days of sunshine, and in the night by the moon
there glittered as it were sparks vanishing 011 a surface
stiffened by frost; wild beasts approached the dwellings
of men, and the poor gray birds hammered with their
beaks the windows covered with hoar frost and snow-
flowers.
On a certain evening Panna Aleksandra was sitting in
the servants' hall with her work-maidens. It was an old
custom of the Billeviches, when there were no guests, to
spend evenings with the servants singing hymns and edi¬
fying simple minds by their example. In this wise did
Panna Aleksandra; and the more easily since among her
house-maidens were some really noble, very poor orphans.
These performed every kind of work, even the rudest, and
were servants for ladies; in return they were trained in
good manners, and received better treatment than simple
girls. But among them were peasants too, differing mainly
in speech,1 for many did not know Polish.
Panna Aleksandra, with her relative Panna Kulvyets, sat
in the centre, and the girls around on benches ; all were
spinning. In a great chimney with sloping sides pine-
logs were burning, now dying down and now flaming freshly
with a great bright blaze or with sparks, as the youth stand¬
ing near the chimney threw on small pieces of birch or
pitch-pine. When the flame shot upward brightly, the dark
wooden walls of the gieat hall were to be seen, with an
unusually low ceiling resting on cross-beams. From the
beams hung, on threads, many-colored stars, made of wa¬
fers, trembling in the warm air; behind, from both sides of
the beams, were bunches of combed flax, hanging like can
tined Turkish horse-tail standards. Almost the whole ceil
1 The speech of the main body of the people in Jmud is Lithuanian to
this day.
THE DELUGE.
9
mg was covered with them. On. the dark walls glittered,
like stars, tin plates, large and small, standing straight or
leaning on long oaken shelves.
In the distance, near the door, a shaggy-haired man of
Jmud was making a great noise with a hand-mill, and mut¬
tering a song with nasal monotone. Panna Aleksandra
slipped her beads through her fingers in silence ; the spin¬
ners spun on, saying nothing the one to the other.
The light of the flame fell on their youthful, ruddy faces.
They, with both hands raised, — with the left feeding the
soft flax, with the right turning the wheel, — spun eagerly,
as if vying with one another, urged on by the stern glances
of Panna Kulvyets. Sometimes, too, they looked at one
another with quick eye, and sometimes at Panna Aleksan¬
dra, as if in expectation that she would tell the man to stop
grinding, and would begin the hymn ; but they did not
cease working. They spun and spun on ; the threads were
winding, the wheel was buzzing, the distaff played in the
hand of Panna Kulvyets, the shaggy-haired man of Jmud
rattled on with his mill.
But at times he stopped his work. Evidently something
was wrong with the mill, for at those times was heard his
angry voice : " It's down ! "
Panna Aleksandra raised her head, as if roused by the
silence which followed the exclamations of the man; then
the blaze lighted up her face and her serious blue eyes look¬
ing from beneath black brows. She was a comely lady, with
flaxen hair, pale complexion, and delicate features. She
had the beauty of a white flower. The mourning robes
added to her dignity. Sitting before the chimney, she
seemed buried in thought, as in a dream ; doubtless she
was meditating over her own lot, for her fates were in the
balance. The will predestined her to be the wife of a man
whom she had not seen for ten years ; and as she was now
almost twenty, there remained to her but unclear childhood
reminiscences of a certain boisterous boy, who at the time
when he with his father had come to Vodokty, was more
occupied with racing through the swamps with a gun than
in looking at her. " Where is he, and what manner of man
is he now ? " These were the questions which thrust them¬
selves on the mind of the dignified lady. She knew him
also, it is true, from the narratives of the late under-cham-
berlain, who four years before had undertaken the long
journey to Orsha. According to those narratives, he was a
10
THE DELUGE.
cavalier "of great courage, though very quick-tempered."
By the contract of marriage for their descendants concluded
between old Billevich and Kmita the father, Kmita the son
was to go at once to Vodokty and be accepted by the lady ;
but a great war broke out just then, and the cavalier, in¬
stead of going to the lady, went to the fields of Berestechko.
Wounded at Berestechko, he recovered at home ; then he
nursed his sick father, who was near death ; after that an¬
other war broke out, and thus four years passed. Since
the death of the old colonel considerable time had elapsed,
but no tidings of Kmita.
Banna Aleksandra therefore had something to meditate
upon, and perhaps she was pining for the unknown. In
her pure heart, especially because it knew not love as yet,
she bore a great readiness for that feeling. A spark only
was needed to kindle on that hearth a flame quiet but
bright, and as steady as the undying sacred fire of Lithuania.
Disquiet then seized her, — at times pleasant, at times
bitter; and her soul was ever putting questions to which
there was no answer, or rather the answer must come from
distant fields. The first question was whether he would
marry her with good-will and respond with readiness to her
readiness. In those days contracts by parents for the mar¬
riage of their children were usual; and if the parents died
the children, held by the blessing, observed in most cases
the contract. In the engagement itself the young lady saw
nothing uncommon ; but good pleasure does not always go
hand in hand with duty ; hence the anxiety that weighed
down the blond head of the maiden. " Will* he love me ? "
And then a flock of thoughts surrounded her, as a flock of
birds surround a tree standing alone in spacious fields :
" Who art thou ? What manner of person ? Art walking
alive in the world, or perhaps thou hast fallen ? Art
thou distant or near ? " The open heart of the lady, like
a door open to a precious guest, called involuntarily to dis¬
tant regions, to forests and snow-fields covered with night:
" Come hither, young hero ; for there is naught in the world
more bitter than waiting."
That moment, as if in answer to the call, from outside,
from those snowy distances covered with night, came the
sound of a bell.
The lady trembled, but regaining her presence of mind
remembered that almost every evening some one came to
Vodokty to get medicine lor the young colonel
THE DELTJGE.
11
Panna Kulvyets confirmed that idea by saying, '• Some
one from the Gashtovts for herbs."
The irregular sound of the bell shaken by the shaft rang
more distinctly each moment; at last it stopped on a sudden.
Evidently the sleigh had halted before the door.
"See who has come," said Panna Kulvyets to the man of
Jmud who was turning the mill.
The man went out of the servants' hall, but soon returned,
and taking again the handle of the mill, said phlegmati-
cally, " Panas Kmitas." 1
" The word is made flesh! " cried Panna Kulvyets.
The spinners sprang to their feet; the flax and the dis-
staffs fell to the floor.
Panna Aleksandra rose also. Her heart beat like a ham¬
mer ; a flush came forth on her face, and then pallor; but she
turned from the chimney, lest her emotion might be seen.
Then in the door appeared a certain lofty figure in a fur
mantle and fur-bound cap. A young man advanced to the
middle of the room, and seeing that he was in the servants'
hall, inquired in a resonant voice, without removing his cap,
" Hei! but where is your mistress ? "
" I am the mistress," said Panna Billevich, in tones suffi¬
ciently clear.
Hearing this, the newly arrived removed his cap, cast it
on the floor, and inclining said, " I am Andrei Kmita."
The eyes of Panna Aleksandra rested with lightning-like
swiftness on the face of Kmita, and then dropped again to
the floor; still during that time the lady was able to see
the tuft shaven high, yellow as wheat, an embrowned com¬
plexion, blue eyes, looking quickly to the front, dark mus¬
tache, a face youthful, eagle-like, but joyous and gallant.
He rested his left hand on his hip, raised his right to his
mustache, and said: " I have not been in Lyubich yet, for I
hastened here like a bird to bow down at the feet of the
lady, the chief hunter's daughter. The wind — God grant
it was a happy one ! — brought me straight from the camp."
" Did you know of the death of my grandfather ? " asked
the lady.
" I did not; but I bewailed with hot tears my benefactor
when I learned of his death from those rustics who came
from this region to me. He was a sincere friend, almost a
brother, of my late father. Of course it is well known to
1 Lithuanian forms, with nominative ending in s and as.
12
THE DELUGE.
you that four years ago he came to us at Orsha. Then he
promised me your ladyship, and showed a portrait about
which I sighed in the night-time. I wished to come sooner,
but war is not a mother: she makes matches for men with
death only."
This bold speech confused the lady somewhat. Wishing
to change the subject, she said, "Then you have not seen
Lyubich yet ? "
" There will be time for that. My first service is here;
and here the dearest inheritance, which I wish to receive first.
But you turned from the hearth, so that to this moment I
have not been able to look you in the eye — that's the way!
Turn, and I will stand next the hearth ; that's the way ! "
Thus speaking, the daring soldier seized by the hand
Olenka,1 who did not expect such an act, and brought her
face toward the fire, turning her like a top. She was still
more confused, and covering her eyes with her long lashes,
stood abashed by the light and her own beauty. Kmita re¬
leased her at last, and struck himself on the doublet.
" As God is dear to me, a beauty ! I '11 have a hundred
Masses said for my benefactor because he left you to me.
When the betrothal ? "
"Not yet awhile ; I am not yours yet," said Olenka.
" But you will be, even if I have to burn this house ! As
God lives, I thought the portrait flattered. I see that the
painter aimed high, but missed. A thousand lashes to such
an artist, and stoves to paint, not beauties, with which eyes
are feasted! Oh, 't is a delight to be the heir to such an
inheritance, may the bullets strike me ! "
" My late grandfather told me that you were very
hot-headed."
" All are that way with us in Smolensk ; not like your
J mud people. One, two ! and it must be as we want; if
not, then death."
Olenka laughed, and said with a voice now more confi¬
dent, raising her eyes to the cavalier, " Then it must be
that Tartars dwell among you ? "
"All one ! but you are mine by the will of parents and
by your heart."
" By my heart ? That I know not yet."
" Should you not be, I would thrust myself with a knife '"
"You say that laughing. But we are still in the servants'
i The diminutive or more familiar form for Aleksandra. It is used
frequently in this book.
THE DELUGE.
13
hall; I beg you to the reception-room. After a long road
doubtless supper will be acceptable. I beg you to follow
me."
Here Olenka turned to Panna Kulvyets. " Auntie, dear,
come with us."
The young banneret glanced quickly. " Aunt ? " he
inquired, — " whose aunt ? "
" Mine, — Panna Kulvyets."
" Then she is mine!" answered he, going to kiss her
hand. " I have in my company an officer named Kulvyets-
Hippocentaurus. Is he not a relative ? "
" He is of the same family," replied the old maid, with
a courtesy.
"A good fellow, but a whirlwind like myself," added
Kmita.
Meanwhile a boy appeared with a light. They went to
the antechamber, where Pan Andrei removed his shuba;
then they passed to the reception-room.
Immediately after their departure the spinners gathered
in a close circle, and one interrupted another, talking and
making remarks. The stately young man pleased them
greatly; therefore they did not spare words on him, vying
with one another in praises.
" Light shines from him," said one; " when he came I
thought he was a king's son."
" And he has lynx eyes, so that he cuts with them," said
another; " do not cross such a man."
" That is worst of all," said a third.
" He met the lady as a betrothed. It is easily seen that
she pleased him greatly, for whom has she not pleased ? "
" But he is not worse than she, never fear ! Could you
get his equal, you would go even to Orsha, though likely
that is at the end of the world."
"Ah, lucky lady !"
" It is always best for the rich in the world. Ei, ei, that's
gold, not a knight."
" The Patsuneli girls say that that cavalry captain who is
stopping with old Pakosh is a handsome cavalier."
" I have not seen him ; but how compare him with Pan
Kmita ! Such another as Pan Kmita surely there is not in
the world!"
"It's down !" cried the man of Jmud on a sudden, when
something broke again in the mill.
" Go out, shaggy head, with thy freaks ! Give us peace,
14
THE DELUGE.
for we cannot hear. — True, true ; hard to find better than
Pan Kmita in the whole world ; surely in Kyedani there is
none such."
"Dream of one like him !"
" May his like come in a dream !"
In such fashion did the girls talk among themselves in
the servants' hall. Meanwhile in the dining-room the table
was laid in all haste, while in the drawing-room Panna Alek-
sandra conversed, face to face with Kmita, for Aunt Kulvyets
had gone to bustle about the supper.
Pan Andrei did not remove his gaze from Olenka, and his
eyes shot sparks more and more every moment; at last he
said, —
"There are men to whom land is dearer than all things
else; there are others who chase after plunder in war, others
love horses ; but I would not give you for any treasure. As
God lives, the more I look the more I wish to marry; so
that even if it were to-morrow— Oh, that brow, —just as
if painted with burned cork !"
" I hear that some use such strange things, but I am not
of that kind."
" And eyes as from heaven ! Prom confusion, words fail
me."
"You are not greatly confused, if in my presence you can
be so urgent that I am wonder-stricken."
" That is our way in Smolensk, — to go boldly at women as
we do into battle. You must, my queen, grow accustomed
to this, for thus will it ever be."
"You must put it aside, for thus it cannot be."
" Perhaps I may yield, may I be slain ! Believe, believe
me not, but with gladness would I bend the skies for you.
For you, my queen, I am ready to learn other manners ; for
I know myself that I am a simple soldier, I have lived
more in camps than in chambers of castles."
" Oh, that harms nothing, for my grandfather was a sol¬
dier; but I give thanks for the good-will," said Olenka;
and her eyes looked with such sweetness on Pan Andrei
that his heart melted like wax in a moment, and he
answered, —
"You will lead me on a thread."
" -A-h, you are not like those who are led on tlrreads; to
do that is most difficult with men who are unsteady."
Kmita showed in a smile teeth as white as a wolf's teeth
"How is that?" asked he. "Are the rods few that the
THE DELUGE.
15
fathers broke on me in the monastery to bring me to steadi¬
ness and make me remember various fair maxims for guid¬
ance in life — "
"And which one do you remember best ?"
" ' When in love, fall at the feet,' — in this fashion."
When he had spoken, Kmita was already on his knees.
The lady screamed, putting her feet under the table.
"For God's sake! they did not teach that in the mon¬
astery. Leave off, or I shall be angry — my aunt will come
this minute — "
Still on his knees, he raised his head and looked into her
eyes. " Let a whole squadron of aunts come; I shall not
forbid their pleasure."
" But stand up !"
" I am standing."
" Sit down !"
"I am sitting."
"'You are a traitor, a Judas !"
"Not true, for when I kiss't is with sincerity, — will you
be convinced ? "
" You are a serpent!"
Panna Aleksandra laughed, however, and a halo of youth
and gladness came from her. His nostrils quivered like the
nostrils of a young steed of noble blood.
" Ai! ai!" said he. " What eyes, what a face ! Save
me, all ye saints, for I cannot keep away !"
"There is no reason to summon the saints. You were
absent four years without once looking in here; sit still
now !"
"But I knew only the counterfeit. I will have that
painter put in tar and then in feathers, and scourge him
through the square of Upita, I will tell all in sincerity, —
forgive, if it please you; if not, take my head. I thought
to myself when looking at that portrait: ' A pretty little
rogue, pretty ; but there is no lack of pretty ones in the
world. 1 have time.' My late father urged me hither, but
I had always one answer : ' I have time ! The little wife
will not vanish; maidens go not to war and do not perish.'
I was not opposed at all to the will of my father, God is
my witness ; but I wanted first to know war and feel it on
my own body. This moment I see my folly. I might have
married and gone to war afterward ; and here every delight
was waiting for me. Praise be to God that they did not
hack me to death ! Permit me to kiss your hand."
16
THE DELUGE.
" Better, I '11 not permit." .,
"Then I will not ask. In Orsha we say, 'Ask; but 1
they don't give, take it thyself.'"
Here Pan Andrei clung to the hand of the lady and began
to kiss it; and the lady did not resist too greatly, lest she
might exhibit ill-will.
Just then Panna Kulvyets came in. When she saw what
was going on, she raised her eyes. That intimacy did not
please her, but she dared not scold. She gave invitation to
supper.
Both went to the supper-room, holding each the other s
hand as if they were related. In the room stood a table cov¬
ered, and 011 it an abundance of all kinds of food, especially
choice smoked meats and a mouldy thick bottle of strength-
giving wine. It was pleasant for the young people with each
other, gladsome, vivacious. The lady had supped already ;
therefore Kmita sat alone, and began to eat with animation
equal to that with which he had just been conversing.
Olenka looked at him with sidelong glance, glad that he
was eating and drinking. When he had appeased his first
hunger, she began again to inquire, —
" Then you are not direct from Orsha ? "
" Scarcely do I know whence I come, — here to-day, to¬
morrow in another place. I prowled near the enemy as a
wolf around sheep, and what was possible to seize I
seized."
" And how had you daring to meet such a power, before
which the grand hetman himself had to yield ? "
" How had I daring ? I am ready for all things, such is
the nature within me."
" That is what my grandfather said. Great luck that you
were not killed !"
" Ai, they covered me with cap and with hand as a bird
is covered on the nest; but I, whom they covered, sprang
out and bit them m another place. I made it so bitter for
them that there is a price on my head— A splendid half-
goose !" r
"In the name of the Father and the Son !» cried Olenka,
with unfeigned wonder, gazing with homage on that younl
man who m the same moment mentions the price on his
defence"?» half"g°°Se' "Had mm/troops for
"I had, of course, my poor dragoons,-very excellent
men, but m a month they were all hacked to bits. Then I
THE DELUGE.
17
went with volunteers whom I gathered wherever I could
without question. Good fellows for battle, but knave upon
knave ! Those who have not perished already will sooner
or later be meat for the crows."
Pan Andrei laughed, emptied his goblet of wine, and
added: " Such plunderers you have not seen yet. May the
hangman light them ! Officers, — all nobles from our parts,
men of family, worthy people, but against almost every one;
of them is a sentence of outlawry. They are now in Lyu-
bicb, for where else could I send them ? "
" So you have come to us with the whole squadron ? "
" I have. The enemy took refuge in towns, for the win¬
ter is bitter. My men too are as ragged as brooms after
long sweeping. The prince voevoda assigned me winter
quarters in Ponyevyei. God knows the breathing-spell is
well earned!"
" Eat, I beg you."
" I would eat poison for your sake ! I left a part of my
ragged fellows in Ponyevyej, a part in Upita, and the most
worthy officers I invited to Lyubich as guests. These men
will come to beat to you with the forehead."
" But where did the Lauda men find you ? "
" They found me on the way to winter quarters in Pon¬
yevyej. Had I not met them I should have come here."
" But drink."
" I would drink even poison for you !"
" Were the Lauda men the first to tell you of my grand¬
father's death and the will ? "
" They told of the death.— 0 Lord, give light to the soul
of my benefactor! — Did you send those men to me ? "
" Think not such a thing ! I had nothing but mourning
and prayer on my mind."
" They too said the same. They are an arrogant set of
homespuns. I wanted to give them a reward for their toil;
instead of accepting it, they rose against me and said that
the nobility of Orsha might take drink-money, but the
Lauda men never. They spoke very foully to me; while
listening, I thought to myself: ' If you don't want money,
then I '11 command to give you a hundred lashes.'"
Panna Aleksandra seized her head. "Jesus Mary! and
did you do that ? "
Kmita looked at her in astonishment. " Have no fears ! I
did not, though my soul revolts within me at such trashy
nobility, who pretend to be the equal of us. But I thought
VOL. I. — 2
18
THE DELUGE.
to myself, ' They will cry me down without cause in those
parts, call me tyrant, and calumniate me before you !''
" Great is your luck," said Olenka, drawing a deep breath
of relief, " for I should not have been able to look you in
the eyes."
" But how so ? "
" That is a petty nobility, but ancient and renowned.
My dear grandfather always loved them, and went with
them to war. He served all his life with them. In time
of peace he received them in his house. That is an old
friendship of our family which you must respect. You
have moreover a heart, and will not break that sacred har¬
mony in which thus far we have lived."
" I knew nothing of them at that moment, —may I be slain
if I did! — but yet I confess that this barefooted nobledom
somehow cannot find place in my head. With us a peasant
is a peasant, and nobles are all men of good family, who do
not sit two on one mare. God knows that such scurvy fel¬
lows have nothing to do with the Kmitas nor with the Bil-
leviches, just as a mudfish has nothing to do with a pike,
though this is a fish and that also."
« My grandfather used to say that blood and honor, not
wealth, make a man; and these are honorable people, or
grandfather would not have made them my guardians."
Pan Andrei was astonished and opened wide his eyes.
" Did your grandfather make all the petty nobility of Lauda
guardians over you ? "
"He did. Do not frown, for the will of the dead is
sacred. It is a wonder to me that the messengers did not
mention this."
" I should have — But that cannot be. There is a number
of villages. Will they all discuss about you ? Will they
discuss me, — whether I am to their thinking or not ? But
jest not, for the blood is storming up in me."
"Pan Andrei, I am not jesting; I speak the sacred and
sincere truth. They will not debate about you ; but if you
will not repulse them nor show haughtiness, you will cap¬
ture not only them, but my heart. I, together with them,
will thank you all my life, — all my life, Pan Andrei."
Her voice trembled as if in a beseeching request; but he
did not let the frown go from his brow, and was gloomy.
He did not burst into anger, it is true, though at moments
there flew over his face as it were lightnings; but he an-
sivered with haughtiness and pride,
THE DELUGE.
19
" I did not look for this ! I respect the will of the dead,
and I think the under-chamberlain might have made those
petty nobles your guardians till the time of my coming;
but when once I have put foot here, no other, save me,
will be guardian. Not only those gray coats, but the
Radzivills of Birji themselves have nothing in this place
to do with guardianship."
Panna Aleksandra grew serious, and answered after a
short silence : "You do ill to be carried away by pride.
The conditions laid down by my late grandfather must be
either all accepted or all rejected. I see no other way.
The men of Lauda will give neither trouble nor annoyance,
for they are worthy people and peaceful. Do not suppose
that they will be disagreeable. Should any trouble arise,
they might say a word; but it is my opinion that all will
pass in harmony and peace, and then the guardianship will
be as if it had not been."
Kmita held silence a moment, then waved his hand and
said: " It is true that the marriage will end everything.
There is nothing to quarrel about. Let them only sit
quietly and not force themselves 011 me; for God knows I
will not let my mustache be blown upon. But no more of
them. Permit an early wedding; that will be best."
"It is not becoming to mention that now, in time of
mourning."
" Ai, but shall I be forced to wait long ? "
" Grandfather himself stated that no longer than half a
year."
" I shall be as dried up as a chip before that time. But
let us not be angry. You have begun to look on me as sternly
as on an offender. God be good to you, my golden queen!
In what am I to blame if the nature within me is such that
when anger against a man takes me I would tear him
to pieces, and when it passes I would sew him together
again."
" 'T is a terror to live with such a man," answered Olenka,
more joyously.
" Well, to your health ! This is good wine ; for me the
sabre and wine are the basis. What kind of terror to live
with me ? You will hold me ensnared with your eyes,
and make a slave of me, — a man who hitherto would en¬
dure no superior. At the present time I chose to go with
my own little company in independence rather than bow to
the hetman. My golden queen, if anything in me does
20
THE DELUGE.
not please you, overlook it; for I learned manners near
cannon and not among ladies, in tlie tumult of soldiers and
not at the lute. Our region is restless, tlie sabre is ne\ ei
let go from the hand. There, though some outlawry rests
on a man, though he be pursued by sentences, 't is noth¬
ing ! People respect him if he has the daring of a warrior.
For example, my companions who in some other place
would have long been in prison are in their fashion worthy
persons. Even women among us go in boots, and with
sabres lead parties, — like Pani Kokosinski, the aunt of
my lieutenant. She died a hero's death ; and her nephew in
my command has avenged her, though in life he did not love
her. Where should we, even of the greatest families,
learn politeness ? But we know when there is war how to
fight, when there is a diet how to talk; and if the tongue
is not enough, then the sabre. That's the position; as a
man of such action did the late chamberlain know me, and
as such did he choose me for you."
" I have always followed the will of my grandfather
willingly," answered the lady, dropping her eyes.
" Let me kiss your hand once again, my dear girl! God
knows you have come close to my heart. Feeling has so
taken hold of me that I know not how I can find that
Lyubich which I have not yet seen."
" I will give you a guide."
" Oh, I shall find the way. I am used to much pound¬
ing around by night. I have an attendant from Ponyevyej
who must know the road. And there Kokosinski and Ms
comrades are waiting for me. With us the Kokosinskis
are a great family, who use the seal of Pypka. This one
was outlawed without reason because he burned the house
of Pan Orpishevski, carried off a maiden, and cut down
some servants. A good comrade ! — Give me your hand'
once more. I see it is time to go."
Midnight began to beat slowly on the great Dantzi0,
clock standing in the hall.
"For God's sake! 'tis time,'tis time!" cried Kmita.
" I may not stay longer. Do you love me, even as much
as would go around your finger ? "
" I win answer another time. You will visit me of
course ?" '
"Every day, even if the ground should open under me !
May 1 be slam !"
Kmita rose, and both went to the antechamber. The
THE DELUGE.
21
sleigh was already waiting before the porch ; so he enrobed
himself in the shuba, and began to take farewell, begging
ber to return to the chamber, for the cold was flying in
from the porch.
aGood-niglit, my dear queen,'" said he, " sleep sweetly, for
surely I shall not close an eye thinking of your beauty."
" May you see nothing bad ! But better, I '11 give you
a man with a light, for there is no lack of wolves near
Volmontovichi."
" And am I a lamb to fear wolves ? A wolf is a friend
to a soldier, for often has he profit from his hand. We
have also firearms in the sleigh. Good-night, dearest,
good-night."
" With God."
Olenka withdrew, and Pan Kmita went to the porch.
But on the way, through the slightly open door of the
servants' hall he saw a number of pairs of eyes of maidens
who waiting to see him once more had not yet lain down
to sleep. To them Pan Andrei sent, soldier-fashion, kisses
from his mouth with his hand, and went out. After a
while the bell began to jingle, at first loudly, then with
a continually decreasing sound, ever fainter and fainter, till
at last it was silent.
It grew still in Yodokty, till the stillness amazed Panna
Aleksandra. The words of Pan Andrei were sounding in
her ears ; she heard his laughter yet, heartfelt, joyous ;
in her eyes stood the rich form of the young man; and
now after that storm of words, mirth, and joyousness,
such marvellous silence succeeded. The lady bent her ear,
— could she not hear even one sound more from the
sleigh ? But no ! it was sounding somewhere off in the
forest, near Volmontovichi. Therefore a mighty sadness
seized the maiden, and never had she felt so much alone
in the world.
Taking the light, slowly she went to her chamber, and
knelt down to say the Lord's Prayer. She began five
times before she could finish with proper attention; and
when she had finished, her thoughts, as if on wings,
chased after that sleigh and that figure sitting within.
On one side were pine-woods, pine-woods on the other, in
the middle a broad road, and he driving on, — Pan Andrei I
Here it seemed to Olenka that she saw as before her the
blond foretop, the blue eyes, the laughing mouth in which
are gleaming teeth as white as the teeth of a young dog.
22
THE DELUGE.
For this dignified lady could hardly deny before her own
face that this wild cavalier had greatly pleased her. He
alarmed her a little, he frightened her a little, but he at¬
tracted her also with that daring, that joyous freedom and
sincerity, till she was ashamed that he pleased her, espe¬
cially with his haughtiness when at mention of the guardians
he reared his head like a Turkish war-horse and said,
" Even the Radzivills of Birji themselves have nothing to
do here with guardianship."
" That is no dangler around women; that is a true man,"
said the lady to herself. " He is a soldier of the kind that
my grandfather loved most of all, — and he deserved it! "
So meditated the lady; and a happiness undimmed by
anything embraced her. It was an unquiet; but that un¬
quiet was something dear. Then she began to undress;
the door creaked, and in came Panna Kulvyets, with a
candle in her hand.
"You sat terribly long," said she. "I did not wish to
interfere with young people, so that you might talk your
fill the first time. He seems a courteous cavalier. But
how did he please you ? "
Panna Aleksandra gave no answer at first, but barefooted
ran up to her aunt, threw herself on her neck, and placing
her bright head on her bosom, said with a fondling voice,
" Auntie, oh, Auntie ! "
" Oho!" muttered the old maid, raising her eyes and the
candle toward heaven.
THE DELUGE.
23
CHAPTER III.
When- Pan Andrei drove up to the mansion at Lyubich,
the windows were gleaming, and bustle reached the front
yard. The servants, hearing the bell, rushed out through
the entrance to greet their lord, for they had learned from
his comrades that he would come. They greeted him with
submission, kissing his hands and seizing his feet. The
old land-steward, Znikis, stood in the entrance holding
bread and salt, and beating worship with the forehead;
all gazed with uneasiness and curiosity, — how would
their future lord look ? Kmita threw a purse full of
thalers on the tray, and asked for his comrades, astonished
that no one of them had come forth to meet his pro¬
prietary mightiness.
But they could not come forth, for they were then the
third hour at the table, entertaining themselves at the cup,
and perhaps in fact they had not taken note of the sound¬
ing of the bell outside. But when he entered the room,
from all breasts a loud shout burst forth: " The heir, the
heir has come!" and all his comrades, springing from their
places, started toward him with their cups. But he placed
his hands on his hips, and laughed at the manner in which
they had helped themselves in his house, and had gone
to drinking before his arrival. He laughed with increas¬
ing heartiness when he saw them advance with tipsy
solemnity.
Before the others went the gigantic Pan Yaromir Koko-
sinski, with the seal of Pypka, a famous soldier and swag¬
gerer, with a terrible scar across his forehead, his eye, and
his cheek, with one mustache short, the other long, the
lieutenant and friend of Kmita, the " worthy comrade,"
condemned to loss of life and honor in Smolensk for steal¬
ing a maiden, for murder and arson. At that time war
saved him, and the protection of Kmita, who was of the
same age; and their lands were adjoining in Orsha till Pan
Yaromir had squandered his away. He came up holding
in both hands a great-eared bowl filled with dembniak.
Next came Ranitski, whose family had_ arms, — Dry
Chambers (Suche Komnaty). He was born in the province
24
THE DELUGE.
of Mstislavsk, from which he was an outlaw for killing
two noblemen, landowners. One he slew in a duel, the
other he shot without an encounter. He had no estate,
though he inherited his step-mother's land on the death of
his father. War saved him, too, from the executioner. He
was an incomparable hand-to-hand sword-slasher.
The third in order was Rekuts-Leliva, on whom blood
did not weigh, save the blood of the enemy. But he had
played away, drunk away his substance. For the past
three years he had clung to Kmita.
With him came the fourth, also from Smolensk, Pan
Uhlik, under sentence of death and dishonor for breaking
up a court. Kmita protected him because he played beauti¬
fully on the flageolet.
Besides them was Pan Kulvyets - Hippocentaurus, in
stature the equal of Kokosinski, in strength even his su¬
perior ; and Zend, a horse-trainer, who knew how to imitate
wild beasts and all kinds of birds, — a man of uncertain
descent, though claiming to be a noble of Courland ; being
without fortune he trained Kmita's horses, for which he
received an allowance.
These then surrounded the laughing Pan Andrei. Koko¬
sinski raised the eared bowl and intoned : —
"Drink with us, dear host of ours,
Dear host of ours !
With us thou mightst drink to the grave,
Drink to the grave ! "
Others repeated the chorus ; then Kokosinski gave
Kmita the eared bowl, and Zend gave Kokosinski a
goblet.
Kmita raised high the eared bowl and shouted, " Health
to my maiden ! "
" Yivat! vivat! " cried all voices, till the window-panes
began to rattle in their leaden fittings. " Yivat' the
mourning will pass, the wedding will come!"
They began to pour forth questions: "But how does
she look . Hei! Yendrus,1 is she very pretty, or such as
you pictured her ? Is there another like her in Orsha ? "
"In Orsha?" cried Kmita. "In comparison with her
you might stop chimneys with our Orsha girls ! A hundred
thunders ! there s not another such in the world."
1 The diminutive of Andrei.
THE DELUGE.
25
" That's the k'ind we wanted for you," answered Ranitski.
" Well, when is the wedding to be ? "
" The minute the mourning is over."
" Oh, fie on the mourning ! Children are not born black,
but white."
" When the wedding comes, there will be no mourning.
Hurry, Yendrus !"
" Hurry, Yendrus ! " all began to exclaim at once.
" The little bannerets of Orsha are crying in heaven for
the earth," said Kokosinski.
" Don't make the poor little things wait! "
" Mighty lords," added Rekuts-Leliva, with a thin voice,
" at the wedding we '11 drink ourselves drunk as fools."
" My dear lambs," said Kmita, " pardon me, or, speaking
more correctly, go to a hundred devils, let me look around
in my own house."
"Nonsense!" answered Uhlik. " To-morrow the inspec¬
tion, but now all to the table; there is a pair of demijohns
there yet with big bellies."
" We have already made inspection for you. This
Lyubich is a golden apple," said Ranitski.
"A good stable!" cried Zend; "there are two ponies,
two splendid hussar horses, a pair of Jmud horses, and a
pair of Kalmuks, — all in pairs, like eyes in the head.
We will look at the mares and colts to-morrow."
Here Zend neighed like a horse; they wondered at his
perfect imitation, and laughed.
" Is there such good order here ? " asked Kmita, rejoiced.
" And how the cellar looks ! " piped Rekuts; " resinous
kegs and mouldy jugs stand like squadrons in ranks."
"Praise be to God for that! let us sit down at the table."
" To the table ! to the table ! "
They had barely taken their places and filled their cups
when Ranitski sprang_up again: "To the health of the
Under-chamberlain Billevich !"
"Stupid!" answered Kmita, "how is that? You are
drinking the health of a dead man."
" Stupid ! " repeated the others. " The health of the
master!"
" Your health !"
" May we get good in these chambers ! "
Kmita cast his eyes involuntarily along the dining-hall,
and he saw on the larchwood walls, blackened by age, a row
of stern eyes fixed on him. Those eyes were gazing out of
26
THE DELUGE.
the old portraits of the Billeviches, hanging low, within
two ells of the floor, for the wall was low. Above the por¬
traits in a long unbroken row were fixed skulls of the
aurochs, of stags, of elks, crowned with their antlers : some,
blackened, were evidently very old; others were shining
with whiteness. All four walls were ornamented with
them.
" The hunting must be splendid, for I see abundance of
wild beasts," said Kmita.
"We will go to-morrow or the day after. We must learn
the neighborhood," answered Kokosinski. " Happy are
you, Yendrus, to have a place to shelter your head !"
" dSTot like us," groaned Banitski.
" Let us drink for our solace," said Bekuts.
"ISTo, not for our solace," answered Kulvyets-Hippocen-
taurus, "but once more to the health of Yendrus, our
beloved captain. It is he, my mighty lords, who has given
here in Lyubich an asylum to us poor exiles without a roof
above our heads."
"He speaks justly," cried a number of voices; " Kulvyets
is not so stupid as he seems."
" Hard is our lot," piped Bekuts. " Our whole hope is
that you will not drive us poor orphans out through your
gates."
" Give us peace," said Kmita; " what is mine is
yours."
With that all rose from their places and began to take
him by the shoulder's. Tears of tenderness flowed over
those stern drunken faces.
"In you is all our hope, Yendrus," cried Kokosinski.
" Let us sleep even on pea straw ; drive us not forth."
" Give us peace," repeated Kmita.
" Drive us not forth; as it is, we have been driven, — we
nobles and men of family," said Uhlik, plaintively.
" To a hundred fiends with you, who is driving you out ?
Eat, drink ! What the devil do you want ? "
"Do not deny us," said Banitski, on whose face spots
came out as on the skin of a leopard. "Do not deny us,
Andrei, or we are lost altogether."
Here he began to stammer, put his finger to his forehead
as if straining his wit, and suddenly said, looking with
sheepish eyes on those present, " Unless fortune changes."
And all blurted out at once in chorus, " Of course it
will change."
THE DELUGE.
27
" And we will yet pay for our wrongs."
" And come to fortune."
" And to office."
" God bless the innocent! Our prosperity ! "
" Your health ! " cried Pan Andrei.
"Your words are holy, Yendrus," said Kokosinski, plac¬
ing his chubby face before Kinita. " God grant us improve¬
ment of fortune!"
Healths began to go around, and tufts to steam. All were
talking, one interrupting the other; and each heard only
himself, with the exception of Rekuts, who dropped his
head on his breast and slumbered. Kokosinski began to
sing, " She bound the flax in bundles," noting which Uhlik
took a flageolet from his bosom and accompanied him.
Ranitski, a great fencer, fenced with his naked hand
against an unseen opponent, repeating in an undertone,
"You thus, I thus; you cut, I strike,—one, two, three,
check!"
The gigantic Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus stared fixedly for
some time at Ranitski; at last he waved his hand and said :
"You're a fool! Strike your best, but still you can't hold
your own before Kmita with a sabre."
" For no one can stand before him ; but try yourself."
" You will not win against me with a pistol."
"For a ducat a shot."
" A ducat! But where and at what ? "
Ranitski cast his eyes around; at last he cried out, point¬
ing at the skulls, " Between the antlers, for a ducat! "
" For what ? " asked Kmita.
" Between the antlers, for two ducats, for three ! Bring
the pistols !"
" Agreed ! " cried Kmita. " Let it be three. Zend, get
the pistols!"
All began to shout louder and louder, and bargain among
themselves; meanwhile Zend went to the antechamber,
and soon returned with pistols, a pouch of bullets, and a
horn with powder.
Ranitski grasped for a pistol. " Is it loaded ? " asked he.
" Loaded."
"For three, four, five ducats!" blustered Kmita, drunk.
" Quiet! you will miss, you will miss."
" I shall hit at that skull between the antlers — one !
two!" .
All eyes were turned to the strong elk-skull fixed in front
28
THE DELUGE.
of Banitski. He straightened his arm ; the pistol turned in
his palm.
" Three ! " cried Kmita.
The shot sounded; the room was filled with powder
smoke. .
" He has missed, he has missed ! See where the hole is!
cried Kmita, pointing with his hand at the dark wall from
which the bullet had torn out a brighter chip.
" Two shots each time ! "
"Ho ; give it to me," cried Kulvyets.
At that moment the astonished servants ran in at the
sound of the shot.
" Away ! away !" called Kmita. " One ! two ! three ! "
Again the roar of a shot; this time the pieces fell from
the bone.
" But give us pistols too! " shouted all at the same time.
And springing up, they began to pound on the shoulders
of their attendants, urging them to hurry. Before a quarter
of an hour had passed, the whole room was thundering with
shots. The smoke hid the light of the candles and the
forms of the men shooting. The report of discharges was
accompanied by the voice of Zend, who croaked like a
raven, screamed like a falcon, howled like a wolf, bellowed
like an aurochs. The whistle of bullets interrupted him;
bits flew from the skulls, chips from the wall, and portraits
from their frames ; in the disorder the Billeviches were
shot, and Banitski, falling into fury, slashed them with his
sabre.
The servants, astonished and terrified, stood as if bereft of
their senses, gazing with startled eyes on that sport which
resembled a Tartar invasion. The dogs began to howl
and bark. All in the house were on their feet; in the
yard groups of people assembled. The girls of the house
ran to the windows, and putting their faces to the panes,
flattening their noses, gazed at what was passing within.
Zend saw them at last; he whistled so piercingly that it
rang in the ears of all, and then shouted, " Mighty lords !
titmice are under the window, — titmice ! "
" Titmice ! titmice ! "
"How for a dance !" roared dissonant voices.
The drunken crowd sprang through the anteroom to the
porch. The frost did not sober their steaming heads. The
girls, screaming in voices that rose to the sky, ran in every
direction through the yard ; but the men chased them, and
THE DELUGE.
29
brought each one they seized to the room. After a while
they began dancing in the midst of smoke, bits of bone,
and chips around the table on which spilled wine lay in
pools.
In such fashion did Pan Kmita and his wild company
revel in Lyubich.
so
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER IV.
For a number of subsequent clays Pan Andrei was at
Vodokty daily; and each time he returned more in love, and
admired more and more his Olenka. He lauded her to the
skies, too, before his companions, till on a certain day he said
to them, —
" My dear lambs, you will go to-day to beat with the fore¬
head ; then, as we have stipulated with the maiden, we will
go to Mitruny to have a sleigh-ride through the forests and
look at the third estate. She will entertain us there, and
do you bear yourselves decently ; for I would cut into hash
the man who offended her in anything."
The cavaliers hurried willingly to prepare, and soon four
sleighs were bearing the eager young men to Vodokty.
Kmita sat in the first sleigh, which was highly ornamented
and had the form of a silvery bear. This sleigh was drawn
by three captured Kalmuk horses in variegated harness, in
ribbons and peacock feathers, according to the Smolensk
fashion, borrowed from more distant neighbors. A young
fellow sitting in the neck of the bear drove the horses.
Pan Andrei was dressed in a green velvet coat buttoned on
golden cords and trimmed with sable, and wore a sable cap
with a heron's feather. He was gladsome, joyous, and spoke
to Kokosinski sitting at his side, —
" Listen, Kokosliko! I suppose Ave played tricks wild
beyond measure on two evenings, and especially the first,
when the skulls and the portraits suffered. But the case of
the girls Avas still Avorse. The Devil always pushes forward
that Zend, and then 011 whom does he pound out the punish¬
ment ? On me. I am afraid that people will talk, for in
this place my reputation is at stake."
" Hang yourself on your reputation; it is good for
nothing else, just like ours."
"And-who is to blame for that, if not you men ? Re¬
member, Kokoshko, they held me for a disturbing spirit in
Orsha, and tongues were sharpened on me like knives on a
whetstone."
" But Avho dragged Pan Tumgrat out in the frost with a
horse, who cut up that official, who asked AA'liether men
THE DELUGE.
31
walked on two feet in Orsha or on four ? Who hacked the
Vyzinskis, father and son ? Who broke up the last provin¬
cial Diet ? "
" I broke up the Diet in Orsha, not somewhere else; that
was a home affair. Pan Tumgrat forgave me when he was
dying; and as to the others, speak not, for a duel may hap¬
pen to the most innocent."
" I have not told all yet; I have not spoken of the trials
in the army, of which two are still waiting for you."
''Not for me, but for you men; for I am to blame only
for letting you rob the people. But no more of this ! Shut
your mouth, Kokoshko, and say nothing to Olenka about
the duels, and especially nothing of that shooting at the
portraits and of the girls. If it is told, I shall lay the
blame on you. I have informed the servants and the girls
that if a word is said, I will order belts taken out of their
skins."
"Have yourself shod like a horse, Yendrus, if you are
in such dread of your maiden. You were another man in
Orsha. I see already that you will go in leading-strings,
and there is no good in that. Some ancient philosopher
says, ' If you will not manage Kahna, Kahna will manage
you.' You have given yourself to be tied up in all things."
"You are a fool, Kokoshko ! But as to Olenka you will
stand on one foot and then on the other when you put eyes
on her, for another woman with such proper intent is not to
be found. What is good she will praise in a moment, but
the bad she will blame without waiting; for she judges
according to virtue, and has in herself a ready measure.
The late under-chamberlain reared her in that way. Should
you wish to boast of warlike daring before her, and say that
you trampled on justice, you will soon be ashamed; for at
once she will say, 'An honorable citizen should not do that;
it is against the country.' She will speak so to you that it
will be as if some one had slapped you on the face, and
you '11 wonder that you did not know these things yourself.
Tfu ! shame ! We have raised fearful disorder, and now
must stand open-eyed before virtue and innocence. The
worst was those girls —"
" By no means the worst. I have heard that in the vil¬
lages there are girls of the petty nobility like blood and
milk, and probably not stubborn at all."
" Who told you ? " asked Kmita, quickly.
"Who told me ? Who, if not Zend '? Yesterday while
32
THE DELUGE.
trying the roan steed he rode to Volmontovichi; he merely
rode along the highway, but he saw many titmice, for they
were coming from vespers. ' I thought,' said he, ' that I
should fly off the horse, they were so handsome and pretty.'
And whenever he looked at any one of them she showed
her teeth directly. And no wonder ! for all the grown men
of the nobles have gone to Rossyeni, and it is dreary for the
titmice alone."
Kmita punched his companion in the side with his list.
" Let us go, Kokoshko, some time in the evening, — pretend
we are astray, — shall we ? "
" But your reputation ? "
" Oh, to the Devil! Shut your mouth! Go alone, if that
is the way ; but better drop the matter. It would not pass
without talk, and I want to live in peace with the nobles
here, for the late under-chamberlain made them Olenka's
guardians."
"You have spoken of that, but I would not believe it.
How did he have such intimacy with homespuns ? "
"Because he went with them to war, and I heard of this
in Orsha, when he said that there was honorable blood in
those Lauda men. But to tell the truth, Kokoshko, it was
an immediate wonder to me, for it is as if he had made them
guards over me."
"You will yield to them and bow to your boots before
dish-cloths."
" First may the pestilence choke them ! Be quiet, for I
am angry ! They will bow to me and serve me. Their
quota is ready at every call."
" Some one else will command this quota. Zend says
that there is a colonel here among them — I forget his
name — Volodyovski or something ? He led them at
Shklov. They fought well, it appears, but were combed
out there."
" I have heard of a Volodyovski, a famous warrior — But
here is Vodokty in sight."
" Hei, it is well for people in J mud; for there is stern
order. The old man must have been a born manager. And
the house, — I see how it looks. The enemy brought fire
here seldom, and the people could build."
" I think that she cannot have heard yet of that outburst
in Lyubich," said Kmita, as if to himself. Then he turned
to his comrade: "My Kokoshko, I tell you, and do you
repeat it to the others, that you must bear yourselves de-
THE DELUGE.
33
cently here; and if any man permits himself anything, as
God is dear to me, I will cut him up like chopped straw."
"Well, they have saddled you ! "
" Saddled, saddled not, I will cut you up !"
• " Don't look at my Kasia or I '11 cut you to pieces," said
Kokosinski, phlegmatieally.
" Fire out thy whip !" shouted Kmita to the driver.
The youth standing in the neck of the silvery bear whirled
his whip, and cracked it very adroitly; other drivers fol¬
lowed his example, and they drove with a rattling, quick
motion, joyous as at a carnival.
Stepping out of the sleighs, they came first to an ante¬
chamber as large as a granary, an unpainted room; thence
Kmita conducted them to the dining-hall, ornamented as in
Lyubich with skulls and antlers of slain beasts. Here they
halted, looking carefully and with curiosity at the door of
the adjoining room, by which Panna Aleksandra was to
enter. Meanwhile, evidently keeping in mind Kmita's
warning, they spoke with one another in subdued tones,
as in a church.
" You are a fellow of speech," whispered Uhlik to Koko¬
sinski, " you will greet her for us all."
" I was arranging something to say on the road," answered
Kokosinski, "but I know not whether it will be smooth
enough, for Yendrus interrupted my ideas."
"Let it be as it comes, if with spirit. But here she
is!"
Panna Aleksandra entered, halting a little on the thresh¬
old, as if in wonder at such a large company. Kmita him¬
self stood for a while as if fixed to the floor in admiration
of her beauty; for hitherto he had seen her only in the
evening, and in the day she seemed still more beautiful.
Her eyes had the color of star-thistles; the dark brows
above them were in contrast to the forehead as ebony with
white, and her yellow hair shone like a crown on the head
of a queen. Not dropping her eyes, she had the self-
possessed mien of a lady receiving guests in her own house,
with clear face seeming still clearer from the black dress
trimmed with ermine. Such a dignified and exalted lady
the warriors had not seen; they were accustomed to women
of another type. So they stood in a rank as if for the en¬
rolling of a company, and shuffling their feet they also
bowed together in a row; but Kmita pushed forward, and
kissing the hand of the lady a number of times, said, —
VOL. I. — 3
34
THE DELUGE.
" See, my jewel, I have brought you fellow soldiers with
whom I fought in the last war."
" It is for me no small honor," answered Panna Biflevich,
" to receive in my house such worthy cavaliers, of whose
virtue and excellent qualities I have heard from their com¬
mander, Pan Kmita."
When she had said this she took her skirt with the tips
of her lingers, and raising it slightly, courtesied with' un¬
usual dignity. Kmita bit his lips, but at the same time he
was flushed, since his maiden had spoken with such spirit.
The worthy cavaliers continuing to shuffle their feet, all
nudged at the same moment Pan Kokosinski: " Well,
begin!"
Kokosinski moved forward one step, cleared his throat,
and began as follows : " Serene great mighty lady, under-
chamberlain's daughter — "
" Chief-hunter's daughter," corrected Kmita.
" Serene great mighty lady, chief-hunter's daughter, but
to us right merciful benefactress," repeated Kokosinski, —
" pardon, your ladyship, if I have erred in the title —"
" A harmless mistake," replied Panna Aleksandra, " and
it lessens in no wise such an eloquent cavalier — "
" Serene great mighty lady, chief-hunter's daughter, bene¬
factress, and our right merciful lady, I know not what
becomes me in the name of all Orsha to celebrate more, —
the extraordinary beauty and virtue of your ladyship, our
benefactress, or the unspeakable happiness of the captain
and our fellow-soldier, Pan Kmita; for though I were to
approach the clouds, though I were to reach the clouds
themselves — I say, the clouds — "
" But come down out of those clouds ! " cried Kmita.
With that the cavaliers burst into one enormous laugh;
but all at once remembering the command of Kmita, they
seized their mustaches with their hands.
Kokosinski was confused in the highest degree. He grew
purple, and said, " Do the greeting yourselves, pagans, since
you confuse me."
Panna Aleksandra took again, with the tips of her fingers,
her skirt. ' I could not follow you gentlemen in eloquence,"
said she, "but I know that I am unworthy of those homages
which you give me in the name of all Orsha."
And again she made a courtesy with exceeding dignity
and it was somehow out of plane for the Orsha roisterers
in the presence of that courtly maiden. They strove to
THE DELUGE.
35
exhibit themselves as men of politeness, but it did not be¬
come them. Therefore they began to pull their mustaches,
to mutter and handle their sabres, till Krnita said, —
"We have come here as if in a carnival, with the thought
to take you with us and drive to Mitruny through the forest,
as was the arrangement yesterday. The snow-road is firm,
and God has given frosty weather."
" I have already sent Aunt Kulvyets to Mitruny to pre¬
pare dinner. But now, gentlemen, wait just a little till I
put on something warm."
Then she turned and went out.
Krnita sprang to his comrades. " Well, my dear lambs,
is n't she a princess ? Now, Kokosinski, you said that she
had saddled me, and why were you as a little boy before
her ? Where have you seen her like ? "
" There was no call to interrupt me; though I do not
deny that I did not expect to address such a person."
" The late under-cliamberlain," said Krnita, " lived with
her most of the time in Kyedani, at the court of the prince
voevoda, or lived with the Hleboviches; and there she ac¬
quired those high manners. But her beauty, — what of
that ? You cannot let your breath go yet."
"We have appeared as fools," said Banitski, in anger;
" but the biggest fool was Kokosinski."
" Traitor ! why punch me with your elbow ? You should
have appeared yourself, with your spotted mouth."
" Harmony, lambs, harmony!" said Krnita; " I will let
you admire, but not wrangle."
" I would spring into the fire for her," said Rekuts. " Hew
me down, Yendrus, but I '11 not deny that."
Krnita did not think of cutting down; he was satisfied,
twisted his mustache, and gazed on his comrades with
triumph. Now Banna Aleksandra entered, wearing a mar¬
ten-skin cap, under which her bright face appeared still
brighter. They went out on the porch.
" Then shall we ride in this sleigh ? " asked the lady,
pointing to the silvery bear. " I have not seen a more
beautiful sleigh in my life."
" I know not who has used it hitherto, for it was captured.
It suits me very well, for on my shield is a lady on a bear.
There are other Kmitas who have banners on their shield,
but they are descended from Filon Krnita of Charnobil; he
was not of the same house from which the great Kmitas are
descended."
36
THE DELUGE.
" And when did you capture this bear sleigh ? "
"Lately, in this war. We poor exiles who have fallen
away from fortune have only what war gives us in plunder.
But as I serve that lady faithfully, she has rewarded me."
" May God grant a better ; for war rewards one, but
presses tears from the whole dear fatherland.'
" God and the hetmans will change that."
Meanwhile Kmita wrapped Banna Aleksandra in the
beautiful sleigh robe of white cloth lined with white wolf¬
skin ; then taking his own seat, he cried to the driver,
" Move on ! " and'the horses sprang forward at a run.
The cold wind struck their faces with its rush ; they were
silent, therefore, and nothing was heard save the wheezing
of frozen snow under the runners, the snorting of the horses,
their tramp, and the cry off the driver.
At last Pan Andrei bent toward Olenka. " Is it pleasant
for you ? "
" Pleasant," answered she, raising her sleeve and holding
it to her mouth to ward off the rush of air.
The sleigh dashed 011 like a whirlwind. The day was
bright, frosty; the snow sparkled as if some one were scat¬
tering sparks 011 it. Prom the white roofs of the cottages,
which were like piles of snow, rosy smoke curled in high
columns. Blocks of crows from among the leafless trees by
the roadside flew before the sleighs with shrill cawing.
About eighty rods from Vodokty they came out on a
broad road into dark pine-woods which stood gloomy, hoary,
and silent as if sleeping under the thick snow-bunches.
The trees flitted before the eye, appeared to be fleeing to
some place in the rear of the sleigh; but the sleigh flew on,
every moment swiftly, more swiftly, as if the horses had
wings. From such driving the head turns, and ecstasy
seizes one; it seized Panna Aleksandra. She leaned back,
closed her eyes, and yielded completely to the impetus.
She felt a sweet powerlessness, and it seemed to her that
that boyar of Orsha had taken her by violence; that he is
rushing away like a whirlwind, and she growing weak has
no strength to oppose or to cry, — and they are flying, flying
each moment more swiftly. Olenka feels that arms are
embracing her; then on her cheek as it were a hot burning
stamp. Her eyes will not open, as if in a dream ; and they
%, fly:
An inquiring voice first roused the sleeping" lady: " Do
you love me ? "
THE DELUGE.
37
She opened her eyes. " As my own soul."
" And I for life and death."
Again the sable cap of Kmita bent over the marten-skin
cap of Olenka. She knew not herself which gave her more
delight, — the kisses or the magic ride.
And they flew farther, but always through pine-woods,
through pine-woods. Trees fled to the rear in whole regi¬
ments. The snow was wheezing, the horses snorting; but
the man and the maiden were happy.
" I would ride to the end of the world in this way," cried
Kmita.
" What are we doing ? This is a sin!" whispered
Olenka.
" What sin ? Let us commit it again."
"Impossible ! Mitruny is not far."
" Far or near, 't is all one ! "
And Kmita rose in the sleigh, stretched his arms upward,
and began to shout as if in a full breast he could not find
place for his joy: "Hei-ha! hei-lia!"
" Hei-hop! hoop-ha! " answered the comrades from the
sleighs behind.
" Why do you shout so ? " asked the lady.
" Oh, so, from delight! And shout you as well ! "
" Hei-ha! " was heard the resonant, thin alto voice.
" 0 thou, my queen! I fall at thy feet."
" The company will laugh."
After the ecstasy a noisy joyousness seized them, as wild
as the driving was wild. Kmita began to sing, —
"Look thou, my girl! look through the door,
To the rich fields !
Oh, knights from the pine-woods are coming, my mother,
Oh, that's my fate !
Look not, my daughter ! cover thy eyes,
With thy white hands,
For thy heart will spring out of thy bosom
With them to the war."
" Who taught you such lovely songs ?" asked Panna
Aleksandra.
" War, Olenka. In the camp we sang them to one an¬
other to drive away sadness."
Further conversation was interrupted by a loud calling
from the rear sleighs : " Stop ! stop ! Hei there — stop !"
Pan Andrei turned around in anger, wondering how it
came to the heads of his comrades to call and stop him.
38
THE DELUGE.
He saw a few tens of steps from the sleigh a horseman ap¬
proaching at full speed of the horse.
" As God lives, that is my sergeant Soroka; what can
have happened ? " said Pan Andrei.
That moment the sergeant coining up, reined his horse on
his haunches, and began to speak with a panting voice:
" Captain ! — "
" What is the matter, Soroka ? "
" Upita is on fire ; they are fighting! "
" Jesus Mary ! " screamed Olenka.
" Have no fear ! — Who is fighting ? "
" The soldiers with the townspeople. There is a fire on
the square! The townspeople are enraged, and they have
sent to Ponyevyej for a garrison. But I galloped here to
your grace. I can barely draw breath."
During this conversation the sleighs behind caught up ;
Kokosinski, Ranitski, Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus, Uhlik, Re-
kuts, and Zend, springing out on the snow, surrounded the
speakers with a circle.
" What is the matter ? " asked Kmita.
" The townspeople would not give supplies for horses or
men, because there was no order for it; the soldiers began
to take by force. We besieged the mayor and those who
barricaded themselves in the square. Firing was begun,
and we burned two houses ; at present there is terrible vio¬
lence, and ringing of bells—"
Kmita's eyes gleamed with wrath.
"We must go to the rescue !" shouted Kokosinski.
" The rabble are oppressing the army !" cried Ranitski,
whose whole face was covered at once with red, white, and
dark spots. " Check, check ! mighty lords ! "
Zend laughed exactly as a screech-owl hoots, till the
horses were frightened; and Rekuts raised his eyes and
piped, " Strike, whoso believes in God! smoke out the
ruffians!"
" Be silent!" roared Kmita, till the woods echoed, and
Zend, who stood nearest, staggered like a drunken man.
" There is no need of you there, no need of slashing! Sit
all of you in two sleighs, leave me the third. Drive back
to Lyubich; wait there unless I send for succor."
"How is that ? " asked Ranitski, opposing.
But Pan Andrei laid a hand 011 his throat, and his eyes
gleamed more terribly. "Rot a breath out of you ! " said
he, threateningly.
THE DELUGE.
39
They were silent; evidently they feared him, though
usually on such familiar footing.
"Go back, Olenka, to Vodokty," said Krnita, "or go for
your Aunt Kulvyets to Mitruny. Well, our party was not
a success. But it will be quieter there soon; only a few
heads will fly off. Be in good health and at rest; I shall be
quick to return."
Having said this, he kissed her hand, and wrapped her in
the wolf-skin; then he took his seat in the other sleigh, and
cried to the driver, " To Upita! "
40
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER V.
A number of days passed, and Kmita did not return;
but three men of Lauda came to Vodokty with complaints
to the lady. Pakosh Gashtovt from Patsuneli came, — the
same who was entertaining at his house Pan Volodyoyski.
He was the patriarch of the village, famed for wealth and
six daughters, of whom three had married Butryms, and
received each one hundred coined dollars as dowry, besides
clothing and cattle. The second Avho came was Kassyan
Butrym, who remembered Batory well, and with him the
son-in-law of Pakosh, Yuzva Butrym; the latter, though
in the prime of life, — he was not more than fifty years
old, — did not go to Rossyeni to the registry of the gene¬
ral militia, for in the Cossack wars a cannon-ball had
torn off his foot. He was called 011 this account Ankle-
foot, or Yuzva Footless. He was a terrible man, with the
strength of a bear, and great sense, but harsh, surly, judg¬
ing men severely. For this reason lie was feared somewhat
in the capitals, for he could not pardon either himself or
others. He was dangerous also when in liquor; but that
happened rarely.
These men came, then, to the lady, who received them
graciously, though she divined at once that they had come
to make complaints, and wanted to hear something from
her regarding Pan Kmita.
" We wish to pay our respects to Pan Kmita, but perhaps
he has not come back yet from TJpita," said Pakosh; "so
we have come to inquire, our dear darling, when it will be
possible to see him."
" I think the only hindrance is that he is not here,"
answered the lady. "He will be glad with his whole soul
to see you, my guardians, for he has heard much good con¬
cerning you, — in old times from my grandfather, and
lately from me."
" If only he does not receive us as he received the Doma-
sheviches when they went to him with tidings of the
colonel's death," muttered Yuzva, sullenly.
The lady listened to the end, and answered at once with
animation: "Be not unjust about that. Perhaps he did
THE DELUGE.
41
not receive them politely enough, but he has confessed his
fault in this house. It should be remembered too that he
was returning from a war in which he endured much toil
and suffering. We must not wonder at a soldier, even if
he snaps at his own, for warriors have tempers like sharp
swords." .
Pakosh Gashtovt, who wished always to be in accord
with the wdiole world, waved his hand and said : "We did
not wonder, either. A beast snaps at a beast when it sees
one suddenly ; why should not a man snap at a man ? We
will go to old Lyubich to greet Pan Kmita, so that he may
live with us, go to war and to the wilderness, as the late
under-chamberlain used to do."
" Well, tell us, dear darling, did he please you or did he
not please you ? " asked Kassyan Butrym. " It is our duty
to ask this."
" God reward you for your care. Pan Kmita is an hon¬
orable cavalier, and even if I had found something against
him it would not be proper to speak of it."
" But have you not seen something, our dearest soul ? "
"Nothing! Besides, no one has the right to judge him
here, and God save us from showing distrust. Let us
rather thank God."
" Why thank too early ? When there will be something
to thank for, then thank ; if not, then not thank," answered
the sullen Yuzva, who, like a genuine man of Jmud, was
very cautious and foreseeing.
" Have you spoken about the marriage ? " inquired
Kassyan.
Olenka dropped her eyes : " Pan Kmita wishes it as
early as possible."
" That's it! and why should n't he wish it ? " muttered
Yuzva; "he is not a fool ! What bear is it that does not
want honey from a tree ? But why hurry ? Is it not
better to see what kind of man he is ? Father Kassyan,
tell what you have on your tongue; do not doze like a
hare at midday under a ridge."
" I am not dozing, I am only turning in my head what to
say," answered the old man. " The Lord Jesus has said,
' As Kuba [Jacob] is to God, so will God be to Kuba.' We
wish no ill to Pan Kmita, if he wishes no ill to us, —
which God grant, amen."
" If he will be to our thinking," said Yuzva.
Panna Billevich frowned with her falcon brows, and said
42
THE DELUGE.
with a certain haughtiness: "Remember that we are not
receiving a servant. lie will be master here , and. his will
must have force, not ours. He will succeed you in the
guardianship."
" Does that mean that we must not interfere ? asked
Yuzva.
" It means that you are to be friends with him, as he
wishes to be a friend of yours. Moreover he is taking
care of his own property here, which each man manages
according to his wish. Is not this true, Father Pakosh ? "
" The sacred truth," answered the old man of Patsuneli.
Yuzva turned again to old Butrym. " Do not doze,
Father Kassyan !"
" I am not dozing, I am only looking into my mind."
" Then tell what you see there."
" What do I see ? This is what I see: Pan Kmita is a
man of great family, of high blood, and we are small
people. Moreover he is a soldier of fame ; he alone op¬
posed the enemy when all had dropped their hands, — God
give as many as possible of such men ! But he has a com¬
pany that is worthless. Pan Pakosh, my neighbor, what
have you heard about them from the Domasheviches ?
That they are all dishonored men, against whom outlawry
has been declared, infamous and condemned, with declara¬
tions and trials hanging over them, children of the hang¬
man. They were grievous to the enemy, but more grievous
to their own people. They burned, they plundered, they
rioted; that is what they did. They may have slain people
in duels or carried out executions, — that happens to honest
men ; but they have lived in pure Tartar fashion, and long
ago would have been rotting in prison but for the protection
of Pan Kmita, who is a powerful lord. He favors and
protects them, and they cling to him just as flies do in
summer to a horse. Row they have come hither, and it
is known to all what they are doing. The first day at
Lyubich they fired out of pistols, — and at what ? — at the
portraits of the dead Billeviches, which Pan Kmita should
not have permitted, for the Billeviches are his benefactors."
Olenka covered her eyes with her hands. "It cannot
be ! it cannot be ! "
" It can, for it has been. He let them shoot at his bene¬
factors, with whom he Avas to enter into relationship;
and then they dragged the girls of the house into the room
for debauchery. Tfu! an offence against God ! That has
THE DELUGE.
43
never been among us ! The first day they began shooting
and dissoluteness, — the first day! "
Here old Kassyan grew angry, and fell to striking the
floor with his staff. On Olenka's face were dark blushes,
and Yuzva said, —
" And Pan Kmita's troops in Upita, are they better ?
Like officers, like men. Some people stole Pan Sollohub's
cattle ; it is said they were Pan Kmita's men. Some persons
struck down on the road peasants of Meizagol who were
drawing pitch. Who did this ? They, the same soldiers.
Pan Sollohub went to Pan Hlebovich for satisfaction, and
now there is violence in Upita again. All this is in opposi¬
tion to God. It used to be quiet here as in no other place,
and now one must load a gun for the night and stand
guard; but why ? Because Pan Kmita and his company
have come."
" Father Yuzva, do not talk so," cried Olenka.
" But how must I talk ? If Pan Kmita is not to blame,
why does he keep such men, why does he live with such
men ? Great mighty lady, tell him to dismiss them or give
them up to the hangman, for otherwise there will be no
peace. Is it a thing heard of to shoot at portraits and
commit open debauchery ? Why, the whole neighborhood
is talking of nothing else."
" What have I to do ? " asked Olenka. " They may be
evil men, but he fought the war with them. If he will
dismiss them at my request ? "
" If he does not dismiss them," muttered Yuzva, in a low
voice, " he is the same as they."
With this the lady's blood, began to boil against those
men, murderers and profligates.
" Let it be so. He must dismiss them. Let him choose
me or them. If what you say is true, — and I shall know
to-day if it is true, — I shall not forgive them either the
shooting or the debauchery. I am alone and a weak
orphan, they are an armed crowd; but I do not fear
them."
" We will help you," said Yuzva.
"In God's name," continued Olenka, more and more
excited, "let them do what they like, but not here in Lyu-
bich. Let them be as they like, — that is their affair, their
pecks' answer; but let them not lead away Pan Kmita to
debauchery. Shame and disgrace ! I thought they were
awkward soldiers, but now I see that they are vile traitors,
44
THE DELUGE.
who stain both themselves and him. That's the truth !
Wickedness was looking out of their eyes; but I, foolish
woman, did not recognize it. Well, I thank you, fathers,
for opening my eyes on these Judases. I know what it
beseems me to do."
" That's it! " said old Kassyan. " Virtue speaks through
you, and we will help you."
" Do not blame Pan Kmita, for though he has offended
against good conduct he is young; and they tempt him,
they lead him away, they urge him to license with example,
and bring disgrace to his name. This is the condition; as I
live, it will not last long."
Wrath roused Olenka's heart more and more, and indig¬
nation at the comrades of Pan Kmita increased as pain
increases in a wound freshly given; for terribly wounded
in her were the love special to woman and that trust with
which she had given her whole unmixed feeling to Pan
Andrei. She was ashamed for his sake and for her own,
and anger and internal shame sought above all guilty
parties.
The nobles were glad when they saw their colonel's
granddaughter so terrible and ready for unyielding war
against the disturbers from Orsha.
She spoke on with sparkling eyes: " True, they are to
blame; arid they must leave not only Lyubich, but the
whole country-side."
"Our heart, we do not blame Pan Kmita," said old
Kassyan. "We know that they tempt him. Kot through
bitterness nor venom against him have we come, but
through regret that he keeps near his person revellers. It
is evident, of course, that being young he is foolish. Even
Pan Hlebovich the starosta was foolish when he was young,
but now he keeps us all in order."
"And a dog," said the mild old man from Patsuneli,
with a voice of emotion, — " if you go with a young one to
the field, won't the fool instead of running after the game
fall about your feet, begin to play, and tug you by the
skirts ? "
Olenka wanted to say something, but suddenly she
burst into tears.
"Do not cry," said Yuzva Butrym.
"Do not cry, do not cry," repeated the two old
men.
They tried to comfort her, but could not. After they
THE DELUGE.
45
had gone, care, anxiety, and as it were an offended
feeling against them and against Pan Andrei remained. It
pained the proud lady more and more deeply that she had
to defend, justify, and explain him. But the men of that
company! The delicate hands of the lady clinched at
thought of them. Before her eyes appeared as if present
the faces of Pan Kokosinski, Uhlik, Zend, Kulvyets-Hip-
pocentaurus, and the others; and she discovered what she
had not seen at first, that they were shameless faces, on
which folly, licentiousness, and crime had all fixed their
stamps in common. A feeling of hatred foreign to Olenka
began to seize her as a rattling fire seizes fuel ; but to¬
gether with this outburst offence against Pan Kmita
increased every minute.
" Shame, disgrace," whispered the maiden, with pallid
lips, " that yesterday he went from me to house-wenches ! "
and she felt herself overborne. A crushing burden stopped
the breath in her breast.
It was growing raw out of doors. Panna Aleksandra
walked'in the room with hurried step, but anger was seeth¬
ing in her soul without ceasing. Hers was not the nature to
endure the persecutions of fate without defending herself
against them. There was knightly blood in the girl. She
wanted straightway to begin a struggle with that band of
evil spirits, — straightway. But what remained to her ?
Nothing, save tears and the prayer that Pan Andrei would
send to the four winds those shame-bringing comrades.
But if he will not do that — And she did not dare to think
more of the question.
The meditations of the lady were interrupted by a
youth who brought an armful of juniper sticks to the
chimney, and throwing them down at the side of the
hearth, began to pull out the coals from under the smoul¬
dering ashes. Suddenly a decision came to Olenka's
mind.
" Kostek! " said she, " sit on horseback for me at once,
and ride to Lyubich. If the master has returned, ask him
to come here; but if he is not there, let the manager, old
Znikis, mount with thee and come straight to me, and
quickly."
The youth threw some bits of pitch on the coals and
covered them with clumps of dry juniper. Bright flames
began to crackle and snap in the chimney. It grew some¬
what lighter in Olenka's mind.
46
TIIE DELUGE.
"Perhaps the Lord God will change this yet," thought
she to herself, " and maybe it is not so bad as the guardians
have said."
After a while she went to the servants' room to sit, ac¬
cording to the immemorial custom of the Billeviches, with
the maidens to oversee the spinning and sing hymns.
In two hours Kostek entered, chilled from cold.
" Znikis is in the antechamber," said he. " The master
is not in Lyubich."
The lady rose quickly. The manager in the ante¬
chamber bowed to her feet. "But how is your health,
serene heiress ? God give you the best."
They passed into the dining-hall; Znikis halted at the
door.
" What is to be heard among you people ? " asked the lady.
The peasant waved his hand. " Well, the master is
not there."
" I know that, because he is in Upita. But what is
going on in the house ? "
" Well! — "
" Listen, Znikis, speak boldly; not a hair will fall from
thy head. People say that the master is good, but his
companions wild ? "
" If they were only wild, serene lady ! — "
"Speak candidly."
" But, lady, if it is not permitted me — I am afraid —
they have forbidden me."
" Who has forbidden ? "
"My master."
" Has he ? " asked the lady.
A moment of silence ensued. She walked quickly in
the room, with compressed lips and frowning brow. He
followed her with his eyes. Suddenly she stopped before
him.
" To whom dost thou belong ? "
"To the Billeviches. I am from Vodokty, not from
Lyubich."
" Thou wilt return no more to Lyubich; stay here. Now
I command thee to tell all thou knowest."
The peasant cast himself on his knees at the threshold
where he was standing. " Serene lady, I do not want to
go back; the day of judgment is there. They are bandits
and cut-throats; in that place a man is not sure of the
day nor the hour."
THE DELUGE.
47
Panna Billevich staggered as if stricken by an arrow.
She grew very pale, but inquired calmly, " Is it true
that they fired in the room, at the portraits ?"
" Of course they fired ! And they dragged girls into
their rooms, and every day the same debauchery. In the
village is weeping, at the house Sodom and Gomorrah.
Oxen are killed for the table, sheep for the table. The
people are oppressed. Yesterday they killed the stable¬
man without cause."
" Did they kill the stable-man ? "
" Of course. And worst of all, they abused the girls.
Those at the house are not enough for them; they chase
others through the village."
A second interval of silence followed. Hot blushes
came out on the lady's face, and did not leave it.
" When do they look for the master's return ? "
" They do not know, my lady. But I heard, as they
were talking to one another, that they would have to start
to-morrow for Upita with their whole company. They
gave command to have horses ready. They will come
here and beg my lady for attendants and powder, because
they need both there."
" They are to come here ? That is well. Go now,
Znikis, to the kitchen. Thou wilt return to Lyubich no
more."
" May God give you health and happiness !"
Panna Aleksandra had learned what she wanted, and
she knew how it behooved her to act.
The following day was Sunday. In the morning, before
the ladies had gone to church, Kokosinski, Uhlik, Kulvyets-
Hippocentaurus, Ranitski, Rekuts, and Zend arrived, fol¬
lowed by the servants at Lyubich, armed and on horseback,
for the cavaliers had decided to march to Upita with succor
for Kmita.
The lady went out to meet them calmly and haughtily,
altogether different from the woman who had greeted them
for the first time a few days before. She barely motioned
with her head in answer to their humble bows; but they
thought that the absence of Pan Kmita made her cautious,
and took no note of the real situation.
Kokosinski stepped forward more confidently than the
first time, and said, — - -
"Serene great mighty lady, chief-hunter's daughter, bene¬
factress, we have come in here on our way to Upita to fall
48
THE DELUGE.
at the feet of our lady benefactress and beg for assistance,
such as powder, and that you would permit your servants
to mount their horses and go with us. We will take Upita
by storm, and let out a little blood for the basswood-
barks."
" It is a wonder to me," answered Panna Billevich, " that
you are going to Upita, when I heard myself how Pan
Kmita commanded you to remain quietly in Lyubich, and I
think that it beseems him to command and you to obey, as
subordinates."
The cavaliers hearing these words looked at one another
in astonishment. Zend pursed out. his lips as if about to
whistle in bird fashion. Kokosinski began to draw his broad
palm over his head.
" As true as life," said he, " a man would think that you
were speaking to Pan Kmita's baggage-boys. It is true that
we were to sit at home; but since the fourth day is passing
and Yendrus has not come, we have reached the conviction
that some serious tumult may have risen, in which our sabres,
too, would be of service."
" Pan Kmita did not go to a battle, but to punish turbu¬
lent soldiers, and punishment may meet you also if you go
against orders. Besides, a tumult and slashing might come
to pass more quickly if you were there."
"It is hard to deliberate with your ladyship. We ask
only for powder and men."
" Men and powder I will not give. Do you hear me,
sirs !"
" Do I hear correctly ? " asked Kokosinski. " How is this ?
Tou will not give ? You will spare in the rescue of Kmita,
of Yendrus ? Do you prefer that some evil should meet
him ? "
" The greatest evil that can meet him is your company."
Here the maiden's eyes began to flash lightning, and
raising her head she advanced some steps toward the cut¬
throats, and they pushed back before her in astonishment.
" Traitors !" said she, " you, like evil spirits, tempt him to
sin; you persuade him on. But I know you, — your profli¬
gacy, your lawless deeds. Justice is hunting you ; people
turn away from you, and on whom does the shame fall ?
On him, through you who are outlaws, and infamous."
" Hei, by God's wounds, comrades, do you hear ? " cried
Kokosinski. " Hei, what is this ? Are we not sleeping,
comrades ? "
THE DELUGE.
49
Panna Billevich advanced another step, and pointing with
her hand to the door, said, " Be off out of here !"
The ruffians grew as pale as corpses, and no one of them
found a word in answer. But their teeth began to gnash,
their hands to quiver toward their sword-hilts, and their
eyes to shoot forth malign gleams. After a moment, how¬
ever, their spirits fell through alarm. That house too was
under the protection of the powerful Kmita; that insolent
lady was his betrothed. In view of this they gnawed their
rage in silence, and she stood unflinchingly with flashing
eyes pointing to the door with her finger.
At last Kokosinski spoke in a voice broken with rage:
" Since we are received here so courteously, nothing remains
to us but to bow to the polished lady and go — with thanks
for the entertainment."
Then he bowed, touching the floor with his cap in pur¬
posed humility; after him all the others bowed, and went
out in order. When the door closed after the last man,
Olenka fell exhausted into the armchair, panting heavily,
for she had not so much strength as daring.
They assembled in counsel in front of the entrance near
their horses, but no man wanted to speak first. At last
Kokosinski said, " Well, dear lambs, Avhat's that ? "
" Do you feel well ? "
" Do you ? "
" Ei! but for Kmita," said Ranitski, rubbing his hands
convulsively, " we would revel with this lady here in our
own fashion."
" Go meet Kmita," piped Rekuts.
Ranitski's face was covered completely with spots, like
the skin of a leopard. " I '11 meet him and you too, you
reveller, wherever it may please you ! "
" That's well!" cried Rekuts.
Both rushed to their sabres, but the gigantic Kulvyets-
Hippocentaurus thrust himself between. u See this fist! "
said he, shaking as it were a loaf of bread; " see this fist! "
repeated he. " I '11 smash the head of the first man who
draws his sabre." And he looked now at one and now at
the other, as if asking in silence who wished to try first;
but they, addressed in such fashion, were quiet at once.
" Kulvyets is right," said Kokosinski. " My dear lambs,
we need agreement now more than ever. I would advise to
go with all speed to Kmita, so that she may not see him
first, for she would describe us as devils. It is well that
VOL. x. — 4
50
THE DELUGE.
none of us snarled at her, though my own hands and tongue
were itching. If she is going to rouse him against us, it is
better for us to rouse him first. God keep him from leaving
us ! Straightway the people here would surround us, hunt
us down like wolves."
" Nonsense !" said Eanitski. " They will do nothing to
us. There is war now; are there few men straggling
through the world without a roof, without bread ? Let us
collect a party for ourselves, dear comrades, and let all the tri¬
bunals pursue us. Give your hand, Rekuts, I forgive you."
" I should have cut off your ears," piped Rekuts ; " but let
us be friends, a common insult has met us."
" To order out cavaliers like us ! " said Kokosinski.
"And me, in whom is senatorial blood!" added Ranitski.
" Honorable people, men of good birth!"
" Soldiers of merit! "
" And exiles ! "
"Innocent orphans!"
" I have boots lined with wool, but my feet are freezing,"
said Kulvyets. " Shall we stand like minstrels in front of
this house ? They will not bring us out heated beer. We
are of no use here; let us mount and ride away. Better
send the servants home, for what good are they without
guns and weapons ? We will go on alone."
"To Upita!"
"To Yendrus, our worthy friend! We will make com¬
plaint before him."
" If only we do not miss him."
" To horse, comrades, to horse !"
They mounted, and moved 011 at a walk, chewing their
anger and shame. Outside the gate Ranitski, whom rage
still held as it were by the throat, turned and threatened
the house with his fist. " Ei! I want blood! I want blood!"
" If we can only raise a quarrel between her and Kmita,"
said Kokosinski, " we shall go through this place yet with
fire."
" That may happen."
" God aid us !" added Uhlik.
" Oh, pagan's daughter, mad heath-hen !"
Railing thus, and enraged at the lady, snarling sometimes
too at themselves, they reached the forest. They had barely
passed the first trees when an enormous flock of crows
whirled above their heads. Zend began at once to croak
in a shrill voice; thousands of voices answered him from
THE DELUGE.
51
above. The flock came down so low that the horses began
to be frightened at the sound of their wings.
" Shut your mouth ! " cried Ranitski to Zend. " You ;11
croak out misfortune on us yet. Those crows are circling
over us as over carrion."
The others laughed. Zend croaked continually. The
crows came down more and more, and the party rode as if
in the midst of a storm. Tools ! they could not see the
ill omen.
Beyond the forest appeared Volmontovichi, toward which
the cavaliers moved at a trot, for the frost was severe ; they
were very cold, and it was still a long way to Upita, but they
had to lessen their speed in the village itself. In the broad
road of the village the space was full of people, as is usual on
Sundays. The Butryms, men and women, were returning
on foot and in sleighs from Mitruny after receiving indul¬
gence. The nobles looked on these unknown horsemen, half
guessing who they were. The young women, who had heard
of their license in Lyubich and of the notorious public sin¬
ners whom Pan Kmita had brought, looked at them with still
greater curiosity. But they rode proudly in imposing mili¬
tary posture, with velvet coats which they had captured, in
panther-skin caps, and on sturdy horses. It was to be seen
that they were soldiers by profession, — their gestures fre¬
quent and haughty, their right hands resting 011 their hips,
their heads erect. They gave the way to no man, advan¬
cing in a line and shouting from time to time, " Out of the
road!" One or another of the Butryms looked at them
with a frown, but yielded ; the party chatted among them¬
selves about the village.
" See, gentlemen," said Ivokosinski, " what sturdy fellows
there are here; one after another like an aurochs, and each
with the look of a wolf."
"If it were not.for their stature and swords, they might
be taken for common trash."
"Just look at those sabres,—regular tearers, as Clod is
dear to me !" remarked Ranitski. " I would like to make
a trial with some of those fellows." Here he began to fence
with his hand : " He thus, I thus ! He thus, I thus — and
check !"
"You can easily have that delight for yourself," said
Rekuts. "Hot much is needed with them for a quarrel."
"I would rather engage with those girls over there," said
Zend, all at once.
52
THE DELUGE.
" They are candles, not girls ! " cried Rekuts, with
enthusiasm.
" What do you say, — candles ? Pine-trees ! And each
one has a face as if painted with crocus."
" It is hard to sit on a horse at such a sight."
Talking in this style, they rode out of the village and
moved on again at a trot. After half an hour's ride they
came to a public house called Dola, which was half-way
between Arolmontovichi and Mitruny. The Butryms, men
and women, generally stopped there going to and returning
from church, in order to rest and warm themselves in frosty
weather. So the cavaliers saw before the door a number of
sleighs with pea-straw spread in them, and about the same
number of saddle-horses.
" Let us drink some gorailka, for it is cold," said
Ivokosinski.
" It would n't hurt," answered the others, in a chorus.
They dismounted, left their horses at the posts, and
entered the drinking-hall, which was enormous and dark.
They found there a crowd of people, — nobles sitting on
benches or standing in groups before the water-pail, drink¬
ing warmed beer, and some of them a punch made of mead,
butter, vudka, and spice. Those were the Butryms them¬
selves, stalwart and gloomy ; so sparing of speech that in
the room scarcely any conversation was heard. All were
dressed in gray overcoats of home-made or coarse cloth
from Bossyeni, lined with sheepskin; they had leather
belts, with sabres in black iron scabbards. By reason of
that uniformity of dress they had the appearance of sol¬
diers. But they were old men of sixty or youths under
twenty. These had remained at home for the winter
threshing; the others, men in the prime of life, had gone
to Rossyeni.
AVhen they saw the cavaliers of Orsha, they drew back
from the water-bucket and began to examine them. Their
handsome soldierly appearance pleased that warlike nobil¬
ity ; after a while, too, some one dropped the word, —
"Are they from Lyubich ? "
"Yes, that is Pan Kmita's company !"
"Are these they ? "
" Of course."
The cavaliers drank gorailka, but the punch had a stronger
odor. Kokosinski caught it first, and ordered some. They
sat around a table then; and when the steaming kettle was
TPIE DELUGE.
53
brought they began to drink, looking around the room at
the men and blinking, for the place was rather dark. The
snow had blocked the windows; and the broad, low opening
of the chimney in which the fire was burning was hidden com¬
pletely by certain figures with their backs to the crowd.
When the punch had begun to circulate in the veins of
the cavaliers, bearing through their bodies an agreeable
warmth, their cheerfulness, depressed by the reception at
Vodokty, sprang up again ; and all at once Zend fell to
cawing like a crow, so perfectly that all faces were turned
toward him.
The cavaliers laughed, and the nobles, enlivened, began
to approach, especially the young men, — powerful fellows
with broad shoulders and plump cheeks. The figures sitting
at the chimuey turned their faces to the room, and Bekuts
was the first to see that they were women.
Zend closed his eyes and cawed, cawed. Suddenly he
stopped, and in a moment those present heard the cry of a
hare choked by a dog; the hare cried in the last agony,
weaker and lower, then screamed in despair, and was silent
for the ages ; in place of it was heard the deep bellow of a
furious stag as loud as in spring-time.
The Butryms were astonished. Though Zend had stopped,
they expected to hear something again ; but they heard only
the piping voice of Bekuts, —
" Those are titmice sitting near the chimney !"
" That is true !" replied Kokosinski, shading his eyes
with his hand.
" As true as I live !" added Uhlik, " but it is so dark in
the room that I could not see them."
" I am curious. What are they doing ? "
" Maybe they have come to dance."
" But wait; I will ask," said Kokosinski. And raising
his voice, he asked, "My dear women, what are you doing
there at the chimney ? "
"We are warming our feet," answered thin voices.
Then the cavaliers rose and approached the hearth.
There were sitting at it, on a long bench, about ten women,
old and young, holding their bare feet on a log lying by the
fire. On the other side of the log their shoes wet from the
snow were drying.
" So you are warming your feet ? " asked Kokosinski.
"Yes, for they are cold."
" Very pretty feet," piped Bekuts, inclining toward the log.
"But keep at a distance," said one of the women.
54
THE DELUGE.
"I prefer to come near. I have a sure method, better
than fire, for cold feet; which is, — only dance with a will,
and the cold flies away."
"If to dance, then dance," said Ulilik. " We want neither
fiddles nor bass-viols. I will play for you 011 the flageolet."
Taking from its leather case which hung near his sabre
the ever-present flageolet, lie began to play ; and the cava¬
liers, pushing forward with dancing movement to the maid¬
ens, sought to draw them from the benches. The maidens
appeared to defend themselves, but more with their voices
than their hands, for in truth they were not greatly opposed.
Maybe the men, too, would have been willing in their turn ;
for against dancing on Sunday after Mass and during the
carnival no one would protest greatly. But the reputation
of the "company" was already too well known in Volmon-
tovichi; therefore first the gigantic Yuzva Butrym, he who
had but one foot, rose from the bench, and approaching
Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus, caught him by the breast, held
him, and said with sullen voice, —
" If your grace wants dancing, then dance with me."
Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus blinked, and began to move his
mustaches convulsively. " I prefer a girl," said he ; " I can
attend to you afterward."
Meanwhile Kanitski ran up with face already spotted,
for he sniffed a quarrel. " Who are you, road-blocker ? "
asked he, grasping his sabre.
IJhlik stopped playing, and Kokosinski shouted, " Hei,
comrades ! together, together ! "
But the Butryms were already behind Yuzva; sturdy old
men and great youths began to assemble, growling like
bears.
" What do you want ? Are you looking for bruises ? "
asked Kokosinski.
"Ko talk! Be off out of here !" said Yuzva, stolidly.
Then Kanitski, whose interest it was that an hour should
not pass without a fight, struck Yuzva with the hilt of his
sword in the breast, so that it was heard in the whole room,
and cried, " Strike ! "
Rapiers glittered; the scream of women was heard, the
clatter of sabres, uproar and disturbance. Then the gigan¬
tic Yuzva pushed out of the crowd, took a roughly hewn
bench from beside a table, and raising it as though it were
a light strip of wood, shouted, " Make way ! make way ! "
Dust rose from the floor and hid the combatants; but in
the confusion groans were soon heard.
THE DELUGE.
55
CHAPTER VI. -
In the evening of that same day Pan Kmita came to
Vodokty, at the head of a hundred and some tens of men
whom he had brought from Upita so as to send them to
Kyedani; for he saw himself that there were no quarters in
such a small place for a large number of soldiers, and when
the townspeople had been brought to hunger the soldiers
would resort to violence, especially soldiers who could be
held in discipline only by fear of a leader. A glance at
Kmita's volunteers was enough to convince one that it
would be difficult to find men of worse character in the
whole Commonwealth. Kmita could not have others.
After the defeat of the grand hetrnan, the enemy deluged
the whole country. The remnants of the regular troops of
the Lithuanian quota withdrew for a certain time to Birji
and Kyedani, in order to rally there. The nobility of Smo¬
lensk, Vityebsk, Polotsk, Mstislavsk, and Minsk either
followed the army or took refuge in the provinces still
unoccupied. Men of superior courage among the nobility
assembled at Grodno around the under-treasurer, Pan Gos-
yevski; for the royal proclamation summoning the general
militia appointed that as the place of muster. Unfortu¬
nately few obeyed the proclamation, and those who followed
the voice of duty assembled so negligently that for the time
being no one offered real resistance save Kmita, who fought
on his own account, animated more by knightly daring than
patriotism. It is easy to understand that in the absence of
regular troops and nobility he took such men as he could
find, consequently men who were not drawn by duty to the
hetmans and who had nothing to lose. Therefore there
gathered around him vagrants without a roof and without a
home, men of low rank, runaway servants from the army,
foresters grown wild, serving-men from towns, or scoundrels
pursued by the law. These expected to find protection un¬
der a flag and win profit from plunder. In the iron hands
of Kmita they were turned into daring soldiers, daring even
to madness ; and if Kmita had been prudent he might have
rendered high service to the Commonwealth. But Kmita
was insubordinate himself, his spirit was always seething;
56
THE DELUGE.
besides, whence could lie take provisions and arms and
horses, since being a partisan he did not hold even a com¬
mission. and could not look for any aid from the treasury
of the Commonwealth ? He took therefore with violence, —
often from the enemy, often from his own, — could suffer 110
opposition, and punished severely for the least cause.
In continual raids, struggles, and attacks he had grown
wild, accustomed to bloodshed in such a degree that 110 com¬
mon thing could move the heart within him, which however
was good by nature. He was in love with people of un¬
bridled temper who were ready for anything. Soon his
name had an ominous sound. Smaller divisions of the en¬
emy did not dare to leave the towns and the camps in those
regions where the terrible partisan was raging. But the
townspeople ruined by war feared his men little less than
they did the enemy, especially when the eye of Kmita in per¬
son was not resting on them. When command was taken by
his officers, Kokosinski, Uhlik, Kulvyets, Zend, and particu¬
larly by Ranitski, — the wildest and most cruel of them all,
though a man of high lineage, —it might always be asked,
Are those defenders or ravagers ? Kmita at times punished
his own men without mercy when something happened not
according to his humor; but more frequently he took their
part, regardless of the rights, tears, and lives of people.
His companions with the exception of Bekuts, on whom
innocent blood was not weighing, persuaded the young leader
to give the reins more and more to his turbulent nature.
Such vras Kmita's army. Just then he had taken his rabble
from Upita to send it to Kyedani.
When they stopped in front of the house at Vodokty,
Panna Aleksandra was frightened as she saw them through
the window, they were so much like robbers. Each one had
a different outfit: some were in helmets taken from the
enemy ; others in Cossack caps, in hoods and Polish caps ;
some in faded overcoats, others in sheep-skin coats; their
arms were guns, spears, bows, battle-axes ; their horses, poor
and worn, were covered with trappings, Polish, Russian, 01*
Turkish.
Olenka was set at rest only wdien Pan Andrei, gladsome
and lively as ever, entered the room and rushed straight to
her hands with incredible quickness.
And she, though resolved in advance to receive him
with dignity and coldness, was still unable to master the
joy which his coming had caused her. Feminine cunning
THE DELUGE.
57
too may have played a certain part, for it was necessary to
tell Pan Andrei about turning his comrades out of doors ;
therefore the clever girl wished to incline him first to her
side. And in addition he greeted her so sincerely, so lov¬
ingly that the remnant of her offended feeling melted like
snow before a blaze.
" He loves me ! there is no doubt about that," thought
she.
And he said: "I so longed for you that I was ready to
burn all Upita if I could only fly to you the sooner. May
the frost pinch them, the basswood barks ! "
" I too was uneasy lest it might come to a battle there.
Praise be to God that you have returned ! "
" And such a battle ! The soldiers had begun to pull
around the basswood barks a little — "
" But you quieted them ? "
" This minute I will tell you how it all happened, my
jewel; only let me rest a little, for I am wearied. Ei! it
is warm here. It is delightful in this Vodokty, just as in
paradise. A man would be glad to sit here all his life,
look in those beautiful eyes, and never go away — But it
would do no harm, either, to drink something warm, for
there is terrible frost outside."
" Right away I will have wine heated, with eggs, and
bring it myself."
" And give my gallows' birds some little keg of gorailka,
and give command to let them into the stable, so that they
may warm themselves a little even from the breath of the
cattle. They have coats lined with wind, and are terribly
chilled."
"I will spare nothing on them, for they are your
soldiers."
While speaking she smiled, so that it grew bright in
Kmita's eyes, and she slipped out as quietly as a cat to
have everything prepared in the servants' hall.
Kmita walked up and down in the room, rubbing the top
of his head, then twirling his young mustache, thinking
how to tell her of what had been done in Upita.
" The pure truth must be told," muttered he ; " there is
no help for it, though the company may laugh because I
am here in leading-strings." And again he walked, and
again he pushed the foretop on his forehead; at last he
grew impatient that the maiden was so long in returning.
Meanwhile a boy brought in a light, bowed to the girdle,
58
THE DELUGE.
and went out. Directly after the charming lady of the
house entered, bringing with both hands a shining tin tray,
and on it a small pot, from which rose the fragrant steam of
heated Hungarian, and a goblet of cut glass with the es¬
cutcheon of the Kmitas. Old Billevich got this goblet in
his time from Andrei's father, when at his house as a
guest.
Pan Andrei when he saw the lady sprang toward her.
" Hei! " cried he, " both hands are full, you will not escape
me."
He bent over the tray, and she drew back her head,
which was defended only by the steam which rose from the
pot. " Traitor ! desist, or I will drop the drink."
But he feared not the threat; afterward he cried, " As
God is in heaven, from such delight a man might lose
his wits !"
" Then you lost your wit long ago. Sit down."
He sat down obediently; she poured the drink into the
goblet.
"Tell me how you sentenced the guilty in Upita."
" In Upita ? Like Solomon ! "
" Praise to God for that! It is on my heart that all in
this region should esteem you as a steady and just man.
How was it then ? "
Kmita took a good draught of the drink, drew breath,
and began, —
" I must tell from the beginning. It was thus : The
townspeople with the mayor spoke of an order for pro¬
visions from the grand hetman or the under-treasurer.
' You gentlemen,' said they to the soldiers, 'are volunteers,
and you cannot levy contributions. We will give you
quarters for nothing, and provisions we will give when it is
shown that we shall be paid.'"
" Were they right, or were they not ? "
" They were right according to law; but the soldiers had
sabres, and in old fashion whoever has a sabre has the best
argument. They said then to the basswood barks, 1 We will
write orders on your skins immediately.' And straightway
there rose a tumult. The mayor and the people barricaded
themselves in the street, and my men attacked them ; it
did not pass without firing. The soldiers, poor fellows,
burned a couple of barns to frighten the people, and
quieted a few of them also."
" How did they quiet them ? "
THE DELUGE.
59
"Whoso gets a sabre on his skull is as quiet as a
coward/'
" As God lives, that is murder ! "
" That is just why I went there. The soldiers ran to me
at once with complaints and outcries against the oppression
in which they were living, being persecuted without cause.
< Our stomachs are empty,' said they, ' what are we to do ? '
I commanded the mayor to appear. He hesitated long,
but at last came with three other men. They began :
< Even if the soldiers had not orders, why did they beat us,
why burn the place? We should have given them to eat
and to drink for a kind word; but they wanted ham, mead,
dainties, and we are poor people, we have not these things
for ourselves. We will seek defence at law, and you will
answer before a court for your soldiers.'"
" God will bless you," cried Olenka, if you have ren¬
dered justice as was proper."
" If I have." Here Pan Andrei wriggled like a student
who has to confess his fault, and began to collect the fore¬
lock on his forehead with his hand. " My queen ! " cried he
at last, in an imploring voice, "my jewel, be not angry with
me! "
" What did you do then ? " asked Olenka, uneasily.
" I commanded to give one hundred blows apiece to the
mayor and the councillors," said Kmita, at one breath.
Olenka made no answer ; she merely rested her hands on
her knees, dropped her head on her bosom, and sank into
silence.
" Cut off my head ! " cried Kmita, " but do not be angry !
I have not told all yet! "
" Is there more ? " groaned the lady.
" There is, for they sent then to Ponyevyej for aid. One
hundred stupid fellows came with officers. These men 1
frightened away , but the officers — for God's sake be not
angry ! — I ordered to be chased and flogged with braided
whips, naked over the snow, as I once did to Pan Tumgrat
in Orsha."
Panna Billevich raised her head; her stern eyes were
flashing with indignation, and purple came out on her
cheeks. " You have neither shame nor conscience ! " said
she.
Kmita looked at her in astonishment; he was silent for a
moment, then asked with changed voice, " Are you speak¬
ing seriously or pretending ? "
60
THE DELUGE.
" I speak seriously; that deed is becoming a bandit and
not a cavalier. I speak seriously, since your reputation is
near my heart; for it is a shame to me that you have barely
come here, when all the people look on you as a man of
violence and point at you with their lingers."
" What care I for the people? One dog watches ten of
their cabins, and then has not much to do."
" There is no infamy on those modest people, there is no
disgrace on the name of one of them. Justice will pursue
no man here except you."
" Oh, let not your head ache for that. Every man is
lord for himself in our Commonwealth, if he has only a
sabre in his hand and can gather any kind of party. What
can they do to me? Whom fear I here ? "
" If you fear not man, then know that I fear God's an¬
ger, and the tears of people; I fear wrongs also. And
moreover I am not willing to share disgrace with any one;
though I am a weak woman, still the honor of my name is
dearer to me than it is to a certain one who calls himself a
cavalier."
" In God's name, do not threaten me with refusal, for
you do not know me yet."
." I think that my grandfather too did not know
you." _
Kmita's eyes shot sparks ; but the Billevich blood began
to play in her.
"Oh, gesticulate and grit your teeth," continued she,
boldly; " but I fear not, though I am alone and you have a
whole party of robbers, — my innocence defends me. You
think that I know not how you fired at the portraits in
Lyubich and dragged in the girls for debauchery. You do
not know me if you suppose that I shall humbly be silent.
I want honesty from you, and no will can prevent me from
exacting it. Xay, it was the will of my grandfather that I
should be the wife of only an honest man."
Kmita was evidently ashamed of what had happened at
Lyubich; for dropping his head, he asked in a voice now
calmer, " Who told you of this shooting ? "
" All the nobles in the district speak of it."
" I will pay those homespuns, the traitors, for their good
will," answered Kmita, sullenly. "But that happened in
drink, — in company, — for soldiers are not able to restrain
themselves. As for the girls I had nothing to do with
them."
THE DELUGE.
61
"I know that those brazen ruffians, those murderers,
persuade you to everything."
"They are not murderers, they are my officers."
"I commanded those officers of yours to leave my house."
Olenka looked for an outburst; but she saw with greatest
astonishment that the news of turning his comrades out of
the house made no impression on Kmita; on the contrary,
it seemed to improve his humor.
" You ordered them to go out ? " asked he.
" I did."
" And they went ? "
" They did."
" As God lives, you have the courage of a cavalier. That
pleases me greatly, for it is dangerous to quarrel with such
people. More than one man has paid dearly for doing so.
But they observe manners before Kmita! You saw they
bore themselves obediently as lambs ; you saw that, — but
why ? Because they are afraid of me."
Here Kmita looked boastfully at Olenka, and began to
twirl his mustache. This fickleness of humor and inoppor¬
tune boastfulness enraged her to the last degree ; therefore
she said haughtily and with emphasis, "You must choose
between me and them ; there is no other way."
Kmita seemed not to note the decision with which she
spoke, and answered carelessly, almost gayly: " But why
choose when I have you and I have them ? You may do
what you like in Yodokty ; but if my comrades have com¬
mitted no wrong, no license here, why should I drive them
away ? You do not understand what it is to serve under
one flag and carry on war in company. jSTo relationship
binds like service in common. Know that they have saved
my life a thousand times at least. I must protect them all
the more because they are pursued by justice. They are
almost all nobles and of good family, except Zend, who is
of uncertain origin; but such a horse-trainer as he there is
not in the whole Commonwealth. And if you could hear
how he imitates wild beasts and every kind of bird, you
would fall in love with him yourself."
Here Kmita laughed as if no anger, no misunderstanding,
had ever found place between them ; and she was ready to
wring her hands, seeing how that whirlwind of a nature
was slipping away from her grasp. All that she had said
of the opinions of men, of the need of sedateness, of dis¬
grace, slipped along on him like a dart on steel armor.
62
THE DELUGE.
The unroused conscience of this soldier could give no re¬
sponse to her indignation at every injustice and every
dishonorable deed of license. How was he to be touched,
how addressed ?
" Let the will of God be done," said she at last; " since
you will resign me, then go your way. God will remain
with the orphan."
" I resign you ? " asked Kmita, with supreme astonish¬
ment.
"That is it! —if not in words, then in deeds ; if not you
me, then I you. Tor I will not marry a man weighted by
the tears and blood of people, whom men point at with
their fingers, whom they call an outlaw, a robber, and
whom they consider a traitor."
" What, traitor ! Do not bring me to madness, lest I do
something for which I should be sorry hereafter. May the
thunderbolts strike me this minute, may the devils flay me,
if I am a traitor, — I, who stood by the country when all
hands had dropped! "
" You stand by the country and act like an enemy, for you
trample on it. You are an executioner of the people, re¬
garding the laws neither of God nor man. No ! though my
heart should be rent, I will not marry you; being such a
man, I will not!"
" Do not speak to me of refusal, for I shall grow furious.
Save me, ye angels ! If you will not have me in good-will,
then I '11 take you without it, though all the rabble from
the villages were here, though the Kadzivills themselves
were here, the very king himself and all the devils with t
their horns stood in the way, even if I had to sell my soul
to the Devil! "
"Do not summon evil spirits, for they will hear you,"
cried Olenka, stretching forth her hands.
" What do you wish of me ? "
" Be honest! "
Both ceased speaking, and silence followed; only the
panting of Pan Andrei was heard. The last words of
Olenka had penetrated, however, the armor covering his
conscience. He felt himself conquered; he knew not
what to answer, how to defend himself. Then he began
to go with sWift steps through the room. She sat there
motionless. Above them hung disagreement, dissension,
and regret. They were oppressive to each other, and the
long silence became every instant more unendurable.
THE DELUGE.
63
" Farewell!" said Kmita, suddenly.
" Go, and may God give you a different inspiration! "
answered Olenka.
" I will go! Bitter was your drink, bitter your bread.
I have been treated here to gall and vinegar."
" And do you think you have treated me to sweetness ? "
answered she, in a voice in which tears were trembling.
" Be well."
" Be well."
Kmita, advancing toward the door, turned suddenly, and
springing to her, seized both her hands and said, "By the
wounds of Christ! do you wish me to drop from the horse
a corpse on the road ? "
That moment Olenka burst into tears ; he embraced her
and held her in his arms, all quivering, repeating through
her set teeth, " Whoso believes in God, kill me ! kill, do not
spare!"
At last he burst out: " Weep not, Olenka ; for God's sake,
do not weep ! In what am I guilty before you ? I will do
all to please you. I '11 send those men away, I '11 come to
terms in Upita, I will live differently, —for I love you. As
God lives, my heart will burst! I will do everything ; only
do not cry, and love me still."
And so he continued to pacify and pet her ; and she, when
she had cried to the end, said : " Go now. God will make
peace between us. I am not offended, only sore at heart."
The moon had risen high over the white fields when Pan
Andrei pushed out on his way to Lyubich, and after him
.. clattered his men, stretching along the broad road like a
serpent. They went through Yolmontovichi, but by the
shortest road, for frost had bound up the swamps, which
might therefore be crossed without danger.
The sergeant Soroka approached Pan Andrei. " Captain,"
inquired he, " where are we to find lodgings in Lyubich ? "
" Go away ! " answered Kmita.
And he rode on ahead, speaking to no man. In his heart
rose regret, at moments anger, but above all, vexation at
himself. That was the first night in his life in which he
made a reckoning with conscience, and that reckoning
weighed him down more than the heaviest armor. Behold,
he had come into this region with a damaged reputation,
and what had he done to repair it ? The first day he had
permitted shooting and excess in Lyubich, and thought that
he did not belong to it, but he did; then he permitted it
64
THE DELUGE.
every day. Further, his soldiers wronged the townspeople,
and he increased those wrongs. T\ orse, he attacked the
Ponyevyej garrison, killed men, sent naked officers on the
snow. They will bring an action against him ; he will lose
it. They will punish him with loss of property, honor, per¬
haps life. But why can he not, after he has collected an
armed party of the rabble, scoff at the law as before ? Be¬
cause he intends to marry, settle in Yodokty, serve not 011
his own account, but in the contingent; there the law will
find him and take him. Besides, even though these deeds
should pass unpunished, there is something vile in them,
something unworthy of a knight. Maybe this violence can
be atoned for ; but the memory of it will remain in the hearts
of men, in his own conscience, and in the heart of Olenka.
When he remembered that she had not rejected him yet,
that when he was going away he read in her eyes forgive¬
ness, she seemed to him as kind as the angels of heaven.
And behold the desire was seizing him to go, not to-morrow,
but straightway, as fast as the horse could spring, fall at her
feet, beg forgetfulness, and kiss those sweet eyes which to¬
day had moistened his face with tears. Then he wished to
roar with weeping, and felt that he loved that girl as he had
never in his life loved any one. " By the Most Holy Lady !"
thought he, in his soul, " I will do what she wishes ; I will
provide for my comrades bountifully, and send them to the
end of the world ; for it is true that they urge me to evil."
Then it entered his head that on coming to Lyubich he
would find them most surely drunk or with girls { and such
rage seized him that he wanted to slash somebody with a
sabre, even those soldiers whom he was leading, and cut
them up without mercy.
" I '11 give it to them !" muttered he, twirling his mus¬
tache. " They have not yet seen me as they will see me."
Then from madness he began to prick the horse with his
spurs, to pull and drag at the reins till the steed grew wild.
Soroka, seeing this, muttered to the soldiers, —
" The captain is mad. God save us from falling under
his hand!"
Pan Andrei had become mad in earnest. Bound about
there was great calm. The moon shone mildly, the heavens
were glittering with thousands of stars, not the slightest
breeze was moving the limbs on the trees ; but in the heart
of the knight a tempest was raging. The road to Lyubich
seemed to him longer than ever before. A certain hitherto
THE DELUGE.
unknown alarm began to play upon him from the gloom of
the forest depths, and from the fields flooded with a green¬
ish light of the moon. Finally weariness seized Fan Andrei,
— for, to tell the truth, the whole night before he had passed
in drinking and frolicking in Upita; but he wished to over¬
come toil with toil, and rouse himself from unquiet by
swift riding; he turned therefore to the soldiers and com¬
manded, —
" Forward!"
He shot ahead like an arrow, and after him the whole
party. And in those woods and along those empty fields
they flew on like that hellish band of knights of the cross
of whom people tell in Jmud, — how at times in the middle
of bright moonlight nights they appear and rush through
the air, announcing war and uncommon calamities. The
clatter flew before them and followed behind, from the
horses came steam, and only when at the turn of the road
the roofs of Lyubich appeared did they slacken their speed.
The swinging gate stood open. It astonished Krnita that
when the yard was crowded with his men and horses 110 one
came out to see or inquire who they were. He expected to
find the windows gleaming with lights, to hear the sound of
Uhlik's flageolet, of fiddles, or the joyful shouts of conversa¬
tion. At that time in two windows of the dining-hall quiv¬
ered an uncertain light; all the rest of the house was dark,
quiet, silent. The sergeant Soroka sprang first from his
horse to hold the stirrup for the captain.
" Go to sleep," said Kmita; " whoever can find room in
the servants' hall, let him sleep there, and others in the
stable. Put the horses in the cattle-liouses and in the barns,
and bring them hay from the shed."
" I hear," answered the sergeant.
Kmita came down from the horse. The door of the
entrance was wide open, and the entrance cold.
"Hei! Is there any one here ? " cried Ivmita.
No one answered.
" Hei there ! " repeated he, more loudly.
Silence.
" They are drunk ! " muttered Pan Andrei.
And such rage took possession of him that he began to
grit his teeth. While riding he was agitated with anger at
the thought that he should find drinking and debauchery;
now this silence irritated him still more.
He entered the dining-hall. On an enormous table was
■ VOL. T. — 5
66
THE DELUGE.
burning a tallow lamp-pot with a reddish smoking light.
The force of the wind which came in from the antechamber
deflected the flame so that for a time Pan Andrei could not
see anything. Only when the quivering had ceased did he
distinguish a row of forms lying just at the wall.
"Have they made themselves dead drunk or what?"
muttered he, unquietly.
Then he drew near with impatience to the side of the
first figure. He could not see the face, for it was hidden in
the shadow; but by the white leather belt and the white
sheath of the flageolet he recognized Pan Uhlik, and began
to shake him unceremoniously with his foot.
" Get up, such kind of sons ! get up !"
But Pan Uhlik lay motionless, with his hands fallen
without control at the side of his body, and beyond him
Avere lying others. ISTo one yawned, no one quivered, no one
woke, no one muttered. At the same moment Kmita no¬
ticed that all Avere lying 011 their backs in the same position,
and a certain fearful presentiment seized him by the heart.
Springing to the table, he took Avith trembling hand the
light and thrust it toAvard the faces of the prostrate men.
The hair stood 011 his head, such a dreadful sight met his
eyes. Uhlik he Avas able to recognize only by his white
belt, for his face and his head presented one formless, foul,
bloody mass, Avithout eyes, without nose or mouth, — only
the enormous mustaches Avere sticking out of the dreadful
pool. Kmita pushed the light farther. Next in order
lay Zend, Avith grinning teeth and eyes protruding, in Avhich
in glassy fixedness was terror before death. The third in
the 1'oav, Ranits'ki, had his eyes closed, and over his Avhole
face Avere spots, white, bloody, and dark. Kmita took the
light farther. Fourth lay Kokosinski, — the dearest to
Kmita of all his officers, being his former near neighbor. He
seemed to sleep quietly, but in the side of his neck was to
be seen a large Avound surely given Avith a thrust. Fifth in
the i'oav lay the gigantic Kulvyets-Hippoeentaurus, Avith the
vest torn on his bosom and his face slashed many times.
Kmita brought the fight near each face ; and Avhen at last
he brought it to the sixth, Rekuts, it seemed that the lids of
the unfortunate victim quivered a little from the gleam.
Kmita put the light on the floor and began to shake the
wounded man gently. After the eyelids the face began to
moA^e, the eyes and mouth opened and closed in turn.
" Rekuts, Rekuts, it is I!" said Kmita.
THE DELUGE.
67
The eyes "of Rekuts opened for a moment; he recognized
the face of his friend, and groaned in a low voice, "• Ten¬
dinis — a priest — "
" Who killed you ? " cried Kmita, seizing himself by the
hair.
" Bu-try-my— " (The Butryms), answered he, in a voice
so low that it was barely audible. Then be stretched him¬
self, grew stiff, his open eyes became fixed, and he died.
Kmita went in silence to the table, put the tallow lamp
upon it, sat down in an armchair, and began to pass his
hands over his face like a man who waking from sleep does
not know yet whether he is awake or still sees dream figures
before his eyes. Then he looked again on the bodies lying
in the darkness. Cold sweat came out 011 his forehead, the
hair rose on his head, and suddenly he shouted so terribly
that the panes rattled in the windows, —
" Come hither, every living man ! come hither ! "
The soldiers, who had disposed themselves in the ser¬
vants' hall, heard that cry and fell into the room with a
rush. Kmita showed them with his hand the corpses at the
wall.
" Murdered ! murdered ! " repeated he, with hoarse voice.
They ran to look ; some came with a taper, and held it
before the eyes of the dead men. After the first moment
of astonishment came noise and confusion. Those hurried
in who had found places in the stables and barns. The
whole house was bright with light, swarming with men;
and in the midst of all that whirl, shouting, and questioning,
the dead lay at the wall unmoved and quiet, indifferent to
everything, and, in contradiction to their own nature, calm.
The souls had gone out of them, and their bodies could not
be raised by the trumpet to battle, or the sound of the gob¬
lets to feasting.
Meanwhile in the din of the soldiers shouts of threatening
and rage rose higher and higher each instant. Kmita, who
till that moment had been as it were unconscious, sprang
up suddenly and shouted, " To horse ! "
Everything living moved toward the door. Half an hour
had not passed when more than one hundred horsemen were
rushing with breakneck speed over the broad snowy road,
and at the head of them flew Pan Andrei, as if possessed of
a demon, bareheaded and with a naked sabre in His hand.
In the still night was heard 011 every side the wild shouts :
"Slay! kill!"
68
THE DELUGE.
The moon had reached just the highest point on its road
through the sky, when suddenly its beams began to be min¬
gled and mixed with a rosy light, rising as it were from
under the ground; gradually the heavens grew red and still
redder as if from the rising dawn, till at last a bloody glare
filled the whole neighborhood. One sea of fire raged over
the gigantic village of the Butryms ; and the wild soldiers
of Kmita, in the midst of smoke, burning, and sparks burst¬
ing in columns to the sky, cut down the population,
terrified and blinded from fright.
The inhabitants of the nearer villages sprang from their
sleep. The greater and smaller companies of the Smoky
Gostsyeviches and Stakyans, Gaslitovts and Domashe-
viches, collected on the road before their houses, and look¬
ing in the direction of the fire, gave alarm from mouth to
mouth: " It must be that an enemy has broken in and is
burning the Butryms, — that is an unusual fire ! "
The report of muskets coming at intervals from the
distance confirmed this supposition.
" Let us go to assist them! " cried the bolder; " let us
not leave our brothers to perish !"
And when the older ones spoke thus, the younger, who
on account of the winter threshing had not gone to Ross-
yeni, mounted their horses. In Krakin and in Upita they
had begun to ring the church bells.
In Yodokty a quiet knocking at the door roused Panna
Aleksandra.
" Olenka, get up ! " cried Panna Kulvyets.
" Come in, Aunt, what is the matter ? "
" They are burning Volmontovichi! "
" In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! "
" Shots are heard, there is a battle! God have mercy
on us!"
Olenka screamed terribly; then she sprang out of bed
and began to throw on her clothes hurriedly. Her body
trembled as in a fever. She alone guessed in a moment what
manner of enemy had attacked the ill-fated Butryms.
After a while the awakened women of the whole house
rushed into the room with crying and sobbing. Olenka
threw herself on her knees before an image; they followed
her example, and all began to repeat aloud the litany for
the dying.
They had scarcely gone through half of it when a violent
pounding shook the door of the antechamber. The women
THE DELUGE.
69
sprang to their feet; a cry of alarm was rent from their
breasts.
" Do not open ! do not open ! "
The pounding was heard with redoubled force ; it seemed
that the door would spring from its hinges. That moment
the youth Kostek rushed into the midst of the assembled
women.
" Panna !" cried he, " some man is knocking; shall I
open or not ? "
" Is he alone ? "
" Alone."
" Go open."
The youth hurried away. She, taking a light, passed
into the dining-room ; after her, Panna Kulvyets and all the
spinning-women.
She had barely put the light on the table when in the
antechamber was heard the rattle of iron bolts, the creak of
the opening door; and before the eyes of the women ap¬
peared Pan Kmita, terrible, black from smoke, bloody,
panting, with madness in his eyes.
" My horse has fallen at the forest," cried he; " they
are pursuing me !"
Panna Aleksandra tixed her eyes on him: " Did you burn
Volmontovichi ? "
"I—I — "
He wanted to say something more, when from the side
of the road and the woods came the sound of voices
and the tramp of horses approaching with uncommon
rapidity.
" The devils are after my soul; let them have it! " cried
Kmita, as if in a fever.
Panna Aleksandra that moment turned to the women.
" If they ask, say there is no one here; and now go to the
servants' hall and come here at daylight! " Then to Kmita:
" Go in there," said she, pointing to an adjoining room; and
almost by force she pushed him through the open door,
which she shut immediately.
Meanwhile armed men filled the front yard ; and in the
twinkle of an eye the Butryms, Gostsyeviches, Domashe-
viches, with others, burst into the house. Seeing the lady,
they halted in the dining-room ; but she, standing with a
light in her hand, stopped with her person the passage to
doors beyond.
" Men, what has happened ? What do you want ? " asked.
70
THE DELUGE.
she, without blinking an eye before the terrible looks and
the ominous gleam of drawn sabres.
" Kmita has burned Yolmontovichi ! " cried the nobles, in
a chorus. " He has slaughtered men, women, children, —
Kmita did this."
"We have killed his men," said Yuzva Entry m; "now
we are seeking his own head."
" His head, his blood ! Cut down the murderer ! "
"Pursue him!" cried the lady. "Why do you stand
here ? Pursue him ! "
" Is he not hidden here ? We found his horse at the
woods."
" He is not here ! The house was closed. Look for him
in the stables and barns."
" He has gone off to the woods!" cried some noble.
" Come, brothers."
" Be silent! " roared with powerful voice Yuzva Butrym.
" My lady," said he, " do not conceal him ! That is a
cursed man !"
Olenka raised both hands above her head: "I join you
in cursing him ! "
" Amen !" shouted the nobles. " To the buildings, to
the woods ! We will find him ! After the murderer !"
" Come on ! come 011! "
The clatter of sabres and tramp of feet was heard again.
The nobles hurried out through the porch, and mounted
with all speed. A part of them searched still for a time
in the stables, the cow-houses, and hay-shed; then their
voices began to retreat toward the woods.
Panna Aleksandra listened till they had ceased alto¬
gether ; then she tapped feverishly at the door of the
room in which she had hidden Kmita. " There is no one
here now, come out."
Pan Andrei pushed himself forth from the room as if
drunk. "Olenka!" he began.
She shook her loosened tresses, which then covered her
face like a veil. "I wish not to see you or know you.
Take a horse and flee hence ! "
" Olenka ! " groaned Kmita, stretching forth his hands.
" There is blood on your hands, as on Cain's ! " screamed
she, springing back as if at the sight of a serpent. " Be
gone, for the ages ! "
THE DELUGE.
71
CHAPTER VII.
The day rose gray, and lighted a group of ruins in Vol-
montovichi, — the burned remnants of houses, out-build-
ings, bodies of people and horses burned or slain with
swords. In the ashes amidst dying embers crowds of
pale people were seeking for the bodies of the dead or the
remains of their property. It Avas a day of mourning and
misfortune for all Lauda. The numerous nobility had ob¬
tained, it is true, a victory over Kmita's men, but a grievous
and bloody one. Besides the Butryms, Avho had fallen
in greater numbers than the others, there was not a village
in which widoAvs Avere not bewailing husbands, parents
sons, or children their fathers. It Avas the more difficult
for the Lauda people to finish the invaders, since the
strongest were not at home; only old men or youths of
early years took part in the battle. But of Kmita's
soldiers not one escaped. Some yielded their lives in
Volmontovichi, defending themselves with such rage that
they fought after they were wounded; others were caught
next day in the woods and killed without mercy. Kmita
himself Avas as if he had dropped into Avater. The people
Avere lost in surmising what had become of him. Some
insisted that he had reached the Avilderness of Zyelonka
and gone thence to Rogovsk, where the Domasheviches
alone might find him. Many too asserted that he had
gone over to Hovanski and Avas bringing the enemy; but
these were the fewest, their fears were untimely.
Meanwhile the surviving Butryms marched to Vodokty,
and disposed themselves as in a camp. The house was
full of women and children. Those Avho could not find a
place there Avent to Mitrun}r, Avhich Banna Aleksandra
gave up to those Avhose homes had been burned. There
were, besides, in Vodokty for defence about a hundred armed
men in parties which relieved one another regularly, think¬
ing that Kmita did not consider the affair ended, but might
any day make an attempt on the lady Avith armed hand.
The most important houses in the neighborhood, such as
the Schyllings, the Sollohubs, and others, sent their atten-
72
THE DELUGE.
dant Cossacks and haiduks. Yodokty looked like a place
awaiting a siege. And Panna Aleksandra went among
the armed men, the nohles, the crowds of women,
mournful, pale, suffering, hearing the weeping of people,
and the curses of men against Pan Kmita, — which pierced
her heart like swords, for she was the mediate cause
of all the misfortune. For her it was that that frenzied
man had come to the neighborhood, disturbed the peace,
and left the memory of blood behind, trampled on laws,
killed people, visited villages with fire and sword like an
infidel, till it was a wonder that one man could commit so
much evil in such a short time, and he a man neither en¬
tirely wicked nor entirely corrupt. If there was any one
who knew this best, it was Panna Aleksandra, who had
become acquainted with him most intimately. There was
a precipice between Pan Kmita himself and his deeds. But
it was for this reason precisely that so much pain was
caused Panna Aleksandra by the thought that that man
whom she had loved with the whole first impulse of a young
heart might be different, that he possessed qualities to
make him the model of a knight, of a cavalier, of a neigh¬
bor, worthy to receive the admiration and love of men
instead of their contempt, and blessings instead of curses.
At times, therefore, it seemed to the lady that some
species of misfortune, some kind of power, great and un¬
clean, impelled him to all those deeds of violence ; and then
a sorrow really measureless possessed her for that unfor¬
tunate man, and unextinguished love rose anew in her heart,
nourished by the fresh remembrance of his knightly form,
his words, his imploring, his loving.
Meanwhile a hundred complaints were entered against
him in the town, a hundred actions threatened, and the
starosta, Pan Hlebovich, sent men to seize the criminal.
The law was bound to condemn him.
Still, from sentences to their execution the distance was
great, for disorder increased every hour in the Common¬
wealth. A terrible war was hanging over the land, and
approaching Jmud with bloody steps. The powerful Rad-
zivill of Birji, who was able alone to support the law with
arms, was too much occupied with public affairs and still
more immersed in great projects touching his own house,
which he wished to elevate above all others in the country,
even at the cost of the common weal. Other magnates too
were thinking more of themselves than of the State. All
THE DELUGE.
7o
the bonds in the strong edifice of the Commonwealth had
burst from the time of the Cossack war.
A country populous, rich, filled with a valiant knight¬
hood, had become the prey of neighbors; and straightway
arbitrariness and license raised their heads more and more,
and insulted the law, so great was the power which they
felt behind them. The oppressed could find the best and
almost the only defence against the oppressor in their own
sabres ; therefore all Lauda, while protesting in the courts
against Kmita, did not dismount for a long time, ready to
resist force with force.
But a month passed, and no tidings of Kmita. People
began to breathe with greater freedom. The more power¬
ful nobility withdrew the armed servants whom they had
sent to Vodokty as a guard. The lesser nobles were yearn¬
ing for their labors and occupations at home, and they too
dispersed by degrees. But when Avarlike excitement calmed
doAvn, as time passed, an increased desire came to that in¬
digent nobility to overcome the absent man with hiAV and
to redress their wrongs before the tribunals. For although
decisions could not reach Kmita himself, Lyubicli remained
a large and handsome estate, a ready reward and a payment
for losses endured. Meamvhile Banna Aleksandra restrained
Avitli great zeal the desire for laAvsuits in the Lauda people.
Twice did the elders of Lauda meet at her house for coun¬
sel ; and she not only took part in these deliberations but
presided over them, astonishing all with her Avoman's Avit and
keen judgment, so that more than one laAvyer might enwy
her. The elders of Lauda Avanted to occupy Lyubicli Avith
armed hand and ghre it to the Butryms, but " the lady "
advised against this firmly.
"Do not return violence for violence," said she ; "if you
do, your case Avill be injured. Let all the innocence be on
your side. He is a poAverful man and has connections, he
will find too in the courts adherents, and if you give the
least pretext you may suffer new Avrongs. Let your case be
so clear that any court, even if made up of his brothers,
could not decide otherAvise than in your favor. Tell the
Butryms to take neither tools nor cattle, and to leave Lyu-
bich completely in peace. Whatever they need I Avill give
them from Mitruny, where there is more than all the prop¬
erty that Avas at any time in Volmontovichi. And if Pan
Kmita should appear here again, leave him in peace till
there is a decision, let them make 110 attempt on his per-
74
THE DELUGE.
son. Remember that only while he is alive have yon some
one from whom to recover for your wrongs."
Thus spoke the wise lady with prudent intent, and they
applauded her wisdom, not seeing that delay might benefit
also Pan Andrei, and especially in this that it secured his
life. Perhaps too Olenka wished to guard that unfortunate
life against sudden attack. But the nobility obeyed her,
for they were accustomed from very remote times to
esteem as gospel every word that came from the mouth of
a Billevicli. Lyubich remained intact, and had Pan Andrei
appeared he might have settled there quietly for a time.
He did not appear, but a month and a half later a messen¬
ger came to the lady with a letter. He was some strange
man, known to no one. The letter was from Ivmita, written
in the following words : —
" Beloved of my heart, most precious, unrelinquished Olenka!
It is natural for all creatures and especially for men, even the
lowest, to avenge wrongs done them, and when a man has suffered
evil he will pay it back gladly in kind to the one who inflicted it.
If I cut down those insolent nobles, God sees that I did so not
through cruelty, but because they murdered my officers in defiance
of laws human and divine, without regard to their youth and high
birth, with a death so pitiless that the like could not be found
among Cossacks or Tartars. I will not deny that wrath more than
human possessed me; but who will wonder at wrath which had its
origin in the blood of one's friends ? The spirits of Ivokosinski,
Ranitski, Uhlik, Rekuts, Kulvyets, and Zend, of sacred memory;
slain in the flower of their age and repute, slain without reason,
put arms in my hands when I was just thinking. — and I call God
to witness,—just thinking of peace and friendship with the nobles
of Lauda, wishing to change my life altogether according to your
pleasant counsels. While listening to complaints against me, do
not forget my defence, and judge justly. I am sorry now for those
people in the village. The innocent may have suffered; but a
soldier avenging the blood of his brothers cannot distinguish the
innocent from the guilty, and respects no one. God grant that
nothing has happened to injure me in your eyes. Atonement for
other men's sins and faults and my own just wrath is most bitter
to me, for since I have lost you I sleep in despair and I wake in
despair, without power to forget either you or my love. Let the
tribunals pass sentence on me, unhappy man; let the diets confirm
the sentences, let them trumpet me forth to infamy, let the ground
open under my feet, I will endure everything, suffer everything, only,
for God's sake, cast me not out of your heart! I will do all that
they ask, give up Lyubich, give up my property in Orsha, — I have
captured rubles buried in the woods, let them take those, — if you
will promise to keep faith with me as your late grandfather com-
THE DELUGE.
75
tnands from the other world. You have saved my life, save also
my soul; let me repair wrongs, let me change my life for the
better; for I see that if you will desert me God will desert me,
and despair will impel me to still worse deeds."
How many voices of pity rose in the soul of Olenka in
defence of Pan Andrei, who can tell! Love flies swiftly,
like the seed of a tree borne on by the wind ; but when it
grows up in the heart 'like a tree in the ground, you can
pluck it out only with the heart. Panna Billevich was of
those who love strongly with an honest heart, therefore she
covered that letter of Kmita's with tears. But still she
could not forget everything, forgive everything after the
first word. Kmita's compunction was certainly sincere,
but his soul remained wild and his nature untamed; surely
it had not changed so much through those events that the
future might be thought of without alarm. Not words, but
deeds were needed for the future on the part of Pan Andrei.
Finally, how could she say to a man who had made the
whole neighborhood bloody, whose name 110 one on either
bank of the Lauda mentioned without curses, " Come! in
return for the corpses, the burning, the blood, and the tears,
I will give you my love and my hand " ? Therefore she
answered him otherwise : —
" Since I have told you that I do not wish to know you or see you,
I remain in that resolve, even though my heart be rent. Wrongs
such as you have inflicted 011 people here are not righted either
with property or money, for it is impossible to raise the dead.
You have not lost property only, but reputation. Let these
nobles whose houses you have burned and whom you have killed
forgive you, then I will forgive you; let them receive you, and I
will receive you; let them rise up for you first, then I will listen to
their intercession. But as this can never be, seek happiness else¬
where ; and seek the forgiveness of God before that of man, for
you need it more."
Panna Aleksandra poured tears 011 every word of the
letter; then she sealed it with the Billevich seal and took
it herself to the messenger.
" Whence art thou ? " asked she, measuring with her
glance that strange figure, half peasant, half servant.
" From the woods, my lady."
" And where is thy master ? "
"That is not permitted me to say. But he is far from
here; I rode five days, and wore out my horse."
76
THE DELUGE.
" Here is a thaler!" said Olenka. " And thy master is
well ? "
"He is as well, the young hero, as an aurochs."
" And he is not in hunger or poverty ? "
"He is a rich lord."
" (to with God."
" I bow to my lady's feet."
" Tell thy master — wait — tell thy master — may God
aid him !"
The peasant went away ; and again began to pass days,
weeks, without tidings of Kmita, but tidings of public af¬
fairs came worse and worse. The armies of Moscow under
Hovanski spread more and more widely over the Com¬
monwealth. Without counting the lands of the Ukraine,
in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania alone, the provinces
of Polotsk, Smolensk, Vitebsk, Mstislavsk, Minsk, and
Xovgorodek were occupied; only a part of Vilna, Brest-
Litovsk, Trotsk, and the starostasliip of J mud breathed
yet with free breast, but even these expected guests from
day to day.
The Commonwealth had descended to the last degree of
helplessness, since it was unable to offer resistance to just
those forces which hitherto had been despised and which
had always been beaten. It is true that those forces were
assisted by the unextinguished and re-arisen rebellion of
Hmelnitski, a genuine hundred-headed hydra; but in spite
of the rebellion, in spite of tin; exhaustion of forces in pre¬
ceding wars, both statesmen and warriors gave, assurance
that the Grand Duchy alone might be and was in a condi¬
tion not only to hurl back attack, but to carry its banners
victoriously beyond its own borders. Unfortunately inter¬
nal dissension stood in the way of that strength, paralyzing
the efforts even of those citizens who were willing to
sacrifice their lives and fortunes.
Meanwhile thousands of fugitives had taken refuge in the
lands still unoccupied,—both nobles and common people.
Towns, villages, and hamlets in Jmud were filled with men
brought by the misfortunes of war to want and despair.
The inhabitants of the towns were unable either to give
lodgings to all or to give them sufficient food; therefore
people died not infrequently of hunger, — namely, those
of low degree. Hot seldom they took by force what was
refused them; hence tumults, battles, and robbery became
more and more common.
THE DELUGE.
77
The winter was excessive in its severity. At last April
came, and deep snow was lying not only in the forests but
on the fields. When the supplies of the preceding year
were exhausted and there were no new ones yet, Famine,
the brother of War, began to rage, and extended its rule
more and more widely. It was not difficult for the way¬
farer to find corpses of men lying in the field, at the road¬
side, emaciated, gnawed by wolves, which having multiplied
beyond example approached the villages and hamlets in
whole packs. Their howling was mingled with the cries
of people for charity ; for in the woods, in the fields, and
around the many villages as well, there gleamed in the
night-time fires at which needy wretches warmed their
chilled limbs ; and when any man rode past they rushed
after him, begging for a copper coin, for bread, for alms,
groaning, cursing, threatening all at the same time. Super¬
stitious dread seized the minds of men. Many said that
those wars so disastrous, and those misfortunes till then
unexampled, were coupled with the name of the king;
they explained readily that the letters " J. C. K." stamped
on the coins signified not only " Joannes Casimirus Rex,"
but also " Initium Calamitatis Regni " (beginning of calam¬
ity for the kingdom). And if in the provinces, which were
not yet occupied by war, such terror rose with disorder, it
is easy to understand what happened in those which were
tiampled by the fiery foot of war. The whole Common¬
wealth was distracted, torn by parties, sick and in a fever,
like a man before death. New wars were foretold, both
foreign and domestic. In fact, motives were not wanting.
Various powerful houses in the Commonwealth, seized by
the storm of dissension, considered one another as hostile
States, and with them entire lands and districts formed
hostile camps. Precisely such was the case in Lithuania,
where the fierce quarrel between Yanush Radzivill, the
grand hetman, and Gosyevski, full hetman, and also under-
treasurer of Lithuania, became almost open war. On the
side of the under-treasurer stood the powerful Sapyeha, to
whom the greatness of the house of Radzivill had long been
as salt in the eye. These partisans loaded the grand hetman
with heavy reproaches indeed,—that wishing glory for
himself alone, he had destroyed the army at Shklov and
delivered the country to plunder ; that he desired more than
the fortune of the Commonwealth, the right for his house
of sitting in the diets of the German Empire ; that he even
78
THE DELUGE.
imagined for himself an independent crown, and that he
persecuted the Catholics.
It came more than once to battles between the partisans
of both sides, as if without the knowledge of their patrons;
and the patrons made complaints against one another in
Warsaw. Their quarrels were fought out in the diets ; at
home license was let loose and disobedience established.
Such a man as Kmita might be sure of the protection of
one of those magnates the moment he stood on his side
against his opponent.
Meanwhile the enemy were stopped only here and there
by a castle; everywhere else the advance was free and
without opposition. Under such circumstances all in the
Lauda region had to be on the alert and under arms, espe¬
cially since there were no lietmans near by, for both het-
mans were struggling with the troops of the enemy without
being able to effect much, it is true, but at least worrying
them with attacks and hindering approach to the provinces
still unoccupied. Especially did Pavel Sapyeha show re¬
sistance and win glory. Yanush Padzivill, a famous war¬
rior, whose name up to the defeat at Shklov had been a
terror to the enemy, gained however a number of important
advantages, (fosyevski now fought, now endeavored to re¬
strain the advance of the enemy by negotiations; both
leaders assembled troops from winter quarters and whence-
soever they could, knowing that with spring war would
blaze up afresh. But troops were few, and the treasury
empty; the general militia in the provinces already occu¬
pied could not assemble, for the enemy prevented them.
"It was necessary to think of that before the affair at
Shklov," said the partisans of Gosyevski; " now it is too
late." And in truth it was too late. The troops of the
kingdom could not give aid, for they were all in the
Ukraine and had grievous work against Hmelnitski,
Sheremetyeff, and Buturlin.
Tidings from the Ukraine of heroic battles, of captured
towns, of campaigns without parallel, strengthened failing
hearts somewhat, and gave courage for defence. The
names of the lietmans of the kingdom thundered with a
loud glory, and with them the name of Stefan Charnetski
was heard more and more frequently in the mouths of men;
but glory could not take the place of troops nor serve as an
auxiliary. The lietmans of Lithuania therefore retreated
slowly, without ceasing to fight among themselves.
THE DELUGE.
79
At last Radzivill was in Jnrad. With him came momen¬
tary peace in Lauda. But the Calvinists, emboldened by
the vicinity of their chief, raised their heads in the towns,
inflicting wrongs and attacking Catholic churches. As an
offset, the leaders of various volunteer bands and parties —
it is unknown whose — who under the colors of Radzivill,
Gosyevski, and Sapyeha had been ruining the country,
vanished in the forests, discharged their ruffians, and let
people breathe more freely.
Since it is easy to pass from despair to hope, a better
feeling sprang up at once in Lauda. Panna Aleksandra
lived quietly in Yodokty. Pan Yolodyovski, who dwelt
continually in Patsuneli, and just now had begun to return
gradually to health, gave out the tidings that the king with
newly levied troops would come in the spring, when the
war would take another turn. The encouraged nobles be¬
gan to go out to the fields with their ploughs. The snows
too had melted, and on the birch-trees the first buds were
opening. Lauda River overflowed widely. A milder sky
shone over that region, and a better spirit entered the
people.
Meanwhile an event took place which disturbed anew the
quiet of Lauda, tore away hands from the plough, and let
not the sabres be stained with red rust.
80
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER VIII.
Pan Volodyovski — a famous and seasoned soldier,
though a young man — was living, as we have said, in Patsu-
neli with the patriarch of the place, Pakosh Gaslitovt, who
had the reputation of being the wealthiest noble among all
the small brotherhood of Lauda. In fact, he had dowered
richly with good silver his three daughters who had mar¬
ried Butryms, for he gave to each one a hundred thalers,
besides cattle, and an outfit so handsome that not one noble
woman or family had a better. The other three daughters
were at home unmarried ; and they nursed Volodyovski,
whose arm was well at one time and sore at another, when
wet weather appeared in the world. All the Lauda people
were occupied greatly with that arm, for Lauda men had
seen it working at Shklov and Sepyel, and in general they
were of the opinion that it would be difficult to find a better
in all Lithuania. The young colonel, therefore, was sur¬
rounded with exceeding honor in all the neighborhoods. The
Gashtovts, the Domasheviches, the Gostsyeviclies, the Sta-
kyans, and with them others, sent faithfully to Patsuneli.
fish, mushrooms, and game for Volodyovski, and hay for his
horses, so that the knight and his servants might want for
nothing. Whenever he felt worse they vied with one an¬
other in going to Ponyevyej for a barber;1 in a word, all
strove to be first in serving him.
Pan Volodyovski was so much at ease that though he
might have had more comforts in Kyedani and a noted
physician at his call, still he remained in Patsuneli. Old
Gashtovt was glad to be his host, and almost blew away
the dust from before him, for it increased his importance
extremely in Lauda that he had a guest so famous that he
might have added to the importance of Radzivill himself.
After the defeat and expulsion of Kmita, the nobility, in
love with Volodyovski, searched in their own heads for
counsel, and formed the project of marrying him to Panna
Aleksandra. " Why seek a husband for her through the
world ?" said the old men at a special meeting at which
1 A barber in those parts at that time did duty for a surgeon.
THE DELL'UE.
81
they discussed this question. " Since that traitor has so
befouled himself with infamous deeds that if he is now
alive he should be delivered to the hangman, the lady must
cast him out of her heart, for thus was provision made in
the will by a special clause. Let Pan Volodyovski marry
her. As guardians we can permit that, and she wiil
thus find an honorable cavalier, and we a neighbor and
leader."
When this proposition was adopted unanimously, the old
men went first to Volodyovski, who, without thinking long,
agreed to everything, and then to " the lady," who with
still less hesitation opposed it decisively. " My grand¬
father alone had the right to dispose of Lyubich," said she,
" and the property cannot be taken from Pan Kmita until
the courts punish him with loss of life; and as to my
marrying, do not even mention it. I have too great sorrow
on my mind to be able to think of such a thing. I have
cast that man out of my heart; but this one, even though
the most worthy, bring not hither, for I will not receive
him."
There was no answer to such a resolute refusal, and the
nobles returned home greatly disturbed. Less disturbed
was Pan Volodyovski, and least of all the young daughters
of Gaslitovt, —Terka, Mary ska, and Zonia. They were well-
grown, blooming maidens, with hair like flax, eyes like vio¬
lets, and broad shoulders. In general the Patsuneli girls were
famed for beauty ; when they went in a flock to church,
they were like flowers of the field. P>esides, old Gaslitovt
spared no expense on the education of his daughters. The
organist from Mitruny had taught them reading and church
hymns, and the eldest, Terka, to play on the lute. Having
kind hearts, they nursed Volodyovski sedulously, each striv¬
ing to surpass the others in watchfulness and care. People
said that Maryska was in love with the young knight; but
the whole truth was not in that talk, for all three of them,
not she alone, were desperately in love with Pan Michael.
He loved them too beyond measure, especially Maryska and
Zonia, for Terka had the habit of complaining too much of
the faithlessness of men.
It happened often in the long winter evenings that old
Gaslitovt, after drinking his punch, went to bed, and the
maidens with Pan Michael sat by the chimney ; the charm¬
ing Terka spinning flax, mild Maryska amusing herself
with picking down, and Zonia reeling thread from the
voi,. i. — 6
82
THE DELUGE.
spindle into skeins. But when Volodyovski began to tell
of the wars or of wonders which he had seen in the great
houses of magnates, work ceased, the girls gazed at him as
at a rainbow, and one would cry out in astonishment, " Oh !
I do not live in the world ! Oh, my dears!" and another
would say, " I shall not close an eye the whole night! "
Volodyovski, as he returned to health and began at times
to use his sword with perfect freedom, was more joyous and
told stories more willingly. A certain evening they were
sitting as usual, after supper, in front of the chimney, from
beneath which the light fell sharply on the entire dark
room. They began to chat; the girls wanted stories, and
Volodyovski begged Terka to sing something with the
lute.
" Sing something yourself," answered she, pushing away
the instrument which Volodyovski was handing her ; " I
have work. Having been in the world, you must have
learned many songs."
" True, I have learned some. Let it be so to-day ; I will
sing first, and you afterward. Your work will not run away.
If a woman had asked, you would not have refused; you
are always opposed to men."
" For they deserve it."
" And do you disdain me too ? "
" Oh, why should I ? But sing something."
Volodyovski touched the lute ; he assumed a comic air,
and began to sing in falsetto, —
" I have come to such places
Where no girl will have me ! —"
" Oh, that is untrue for you," interrupted Mary ska, blush¬
ing as red as a raspberry.
"That's a soldier's song," said Volodyovski, "which we
used to sing in winter quarters, wishing some good soul to
take pity on us."
• " I would be the first to take pity on you."
" Thanks to you. If that is true, then I have no reason
to sing longer, and I will give the lute into worthier
hands."
Terka did not reject the instrument this time, for she
was moved by Volodyovski's song, in which there was
more cunning indeed than truth. She struck the strings at
once, and with a simpering mien began, —
THE DELUGE.
83
" For berries of elder go not to the green wood.
Trust not a mad dog, believe not a young man.
Each man in his heart bears rank poison ;
If he says that he loves thee, say No."
Volodyovski grew so mirthful that lie held his sides from
laughter, and cried out: " All the men are traitors ? But
the military, my benefactress ! "
Panna Terka opened her mouth wider and sang with re¬
doubled energy, —
" Far worse than mad dogs are they, far worse, oh, far worse !"
" Do not mind Terka; she is always that way," said
Mary si a.1
" Why not mind," asked Volodyovski, " when she speaks
so ill of the whole military order that from shame 1 know
not whither to turn my eves ? "
"You want me to sing, and then make sport of me and
laugh at me," said Terka, pouting.
" I do not attack the singing, but the cruel meaning of it
for the military," answered the knight. "As to the singing
I must confess that in Warsaw I liave not heard such re¬
markable trills. All that would be needed is to dress you
in trousers. You might sing at St. Yan's, which is the ca¬
thedral church, and in which the king and queen have their
box."
" Why dress her in trousers ? " asked Zonia, the young¬
est, made curious by mention of Warsaw, the king, and the
queen.
" For in Warsaw women do not sing in the choir, but men
and young boys,—the men with voices so deep that no
aurochs could bellow like them, and the boys with voices so
thin that on a violin 110 sound could be thinner. I heard
them many a time when we came, with our great and la¬
mented voevoda of Bus, to the election of our present gra¬
cious lord. It is a real wonder, so that the soul goes out of
a man. There is a host of musicians there : Forster, famous
for his subtle trills, and Kapula, and Gian Battista, and
Elert, a master at the lute, and Marek, and Myelchevski, —
beautiful composers. When all these are performing to-
1 Marvsia and Maryska are both diminutives of Mary a — Maria or
Mary, and are used without distinction by the author. There are in Polish
eight or ten other variants of the same name.
84
THE DELUGE.
gether in the church, it is as if you were listening to choirs
of seraphim in the flesh."
"Oh, that is as true as if living! " said Marysia, placing
her hands together.
" And the king, — have you seen him often ? " asked
Zonia.
" I have spoken with him as with you. After the battle
of Berestecliko he pressed my head. He is a valiant lord,
and so kind that whoso has once seen him must love him."
" We love him without having seen him. Has he the
crown always 011 his head ? "
" If he were to go around every day in the crown, his
head would need to be iron. The crown rests in the church,
from which its importance increases ; but his Grace the
King wears a black cap studded with diamonds from which
light flashes through the whole castle."
" They say that the castle of the king is even grander
than that at Kyedani ? "
" That at Kyedani! The Kyedani castle is a mere play¬
thing in comparison. The king's castle is a tremendous
building, all walled in so that you cannot see a stick of
wood. Around are two rows of chambers, one more splen¬
did than the other. In them you can see different wars and
victories painted with brushes on the wall, — such as the
battles of Sigismund III. and Vladislav; a man could not
satisfy himself with looking at them, for everything is as if
living. The wonder is that they do not move, and that those
who are fighting do not shout. But not even the best artist
can paint men to shout. Some chambers are all gold;
chairs and benches covered with brocade or cloth of gold,
tables of marble and alabaster, and the caskets, bottle-cases,
clocks showing the hour of day and night, could not be de¬
scribed on an ox-hide. The king and queen walk through
those chambers and delight themselves in plenty; in the
evening they have a theatre for their still greater amuse¬
ment — "
" What is a theatre ? "
" How can I tell you ? It is a place where they play
comedies and exhibit Italian dances in a masterly manner.
It is a room so large that no church is the equal of it, all
with beautiful columns. On one side sit those who wish to
see, and on the other the arts are exhibited. Curtains are
raised and let down; some are turned with screws to differ¬
ent sides. Darkness and clouds are shown at one moment;
TIIE DELUGE.
So
at another pleasant light. Above is the sky with the sun
or the stars ; below you may see at times hell dreadful —"
" Oh, God save us !" cried the girls.
"— with devils. Sometimes the boundless sea: 011 it
ships and sirens. Some persons come down from the skies;
others rise out of the earth."
" But I should not like to see hell," cried Zonia, " and it
is a wonder to me that people do not run away from such a
terrible sight."
"Not only do they not run away, but they applaud from
pleasure," said Yolodyovski; "for it is all pretended, not
real, and those who take farewell do not go away. There
is no evil spirit in the affair, only the invention of men.
Even bishops come with his Grace the King, and vari¬
ous dignitaries who go with the king afterward and sit
down to a feast before sleeping."
" And what do they do in the morning and during the
day ? "
" That depends on their wishes. When they rise in the
morning they take a bath. There is a room in which there
is no floor, only a tin tank shining like silver, and in the
tank water."
" Water, in a room — have you heard ? "
" It is true ; and it comes and goes as they wish. It can
be warm or altogether cold; for there are pipes with spigots,
running here and there. Turn a spigot and the water runs
till it is possible to swim in the room as in a lake. No king-
has such a castle as our gracious lord, that is known, and
foreign proverbs tell the same. Also no king reigns over
such a worthy people ; for though there are various polite
nations on earth, still God in his mercy has adorned ours
beyond others."
" Our king is happy ! " sighed Terka.
" It is sure that he would be happy were it not for un¬
fortunate wars which press down the Commonwealth in
return for our discords and sins. All this rests 011 the
shoulders of the king, and besides at the diets they reproach
him for our faults. And why is he to blame because peo¬
ple will not obey him ? Grievous times have come on the
country, — such grievous times as have not been hitherto.
Our most despicable enemy now despises us,—us who till
recently carried on victorious wars against the Emperor of
Turkey. This is the way that God punishes pride. Braise
be to Him that my arm works well in its joints,—for it is
86
THE DELUGE.
high time to remember the country and move to the field.
'T is a sin to be idle in time of such troubles."
" Do not mention going away."
"It is difficult to do otherwise. It is pleasant for me here
among you; but the better it is, the worse it is. Let men
in the Diet give wise reasons, but a soldier longs for the
field. While there is life there is service. After death
God, who looks into the heart, will reward best those who
serve not for advancement, but through love of the country ;
and indeed the number of such is decreasing continually,
and that is why the black hour has come."
Marysia's eyes began to grow moist; at last they were
filled with tears which flowed down her rosy cheeks. " You
will go and forget us, and we shall pine away here. Who
in this place will defend us from attack ? "
"I go, but I shall preserve .my gratitude. It is rare to
find such honest people as in Patsuneli. Are you always
afraid of this Kmita ? "
" Of course. Mothers frighten their children with him as
with a werewolf."
" He will not come back, and even if he should he will
not have with him those wild fellows, who, judging from
what people say, were worse than he. It is a pity indeed
that such a good soldier stained his reputation and lost his
property."
" And the lady."
" And the lady. They say much good in her favor."
" Poor thing ! for whole days she just cries and cries."
"H'm!" said Volodyovski; "but is she not crying for
Kmita ? "
" Who knows ? " replied Marysia.
" So much the worse for her, for he will not come back.
The hetman sent home a part of the Lauda men, and those
forces are here now. We wanted to cut him down at once
without the court. He must know that the Lauda men have
returned, and he will not show even his nose."
"Likely our men must march again," said Terka, "for
they received only leave to come home for a short time."
"Eh!" said Volodyovski, "the hetman let them come,
for there is no money in the treasury. It is pure despair!
When people are most needed they have to be sent away.
But good-night! it is time to sleep, and let none of you dream
of Pan Kmita with a fiery sword."
Volodyovski rose from the bench and prepared to leave
THE DELUGE.
87
the room, but had barely made a step toward the closet when
suddenly there was a noise in the entrance and a 'shrill
voice began to cry outside the door —
" Hei there ! For God's mercy ! open quickly, quickly ! "
The girls were terribly frightened. Yolodyovski sprang
for his sabre to the closet, but had not been able to get it
when Terka opened the door. An unknown man burst into
the room and threw himself at the feet of the knight.
" Rescue, serene Colonel! — The lady is carried away !"
" What lady ? "
" In Vodokty."
" Kraita! " cried Yolodyovski.
" Kmita ! " screamed the girls.
" Kmita!repeated the messenger.
" Who art thou ? " asked Volodyovski.
" The manager in Vodokty."
"We know him," said Terka; "he brought herbs for
you."
Meanwhile the drowsy old Gashtovt came forth from
behind the stove, and in the door appeared two attendants
of Pan Volodyovski whom the uproar had drawn to the
room.
" Saddle the horses !" cried Yolodyovski. " Let one of
you hurry to the Butryms, the other give a horse to me ! "
" I have been already at the Butryms," said the manager,
" for they are nearer to us ; they sent me to your grace."
" When was the lady carried away ? " asked Yolodyovski.
"Just now — the servants are fighting yet — I rushed
for a horse."
Old Gashtovt rubbed his eyes. " What's that ? The
lady carried off ? "
"Yes; Kmita carried her off," answered Volodyovski.
" Let us go to the rescue !" Then he turned to the messen¬
ger : " Hurry to the Domasheviches; let tliem come with
muskets."
"Now, my kids," cried the old man suddenly to his
daughters, " hurry to the village, wake up the nobles, let
them take their sabres ! Kmita has carried off the lady —
is it possible — God forgive him, the murderer, the ruffian !
Is it possible ? "
"Let us go to rouse them," said Yolodyovski; "that will
be quicker ! Come ; the horses are ready, I hear them."
In a moment they mounted, as did also the two attend¬
ants, Ogarek and Syruts. All pushed on their way between
88
THE DELUGE.
the cottages of the village, striking the doors and windows,
and crying with sky-piercing voices : " To your sabres, to
your sabres ! The lady of Yodokty is carried away ! Kmita
is in the neighborhood ! "
Hearing these cries, this or that man rushed forth from
his cottage, looked to see what was happening, and when he
had learned what the matter was, fell to shouting himself,
" Kmita is in the neighborhood; the lady is carried away ! "
And shouting in this fashion, he rushed headlong to the
out-buildings to saddle his horse, or to his cottage to feel in
the dark for his sabre 011 the wall. Every moment more
voices cried, " Kmita is in the neighborhood ! " There was
a stir in the village, lights began to shine, the cry of
women was heard, the barking of dogs. At last the nobles
came out on the road, — some mounted, some on foot.
Above the multitude of heads glittered in the night sabres,
pikes, darts, and even iron forks.
Volodyovski surveyed the company, sent some of them
immediately in different directions, and moved forward
himself with the rest.
The mounted men rode in front, those on foot followed,
and they marched toward Volmontovichi to join the Bu-
tryms. The hour was ten in the evening, and the night
clear, though the moon had not risen. Those of the nobles
whom the grand hetman had sent recently from the war
dropped into ranks at once ; the others, namely the infantry,
advanced with less regularity, making a clatter with their
weapons, talking and yawning aloud, at times cursing that
devil of a Kmita who had robbed them of pleasant rest. In
this fashion they reached Volmontovichi, at the edge of
which an armed band pushed out to meet them.
" Halt! who goes ? " called voices from that baud.
" The Gashtovts !"
"We are the Butrynis. The Domasheviches have come
already."
" Who is leading you ? " asked Volodyovski.
" Yuzva the Footless at the service of the colonel."
" Have you news ? "
" He took her to Lyubich. They went through the
swamp to avoid Volmontovichi."
" To Lyubich ? " asked Volodyovski, in wonder. " Can he
think of defending himself there ? Lyubich is not a for¬
tress, is it ? "
"It seems he trusts in his strength. There are two
THE DELUGE.
89
hundred with him. No doubt he wants to take the property
from Lyubich; they have wagons and a band of led horses.
It must be that he did not know of our return from the
army, for he acts very boldly."
" That is good for us ! " said Volodyovski. " He will not
escape this time. How many guns have you ? "
" We, the Butryms, have thirty; the Domaslieviches
twice as many."
"Very good. Let fifty men with muskets go with you to
defend the passage in the swamps, quickly; the rest will
come with me. Kemember the axes."
"According to command."
There was a movement; the little division under Yuzva
the Footless went forward at a trot to the swamp. A
number of tens of Butryms who had been sent for other
nobles now came up.
" Are the Gostsyeviches to be seen ? " asked Volodyovski.
"Yes, Colonel. Praise be to God!" cried the newly
arrived. " The Gostsyeviches are coming; they can be heard
through the woods. You know that they carried her to
Lyubich ? "
" I know. He will not go far with her."
There was indeed one danger to his insolent venture on
which Kmita had not reckoned; he knew not that a consid¬
erable force of the nobles had just returned home. He judged
that the villages were as empty as at the time of his first stay
in Lyubich ; while on the present occasion counting the
Gostsyeviches, without the Stakyans, who could not come up
in season, Volodyovski was able to lead against him about
three hundred sabres held by men accustomed to battle and
trained.
In fact, more and more nobles joined Volodyovski as he
advanced. At last came the Gostsyeviches, who had been
expected till that moment. Volodyovski drew up the divi¬
sion, and his heart expanded at sight of the order and ease
with which the men stood in ranks. " At the first glance it
was clear that they were soldiers, not ordinary untrained
nobles. Volodyovski rejoiced for another reason; he
thought to himself that soon he would lead them to more
distant places.
They moved then on a swift march toward Lyubich by
the pine-woods through which Kmita had rushed the winter
before. It was well after midnight. The moon sailed out
at last in the sky, and lighting the woods, the road, and
90
THE DELUGE.
the marching warriors, broke its pale rays on the points of
the pikes, and was reflected on the gleaming sabres. The
nobles talked in a Ioav voice of the unusual event which had
dragged them from their beds.
"Various people have been going around here," said one
of the Domasheviches; " we thought they were deserters,
but they were surely his spies."
" Of course. Every day strange minstrels used to visit
Vodokty as if for alms," said others.
" And what kind of soldiers has Kmita ? "
" The servants in Vodokty say they are Cossacks. It is
certain that Kmita has made friends with Hovanski or
Zolotarenko. Hitherto he was a murderer, now he is an
evident traitor."
" How could he bring Cossacks thus far ? "
" With such a great band it is not easy to pass. Our first
good company would have stopped him 011 the road."
"Well, they might go through the forests. Besides, are
there few lords travelling with domestic Cossacks ? Who
can tell them from the enemy ? If these men are asked
they will say that they are domestic Cossacks."
" He will defend himself," said one of the Gostsyeviches,
" for he is a brave and resolute man ; but our colonel will
be a match for him."
" The Butryms too havfe vowed that even if they have to
fall one 011 the other, he will not leave there alive. They
are the most bitter against him."
" But if we kill him, from whom will they recover their
losses ? Better take him alive and give him to justice."
"What is the use in thinking of courts now when all
have lost their heads ? Do you know that people say war
may come from the Swedes ? "
" May God preserve us from that! The Moscow power
and Hmelnitski at present; only the Swedes are wanting,
and then the last day of the Commonwealth."
At this moment Volodyovski riding in advance turned
and said, " Quiet there, gentlemen ! "
The nobles grew silent, for Lyubich was in sight. In a
quarter of an hour they had come within less than forty
rods of the building. All the windows were illuminated ;
the light shone into the yard, which was full of armed men
and horses. Nowhere sentries, 110 precautions, — it was
evident that Kmita trusted too much in his strength.
When he had drawn still nearer, Pan Volodyovski with
THE DELUGE.
91
one glance recognized tlie Cossacks against whom he had
warred so much during the life of the great Yeremi, and
later under Radzivill.
"If those are strange Cossacks, then that ruffian has
passed the limit."
He looked farther; brought his whole party to a halt.
There was a terrible bustle in the court. Some Cossacks
were giving light with torches; others were running in
every direction, coming out of the house and going in
again, bringing out things, packing bags into the wagons;
others were leading horses from the stable, driving cattle
from the stalls. Cries, shouts, commands, crossed one
another in every direction. The gleam of torches lighted
as it were the moving of a tenant to a new estate on
St. John's Eve.
Kryshtof, the oldest among the Domaslieviches, pushed
up to Yolodyovski and said, "They want to pack all
Lyubicli into wagons."
" They will take away," answered Yolodyovski, " neither
Lyubich nor their own skins. I do not recognize Kmita,
who is an experienced soldier. There is not a single sentry."
" Because he has great force, — it seems to me more than
three hundred strong. If we had not returned he might
have passed with the wagons through all the villages."
" Is this the only road to the house ? " asked Yolodyovski.
"The only one, for in the rear are ponds and swamps."
" That is well. Dismount! "
Obedient to this command, the nobles sprang from their
saddles. The rear ranks of infantry deployed in a long-
line, and began to surround the house and the buildings.
Volodyovski with the main division advanced directly on
the gate.
"Wait the command!" said he, in alow voice. "Fire
not before the order."
A few tens of steps only separated the nobles from the
gate when they were seen at last from the yard. Men
sprang at once to the fence, bent forward, and peering care¬
fully into the darkness, called threateningly, " Hei ! Who
are there ? "
" Halt! " cried Yolodyovski; " fire ! "
Shots from all the guns which the nobles carried thun¬
dered together; but the echo had not come back froni the
building when the voice of Volodyovski was heard again :
" On the run ! "
92
TILE DELUGE.
" Kill! slay!" cried the Lauda men, rushing forward
like a torrent.
The Cossacks answered with shots, but they had not time
to reload. The throng of nobles rushed against the gate,
which soon fell before the pressure of armed men. A
struggle began to rage in the yard, among the wagons,
horses, and bags. The powerful Butryms, the fiercest in
hand-to-hand conflict and the most envenomed against
Kmita, advanced in line. They went like a herd of stags
bursting through a growth of young trees, breaking, tramp¬
ling, destroying, and cutting wildly. After them rolled
the Domasheviolies and the Gfostsyeviclies.
Kmita's Cossacks defended themselves manfully from
behind the wagons and packs ; they began to fire too from all
the windows of the house and from the roof, — but rarely,
for the trampled torches were quenched, and it was difficult
to distinguish their own from the enemy. After a while
the Cossacks were pushed from the yard and the house to
the stables ; cries for quarter were heard. The nobles had
triumphed.
But when they were alone in the yard, fire from the house
increased at once. All the windows were bristling with
muskets, and a storm of bullets began to fall on the yard.
The greater part of the Cossacks had taken refuge in the
house.
" To the doors ! " cried Volodyovski.
In fact, the discharges from the windows and from the
roof could not injure those at the very walls. The posi¬
tion, however, of the besiegers was difficult. They could
not think of storming the windows, for fire would greet
them straight in the face. Volodyovski therefore com¬
manded to hew down the doors. But that was not easy,
for they were bolts rather than doors, made of oak pieces
fixed crosswise and fastened with many gigantic nails, on
the strong heads of which axes were dented without break¬
ing the doors. The most powerful men pushed then from
time to time with their shoulders, but in vain. Behind the
doors were iron bars, and besides they were supported in¬
side by props. But the Butryms hewed with rage. At the
doors of the kitchen leading also to the storehouse the
Domasheviches and Gashtovts were storming.
After vain efforts of an hour the men at the axes were
relieved. Some cross-pieces had fallen, but in place of them
appeared gun-barrels. Shots sounded again. Two Butryms
the deluge.
fell to the ground with pierced breasts. The others, instead
of being put to disorder, hewed still more savagely.
By command of Volodyovski the openings were stopped
with bundles of coats. Now in the direction of the road
new shouts were heard from the Stakyans, who had come to
the aid of their brethren; and following them were armed
peasants from Yodokty.
The arrival of these reinforcements had evidently dis¬
turbed the besieged, for straightway a voice behind the door
called loudly : " Stop there ! do not hew ! listen ! Stop, a
hundred devils take you! let us talk."
Volodyovski gave orders to stop the work and asked,
" Who is speaking ? "
" The banneret of Orsha, Kmita; and with whom am I
speaking ? "
"Col. Michael Volodyovski,"
"With the forehead!" answered the voice from behind
the door.
" There is no time for greetings. What is your wish ? "
" It would be more proper for me to ask what you want.
You do not know me, nor I yon ; why attack me ? "
" Traitor ! " cried Volodyovski. " With me are the men
of Lauda Avho have returned from the war, and they have
accounts with you for robbery, for blood shed without cause
and for the lady whom you have carried away. But do you
know what raptus puellcie means ? You must yield your
life."
A moment of silence followed.
" You would not call me traitor a second time," said
Kmita, " were it not for the door between us."
"Open it, then! I do not hinder."
" More than one dog from Lauda will cover himself with
his legs before it is open. You will not take me alive."
" Then we will drag you out dead, by the hair. All one
to us! "
" Listen with care, note what I tell you ! If you do not
let us go, I have a barrel of powder here, and the match is
burning already. I '11 blow up the house and all who are
in it with myself, so help me God ! Come now and take
me !"
This time a still longer silence followed. Volodyovski
sought an answer in vain. The nobles began to look at one
another in fear. There was so much wild energy in the
words of Kmita that all believed his threat. The whole
94
THE DELUGE.
victory might be turned into dust by one spark, and Panna
Billevich lost forever.
" For God's sake ! " muttered one of the Butryms, " he is
a madman. He is ready to do what he says."
Suddenly a happy thought came to Volodyovski, as it
seemed to him. " There is another way!" cried he.
" Meet me, traitor, with a sabre. If you put me down, you
will go away in freedom."
For a time there was no answer. The hearts of the
Lauda men beat unquietly.
" With a sabre ? " asked Kmita, at length. " Can that
be ? "
" If you are not afraid, it will be."
" The word of a cavalier that I shall go away in freedom ? "
" The word — "
" Impossible!" cried a number of voices among the
Butryms.
" Quiet, a hundred devils ! " roared Volodyovski; " if not,
then let liim blow you up with himself."
The Butryms were silent; after a while one of them said,
" Let it be as you wish."
" Well, what is the matter there ? " asked Kmita, deri¬
sively. " I)o the gray coats agree ? "
"Yes, and they will take oath on their swords, if you
wish."
" Let them take oath."
" Come together, gentlemen, come together ! " cried Volo¬
dyovski to the nobles who were standing under the walls
and surrounding the whole house.
After a while all collected at the main door, and soon the
news that Kmita wanted to blow himself up with powder
spread on every side. They were as if petrified with terror.
Meanwhile Volodyovski raised his voice and said amid si¬
lence like that of the grave, —
" I take you all present here to witness that I have chal¬
lenged Pan Kmita, the banneret of Orsha, to a duel, and I
have promised that if he puts me down he shall go hence
in freedom, without obstacle from you; to this you must
swear on your sword-hilts, in the name of God and the holy
cross —"
" But wait! " cried Kmita, — " in freedom with all my
men, and I take the lady with me."
"The lady will remain here," answered Volodyovski,
" and the men will go as prisoners to the nobles."
THE DELUGE.
95
" That cannot be."
"Then blow yourself up with powder ! We have already
mourned for her; as to the men, ask them what they prefer."
Silence followed.
" Let it be so," said Kmita, after a time. " If I do not
take her to-day, I will in a month. You will not hide her
under the ground ! Take the oath !"
" Take the oath ! " repeated Volodyovski.
"We swear by the Most High God and the Holy Cross.
Amen ! "
"Well, come out, come out!" cried Volodyovski.
" You are in a hurry to the other world V "
"No matter, 110 matter, only come out quickly."
The iron bars holding the door on the inside began to
groan.
Volodyovski pushed back, and with him the nobles, to
make room. Soon the door opened, and in it appeared Pan
Andrei, tall, straight as a poplar. The dawn was already
coming, and the first pale light of day fell on his daring,
knightly, and youthful face. He stopped in the door,
looked boldly on the crowd of nobles, and said, —
" I have trusted in you. God knows whether I have done
well, but let that go. Who here is Pan Volodyovski ? "
The little colonel stepped forward. " I am ! " answered
he.
" Oh! you are not like a giant," said Kmita, with sarcas¬
tic reference to Volodyovski's stature, " I expected to find a
more considerable figure, though I must confess you are
evidently a soldier of experience."
" I cannot say the same of you, for you have neglected
sentries. If you are the same at the sabre as at command,
I shall not have work."
" Where shall we fight ? " asked Kmita, quickly.
" Here, — the yard is as level as a table."
" Agreed ! Prepare for death."
" Are you so sure ? "
" It is clear that you have never been in Orsha, since you
doubt. Not only am I sure, but I am sorry, for I have
heard of you as a splendid soldier. Therefore I say for the
last time, let me go! We do not know each other; why
should we stand the one in the way of the other ? Why at¬
tack me ? The maiden is mine by the will, as well as this
property ; and God knows I am only seeking my own. It is
true that I cut down the nobles in Volmontovichi, but let
TI1E DELUGE,
God decide who committed the first wrong. Whether my
officers were men of violence or not, we need not discuss ; it
is enough that they did 110 harm to any one here, and they
were slaughtered to the last man because they wanted to
dance with girls in a public house. Well, let blood answer
blood ! After that my soldiers were cut to pieces. I swear
by the wounds of God that I came to these parts without
evil intent, and how was I received ? But let wrong
balance wrong, I will still add from my own and make
losses good in neighbor fashion. I prefer that to another
way."'
" And what kind of people have you here ? V here did
you get these assistants ? " asked Volodyovski.
" Where I got them I got them. I did not bring them
against the country, but to obtain my own rights."
" Is that the kind of man you are ? So for private af¬
fairs you have joined the enemy. And with what have you
paid him for this service, if not with treason ? No, brother,
I should not hinder you from coming to terms with the
nobles, but to call in the enemy is another thing. You will
not creep out. Stand up now, stand up, or I shall say that
you are a coward, though you give yourself out as a master
from Orsha."
"You would have it," said Ivmita, taking position.
But Volodyovski did not hurry, and not taking his sabre
out yet, he looked around on the sky. Day was already
coming in the east. The first golden and azure stripes were
extended in a belt of light, but in the yard it Avas still
gloomy enough, and just in front of the house complete dark¬
ness reigned.
" The day begins well," said Volodyovski, " but the sun
will not rise soon. Perhaps you would" wish to have light ? "
" It is all one to me."
" Gentlemen ! " cried Volodyovski, turning to the nobles,
" go for some straw and for torches ; it will be clearer for us
in this Orsha dance."
The nobles, to whom this humorous tone of the young
colonel gave Avonderful consolation, rushed quickly to the
kitchen. Some of them fell to collecting the torches tram¬
pled at the time of the battle, and in a little Avhile nearly
fifty red flames Avere gleaming in the semi-darkness of the
early morning.
Volodyovski shoAved them Avith his sabre to Kmita.
" Look, a regular funeral procession ! "
THE DELUGE.
97
And Kmita answered at once: " They are burying a
colonel, so there must be parade."
"You are a dragon!"
Meanwhile the nobles formed in silence a circle around
the knights, and raised the burning torches aloft; behind
them others took their places, curious and disquieted; in
the centre the opponents measured each other with their
eyes. A grim silence began; only burned coals fell with a
crackle to the ground. Volodyovski was as lively as a gold¬
finch on a bright morning.
" Begin ! " said Kmita.
The first clash raised an echo in the heart of every on¬
looker. Volodyovski struck as if unwillingly; Kmita
warded and struck in his turn ; Volodyovski warded. The
dry clash grew more rapid. All held breath. Kmita at¬
tacked with fury. Volodyovski put his left hand behind
his back and stood quietly, making very careless, slight,
almost imperceptible movements ; it seemed that he wished
merely to defend himself, and at the same time spare his
opponent. Sometimes he pushed a short step backward,
again he advanced ; apparently he was studying the skill of
Kmita. Kmita was growing heated; Volodyovski was cool
as a master testing his pupil, and all the time calmer and
calmer. At last, to the great surprise of the nobles, he
said,—
"Now let us talk ; it will not last long. Ah, ha! is that
the Orsha method ? 'Tis clear that you must have threshed
peas there, for you strike like a man with a flail. Terrible
blows ! Are they really the best in Orsha ? That thrust is
in fashion only among tribunal police. This is from Cour-
land, good to chase dogs with. Look to the end of your
sabre! Don't bend your hand so, for see what will hap¬
pen ! Raise your sabre !"
Volodyovski pronounced the last words with emphasis ;
at the same time he described a half-circle, drew the hand
and sabre toAvard him, and before the spectators understood
what " raise " meant, Kmita's sabre, like a needle pulled
from a thread, flew above Volodyovski's head and fell be¬
hind his shoulders; then he said, —
" That is called shelling a sabre."
Kmita stood pale, wild-eyed, staggering, astonished no
less than the nobles of Lauda; the little colonel pushed to
one side, and repeated again, —
" Take your sabre ! "
VOL. I. 7
98
THE DELUGE.
For a time it seemed as if Kmita would rush at him with
naked hands. He was just ready for the spring, when
Volodyovski put his hilt to his own breast, presenting the
point. Kmita rushed to take his own sabre, and fell with
it again on his terrible opponent.
A loud murmur rose from the circle of spectators, and
the ring grew closer and closer. Kmita's Cossacks thrust
their heads between the shoulders of the nobles, as if they
had lived all their lives in the best understanding with
them. Involuntarily shouts were wrested from the mouths
of the onlookers; at times an outburst of unrestrained,
nervous laughter was heard; all acknowledged a master of
masters.
Volodyovski amused himself cruelly like a cat with
a mouse, and seemed to work more and more carelessly
with the sabre. He took his left hand from behind his
back and thrust it into his trousers' pocket. Kmita was
foaming at the mouth, panting heavily; at last hoarse
words came from his throat through his set lips,—
" Finish — spare the shame ! "
"Very well!" replied Volodyovski.
A short terrible whistle was heard, then a smothered cry.
At the same moment Kmita threw open his arms, his sabre
dropped to the ground, and he fell on his face at the feet of
the colonel.
"He lives!" said Volodyovski; "he has not fallen on
his back!" And doubling the skirt of Kmita's coat, he
began to wipe his sabre.
The nobles shouted with one voice, and in those shouts
thundered with increasing clearness : " Finish the traitor !
finish him ! cut him to pieces !"
A number of Butryms ran up with drawn sabres. Sud¬
denly something wonderful happened, — and one would
have said that little Volodyovski had grown tall before
their eyes : the sabre of the nearest Butrym flew out of his
hand after Kmita's, as if a whirlwind had caught it, and
Volodyovski shouted with flashing eyes, —
" Stand back, stand back ! He is mine now, not yours !
Be off!"
All were silent, fearing the anger of that man; and he
said: " I want no shambles here! As nobles you should
understand knightly customs, and not slaughter the
wounded. Enemies do not do that, and how could a man
in a duel kill his prostrate opponent ?"
THE DELUGE.
99
" He is a traitor ! " muttered one of the Butryms. " It
is right to kill such a man."
" If he is a traitor he should be given to the hetman
to suffer punishment and serve as an example to others.
But as I have said, he is mine now, not yours. If he re¬
covers you will be free to get your rights before a court,
and it will be easier to obtain satisfaction from a liv¬
ing than a dead man. Who here knows how to dress
wounds ?"
"Krysh Domashevich. He has attended to all in Lauda
for years."
" Let him dress the man at once, then take him to bed,
and I will go to console that ill-fated lady."
So saying, Yolodyovski put his sabre into the scabbard.
The nobles began to seize and bind Kmita's men, who
henceforth were to plough land in the villages. They sur¬
rendered without resistance; only a few who had escaped
through the rear windows of the house ran toward the
ponds, but they fell into the hands of the Stakyans who
were stationed there. At the same time the nobles fell to
plundering the wagons, in which they found quite a plenti¬
ful booty; some of them gave advice to sack the house,
but they feared Pan Yolodyovski, and perhaps the presence
of Panna Billevich restrained the most daring. Their own
killed, among whom were three Butryms and two Domashe-
viches, the nobles put into wagons, so as to bury them
according to Christian rites. They ordered the peasants to
dig a ditch for Kmita's dead behind the garden.
Volodyovski in seeking the lady burst through the whole
house, and found her at last in the treasure-chamber situ¬
ated in a corner to which a low and narrow door led from
the sleeping-room. It was a small chamber, with narrow,
strongly barred windows, built in a square and with such
mighty walls, that Volodyovski saw at once that even if
Kmita had blown up the house with powder that room
would have surely remained unharmed. This gave him a
better opinion of Kmita. The lady was sitting on a chest
not far from the door, with her head drooping, and her face
almost hidden by her hair. She did not raise it when she
heard the knight coming. She thought beyond doubt that it
was Kmita himself or some one of his people. Pan Volody¬
ovski stood in the door, coughed once, a second time, and
seeing no result from that, said, —
" My lady, you are free ! "
100
THE DELUGE.
" From under the drooping hair blue eyes looked at the
knight, and then a comely face appeared, though pale and
as it. were not conscious. Yolodyovski was hoping for
thanks, an outburst of gladness ; but the lady sat motion¬
less, distraught, and merely looked at him. Therefore the
knight spoke again, —
" Come to yourself, my lady! God has regarded inno¬
cence,— you are free, and can return to Vodokty."
This time there was more consciousness in the look of
Panna Billevich. She rose from the chest, shook back her
hair, and asked, " Who are you ? "
"Michael Yolodyovski, colonel of dragoons with the
voevoda of Vilna."
" Did I hear a battle — shots ? Tell me."
"Yes. We came to save you."
She regained her senses completely. " I thank you,"
said she hurriedly, with a low voice, through which a
mortal disquiet was breaking. " But what happened to
him ? "
" To Kmita ? Fear not, my lady ! He is lying lifeless
in the yard; and without praising myself I did it."
Yolodyovski uttered this with a certain boastfulness;
but if he expected admiration he deceived himself terribly.
She said not a word, but tottered and began to seek support
behind with her hands. At last she sat heavily on the
same chest from which she had risen a moment before.
The knight sprang to her quickly : " What is the matter,
my lady ? "
"Nothing, nothing — wait, permit me. Then is Pan
Kmita killed ? "
"What is Pan Kmita to me ? " interrupted Yolodyovski;
" it is a question here of you."
That moment her strength came back; for she rose again,
and looking him straight in the eyes, screamed with anger,
impatience, and despair : " By the living God, answer! Is
he killed ? "
" Pan Kmita is wounded," answered the astonished
Volodyovski.
" Is he alive ? "
"He is alive."
" It is Avell! I thank you."
And with step still tottering she moved toward the door.
Yolodyovski stood for a while moving his mustaches vio¬
lently and shaking his head; then he muttered to himself,
THE DELUGE.
101
" Does she thank me because Kmita is wounded, or because
he is alive ? "
He followed Olenka, and found her in the adjoining bed
room standing in the middle of it as if turned to stone.
Four nobles were bearing in at that moment Pan Knnta;
the first two advancing sidewise appeared in the door, and
between them hung toward the floor the pale head of Pan
Andrei, with closed eyes, and clots of black blood in his
hair.
" Slowly," said Krysh Domashevich, walking behind,
" slowly across the threshold. Let some one hold his head.
Slowly!"
" With what can we hold it when our hands are full ? "
answered those in front.
At that moment Panna Aleksandra approached them, pale
as was Kmita himself, and placed both hands under his life¬
less head.
" This is the lady," said Krysh Domashevich.
" It is I. Be careful! " answered she, in a low voice.
Volodyovski looked on, and his mustaches quivered
fearfully.
Meanwhile they placed Kmita on the bed. Krysh Do¬
mashevich began to wash his head with water ; then he
fixed a plaster previously prepared to the wound, and said, —
" Now let him lie quietly. Oh, that's an iron head not
to burst from such a blow ! He may recover, for he is
young. But he got it hard."
Then he turned to Olenka : " Let me wash your hands, —
here is water. A kind heart is in you that you were not
afraid to put blood on yourself for that man."
Speaking thus, he wiped her palms with a cloth; but she
grew pale and changed in the eyes.
Volodyovski sprang to her again: " There is nothing here
for you, my lady. You have shown Christian charity to an
enemy ; return home." And he offered her his arm.
She however, did not look at him. but turning to Krysh
Domashevich, said, " Pan Kryshtof, conduct me."
Both went out, and Volodyovski followed them. In the
yard the nobles began to shout at sight of her, and cry,
"Vivat!" But she went forward, pale, staggering, with
compressed lips, and with fire in her eyes.
" Long life to our lady! Long life to our colonel! " cried
powerful voices.
An hour later Volodyovski returned at the head of the
102
THE DELUGE.
Lauda men toward the villages. The sun had risen already;
the early morning in the world was gladsome, a real spring
morning. The Lauda men clattered forward in a formless
crowd along the highway, discussing the events of the night
and praising Volodyovski to the skies ; but he rode on
thoughtful and silent. Those eyes looking from behind the
dishevelled hair did not leave his mind, nor that slender
form, imposing though bent by grief and pain.
" It is a marvel what a wonder she is," said he to himself,
— " a real princess ! I have saved her honor and surely her
life, for though the powder would not have blown up the
treasure-room she would have died of pure fright. She
ought to be grateful. But who can understand a fair head ?
She looked on me as on some serving-lad, I know not
whether from haughtiness or perplexity."
THE DELUGE.
103
CHAPTER IX.
These thoughts did not let Volodyovski sleep on the
night following. For a number of days he was thinking
continually of Panna Aleksandra, and saw that she had
dropped deeply into his heart. Besides, the Lauda nobles
wished to bring about a marriage between them. It is true
that she had refused him without hesitation, but at that
time she neither knew him nor had seen him. Flow it was
something quite different. He had wrested her in knightly
fashion from the hands of a man of violence, had exposed
himself to bullets and sabres, had captured her like a for¬
tress. Whose is she, if not his ? Can she refuse him any¬
thing, even her hand ? Well, shall he not try ? Perhaps
affection has begun in her from gratitude, since it happens
often in the world that the rescued lady gives straightway
her hand to her rescuer. If she has not conceived an affec¬
tion for him as yet, it behooves him all the more to exert
himself in the matter.
" But if she remembers and loves the other man still ? "
" It cannot be," repeated Volodyovski to himself; " if she
had not rejected him, he would not have taken her by force.
She showed, it is true, uncommon kindness to him; but it is
a woman's work to take pity on the wounded, even if they
are enemies. She is young, without guardianship; it is
time for her to marry. It is clear that she has no vocation
for the cloister, or she would have entered one already.
There has been time enough. Men will annoy such a comely
lady continually, — some for her fortune, others for her
beauty, and still others for her high blood. Oh, a defence
the reality of which she can see with her own eyes will be
dear to her. It is time too for thee to settle down, my dear
Michael!" said Volodyovski to himself. "Thou art young
yet, but the years hurry swiftly. Thou wilt win not fortune
in service, but rather more wounds in thy skin, and to thy
giddy life will come an end."
Here through the memory of Pan Volodyovski passed a
whole line of young ladies after whom he had sighed in his
life. Among them were some very beautiful and of high
blood, but one more charming and distinguished there was
104
THE DELUGE.
not. Besides, the people of these parts exalted that family
and that lady, and from her eyes there looked such honesty
that may God give no worse wife to the best man.
Pan Volodyovski felt that a prize was meeting him which
might not come a second time, and this the more since he
had rendered the lady such uncommon service. "Why
delay ? " said he to himself. " What better can I wait for ?
I must try."
Pshaw ! but war is at hand. His arm was well. It was
a shame fbr a knight to go courting when his country was
stretching forth its hands imploring deliverance. Pan Mi¬
chael had the heart of an honest soldier; and though he had
served almost from boyhood, though he had taken part in
nearly all the wars of liis time, he knew what he owed his
country, and he dreamed not of rest.
Precisely because he had served his country not for gain,
reward, or praise, but from his soul, had he in that regard
a clean conscience, he felt his worth, and that gave him
solace. " Others were frolicking, but I was fighting,"
thought he. " The Lord God will reward the little soldier,
and will help him this time."
But he saw that soon there would be no time for court¬
ing ; there was need to act promptly, and put everything 011
the hazard at once, — to make a proposal on the spot, and
either marry after short bans or eat a watermelon.1 " I
have eaten more than one ; I '11 eat another this time," mut¬
tered Volodyovski, moving his yellow mustaches. "What
harm will it do ? "
But there was one side to this sudden decision which did
not please him. He put the question to himself if going
with a visit so soon after saving the lady he would not be
like an importunate creditor who wishes a debt to be paid
with usury and as quickly as possible. Perhaps it will not be
in knightly fashion ? Nonsense ! for what can gratitude be
asked, if not for service ? And if this haste does not please
the heart of the lady, if she looks askance at him, why, he
can say to her, " Gracious lady, I would have come court¬
ing one year, and gazed at you as if I were near-sighted;
but I am a soldier, and the trumpets are sounding for
battle !"
" So I '11 go," said Pan Volodyovski.
1 It is the custom to put a watermelon in the carriage of an undesirable
suitor, — a refusal without words.
THE DELUGE.
105
But after a while another thought entered his head : if
she says, " Go to war, noble soldier, and after the war you
will visit me during one year and look at me like a near¬
sighted man, for I will not give in a moment my soul and
my body to one whom I know not! "
Then all will be lost! That it would be lost Pan Volo-
dyovski felt perfectly; for leaving aside the lady whom
in the interval some other man might marry, Volodyovski
was not sure of his own constancy. Conscience declared
that in him love was kindled like straw, but quenched as
quickly.
Then all will be lost! And then wander on farther,
thou soldier, a vagrant from one camp to another, from
battle to battle, with no roof in the world, with no living
soul of thy kindred ! Search the four corners of earth
when the war will be over, not knowing a place for thy
head save the barracks !
At last Volodyovski knew not what to do. It had be¬
come in a certain fashion narrow and stifling for him in the
Patsnneli house; he took his cap therefore to go out on the
road and enjoy the May sun. On the threshold he came
upon one of Kmita's men taken prisoner, who in the divi¬
sion of spoils had come to old Pakosh. The Cossack was
warming himself in the sun and playing on a bandura.
" What art thou doing here ? " asked Volodyovski.
"I am playing," answered the Ccssack, raising his thin
face.
"Whence art thou?" asked Volodyovski, glad to have
some interruption to his thoughts.
" From afar, from the Viahla."
" Why not run away like the rest of thy comrades ? Oh,
such kind of sons! The nobles spared your lives in Lyu-
bich so as to have laborers, and your comrades all ran away
as soon as the ropes were removed."
"I will not run away. I'll die here like a dog."
" So it has pleased thee here ? "
" He runs away who feels better in the field; it is better
for me here. I had my leg shot through, and the old man's
daughter here dressed it, and she spoke a kind word. Such
a beauty I have not seen before with my eyes. Why
should I go away ? "
" Which one pleased thee so ? "
" Maryska."
" And so thou wilt remain ? "
106
THE DELUGE.
" If I die, they will carry me out; if not, I will remain."
" Dost thou think to earn Pakosh's daughter ? "
" I know not."
" He would give death to such a poor fellow before he
would his daughter."
" I have gold pieces buried in the woods," said the Cos¬
sack, — " two purses."
" Prom robbery ? "
" From robbery."
" Even if thou hadst a pot of gold, thou art a peasant
and Pakosh is a noble."
" I am an attendant boyar."
" If thou art an attendant boyar, thou art worse than a
peasant, for thou 'rt a traitor. How couldst thou serve the
enemy ? "
" I did not serve the enemy."
"And where did Pan Kmita find thee and thy comrades ? "
" On the road. I served with the full hetman ; but the
squadron went to pieces, for we had nothing to eat. I had
no reason to go home, for my house was burned. Others
went to rob on the road, and I went with them."
Volodyovski wondered greatly, for hitherto he had
thought that Kmita had attacked Olenka with forces
obtained from the enemy.
" So Pan Kmita did not get thee from Trubetskoi ? "
" Most of the other men had served before with Trubet¬
skoi and Hovanski, but they had run away too and taken
to the road."
" Why did you go Avith Pan Kmita ? "
" Because he is a splendid ataman. We were told that
Avhen he called on any one to go Avith him, thalers as it
Avere floAved out of a bag, to that man. That's Avhy we
Avent. Well, God did not give us good luck! "
Volodyovski began to rack his head, and to think that
they had blackened Kmita too much; then he looked at
the pale attendant boyar and again racked his head.
" And so thou art in love with her ? "
" Oi, so much ! "
Volodyovski Avalked aAvay, and Avhile going he thought:
" That is a resolute man. He did not break his head; he
fell in love and remained. Such men are best. If he is
really an attendant boyar, he is of the same rank as the
village nobles. When he digs up his gold pieces, perhaps
the old man Avill give him Maryska. And Avhy ? Because
THE DELUGE.
107
he did not go to drumming with his fingers, but made up
his mind that he would get her. I'll make up my mind
too."
Thus meditating, Volodyovski walked along the road in
the sunshine. Sometimes he would stop, fix his eyes on
the ground or raise them to the sky, then again go farther,
till all at once he saw a flock of wild ducks flying through
the air. He began to soothsay whether he should go or
not. It came out that he was to go.
"I will go; it cannot be otherwise."
When he had said this he turned toward the house ; but
on the way he went once more to the stable, before which
his two servants were playing dice.
" Syruts, is Basior's mane plaited ? "
" Plaited, Colonel! "
Volodyovski went into the stable. Basior neighed at him
from the manger; the knight approached the horse, patted
him on the side, and then began to count the braids on his
neck. " Go — not go — go." Again the soothsaying came
out favorably.
" Saddle the horse and dress decently," commanded
Volodyovski.
Then he went to the house quickly, and began to dress.
He put on high cavalry boots, yellow, with gilded spurs,
and a new red uniform, besides a rapier with steel scabbard,
the hilt ornamented with gold ; in addition a half breast¬
plate of bright steel covering only the upper part of the
breast near the neck. He had also a lynxskin cap with a
beautiful heron feather ; but since that was worn only with
a Polish dress, he left it in the trunk, put on a Swedish hel¬
met with a vizor, and went out before the porch.
"Where is your grace going?" asked old Pakosh, who
was sitting on the railing.
" Where am I going ? It is proper for me to go and in¬
quire after the health of your lady ; if not, she might think ■
me rude."
" From your grace there is a blaze like fire. Every bul-
finch is a fool in comparison ! Unless the lady is without
eyes, she will fall in love in a minute."
Just then the two youngest daughters of Pakosh hurried
up on their way home from the forenoon milking, each with
a pail of milk. When they saAV Volodyovski they stood as
if fixed to the earth from wonder.
" Is it a king or not ? " asked Zonia.
108
THE DELUGE.
" Your grace is like one going to a wedding," added
Marysia.
" Maybe there will be a wedding," laughed old Pakosh,
" for he is going to see our lady."
P>efore the old man had stopped speaking the full pail
dropped from the hand of Marysia, and a stream of milk
flowed along till it reached the feet of Yolodyovski.
" Pay attention to what you are holding ! " said Pakosh,
angrily. " Giddy thing ! "
Marysia said nothing; she raised the pail and walked off
in silence.
Yolodyovski mounted his horse ; his two servants followed
him, riding abreast, and the three moved on toward Vodokty.
The day was beautiful. The May sun played on the breast¬
plate and helmet of the colonel, so that when at a distance
he was gleaming among the willows it seemed that another
sun was pushing along the road.
" I am curious to know whether I shall come back with a
ring or a melon ? " said the knight to himself.
"What is your grace saying ? " asked Syruts.
" Thou art a blockhead !"
Syruts reined in his horse, and Yolodyovski continued:
" The whole luck of the matter is that it is not the first
time !"
This idea gave him uncommon comfort.
When he arrived at Yodokty, Panna Aleksandra did not
recognize him at the first moment, and he had to repeat
his name. She greeted him heartily, but ceremoniously and
with a certain constraint; but he presented himself befit-
tingly, — for though a soldier, not a courtier, he had still
lived long at great houses, had been among people. He
bowed to her therefore with great respect, and placing his
hand on his heart spoke as follows : —
"I have come to inquire about the health of my lady
benefactress, whether some pain has not come from the
fright. I ought to have done this the day after, but I did
not wish to give annoyance."
"It is very kind of you to keep me in mind after having
saved me from such straits. Sit down, for you are a wel¬
come guest."
"My lady," replied Yolodyovski, " had I forgotten you I
should not have deserved the favor which God sent when he
permitted me to give aid to so worthy a person."
" Xo, I ought to thank first God, and then you."
THE DELUGE.
109
" Then let us both thank; for I implore nothing else than
this, — that he grant me to defend you as often as need
comes."
Pan Michael now moved his waxed mustaches, which
curled up higher than his nose, for he was satisfied with
himself for having gone straight in, medias res and placed
his sentiments, so to speak, on the table. She sat embar¬
rassed and silent, but beautiful as a spring day. A slight
flush came on her cheeks, and she covered her eyes with the
long lashes from which shadows fell on the pupils.
" That confusion is a good sign," thought Yolodyovski;
and coughing he proceeded: "You know, I suppose, that I
led the Lauda men after your grandfather ? "
" I know," answered Olenka. " My late grandfather was
unable to make the last campaign, but he was wonderfully
glad when he heard whom the voevoda of Vilna had ap¬
pointed to the command, and said that he knew you by repu¬
tation as a splendid soldier."
" Did he say that ? "
" I myself heard how he praised you to the skies, and how
the Lauda men did the same after the campaign."
"I am a simple soldier, not worthy of being exalted
to the skies, nor above other men. Still I rejoice that
I am not quite a stranger, for you do not think now that an
unknown and uncertain guest has fallen with the last rain
from the clouds. Many people are wandering about who
call themselves persons of high family and say they are in
office, and God knows who they are; perhaps often they are
not even nobles."
Pan Volodyovski gave the conversation this turn with
the intent to speak of himself and of what manner of man
he was. Olenka answered at once, —
" No one would think that of you, for there are nobles of
the same name in Lithuania."
" But they have the seal Ossorya, while I am a Korchak
Yolodyovski and we take our origin from Hungary from a
certain noble, Atylla, who while pursued by his enemies
made a vow to the Most Holy Lady that he would turn from
Paganism to the Catholic faith if he should escape with his
life. He kept this vow after he had crossed three rivers in
safety, — the same rivers that we bear on our shield."
" Then your family is not from these parts ? "
"No, my lady, I am from the Ukraine of the Russian
Volodyovskis, and to this time I own villages there which
110
THE DELUGE.
the enemy have occupied; but I serve in the army from
youth, thinking less of land than of the harm inflicted on
our country by strangers. I haye served from the earliest
years with the voevoda of Rus, our not sufficiently lamented
Prince Yeremi, with whom I have been in all his wars. I
was at Mahnovka and at Konstantinoff; I endured the hun¬
ger of Zbaraj, and after Berestechko our gracious lord the
king pressed my head. God is my witness that I have not
come here to praise myself, but desire that you might know,
my lady, that I am no hanger-on, whose work is in shouting
and who spares his own blood, but that my life has been
passed in honorable service in which some little fame was
won, and my conscience stained in nothing, so God be my
aid! And to this worthy people can give testimony."
"Would that all were like you ! " sighed Olenka.
" Surely you have now in mind that man of violence who
dared to raise his godless hand against you."
Panna Aleksandra fixed her eyes on the floor, and said
not a word.
"He has received pay for his deeds," continued Volody-
ovski, " though it is said that he will recover, still he will
not escape punishment. All honorable people condemn him,
and even too much; for they say that he had relations with
the enemy so as to obtain reinforcements, — which is untrue,
for those men with whom he attacked you did not come
from the enemy, but were collected on the highway."
" How do you know that ? " asked the lady, raising her
blue eyes to Volodyovski.
"From the Cossacks themselves. He is a wonderful
man, that Kmita; for when I accused him of treason be¬
fore the duel he made no denial, though I accused him un¬
justly. It is clear that there is a devilish pride in him."
"And have you said everywhere that he is not a traitor ? "
" I have not, for I did not know that he was not a traitor;
but now I will say so. It is wrong to cast such a: calumny
even on our own greatest enemy."
Panna Aleksandra's eyes rested a second time on the
little knight with an expression of sympathy and gratitude.
"You are so honorable a man that your equal is rare."
Volodyovski fell to twitching his mustaches time after
time with contentment. " To business, Michael dear! "
said he, mentally. Then aloud to the lady : " I wrill say
more: I blame Pan Kmita's method, but I do not wonder
that he tried to obtain you, my lady, in whose service
THE DELUGE.
Ill
Venus herself might act as a maid. Despair urged him on
to an evil deed, and will surely urge him a second time,
should opportunity offer. How will you remain alone, with
such beauty and without protection ? There are more men
like Kmita in the world; you will rouse more such ardors,
and will expose your honor to fresh perils. God sent me
favor that I was able to free you, but now the trumpets of
Gradivus call me. Who will watch over you ? My gracious
lady, they accuse soldiers of fickleness, but unjustly.
Neither is my heart of rock, and it cannot remain indif¬
ferent to so many excellent charms."
Here Volodyovski fell on both knees before Olenka.
" My gracious lady," said he, while kneeling, " I inherited
the command after your grandfather; let me inherit the
granddaughter too. Give me guardianship over you; let
me enjoy the bliss of mutual affection. Take me as a per¬
petual protection, and you will be at rest and free from
care, for though I go to the war my name itself will de¬
fend. you."
The lady sprang from the chair and heard Pan Volody¬
ovski with astonishment; but he still spoke on : —
" I am a poor soldier, but a noble, and a man of honor.
I swear to you that on my shield and on my conscience not
the slightest stain can be found. I am at fault perhaps in
this haste; but understand too that I am called by the
country, which will not yield even for you. Will you not
comfort me, — will you not give me solace, will you not say
a kind word ? "
" You ask the impossible. As God lives, that cannot
be!" answered Olenka, with fright.
" It depends on your will."
" For that reason I say no to you promptly." Here she
frowned. "Worthy sir, I am indebted to you much, I do
not deny it. Ask what you like, I am ready to give every¬
thing except my hand."
Pan Volodyovski rose. "Then you do not wish me, my
lady ? Is that true ? "
" I cannot."
" And that is your last word ? "
" The last and irrevocable word."
" Perhaps the haste only has displeased you. Give me
some hope."
" I cannot, I cannot."
"Then there is no success for me here, as elsewhere
112
THE DELUGE.
there was none. My worthy lady, offer not pay for services,
I have not come for that; and if I ask your hand it is not
as pay, but from your own good-will. Were you to say
that you give it because you must, I would not take it.
Where there is 110 freedom there is no happiness. You
have disdained me. God grant that a worse do not meet
you. I go from this house as I entered, save this that I
shall not come here again. I am accounted here as nobody.
Well, let it be so. Be happy even with that very Kmita,
for perhaps you are angry because I placed a sabre between
you. If he seems better to you, then in truth you are not
for me."
Olenka seized her temples with her hands, and repeated a
number of times : " 0 God! 0 God ! 0 God !"
But that pain of hers made no impression on Volody-
ovski, who, when he had bowed, went out angry and wrath¬
ful ; then he mounted at once and rode off.
" A foot of mine shall never stand there again! " said he,
aloud.
His attendant Syruts riding behind pushed up at once.
" What does your grace say ? "
" Blockhead !" answered Volodyovski.
"You told me that when we were coming hither."
Silence followed; then Volodyovski began to mutter
again: " Ah, I was entertained there with ingratitude, paid
for affection with contempt. It will come to me surely to
serve in the cavalry till death; that is fated. Such a devil
of a lot fell to me, — every move a refusal! There is no
justice on earth. What did she find against me ? "
Here Pan Michael frowned, and began to work mightily
with his brain; all at once he slapped his leg with his
hand. "I know now," shouted he; "she loves that fellow
yet, — it cannot be otherwise."
But this idea did not clear his face. " So much the
worse for me," thought he, after a while; " for if she loves
him yet, she will not stop loving him. He has already done
his worst. Pie may go to war, win glory, repair his reputa¬
tion. And it is not right to hinder him ; he should rather
be aided, for that is a service to the country. He is a good
soldier, 't is true. But how did he fascinate her so ? Who
can tell ? Some have such fortune that if one of them
looks on a woman she is ready to follow him into fire. If a
man only knew how this is done or could get some captive
spirit, perhaps he might effect something. Merit has no
THE DELUGE.
113
weight with a fair head. Pan Zagloba said wisely that a
fox and a woman are the most treacherous creatures alive.
But I grieve that all is lost. Oh, she is a terribly beautiful
woman, and honorable and virtuous, as they say ; ambi¬
tious as the devil, — that's evident. Who knows that she
will marry him though she loves him, for he has offended
and disappointed her sorely. He might have won her in
peace, but he chose to be lawless. She is willing to resign
everything, — marriage and children. It is grievous for me,
but maybe it is worse for her, poor thing ! "
Here Volodyovski fell into a fit of tenderness over the
fate of Olenka, and began to rack his brain and smack his
lips. At last he said, —
" May God aid her! T have no ill feeling against her !
It is not the first refusal for me, but for her it is the first
suffering. The poor woman can scarcely recover now from
sorrows. I have put out her eyes with this Kmita, and
besides have given her gall to drink. It was not right to
do that, and I must repair the wrong. I wish bullets had
struck me, for I have acted rudely. I will write a letter
asking forgiveness, and then help her in what way I
can."
Further thoughts concerning Pan Kmita were interrupted
by the attendant Syruts, who riding forward again said:
" Pardon, but over there on the hill is Pan Kharlamp riding
with some one else."
" Where ? "
" Over there ! "
" It is true that two horsemen are visible, but Pan Khar-
lamp remained with the prince voevoda of Yilua. How
dost thou know him so far away ? "
"By his cream-colored horse. The whole army knows
that horse anywhere."
"As true as I live, there is a cream-colored horse in
view, but it may be some other man's horse."
" When I recognize the gait, it is surely Pan Kharlamp."
They spurred on; the other horsemen did the same, and
soon Volodyovski saw that Pan Kharlamp was in fact
approaching.
Pan Kharlamp was the lieutenant of a light-horse squad¬
ron in the Lithuanian quota, Pan Volodyovski's acquaint¬
ance of long standing, an old soldier and a good one. Once
he and the little knight had quarrelled fiercely, but after¬
ward while serving together and campaigning they acquired
VOL. I. — 8
114
THE DELUGE.
a love for each other. Volodyovski sprang forward quickly,
and opening his arms cried, —
" How do you prosper, 0 Great-nose ? Whence do you
come ? "
The officer — who in truth deserved the nickname of
Great-nose, for he had a mighty nose — fell into the em¬
braces of the colonel, and greeted him joyously ; then alter
he had recovered his breath, he said, "I have come to you
with a commission and money."
" But from whom ? "
" From the prince voevoda of Vilna, our hetman. He
sends you a commission to begin a levy at once, and
another commission to Pan Kmita, who must be in this
neighborhood."
" To Pan Kmita also ? How shall we both make a levy
in one neighborhood ? "
" He is to go to Troki, and you to remain in these parts."
" How did you know where to look for me ? "
" The hetman himself inquired carefully till the people
from this place who have remained near him told where to
find you. I came with sure information. You are in great
and continual favor there. I have heard the prince himself
say that he had not hoped to inherit anything from Prince
Yeremi, but still he did inherit the greatest of knights."
" May God grant him to inherit the military success of
Yeremi! It is a great honor for me to conduct a levy. I
will set about it at once. There is no lack of warlike
people here, if there was only something with which to
give them an outfit. Have you brought much money ? "
" You will count it at Patsuneli."
" So you have been there already ? But be careful; for
there are shapely girls in Patsuneli, like poppies in a
garden."
" Ah, that is Avhy stopping there pleased you ! But wait,
I have a private letter from the hetman to you."
" Then give it."
Khar lamp drew forth a letter with the small seal of the
Badzivills. Volodyovski opened it and began to read : —
Worthy Cot.oxkl Pan Volodyovski,— Knowing your sin¬
cere wish to seive the country, I send you a commission to make a
levy, and not as is usually done, but with great haste, for periculum
in mora (there is danger in delay). If you wish to give us joy,
then let the squadron be mustered and ready for the campaign by
the end of July, or the middle of August at the latest. We are
THE DELUGE.
115
anxious to know how you can find good horses, especially since we
send money sparingly, for more we could not hammer from the
uuder-treasurer, who after his old fashion is unfriendly to us. Give
one half of this money to Pan Kmita, for whom Pan Kharlamp
has also a commission. We hope that he will serve us zealously.
But tidings have come to our ears of his violence in Upita, there¬
fore it is better for you to take the letter directed to him from
Kharlamp, and discover yourself whether to deliver it to him or
not. Should you consider the accusations against him too great,
and creating infamy, then do not give it, for we are afraid lest our
enemies — such as the under-treasurer, and the voevoda of Vity-
ebsk — might raise outcries against us because we commit such
functions to unworthy persons. But if you give the letter after
having found that there is nothing important, let Pan Kmita
endeavor to wipe away his faults by the greatest exertion in ser¬
vice, and in no case to appear in the courts, for he belongs to our
hetman's jurisdiction, — we and no one else will judge him. Pay
attention to our charge at once, in view of the confidence which
we have in your judgment and faithful service.
Yanush Radzivill,
Prince in Birji and Dubinki, Voevoda of Vilna.
" The hetman is terribly anxious about horses for you,"
said Kharlamp, when the little knight had finished reading.
"It will surely be difficult in the matter of horses,"
answered Volodyovski. " A great number of the small nobil¬
ity here will rally at the first summons, but they have only
wretched little Jmud ponies, not very capable of service.
For a good campaign it would be needful to give them all
fresh horses."
" Those are good horses ; I know them of old, wonderfully
enduring and active."
" Bah !" responded Yolodyovski, " but small, and the
men here are large. If they should form in line on such
horses, you would think them a squadron mounted on dogs.
There is where the rub is. I will work with zeal, for I am in
haste myself. Leave Kmita's commission with me, as the
hetman commands ; I will give it to him. It has come just
in season."
" But why ? "
" For he has acted here in Tartar fashion and taken a
lady captive. There are as many lawsuits and questions
hanging over him as he has hairs on his head. It is not a
week since I had a sabre-duel with him."
" Ai! " cried Kharlamp. " If you had a sabre-duel with
him, he is in bed at this moment."
116
THE DELUGE.
" But he is better already. In a week or two he will he
well. What is to be heard tie publicis ? "
•''Evil in the old fashion. The under-treasurer, Pan
Gosyevski, the full hetman, is ever quarrelling with the
prince; and as the hetmans do not agree, affairs do not
move in harmony. Still we have improved a little, and I
think that if we had concord Ave might manage the enemy.
God will permit us yet to ride on their necks to their own
land. Gosyevski is to blame for all."
" But others say it is specially the grand hetman, Prince
Radzivill."
" They are traitors. The voevoda of Vityebsk talks that
way, for he and the under-treasurer are cronies this long
time."
" The voevoda of Vityebsk is a worthy citizen."
" Are you on the side of Sapyeha against the Radzivills ? "
"I am on the side of the country, on whose side all
should be. In this is the evil, — that even soldiers are divided
into parties, instead of fighting. That Sapyeha is a worth}7
citizen, I would say in the presence of the prince himself,
even though I serve under him."
" Good people have striven to bring about harmony, but
with no result," said Kharlamp. " There is a terrible
movement of messengers from the king to our prince.
They say that something is hatching. We expected with
the visit of the king a call of the general militia; it has not
come ! They say that it may be necessary in some places."
"In the Ukraine, for instance."
" I know. But once Lieutenant Brohvich told what he
heard with his own ears. Tyzenhauz came from the king-
to our hetman, and when they had shut themselves in they
talked a long time about something which Brohvich could
not overhear; but when they came out, with his own ears
he heard the hetman say, ' From this a new war may
come.' We racked our heads greatly to find what this
could mean."
" Surely he was mistaken. With whom could there be a
new war ? The emperor is more friendly to us now than to
our enemies, since it is proper for him to take the side of a
civilized people. With the Swedes the truce is not yet at
an end, and will not be for six years ; the Tartars are' help¬
ing us in the Ukraine, which they would not do without the
will of Turkey."
"Well, we could not get at anything."
THE DELUGE.
117
" For there was nothing. But, praise God, I have fresh
work; I began to yearn for war."
" Do you wish to carry the commission yourself to
Kmita ? "
"I do, because, as I have told you, the hetman has so
ordered. It is proper for me to visit Kmita now according
to knightly custom, and having the commission I shall have
a still better chance to talk with him. Whether I give the
commission is another thing; I think that I shall, for it is
left to my discretion."
" That suits me; I am in such haste for the road. I have
a third commission to Pan Stankyevich. Next I am com¬
manded to go to Kyedani, to remove the cannon which are
there; then to inspect Birji and see if everything is ready
for defence."
" And to Birji too ? "
" Yes."
" That is a wonder to me. The enemy have won no new
victories, and it is far for them to go to Birji on the boun¬
dary of Courland. And since, as I see, new squadrons are
being formed, there will be men to defend even those parts
which have fallen under the power of the enemy. The
Courlanders do not think of war with us. They are good
soldiers, but few ; and Badzivill might put the breath out of
them with one hand."
" I wonder too," answered Kharlamp, " all the more that
haste is enjoined on me, and instructions given that if I find
anything out of order I am to inform quickly Prince Bogus-
lav Badzivill, who is to send Peterson the engineer."
" What can this mean ? I hope 't is no question of do¬
mestic war. May God preserve us from that! But when
Prince Boguslav touches an affair the devil will come of the
amusement."
" Say nothing against him; he is a valiant man."
" I say nothing against his valor, but there is more of the
German or Frenchman in him than the Pole. And of the
Commonwealth he never thinks ; his only thought is how to
raise the house of Badzivill to the highest point and lower
all others. He is the man who rouses pride in the voevoda
of Yilna, our hetman, who of himself has no lack of it; and
those quarrels with Sapyeha and Gosyevski are the tree and
the fruit of Prince Boguslav's planting."
" I see that you are a great statesman. You should marry,
118
THE DELUGE.
Michael dear, as soon as possible, so that such wisdom be
not lost."
Volodyovski looked very attentively at his comrade.
" Marry, — why is that ? "
" Maybe you are going courting, for I see that you are
dressed as on parade."
" Give us peace ! "
" Oh, own up ! "
"Let each man eat his own melons, not inquire about
those of other men. You too have eaten more than one.
It is just the time now to think of marriage when we have
a levy on our hands ! "
"Will you be ready in July ? "
"At the end of July, even if I have to dig horses out of
the ground. Thank God that this task has come, or melan¬
choly would have devoured me."
So tidings from the hetman and the prospect of heavy
work gave great consolation to Fan Michael; and before he
reached Patsuneli, he had scarcely a thought of the rebuff
which had met him an hour before. News of the commis¬
sion flew quickly through the whole village. The nobles
came straightway to inquire if the news was true; and
when Volodyovski confirmed it, his words made a great im¬
pression. The readiness was universal, though some were
troubled because they would have to march at the end of
July before harvest. Volodyovski sent messengers to other
neighborhoods,—to Upita, and to the most considerable
noble houses. In the evening a number of Butryms, Sta-
kyans, and Domasheviches came.
They began to incite one another, show greater readiness,
threaten the enemy, and promise victory to themselves.
The Butryms alone were silent; but that was not taken ill,
for it was known that they would rise as one man. Next
day it was as noisy in all the villages as in bee-hives. Peo¬
ple talked no more of Pan Kmita and Panna Aleksandra,
but of the future campaign. Volodyovski also forgave
Olenka sincerely the refusal, comforting himself meanwhile
in his heart that that was not the last one, as the love was
not the last. At the same time he pondered somewhat on
what he had to do with the letter to Kmita.
THE DELUGE.
119
CHAPTEB X.
A time of serious labor began now for Volodyovski, —of
letter-writing and journeying. The week following lie
transferred his head-quarters .to Upita, where he began
the levy. The nobles flocked to him willingly, both great
and small, for he had a wide reputation. But especially
came the Lauda men, for whom horses had to be provided.
Volodyovski hurried around as if in boiling water; but
since he was active and spared no pains, everything went 011
successfully enough. Meanwhile he visited in Lyubich Pan
Kmita, who had advanced considerably toward health; and
though he had not risen yet from his bed, it was known that
he would recover.
Kmita recognized the knight at once, and turned a little
pale at sight of him. Even his hand moved involuntarily
toward the sabre above his head; but he checked himself
when he saw a smile on the face of his guest, put forth his
thin hand, and said, —
" I thank you for the visit. This is courtesy worthy of
such a cavalier."
" I have come to inquire if you cherish ill feeling against
me," said Pan Michael.
" I have no ill feeling; for no common man overcame
me, but a swordsman of the first degree. Hardly have I
escaped."
'' And how is your health ? "
It is surely a wonder to you that I have come out alive.
1 confess myself that it is no small exploit." Here Kmita
laughed. "Well, the affair is not lost. You may finish me
at your pleasure."
" I have not come with such intent — "
" You must be the devil," interrupted Kmita, " or must
have .a captive spirit. God knows I am far from self-praise
at this moment, for I am returning from the other world ;
but before meeting you I thought, 'If I am not the best
sabre in the Commonwealth, I am the second.' But I could
not have warded off the first blow if you had not wished it.
Tell me where did you learn so much ? "
" I had some little innate capacity, and my father taught
120
THE DELUGE.
me from boyhood. He said many a time, 1 God has given
you insignificant stature; if men do not fear you, they will
laugh at you.' Later on, while serving with the voe voda of
Rus, I finished my course. With him were a few men who
could stand boldly before me."
" But could there be such ? "
" There could, for there were. There was Pan Podbipi-
enta, a Lithuanian of high birth, who fell at Zbaraj, — the
Lord, light his soul! — a man of such strength that there
were no means to stop him, for he could cut through oppo¬
nent and weapons. Then there was Skshetuski, my heart¬
felt friend and confidant, of whom you must have heard."
" Of course ! He came out of Zbaraj, and burst through
the Cossacks. So you are of such a brace, and a man of
Zbaraj! With the forehead ! with the forehead ! Wait a
moment; I have heard of you at the castle of Radzivill, voe-
voda of Vilna. Your name is Michael ? "
" Exactly; I am Michael. My first name is Yerzi; but
since Saint Michael leads the whole host of heaven, and
has gained so many victories over the banners of hell, I
prefer him as a patron."
"It is sure that Yerzi is not equal to Michael. Then you
are that same Volodyovski of whom it is said that he cut up
Bogun? "
" I am he."
Well, to receive a slash on the head from such a man
is not a misfortune. If God would grant us to be friends !
You called me a traitor, 'tis true, but you were mistaken."
When he said this, Kmita frowned as if his wound caused
him pain again.
" I confess my mistake," answered Volodyovski. " I do
not learn that from you ; your men told me. And know
that if I had not learned it I should not have come here."
" Tongues have cut me and cut me," said Kmita, with bit¬
terness. "Let come what may, I confess more than one
mark is against me; but in this neighborhood men have re¬
ceived me ungraciously."
"You injured yourself most by burning Volmontovichi,
and by the last seizure."
"Now they are crushing me with lawsuits. I am sum¬
moned to courts. They will not give a sick man time to re¬
cover. I burned Volmontovichi, 'tis true, and cut down
some people; but let God judge me if I did that from ca¬
price. The same night, before the burning I made a vow to
THE DELUGE.
121
live with all men in peace, to attract to myself these home¬
spuns around here, to satisfy the basswood barks in Upita,
for there I really played the tyrant. I returned to my
house, and what did I find ? I found my comrades cut up
like cattle, lying at the wall. When I learned that the
Butryms had done this, the devil entered me, and I took
stern vengeance. Would you believe why they were cut up,
why they were slaughtered ? I learned myself later from
one of the Butryms, whom I found in the woods. Behold,
it was for this, — that they wanted to dance with the women
of the nobles in a public house ! Who would not have taken
vengeance ? "
" My worthy sir," answered Volodyovski, " it is true that
they acted severely with your comrades; but'was it the
nobles who killed them ? No; their previous reputation
killed them, — that which they brought with them ; for if
orderly soldiers had wished to dance, surely they would
not have slain them."
"Poor fellows !" said Kmita, following his own thoughts,
" while I was lying here now in a fever, they came in
every evening through that door from the room outside. I
saw them around this bed as if living, blue, hacked up, and
groaning continually, 'Yendrus ! give money to have a
Mass for our souls; we are in torments!' Then I tell you
the hair stood on my head, for the smell of sulphur from
them was in the room. I gave money for a Mass. Oh,
may it help them !"
A moment of silence then followed.
" As to the carrying off," continued Kmita, " no one
could have told you about that; for in truth she saved my
life when the nobles were hunting me, but afterward she
ordered me to depart and not show myself before her eyes.
What was there left for me after that ? "
<%till it was a Tartar method."
" You know not what love is, and to what despair it may
bring a man when he loses that Avhich he prizes most dearly."
''I know not what love is?" cried Volodyovski, with
excitement. "Prom the time that I began to carry a sabre
I was in love. It is true that the object changed, for I was
never rewarded with a return. Were it not for that, there
could have been no Troilus more faithful than I."
" What kind of love can that be when the object is
changing ? " said Kmita.
" I will tell you something else which I saw with my own
eyes. In the first period of the Hmelnitski affair, Bogun,
122
THE DELUGE
the same who next to Hmelnitski has now the highest re¬
spect of the Cossacks, carried off Princess Kurtsevich, a
maiden loved by Skshetuski above all things. That was a
love ! The whole army was weeping in view of Skshetuski's
despair; for his beard at some years beyond twenty grew
gray, and can you guess what he did ? "
" I have no means of knowing."
" Well, because the country was in need, in humiliation,
because the terrible Hmelnitski was triumphing, he did not
go to seek the girl. He offered his suffering to God, and
fought under Prince Yeremi in all the battles, including
Zbaraj, and covered himself with such glory that to-day all
repeat his name with respect. Compare his action with
your own and see the difference."
Kmita was silent, gnawed his mustache. Volodyovski
continued, —
"Then God rewarded and gave him the maiden. They
married immediately after Zbaraj, and now l^ave three
children, though he has not ceased to serve. But you by
making disturbance have given aid to the enemy and
almost lost your own life, not to mention that a few days
ago you might have lost the lady forever."
"How is that?" asked Kmita, sitting up in the bed;
" what happened to her ? "
"Nothing; but there was found a man who asked for
her hand and wanted to marry her."
Kmita grew very pale; his hollow eyes began to shoot
flames. He wanted to rise, even struggled for a moment;
then cried, " Who was this devil's son ? By the living God,
tell me!"
"I," said Pan Volodyovski.
"You, — you?" asked Kmita, with astonishment. "Is
it possible ? "
"It is."
" Traitor ! that will not go with you ! But she — what
— tell me everything. Did she accept ? "
" She refused me on the spot, without thinking."
A moment of silence followed. Kmita breathed heavily,
and fixed his eyes on Volodyovski, who said, —
" Why call me traitor ? Am I your brother or your best
man ? Have I broken faith with you ? I conquered you
in battle, and could have done what I liked."
" In old fashion one of us would seal this with his blood,
— if not with a sabre, with a gun. I would shoot you;
then let the devils take me."
THE DELUGE.
123
" Then you would have shot me, for if she had not re¬
fused I should not have accepted a second duel. What had
I to fight for ? Do you know why she refused me ? "
" Why ? " repeated Kmita, like an echo.
"Because she loves you."
That was more than the exhausted strength of the sick
man could bear. His head fell on the pillows, a copious
sweat came out on his forehead, and he lay there in silence.
"I am terribly weak," said he, after a while. "How do
you know that she loves me ? "
"Because I have eyes and see, because I have reason and
observe ; just after I had received the refusal my head
became clear. To begin with, when after the duel I came
to tell her that she was free, for I had slain you, she was
dazed, and instead of showing gratitude she ignored me
entirely; second, when the Domasheviches were bringing
you in, she carried your head like a mother; and third,
because when I visited her, she received me as if some one
were giving me a slap in the face. If these explanations
are not sufficient, it is because your reason is shaken and
your mind impaired."
"If that is true," said Kmita, with a feeble voice,
"many plasters are put on my wounds ; better balsam than
your words there could not be."
"But a traitor applies this balsam."
" Oh, forgive me ! Such happiness cannot find place in
my mind, that she has a wish for me still."
" I said that she loves you; I did not say that she has a
wish for you, —that is altogether different."
" If she has no wish for me, I will break my head against
the wall; I cannot help it."
"You might if you had a sincere desire of effacing your
faults. There is war now; you may go, you may render
important services to our dear country, you may win glory
with bravery, and mend your reputation. Who is without
fault ? Who has no sin on his conscience ? Every one has.
But the road to penance and correction is open to all. You
sinned through violence, then avoid it henceforth; you
offended against the country by raising disturbance in time
of war, save the country now; you committed wrongs
against men, make reparation for them. This is a better
and a surer way for you than breaking your head."
Kmita looked attentively at Volodyovski; then said,
" You speak like a sincere friend of mine."
"I am not your friend, but in truth I am not your enemy;
124
THE DELUGE.
and I am sorry for that lady, though she refused me and I
said a sharp word to her in parting. I shall not hang my¬
self by reason of the refusal; it is not the first for me, and
I am not accustomed to treasure up offences. If I persuade
you to the right road, that will be to the country a service
on my part, for you are a good and experienced soldier."
" Is there time for me to return to this road ? How
many summonses are waiting for me ? I shall have to go
from the bed to the court — unless I flee hence, and I do
not wish to do that. How many summonses, and every
case a sure sentence of condemnation! "
" Look, here is a remedy ! " said Volodyovski, taking out
the commission.
" A commission ! " cried Kmita ; " for whom ? "
"For you! You need not appear at any court, for you
are in the hetman's jurisdiction. Hear what the prince
voevoda writes me."
Volodyovski read to Kmita the private letter of Radzivill,
drew breath, moved his mustaches, and said, " Here, as you
see, it depends on me either to give you the commission or
to retain it."
Uncertainty, alarm, and hope were reflected on Kmita's
face. " What will you do ? " asked he, in a low voice.
"I will give the commission," said Volodyovski.
Kmita said nothing at first; he dropped his head on the
pillow, and looked some time at the ceiling. Suddenly his
eyes began to grow moist; and tears, unknown guests in
those eyes, were hanging on the lashes.
" May I be torn with horses," said he at last, " may I
be pulled out of my skin, if I have seen a more honorable
man! If through me you have received a refusal,—if
Olenka, as you say, loves me, — another would have taken
vengeance all the more, would have pushed me down
deeper; but you give your hand and draw me forth as it
were from the grave."
"Because I will not sacrifice to personal interests the
country, to which you may render notable service. But I
say that if you had obtained those Cossacks from Trubet-
.skoi or Hovanski, I should have kept the commission. It
is your whole fortune that you did not do that."
"It is for others to take an example from you," said
Kmita. " Give me your hand. God permit me to repay you
with some good, for you have bound me in life and in death."
"Well, we will speak of that later. Now listen ! There
is .no need of appearing before any court, but go to work.
THE DELUGE.
125
If you will render service to the Commonwealth, these
nobles will forgive you, for they are very sensitive to the
honor of the State. You may blot out your offences yet,
win reputation, walk in glory as in sunlight, and I know of
one lady who will give you a lifelong reward."
"Hei!" cried Kmita, in ecstasy, "why should I rot here
in bed when the enemy is trampling the country ? Hei ! is
there any one there ? Come, boy, give me my boots; come
hither ! May the thunderbolts strike me in this bed if I
stay here longer in uselessness !"
Yolodyovski smiled with satisfaction and said, "Your
spirit is stronger than your body, for the body is not able to
serve you yet."
When he had said this he began to take farewell; but
Kmita would not let him go, thanked him, and wished to
treat him with wine. In fact, it was well toward evening
when the little knight left Lyubich and directed his course
to Yodokty.
" I will reward her in the best fashion for her sharp word,"
said he to himself, " when I tell her that Kmita will rise,
not only from his bed, but from evil fame. He is not
ruined yet, only very passionate. I shall comfort her won¬
derfully too, and I think she will meet me better this time
than when I offered myself to her."
Here our honest Pan Michael sighed and muttered:
"Could it be known that there is one in the world predes¬
tined to me ? "
In the midst of such meditations he came to Yodokty.
The tow-headed man of Jmud ran out to the gate, but made
no hurry to open ; he only said, —
" The heiress is not at home."
" Has she gone away ? "
"She has gone away."
" Whither ? "
"Who knows ? "
" When will she come back ? "
" Who knows ? "
"Speak in human fashion. Did she not say when she
would return ? "
"Maybe she will not return at all, for she went away with
wagons and bags. From that I think she has gone far for a
long time."
" Is that true ? " muttered Pan Michael. " See what I
have done! "
126
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XI.
Usually when the warm rays of the sun begin to break
through the wintry veil of clouds, and when the first buds
appear on the trees and the green fleece spreads over the
damp fields, a better hope enters the hearts of men. But
the spring of 1655 brought not the usual comfort to the
afflicted inhabitants of the Commonwealth. The entire
eastern boundary, from the north to the wilderness on the
south, was bound as it were by a border of flame ; and the
spring torrents could not quench the conflagration, but that
border grew wider continually and occupied brcader regions.
And besides there appeared in the sky signs of evil omen,
announcing still greater defeats and misfortunes. Time
after time from the clouds which swept over the heavens
were formed as it were lofty towers like the flanks of for¬
tresses, which afterward rolled down with a crash. Thun¬
derbolts struck the earth while it was still covered with
snow, pine-woods became yellow, and the limbs of trees
crossed one another in strange sickly figures ; wild beasts
and birds fell down and died from unknown diseases.
Finally, strange spots were seen on the sun, having the form
of a hand holding an apple, of a heart pierced through, and
a cross. The minds of men were disturbed more and more ;
monks were lost in calculating what these signs might mean.
A wonderful kind of disquiet seized all hearts.
New and sudden wars were foretold, God knows from
what source. An ominous report began to circulate from
mouth to mouth in villages and towns that a tempest was
coming from the side of the Swedes. Apparently nothing
seemed to confirm this report, for the truce concluded with
Sweden had six years yet to run; and still people spoke of
the danger of war, even at the Diet, which Yan Kazimir the
king had called on May 19 in Warsaw.
Anxious eyes were turned more and more to Great Poland,
on which the storm would come first. Leshchynski, the
voevoda of Lenchytsk, and Narushevich, chief secretary of
Lithuania, went on an embassy to Sweden; but their depar¬
ture, instead of quieting the alarmed, increased still more
the disquiet.
THE DELUGE.
127
"That embassy smells of war," wrote Yanush Radzivill.
" If a storm were not threatening from that direction,
why were they sent ? " asked others.
Kanazyl, the first ambassador, had barely returned from
Stockholm; but it was to be seen clearly that he had done
nothing, since immediately after him important senators
were sent.
However people of more judgment did not believe yet in
the possibility of war. "The Commonwealth," said they,
" has given 110 cause, and the truce endures in full validity.
How could oaths be broken, the most sacred agreements vio¬
lated, and a harmless neighbor attacked in robber fashion ?
Besides, Sweden remembers the wounds inflicted by the Po¬
lish sabre at Kirchholm and Putsk; and Gustavus Adolphus,
who 111 western Europe found not his equal, yielded a num¬
ber of times to Pan Konyetspolski. The Swedes will not
expose such great military glory won in the world to uncer¬
tain hazard before an opponent against whom they have
never been able to stand in the field. It is true that the
Commonwealth is exhausted and weakened by war; but
Prussia and Great Poland, which in the last wars did not
suffer at all, will of themselves be able to drive that hungry
people beyond the sea to their barren rocks. There will be
no war."
To this alarmists answered again that even before the
Diet at Warsaw counsel was taken by advice of the king at
the provincial diet in Grodno concerning the defence of the
boundary of Great Poland, and taxes and soldiers assigned,
which would not have been done unless danger was near.
And so minds were wavering between fear and hope; a
grievous uncertainty weighed down the spirits of people,
when suddenly an end was put to it by the proclamation of
Boguslav Les'hcliynski, commander in Great Poland, sum¬
moning the general militia of the provinces of Poznan and
Kalisk for the defence of the boundaries against the impend¬
ing Swedish storm.
Every doubt vanished. The shout, "War!" was heard
throughout Great Poland and all the lands of the Common¬
wealth.
That was not only a war, but a new war. Hmelnitski,
reinforced by Buturlin, Avas raging in the south and the east;
Hovanski and Trubetskoi on the north and east; the Swede
was approaching from the west! The fiery border had be¬
come a fiery wheel.
128
THE DELUGE.
The country was like a besieged camp; and in the camp
»evil was happening. One traitor, Kadzeyovski, had fled
from it, and was in the tent of the invaders. He was guid¬
ing them to ready spoil, he was pointing out the weak sides ;
it was his work to tempt the garrisons. And in addition
there was no lack of ill will and envy, — no lack of magnates
quarrelling among themselves or angry with the king by
reason of offices refused, and ready at any moment to sacri¬
fice the cause of the nation to their own private profit ; there
was no lack of dissidents wishing to celebrate their own
triumph even on the grave of the fatherland ; and a still
greater number was there of the disorderly, the heedless,
the slothful, and of those who were in love with themselves,
their own ease and well being.
Still Great Poland, a country wealthy and hitherto un¬
touched by war, did not spare at least money for defence.
Towns and villages of nobles furnished as many infantry as
were assigned to them; and before the nobles moved in their
own persons to the camp many-colored regiments of land
infantry had moved thither under the leadership of captains
appointed by the provincial diet from,among men experi¬
enced in the art of war.
Pan Stanislav Dembinski led the land troops of Poznan,
Pan Vladyslav Vlostovski those of Kostsian, and Pan Golts,
a famous soldier and engineer, those of Valets. The peas¬
ants of Kalisk were commanded by Pan Stanislav Skshe-
tuski, from a stock of valiant warriors, a cousin of the
famous Yan from Zbaraj. Pan Katsper Jyhlinski led the
millers and bailiffs of Konin. From Pyzdri marched Pan
Stanislav Yarachevski, who had spent his youth in foreign
wars; from Ktsyna, Pan Pyotr Skorashevski, and from
Naklo, Pan Kosletski. But in military experience no one
was equal to Pan Vladyslav Skorashevski, whose voice was
listened to even by the commander in Great Poland himself
and the voevodas.
In three places—at Pila, Uistsie, Vyelunie — had the
captains fixed the lines on the Hotets, waiting for the arri¬
val of the nobles summoned to the general militia. The
infantry dug trenches from morning till evening, looking
continually toward the rear to see if the wished for cavalry
were coming.
The first dignitary who came was Pan Andrei Grudzinski,
voevoda of Kalisk. He lodged in the house of the mayor,
with a numerous retinue of servants arrayed in white and
THE DELUGE.
129
blue colors. He expected that the nobles of Kalisk would
gather round him straightway; but when no one appeared
he sent for Captain Stanislav Skshetuski, who was occupied
in digging trenches at the river.
" Where are my men ? " asked he, after the first greet¬
ings of the captain, whom he had known from childhood.
"What men?" asked Pan Stanislav.
" The general militia of Kalisk."
A smile of pain mingled with contempt appeared on the
swarthy face of the soldier.
" Serene great mighty voevoda," said he, " this is the
time for shearing sheep, and in Dantzig they will not pay
for badly washed wool. Every noble is now at a pond
washing or weighing, thinking correctly that the Swedes
will not run away."
" How is that ? " asked the troubled voevoda ; " is there
110 one here yet ? "
"Not a living soul, except the land infantry. And, be- '
sides, the harvest is near. A good manager will not leave
home at such a season."
" What do you tell me ? "
" But the Swedes will not run away, they will only come
nearer," repeated the captain.
The pock-pitted face of the voevoda grew suddenly
purple. "What are the Swedes to me? But this will be
a shame for me in the presence of the other lords if I am
here alone like a finger."
Pan Stanislav laughed again: "Your grace will permit
me to remark," said he, "that the Swedes are the main
thing here, and shame afterward. Besides, there will be
no shame ; for not only the nobles of Kalisk, but all other
nobles, are absent."
" They have run mad ! " exclaimed Grudzinski.
"No; but they are sure of this, — if they will not go to
the Swedes, the Swedes will not fail to come to them."
" Wait! " said the voevoda. And clapping his hands for
an attendant, he gave command to bring ink, pen, and
paper; then he sat down and began to write. In half an
hour he had covered the paper; he struck it with his hand,
and said, —
"I will send another call for them to be here at the
latest pro die 27 praesentls (on the 27th of the present
month), and I think that surely they will wish at this last
VOL. I. — 9
130
THE DELUGE.
date non deesse patrice (not to fail the country). And now
tell me have you any news of the enemy ? "
" We have. Wittemberg is mustering his troops on the
fields at Dama."
" Are there many ? "
" Some say seventeen thousand, others more."
" H'm ! then there will not be so many of ours. What
is your opinion ? Shall we be able to oppose them ? "
"If the nobles do not appear, there is nothing to talk
about."
" They will come ; why should they not come ? It is a
known fact that the general militia always delay. But
shall we be able to succeed with the aid of the nobles ? "
"No," replied Pan Stanislav, coolly. "Serene great
mighty voevoda, we have no soldiers."
" How no soldiers ? "
"Your grace knows as well as I that all the regular
troops are in the Ukraine. Not even two squadrons were
sent here, though at this moment God alone knows which
storm is greater."
" But the infantry, and the general militia ? "
" Of twenty peasants scarcely one has seen war; of ten,
one knows how to hold a gun. After the first war they
will be good soldiers, but they are not soldiers now. And
as to the general militia let your grace ask any man who
knows even a little about war whether the general militia
can stand before regulars, and besides such soldiers as the
Swedes, veterans of the whole Lutheran war, and accus¬
tomed to victory."
"Do you exalt the Swedes, then, so highly above your
own ? "
" I do not exalt them above my own; for if there were
fifteen thousand such men here as were at Zbaraj, quarter
soldiers and cavalry, I should have no fear. But with such
as we have God knows whether we can do anything worth
mention."
The voevoda placed his hands on his knees, and looked
quickly into the eyes of Pan Stanislav, as if wishing to
read some hidden thought in them. "What have we come
here for, then ? Do you not think it better to yield ? "
Pan Stanislav spat in answer, and said: "-If such a
thought as that has risen in my head, let your grace give
command to impale me on a stake. To the question do I
believe in victory I answer, as a soldier, that I do not. But
THE DELUGE.
131
why we have come here, — that is another question, to
which as a citizen I will answer. To offer the enemy the
first resistance, so that by detaining them we shall enable
the rest of the country to make ready and march, to re¬
strain the invasion with our bodies until we fall one on
the other."
" Your intention is praiseworthy," answered the voevoda,
coldly; "but it is easier for you soldiers to talk about
death than for us, on whom will fall all the responsibility
for so much noble blood shed in vain."
"What is noble blood for unless to be shed ? "
" That is true, of course. We are ready to die, for that
is the easiest thing of all. But duty commands us, the men
whom Providence has made leaders, not to seek our own
glory merely, but also to look for results. War is as good
as begun, it is true ; but still Carolus Gustavus is a rela¬
tive of our king, and must remember this fact. Therefore
it is necessary to try negotiations, tor sometimes more can
be effected by speech than by arms."
"That does not pertain to me," said Pan Stanislav, dryly.
Evidently the same thought occurred to the voevoda at
that moment, for he nodded and dismissed the captain.
Pan Stanislav, however, was only half right in what he
said concerning the delay of the nobles summoned to the
general militia. It was true that before sheep-shearing was
over few came to the camp between Pila and Uistsie ; but
toward the 27tli of June, —that is, the date mentioned in
the second summons — they began to assemble in numbers
considerable enough.
Every day clouds of dust, rising by reason of the dry and
settled weather, announced the approach of fresh reinforce¬
ments one after another. And the nobles travelled noisily
on horses, on wheels, and with crowds of servants, with
provisions, with wagons, and abundance on them of every
kind of thing, and so loaded with weapons that many a
man carried arms of every description for three lances,
muskets, pistols, sabres, double-handed swords and hussar
hammers, out of use even in that time, for smashing armor.
Old soldiers recognized at once by these weapons men
unaccustomed to war and devoid of experience.
Of all the nobles inhabiting the Commonwealth just those
of Great Poland were the least warlike. Tartars, Turks,
and Cossacks had never trampled those regions which from
the time of the Knights of the Cross had almost lorgotten
132
THE DELUGE.
how war looked in the country. Whenever a noble of Great
Poland felt the desire for war he joined the armies of the
kingdom, and fought there as well as the best; but those who
preferred to stay at home became real householders, in love
with wealth and with ease, — real agriculturists, filling with
their wool and especially with their wheat the markets of
Prussian towns. But now when the Swedish storm swept
them away from their peaceful pursuits, they thought it im¬
possible to pile up too many arms, provide too great supplies,
or take too many servants to protect the persons and goods
of the master.
They were marvellous soldiers, whom the captains could
not easily bring to obedience. For example, one would
present himself with a lance nineteen feet long, with a
breastplate on his breast, but with a straw hat on his head
"for coolness ;" another in time of drill would complain of
the heat; a third would yawn, eat, or drink; a fourth would
call his attendant; and all who were in the ranks thought
it nothing out of the way to talk so loudly that no man
could hear the command of an officer. And it was difficult
to introduce discipline, for it offended the brotherhood ter¬
ribly, as being opposed to the dignity of a citizen. It is
true that " articles" were proclaimed, but no one would
obey them.
An iron ball on the feet of this army was the innumerable
legion of wagons, of reserve and draft horses, of cattle in¬
tended for food, and especially of the multitude of servants
guarding the tents, utensils, millet, grits, hash, and causing
on the least occasion quarrels and disturbance.
Against such an army as this was advancing from the
side of Stettin and the plains on the Oder, Arwid Wittem-
berg, an old leader, whose youth had been passed in the
thirty years' war; he came at the head of seventeen thou¬
sand veterans bound together by iron discipline.
On one side stood the disordered Polish camp, resembling
a crowd at a country fair, vociferous, full of disputes, dis¬
cussions about the commands of leaders, and of dissatisfac¬
tion; composed of worthy villagers turned into prospective
infantry, and nobles taken straight from sheep-shearing.
From the other side marched terrible, silent quadrangles,
which at one beck of their leaders turned, with the precision
of machines, into lines and half-circles, unfolding into
wedges and triangles as regularly as a sword moves in the
hands of a fencer, bristling with musket-barrels and darts;
THE DELUGE.
133
genuine men of war, cool, calm; real masters who had at¬
tained perfection in their art. Who among men of experi¬
ence could doubt the outcome of the meeting and on whose
side the victory must fall ?
The nobles, however, were assembling in greater and
greater numbers; and still earlier the dignitaries of Great
Poland and other provinces began to meet, bringing bodies
of attendant troops and servants. Soon after the arrival of
Pan Grudzinski at Pila came Pan Kryshtof Opalinski, the
powerful voevoda of Poznan. Three hundred haiduks in
red and yellow uniforms and armed with muskets went
before the carriage of the voevoda; a crowd of attendant
nobles surrounded his worthy person; following them in
order of battle came a division of horsemen with uni¬
forms similar to those of the haiduks; the voevoda himself
was in a carriage attended by a jester, Staha Ostrojka,
whose duty it was to cheer his gloomy master on the road.
The entrance of such a great dignitary gave courage and
consolation to all; for those who looked on the almost
kingly majesty of the voevoda, on that lordly face in which
under the lofty vaulting of the forehead there gleamed eyes
wise and severe, and on the senatorial dignity of his whole
posture, could hardly believe that any evil fate could come
to such power.
To those accustomed to give honor to office and to person
it seemed that even the Swedes themselves would not dare
to raise a sacrilegious hand against such a magnate. Even
those whose hearts were beating in their breasts with alarm
felt safer at once under his wing. He was greeted therefore
joyfully and warmly; shouts thundered along the street
through which the retinue pushed slowly toward the house
of the mayor, and all heads inclined before the voevoda,
who was as visible as on the palm of the hand through the
windows of the gilded carriage. To these bows Ostrojka
answered, as well as the voevoda, with the same importance
and gravity as if they had been given exclusively to him.
Barely had the dust settled after the passage of Opalinski
when couriers rushed in Avith the announcement that his
cousin was coming, the voevoda of Podlyasye, Pyotr Opalin¬
ski, with his brother-in-law Yakob Rozdrajevski, the voe¬
voda of Inovratslav. These brought each a hundred and
fifty armed men, besides nobles and servants. Then not a
day passed without the arrival of dignitaries such as Send-
zivoi Charnkovski, the brother-in-law of Krishtof Opalinski,
134
THE DELUGE.
and himself castellan of Kalisk ; Maksymilian Myaskovski,
the castellan of Kryvinsk ; and Pavel Gembitski, the lord
of Myendzyrechka. The town was so filled with people
that houses failed for the lodging even of nobles. The
neighboring meadows were many-colored with the tents of
the general militia. One might say that all the various
colored birds had flown to Pila from the entire Common¬
wealth. Red, green, blue, azure, white were gleaming on
the various coats and garments; for leaving aside the gen¬
eral militia, in which each noble wore a dress different from
his neighbor, leaving aside the servants of the magnates,
even the infantry of each district were dressed in their own
colors.
Shop-keepers came too, who, unable to find places in the
market-square, built a row of booths byT the side of the town.
In these they sold military supplies, from clothing to arms
and food. Pield-kitchens were steaming day and night,
bearing away in the steam the odor of hash, roast meat,
millet; in some liquors were sold. Nobles swarmed in front
of the booths, armed not only with swords but with spoons,
eating, drinking, and discussing, now the enemyr not yet
to be seen, and now the incoming dignitaries, on whom
nicknames were not spared.
Among the groups of nobles walked Ostrojka, in a dress
made of partyT-colored rags, carrying a sceptre ornamented
with bells, and with the mien of a simple rogue. Wher¬
ever he showed himself men came around in a circle, and
he poured oil on the fire, helped them to backbite tl^ digni¬
taries, and gave riddles over which the nobles held their
sides from laughter, the more firmly the more biting the
riddles.
On a certain midday the voevoda of Poznan himself came
to the bazaar, speaking courteously with this one and that, or
blaming the king somewhat because in the face of the ap¬
proaching enemy he had not sent a single squadron of
soldiers.
" They are not thinking of us, worthy gentlemen," said
he, " and leave us without assistance. They say in Warsaw
that even now there are too few troops in the Ukraine, and
that the hetmans are not able to make head against Hmel-
nitski. Ah, it is difficult! It is pleasanter to see the
Ukraine than Great Poland. We are in disfavor, worthy
gentlemen, in disfavor! They have delivered us here as it
were to be slaughtered."
THE DELUGE.
135
" And. who is to blame ?" asked Pan Shlihtyng, the
judge of Vskov.
" Who is to blame for all the misfortunes of the Common¬
wealth," asked the voevoda, — " who, unless we brother
nobles who shield it with our breasts ? "
The nobles, hearing this, were greatly flattered that the
" Count in Bnino and Opalenitsa" put himself on an
equality with them, and recognized himself in brother¬
hood ; hence Pan Koshutski answered, —
" Serene great mighty voevoda, if there were more such
counsellors as your grace near his Majesty, of a certainty
we should not be delivered to slaughter here; but probably
those give counsel who bow lower."
" I thank you, brothers, for the good word. The fault is
his who listens to evil counsellors. Our liberties are as salt
in the eye to those people. The more nobles fall, the easier
will it be to introduce absolutum dominium (absolute rule)."
" Must we die, then, that our children may groan in
slavery ?"
The voevoda said nothing, and the nobles began to look
at one another and wonder.
" Is that true then ? " cried many. " Is that the reason,-
why they sent us here under the knife ? And we believe !
This is not the first day that they are talking about absolu-
tum dominium. But if it comes to that, we shall be able to
think of our own heads."
" And of our children."
" And of our fortunes, which the enemy will destroy igne
et ferro (with fire and sword)."
The voevoda was silent. In a marvellous manner did this
leader add to the courage of his soldiers.
" The king is to blame for all! " Avas shouted more and
more frequently.
" But do you remember, gentlemen, the history of Yan
Olbraclit ? " asked the voevoda.
" The nobles perished for King Olbracht. Treason,
brothers !"
" The king is a traitor !" cried some bold voices.
The voevoda was silent.
Now Ostrojka, standing by the side of the voevoda,
struck himself a number of times on the legs, and crowed
like a cock Avith such shrillness that all eyes Avere turned
to him. Then he shouted, " Gracious lords ! brothers, dear
hearts ! listen to my riddle."
136
THE DELUGE.
With the genuine fickleness of Marcli weather, the
stormy militia changed in one moment to curiosity and
desire to hear some new stroke of wit from the jester.
" We hear! we hear !" cried a number of voices.
The jester began, to wink like a monkey and to recite in a
squeaking voice, —
" After his brother he solaced himself with a crown and a wife,
But let glory go down to the grave with his brother.
He drove out the vice-chancellor; hence now has the fame
Of being vice-chancellor to — the vice-chancellor's wife."
"The king! the king! As alive! Yan Kazimir !" they
began to cry from every side ; and laughter, mighty as
thunder, was heard in the crowd.
" May the bullets strike him, what a masterly explana¬
tion !" cried the nobles.
The voevoda laughed with the others, and when it had
grown somewhat calm he said, with increased dignity:
"And for this affair we must pay now with our blood and
our heads. See what it has come to! Here, jester, is a
ducat for thy good verse."
"Kryshtofek! Krysh dearest!" said Ostrojka, "why
attack others because they keep jesters, when thou not only
keepest me, but payest separately for riddles ? Give me
another ducat and I '11 tell thee another riddle."
" Just as good ? "
" As good, only longer. Give me the ducat first."
" Here it is ! "
The jester slapped his sides with his hands, as a cock
with his wings, croAved again, and cried out, " Gracious
gentlemen, listen ! Who is this ? "
" He complains of self-seeking, stands forth as a Cato;
Instead of a sabre lie took a goose's tail-feather
He wanted the legacy of a traitor, and not getting that
He lashed the whole Commonwealth with a biting rhyme.
"God grant him love for the sabre ! less woe would it bring.
Of his satire the Swedes have no fear.
But he has barely tasted the hardships of war
When following a traitor he is ready to betray his king."
All present guessed that riddle as AArell as the first. Two
or three laughs, smothered at the same instant, were heard
in the assembly; then a deep silence fell.
The voevoda grew purple, and he Avas the more confused
THE DELUGE.
137
in that all eyes were fixed ou liim at that moment. But the
jester looked 011 one noble and then 011 another; at last he
said, "None of you gentlemen can guess who that is ? "
When silence was the only answer, he turned with the
most insolent mien to the voevoda: " And thou, dost thou
too not know of what rascal the speech is ? Dost thou not
know ? Then pay me a ducat."
" Here !" said the voevoda.
"God reward thee. But tell me, Krysh, hast thou
not perchance tried to get the vice-chancellorship after
Kadzeyovski ? "
"No time for jests," replied Opalinski; and removing
his cap to all present: " With the forehead, gentlemen!
I must go to the council of war."
" To the family council thou didst wish to say, Krysh,"
added Ostrojka; "for there all thy relatives will hold coun¬
cil how to be off." Then he turned to the nobles and
imitating the voevoda in his bows, he added, "And to you,
gentlemen, that's the play."
Both withdrew; but they had barely gone a few steps
when an immense outburst of laughter struck the ears of
the voevoda, and thundered long before it was drowned in
the general noise of the cam]).
The council of war was held in fact, and the voevoda of
Poznan presided. That was a strange council! Those very
dignitaries took part in it who knew nothing of war; for
the magnates of Great Poland did not and could not fol¬
low the example of those "kinglets" of Lithuania or the
Ukraine who lived in continual fire like salamanders.
In Lithuania or the Ukraine whoever was a voevoda or
a chancellor was a leader whose armor pressed out on his
body red stripes which never left it, whose youth was spent
in the steppes or the forests 011 the eastern border, in
ambushes, battles, struggles, pursuits, in camp or in tabors.
In Great Poland at this time dignitaries were in office who,
though they had marched in times of necessity with the
general militia, had never held positions of command in
time of war. Profound peace had put to sleep the military
courage of the descendants of those warriors, before whom
in former days the iron legions of the Knights of the Cross
were unable to stand, and turned them into civilians,
scholars, and writers. Now the stern school of Sweden
was teaching them what they had forgotten.
The dignitaries assembled in council looked at one an-
138
THE DELUGE.
other with uncertain eyes, and each feared to speak first,
waiting for what " Agamemnon," voevoda of Poznan, would
say.
But "Agamemnon" himself knew simply nothing, and
began his speech again with complaints of the ingratitude
and sloth of the king, of the frivolity with which all Great
Poland and they were delivered to the sword. But how
eloquent was he; what a majestic figure did he present,
worthy in truth of a Roman senator ! He held his head
erect while speaking; his dark eyes shot lightnings, his
mouth thunderbolts; his iron-gray beard trembled with ex¬
citement when he described the future misfortunes of the land.
"For in what does the fatherland suffer," said he, "if
not in its sons ? and we here suffer, first of all. Through
our private lands, through our private fortunes won by the
services and blood of our ancestors, will advance the feet of
those enemies who now like a storm are approaching from
the sea. And why do we suffer ? For what will they
take our herds, trample our harvests, burn our villages built
by our labor ? Have we wronged Radzeyovski, who, con¬
demned unjustly, hunted like a criminal, had to seek the pro¬
tection of strangers ? No ! Do we insist that that empty
title "King of Sweden," which has cost so much blood al¬
ready, should remain with the signature of our Yan Kazi-
mir ? No ! Two wars are blazing on two boundaries; was
it needful to call forth a third ? Who was to blame, may
God, may the country judge him ! We wash our hands, for
we are innocent of the blood which will be shed."
And thus the voevoda thundered on further; but when it
came to the question in hand he was not able to give the
desired advice.
They sent then for the captains leading the land infantry,
and specially for Vladyslav Skorashevski, who was not only
a famous and incomparable knight, but an old, practised
soldier, knowing war as he did the Lord's Prayer. In fact,
genuine leaders listened frequently to his advice ; all the
more eagerly was it sought for now.
Pan Skorashevski advised then to establish three camps,
— at Pila, Vyelunie, and IJistsie, — so near one another
that in time of attack they might give mutual aid, and be¬
sides this to cover with trenches the whole extent of the
river-bank occupied by a half-circle of camps which were to
command the passage.
"When we know," said Skorashevski, "the place where
THE DELUGE.
139
the enemy will attempt the crossing, we shall unite from all
three camps and give liim proper resistance. But I with
the permission of your great mighty lordships, will go with
a small party to Cliaplinko. That is a lost position, and in
time I shall withdraw from it; but there I shall first get
knowledge of the enemy, and then will inform your great
mighty lordships."
All accepted this counsel, and men began to move around
somewhat more briskly in the camp. At last the nobles
assembled to the number of fifteen thousand. The land in¬
fantry dug trenches over an extent of six miles. Uistsie,
the chief position, was occupied by the voevoda of Poznan
and his men. A part of the knights remained in Vyelunie,
a part in Pila, and Yladyslav Skorashevski went to Cha-
plinko to observe the enemy.
July began; all the days were clear and hot. The sun
burned on the plains so violently that the nobles hid in the
woods between the trees, under the shade of which some of
them gave orders to set up their tents. There also they
had noisy and boisterous feasts; and still more of an uproar
was made by the servants, especially at the time of washing
and watering the horses which, to the number of several
thousand at once, Avere driven thrice each day to the Notets
and Berda, quarrelling and fighting for the best approach
to the bank. But in the beginning there was a^ good spirit
in the camp; only the voevoda of Poznan himself acted
rather to weaken it.
If Wittemberg had come in the first days of July, it is
likely that he would have met a mighty resistance, which in
proportion as the men warmed to battle might have been
turned into an invincible rage, of which there were often
examples. For still there flowed knightly blood in the
veins of these people, though they had grown unaccustomed
to war.
Who knows if another Yeremi Vishnyevetski might not
have changed Uistsie into another Zbaraj, and described in
those trenches a new illustrious career of knighthood?
Unfortunately the voevoda of Poznan was a man who could
only write; he knew nothing of war.
Wittemberg, a leader knowing not merely war but men,
did not hasten, perhaps on purpose. Experience of long
years had taught him that a newly enrolled soldier is most
dangerous in the first moments of enthusiasm, and that
often not bravery is lacking to him, but soldierly endurance,
140
THE DELUGE.
which, practice alone can develop. More than once have
new soldiers struck like a storm on the oldest regiments,
and passed over their corpses. They are iron which while
it is hot quivers, lives, scatters sparks, burns, destroys, but
which when it grows cold is a mere lifeless lump.
In fact, when a week had passed, a second, and the third
had come, long inactivity began to weigh upon the general
militia. The heat became greater each day. The nobles
would not go to drill, and gave as excuse that their horses
tormented by flies would not stand in line, and as to marshy
places they could not live from mosquitoes. Servants raised
greater and greater quarrels about shady places, concerning
which it came to sabres among their masters. This or that
one coming home in the evening from the water rode off to
one side from the camp not to return.
Evil example from above was also not wanting. Pan
Skorashevski had given notice from Chaplinko that the
Swedes were not distant, when at the military council Zyg-
munt Grudzinski got leave to go home ; on this leave his
uncle Andrei Grudzinski, voevoda of Kalisk, had greatly
insisted. " I have to lay down my head and my life here,"
said he ; " let my nephew inherit after me my memory and
glory, so that my services may not be lost." Then he grew
tender over the youth and innocence of his nephew, praising
the liberality with which he had furnished one hundred
very choice soldiers ; and the military council granted the
prayer of the uncle.
On the morning of July 16, Zygmunt with a few ser¬
vants left the camp openly for home, on the eve almost of
a siege and a battle. Crowds of nobles conducted him amid
jeering cries to a distance beyond the camp. Ostrojka led
the party, and shouted from afar after the departing, —
" Worthy Pan Zygmunt, I give thee a shield, and as
third name Deest! " 1
" Vivat Deest-Grudzinski! "
" But weep not for thy uncle," continued Ostrojka. " He
despises the Swedes as much as thou; and let them only
show themselves, he will surely turn his back on them."
The blood of the young magnate rushed to his face, but
he pretended not to hear the insults. He put spurs to his
horse, however, and pushed aside the crowds, so as to be
away from the camp and his persecutors as soon as possible,
1 Deest = lacking.
THE DELUGE.
141
who at last, without consideration for the birth and dig¬
nity of the departing, began to throw clods of earth at
him and to cry, —
" Here is a gruda, Grudzinski !1 You hare, you
coward !"
They made such an uproar that the voevoda of Poznan
hastened up with a number of captains to quiet them, and
explain that Grudzinski had taken leave only for a week 011
very urgent affairs.
Still the evil example had its effect; and that same day
there were several hundred nobles who did not wish to be
worse than Grudzinski, though they slipped away with
less aid and more quietly. Stanislav Skshetuski, a cap¬
tain from Kalisk and cousin of the famous Yan of Zbaraj,
tore the hair 011 his head ; for his land infantry, following
the example of " officers," began to desert from the camp.
A new council of war was held in which crowds of nobles
refused absolutely to take part. A stormy night followed,
full of shouts and quarrels. They suspected one another
of the intention to desert. Cries of " Either all or none! "
fiew from mouth to mouth.
Every moment reports were given out that the voevodas
were departing, and such an uproar prevailed that the
voevodas had to show themselves several times to the
excited multitude. A number of thousands of men were on
their horses before daybreak. But the voevoda of Poznan
rode between the ranks with uncovered head like a Koman
senator, and repeated from moment to moment the great
words, —
"Worthy gentlemen, I am with you to live and die."
He was received in some places with vivats; in others
shouts of derision were thundering. The moment he had
pacified the crowd he returned to the council, tired, hoarse,
carried away by the grandeur of his own words, and con¬
vinced that he had rendered inestimable service to his
country that night. But at the council he had fewer words
in his mouth, twisted his beard, and pulled his foretop from
despair, repeating, —
" Give counsel if you can; I wash my hands of the
future, for it is impossible to make a defence Avith such
soldiers."
" Serene great mighty voevoda," answered Stanislav
1 The name Grudzinski is derived from gruda = clod.
142
THE DELEGE.
Skslietuski, "the enemy will drive away that turbulence
and uproar. Only let the cannon play, only let it come to
defence, to a siege, these very nobles in defence of their
own lives must serve on the ramparts and not be disorderly
in camp. So it has happened more than once."
"With what can we defend ourselves ? We have no
cannon, nothing but saluting pieces good to fire off in time
of a feast."
"At Zbaraj Hmelnitski had seventy cannon, and Prince
Yeremi only a few eight-pounders and mortars."
"But he had an army, not militia,—his own squadrons
famed in the world, not country nobles fresh from sheep-
shearing."
" Send for Pan Skorashevski," said the castellan of Poz-
nan. " Make him commander of the camp. He is at peace
with the nobles, and will be able to keep them in order."
" Send for Skorashevski. Why should he be in Drahim
or Cliaplinko ? " repeated Yendrei Grudzinski, the voevoda
of Kalisk.
"Yes, that is the best counsel! " cried other voices.
A courier was despatched for Skorashevski. No other
decisions were taken at the council; but they talked much,
and complained of the king, the queen, the lack of troops,
and negligence.
The following morning brought neither relief nor calm
spirits. The disorder had become still greater. Some gave
out reports that the dissidents, namely the Calvinists, were
favorable to the Swedes, and ready on the first occasion to
go over to the enemy. What was more, this news was not
contradicted by Pan Shlihtyng nor by Edmund and Yatsck
Kurnatovski, also Calvinists, but sincerely devoted to the
country. Besides they gave final proof that the dissidents
formed a separate circle and consulted with one another
under the lead of a noted disturber and cruel man, Pan
Eei, who serving in Germany during his youth as a volun¬
teer on the Lutheran side, was a great friend of the Swedes.
Scarcely had this suspicion gone out among the nobles
when several thousand sabres were gleaming, and a real
tempest rose in the camp.
"Let us punish the traitors, punish the serpents, ready
to bite the bosom of their mother ! " cried the nobles.
" Give them this way ! "
" Cut them to pieces ! Treason is most infectious, worthy
gentlemen. Tear out the cockle or we shall all perish ! "
THE DELUGE.
143
The voevodas and captains had to pacify them again, hut
this time it was more difficult than the day before. Be¬
sides, they were themselves convinced that Rei was ready
to betray his country in the most open manner ; for he was
a man completely foreignized, and except his language had
nothing Polish in him. It was decided therefore to send
him out of the camp, which at once pacified somewhat the
angry multitude. Still shouts continued to burst forth for
a long time, —
" Give them here ! Treason, treason ! "
Wonderful conditions of mind reigned finally in the
camp. Some fell in courage and were sunk in grief ; others
walked in silence, with uncertain steps, along the ramparts,
casting timid and gloomy glances along the plains over
which the enemy had to approach, or communicated in
whispers worse and worse news. Others were possessed
of a sort of desperate, mad joy and readiness for death. In
consequence of this readiness they arranged feasts and
drinking-bouts so as to pass the last days of life in rejoic¬
ing. Some thought of saving their souls, and spent the
nights in prayer. But in that whole throng of men 110 one
thought of victory, as if it were altogether beyond reach.
Still the enemy had not superior forces; they had more
cannon, better trained troops, and a leader who understood
war.
And while in this wise 011 one side the Polish camp was
seething, shouting, and feasting, rising up with a roar,
dropping down to quiet, like a sea lashed by a whirlwind,
while the general militia were holding diets as in time of
electing a king, on the other side, along the broad green
meadows of the Oder, pushed forward in calmness the
legions of Sweden.
In front inarched a brigade of the royal guard, led by
Benedykt Horn, a terrible soldier, whose name was repeated
in Germany with fear. The soldiers were chosen men,
large, wearing lofty helmets with rims covering their ears,
in yellow leather doublets, armed with rapiers and mus¬
kets ; cool and constant in battle, ready at every beck of
the leader.
Karl Schedding, a German, led the West Gothland bri¬
gade, formed of two regiments of infantry and one of heavy
cavalry, dressed in armor without slioulder-pieces. Half of
the infantry had muskets ; the others spears. At the_ begin¬
ning of a battle the musketeers stood in front, but in case
144
THE DELUGE.
of attack by cavalry tliey stood behind tlie spearmen, who,
placing each the butt of his spear in the ground, held the
point against the onrushing horses. At a battle in the time
of Sigismund III. one squadron of hussars cut to pieces with
their sabres and with hoofs this same "West Gothland bri¬
gade, in which at present Germans served mainly.
The two Smaland brigades were led by Irwin, surnanied
Handless, for he had lost his right hand on a time while
defending his flag; but to make up for this loss he had in
his left such strength that with one blow he could hew off
the head of a horse. He was a gloomy warrior, loving bat¬
tles and bloodshed alone, stern to himself and to soldiers.
While other captains trained themselves in continual wars
into followers of a craft, and loved war for its own sake, he
remained the same fanatic, and while slaying men he sang
psalms to the Lord.
The brigade of Westrmanland marched under Draken-
borg ; and that of Helsingor, formed of sharpshooters famed
through the world, under Gustav Oxenstiern, a relative of
the renowned chancellor, — a young soldier who roused great
hopes. Fersen commanded the East Gothland brigade ; the
Nerik andWerland brigades were directed by Wittemberg
himself, who at the same time was supreme chief of the
whole army.
Seventy-two cannon pounded out furrows in the moist
meadows ; of soldiers there were seventeen thousand, the
fierce plunderers of all Germany, and in battle they were
so accurate, especially the infantry, that the French royal
guard could hardly compare with them. After the regi¬
ments followed the wagons and tents. The regiments
marched in line, ready each moment for battle. A forest of
lances was bristling above the mass of heads, helmets, and
hats; and in the midst of that forest flowed on toward the
frontier of Poland the great blue banners with white crosses
in the centre. With each day the distance decreased be¬
tween the two armies.
At last on July 27, in the forest at the village of Hein-
richsdorf, the Swedish legions beheld for the first time the
boundary pillar of Poland. At sight of this the whole army
gave forth a mighty shout; trumpets and drums thundered,
and all the flags were unfurled. Wittemberg rode to the
front attended by a brilliant staff, and all the regiments
passed before him, presenting arms, — the cavalry with
drawn rapiers, the cannon with lighted matches. The time
THE DELUGE.
145
was midday; the weather glorious. The forest breeze
brought the odor of resin.
The gray road, covered with the rays of the sun, — the
road over which the Swedish regiments had passed,—bend¬
ing out of the Heinrichsdorf forest, was lost on the horizon.
When the troops marching by it had finally passed the for¬
est, their glances discovered a gladsome land, smiling, shin¬
ing with yellow fields of every kind of grain, dotted in places
with oak groves, in places green from meadows. Here and
there out of groups of trees, behind oak groves and far away
rose bits of smoke to the sky; on the grass herds were seen
grazing. Where on the meadows the water gleamed widely
spread, walked storks at their leisure.
A certain calm and sweetness was spread everywhere over
that land flowing with milk and honey, and it seemed to open
its arms ever wider and wider before the army, as if it greeted
not invaders but guests coming with God.
At this sight a new shout was wrested from the bosoms of
all the soldiers, especially the Swedes by blood, who were
accustomed to the bare, poor, wild nature of their native
land. The hearts of a plundering and needy people rose
with desire to gather those treasures and riches which
appeared before their eyes. Enthusiasm seized the ranks.
But the soldiers, tempered in the fire of the Thirty Years'
War, expected that this would not come to them easily; for
that grainlaud was inhabited by a numerous and a knightly
people, who knew how to defend it. The memory was still
living in Sweden of the terrible defeat of Kirchholm, where
three thousand cavalry under Hodkyevich ground into dust
eighteen thousand of the best troops of Sweden. In the
cottages of West Gothland, Smaland, or Delakarlia they
told tales of those winged knights, as of giants from a saga.
Fresher still was the memory of the struggles in the time of
Gustavus Adolphus, for the warriors were not yet extinct
who had taken part in them. But that eagle of Scandina¬
via, ere he had flown twice through all Germany, broke his
talons on the legions of Konyetspolski.
Therefore with the gladness there was joined in the
hearts of the Swedes a certain fear, of which the supreme
chief, Wittemberg himself, was not free. He looked on the
passing regiments of infantry and cavalry with the eye with
which a shepherd looks on his flock ; then he turned to the
rear man, who wore a hat with a feather, and a light-colored
wig falling to his shoulders.
VOL. I.— 10
146
THE DELUGE.
" Your grace assures me/' said lie, " tliat with these forces
it is possible to break the army occupying Uistsie ? "
The man with the light wig smiled and answered : " Your
grace may rely completely on my words, for which I am
ready to pledge my head. If at Uistsie there were regular
troops and some one of the hetmans, I first would give
counsel not to hasten, but to wait till his royal Grace
should come Avith the whole army; but against the general
militia and those gentlemen of Great Poland our forces will
be more than sufficient."
" But have not reinforcements come to them ? "
"Reinforcements have not come for two reasons, — first,
because all the regular troops, of which there are not many,
are occupied in Lithuania and the Ukraine; second, because
in Warsaw neither the King Yan Kazimir, the chancellor, nor
the senate will believe to this moment that his royal Grace
Karl Gustav has really begun war in spite of the truce, and
notwithstanding the last embassies and his readiness to
compromise. They are confident that peace will be made at
the last hour, —ha, ha! "
Here the rear man removed his hat, wiped the sweat
from his red face, and added: "Trubetskoi and Dolgoruki
in Lithuania, Hmelnitski in the Ukraine, and Ave entering
Great Poland, —behold Avliat the government of Yan Kazi¬
mir has led to."
Wittemberg gazed on him Avith a look of astonishment,
and asked, " But, your grace, do you rejoice at the
thought ? "
" I rejoice at the thought, for my wrong and my inno¬
cence Avill be avenged ; and besides I see, as on the palm of
my hand, that the sabre of your grace and my counsels Avill
place that new and most beautiful croAvn in the Avorld on
the head of Karl Gustav."
Wittemberg turned his glance to the distance, embraced
with it the oak-groves, the meadows, the grain-fields, and
after a Avhile said : " True, it is a beautiful country and fer¬
tile. Your grace may be sure that after the war the
king will give the chancellorship to no one else but
you."
The man in the rear removed his cap a second time.
" And I, for my part, Avish to have no other lord," added
he, raising his eyes to heaven.
The heavens were clear and fair; no thunderbolt fell and
crushed to the dust the traitor Avho delivered his country,
THE DELUGE.
147
groaning under two wars already and exhausted, to the
power of the enemy oil that boundary.
The man conversing with Wittemberg was Hieronim
Radzeyovski, late under-chancellor of the Crown, now sold
to Sweden in hostility to his country.
They stood a time in silence. Meanwhile the last two
brigades, those of Herik and Wermland, passed the boun¬
dary ; after them others began to draw in the cannon ; the
trumpets still played unceasingly ; the roar and rattle of
drums outsounded the tramp of the soldiers, and filled the
forest Avith ominous echoes. At last the staff moved also.
Radzeyovski rode at the side of Wittemberg.
" Oxenstiern is not to be seen," said Wittemberg. " I am
afraid that something may have happened to him. I do
not know whether it was Avise to send him as a trumpeter
with letters to Uistsie."
" It Avas Avise," answered RadzeyoArski, " for he Avill look
at the cam]), Avill see the leaders, and learn what they think
there; and this any kind of camp-follower could not do."
" Rut if they recognize him ? "
"Rei alone knows him, and he is ours. Besides, eA'en if
they should recognize him, they will do him no harm, but
Avill gi\re him supplies for the road and reAvard him. I
know the Roles, and I knoAv they are ready for anything,
merely to show themselves polite people before strangers.
Our Avhole effort is to Avin the praise of strangers. Your
grace may be at rest concerning Oxenstiern, for a hair Avill
not fall from his head. He has not come because it is too
soon for his return."
"And does your grace think our letters will have any
effect ? "
Radzeyovski laughed. "If your grace permits, I will fore¬
tell Avliat aa'ill happen. The voe\roda of Poznan is a polished
and learned man, therefore he will answer us very courte¬
ously and very graciously; but because he loves to pass for
a Roman, his answer will be terribly Roman. He Avill say,
to begin Avith, that he would rather shed the last drop of
his blood than surrender, that death is better than dis¬
honor, and the love Avhich he bears his country directs him
to fall for her on the boundary."
Radzeyovski laughed still louder. The stern face of
Wittemberg brightened also.
" Your grace does not think that he will be ready to act
as he writes ?" asked Wittemberg.
148
THE DELUGE.
"He?" answered Radzeyovski. "It is true that he
nourishes a love for his country, but with ink; and that is
not over-strong food. His love is in fact more scant than
that of his jester who helps him to put rhymes together. I
am certain that after that Roman answer will come good
wishes for health, success, offers of service, and at last a
request to spare his property and that of his relatives, for
which again he with all his relatives will be thankful."
" And what at last will be the result of our letters ? "
"The courage of the other side will weaken to the last
degree, senators will begin to negotiate with us, and Ave
shall occupy all Great Poland after perhaps a few shots in
the air."
" Would that your grace be a true prophet!"
" I am certain that it will be as I say, for I know these
people. I have friends and adherents in the Avhole country,
and I know how to begin. And that I shall neglect nothing
is made sure by the Avrong Avhich I endure from Yan Kazi-
mir, and my love for Karl Gustav. People with us are
more tender at present about their OAvn fortunes than the
integrity of the Commomvealth. All those lands upon
which Ave shall hoav march are the estates of the Opalinskis,
the Charnkovskis, the Grudzinskis; and because they are
at Uistsie in person they Avill be milder in negotiating. As
to the nobles, if only their freedom of disputing at the
diets is guaranteed, they Avill folloAv the voevodas."
" By knoAvledge of the country and the people your grace
renders the king unexampled service, Avhich cannot remain
Avithout an equally noteAvortliy reAvard. Therefore from
what you say I conclude that I may look 011 this land as
ours."
"You may, your grace, you may, you may," repeated
Radzeyovski hurriedly, a number of times.
" Therefore I occupy it in the name of his Royal Grace
Karl Gustav," ansAvered Wittemberg, solemnly.
While the SAvedisli troops Avere thus beginning beyond
Heinrichsdorf to Avalk on the land of Great Poland, and
even earlier, for it Avas on July .18, a Swedish trumpeter
arrived at the Polish camp Avith letters from Radzeyovski
and Wittemberg to the voevodas.
Vladyslav Skorashevski himself conducted the trumpeter
to the voevoda of Poznan, and the nobles of the general
militia gazed with curiosity on the " first Swede," Avonder-
ing at his \raliant bearing, his manly face, his blond mus-
THE DELUGE.
149
taches, the ends combed upward in a broad brush, and his
really lordlike mien. Crowds followed him to the voevoda;
acquaintances called to one another, pointing him out with
their lingers, laughed somewhat at his boots with enormous
round legs, and at the long straight rapier, which they
called a spit, hanging from a belt richly worked with silver.
The Swede also cast curious glances from under his broad
hat, as if wishing to examine the camp and estimate the
forces, and then looked repeatedly at the crowd of nobles
whose oriental costumes were apparently novel to him. At
last he was brought to the voevoda, around whom were
grouped all the dignitaries in the camp.
The letters were read immediately, and a council held.
The voevoda committed the trumpeter to his attendants to
be entertained in soldier fashion; the nobles took him from
the attendants, and wondering at the man as a curiosity,
began to drink for life and death with him.
Pan Skorashevski looked at the Swede with equal scru¬
tiny ; but because he suspected him to be some officer in
disguise, he went in fact to convey that idea in the evening
to the voevoda. The latter, however, said it was all one,
and did not permit his arrest.
" Though he were Wittemberg himself, he has come
hither as an envoy and should go away unmolested. In
addition I command you to give him ten ducats for the
road."
The trumpeter meamvhile was talking in broken German
with those nobles who, through intercourse with Prussian
towns, understood that language. He told them of victories
won by Wittemberg in various lands, of the forces march¬
ing against Uistsie, and especially of the cannon of a range
hitherto unknown and which could not be resisted. The
nobles were troubled at this, and no small number of ex¬
aggerated accounts began to circulate through the camp.
That night scarcely any one slept in Uistsie. About
midnight those men came in who had stood hitherto in
separate camps, at Pila and Vyelunie. The dignitaries
deliberated over their answer to the letters till daylight,
and the nobles passed the time in stories about the power
of the Swedes.
With a certain feverish curiosity they asked the trum¬
peter about the leaders of the army, the weapons, the
method of fighting; and every answer of his was given
from mouth to mouth. The nearness of the Swedish
150
THE DELUGE.
legions lent unusual interest to all the details, which were
not of a character to give consolation.
About daylight Stanislav Skslietuski came with tidings
that the Swedes had arrived at Valcli, one day's march from
the Polish camp. There rose at once a terrible hubbub;
most of the horses with the servants were at pasture on
the meadows. They were sent for then with all haste.
Districts mounted and formed squadrons. The moment
before battle was for the untrained soldier the most terrible ;
therefore before the captains were able to introduce any kind
of system there reigned for a long time desperate disorder.
Neither commands nor trumpets could be heard; nothing
but voices crying on every side : " Yan ! Pyotr ! Onufri!
This way ! I wish thou wert killed! Bring the horses!
Where are my men? Yan! Pyotr!" If at that moment
one cannon-shot had been heard, the disorder might easily
have been turned to a panic.
Gradually, however, the districts were ranged in order.
The inborn capacity of the nobles for war made up for the
want of experience, and about midday the camp presented
an appearance imposing enough. The infantry stood on
the ramparts looking like flowers in their many-colored coats,
smoke was borne away from the lighted matches, and out¬
side the ramparts under cover of the guns the meadows and
plain were swarming with the district squadrons of cavalry
standing in line on sturdy horses, whose neighing roused an
echo in the neighboring forests and filled all hearts with
military ardor.
Meanwhile the voevoda of Poznan sent away the trum¬
peter with an answer to the letter reading more or less
as Radzeyovski had foretold, therefore both courteous and
Roman ; then he determined to send a party to the northern
bank of the Notets to seize an informant from the enemy.
Pyotr Opalinski, voevoda of Podlyasye, a cousin of the
voevoda Poznan, was to go in person with a party together
with his own dragoons, a hundred and fifty of whom he
had brought to Uistsie; and besides this it was given to
Captains Skorashevski and Skshetuski to call out volunteers
from the nobles of the general militia, so that they might
also look in the eyes of the enemy.
Both rode before the ranks, delighting the eye by manner
and posture, — Pan Stanislav black as a beetle, like all the
Skshetuskis, with a manly face, stern and adorned with a
long sloping scar which remained from a sword-blow, with
THE DELUGE.
151
raven black beard blown aside by the wind ; Pan Vladyslav
portly, with long blond mustaches, open under lip, and eyes
with red lids, mild and honest, reminding one less of Mars,
— but none the less a genuine soldier spirit, as glad to
be in lire as a salamander, — a kniglit knowing war as his
ten lingers, and of incomparable daring. Both, riding be¬
fore the ranks extended in a long line, repeated from
moment to moment, —
"Now, gracious gentlemen, who is the volunteer against
the Swedes ? Who wants to smell powder ? Well, gracious
gentlemen, volunteer!"
And so they continued for a good while without result,
for no man pushed forward from the ranks. One looked at
another. There were those who desired to go and had no
fear of the Swedes, but indecision restrained them. More
than one nudged his neighbor and said, " Go you, and then
I '11 go." The captains were growing impatient, till all at
once, when they had ridden up to the district of Gnyezno, a
certain man dressed in many colors sprang forth on a hoop,
not from the line but from behind the line, and cried, —
" Gracious gentlemen of the militia, I '11 be the volunteer
and ye will be jesters ! "
" Ostrojka! Ostrojka!" cried the nobles.
" I am just as good a noble as any of you!" answered the
jester.
" Tfu ! to a hundred devils !" cried Pan Bosinski, under-
judge, " a truce to jesting! I will go."
"And I! and I! " cried numerous voices.
" Once my mother bore me, once for me is death ! "
" As good as thou will be found!"
" Freedom to each. Let no man here exalt himself above
others."
And as no one had come forth before, so now nobles began
to rush out from every district, spurring forward their hor¬
ses, disputing with one another and fighting to advance.
In the twinkle of an eye there were five hundred horsemen,
and still they were riding forth from the ranks. Pan Sko-
rashevski began to laugh with his honest, open laugh.
" Enough, worthy gentlemen, enough ! We cannot all go."
Then the two captains put the men in order and marched.
The voevoda of Podlyasye joined the horsemen as they
were riding out of camp. They were seen as on the palm of
the hand crossing the Notets ; after that they glittered some
time on the windings of the road, then vanished from sight.
152
THE DELUGE.
At the expiration of half an hour the voevoda of Poznan
ordered the troops to their tents, for he saw that it was im¬
possible to keep them in the ranks when the enemy were
still a day's march distant. Numerous pickets were thrown
out, however; it was not permitted to drive horses to pas¬
ture, and the order was given that at the first low sound
of the trumpet through the mouthpiece all were to mount
and be ready.
Expectation and uncertainty had come to an end, quarrels
and disputes were finished at once, for the nearness of the
enemy had raised their courage as Pan Skshetuski had
predicted. The first successful battle might raise it indeed
very high ; and in the evening an event took place which
seemed of happy omen.
The sun was just setting,—lighting with enormous glit¬
ter, dazzling the eyes, the Notets, and the pine-woods be¬
yond, — when on the other side of the river was seen first a
cloud of dust, and then men moving in the cloud. All that
was living went out on the ramparts to see what manner
of guests these were. At that moment a dragoon of the
guards rushed in from the squadron of Pan Grudzinski
with intelligence that the horsemen were returning.
"The horsemen are returning with success ! The Swedes
have not eaten them ! " was repeated from mouth to
mouth.
Meanwhile they in bright rolls of dust approached nearer
and nearer, coming slowly; then they crossed the Notets.
The nobles with their hands over their eyes gazed at
them ; for the glitter became each moment greater, and the
whole air was filled with gold and purple light.
" Hei! the party is somewhat larger than when it went
out," said Shlihtyng.
"They must be bringing prisoners, as God is dear to
me ! " cried a noble, apparently without confidence and not
believing his eyes.
" They are bringing prisoners! They are bringing
prisoners! "
They had now come so near that their faces could be rec¬
ognized. In front rode Skorashevski, nodding his head as
usual and talking joyously with Skshetuski; after them
the strong detachment of horse surrounded a few tens of
infantry wearing round hats. They were really Swedish
prisoners.
At this sight the nobles could not contain themselves;
THE DELUGE.
153
and ran forward with shouts : " Vivat Skorashevski! Vivat
Skshetuski! "
A dense crowd surrounded the party at once. Some
looked at the prisoners; some asked, " How was the
affair ? " others threatened the Swedes.
" Ah-hu ! Well now, good for you, ye dogs ! Ye wanted
to war with the Poles ? Ye have the Poles now !"
" Give them here ! Sabre them, make mince-meat of
them !"
" Ha, broad-breeclies ! ye have tried the Polish sabres ? "
" Gracious gentlemen, don't shout like little boys, for the
prisoners will think that this is your first war," said Skora¬
shevski ; " it is a common thing to take prisoners in time
of war."
The volunteers who belonged to the party looked with
pride on the nobles who overwhelmed them with questions:
" How was it ? Did they surrender easily ? Had you to
sweat over them ? Do they fight well ? "
"They are good fellows," said Rosinski, "they defended
themselves well; but they are not iron, — a sabre cuts
them."
" So they could n't resist you, could they ? "
" They could not resist the impetus."
" Gracious gentlemen, do you hear what is said, — they
could not resist the impetus. Well, what does that mean ?
Impetus is the main thing."
"Remember if only there is impetus! — that is the best
method against the Swedes."
If at that moment those nobles had been commanded to
rush at the enemy, surely impetus would not have been
lacking; but it was well into the night when the sound of
a trumpet was heard before the forepost. A trumpeter
arrived with a letter from Wittemberg summoning the
nobles to surrender. The crowds hearing of this wanted to
cut the messenger to pieces ; but the voevodas took the
letter into consideration, though the substance of it was
insolent.
The Swedish general announced that Karl Gustav sent
his troops to his relative Yan Ivazimir, as reinforcements
against the Cossacks, that therefore the people of Great
Poland should yield without resistance. Pan Grudzinski
on reading this letter could not restrain his indignation, and
struck the table with his fist; but the voevoda of Poznan
quieted him at once with the question, —
154
THE DELUGE.
"Do you believe in victory? How many days can we
defend ourselves ? Do you wish to take the responsibility
for so much noble blood which may be shed to-morrow ? "
After a long deliberation it was decided not to answer,
and to wait for what would happen. They did not wait
long. On Saturday, July 24, the pickets announced that
the whole Swedish army had appeared before Rila. There
was as much bustle in camp as in a beehive on the eve of
swarming.
The nobles mounted their horses ; the voevodas hurried
along the ranks, giving contradictory commands till Vlady-
slav Skorashevski took everything in hand; and when he
had established order he rode out at the head of a few
hundred volunteers to try skirmishing beyond the river
and accustom the men to look at the enemy.
The cavalry went with him willingly enough, for skir¬
mishing consisted generally of struggles carried on by small
groups or singly, and such struggles the nobles trained to
sword exercise did not fear at all. They went out there¬
fore beyond the river, and stood before the enemy, who
approached nearer and nearer, and blackened with a long-
line the horizon, as if a grove had grown freshly from
the ground. Regiments of cavalry and infantry deployed,
occupying more and more space.
The nobles expected that skirmishers on horseback might
rush against them at any moment. So far they were not to
be seen; but on the low hills a few hundred yards distant
small groups halted, in which were to be seen men and
horses, and they began to turn around on the place. Seeing
this, Skorashevski commanded without delay, " To the left!
to the rear!"
But the voice of command had not yet ceased to sound
when on the hills long white curls of smoke bloomed forth,
and as it were birds of some kind flew past with a whistle
among the nobles; then a report shook the air, and at the
same moment were heard cries and groans of a few wounded.
" Halt! " cried Skorashevski.
The birds flew past a second and a third time; again
groans accompanied the whistle. The nobles did not listen
to the command of the chief, but retreated at increased
speed, shouting, and calling for the aid of heaven. Then
the division scattered, in the twinkle of an eye, over the
plain, and rushed on a gallop to the camp. Skorashevski
was cursing, but that did no good.
THE DELUGE.
loo
Wittemberg, having dispersed the skirmishers so easily,
pushed 011 farther, till at last he stood in front of Uistsie'
straight before the trenches defended by the nobles of
Kalish. The Polish guns began to playj but at first no
answer was made from the Swedish side. The smoke fell
away quietly in the clear air in long streaks stretching
between the armies, and in the spaces between them the
nobles saw the Swedish regiments, infantry and cavalry,
deploying with terrible coolness as if certain of victory.
On the hills the cannon were fixed, trenches raised; in a
word, the enemy came into order without paying the least
attention to the balls which, without reaching them, merely
scattered sand and earth on the men working in the
trenches.
Pan Skshetuski led out once more two squadrons of the
men of Kalish, wishing by a bold attack to confuse the
Swedes. But they did not go willingly; the division fell
at once into a disorderly crowd, for when the most daring
urged their horses forward the most cowardly held theirs
back on purpose. Two regiments of cavalry sent by Wit¬
temberg drove the nobles from the field after a short
struggle, and pursued them to the camp. Now dusk came,
and put an end to the bloodless strife.
There was firing from cannon till night, when firing
ceased ; but such a tumult rose in the Polish camp that it
was heard on the other bank of the Kotets. It rose first
for the reason that a few hundred of the general militia
tried to slip away in the darkness. Others, seeing this,
began to threaten and detain them. Sabres were drawn.
The words "Either all or none " flew again from mouth to
mouth. At every moment it seemed most likely that all
would go. Great dissatisfaction burst out against the
leaders: " They sent us with naked breasts against can¬
non," cried the militia.
They were enraged in like degree against Wittemberg,
because without regard to the customs of war he had not
sent skirmishers against skirmishers, but had ordered to
fire on them unexpectedly from cannon. " Every^ one will
do for himself what is best," said they; " but it is the
custom of a swinish people not to meet face to face."
Others were in open despair. " They will smoke us out of
this place like badgers out of a hole," said they. " The
camp is badly planned, the trenches are badly made, the
place is not fitted for defence." From time to time voices
156
THE DELUGE.
were heard: " Save yourselves, brothers ! '1 Still others
cried : " Treason ! treason ! "
That was a terrible night: confusion and relaxation
increased every moment; no one listened to commands.
The voevodas lost their heads, and did not even tiy to
restore order; and the imbecility of the general militia
appeared as clearly as on the palm of the hand. TVittem-
berg might have taken the camp by assault on that night
with the greatest ease.
Dawn came. The day broke pale, cloudy, and lighted a
chaotic gathering of people fallen in courage, lamenting,
and the greater number drunk, more ready for shame than
for battle. To complete the misfortune, the Swedes had
crossed the Xotets at Dzyembovo and surrounded the
Polish camp.
At that side there were scarcely any trenches, and there
was nothing from behind which they could defend them¬
selves. They should have raised breastworks without
delay. Skorashevski and Skshetuski had implored to have
this done, but no one would listen to anything.
The leaders and the nobles had one word on their lips,
" Xegotiate !" Men were sent out to parley. In answer
there cam§ from the Swedish camp a brilliant party, at the
head of which rode Radzeyovski and General Wirtz, both
with green branches.
They rode to the house in which the voevoda of Poznan
was living; but on the way Radzeyovski stopped amid the
crowd of nobles, bowed with the branch, with his hat,
laughed, greeted his acquaintances, and said in a piercing
voice, —
" Gracious gentlemen, dearest brothers, be not alarmed !
Not as enemies do we come. On you it depends whether
a drop of blood more will be shed. If you wish instead
of a tyrant who is encroaching on your liberties, who is
planning for absolute power, who has brought the country
to final destruction, — if you wish, I repeat, a good ruler,
a noble one, a warrior of such boundless glory that at
bare mention of his name all the enemies of the Common¬
wealth will flee, — give yourselves under the protection of
the most serene Karl Gustav. Gracious gentlemen, dearest
brothers, behold, I bring to you the guarantee of all your
liberties, of your freedom, of your religion. On yourselves
your salvation depends. Gracious gentlemen, the most
serene Swedish king undertakes to quell the Cossack rebel-
THE DELUGE.
157
lion, to finish the war in Lithuania; and only he can do
that. Take pity on the unfortunate country if you have no
pity on yourselves."
Here the voice of the traitor quivered as if stopped by
tears. The nobles listened with astonishment; here and
there scattered voices cried, " Vivat Radzeyovski, our
vice-chancellor!" He rode farther, and again bowed to
new throngs, and again was heard his trumpet-like voice :
" Gracious gentlemen, dearest brothers !" And at last he
and Wirtz with the whole retinue vanished in the house of
the voevoda of Poznan.
The nobles crowded so closely before the house that it
would have been possible to ride on their heads, for they
felt and understood that there in that house men were
deciding the question not only of them" but of the whole
country. The servants of the voevodas, in scarlet colors,
came out and began to invite the more important personages
to the council. They entered quickly, and after them
burst in a few of the smaller; but the rest remained at the
door, they pressed to the windows, put their ears even to
the walls.
A deep silence reigned in the throng. Those standing
nearest the windows heard from time to time the sound of
shrill voices from within the chamber, as it were the echo
of quarrels, disputes, and fights. Hour followed hour, and
no end to the council.
Suddenly the doors were thrown open with a crash, and
out burst Vladyslav Skorashevski. Those present pushed
back in astonishment. That man, usually so calm and mild,
of whom it was said that wounds might be healed under his
hand, had that moment a terrible face. His eyes were red, his
look wild, his clothing torn open on his breast; both hands
were grasping his hair, and he rushed out like a thunderbolt
among the nobles, and cried with a piercing voice, —
"Treason! murder! shame! We are Sweden now, and
Poland no longer !"
He began to roar with an awful voice, with a spasmodic
cry, and to tear his hair like a man who is losing his reason.
A silence of the grave reigned all around. A certain fear¬
ful foreboding seized all hearts.
Skorashevski sprang away quickly, began to run among
the nobles and cry with a voice of the greatest despair: " To
arms, to arms, whoso believes in God ! To arms, to arms !'
Then certain murmurs began to fly through the throngs,
158
THE DELUGE.
— certain momentary whispers, sudden and broken, like the
first beatings of the wind before a storm. Hearts hesitated,
minds hesitated, and in that universal distraction of feelings
the tragic voice was calling continually, " To arms, to arms!"
Soon two other voices joined his, — those of Pyotr Sko-
rashevski and Stanislav Shshetuski. After them ran up
Klodzinski, the gallant captain of the district of Poznan.
An increasing circle of nobles began to surround them. A
threatening murmur was heard round about; flames ran
over the faces and shot out of the eyes ; sabres rattled.
Vladyslav Skorashevski mastered the first transport, and
began to speak, pointing to the house in which the council
was being held, —
"Do you hear, gracious gentlemen ? They are selling the
country there like Judases, and disgracing it. Do you
know that we belong to Poland no longer ? It was not
enough for them to give into the hands of the enemy all of
you, — camp, army, cannon. Would they were killed ! They
have affirmed with their own signatures and in your names
that we abjure our ties with the country, that we abjure our
king; that the whole land — towns, towers, and we all —
shall belong forever to Sweden. That an army surrenders
happens, but who has the right to renounce his country and
his king ? Who has the right to tear away a province, to
join strangers, to go over to another people, to renounce his
own blood ? Gracious gentlemen, this is disgrace, treason,
murder, parricide! Save the fatherland, brothers ! In
God's name, whoever is a noble, whoever has virtue, let
him save our mother. Let us give our lives, let us shed our
blood ! We do not want to be Swedes; we do not, we do
not! Would that he had never been born who will spare
his blood now ! Let us rescue our mother ! "
" Treason !" cried several hundred voices, " treason!
Let us cut them to pieces."
"Join us, whoever has virtue !" cried Skshetuski.
" Against the Swedes till death !" added Klodzinski.
And they went along farther in the camp, shouting:
" Join us ! Assemble ! There is treason!" and after them
moved now several hundred nobles with drawn sabres.
But an immense majority remained in their places ; and
of those who followed some, seeing that they were not
many, began to look around and stand still.
how the door of the council-house was thrown open, and
in it appeared the voevoda of Poznan, Pan Opalinski, having
THE DELUGE.
159
on his right sicle General Wirtz, ancl on the left Radzeyov-
ski. After them came Andrei Grudzinski, voevoda of
Kalisk; Myaskovski, castellan of Kryvinsk; Gembitski,
castellan of Myendzyrechka, and Andrei Slupski.
Pan Opalinski had in his hand a parchment with seals
appended; he held his head erect, but his face was pale and
his look uncertain, though evidently he was trying to be
joyful. He took in with his glance the crowds, and in the
midst of a deathlike silence began to speak with a piercing
though somewhat hoarse voice, —
"Gracious gentlemen, this day we have put ourselves
under the protection of the most serene King of Sweden.
Vivat Carolus Gustavus Rex!"
Silence gave answer to the voevoda; suddenly some loud
voice thundered, " Veto ! "
The voevoda turned his eyes in the direction of the voice
and said: " This is not a provincial diet, therefore a veto is
not in place. And whoever wishes to veto let him go
against the Swedish cannon turned upon us, which in one
hour could make of this camp a pile of ruins."
Then he was silent, and after a while inquired, " Who
said Veto ? "
No one answered.
The voevoda again raised his voice, and began still more
emphatically: " All the liberties of the nobles and the
clergy will be maintained ; taxes will not be increased, and
will be collected in the same manner as hitherto; no man
will suffer wrongs or robbery. The armies of his royal
Majesty have not the right to quarter on the property of
nobles nor to other exactions, unless to such as the quota of
the Polish squadrons enjoy."
Here he was silent, and heard an anxious murmur of the
nobles, as if they wished to understand his meaning; then
he beckoned with his hand.
" Besides this, we have the word and promise of General
Wirtz, given in the name of his royal Majesty, that if the
whole country will follow our saving example, the Swedish
armies will move promptly into Lithuania and the Ukraine,
and will not cease to war until all the lands and all the for¬
tresses of the Commonwealth are won back. Vivat Carolus
Gustavus Rex!"
" Vivat Carolus Gustavus Rex !" cried hundreds of voices.
"Vivat Carolus Gustavus Rex!" thundered still more
loudly in the whole camp.
160
THE DELUGE.
Here, before the eyes of all, the voevoda of Poznan
turned to Radzeyovski and embraced him heartily ; then he
embraced Wirtz ; then all began to embrace one another.
The nobles followed the example of the dignitaries, and joy
became universal. They gave vivats so loud that the
echoes thundered throughout the whole region. But the
voevoda of Poznan begged yet the beloved brotherhood for
a moment of quiet, and said in a tone of cordiality, —
" Gracious gentlemen! General Wittemberg invites us to¬
day to a feast in his camp, so that at the goblets a brotherly
alliance may be concluded with a manful people."
" Yivat Wittemberg ! vivat! vivat! vivat! "
" And after that, gracious gentlemen," added the voevoda,
" let us go to our homes, and with the assistance of God let
us begin the harvest with the thought that on this day we
have saved the fatherland."
"Coming ages will render us justice," said Radzeyovski.
" Amen! " finished the voevoda of Poznan.
Meanwhile he saw that the eyes of many nobles were
gazing at and scanning something above his head. He
turned and saw his own jester, who, holding with one hand
to the frame above the door, was writing with a coal on the
wall of the council-house over the door: " Mene Tekel-
Peres." 1
In the world the heavens were covered with clouds, and a
tempest was coming.
1 See Daniel v. 25-28.
THE DELUGE.
161
CHAPTER XII.
In the district of Lukovo, on the edge of Podlyasye,
stood the village of Bujets, owned by the Skshetuskis. In
a garden between the mansion and a pond an old man was
sitting on a bench; and at his feet were two little boys, —
one five, the other four years old, — dark and sunburned as
gypsies, but rosy and healthy. The old man, still fresh,
seemed as sturdy as an aurochs. Age had not bent his
broad shoulders; from his eyes — or rather from his eye,
for he had one covered with a cataract — beamed health
and good-humor; he had a white beard, but a look of
strength and a ruddy face, ornamented on the forehead
with a broad scar, through which his skull-bone was
visible.
The little boys, holding the straps of his boot-leg, were
pulling in opposite directions ; but he was gazing at the
pond, which gleamed with the rays of the sun, — at the
pond, in which fish were springing up frequently, breaking
the smooth surface of the water.
" The fish are dancing," muttered he to himself. "Never
fear, ye will dance still better when the floodgate is open,
or when the cook is scratching you with a knife." Then he
turned to the little boys : " Get away from my boot-leg, for
when I catch one of your ears, I '11 pull it off. Just like
mad horse-flies ! Go and roll balls there on the grass and
let me alone! I do not wonder at Longinek, for he is
young; but Yaremka ought to have sense by this time.
Ah, torments! I '11 take one of you and throw him into
the pond."
But it was clear that the old man was in terrible subjec¬
tion to the boys, for neither had the least fear of his
threats; on the contrary, Yaremka, the elder, began to pull
the boot-leg still harder, bracing his feet and repeating, —
" Oh, Grandfather, be Bogun and steal away Longinek."
" Be off, thou beetle, I say, thou rogue, thou cheese-roll!"
" Oh, Grandfather, be Bogun! "
" I '11 give thee Bogun ; wait till I call thy mother ! "
Yaremka looked toward the door leading from the house
to the garden, but finding it closed, and seeing no sign of
vol. r. —11
162
THE DELUGE.
liis mother, he repeated the third time, pouting, " Grand¬
father, be Bogun ! "
"Ah, they will kill me, the rogues; it cannot be other¬
wise. Well, I'll be Bogun, but only once. Oh, it is a
punishment of God ! Mind ye do not plague me again !"
When he had said this, the old man groaned a little,
raised himself from the bench, then suddenly grabbed little
Longinek, and giving out loud shouts, began to carry him
off in the direction of the pond.
Longinek, however, had a valiant defender in his brother,
who on such occasions did not call himself Yaremka, but
Ban Michael Volodyovski, captain of dragoons.
Pan Michael, then, armed with a basswood club, which
took the place of a sabre in this sudden emergency, ran
swiftly after the bulky Bogun, soon caught up with him,
and began to beat him on the legs without mercy.
Longinek, playing the role of his mamma, made an up¬
roar, Bogun made an uproar, Yaremka-Volodyovski made
an uproar; but valor at last overcame even Bogun, who,
dropping his victim, began to make his way back to the
linden-tree. At last he reached the bench, fell upon it,
panting terribly and repeating, —
" Ah, ye little stumps ! It will be a wonder if I do not
suffocate."
But the end of his torment had not come yet, for a
moment later Yaremka stood before him with a ruddy face,
floating hair, and distended nostrils, like a brisk young-
falcon, and began to repeat with greater energy, —
" Grandfather, be Bogun ! "
After much teasing and a solemn promise given to the
two boys that this would surely be the last time, the story
was repeated in all its details; then they sat three in a row
on the bench and Yaremka began, —
"Oh, Grandfather, tell who was the bravest."
" Thou, thou ! " said the old man.
"And shall I grow up to be a knight ? "
" Surely thou wilt, for there is good soldier blood in thee.
God grant thee to be like thy father; for if brave thou wilt
not tease so much — understand me ? "
"Tell how many men has Papa killed ? "
" It's little if I have told thee a hundred times ! Easier
for thee to count the leaves on this linden-tree than all the
enemies which thy father and I have destroyed. If I had
as many hairs on my head as I myself have put down, the
THE DELUGE.
163
barbers in Lukovsk would make fortunes just in sliaving
my temples. I am a rogue if I li—"
Here Pan Zagloba — for it was he — saw that it did not
become him to adjure or swear before little boys, though in
the absence of other listeners he loved to tell even the
children of his former triumphs ; he grew silent this time
especially because the fish had begun to spring up in the
pond with redoubled activity.
" We must tell the gardener," said he, " to set the net for
the night; a great many fine fish are crowding right up to
the bank."
Now that door of the house which led into the garden
opened, and in it appeared a woman beautiful as the
midday sun, tall, firm, black-haired, with bloom on her
brunette face, and eyes like velvet. A third boy, three
years old, dark as an agate ball, hung to her skirt. She,
shading her eyes with her hand, looked in the direction of
the linden-tree. This was Pani Helena Skshetuski, of the
princely house of Bulyga-Kurtsevich.
Seeing Pan Zagloba with Yaremka and Longinek under
the tree, she went forward a few steps toward the ditch,
full of water, and called : " Come here, boys ! Surely you
are plaguing Grandfather ? "
"How plague me! They have acted nicely all the time,"
said the old man.
The boys ran to their mother; but she asked Zagloba,
" What will Father drink to-day, — dembniak or mead ? "
"We had pork for dinner; mead will be best."
" I '11 send it this minute; but Father must not fall
asleep in the air, for fever is sure to come."
"It is warm to-day, and there is no wind. But where is
Yan, Daughter ? "
" He has gone to the barns
Pani Skshetuski called Zagloba father, and he called her
daughter, though they were in no way related. Her family
dwelt beyond the Dnieper, in the former domains of Visli-
nyevetski; and as to him God alone knew his origin, for he
told various tales about it himself. But Zagloba had
.rendered famous services to Pani Skshetuski when she
was still a maiden, and he had rescued her from terrible
dangers; therefore she and her husband treated him as a
father, and in the whole region about he was honored be¬
yond measure by all, as well for his inventive mind as for
the uncommon bravery of which he had given many proofs
164
THE DELUGE.
in various wars, especially in those against the Cossacks.
His name was known in the whole Commonwealth. The
king himself was«enamored of his stories and wit; and in
general he was more spoken of than even Pan Skshetuski,
though the latter in his time had burst through besieged
Zbaraj and all the Cossack armies.
Soon after Pani Skshetuski had gone into the house a
boy brought a decanter and glass to the linden-tree. Za-
globa poured out some mead, then closed his eyes and began
to try it diligently.
" The Lord Clod knew why he created bees," said he,
with a nasal mutter. And he fell to drinking slowly, draw¬
ing deep breaths at the same time, while gazing at the
pond and beyond the pond, away to the dark and blue pine-
woods stretching as far as the eye could reach on the other
side. The time was past one in the afternoon, and the
heavens were cloudless. The blossoms of the linden were
falling noiselessly to the earth, and on the tree among the
leaves were buzzing a whole choir of bees, which soon began
to settle on the edge of the glass and gather the sweet fluid
on their shaggy legs.
Above the great pond, from the far-off reeds obscured by
the haze of distance, rose from time to time flocks of ducks,
teal, or wild geese, and moved away swiftly in the blue ether
like black crosses; sometimes a row of cranes looked dark
high in the air, and gave out a shrill cry. With these ex¬
ceptions all around was quiet, calm, sunny, and gladsome, as
is usual in the first days of August, when the grain has ri¬
pened, and the sun is scattering as it were gold upon the
earth.
The eyes of the old man were raised now to the sky,
following the flocks of birds, and now they were lost in the
distance, growing more and more drowsy, as the mead in
the decanter decreased; his lids became heavier and heavier,
— the bees buzzed their song in various tones as if on pur¬
pose for his after-dinner slumber.
" True, true, the Lord God has given beautiful weather
for the harvest," muttered Zagloba. " The hay is well gath¬
ered in, the harvest will be finished in a breath. Yes, yes — "
Here he closed his eyes, then opened them again for a
moment, muttered once more, " The boys have tormented
me," and fell asleep in earnest.
He slept rather long, but after a certain time he was
roused by a light breath of cooler air, together with the
THE DELUGE.
165
conversation and steps of two men drawing near the tree
rapidly. One of them was Yan Skshetuski, the hero of
Zbaraj, who about a month before had returned from the
hetmans in the Ukraine to cure a stubborn fever; Pan
Zagloba did not know the other, though in stature and
form and even in features he resembled Yan greatly.
"I present to you, dear father," said Yan, "my cousin
Pan Stanislav Skshetuski, the captain of Kalish."
"You are so much like Yan," answered Zagloba, blinking
and shaking the remnants of sleep from his eyelids, " that
had I met you anywhere I should have said at once, ' Skshe¬
tuski !' Hei, what a guest in the house !"
" It is dear to me to make your acquaintance, my bene¬
factor," answered Stanislav, "the more since the name is
well known to me, for the knighthood of the whole Com¬
monwealth repeat it with respect and mention it as an
example."
"Without praising myself, I did what I could, while I
felt strength in my bones. And even now one would like
to taste of war, for consuetudo altera natura (habit is a sec¬
ond nature). But why, gentlemen, are you so anxious, so
that Yan's face is pale ? "
" Stanislav has brought dreadful news," answered Yan.
"The Swedes have entered Great Poland, and occupied it
entirely."
Zagloba sprang from the bench as if forty years had
dropped from him, opened wide his eyes, and began invol¬
untarily to feel at his side, as if he were looking for a,
sabre.
"How is that?" asked he, "how is that? Have they
occupied all of it ? "
"Yes, for the voevoda of Poznan and others at Uistsie
have given it into the hands of the enemy," answered
Stanislav.
" For God's sake ! What do I hear ? Have they sur¬
rendered ? "
"Not only have they surrendered, but they have signed
a compact renouncing the King and the Commonwealth.
Henceforth Sweden, not Poland, is to be there."
" By the mercy of God, by the wounds of the Crucified!
Is the world coming to an end ? What do I hear! Yester¬
day Yan and I were speaking of this danger from Sweden,
for news had come that they were marching; but we were
both confident that it would end in nething, or at most in
166
THE DELUGE.
the renunciation of the title of King of Sweden by our lord,
Yan Kazimir."
"But it has begun with the loss of a province, and will
end with God knows what."
" Stop, for the blood will boil over in me ! How was it ?
And you were at Uistsie and saw all this with your own
eyes ? That was simply treason the most villanous, un¬
heard of in history."
"I was there and looked on, and whether it was treason
you will decide when you hear all. We were at Uistsie, the
general militia and the land infantry, fifteen thousand men
in all, and we formed our lines 011 the Notets ab incursione
hostili (against hostile invasion). True the army was
small, and as an experienced soldier you know best whether
the place of regular troops can be filled by general militia,
especially that of Great Poland, where the nobles have
grown notably unused to war. Still, if a leader had been
found, they might have shown opposition to the enemy in
old fashion, and at least detained them till the Common-
wrealth could find reinforcements. But hardly had Wittem-
berg shown himself when negotiations were begun before a
drop of blood had been shed. Then Badzeyovski came up,
and with his persuasions brought about what I have said,
— that is, misfortune and disgrace, the like of which has
not been hitherto."
" How Avas that ? Did no one resist, did no one protest ?
Did no one hurl treason in the eyes of those scoundrels ?
Did all agree to betray the country and the king ? "
" Virtue is perishing, and with it the Commomvealth, for
nearly all agreed. I, the tAvo Skorashevskis, Pan Tsisvitski,
and Pan Klodzinski did Achat Ave could to rouse a spirit of
resistance among the nobles. Pan Vladyslav Skorashevski
Avent almost frantic. We fleAv through the camp from the
men of one district to those of another, and God knows
there Avas 110 beseeching that Ave did not use. But Avhat
good Avas it Avhen the majority chose to go in bonds to
the bancpiet Avhich Wittemberg promised, rather than Avith
sabres to battle ? Seeing that the best Avent in every direc¬
tion,— some to their homes, others to WarsaAV, — the Sko¬
rashevskis Avent to Warsaw, and will bring the first neAvs to
the king; but I, having neither Avife nor children, came here
to my cousin, Avith the idea that Ave might go together against
the enemy. It was fortunate that I found you at home."
" Then you are directly from Uistsie ? "
THE DELUGE.
167
"Directly. I rested on the road only as rrmch as my
horses needed, and as it was I drove one of them to death.
The Swedes must be in Poznan at present, and thence they
will quickly spread over the whole country."
Here all grew silent. Yan sat with his palms on his
knees, his eyes fixed on the ground, and he was thinking
gloomily. Pan Stanislav sighed; and Zagloba, not having
recovered, looked with a staring glance, now on one, now
on the other.
"Those are evil signs," said Yan at last, gloomily. "For¬
merly for ten victories there came one defeat, and we as¬
tonished the world with our valor. Now not only defeats
come, but treason, — not merely of single persons, but of
whole provinces. May God pity the country !"
"For God's sake," said Zagloba, "I have seen much in
the world. I can hear, I can reason, but still belief fails me."
" What do you think of doing, Yan ? " asked Stanislav.
" It is certain that I shall not stay at home, though fever
is shaking me yet. It will be necessary to place my wife
and children somewhere in safety. Pan Stabrovski, my
relative, is huntsman of the king in the wilderness of
Byalovyej, and lives in Byalovyej. Even if the whole
Commonwealth should fall into the power of the enemy,
they would not touch that region. To-morrow I will take
my wife and children straight there."
" And that will not be a needless precaution," said Sta¬
nislav ; " for though't is far from Great Poland to this place,
who knows whether the flame may not soon seize these
regions also ? "
"The nobles must be notified," said Yan, "to assemble
and think of defence, for here no one has heard anything
yet." Here he turned to Zagloba: " And, Father, will you-
go with us, or do you wish to accompany Helena to the
wilderness ? "
" I ? " answered Zagloba, " will I go ? If my feet had
taken root in the earth, I might not go; but even then I
should ask some one to dig me out. I want to try Swedish
flesh again, as a wolf does mutton. Ha! the rascals, trunk-
breeches, long-stockings! The fleas make raids 011 their
calves, their legs are itching, and they can't sit at home,
but crawl into foreign lands. I know them, the sons of
such a kind, for when I was under Konyetspolski I worked
against them; and, gentlemen, if you want to know who
took Gustavus Adolphus captive, ask the late Konyetspolski.
168
THE DELUGE.
I '11 say no more! I know them, but they know me too.
It must be that the rogues have heard that Zagloba has
grown old. Isn't that true? Wait! you'll see him yet!
0 Lord! 0 Lord, all-Powerful! why hast thou unfenced
this unfortunate Commonwealth, so that all the neighboring
swine are running into it now, and they have rooted iip
three of the best provinces ? What is the condition ? Ba !
but who is to blame, if not traitors ? The plague did not
know whom to take 5 it took honest men,.but left the trai¬
tors. 0 Lord, send thy pest once more 011 the voevoda of
Poznan and on him of Kalish, but especially 011 lladzeyovski
and his whole family. But if 't is thy will to favor hell
with more inhabitants, send thither all those who signed the
pact at Uistsie. Has Zagloba grown old ? has he grown
old? You will find out! Yan, let us consider quickly
what to do, for I want to be 011 horseback."
" Of course we must know whither to go. It is difficult
to reach the hetmans in the Ukraine, for the enemy has
cut them off from the Commonwealth and the road is open
only to the Crimea. It is lucky that the Tartars are on our
side this time. According to my head it will be necessary
for us to go to Warsaw to the king, to defend our dear lord."
" If there is time," remarked Stanislav. " The king
must collect squadrons there in haste, and will march on
the enemy before we can come, and perhaps the engagement
is already taking place."
" And that may be."
" Let us go then to Warsaw, if Ave can go quickly," said
Zagloba. " Listen, gentlemen ! It is true that our names are
terrible to the enemy, but still three of us cannot do much,
therefore I should give this advice: Let us summon the
nobles to volunteer ; they will come in such numbers that
Ave may lead even a small squadron to the king. We shall
persuade them easily, for they must go anyhow when the
call comes for the general militia, — it will be all one to them
— and we shall tell them that whoever volunteers before
the call Avill do an act dear to the king. AVith greater
power Ave can do more, and they Avill receive us (in AVarsaAv)
Avith open arms."
"Wonder not at my words," said Pan Stanislav, "but
from Avhat I have seen I feel such a dislike to the general
militia that I choose to go alone rather than with a croAvd
of men who know nothing of Avar."
"You have no acquaintance Avith the nobles of this
THE DELUGE,
169
place. Here a man cannot be found who lias not served in
the army; all have experience and are good soldiers."
" That may be."
"How could it be otherwise? But wait! Yan knows
that when once I begin to work with my head I have no
lack of resources. For that reason I lived in great intimacy
with the voevoda of Bus, Prince Yeremi. Let Yan tell
how many times that greatest of warriors followed my
advice, and thereby was each time victorious."
"But tell us, Father, what you wish to say, for time is
precious."
" What I wish to say ? This is it: not he defends the
country and the king who holds to the king's skirts, but he
who beats the enemy; and lie beats the enemy best who
serves under a great warrior. Why go on uncertainties to
Warsaw, when the king himself may have gone to Cracow,
to Lvoff or Lithuania ? My advice is to put ourselves at
once under the banners of the grand hetman of Lithuania,
Prince Yanush Radzivill. He is an honest man and a
soldier. Though they accuse him of pride, he of a certainty
will not surrender to Swedes. He at least is a chief'
and a hetman of the right kind. It will be close there, 't is
true, for he is working against two enemies; but as a
recompense we shall see Pan Michael Volodyovski, who is
serving in the Lithuanian quota, and again we shall be
together as in old times. If I do not counsel well, then
let the first Swede take me captive by the sword-strap."
"Who knows, who knows?" answered Yan, with
animation. " Maybe that will be the best course."
"And besides we shall take Halshka1 with the children,
for we must go right through the wilderness."
" And we shall serve among soldiers, not among militia,"
added Stanislav.
" And we shall fight, not debate, nor eat chickens and
cheese in the villages."
" I see that not only in war, but in council you can hold
the first place," said Stanislav.
"Well, are you satisfied ? "
"In truth, in truth," said Yan, "that is the best advice.
We shall be with Michael as before; you will know,
Stanislav, the greatest soldier in the Commonwealth, my
true friend, my brother. We will go now to Halshka, and
tell her so that she too may be ready for the road."
1 Helena.
170
THE DELUGE.
"Does she know of the war already ?" asked Zagloba.
"She knows, she knows, for in her presence Stanislav
told about it first. She is in tears, poor woman ! But if I
say to her that it is necessary to go, she will say straight¬
way, Go !"
" I would start in the morning," cried Zagloba.
"We will start in the morning and before daybreak,"
said Yan. "You must be terribly tired after the road,
Stanislav, but you will rest before morning as best you can.
I will send horses this evening with trusty men to Byala,
to Lostsi, to Drohiehyn and Byelsk, so as to have relays
everywhere. And just beyond Byelsk is the wilderness.
Wagons will start to-day also with supplies. It is too bad
to go into the world from the dear corner, but 't is God's
will! This is my comfort: I am safe as to my wife and
children, for the wilderness is the best fortress in the
world. Come to the house, gentlemen; it is time for me to
prepare for the journey."
They went in. Ban Stanislav, greatly road-weary, had
barely taken food and drink when he went to sleep straight¬
way ; but Pan Yan and Zagloba were bnsied in prep¬
arations. And as there was great order in Pan Yan's
household the wagons and men started that evening for an
all-night journey, and next morning at daybreak the
carriage followed in which sat Helena with the children
and an old maid, a companion. Pan Stanislav and Pan
Yan with five attendants rode on horseback near the
carriage. The whole party pushed forward briskly, for
fresh horses were awaiting them.
Travelling in this manner and without resting even at
night, they reached Byelsk on the fifth day, and on the sixth
they sank in the wilderness from the side of Hainovshyna.
They were surrounded at once by the gloom of the
gigantic pine-forest, which at that period occupied a number
of tens of square leagues, joining on one side with an un¬
broken line the wilderness of Zyelonka and Rogovsk, and on
the other the forests of Prussia.
Ho invader had ever trampled with a hoof those dark
depths in which a man who knew them not might go astray
and wander till he dropped from exhaustion or fell a prey
to ravenous beasts. In the night were heard the bellowing
of the aurochs, the growling of bears, with the howling of:
wolves and the hoarse screams of panthers. Uncertain roads
led through thickets or clean-trunked trees, along fallen
THE DELUGE.
171
timber, swamps, and terrible stagnant lakes to the scattered
villages of guards, pitch-burners, and hunters, who in
many cases did not leave the wilderness all their lives.
To Byalovyej itself a broader way led, continued by the
Suha road, over which the kings went to hunt. By that
road also the Skshetuskis came from the direction of
Byelsk and Hainovsliyna.
Pan Stabrovski, cliief-hunter of the king, was an old
hermit and bachelor, who like an aurochs stayed always in
the wilderness. He received the visitors with open arms,
and almost smothered the children with kisses. He lived
with beaters-in, never seeing the face of a noble unless
when the king went to hunt. He had the management of
all hunting matters and all the pitch-making of the
wilderness. He was greatly disturbed by news of the war,
of which he heard first from Pan Yan.
Often did it happen in the Commonwealth that war broke
out or the king died and no news came to the wilderness ;
the chief-hunter alone brought news when he returned from
the treasurer of Lithuania, to whom he was obliged to
render account of his management of the wilderness each
year.
"It will be dreary here, dreary," said Stabrovski to
Helena, "but safe as nowhere else in the world. No
enemy will break through these walls, and even if he
should try the beaters-in would shoot down all his men.
It would be easier to conquer the whole Commonwealth —
which may God not permit! — than the wilderness. I
have been living here twenty years, and even I do not
know it all, for there are places where it is impossible to
go, where only wild beasts live and perhaps evil spirits
have their dwelling, from whom men are preserved by the
sound of church-bells. But we live according to God's law,
for in the village there is a chapel to which a priest from
Byelsk comes once a year. You will be here as if in
heaven, if tedium does not weary you. As a recompense
there is no lack of firewood."
Pan Yan was glad in his whole soul that he had found
for his wife such a refuge ; but Pan Stabrovski tried in
vain to delay him awhile and entertain him.
Halting only one night, the cavaliers resumed at day¬
break their journey across the wilderness. They were led
through the forest labyrinths by guides whom the hunter
sent with them.
172
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XIII.
When Pan Skslietuski with his cousin Stanislav and
Zagloba, after a toilsome journey from the wilderness, came
at last to Upita, Pan Volodyovski went almost wild from de¬
light, especially since he had long had no news of them ; he
thought that Yan was with a squadron of the king which
he commanded under the lietmans in the Ukraine.
Pan Michael took them in turn by the shoulders, and
after he had pressed them once he pressed them again and
rubbed his hands. When they told him of their wish to
serve under Radzivill, he rejoiced still more at the thought
that they would not separate soon.
" Praise God that Ave shall be together, old comrades of
Zbaraj !" said he. " A man has greater desire for Avar
Avhen he feels friends near him."
" That Avas my idea," said Zagloba ; " for they wanted to
fly to the king. But I said, ' Why not remember old times
with Pan Michael ? If God Avill give us such fortune as
he did Avitli Cossacks and the Tartars, we shall soon have
more than one SAvede on our conscience.'"
" God inspired you Avitli that thought," said Pan Michael.
" But it is a Avonder to me," added Yan, "Iioav you knoAV
already of the Avar. Stanislav came to me Avith the last
breath of his horse, and Ave in that same fashion rode
hither, thinking that Ave should be first to announce the
misfortune."
"The tidings must have come through the Jcavs," said
Zagloba ; " for they are first to know everything, and there
is such communication betAveen them that if one sneezes in
Great Poland in the morning, others will call to him in
the evening from Lithuania and the Ukraine. 1 To thy
health!"'
" I know not how it Avas, but we heard of it tAvo days
ago," said Pan Michael, " and there is a fearful panic here.
The first day we did not credit the neAvs greatly, but on the
second no one denied it. I Avill say more ; before the Avar
came, you would have said that the birds Avere singing
about it in the air, for suddenly and Avithout cause all be¬
gan to speak of Avar. Our prince voevoda must also have
THE DELUGE.
173
looked for it and have known something before others, for
he was rushing about like a fly in hot water, and during these
last hours he has hastened to Kyedani. Levies were made
at his order two months ago. I assembled men, as did also
Stankyevich and a certain Kmita, the banneret of Orsha,
who, as I hear, has already sent a squadron to Kyedani.
Kmita was ready before the rest of us."
" Michael, do you know Prince Kadzivill well ? " asked
Yan.
" Why should I not know him, when I have passed the
whole present war1 under his command ? "
" What do you know of his plans ? Is he an honest
man ? "
"He is a finished warrior; who knows if after the death
of Prince Yeremi he is not the greatest in the Common¬
wealth ? He was defeated in the last battle, it is true; but
against eighteen thousand he had six thousand men. The
treasurer and the voevoda of Vityebsk blame him terri¬
bly for this, saying that with small forces he rushed against
such a disproportionate power to avoid sharing victory
with them. God knows how it was ! But lie stood up
manfully and did not spare his own life. And I who
saw it all, say only this, that if we had had troops and
money enough, not a foot of the enemy would have left the
country. So I think that he will begin at the Swedes more
sharply, and will not wait for them here, but march on
Livonia."
" Why do you think that ? "
" For two reasons, — first, because he will wish to improve
his reputation, shattered a little after the battle of Tsybi-
liova; and second, because he loves war."
" That is true," said Zagloba. " I know him, for we were
at school together and I worked out his tasks for him. He
was always in love with war, and therefore liked to keep
company with me rather than others, for I too preferred a
horse and a lance to Latin."
" It is certain that he is not like the voevoda of Poznan ;
he is surely a different kind of man altogether," said Pan
Stanislav.
Volodyovski inquired about everything that had taken
place at Uistsie, and tore his hair as he listened to the story.
At last, when Pan Stanislav had finished, he said, —
1 The war against Russia.
174
THE DELUGE.
"You are right! Our Radzivill is incapable of such
deeds. He is as proud as the devil, and it seems to him
that in the whole world there is not a greater family than
the Radzivills. He will not endure opposition, that is
true; and at the treasurer, Pan Gosyevski, an honest
man, he is angry because the latter will not dance when
Radzivill plays. He is displeased also with his Grace
the king, because he did not give him the grand baton of
Lithuania soon enough. All true, as well as this, — that
he prefers to live in the dishonorable error of Calvinism
rather than turn to the true faith, that he persecutes Catho¬
lics where he can, that he founds societies of heretics. But
as recompense for this, I will swear that he would rather
shed the last drop of his proud blood than sign a surrender
like that at Uistsie. We shall have war to wade in; for
not a scribe, but a warrior, will lead us."
"That's my play," said Zagloba, "I want nothing
more. Pan Opalinski is a scribe, and he showed soon what
he was good for. They are the meanest of men ! Let but
one of them pull a quill out of a goose's tail and he thinks
straightway that he has swallowed all wisdom. He will
say to others, ; Son of a such kind,' and when it comes to
the sabre you cannot find him. When I was young myself,
1 put rhymes together to captivate the hearts of fair heads,
and I might have made a goat's horn of Pan Kohanovski
with his silly verses, but later on the soldier nature got
the upper hand."
"I will add, too," continued Volodyovski, "that the no¬
bles will soon move hither. A crowd of people will come,
if only money is not lacking, for that is most important."
" In God's name I want no general militia!" shouted
Pan Stanislav. " Yan and Pan Zagloba know my senti¬
ments already, and to you I say now that I would rather
be a camp-servant in a regular squadron than lietman over
the entire general militia."
" The people here are brave," answered Yolodyovski,
" and very skilful. I have an example from my own levy.
I could not receive all who came, and among those
whom I accepted there is not a man who has not served
before. I will show you this squadron, gentlemen,
and if you had not learned from me you would not know
that they are not old soldiers. Every one is tempered
and hammered in fire, like an old horseshoe, and stands in
order like a Roman legionary. It will not be so easy for
THE DELUGE.
175
the Swedes with them, as witli the men of Great Poland at
Uistsie."
" I have hope that God will change everything," said Pan
Yan. " They say that the Swedes are good soldiers, but
still they have never been able to stand before our regular
troops. We have beaten them always, — that is a matter
of trial; we have beaten them even when they were led by
the greatest warrior they have ever had."
" In truth I am very curious to know what they can do,"
answered Yolodyovski; " and were it not that two other wars
are now weighing on the country, I should not be angry a
whit about the Swedes. We have tried the Turks, the Tar¬
tars, the Cossacks, and God knows whom we have not tried;
it is well now to try the Swedes. The only trouble in the
kingdom is that all the troops are occupied with the het-
mans in the Ukraine. But I see already what will happen
here. Prince Radzivill will leave the existing war to the
treasurer and full hetman Pan Gosyevski, and will go
himself at the Swedes in earnest. It will be heavy
work, it is true. But we have hope that God will assist
us."
" Let us go, then, without delay to Kyedani," said Pan
Stanislav.
" I received an order to have the squadron ready and to ap¬
pear in Kyedani myself in three days," answered Pan Mi¬
chael. " But I must show you, gentlemen this last order, for
it is clear from it that the prince is thinking of the Swedes."
When he had said this, Yolodyovski unlocked a box
standing on a bench under the window, took out a paper
folded once, and opening it began to read : —
Colonel Yolodyovski :
Gracious Sir, —We have read with great delight your report that
the squadron is ready and can move to the campaign at any mo¬
ment. Keep it ready and alert, for such difficult times are coming
as have not been yet; therefore come yourself as quickly as possible
to Kyedani, where we shall await you with impatience. If anyre-
ports come to you, believe them not till you have heard everything
from our lips. We act as God himself and our conscience command,
without reference to what malice and the ill will of man may invent
against us. But at the same time we console ourselves with this,
— that times are coming in which it will be shown definitely who
is a true and real friend of the house of Radzivill and who even in
rebus adversis is willing to serve it. Kmita, Nyevyarovski, and
Stankyevich have brought their squadrons here already; let yours
remain in Upita, for it may be needed there, and it may have to
176
THE DELUGE.
march to Podlyasye under command of my cousin Prince Boguslav,
who has considerable bodies of our troops under his command there.
Of all this you will learn in detail from our lips; meanwhile we
confide to your loyalty the careful execution of orders, and await
you in Kyedani.
Yanush Radzivill,
Prince in Birji and Dubinlci, voevoda of Vilna,
grand hetman of Lithuania.
"Yes, a new war is evident from this letter," said Zagloba.
"And the prince's statement that he will act as God com¬
mands him, means that he will fight the Swedes," added
Stanislav.
"Still it is a wonder to me," said Pan Yan, "that he
writes about loyalty to the house of Radzivill, and not to
the country, which means more than the Radzivills, and de¬
mands prompter rescue."
" That is their lordly manner," answered Volodyovski;
" though that did not please me either at first, for I too
serve the country and not the Radzivills."
" When did you receive this letter ? " asked Pan Yan.
"This morning, and I wanted to start this afternoon.
You will rest to-night after the journey ; to-morrow I shall
surely return, and then we will move with the squadron
wherever they command."
" Perhaps to Podlyasye ? " said Zagloba.
" To Prince Boguslav," added Pan Stanislav.
"Prince Boguslav is now in Kyedani," said Volodyovski.
" He is a strange person, and do you look at him carefully.
He is a great warrior and a still greater knight, but he is
not a Pole to the value of a copper. He wears a foreign
dress, and talks German or French altogether; you might
think he was cracking nuts, might listen to him a whole
hour, and not understand a thing."
" Prince Boguslav at Berestechko bore himself well," said
Zagloba, " and brought a good number of German infantry."
"Those who know him more intimately do not praise
him very highly," continued Volodyovski, "for he loves
only the Germans and French. It cannot be otherwise,
since he was born of a German mother, the daughter of the
elector of Brandenburg, with whom his late father not only
received no dowry, but, since those small princes (the elec¬
tors) as may be seen have poor housekeeping, he had to
pay something. But with the Radzivills it is important
to have a vote in the German Empire, of which they are
THE DELUGE.
177
princes, and therefore they make alliances with the Germans.
Fan Sakovich, an old client of Prince Boguslav, who made
him starosta of Oshmiani, told me about this. He and Pan
Nyevyarovski, a colonel, were abroad with Prince Boguslav
in various foreign lands, and acted always as seconds in his
duels."
" How many has he fought ? " asked Zagloba.
" As many as he has hairs 011 his head! He cut up va¬
rious princes greatly and foreign counts, French and Ger¬
man, for they say that he is very fiery, brave, and daring,
and calls a man out for the least word."
Pan Stanislav was roused from his thouglitfulness and
said : " I too have heard of this Prince Boguslav, for it is
not far from us to the elector, with whom he lives continu¬
ally. I have still in mind how my father said that when
Prince Boguslav's father married the elector's daughter,
people complained that such a great house as that of the
Radzivills made an alliance with strangers. But perhaps
it happened for the best; the elector as a relative of the
Radzivills ought to be very friendly now to the Common¬
wealth, and 011 him much depends at present. What
you say about their poor housekeeping is not true. It is
certain, however, that if any one were to sell all the posses¬
sions of the Radzivills, he could buy with the price of them
the elector and his whole principality ; but the present
knrfurst, Friedrich Willielm, has saved 110 small amount of
money, and has twenty thousand very good troops with
whom he might boldly meet the Swedes, — which as a
vassal of the Commonwealth he ought to do if he has God
in his heart, and remembers all the kindness which the
Commonwealth has shown his house."
" Will he do that ? " asked Pan Yan.
" It would be black ingratitude and faith-breaking 011 his
part if he did otherwise," answered Pan Stanislav.
"It is hard to count 011 the gratitude of strangers, and
especially of heretics," said Zagloba. " I remember this
kurfiirst of yours when he was still a stripling. He was
always sullen; one would have said that lie was listening
to what the devil was whispering in his ear. When I was
in Prussia with the late Konyetspolski, I told the kurfiirst
that to his eyes, — for he is a Lutheran, the same as the
King of Sweden. God grant that they make no alliance
against the Commonwealth!"
"Do you know, Michael," said Pan Yan, suddenly, "I
VOL. 1. —12
178
THE DELUGE.
will not rest here; I will go with you to Kyedani. It is
better at this season to travel in the night, for it is hot in
the daytime, and I am eager to escape from uncertainty.
There is resting-time ahead, for surely the prince will not
march to-morrow."
"Especially as he has given orders to keep the squadron
in Upita," answered Pan Michael.
" You speak well! " cried Zagloba; " I will go too."
" Then we will all go together," said Pan Stanislav.
" We shall be in Kyedani in the morning," said Pan
Michael, "and on the road we can sleep sweetly in our
saddles."
Two hours later, after they had eaten and drunk some¬
what, the knights started on their journey, and before sun¬
down reached Krakin.
On the road Pan Michael told them about the neighbor¬
hood, and the famous nobles of Lauda, of Kmita, and of all
that had happened during a certain time. He confessed
also his love for Panna Billevich, unrequited as usual.
" It is well that war is near," said he, " otherwise I
should have suffered greatly, when.I think at times that
such is my misfortune, and that probably I shall die in the
single state."
"No harm will come to you from that," said Zagloba,
" for it is an honorable state and pleasing to God. I have
resolved to remain in it to the end of my life. Sometimes
I regret that there will be 110 one to leave my fame and
name to ; for though I love Yan's children as if they were
my own, still the Skshetuskis are not the Zaglobas."
" Ah, evil man! You have made this choice with a feel¬
ing like that of the wolf when he vowed not to kill sheep
after all his teeth were gone."
" But that is not true," said Zagloba. " It is not so long,
Michael, since you and I were in Warsaw at the election.
At whom were all the women looking if not at me ? I)o
you not remember how you used to complain that not one of
them was looking at you ? But if you have such a desire
for the married state, then be not troubled; your turn will
come too. This seeking is of no use ; you will find just
when you are not seeking. This is a time of war, and
many good [cavaliers perish every year. Only let this
Swedish war continue, the girls will be alone, and we shall
find them in market by the dozen."
" Perhaps I shall perish too," said Pan Michael. " I have
THE DELUGE.
179
had enough of this battering through the world. Never
shall I be able to tell you, gentlemen, what a worthy and
beautiful lady Panna Billevicli is. And if it were a man
who had loved and petted her in the tenderest way — No !
the devils had to bring this Kmita. It must be that he gave
her something, it cannot be otherwise; for if he had not,
surely she would not have let me go. There, look 1 Just
beyond the hills Vodokty is visible; but there is no one in
the house. She has gone God knows whither. The bear
has his den, the pig his nest, but I have only this crowbait
and this saddle on which I sit."
" I see that she has pierced you like a thorn," said
Zagloba.
" True, so that when I think of myself or when riding
by I see Vodokty, I grieve still. I wanted to strike out the
wedge with a wedge,1 and went to Pan Schilling, who has
a very comely daughter. Once I saw her 011 the road at a
distance, and she took my fancy greatly. I went to his
house, and what shall I say, gentlemen ? I did not find the
father at home, but the daughter Panna Kahna thought
that I was not Pan Volodyovski, but only Pan Volody-
ovski's attendant. I took the affront so to heart that 1
have never shown myself there again."
Zagloba began to laugh. " God help you, Michael! The
whole matter is this, — you must find a wife of such
stature as you are yourself. But where did that little
rogue go to who was in attendance on Princess Vishnye-
vetski, and whom the late Pan Podbipienta — God light ins
soul!—was to marry? She was just your size, a regular
peach-stone, though her eyes did shine terribly."
"That was Anusia Borzabogati," said Pan Yan. "We
were all in love with her in our time, — Michael too. God
knows where she is now !"
"I might seek her out and comfort her," said Pan Michael.
" When you mention her it grows warm around my heart.
She was a most respectable girl. Ah, those old days of
Lubni were pleasant, but never will they return. They
will not, for never will there be such a chief as our Prince
Yeremi. A man knew that every battle would be followed
by victory. Badzivill was a great warrior, but not such,
and men do not serve him with such heart, for lie has not
1 This Polish saying of striking out a wedge with a wedge means
here, of course, to cure one love with another.
180
THE DELUGE.
that fatherly love for soldiers, and does not admit them
to confidence, having something about liim of the mon¬
arch, though the Vislmyevetskis were not inferior to the
Radzivills."
"No matter," said Pan Yan. "The salvation of the
country is in his hands now, and because he is ready to
give his life for it, God bless him !"
Thus conversed the old friends, riding along in the night.
They called up old questions at one time ; at another they
spoke of the grievous days of the present, in which three
wars at once had rolled on the Commonwealth. Later they
repeated "Our Father" and the litany ; and when they had
finished, sleep wearied them, and they began to doze and nod
on the saddles.
The night was clear and warm ; the stars twinkled by
thousands in the sky. Dragging on at a walk, they slept
sweetly till, when day began to break, Pan Michael woke.
" Gentlemen, open your eyes ; Kyedani is in sight!"
cried he.
" What, where ? " asked Zagloba. " Kyedani, where ? "
" Off there ! The towers are visible."
"A respectable sort of place," said Fan Stanislav.
" Very considerable," answered Yolodyovski; " and of
this you will be able to convince yourselves better in the
daytime."
"But is this the inheritance of the prince ? "
"Yes. Formerly it belonged to the Kishkis, from whom
the father of the present prince received it as dowry with
I 'anna Anna Kisliki, daughter of the voevoda of Yityebsk.
In all Jmud there is not such a well-ordered place, for the
ltadzivills do not admit Jews, save by permission to each
one. The meads here are celebrated."
Zagloba opened his eyes.
" But do people of some politeness live here ? What is
that immensely great building on the eminence ? "
" That is the castle just built during the rule of Yanush."
" Is it fortified ? "
"Flo, but it is a lordly residence. It is not fortified, for
110 enemy has ever entered these regions since the time of
the Knights of the Cross. That pointed steeple in the mid¬
dle of the town belongs to the parish church built by the
Knights of the Cross in pagan times ; later it was given to
the Calvinists, but the priest Kobylinski won it back for
the Catholics through a lawsuit with Prince Krishtof."
THE DELUGE.
181
" Praise be to God for that!"
Thus conversing they arrived near the first cottages of the
suburbs. Meanwhile it grew brighter and brighter in the
world, and the sun began to rise. The knights looked with
curiosity at the new place, and Pan Yolodyovski continued
to speak, —
"This is Jew street, in which dwell those of the Jews
who have permission to be here. Following this street,
one comes to the market. Oho ! people are up already,
and beginning to come out of the houses. See, a crowd
of horses before the forges, and attendants not in the
Radzivill colors ! There must be some meeting in Kyedani.
It is always full of nobles and high personages here, and
sometimes they come from foreign countries, for this is the
capital for heretics from all Jmud, who under the protection
of the Radzivills carry on their sorcery and superstitious
practices. That is the market-square. See what a clock is
on the town-house ! There is no better one to this day in
Dantzig. And that which looks like a church with four
towers is a Helvetic (Calvinistic) meeting-house, in which
every Sunday they blaspheme God; and farther on the
Lutheran church. You think that the townspeople are
Poles or Lithuanians, — not at all. Real Germans and
Scots, but more Scots. The Scots are splendid infantry,
and cut terribly with battle-axes. The prince has also one
Scottish regiment of volunteers of Kyedani. Ei, how many
wagons with packs on the market-square ! Surely there is
some meeting. There, are no inns in the town ; acquaint¬
ances stop with acquaintances, and nobles go to the castle, in
which there are rooms tens of ells long, intended for guests
only. There they entertain, at the prince's expense, every
one honorably, even if for a year ; there are people who stay
there all their lives."
" It is a wonder to me that lightning has not burned that
Calvinistic meeting-house," said Zagloba.
" But do you not know that that has happened ? In the
centre between the four towers was a cap-shaped cupola;
on a time such a lightning-flash struck this cupola that
nothing remained of it. In the vault underneath lies the
father of Prince Boguslav, Yanush, — he who joined the
mutiny against Sigismund III. His own haiduk laid open
his skull, so that he died in vain, as he had lived in sin."
"But what is that broad building which looks like a
walled tent ? " asked Pan Yam
182
THE DELUGE.
" That is the paper-mill founded by the prince; and at the
side of it is a printing-office, in which heretical books are
printed."
" Tfu!" said Zagloba ; " a pestilence 011 this place, where
a man draws no air into his stomach but what is hereti¬
cal ! Lucifer might rule here as well as Hadzivill."
" Gracious sir," answered Volodyovski, " abuse not Hadzi¬
vill, for perhaps the country will soon owe its salvation to
him."
They rode farther in silence, gazing at the town and
wondering at its good order; for the streets were all paved
with stone, which was at that period a novelty.
After they had ridden through the market-square and
the street of the castle, they saw on an eminence the lordly
residence recently built by Prince Yanusli, — not fortified,
it is true, but surpassing in size not only palaces but castles.
The great pile was on a height, and looked 011 the town lying,
as it Avere, at its feet. From both sides of the main build¬
ing extended at right angles two loAver Avings, Avhich formed
a gigantic courtyard, closed in front Avith an iron railing-
fastened with long links. In the middle of the railing tow¬
ered a strong walled gate ; on it the arms of the Radzivills
and the arms of the toAvn of Kyedani, representing an eagle's
foot Avith a black Aving on a golden field, and at the foot a
horseshoe Avith three red crosses. In front of the gate were
sentries and Scottish soldiers keeping guard for show, not
for defence.
The hour Avas early, but there Avas movement already in
the yard; for before the main building a regiment of dra¬
goons in blue jackets and SAvedish helmets AAras exercising.
Just then the long line of men Avas motionless, Avith draAvn
rapiers; an officer riding in front said something to the
soldiers. Around the line and farther 011 near the Avails,
a number of attendants in various colors gazed at the
dragoons, making remarks and giving opinions to one
another.
"As God is dear to me," said Pan Michael, " that is Khar-
lamp drilling the regiment! "
" How ! " cried Zagloba; " is he the same with whom you
were going to fight a duel at Lipkovo ? "
" The very same; but since that time we have lived in
close friendship."
" 'T is he," said Zagloba; " I knoAv him by his nose, which
sticks out from under his helmet. It is Avell that visors have
THE DELUGE.
183
gone out of fashion, for that knight could not close, any
visor; he would need a special invention for his nose/'
That moment Pan Kharlamp, seeing Yolodyovski, came
to him at a trot. " How are you, Michael ? " cried he. " It
is well that you have come."
"It is better that I meet you first. See, here is Pan
Zagloba, whom you met in Lipkovo —110, before that in
Syennitsy; and these are the Skshetuskis,— Yan, captain
of the king's hussars, the hero of Zbaraj — "
"I see, then, as God is true, the greatest knight in
Poland !" cried Kharlamp. " With the forehead, with the
forehead!"
"And this is Stanislav Skshetuski, captain of Kalisk,
who comes straight from Uistsie."
"Prom Uistsie? So you saw a terrible disgrace. We
kuow already what has happened."
"It is just because such a thing happened that I have
come, hoping that nothing like it will happen in this place."
" You may be certain of that; Radzivill is not Opalinski."
"We said the same at Upita yesterday."
"I greet you, gentlemen, most joyfully in my own name
and that of the prince. The prince will be glad to see such
knights, for he needs them much. Come with me to the
barracks, where my quarters are. You will need, of course,
to change clothes and eat breakfast. I will go with you,
for I have finished the drill."
Pan Kharlamp hurried again to the line, and commanded
in a quick, clear voice : " To the left! face — to the rear ! "
Hoofs sounded on the pavement. The line broke into
two ; the halves broke again till there were four parts, which
began to recede with slow step in the direction of the
barracks.
" Good soldiers," said Skshetuski, looking with skilled
eye at the regular movements of the dragoons.
"Those are petty nobles and attendant boyars who
serve in that arm," answered Volodyovski.
" Oh, you could tell in a moment that they are not
militia," cried Pan Stanislav.
" But does Kharlamp command them," asked Zagloba,
"or am I mistaken ? I remember that he served in the
light-horse squadron and wore silver loops."
"True," answered Volodyovski; "but it is a couple of
years since he took the dragoon regiment. He is an old
soldier, and trained."
184
THE DELUGE.
Meanwhile Kharlamp, having dismissed the dragoons,
returned to the knights. "I beg you, gentlemen, to follow
me. Over there are the barracks, beyond the castle."
Half an hour later the five were sitting over a bowl of
heated beer, well whitened with cream, and were talking
about the impending war.
" And what is to be heard here ? " asked Pan Michael.
" With us something new may be heard every day, for
people are lost in surmises and give out new reports all the
time," said Kharlamp. " But in truth the prince alone
knows what is coming. He has something on his mind, for
though he simulates gladness and is kind to people as
never before, he is terribly thoughtful. In the night,
they say, he does not sleep, but walks with heavy tread
through all the chambers, talking audibly to himself, and
in the daytime takes counsel for whole hours with
Harasimovich."
" Who is Harasimovich ? " asked Yolodyovski.
" The manager from Zabludovo in Podlyasye, — a man
of small stature, who looks as though he kept the devil
under his arm ; but he is a confidential agent of the prince,
and probably knows all his secrets. According to my think¬
ing, from these counsellings a terrible and vengeful war
with Sweden will come, for which war we are all sighing.
Meanwhile letters are flying hither from the Prince of Cour-
land, from Hovanski, and from the Elector of Brandenburg.
Some say that the prince is negotiating with Moscow to join
the league against Sweden; others say the contrary; but it
seems there will be a league with no one, but a war, as I have
said, with these and those. Eresh troops are coming con¬
tinually ; letters are sent to nobles most faithful to the
liadzivills, asking them to assemble. Every place is full
of armed men. Ei, gentlemen, on whomsoever they put
the grain, on him will it be ground; but we shall have our
hands red to the elbows, for when Radzivill moves to the
field, he will not negotiate."
" That's it, that's it! " said Zagloba, rubbing his palms.
"Ho small amount of Swedish blood has dried on my hands,
and there will be more of it in future. Hot many of
those old soldiers are alive yet who remember me at Putsk
and Tjtsianna; but those who are living will never forget
me."
" Is Prince Boguslav here ? " asked Yolodyovski.
" Of course. Besides him we expect to-day some great
THE DELUGE.
185
guests, for the upper chambers are made ready, aud there
is to be a banquet in the evening. I have my doubts,
Michael, whether you will reach the prince to-day."
"He sent for me himself yesterday."
"That's nothing; he is terribly occupied. Besides, 1
don't know whether I can speak of it to you — but in an
hour everybody will know of it, therefore I will tell you —
something or another very strange is going 011."
" What is it, what is it ? " asked Zagloba.
"It must be known to you, gentlemen, that two days ago
Pan Yudytski came, a knight of Malta, of whom you must
have heard."
" Of course," said Yan ; "he is a great knight."
" Immediately after him came the full hetman and treas¬
urer. We were greatly astonished, for it is known in what
rivalry and enmity Pan Gosyevski is with our prince. Some
persons were rejoiced therefore that harmony had come
between the lords, and said that the Swedish invasion was
the real cause of this. I thought so myself; then yester¬
day the three shut themselves up in counsel, fastened all
the doors, no one could hear what they were talking about;
but Pan Krepshtul, who guarded the door, told us that
their talk was terribly loud, especially the talk of Pan Go¬
syevski. Later the prince himself conducted them to their
sleeping-chambers, and in the night — imagine to your¬
selves " (here Kharlamp lowered his voice) — " guards were
placed at the door of each chamber."
Volodyovski sprang up from his seat. " In God's name !
impossible !"
" But it is true. At the doors of each Scots are standing
with muskets, and they have the order to let no one in or
out under pain of death."
The knights looked at one another with astonishment; and
Kharlamp was no less astonished at his own words, and
looked at his companions with staring eyes, as if awaiting
the explanation of the riddle from them.
" Does this mean that Pan Gosyevski is arrested ? Has
the grand hetman arrested the full hetman ?" asked Za¬
globa ; " what does this mean ? "
"As if I know, and Yudytski such a knight!"
"But the officers of the prince must speak with one
another about it and guess at causes. Have you heard
nothing ? "
186
THE DELUGE.
" I asked Harasimovich last night."
" What did he say ? " asked Zagloba.
" He would explain nothing, hut he put his hnger on his
mouth and said, ' They are traitors !' "
" How traitors ?" cried Yolodyovski, seizing his head.
"Neither the treasurer nor Pan Yudytski is a traitor.
The whole Commonwealth knows them as honorable men
and patriots."
" At present't is impossible to have faith in any man,"
answered Pan Stanislav, gloomily. " Did not Pan Opalin-
ski pass for a Cato ? Did he not reproach others with
defects, with offences, with selfishness ? But when it came
to do something, he was the first to betray, and brought
not only himself, but a whole province to treason."
" I will give my head for the treasurer and Pan Yudytski!"
cried Yolodyovski.
" Do not give your head for any man, Michael dear,"
said Zagloba. "They were not arrested without reason.
There must have been some conspiracy ; it cannot be other¬
wise, — how could it be ? The prince is preparing for a
terrible war, and every aid is precious to him. Whom,
then, at such a time can he put under arrest, if not those
who stand in the way of war ? If this is so, if these two
men have really stood in the way, then praise be to God that
Radzivill has anticipated them. They deserve to sit under
ground. Ah, the scoundrels ! — at such a time to practise
tricks, communicate with the enemy, rise against the country,
hinder a great warrior in his undertaking! By the Most
Holy Mother, what has met them is too little, the rascals ! "
" These are wonders, — such wonders that I cannot put
them in my head," said Kharlamp ; " for letting alone that
they are such dignitaries, they are arrested without judg¬
ment, without a diet, without the will of the whole Com¬
monwealth, — a thing which the king himself has not the
right to do."
" As true as I live," cried Pan Michael.
" It is evident that the prince wants to introduce Roman
customs among us," said Pan Stanislav, " and become dicta¬
tor in time of war."
" Let him be dictator if he will only beat the Swedes,"
said Zagloba; " I will be the first to vote for his dictator¬
ship."
Pan Yan fell to thinking, and after a while said, " Unless
THE DELUGE.
187
lie should wish to become protector, like that English Crom¬
well who did not hesitate to raise his sacrilegious hand on
his own king."
" Nonsense ! Cromwell ? Cromwell was a heretic ! "
cried Zagloba.
"But what is the prince voevoda?" asked Pan Yan,
seriously.
At this question all were silent, and considered the dark
future for a time with fear; but Kharlamp looked angry
and said, —
" I have served under the prince from early years, though
I am little younger than he; for in the beginning, when I
was still a stripling, he was my captain, later on he was
full hetman, and now he is grand hetman. I know him
better than any one here ; I both love and honor him;
therefore I ask you not to compare him with Cromwell, so
that I may not be forced to say something which would
not become me as host in this room."
Here Kharlamp began to twitch his mustaches terribly,
and to frown a little at Pan Yan ; seeing which, Volodyovski
fixed on Kharlamp a cool and sharp look, as if he wished
to say, " Only growl, only growl! "
Great Mustache took note at once, for he held Volodyov¬
ski in unusual esteem, and besides it was dangerous to get
angry with him; therefore he continued in a far milder
tone, —
"The prince is a Calvinist; but he did not reject the
true faith for errors, for he was born in them. He will
never become either a Cromwell, a Badzeyovski, or an
Opalinski, though Kyedani had to sink through the earth.
Not such is his blood, not such his stock."
" If he is the devil and has horns on his head," said Za¬
globa, " so much the better, for he will have something to
gore the Swedes with."
" But that Pan Gosyevski and Pan Yudytski are arrested,
well, well!" said Volodyovski, shaking his head. "The
prince is not very amiable to guests who have confided
in him."
" What do you say, Michael ? " answered Kharlamp. " He
is amiable as he has never been in his life. He is now a
real father to the knights. Think how some time ago he
had always a frown on his forehead, and on his lips one
word, ' Service.' A man was more afraid to go near his
majesty than he was to stand before the king ; and now he
188
THE DELUGE.
goes every day among the lieutenants and the officers,
converses, asks each one about his family, his children,
his property, calls each man by name, and inquires if
injustice has been done to any one in service. He who
among the highest lords will not own an equal, walked
yesterday arm-in-arm with young Kmita. We could not
believe our eyes ; for though the family of Kmita is a
great one, he is quite young, and likely many accusations
are weighing on him. Of this you know best."
"I know, I know," replied Volodyovski. "Has Kmita
been here long ? "
" He is not here now, for he went yesterday to Chey-
kishki for a regiment of infantry stationed there. No one
is now in such favor with the prince as Kmita. When he
was going away the prince looked after him awhile and
said, ' That man is equal to anything, and is ready to seize
the devil himself by the tail if I tell him !' We heard this
with our own ears. It is true that Kmita brought a squad¬
ron that has not an equal in the whole army, — men and
horses like dragons !"
" There is no use in talking, he is a valiant soldier, and
in truth ready for everything," said Pan Michael. "He
performed wonders in the last campaign, till a price was
set on his head, for he led volunteers and carried on war
himself."
Further conversation was interrupted by the entrance of
a new figure. This was a noble about forty years of age,
small, dry, alert, wriggling like a mud-fish, with a small
face, very thin lips, a scant mustache, and very crooked
eyes. He was dressed in a ticking-coat, with such long-
sleeves that they covered his hands completely. When he
had entered he bent double, then he straightened himself
as suddenly as if moved by a spring, again he inclined with
a low bow, turned his head as if he were taking it out of
his own armpits, and began to speak hurriedly in a voice
which recalled the squeaking of a rusty weather-cock, —
"With the forehead, Pan Kharlamp, with the forehead.
Ah ! with the forehead, Pan Colonel, most abject servant! "
"With the forehead, Pan Harasimovich," answered Khar-
lamp ; " and what is your wish ? "
" God gave guests, distinguished guests. I came to offer
my services and to inquire their rank."
" Did they come to you, Pan Harasimovich ? "
" Certainly not to me, for I am not worthy of that; but
THE DELUGE.
189
because I take the place of the absent marsha. I have come
to greet them profoundly."
" It is far from you to the marshal," said Kharlamp ;
" for he is a personage with inherited land, while you with
permission are under-starosta of Zabludovo."
"A servant of the servants of Kadzivill. That is true,
Pan Kharlamp, 1 make no denial; God preserve me there¬
from. But since the prince has heard of the guests, he has
sent me to inquire who they are; therefore you will answer,
Pan Kharlamp, if I were even a haiduk and not the under-
starosta of Zabludovo."
" Oh, I would answer even a monkey if he were to come
with an order," said Big Kose. "Listen now, and calk
these names into yourself if your head is not able to
hold them. This is Pan Skshetuski, that hero of Zbaraj ;
and this is his cousin Stanislav."
" Great God ! what do I hear ? " cried Harasimovich.
" This is Pan Zagloba."
" Great God ! what do I hear ? "
"If you are so confused at hearing my name," said
Zagloba, " think of the confusion of the enemy in the
held."
"And this is Colonel Volodyovski," finished Kharlamp.
" And he has a famous sabre, and besides is a Radzivill
man." said Harasimovich, with a bow. " The prince's head
is splitting from labor; but still he will find time for such
knights, surely he will find it. Meanwhile with what can
you be served ? The whole castle is at the service of such
welcome guests, and the cellars as well."
"We have heard of the famous meads of Kyedani," said
Zagloba, hurriedly.
" Indeed ! " answered Harasimovich, " there are glorious
meads in Kyedani, glorious. I will send some hither for
you to choose from right away. I hope that my benefac¬
tors will stay here long."
" We have come hither," said Pan Stanislav, " not to
leave the side of the prince."
" Praiseworthy is your intention, the more so that trying
times are at hand."
When he had said this, Harasimovich wriggled and
became as small as if an ell had been taken from his
stature.
"What is to be heard?" asked Kharlamp. "Is there
any news ? "
190
THE DELUGE.
" The prince has not closed an eye all night, for two
envoys have come. Evil are the tidings, increasingly evil.
Karl Gustav has already entered the Commonwealth
after Wittemberg ; Poznan is now occupied, all Great
Poland is occupied, Mazovia will be occupied soon; the
Swedes are in Lovicli, right at Warsaw. Our king has
fled from Warsaw, which he left undefended. To-day or
to-morrow the Swedes will enter. They say that the king-
lias lost a considerable battle, that he thinks of escaping to
Cracow, and thence to foreign lands to ask aid. Evil,
gracious gentlemen, my benefactors ! Though there are
some who say that it is well; for the Swedes commit no
violence, observe agreements sacredly, collect no imposts,
respect liberties, do not hinder the faith. Therefore all
accept the protection of Karl Gustav willingly. For our
king, Yan Kazimir, is at fault, greatly at fault. All is lost,
lost for him ! One would like to weep, but all is lost, lost! "
" Why the devil do you wriggle like a mudfish going to
the pot," howled Zagloba, " and speak of a misfortune as
if you were glad of it ? "
Harasimovich pretended not to hear, and raising his eyes
to heaven he repeated yet a number of times : " All is lost,
lost for the ages ! The Commonwealth cannot stand against
three wars. Lost! The will of God, the will of God ! Our
prince alone can save Lithuania."
The ill-omened words had not yet ceased to sound when
Harasimovich vanished behind the door as quickly as if he
had sunk through the earth, and the knights sat in gloom
bent by the weight of terrible thoughts.
" We shall go mad ! " cried Volodyovski at last.
"You are right," said Stanislav. " God give war, war at
the earliest, — war in which a man does not ruin himself
in thinking, nor yield his soul to despair, but fights."
" We shall regret the first period of Hmelnitski's war,"
said Zagloba; "for though there were defeats then, there
were no traitors."
" Three such terrible wars, when in fact there is a lack
of forces for one," said Stanislav.
"Not a lack of forces, but of spirit. The country is
perishing through viciousness. God grant us to live to
something better!" said Pan Yan, gloomily.
"We shall not rest till we are in the field," said Stanislav.
" If we can only see this prince soon!" cried Zagloba.
Their wishes were accomplished directly ; for after an
THE DELUGE.
191
hour's time Harasimovicli came again, with still lower bows,
and. with the announcement that the prince was waiting
anxiously to see tliem.
They sprang up at once, for they had already changed
uniforms, and went. Harasimovicli, in conducting them
from the barracks, passed through the courtyard, which
was full of soldiers and nobles. In some places they were
conversing in crowds, evidently over the same news which
the under-starosta of Zabludovo had brought the knights.
On all faces were depicted lively alarm and a certain fever¬
ish expectation. Isolated groups of officers and nobles were
listening to the speakers, who standing in the midst of
them gesticulated violently. On the way were heard the
words : " Vilna is burning, Vilna is burned ! — Ho trace of
it, nor the ashes ! Warsaw is taken ! — Untrue, not taken
yet! — The Swedes are in Little Poland ! The people of
Syeradz will resist! — They will not resist, they will follow
the example of Great Poland ! — Treason ! misfortune ! O
God, God ! It is unknown where to put sabre or hand ! "
Such words as these, more and more terrible, struck the
ears of the knights ; but they went on pushing after Hara¬
simovicli through the soldiers and nobles with difficulty.
In places acquaintances greeted Volodyovski: " How is your
health, Michael ? 'T is evil with us; we are perishing!
With the forehead, brave Colonel! And what guests are
these whom you are taking to the prince ? " Pan Michael
answered not, wishing to escape delay ; and in this fashion
they went to the main body of the castle, in which the
janissaries of the prince, in chain-mail and gigantic white
caps, were on guard.
In the antechamber and on the main staircase, set
around with orange-trees, the throng was still greater than
in the courtyard. They were discussing there the arrest of
Gosyevski and Yudytski; for the affair had become known,
and roused the minds of men to the utmost. They were
astonished and lost in surmises, they were indignant or
praised the foresight of the prince ; but all hoped to hear
the explanation of the riddle from Radzivill himself, there¬
fore a river of heads was flowing along the broad staircase
up to the hall of audience, in which at that time the
prince was to receive colonels and the most intimate nobil¬
ity. Soldiers disposed along the stone banisters to see
that the throng was not too dense, repeated, from moment
to moment, " Slowly, gracious gentlemen, slowly ! " And
192
THE DELUGE.
the crowd pushed forward or halted for a moment, when a
soldier stopped the way with a halbert so that those in
front might have time to enter the hall.
At last the blue vaultings of the hall gleamed before the
open door, and our acquaintances entered. Their glances
fell first on an elevation, placed in the depth of the hall,
occupied by a brilliant retinue of knights and lords in rich,
many-colored dresses. In front stood an empty arm-chair,
pushed forward beyond the others. This chair had a lofty
back, ending with the gilded coronet of the prince, from
beneath which flowed downward orange-colored velvet
trimmed with ermine.
The prince was not in the hall yet; but Harasimovicli,
conducting the knights without interruption, pushed through
the nobility till he reached a small door concealed in the
wall at the side of the elevation. There he directed them to
remain, and disappeared through the door.
After a while he returned with the announcement that
the prince asked them to enter.
The two Skshetuskis, with Zagloba and Yolodyovski,
entered a small but very well-lighted room, having walls
covered with leather stamped in flowers, which were gilded.
The officers halted on seeing in the depth of the room, at a
table covered with papers, two men conversing intently.
One of them, still young, dressed in foreign fashion, wear¬
ing a wig with long locks falling to his shoulders, whis¬
pered something in the ear of his elder companion j the
latter heard him with frowning brow, and nodded from time
to time. So much was he occupied with the subject of the
conversation that he did not turn attention at once to those
who had entered.
He was a man somewhat beyond forty years, of gigantic
stature and great shoulders. He wore a scarlet Polish coat,
fastened at the neck with costly brooches. He had an
enormous face, with features expressing pride, importance,
and power. It was at once the face of an angry lion, of a
warrior, and a ruler. Long pendent mustaches lent it a
stern expression, and altogether in its strength and size it
was as if struck out of marble with great blows of a ham¬
mer. The brows were at that moment frowning from in¬
tense thought; but it could easily be seen that when they
were frowning from anger, woe to those men and those
armies on whom the thunders of that anger should fall.
There was something so great in the form that it seemed
THE DELUGE.
193
to those knights that not only the room, but the whole
castle was too narrow for it; in fact, their first impression
had not deceived them, for sitting in their presence was
Yanush Radzivill, prince at Birji and Dubinki, voevoda of
Yilna and grand hetman of Lithuania, — a man so powerful
and proud that in all his immense estates, in all his dig¬
nities, nay, in Jmud and in Lithuania itself, it was too
narrow for him.
The younger man in the long wig and foreign dress was
Prince Boguslav, the cousin of Yanush. After a while he
whispered something more in the ear of the hetman, and at
last said audibly, —
"I will leave, then, my signature 011 the document and
go."
" Since it cannot be otherwise, go," said Yanush, " though
I would that you remained, for it is unknown what may
happen."
"You have planned everything properly; henceforth it
is needful to look carefully to the cause, and now I commit
you to God." *
" May the Lord have in care our whole house and bring
it praise."
" Adieu, mon frere."
" Adieu."
The two princes shook hands; then Boguslav went out
hurriedly, and the grand hetman turned to the visitors.
"Pardon me, gentlemen, that I let you wait," said he,
with a low, deliberate voice; " but now time and attention
are snatched from us on every side. I have heard your
names, and rejoice in my soul that God sent me such knights
in this crisis. Be seated, dear guests. Who of you is Pan
Yan Skshetuski ? "
" I am, at the service of your highness."
" Then you are a starosta — pardon me, I forgot."
" I am not a starosta," answered Yan.
" How is that ? " asked the prince, frowning with his two
mighty brows; "they have not made you a starosta for
what you did at Zbaraj ? "
" I have never asked for the office."
"But they should have made you starosta without the
asking. How is this ? What do you tell me ? You
rewarded with nothing, forgotten entirely ? This is a
wonder to me. But I am talking at random. It should
astonish no man ; for in these days only he is rewarded who
vol. 1. —13
194
THE DELUGE.
has the back of a willow, light-bending. You are not a
starosta, upon my word ! Thanks be to God that you have
come hither, for here we have not such short memories,
and no service remains unrewarded. How is it with you,
worthy Colonel Yolodyovski ? "
" I have earned nothing yet."
" Leave that to me, and now take this document, drawn
up in Rossyeni, by which I give you Dydkyemie for life.
It is not a bad piece of land, and a hundred ploughs go out
to work there every spring. Take even that, for I cannot
give more, and tell Ran Skshetuski that Radzivill does not
forget his friends, nor those who give their service to the
country under his leadership."
" Your princely highness ! " stammered Pan Michael, in
confusion.
" Say nothing, and pardon that it is so small; but tell
these gentlemen that he who joins his fortune for good and
ill with that of Radzivill will not perish. I am not king;
but if I were, God is my witness that I Avould never forget
such a Yan Skshetuski or such a Zagloba."
" That is I!" said Zagloba, pushing himself forward
sharply, for he had begun to be impatient that there was no
mention of him.
"I thought it was you, for I have been told that you
were a man of advanced years."
" I went to school in company with your highness's
worthy father; and there was such knightly impulse in him
from childhood that he took me to his confidence, for I
loved the lance before Latin."
To Pan Stanislav, who knew Zagloba less, it was strange
to hear this, since only the day before, Zagloba said in
Upita that he had gone to school, not with the late Prince
Kryshtof, but with Yanush himself,—which was unlikely,
for Prince Yanush was notably younger.
" Indeed," said the prince; " so then you are from Lithu¬
ania by family ? "
" From Lithuania!" answered Zagloba, without hesita¬
tion.
" Then I know that you need no reward, for we Lithua¬
nians are used to be fed with ingratitude. As God is true, if
I should give you your deserts, gentlemen, there would be
nothing left for myself. But such is fate ! We give our
blood, lives, fortunes, and no one nods a head to us. Ah !
't is hard; but as they sow will they reap. That is what
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195
God and justice command. It is you who slew the famous
Burlai and cut off three heads at a blow in Zbaraj ? "
" I slew Burlai, your highness," answered Zagloba, " for
it was said that no man could stand before him. I wished
therefore to show younger warriors that manhood was not
extinct in the Commonwealth. But as to cutting off the
three heads, it may be that I did that in the thick of battle;
but in Zbaraj some one else did it."
The prince was silent awhile, then continued: " Does not
that contempt pain you, gentlemen, with which they pay
you ? "
"What is to be done, your highness, even if it is dis¬
agreeable to a man ? " said Zagloba.
" Well, comfort yourselves, for that must change. I am
already your debtor, since you have come here; and though
I am not king, still with me it will not end with promises."
"Your princely highness," said Pan Yan, quickly and
somewhat proudly, " we have come hither not for rewards
and estates, but because the enemy has invaded the country,
and we wish to go with our strength to assist it under the
leadership of a famous warrior. My cousin Stanislav saw
at Uistsie fear, disorder, shame, treason, and finally the
enemy's triumph. Here under a great leader and a faithful
defender of our country and king we will serve. Here not
victories, not triumphs, but defeats and death await the
enemy. This is why we have come to offer our service to
your highness. We are soldiers; we want to fight, and are
impatient for battle."
" If such is your desire, you will be satisfied," answered
the prince, with importance. "You will not wait long,
though at first we shall march on another enemy, for the
ashes of Vilna demand vengeance. To-day or to-morrow
we shall march in that direction, and God grant will re¬
deem the wrongs with interest. I will not detain you
longer, gentlemen; you need rest, and work is burning me.
But come in the evening to the hall; maybe some proper
entertainment will take place before the march, for a great
number of fair heads have assembled under our protection
at Kyedani before the war. Worthy Colonel Volodyovski,
entertain these welcome guests as if in your own house, anil
remember that what is mine is yours. Pan Harasimovich,
tell my brother nobles assembled in the hall, that I will not
go out, for I have not the time, and this evening they will
learn everything that they wish to know. Be in good health,
196
THE DELUGE.
gentlemen, and be friends of Kadzivill, for that is greatly-
important for him now."
When he had said this, that mighty and proud lord gave
his hand in turn to Zagloba, the two Skshetuskis, Volody-
ovski, and Kharlamp, as if to equals. His stern face grew
radiant with a cordial and friendly smile, and that inacces-
sibleness usually surrounding him as with a dark cloud
vanished completely.
"That is a leader, that is a warrior!" said Stanislav,
when on the return they had pushed themselves through
the throng of nobles assembled in the audience-hall.
" I would go into fire after him !" cried Zagloba. " Did
you notice how he had all my exploits in his memory ? It
will be hot for the Swedes when that lion roars, and I sec¬
ond him. There is not another such man in the Common¬
wealth; and of the former men only Prince Yeremi first, and
second Konyetspolski, the father, might be compared with
him. That is not some mere castellan, the first of his
family to sit in a senator's chair, on which he has not
yet smoothed out the wrinkles of his trousers, and still
turns up his nose and calls the nobles younger brothers,
and gives orders right away to paint his portrait, so that
while dining he may have his senatorship before him, since
he has nothing to look at behind. Pan Michael, you have
come to fortune. It is evident now that if a man rubs
against Badzivill he will gild at once his threadbare coat.
It is easier to get promotion here, I see, than a quart of
rotten pears with us. Stick your hands into the water
in this place, and with closed eyes you will catch a pike.
For me he is the magnate of magnates! God give you
luck, Pan Michael! You are as confused as a young wo¬
man just married ; but that is nothing ! What is the name
of your life estate ? Dudkovo, or something ? Heathen
names in this country! Throw nuts against the wall, and
you will have in the rattling the proper name of a village
or noble. But names are nothing if the income is only
good."
" I am terribly confused, I confess," said Pan Michael,
"because what you say about easy promotion is not true.
More than once have I heard old soldiers charge the prince
with avarice, but now unexpected favors are showered one
after the other."
" Stick that document behind your belt, — do that for me,
— and if any one in future complains of the thanklessness
THE DELUGE.
197
of the prince, draw it out and give it to him on the nose.
You will not find a better argument."
" One thing I see clearly: the prince is attracting people
to his person, and is forming plans for which he needs
help," said Pan Yan.
" But have you not heard of those plans ? " asked Zagloba.
" Has he not said that we have to go to avenge the ashes of
Vilna ? They complained that he had robbed Vilna, but he
wants to show that he not only does not need other people's
property, but is ready to give of his own. That is a beauti¬
ful ambition, Yan, God give us more of such senators."
Conversing thus, they found themselves in the courtyard,
to which every moment rode in now divisions of mounted
troops, now crowds of armed nobles ; and now carriages
rolled in, bringing persons from the country around, with
their wives and children.
Seeing this, Pan Michael drew all with him to the gate to
look at those entering.
" Who knows, Michael, this is your fortunate day ? May¬
be there is a wife for you among these nobles' daughters,"
said Zagloba. " Look! see, there an open carriage is ap¬
proaching, and in it something white is sitting."
" That is not a lady, but a man who may marry me to
one," answered the swift-eyed Volodyovski; for from a dis¬
tance he recognized the bishop Parchevski, coming with
Father Byalozor, archdeacon of Vilna.
" If they are priests, how are they visiting a Calvinist ? "
" What is to be done? When it's necessary for public
affairs, they must be polite."
" Oh, it is crowded here ! Oh, it is noisy ! " cried Zagloba,
with delight. " A man grows rusty in the country, like an
old key in a lock; here I think of better times. I'm a
rascal if I don't make love to some pretty girl to-day."
Zagloba's words were interrupted by the soldiers keeping
guard at the gate, who rushing out from their booths stood
in two ranks to salute the bishop ; and he rode past, mak¬
ing the sign of the cross with his hand on each side, bless¬
ing the soldiers and the nobles assembled near by.
"The prince is a polite man," said Zagloba, "since he
honors the bishop, though he does not recognize the su¬
premacy of the Church. God grant this to be the first step
toward conversion ! "
" Oh, nothing will come of it! Not few were the efforts of
his first wife, and she accomplished nothing, only died from
198
THE DELUGE.
vexation. But why do the Scots not leave the line ? It is
evident that another dignitary will pass."
In fact, a whole retinue of armed soldiers appeared in
the distance.
" Those are Ganlioff's dragoons, — I know them," said
Volodyovski; " but some carriages are in the middle ! "
At that moment the drums began to rattle.
" Oh, it is evident that some one greater than the bishop
of Jmud is there ! " cried Zagloba.
"Wait, they are here already."
" There are two carriages in the middle."
" True. In the first sits Pan Korf, the voevoda of
Venden."
" Of course ! " cried Pan Yan ; " that is an acquaintance
from Zbaraj."
The voevoda recognized them, and first Volodyovski,
whom he had evidently seen oftener ; in passing he leaned
from the carriage and cried, —
" I greet you, gentlemen, old comrades ! See, I bring
guests !"
In the second carriage, with the arms of Prince Yanush,
drawn by four white horses, sat two gentlemen of lordly
mien, dressed in foreign fashion, in broad-brimmed hats,
from under which the blond curls of wigs flowed to their
shoulders over wide lace collars. One was very portly,
wore a pointed light-blond beard, and mustaches bushy
and turned up at the ends; the other was younger, dressed
wholly in black. He had a less knightly form, but per¬
haps a higher office, for a gold chain glittered on his neck,
with some 'order at the end. Apparently both were for¬
eigners, for they looked with curiosity at the castle, the
people, and the dresses.
" What sort of devils ? " asked Zagloba.
" I do not know them, I have never seen them," answered
Volodyovski.
Meanwhile the carriages passed, and began to turn in the
yard so as to reach the main entrance of the castle, but the
dragoons remained outside the gate. Volodyovski knew
the officer leading them.
" Tokarzevich! " called lie, " come to us, please."
" With the forehead, worthy Colonel."
" And what kind of hedgehogs are you bringing ? "
"Those are Swedes."
" Swedes !"
THE DELUGE.
.199
"Yes, and men of distinction. The portly one is Count
Lowenhaupt, and the slender man is Benedikt Schitte,
Baron von Duderhoff."
" Duderhoff ? " asked Zagloba.
" What do they want here ? " inquired Volodyovski.
" God knows !" answered the officer. " We escorted them
from Birji. Undoubtedly they have come to negotiate with
our prince, for we heard in Birji that he is assembling a
great army and is going to move on Livonia."
" Ah, rascals ! you are growing timid," cried Zagloba.
" Now you are invading Great Poland, now you are depos¬
ing the king, and now you are paying court to Radzivill, so
that he should not tickle you in Livonia. Wait! you will
run away to your Dunderhoff till your stockings are down.
We'll soon dunder with you. Long life to Radzivill! "
" Long life !" repeated the nobles, standing near the
gate.
" Defender of the country! Our shield! Against the
Swedes, worthy gentlemen, against the Swedes !"
A circle was formed. Every moment nobles collected
from the yard; seeing which, Zagloba sprang on the low
guard-post of the gate, and began to cry, —
" Worthy gentlemen, listen ! Whoso does not know me,
to him I will say that I am that defender of Zbaraj who
with this old hand slew Burlai, the greatest hetman after
Hmelnitski; whoso has not heard of Zagloba was shelling
peas, it is clear, in the first period of the Cossack war,
or feeling hens (for eggs), or herding calves, — labors
which I do not connect with such honorable cavaliers as
you."
" He is a great knight! " called numerous voices. " There
is no greater in the Commonwealth ! Hear ! "
"Listen, honorable gentlemen. My old bones craved re¬
pose ; better for me to rest in the bakehouse, to eat cheese
and cream, to walk in the gardens and gather apples, or
putting my hands behind my back to stand over harvesters
or pat a girl on the shoulder. And it is certain that for the
enemy it would have been better to leave me at rest; for
the Swedes and the Cossacks know that I have a very
heavy hand, and God grant that my name is as well known
to you, gentlemen, as to the enemy."
"What kind of rooster is that crowing so loud?" asked
some voice in the crowd, suddenly.
" Don't interrupt! Would you were dead!" cried others.
200
THE DELUGE.
But Zagloba heard him. " Forgive that cockerel, gentle¬
men," said he; "for he knows not yet on which end of him
is his tail, nor on which his head."
The nobles burst into mighty laughter, and the confused
disturber pushed quickly behind the crowd, to escape the
sneers which came raining on his head.
" I return to the subject," said Zagloba. " I repeat, rest
would be proper for me ; but because the country is in a
paroxysm, because the enemy is trampling our land, I am
here, worthy gentlemen, with you to resist the enemy in
the name of that mother who nourished us all. Whoso
will not stand by her to-day, whoso will not run to save her,
is not a son, but a step-son; he is unworthy of her love.
I, an old man, am going, let the will of God be done; and if
it comes to me to die, with my last breath will I cry,
1 Against the Swedes ! brothers, against the Swedes !' Let
us swear that we will not drop the sabre from our hands
till we drive them out of the country."
"We are ready to do that without oaths ! " cried num¬
bers of voices. "We will go where our hetman the prince
leads us ; we will go where't is needful."
"Worthy brothers, you have seen how two stocking-
wearers came here in a gilded carriage. They know that
there is no trifling with Radzivill. They will follow him
from chamber to chamber, and kiss him on the elbows to
give them peace. But the prince, worthy gentlemen, with
whom 1 have been advising and from whom I have just re¬
turned, has assured me, in the name of all Lithuania, that
there will be no negotiations, no parchments, nothing but
war and war !"
"War! war!" repeated, as an echo, the voices of the
hearers.
" But because the leader," continued Zagloba, " will begin
the more boldly, the surer he is of his soldiers, let us show
him, worthy gentlemen, our sentiments. And now let us
go under the windows of the prince and shout, ' Down with
the Swedes !' After me, worthy gentlemen ! "
Then he sprang from the post and moved forward, and
after him the crowd. They came under the very windows
with an uproar increasing each moment, till at last it was
mingled in one gigantic shout, — " Down with the Swedes !
down with the Swedes !"
Immediately Pan Korf, the'voevoda of Venden, ran out
of the antechamber greatly confused; after him Ganhoff;
THE DELUGE.
201
and both began to restrain the nobles, quieting them, beg¬
ging them to disperse.
"For God's sake ! " said Korf, "in the upper hall the
window-panes are rattling. You gentlemen do not think
what an awkward time you have chosen for your shouting.
How can you treat envoys with disrespect, and give an ex¬
ample of insubordination ? Who roused you to this ? "
"I," said Zagloba. "Your grace, tell the prince, in the
name of us all, that we beg him to be firm, that we are
ready to remain with him to the last drop of our blood."
" I thank you, gentlemen, in the name of the hetman, 1
thank you; but I beg you to disperse. Consider, worthy
gentlemen. By the living God, consider that you are sink¬
ing the country ! Whoso insults an envoy to-day, renders
a bear's service to the Commonwealth."
"What do we care for envoys ! We want to fight, not
to negotiate !"
"Your courage comforts me. The time for fighting will
come before long, God grant very soon. Rest now before
the expedition. It is time for a drink of spirits and lunch.
It is bad to fight on an empty stomach."
" That is as true as I live !" cried Zagloba, first.
"True, he struck the right spot. Since the prince
knows our sentiments, we have nothing to do here ! "
And the crowd began to disperse. The greater part
flowed on to rooms in which many tables were already
spread. Zagloba sat at the head of one of them. Pan
Korf and Colonel Ganhoff returned then to the prince, who
was sitting at counsel with the Swedish envoys, Bishop
Parchevski, Father Byalozor, Pan Adam Komorovski, and
Pan Alexander Myerzeyevski, a courtier of Yan Kazimir,
who was stopping for the time in Kyedani.
" Who incited that tumult ?" asked the prince, from
whose lion-like face anger had not yet disappeared.
" It was that noble who has just come here, that famous
Zagloba," answered Pan Korf.
" That is a brave knight," said the prince, " but he is be¬
ginning to manage me too soon."
Having said this, he beckoned to Colonel Ganhoff and
whispered something in his ear.
Zagloba meanwhile, delighted with himself, went to the
lower halls with solemn tread, having with him Volody-
ovski, with Yan and Stanislav Skshetuski.
"Well, friends, I have barely appeared and have roused
202
THE DELUGE.
love for the country in those nobles. It will be easier now
for the prince to send oh the envoys with nothing, for all
he has to do is to call upon us. That will not be, I think,
without reward, though it is more a question of honor with
me. Why have you halted, Michael, as if turned to stone,
with eyes fixed on that carriage at the gate ? "
"That is she!" said Volodyovski, with twitching mus¬
taches. " By the living God, that is she herself! "
" Who ? "
" Fauna Billevich."
" She who refused you ? "
" The same. Look, gentlemen, look! Might not a man
wither away from regret ? "
"Wait a minute!" said Zagloba, "we must have a closer
look."
Meanwhile the carriage, describing a half-circle, ap¬
proached the speakers. Sitting in it was a stately noble
with gray mustaches, and at his side Panna Aleksandra;
beautiful as ever, calm, and full of dignity.
Pan Michael fixed on her a complaining look and bowed
low, but she did not see him in the crowd.
" That is some lordly child," said Zagloba, gazing at her
fine, noble features, " too delicate for a soldier. I confess
that she is a beauty, but I prefer one of such kind that
for the moment you would ask, 'Is that a cannon or a
woman ?'"
"Do you know who that is who has just passed ?" asked
Pan Michael of a noble standing near.
" Of course," answered the noble ; " that is Pan Tomash
Billevich, sword-bearer of Kossyeni. All here know him,
for he is an old servant and friend of the Radzivills."
THE DELUGE.
203
CHAPTER XIV.
The prince did not show himself to the nobles that day
till evening, for he dined with the envoys and some digni¬
taries with whom he had held previous counsel. But or¬
ders had come to the colonels to have the regiments of
Radzivill's guard ready, and especially the infantry under
foreign officers. It smelt of powder in the air. The castle,
though not fortified, was surrounded with troops as if a
battle was to be fought at its walls. Men expected that
the campaign would begin on the following morning at
latest; of this there were visible signs, for the countless ser¬
vants of the prince were busied with packing into wagons
arms, valuable implements, and the treasury of the prince.
Harasimovich told the nobles that the wagons would
go to Tykotsin in Podlyasye, for it was dangerous to leave
the treasury in the undefended castle of Kyedani. Military
stores were also prepared to be sent after the army. Re¬
ports went out that Gosyevski was arrested because he
would not join his squadrons stationed at Troki with those
of Radzivill, thus exposing the whole expedition to evi¬
dent destruction. Moreover preparations for the march, the
movement of troops, the rattle of cannon drawn out of the
castle arsenal, and all that turmoil which ever accompanies
the first movements of military expeditions, turned atten¬
tion in another direction, and caused the knights to forget
the arrest of Pan Gosyevski and cavalier Yudytski.
The nobles dining in the immense lower halls attached
to the castle spoke only of the war, of the fire at Yilna,
now burning ten days and burning with ever-growing fury,
of news from Warsaw, of the advance of the Swedes, and of
the Swedes themselves, against whom, as against faith-
breakers attacking a neighbor in spite of treaties still valid
for six years, hearts and minds were indignant and souls
filled with rancor. News of swift advances, of the capitu¬
lation of Uistsie, of the occupation of Great Poland and
the large towns, of the threatened invasion of Mazovia and
the inevitable capture of Warsaw, not only did not cause
alarm, but on the contrary roused daring and a desire
for battle. This took place since the causes of Swedish
204
THE DELUGE.
success were evident to all. Hitherto the Swedes had
not met a real army once, or a real leader. Radzivill was
the first warrior by profession with whom they had to
measure strength, and who at the same time roused in the
nobility absolute confidence in his military gifts, espe¬
cially as his colonels gave assurance that they would con¬
quer the Swedes in the open field.
" Their defeat is inevitable!" said Pan Stankyevich, an
old and experienced soldier. " I remember former wars,
and I know that they always defended themselves in cas¬
tles, in fortified camps, and in trenches. They never dared
to come to the open field, for they feared cavalry greatly, and
when trusting in their numbers they did come out, they re¬
ceived a proper drilling. It was not victory that gave Great
Poland into their hands, but treason and the imbecility of
general militia."
"True," said Zagloba. "The Swedish people are weak,
for their land is terribly barren, and they have no bread;
they grind pine cones, and of that sort of flour make ash-
cakes which smell of resin. Others go to the seashore and
devour whatever the waves throw up, besides fighting
about it as a tidbit. Terrible destitution! so there are no
people more greedy for their neighbors' goods. Even the
Tartars have horse-flesh in plenty, but these Swedes do
not see meat once a year, and are pinched with hunger
unless when a good haul of fish comes."
Here Zagloba turned to Stankyevich: " Have you ever
made the acquaintance of the Swedes ? "
"Under Prince Krishtof, the father of the present
hetman."
" And I under Konyetspolski, the father. We gave Gus-
tavus Adolphus many crushing defeats in Prussia, and took
no small number of prisoners ; there I became acquainted
with them through and through, and learned all their
methods. Our men wondered at them not a little, for you
must know that the Swedes as a people always wading in
water and having their greatest income from the sea, are
divers exquisitissimi. What would you, gentlemen, say
to what we made them do ? We would throw one of the
rascals into a hole in the ice, and he would swim out
through another hole with a live herring in his mouth."
" In God's name, what do you tell us ? "
" May I fall down a corpse on this spot if with my own
eyes I have not seen this done at least a hundred times, as
THE DELUGE.
205
well as other wonderful customs of theirs! I remember
also that as soon as they fed on Prussian bread, they did
not want to go home. Pan Stankyevich says truly that
they are not sturdy soldiers. They have infantry which is
so-so; but the cavalry — God pity us ! for there are no
horses in their country, and they cannot train themselves
to riding from childhood."
" Probably we shall not attack them first, but march on
Yilna," said Pan Shchyt.
" True, I gave that advice to the prince myself, when he
asked what I thought of this matter," answered Zagloba.
"But when we have finished with the others,1 we will
go against the Swedes. The envoys upstairs must be
sweating !"
" They are received politely," said Pan Zalenski, "but
they will not effect the least thing; the best proof of that
is that orders are issued to the army."
"Dear God, dear God! "said Pan Tvarkovski, judge of
Rossyeni, "how alacrity conies with danger! We were
well-nigh despairing when we had to do with one enemy,
but now we have two."
"Of course," answered Stankyevich. "It happens not
infrequently, that we let ourselves be beaten till patience
is lost, and then in a moment vigor and daring appear. Is
it little that we have suffered, little endured ? We relied
on the king and the general militia of the kingdom, not
counting on our own force, till we are in a dilemma; now
we must either defeat both enemies or perish completely."
" God will assist us ! We have had enough of this delay."
" They have put the dagger to our throats."
"We too will put it to theirs; we'll show the kingdom
fellows what sort of soldiers we are! There will be no
Uistsie with us, as God is in heaven !■"
In the measure of the cups, heads became heated, and
warlike ardor increased. At the brink of a precipice the
last effort often brings safety; this was understood by
those crowds of soldiers and that nobility whom so recently
Yan Kazimir had called to Grodno with despairing univer¬
sal to form the general militia. ISfow all hearts, all minds
were turned to Radzivill; all lips repeated that terrible
name, which till recently had ever been coupled with vic¬
tory. In fact, he had but to collect and move the
scattered and drowsy strength of the country, to stand at
1 " Others " here = " Russians."
20G
THE DELUGE.
tlie head of a power sufficient to end both wars with
victory.
After dinner the colonels were summoned to the prince
in the following order: Mirski, lieutenant of the armored
squadron of the hetman ; and after him Stankyevich, Gan-
hoff, Kharlamp, Volodyovski, and Sollohub. Old soldiers
wondered a little that they were asked singly, and not col-
»lectively to counsel; but it was a pleasant surprise, for each
came out with some reward, Avith some evident proof of the
prince's favor ; in return the prince asked only loyalty and
confidence, Avhich all offered from heart and soul. The het¬
man asked anxiously also if Kmita had returned, and or¬
dered that Pan Andrei's arrival be reported to him.
Kmita came, but late in the evening, Avhen the hall was
lighted and the guests had begun to assemble. He went
first to the barracks to change his uniform ; there he found
Volodyovski, and made the acquaintance of the rest of the
company.
"I am uncommonly glad to see you and your famous
friends," said he, shaking the hand of the little knight, "as
glad as to see a brother! You may be sure of this, for I
am unable to pretend. It is true that you went through
my forehead in evil fashion, but 3-011 put me on my feet
afterivard, which I shall not forget till death. In presence
of all, I say that had it not been for you I should be at this
moment behind the grating. Would more such men were
born ! Who thinks differently is a fool, and may the devil
carry me off if I will not clip his ears."
" Say ho more ! "
" I will folioav you into fire, even should I perish. Let
any man come forward Avho does not believe me !"
Here Pan Andrei cast a challenging look 011 the officers.
But no one contradicted him, for all loAred and respected
Pan Michael; but Zagloba said, —
"This is a sulphurous sort of soldier; give him to the
hangman! It seems to me that I shall have a great liking
to you for the love you bear Pan Michael, for I am the man
to ask first how Avorthy he is."
" Worthier than any of us ! " said Kmita, Avith his usual
abruptness. Then he looked at the Skshetuskis, at Za¬
globa, and added: "Pardon me, gentlemen, I haAre no wish
to offend any one, for I knoAV that you are honorable men
and great knights; be not angry, for I Avish to deserve your
friendship."
THE DELUGE.
207
" There is no harm done," said Pan Yan ; " what's in the
heart may come to the lip."
" Let us embrace ! " cried Zagloba.
" No need to say such a thing twice to me !"
They fell into each other's arms. Then Kniita said,
« To-day we must drink, it cannot be avoided ! "
" No need to say such a thing twice to me ! " said Za¬
globa, like an echo.
"We '11 slip away early to the barracks, and I '11 make
provision."
Pan Michael began to twitch his mustaches greatly.
"You will have no great wish to slip out," thought he,
looking at Kmita, "when you see who is in the hall to¬
night." And he opened his mouth to tell Kmita that the
sword-bearer of Rossyeni and Olenka had come; but he
grew as it were faint at heart, and turned the conversation.
"Where is your squadron ? " asked he.
"Here, ready for service. Harasimovich was with me,
and brought an order from the prince to have the men on
horseback at midnight. I asked him if we were all to
march; he said not. I know not what it means. Of other
officers some have the same order, others have not. But all
the foreign infantry have received it."
" Perhaps a part of the army will march to-night and a
part in the morning," said Pan Yan.
" In every case I will have a drink here with you, gentle¬
men. Let the squadron go on by itself; I can come up
with it afterward in an hour."
At that moment Harasimovich rushed in. " Serene great
mighty banneret of Orsha ! " cried he, bowing in the doorway.
" What ? Is there a fire ? I am here! " said Kmita.
" To the prince ! to the prince ! "
"Straightway, only let me put on my uniform. Boy, my
coat and belt, or I '11 kill thee ! "
The boy brought the rest of the uniform in a twinkle;
and a few minntes later Pan Kmita, arrayed as for a wed¬
ding, was hurrying to the prince. He was radiant, he
seemed so splendid. He had a vest of silver brocade with
star-shaped buttons, from which there was a gleam over his
whole figure; the vest was fastened at the neck with a
great sapphire. Over that a coat of blue velvet; a white
belt of inestimable value, so thin that it might be drawn
through a finger-ring. A silver-mounted sword set with
sapphires hung from the belt by silk pendants; behind the
208
THE DELUGE.
belt was thrust the baton, which indicated his office. This
dress became the young knight wonderfully, and it would
have been difficult in that countless throng gathered at
Kyedani to find a more shapely man.
Tan Michael sighed while looking at him ; and wlieu
Kmita had vanished beyond the door of the barracks he
said to Zagloba, " With a fair head there is no opposing a
man like that."
"But take thirty years from me," answered Zagloba.
When Kmita entered, the prince also was dressed, at¬
tended by two negroes ; he was about to leave the room.
The prince and Pan Andrei remained face to face.
" God give you health for hurrying !" said the hetman.
" At the service of your highness."
" But the squadron ? "
" According to order."
" The men are reliable ? "
" They will go into fire, to hell."
" That is good! I need such men, — and such as you,
equal to anything. I repeat continually that on no one
more than you do I count."
"Your highness, my services cannot equal those of old
soldiers; but if we have to march against the enemy of the
country, God sees that I shall not be in the rear."
"I do not diminish the services of the old," said the
prince, " though there may come such perils, such grievous
junctures, that the most faithful will totter."
" May he perish for nothing who deserts the person of
your highness in danger !"
The prince looked quickly into the face of Kmita. " And
you will not draw back ? "
The young knight flushed. " What do you wish to say,
your princely highness ? I have confessed to you all my
sins, and the sum of them is such that I thank only the
fatherly heart of your highness for forgiveness. But in all
these sins one is not to be found, — ingratitude."
"Kor disloyalty. You confessed to me as to a father; I
not only forgave you as a father, but I came to love you as
that son — whom God has not given me, for which reason
it is often oppressive for me in the world. Be then a friend
to me."
When he had said this, the prince stretched out his hand.
The young knight seized it, and without hesitation pressed
it to his lips.
THE DELUGE.
209
They were both silent for a long time; suddenly the
prince fixed his eyes on the eyes of Kmita and said, " Panna
Billevich is here !"
Kmita grew pale, and began to mutter something
unintelligible.
" I sent for her on purpose so that the misunderstanding
between you might be at an end. You will see her at once,
as the mourning for her grandfather is over. To-day, too,
though God sees that my head is bursting from labor, 1
have spoken with the sword-bearer of Rossyeni."
Kmita seized his head. " With what can I repay your
highness, with what can I repay ? "
" I told him emphatically that it is my will that you and
she should be married, and he will not be hostile. I com¬
manded him also to prepare the maiden for it gradually.
We have time. All depends upon you, and I shall be happy
if a reward from my hand goes to you ; and God grant you
to await many others, for you must rise high. You have
offended because you are young; but you have won glory
not the last in the field, and all young men are ready to fol¬
low you everywhere. As God lives, you must rise high !
Small offices are not for such a family as yours. If you
know, you are a relative of the Kishkis, and my mother was
a Kishki. But you need sedateness ; for that, marriage is
the best thing. Take that maiden if she has pleased your
heart, and remember who gives her to you."
" Your highness, I shall go wild, I believe ! My life, my
blood belongs to your highness. What must I do to thank
you, — what ? Tell me, command me ! "
" Return good for good. Have faith in me, have confi¬
dence that what I do I do for the public good. Do not fall
away from me when you see the treason and desertion of
others, when malice increases, when — " Here the prince
stopped suddenly.
" I swear," said Kmita, with ardor, " and give my word
of honor to remain by the person of your highness, my
leader, father, and benefactor, to my last breath."
Then Kmita looked with eyes full of fire at the prince,
and.was alarmed at the change which had suddenly come
over him. His face was purple, the veins swollen, drops of
sweat were hanging thickly on his lofty forehead, and his
eyes cast an unusual gleam.
" What is the matter, your highness ? " asked the knight,
unquietly.
VOL. I. 14
210
THE DELUGE.
" Nothing ! nothing ! "
Radzivill rose, moved with hurried step to a kneeling
desk, and taking from it a crucifix, said with powerful,
smothered voice, " Swear on this cross that you will not
leave me till death."
In spite of all his readiness and ardor, Kmita looked for
a while at him with astonishment.
"On this passion of Christ, swear ! " insisted the hetman.
" On this passion of Christ, I swear! " said Kmita, plac¬
ing his finger on the crucifix.
" Amen ! " said the prince, with solemn voice.
An echo in the lofty chamber repeated somewhere under
the arch, "Amen," and a long silence followed. There was
to be heard only the breathing of the powerful breast of
Radzivill. Kmita did not remove from the hetman his
astonished eyes.
" Now you are mine," said the prince, at last.
" I have always belonged to your highness," answered
the young knight, hastily; " but he pleased to explain to me
what is passing. Why does your highness doubt ? Or does
anything threaten your person ? Has any treason, have
any machinations been discovered ? "
" The time of trial is approaching," said the prince,
gloomily, "and as to enemies do you not know that Pan
Gosyevski, Pan Yudytski, and the voevoda of Vityebsk
would be glad to bury me in the bottom of the pit ? This
is the case ! The enemies of my house increase, treason
spreads, and public defeats threaten. Therefore, I say, the
hour of trial draws near."
Kmita was silent; but the last words of the prince did
not disperse the darkness which had settled around his
mind, and he asked himself in vain what could threaten at
that moment the powerful Radzivill. For he stood at the
head of greater forces than ever. In Kyedani itself and in
the neighborhood there were so many troops that if the
prince had such power before he marched to Shklov the for¬
tune of the whole war would have come out differently
beyond doubt.
Gosyevski and Yudytski were, it is true, ill-wishers, but
he had both in his hands and under guard, and as to the
voevoda of Vityebsk he was too virtuous a man, too good
a citizen to give cause for fear of any opposition or machi¬
nations from his side on the eve of a new expedition against
enemies.
THE DELUGE.
211
" God knows I understand nothing ! " cried Kmita, being
unable in general to restrain his thoughts.
" You will understand all to-day," said It adz iv ill, calmly.
"Now let us go to the hall."
And taking the young colonel by the arm, he turned with
him toward the door. They passed through a number of
rooms. From a distance out of the immense hall came the
sound of the orchestra, which was directed by a Frenchman
brought on purpose by Prince Boguslav. They were
playing a minuet which at that time was danced at the
French court. The mild tones were blended with the
sound of many voices. Prince Eadzivill halted and
listened.
• " God grant," said he, after a moment, " that all these
guests whom I have received under my roof will not pass
to my enemies to-morrow."
" Your highness," said Kmita, " I hope that there are no
Swedish adherents among them."
Eadzivill quivered and halted suddenly.
" What do you wish to say ? "
"Nothing, worthy prince, but that honorable soldiers are
rejoicing there."
" Let us go on. Time will show, and God will decide who
is honorable. Let us go ! "
At the door itself stood twenty pages, — splendid lads,
dressed in feathers and satin. Seeing the hetman, they
formed in two lines. When the prince came near, he asked,
" Lias her princely highness entered the hall ? "
" She has, your highness."
"And the envoys ? "
" They are here also."
" Open!"
Both halves of the door opened in the twinkle of an eye;
a flood of light poured in and illuminated the gigantic form
of the Tietman, who having behind him Kmita and the
pages, went toward the elevation on which were placed
chairs for the most distinguished guests.
A movement began in the hall; at once all eyes were
turned to the prince, and one shout was wrested from hun¬
dreds of breasts : " Long live Eadzivill! long live ! Long
live the hetman! long live ! "
The prince bowed with head and hand, then began to
greet the guests assembled on the elevation, who rose the
moment he entered. Among the best known, besides the
212
THE DELUGE.
princess herself, were the two Swedish envoys, the envoy
of Moscow, the voevoda of Venden, Bishop Parchevski, the
priest Byalozor, Pan Komorovski, Pan Myerzeyevski, Pan
Hlebovich, starosta of Jrnud, brother-in-law of the hetman,
a young Pats, Colonel Ganhoff, Colonel Mirski, Weisenhoff,
the envoy of the Prince of Courland, and ladies in the suite
of the princess.
The hetman, as was proper for a welcoming host, began
by greeting the envoys, with whom he exchanged a few
friendly words; then he greeted others, and when he
had finished he sat on the chair with a canopy of ermine,
and gazed at the hall in which shouts were still sounding:
" May he live ! May he be our hetman ! May he live ! "
Kmita, hidden behind the canopy, looked also at the
throng. His glance darted from face to face, seeking
among them the beloved features of her who at that mo¬
ment held all the soul and heart of the knight. His heart
beat like a hammer.
" She is here ! After a while I shall see her, I shall speak
to her," said he in thought. And he sought and sought
with more and more eagerness, with increasing disquiet.
" There ! beyond the feathers of a fan some dark brows are
visible, a white forehead and blond hair. That is she!"
Kmita held his breath, as if fearing to frighten away the
picture ; then the feathers moved and the face was disclosed.
"No ! that is not Olenka, that is not that dear one, the dear¬
est." His glance flies farther, embraces charming forms,
slips over feathers and satin, faces blooming like flowers,
and is mistaken each moment. That is she, not she ! Till
at last, see ! in the depth, near the drapery of the window,
something white is moving, and it grew dark in the eyes of
the knight; that was Olenka, the dear one, the dearest.
The orchestra begins to play ; again throngs pass. Ladies
are moving around, shapely cavaliers are glittering ; but he,
like one blind and deaf, sees nothing, only looks at her as
eagerly as if beholding her for the first time. She seems
the same Olenka from Vodokty, but also another. In that
great hall and in that throng she seems, as it were, smaller,
and her face more delicate, one would say childlike. You
might take her all in your arms and caress her ! And then
again she is the same, though different, — the very same fea¬
tures, the same sweet lips, the same lashes casting shade
on her cheeks, the same forehead, clear, calm, beloved.
Here memory, like lightning-flashes, began to bring be-
THE DELUGE.
213
fore the eyes of Pan Andrei that servants' hall in
Vodokty where he saw her the first time, and those qniet
rooms in which they had sat together. What delight only
just to remember ! And the sleigh-ride to Mitruny, the
time that he kissed her! After that, people began to estrange
them, and to rouse her against him.
" Thunderbolts crush it!" cried Kmita, in his mind.
" What have I had and what have I lost ? How near she
has been and how far is she now ! "
She sits there far off, like a stranger; she does not even
know that he is here. Wrath, but at the same time im¬
measurable sorrow seized Pan Andrei, — sorrow for which
he had no expression save a scream from his soul, but a
scream that passed not his lips : " 0 thou Olenka ! "
More than once Kmita was so enraged at himself for his
previous deeds that he wished to tell his own men to
stretch him out and give him a hundred blows, but never
had he fallen into such a rage as that time when after long
absence he saw her again, still more wonderful than ever,
more wonderful indeed than he had imagined. At that
moment he wished to torture himself; but because he was
among people, in a worthy company, he only ground his
teeth, and as if wishing to give himself still greater pain,
he repeated in mind : " It is good for thee thus, thou fool!
good for thee !"
Then the sounds of the orchestra were silent again, and
Pan Andrei heard the voice of the hetman : " Come with me."
Kmita woke as from a dream.
The prince descended from the elevation, and went
among the guests. On his face was a mild and kindly
smile, which seemed still more to enhance the majesty of
his figure. That was the same lordly man who in his time,
while receiving Queen Marya Ludwika in Kyeporente,
astonished, amazed, and eclipsed the French courtiers, not
only by his luxury, but by the polish of his manners, — the
same of whom Jean La Boureur wrote with such homage in
the account of his journey. This time he halted every
moment before the most important matrons, the most
respectable nobles and colonels, having for each of the
guests some kindly word, astonishing those present by his
memory and winning in a twinkle all hearts. The eyes of
the guests followed him wherever he moved. Gradually he
approached the sword-bearer of Rossyeni, Pan Billevich,
and said,—
214
THE DELUGE.
" I thank you, old friend, for having come, though I had
the right to be angry. Billeviche is not a hundred miles
from Kyedani, but you are a vara avis (rare bird) under my
roof."
"Your highness," answered Pan Billevich, bowing low,
"he wrongs the country who occupies your time."
"But I was thinking to take vengeance on you by going
myself to Billeviche, and I think still you would have
received with hospitality an old comrade of the camp."
Hearing this, Pan Billevich flushed with delight, and the
prince continued, —
" Time, time is ever lacking! But when you give in
marriage your relative, the granddaughter of the late Pan
Heraclius, of course I shall come to the wedding, for I owe
it to you and to her."
"God grant that as early as possible," answered the
sword-bearer.
" Meanwhile I present to you Pan Krnita, the banneret
of Orsha, of those Kmitas who are related to the Kishkis
and through the Kishkis to the Radzivills. You must have
heard his name from Heraclius, for he loved the Kmitas
as brothers."
" With the forehead, with the forehead! " repeated the
sword-bearer, who was awed somewhat by the greatness of
the young cavalier's family, heralded by Radzivill himself.
"I greet the sword-bearer, my benefactor, and offer him
my services," said Pan Andrei, boldly and not without a
certain loftiness. "Pan Heraclius was a father and a
benefactor to me, and though his work was spoiled later on,
still I have not ceased to love all the Billeviches as if my
own blood were flowing in them."
"Especially," said the prince, placing his hand con¬
fidentially on the young man's shoulder, " since he has not
ceased to love a certain Panna Billevich, of which fact he
has long since informed us."
"And I will repeat it before every one's face," said
Kmita, with vehemence.
" Quietly, quietly ! " said the prince. "This you see, worthy
sword-bearer, is a cavalier of sulphur and fire, therefore he
has made some trouble ; but because he is young and under
my special protection, I hope that when we petition together
we shall obtain a reversal of the sentence from that
charming tribunal."
" Your highness will accomplish what you like," answered
THE DELUGE.
215
Pan Billevich. " The maiden must exclaim, as that pagan
priestess did to Alexander the Great, ' Who can oppose
thee ?'"
"And we, like that Macedonian, will stop with that
prophecy," replied the prince, smiling. "But enough of
this ! Conduct us now to your relative, for I shall be glad
to see her. Let that work of Pan Heraclius which was
spoiled be mended."
" I serve your highness — There is the maiden; she
is under the protection of Pani Voynillovich, our relative.
But I beg pardon if she is confused, for I have not had
time to forewarn her."
The foresight of Pan Billevich was just. Luckily that
was not the first moment in which Olenka saw Pan Andrei
at the side of the hetman; she was able therefore to collect
herself somewhat, but for an instant presence of mind
almost left her, and she looked at the young knight as if
she were looking at a spirit from the other world. And
for a long time she could not believe her eyes. She had
really imagined that that unfortunate was either wandering
somewhere through forests, without a roof above his head,
deserted by all, hunted by the law, as a wild beast is
hunted by man, or enclosed in a tower, gazing with despair
through the iron grating on the glad world of God. The
Lord alone knew what terrible pity sometimes gnawed hex-
heart and her eyes for that lost man; God alone could
count the teai'S which in her solitude she had poured out
over his fate, so terrible, so cruel, though so deserved; but
now he is in Kyedani, free, at the side of the hetmaxx,
proud, splendid, in silver brocade and iix velvet, with the
baton of a colonel at his belt, with head erect, with com¬
manding, haughty, heroic face, and the grand hetman llad-
zivill himself places his hand confidentially on his shoulder.
Marvellous and contradictory feelings interwove themselves
at once in the heart of the maiden; therefore a certain
great relief, as if some one had taken a weight from her
shoulders, and a certain sorrow as well that so much pity
and grief had gone for naught; also the disappointment
which every honest soul feels at sight of perfect impunity
for grievous offences and sins ; also joy, with a feeling of
personal weakness, with admiration bordering on terror,
before that young hero who was able to swim out of such
a whirlpool.
Meanwhile the prince, the sword-bearer, and Kmita had
216
THE DELUGE.
finished conversation and were drawing near. The maiden
covered her eyes with her lids and raised her shoulders, as
a bird does its wings when wishing to hide its head. She
was certain that they were coming to her. Without look¬
ing she saw them, felt that they were nearer and nearer,
that they were before her. She was so sure of this that
without raising her lids, she rose suddenly and made a deep
courtesy to the prince.
He was really before her, and said: " By the passion of
the Lord! Now I do not wonder at this young man, for a
marvellous flower has bloomed here. I greet you. my lady,
I greet you with my whole heart and soul, beloved grand¬
daughter of my Billevich. Do you know me ? "
" I know your highness," answered the maiden.
" I should not have known you; you were still a young,
unblossomed thing when I saw you last, not in this orna¬
ment in which I see you now. But raise those lashes from
your eyes. As God lives! fortunate is the diver who gets
such a pearl, ill-fated he who had it and lost it. Here he
stands before you, so despairing, in the person of this cava¬
lier. Do you know him ? "
" I know," whispered Olenka, without raising her eyes.
" He is a great sinner, and I have brought him to you for
confession. Impose on him what penance you like, but re¬
fuse not absolution, for despair may bring him to still
greater sins."
Here the prince turned to the sword-bearer and Pani
Voynillovich : " Let us leave the young people, for it is not
proper to be present at a confession, and also my faith for¬
bids me."
After a moment Pan Andrei and Olenka were alone.
The heart beat in Olenka's bosom as the heart of a dove
over which a falcon is hovering, and he too was moved.
His usual boldness, impulsiveness, and self-confidence had
vanished. For a long time both were silent. At last he
spoke in a low, stifled voice, —
"You did not expect to see me, Olenka?"
"I did not," whispered the maiden.
"As God is true ! you would be less alarmed if a Tartar
were standing here near you. Fear not! See how many
people are present. No harm will meet you from me. And
though we were alone you would have nothing to fear, for
I have given myself an oath to respect you. Have confi¬
dence in me."
THE DELUGE.
217
For a moment she raised her eyes and looked at him,
" How can I have confidence ? "
" It is true that I sinned, but that is past and will not be
repeated. When on the bed and near death, after that duel
with Volodyovski, I said to myself: 'Thou wilt not take
her by force, by the sabre, by fire, but by honorable deeds
wilt thou deserve her and work out thy forgiveness. The
heart in her is not of stone, and her anger will pass ; she
will see thy reformation and will forgive.' Therefore I
swore to reform, and I will hold to my oath. God blessed
me at once, for Volodyovski came and brought me a com-
» mission. He had the power not to give it; but he gave it, —
he is an honorable man ! Now I need not appear before
the courts, for I am under the hetman's jurisdiction. I
confessed all my offences to the prince, as to a father; he
not only forgave me, but promised to settle everything
and to defend me against the malice of men. Hay God
bless him ! I shall not be an outlaw, I shall come to har¬
mony with people, win glory, serve the country, repair the
wrongs I have committed. What will you answer ? Will
you not say a good word to me ? " He gazed at Olenka
and put his hands together as if praying to her.
" Can I believe ? "
" You can, as God is dear to me ; it is your duty to believe.
The hetman believed, and Pan Volodyovski too. All my
acts are known to them, and they believed me. You see
they did. Why should you alone have no trust in me ? "
" Because I have seen the result of your deeds, — peo¬
ple's tears, and graves not yet grown over with grass."
" They will be grown over, and I will moisten them with
tears."
"Do that first."
" Give me only the hope that when I do that I shall win
you. It is easy for you to say, 'Do that first.' Well, I do
it; meanwhile you have married another. May God not
permit such a thing, for I should go wild. In God's name
I implore you, Olenka, to give me assurance that I shall
not lose you before I come to terms with your nobles. Do
you remember ? You have written me of this yourself. I
keep the letter, and when my soul is deeply downcast I
read it. I ask you only to tell me again that you will wait,
that you will not marry another."
"You know that by the will I am not free to marry
another. 1 can only take refuge in a cloister."
218
THE DELUGE.
"Oh, that would be a treat for me ! By the living God,
mention not the cloister, for the very thought of it makes
me shudder. Mention it not, Olenka, or 1 will fall down
here at your feet in the presence of all, and implore you
not to do so. You refused Volodyovski, 1 know, for he
told me himself. He urged me to win you by good deeds.
But what use in them if you are to take the veil ? If you
tell me that virtue should be practised for its own sake, I
will answer that I love you to distraction, and I will hear
of nothing else. When you left Vodokty, I had barely
risen from the bed but I began to search for you. When I
was enlisting my squadron every moment was occupied; I
had not time to eat food, to sleep at night, but I ceased not
to seek you. I was so affected that without you there was
neither life for me nor rest. I was so deeply in the toils
that I lived only on sighs. At last I learned that you were
in Billeviche with the sword-bearer. Then I tell you I
wrestled with my thoughts as with a bear: 'To go or not
to go ?' I dared not go, lest I should be treated to gall. I
said to myself at last: ' I have done nothing good yet, I
will not go.' Finally the prince, my dear father, took
pity on me, and sent to invite you and your uncle to
Kyedani, so that I might fill even my eyes with my love.
Since we are going to the war, I do not ask you to marry
me to-morrow; but if with God's favor I hear a good
word from you, I shall feel easier, — you, my only soul!
I have no wish to die; but in battle death may strike
any man, and I shall not hide behind others ; therefore
'tis your duty to forgive me as a man before death."
" May God preserve you and guide you," responded the
maiden, in a mild voice, by which Pan Andrei knew at
once that his words had produced their effect.
" You, my true gold ! I thank you even for that. But
you will not go to the cloister ? "
" I will not go yet."
" God bless you ! "
And as snow melts in spring-time, their mutual distrust
was now melting, and they felt nearer to each other than
a moment before. Their hearts were easier, and in their
eyes it grew clear. But still she had promised nothing,
and he had the wit to ask for nothing that time. But she
felt herself that it was not right for her to close the road
to the reform of which he had spoken so sincerely. Of
his sincerity she had no doubt for a moment, for he was
THE DELUGE.
219
not a man who could pretend. But the great reason why-
she did not repulse him again, why she left him hope, was
this, — that in the depth of her heart she loved yet that
young hero. Love had brought her a mountain of bitterness,
disillusion, and pain ; but love survived ever ready to
believe and forgive without end.
" He is better than his acts," thought the maiden, " and
those are .iving 110 longer who urged him to sin ; he might
from despair permit himself to do something a second time;
he must never despair." And her honest heart was rejoiced
at the forgiveness which it had given. On Olenka's cheeks
a flush came forth as fresh as a rose under the morning dew;
her eyes had a gleam sweet and lively, and it might be said
that brightness issued from them to the liall. People passed
and admired the wonderful pair ; for in truth such a noble
couple it would have been difficult to find in that hall, in
which, however, were collected the flower of the nobility.
Besides both, as if by agreement, were dressed in like
colors, for she wore silver brocade fastened with sapphire
and a sacque of blue Venetian velvet. " Like a brother and
sister," said persons who did not know them ; but others
said straightway, " Impossible, for his eyes are too ardent
toward her."
Meanwhile in the hall the marshal announced that it was
time to be seated at table, and at once there was unusual
movement. Count Lowenhaupt, all in lace, went in advance,
with the princess on his arm; her train was borne by two
very beautiful pages. Next after them Baron Schitte es¬
corted Pani Hlebovich; next followed Bishop Parchevski
with Father Byalozor, both looking troubled and gloomy.
Prince Yanush, who in the procession yielded to the
guests, but at the table took the highest place next to the
princess, escorted Pani Korf, wife of the voevoda of Yen-
den, who had been visiting about a week at Kyedani. And
so the whole line of couples moved forward, like a hundred-
colored serpent, unwinding and changing. Kmita escorted
Olenka, who rested her arm very lightly on his; but he
glanced sidewise at the delicate face, was happy, gleaming
like a torch, — the greatest magnate among those magnates,
since he was near the greatest treasure.
Thus moving to the sound of the orchestra, they entered
the banqueting-hall, which looked like a whole edifice by
itself. The table was set in the form of a horseshoe, for
three hundred persons, and was bending under silver and
220
THE DELl'GE.
gold. Prince Yanush, as having in himself a portion of
kingly majesty and being the blood relative of so many
kings, took the highest place, at the side of the princess;
and all when passing him, bowed low and took their places
according to rank.
But evidently, as it seemed to those present, the hetman
remembered that this was the last feast before an awful war
in which the destiny of great states would be decided, for
his face was not calm. He simulated a smile and joyous-
ness, but he looked as if a fever were burning him. At
times a visible cloud settled 011 his menacing forehead, and
those sitting near him could see that that forehead was
thickly covered with drops of sweat; at times his glance
ran quickly over the assembled faces, and halted question-
ingly on the features of various colonels ; then again those
lion brows frowned 011 a sudden, as if pain had pierced
them, or as if this or that face had roused in him wrath.
And, a wonderful thing ! the dignitaries sitting near the
prince, such as the envoys, Bishop Parchevski, Pather
Byalozor, Pan Ivomorovski, Pan Myerzeyevski, Pan Hlebo-
vich, the voevoda of Yenden, and others, were equally dis¬
traught and disturbed. The two s-ides of the immense
horseshoe sounded with a lively conversation, and the
bustle usual at feasts ; but the centre of it was gloomy
and silent, whispered rare words, or exchanged wandering
and as it were alarmed glances.
But there was nothing wonderful in that, for lower down
sat colonels and knights whom the approaching war threat¬
ened at most with death. It is easier to fall in a war than
to bear the responsibility for it. The mind of the soldier is
not troubled, for when he has redeemed his sins with his
blood, he flies from the battlefield to heaven ; he alone
bends his head heavily who in his soul must satisfy God
and his own conscience, and who on the eve of the decisive
day knows not what chalice the country will give him to
drink on the morrow.
This was the explanation which men gave themselves at
the lower parts of the table.
"Always before each war he talks thus with his own
soul," said the old Colonel Stankyevich to Zagloba; " but
the gloomier he is the worse for the enemy, for on the day
of battle he will be joyful to a certainty."
"The lion too growls before battle," said Zagloba, "so as
to rouse in himself fierce hatred for the enemy. As to
THE DELUGE.
221
great warriors, each has his custom. Hannibal used to play
dice ; Scipio Africanus declaimed verses ; Pan Konyetspol-
ski the father always conversed about fair heads ; and I like
to sleep an hour or so before battle, though I am not averse
to a glass with good friends."
" See, gentlemen, Bishop Parchevski is as pale as a sheet
of paper ! " said Stanislav Skshetuski.
" For he is sitting at a Calvinist table, and may swallow
easily something unclean in the food," explained Zagloba,
in a low voice. " To drinks, the old people say, the devil
has no approach, and those can be taken everywhere ; but
food, and especially soups, one should avoid. So it was in
the Crimea, when I was there in captivity. The Tartar
mullahs or priests knew how to cook mutton with garlic in
such a way that whoever tasted it was willing that moment
to desert his faith and accept their scoundrel of a prophet."
Here Zagloba lowered his voice still more : "Xot through
contempt for the prince do I say this, but I advise you, gen¬
tlemen, to let the food pass, for God protects the guarded."
" What do you say ? Whoso commends himself to God
before eating is safe ; with us in Great Poland there is no
end of Lutherans and Calvinists, but I have not heard that
they bewitched food."
" With you in Great Poland there is no end of Lutherans,
and so they sniffed around at once with the Swedes," said
Zagloba, "and are in friendship with them now. In the
prince's place, I would hunt those envoys away with dogs,
instead of hlling their stomachs with dainties. But look at
that Lowenhaupt; he is eating just as if he were to be
driven to the fair with a rope around his leg before the
month's end. Besides, he will stuff his pockets with dried
fruit for his wife and children. I have forgotten how that
other fellow from over the sea is called. Oh, may thou — "
"Father, ask Michael," said Yan.
Pan Michael was sitting not far away ; but he heard
nothing, he saw nothing, for he was between two ladies.
On his left sat Panna Syelavski, a worthy maiden about
forty years old, and on his right Olenka, beyond whom
sat Kmita. Panna Syelavski shook her feather-decked
head above the little knight, and narrated something
with great rapidity. He looked at her from time to time
with a vacant stare, and answered continually, " As true
as life, gracious lady !" but understood not a word she said,
for all his attention was turned to the other side. He
222
THE DELUGE.
was seizing with his ear the sound of Olenka's words, the
flutter of her silver dress, and from sorrow moving his mus¬
taches in such fashion as if he wished to frighten away
Panna Syelavski with them.
"Ah, that is a wonderful maiden ! Ah, but she is beau¬
tiful ! " said he, in his mind. " 0 God, look down on my
misery, for there is no lonelier orphan than I. My soul is
piping within me to have my own beloved, and on whomso¬
ever I look another soldier stands quartered there. Where
shall I go, ill-fated wanderer V "
" And after the war, what do you think of doing ?"
inquired Panna Syelavski, all at once pursing up her mouth
and fanning herself violently.
" I shall go to a monastery!" said the little knight, testily.
" Who mentions a monastery here at the banquet ? " cried
Kmita, joyously, bending in front of Olenka. "Oh, that is
Pan Volodyovski."
"There is nothing like that in your head," retorted Pan
Michael; "but I think I shall go."
Then the sweet voice of Olenka sounded in his ear : " Oh,
no need to think of that! God will give you a wife beloved
of your heart, and honest as you are."
The good Pan Michael melted at once : " If any one were
to play 011 a flute to me, it would not be sweeter to my ear."
The increasing bustle stopped further conversation, for
it had come now to the glasses. Excitement increased.
Colonels disputed about the coming war, frowning and
casting fiery glances.
Pan Zagloba was describing to the whole table the siege
of Zbaraj ; and the ardor and daring of the hearers rose till
the blood went to their faces and hearts. It might seem
that the spirit of the immortal "Yarema"1 was flying
above that hall, and had filled the souls of the soldiers with
heroic inspiration.
"That was a leader!" said the famous Mirski, who led
all Eadzivill's hussars. "I saw him only once, but to the
moment of my death I shall remember it."
"Jove with thunderbolts in his grasp!" cried old Stan-
kyevich. "It would not have come to this were he alive now!"
"Yes; think of it! Beyond Iiomni he had forests cut
down to open a way for himself to the enemy."
"The victory at Berestechko was due to him."
"And in the most serious moment God took him."
1 Prince Yeremi Vishnyevetski.
THE DELUGE.
223
" God took him," repeated Pan Yan, in a loud voice ; " but
he left a testament behind him for all coming leaders and
dignitaries and for the whole Commonwealth. This is it:
to negotiate with no enemy, but to fight them all."
" Not to negotiate ; to fight! " repeated a number of pow¬
erful voices, " fight! fight! "
The heat became great in the hall, and the blood was
boiling in the warriors; therefore glances began to fall like
lightning-flashes, and the heads shaven on the temples and
lower forehead began to steam.
" Our prince, our hetman, will be the executioner of that
will!" said Mirski.
Just at that moment an enormous clock in the upper part
of the hall began to strike midnight, and at the same time
the walls trembled, the window-panes rattled plaintively, and
the thunder of cannon was heard saluting in the courtyard.
Conversation was stopped, silence followed. Suddenly at
the head of the table they began to cry : " Bishop Parchev-
ski has fainted ! Water ! "
There was confusion. Some sprang from their seats to
see more elearty what had happened. The bishop had not
fainted, but had grown very weak, so that the marshal
supported him in his chair by the shoulders, while the
wife of the voevoda of Yenden sprinkled his face with water.
At that moment the second discharge of cannon shook
the window-panes ; after it came a third, and a fourth.
"Live the Commonwealth! May its enemies perish!"
shouted Zagloba.
But the following discharges drowned his speech. The
nobles began to count: "Ten, eleven, twelve ! "
Each time the window-panes answered with a mournful
groan. The candles quivered from the shaking.
" Thirteen, fourteen ! The bishop is not used to the
thunder. With his timidity he has spoiled the entertain¬
ment; the prince too is uneasy. See, gentlemen, how
swollen he is ! Fifteen, sixteen ! — Hei, they are firing as if
in battle ! Nineteen, twenty !"
" Quiet there ! the prince wants to speak!" called the
guests at once, from various parts of the table. "The
prince wishes to speak !"
There was perfect silence ; and all eyes were turned to
Badzivill, who stood, like a giant, with a cup in his hand.
But what a sight struck the eyes of those feasting ! The
face of the prince was simply terrible at that moment, for
224
THE DELUGE.
it was not pale, but blue and twisted, as if in a convulsion,
by a smile which he strove to call to his lips. His breath¬
ing, usually short, became still shorter; his broad breast
welled up under the gold brocade, his eyes were half
covered with their lids, and there was a species of terror
and an iciness on that powerful face such as are usual on
features stiffening in the moments before death.
"What troubles the prince? what is taking place here?"
was whispered unquietly around; and an ominous fore¬
boding straitened all hearts, startled expectation was on
every face.
He began to speak, with a short voice broken by asthma:
" Gracious gentlemen ! this toast will astonish many among
you, — or simply it will terrify them,—but whoso trusts
and believes in me, whoso really wishes the good of the
country, whoso is a faithful friend of my house, Avill drink
it with a will, and repeat after me, 1 Yivat Carolus Gusta-
vus Rex, from this day forth ruling over us graciously!'"
" Vivat! " repeated the two envoys, Lowenhaupt and
Schitte ; then some tens of officers of the foreign command.
But in the hall there reigned deep silence. The colonels
and the nobles gazed at one another with astonishment, as
if asking whether the prince had not lost his senses. A
number of voices were heard at last at various parts of the
table : " Do we hear aright ? What is it ? " Then there
was silence again.
Unspeakable horror coupled with amazement was re¬
flected on faces, and the eyes of all were turned again
to Radzivill; but he continued to stand, and was breathing
deeply, as if he had cast off some immense weight from his
breast. The color came back by degrees to his face; then
he turned to Pan Komorovski, and said, —
" It is time to make public the compact which we have
signed this day, so that those present may know what
course to take. Read, your grace!"
Komorovski rose, unwound the parchment lying before
him, and began to read the terrible compact, beginning
with these words: —
"Not being able to act in a better and more proper way
in this most stormy condition of affairs, after the loss of all
hope of assistance from the Most Serene King, we the
lords and estates of the Grand Principality of Lithuania
forced by extremity, yield ourselves to the protection of
the Most Serene King of Sweden on these conditions:
THE DELUGE.
225
"1. To make war together against mutual enemies, ex¬
cepting the king and the kingdom of Poland.
"2. The Grand Principality of Lithuania will not be
incorporated with Sweden, but will be joined to it in such
manner as hitherto with the kingdom of Poland; that is,
people shall be equal to people, senate to senate, and
knighthood to knighthood in all things.
" 3. Freedom of speech at the diets shall not be prohib¬
ited to any man.
" 4. Freedom of religion is to be inviolable — "
And so Pan Komorovski read on further, amid silence
and terror, till he came to the paragraph : " This act we
confirm with our signature for ourselves and our descend¬
ants, we promise and stipulate — " when a murmur rose in
the hall, like the first breath of a storm shaking the pine-
woods. But before the storm burst, Pan Stankyevich, gray
as a pigeon, raised his voice and began to implore, —
" Your highness, we are unwilling to believe our own
ears ! By the wounds of Christ! must the labor of Vladis¬
lav and Sigismund Augustus come to nothing ? Is it pos¬
sible, is it honorable, to desert brothers, to desert the
country, and unite with the enemy ? Remember the name
which you bear, the services which you have rendered the
country, the fame of your house, hitherto unspotted; tear
and trample on that document of shame. I know that I ask
not in my own name alone, but in the names of all soldiers
here present and nobles. It pertains to us also to con¬
sider our own fate. Gracious prince, do not do this;
there is still time ! Spare yourself, spare us, spare the
Commonwealth ! "
" Do it not! Have pity, have pity ! " called hundreds of
voices.
All the colonels sprang from their places and went toward
him; and the gray Stankyevich knelt down in the middle
of the hall between the two arms of the table, and then was
heard more loudly: " Do that not! spare us ! "
Radzivill raised his powerful head, and lightnings of
wrath began to fly over his forehead; suddenly he burst
out, —
" Does it become you, gentlemen, first of all to give an
example of insubordination ? Does it become soldiers to
desert their leader, their hetman, and bring forward pro¬
tests ? Do you wish to be my conscience ? Do you wish
to teach me how to act for the good of the country ? This
VOL. I.—15
226
THE DELUGE.
is not a diet, and you are not called liere to vote; hut be¬
fore God I take the responsibility ! "
And he struck his broad breast with his fist, and looking
with flashing glance on the officers, after a while he shouted
again: " Whoso is not with me is against me ! I knew you,
I knew what would happen ! But know ye that the sword
is hanging over your heads !"
" Gracious prince ! our hetnian ! " implored old Stankye-
vich, " spare yourself and spare us ! "
But his speech was interrupted by Stanislav Skshetuski,
who seizing his own hair with both hands, began to cry
with despairing voice : " Do not implore him: that is vain.
He has long cherished this dragon in his heart! Woe to
thee, 0 Commonwealth! woe to us all! "
" Two dignitaries at the two ends of the Commonwealth
have sold the country ! " cried Yan Skshetuski. " A curse'
on this house, shame and God's anger !"
Hearing this, Zagloba shook himself free from amaze¬
ment and burst out: " Ask him how great was the bribe he
took from the Swedes ? How much have they paid him ?
How much have they promised him yet ? Oh, gentlemen,
here is a Judas l'scariot. May you die in despair, may
your race perish, may the devil tear out your soul, 0
traitor, traitor, thrice traitor ! "
With this Stankyevich, in an ecstasy of despair, drew the
colonel's baton from his belt, and threw it with a rattle at
the feet of the prince. Mirski threw his next; the third
was Yuzefovich; the fourth, Hoshchyts ; the fifth, pale as
a corpse, Volodyovski; the sixth, Oskyerko, — and the
batons rolled on the floor. Meanwhile in that den of the
lion these terrible words were repeated before the eyes of
the lion from more and more mouths every moment:
" Traitor ! traitor ! "
All the blood rushed to the head of the haughty magnate.
He grew blue; it seemed that he would tumble next mo¬
ment a corpse under the table.
" Ganhoff and Krnita, to me !" bellowed he, with a terri¬
ble voice.
At that moment four double doors leading to the hall
opened with a crash, and in marched divisions of Scottish
infantry, terrible, silent, musket in hand. Ganhoff led
them from the main door.
"Halt!" cried the prince. Then he turned to the
colonels : "Whoso is with me, let him go to the rioflt side
of the hall! "
THE DELUGE.
227
"I am a soldier, I serve the hetman; let God be my
judge !" said Kharlamp, passing to the right side.
" And I! " added Myeleshko. "Not mine will be the sin ! "
" I protested as a citizen; as a soldier I must obey,"
added a third, Nyevyarovski, who, though he had thrown
down his baton before, was evidently afraid of Radzivill now.
After them passed over a number of others, and quite a
large group of nobles ; but Mirski, the highest in office, and
Stankyevich, the oldest in years, Hoshchyts, Volodyovski,
and Oskyerko remained where they were, and with them
the two Skshetuskis, Zagloba, and a great majority as well
of the officers of various heavy and light squadrons as of
nobles. The Scottish infantry surrounded them like a wall.
Kmita, the moment the prince proposed the toast in honor
of Karl Gustav, sprang up from his seat with all the guests,
stared fixedly and stood as if turned to stone, repeating with
pallid lips, " 0 God! 0 God ! 0 God ! what have I done ? "
At the same time a low voice, but for his ear distinct,
whispered near by, " Pan Andrei!"
He seized suddenly his hair with his hands. "I am
cursed for the ages ! May the earth swallow me !"
A flame flashed out on Olenka's face ; her eyes bright as
stars were fixed on Kmita. " Shame to those who remain
with the hetman ! Choose! 0 God, All Powerful! — What
are you doing ? Choose! "
"Jesus ! 0 Jesus ! " cried Kmita.
Meanwhile the hall was filled with cries. Others had
thrown their batons at the feet of the prince, but Kmita
did not join them ; he did not move even when the prince
shouted, " Ganhoff and Kmita, to me!" nor when the
Scottish infantry entered the hall; and he stood torn with
suffering and despair, with wild look, with blue lips.
Suddenly he turned to Panna Billevich and stretched his
hands to her. " Olenka! Olenka!" repeated he, with a
sorrowful groan, like a child whom some wrong is con¬
fronting.
But she drew back with aversion and fear in her face.
"Away, traitor!" she answered with force.
At that moment Ganhoff commanded, " Forward ! " and
the division of Scots surrounding the prisoners moved
toward the door.
Kmita began to follow them like one out of his mind, not
knowing where he was going or why he was going.
The banquet was ended.
228
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XV.
That same night the prince held a long consultation with
the voevoda of Venden and with the Swedish envoys. The
result of the treaty had disappointed his expectations, and
disclosed to him a threatening future. It was the prince's
plan to make the announcement in time of feasting, when
minds are excited and inclined to agreement. He expected
opposition in every event, but he counted on adherents also;
meanwhile the energy of the protest had exceeded his
reckoning. Save a few tens of Calvinist nobles and a hand¬
ful of officers of foreign origin, who as strangers could have
no voice in the question, all declared against the treaty
concluded with Karl Gustav, or rather with his field-mar¬
shal and brother-in-law, Pontus de la Gardie.
The prince had given orders, it is true, to arrest the
stubborn officers of the army, but what of that ? What
will the squadrons say ? Will they not think of their
colonels ? Will they not rise in mutiny to rescue their
officers by force ? If they do, what will remain to the
proud prince beyond a few dragoon regiments and foreign
infantry ? Then the whole country, all the armed nobles,
and Sapyeha, voevoda of Yityebsk, —a terrible opponent of
the house of Radzivill, ready to fight with the whole world
in the name of the unity of the Commonwealth ? Other
colonels whose heads he cannot cut off, and Polish squadrons
will go to Sapyeha, who will stand at the head of all the
forces of the country, and Prince Radzivill will see himself
without an army, without adherents, without significance.
What will happen then ?
These were terrible questions, for the position was terri¬
ble. The prince knew well that if he were deserted the
treaty on which he had toiled so much in secret would by
the force of events lose all meaning and the Swedes would
despise him, or take revenge for the discovered deceit. But
he had given them his Birji as a guaranty of his loyalty y
by that he had weakened himself the more.
Karl Gustav was ready to scatter rewards and honors
with both hands for a powerful Radzivill, but Radzivill
weak and deserted by all he would despise; and if the
THE DELUGE.
229
changing wheel of fortune should send victory to Yan Kazi-
mir, final destruction would come to that lord who this day
in the morning had no equal in the Commonwealth.
When the envoys and the voevoda of Venden had gone,
the prince seized with both hands his head weighed down
with care, and began to walk with swift steps through the
room. From without came the voices of the Scottish guards
and the rattle of the departing carriages of the nobles. They
drove away quickly and hurriedly, as if a pest had fallen on
the lordly castle of Kyedani. A terrible disquiet rent the
soul of Kadzivill. At times it seemed to him that besides
himself there was some other person who walked behind
him and whispered in his ear, " Abandonment, poverty, and
infamy as well!" But he, the voevoda of Yilna and grand
hetman, was already trampled upon and humiliated! Who
would have admitted yesterday that in all Kyedani, in
Lithuania, nay, in the whole world, there could be found a
man who would dare to shout before his eyes, " Traitor !"
Nevertheless he had heard it, and he lives yet, and they
who spoke that word are living too. Perhaps if he were to
re-enter that hall of the banquet he would still hear as an
echo among the cornices and under the vaults, " Traitor!
traitor ! "
And wild, mad rage seized at moments the breast of the
oligarch. His nostrils dilated, his eyes shot lightnings,
veins came out on his forehead. Who here dares to op¬
pose his will ? His enraged mind brought before his eyes
the picture of punishments and torments for rebels who
had the daring not to follow his feet like a dog. And he
saw their blood flowing from the axes of executioners, he
heard the crunching of their bones broken by the wheel,
and he took delight in and sated himself with visions of
blood.
But when more sober judgment reminded him that be¬
hind those rebels is an army, that he cannot take their
heads with impunity, an unendurable and hellish unquiet
came back and filled his soul, and some one whispered
anew in his ear, " Abandonment, poverty, judgment, and
infamy ! "
How is that ? Is it not permitted to Badzivill to decide
the fate of the country, —to retain it for Yan Kazimir or
give it to Karl Gustav, — to give, to convey, to present, to
whom it may please him ?
The magnate looked before himself with amazement.
230
THE DELUGE.
Wlio then are the Radzivills ? Who were they yester¬
day ? What was said everywhere in Lithuania ? Was that
all deception ? AVill not Prince Boguslav join the grand
hetman with his regiments, after him his uncle the Elector
of Brandenberg, and after all three Karl Gustav, the Swedish
king, with all his victorious power, before which recently
all Germany trembled through the length and the breadth
of it ? Did not the Polish Commonwealth itself extend its
arms to the new master, and yield at the mere report of
the approach of the lion of the North? Who will offer
resistance to that unrestrained power ?
On one side the King of Sweden, the Elector of Branden¬
berg, the Radzivills, in case of necessity Hmelnitski too,
with all his power, and the hospodar of Wallachia, and
Rakotsy of Transylvania, — almost half Europe ; on the
other side the voevoda of Vityebsk with Mirski, Pan Stan-
kyevich, and those three nobles who had just come from
Lukovo, and also a few rebellious squadrons! What is
that ? — a jest, an amusement.
Then suddenly the prince began to laugh loudly. " By
Lucifer and all the Diet of hell, it must be that I have gone
mad ! Let them all go to the voevoda of ATityebsk ! "
But after a while his face had grown gloomy again:
" The powerful admit only powerful to alliance. Eadzivill
casting Lithuania at the feet of the Swedes will be sought
for; Eadzivill asking aid against Lithuania will be despised.
" What is to be done ? "
The foreign officers will stay with him, but their power
is not enough; and if the Polish squadrons go over to the
voevoda of ATityebsk, he will have the fate of the country
in his hands. Each foreign officer will carry out commands,
it is true ; but he will not devote his whole soul to the
cause of Eadzivill, he will not give himself to it with ardor,
not merely as a soldier, but as an adherent. For devotion
there is absolute need, not of foreigners, but of men of his
own people to attract others by their names, by their
bravery, by their reputation, by their daring example and
readiness to do everything. He must have adherents in
the country, even for show.
AVho of his own men responded to the prince ? Khar-
lamp, an old, worn-out soldier, good for service and nothing
more ; Nyevyarovski, not loved in the army and without
influence ; besides these a few others of still less distinc¬
tion ; no man of another kind, no man whom an army
would follow, 110 man to be the apostle of a cause.
THE DELUGE.
231
There remained Kmita, young, enterprising, bold, covered
with great knightly glory, bearing a famous name, standing
at the head of a powerful squadron, partly fitted out at his
own expense, — a man as it were created to be the leader
of all the bold and restless spirits in Lithuania, and withal
full of ardor. If he should take up the cause of Radzivill,
he would take it up with the faith which youth gives, he
would follow his hetman blindly, and spread the faith in
his name ; and such an apostle means more than whole
regiments, whole divisions of foreigners. He would be able
to pour his faith into the heart of the young knighthood,
to attract it and fill the camp of Radzivill with men.
But he too had hesitated evidently. He did not cast his
baton, it is true, at the feet of the hetman, but he did not
stand at his side in the first moment.
" It is impossible to reckon on any one, impossible to be
sure of any man," thought the prince, gloomily. " They
will all go to the voevoda of Yityebsk, and no man will
wish to share with me."
" Infamy ! " whispered his conscience.
" Lithuania!" answered, on the other hand, pride.
It had grown dim in the room, for the wicks had burned
long on the candles, but through the Avindows flowed
in the silver light of the moon. Radzivill gazed at those
rays and fell into deep thought. Gradually something
began to grow dark in those rays ; certain figures rose up
each moment, increasing in number, till at last the prince
saw as it were an army coming toAvard him from the upper
trails of the sky on the broad road of the moonbeams.
Regiments are marching, armored hussars and light horse ;
a forest of banners are waving; in front rides some man
without a helmet, apparently a victor returning from Avar.
Around is quiet, and the prince hears clearly the voice of
the army and people, " Vivat defensor patriae ! vivat defen¬
sor patriae! (Live the defender of the country!)" The
army approaches, each moment increasing in number ; now
he can see the face of the leader. He holds the baton in
his hand; and by the number of bunchuks ( horse-tails on
his standard ) Radzivill can see that he is the grand hetman.
" In the name of the Father and the Son !" cries the
prince, " that is Sapyeha, that is the voevoda of Vityebsk!
And Avhere am I, and Avhat is predestined to me ? "
" Infamy !" whispers his conscience.
" Lithuania ! " ansAvers his pride.
THE DELUGE.
The prince clapped his hands ; Harasimovich, watching
in the adjoining room, appeared at once in the door and
bent double.
" Lights !" said the prince.
Harasimovich snuffed the candles, then went out and
returned with a candlestick in his hand.
"Your Highness," said he, "it is time to repose; the
cocks have crowed a second time."
" I have no wish to sleep," replied the prince. " I dozed,
and the nightmare was suffocating me. What is there new? "
"Some noblemen brought a letter from Hyesvyej from
the Prince Michael, but I did not venture to enter
unsummoned."
" Give me the letter at once ! "
Harasimovich gave the sealed letter; the prince opened
it, and began to read as follows: —
May God guard and restrain your highness from such plans as
might bring eternal infamy and destruction to our house! Set
your mind on a hair-shirt rather than on dominion. The great¬
ness of our house lies at my heart also, and the best proof of
this is in the efforts which I made in Vienna that we should have
a vote in the diets of the Empire. But I will not betray the coun¬
try nor my king for any reward or earthly power, so as not to
gather after such a sowing a harvest of infamy during life and
damnation after death. Consider, your highness, the services of
your ancestors and their unspotted fame; think of the mercy of
God while the time is fitting. The enemy have surrounded me in
Nyesvyej, and I know not whether this letter will reach your
hands; but though destruction threatens me every moment, I do
not ask God to rescue me, but to restrain your highness from
those plans and bring you to the path of virtue. Even if some¬
thing evil is done already, it is possible yet to draw back, and
it is necessary to blot out the offences with a swift hand. But do
not expect aid from me, for I say in advance that without regard
to bonds of blood, I will join my forces with.those of Pan Gosyev-
ski and the voevoda of Vityebsk ; and a hundred times rather
would I turn my arms against your highness than put my hands
voluntarily to that infamous treason. I commend your highness
to God.
Michael Kazimir,
Prince in Nyesvyej and Olyta, Chamberlain of the
Grand Principality of Lithuania.
When the hetman had finished the letter he dropped it
on his knee, and began to shake his head with a painful
smile on his face.
THE DELUGE.
233
" And he leaves me, my own blood rejects me, because I
wished to adorn our house with a glory hitherto unknown!
All! it is difficult! Boguslav remains, and he will not
leave me. With us is the Elector and Karl Gustav; and
who will not sow will not reap."
" Infamy!" whispered his conscience.
" Is your highness pleased to give an answer ? " asked
Harasimovich.
" There will be no answer."
" May I go and send the attendants ? "
"Wait! Are the guards stationed carefully ?"
" They are."
" Are orders sent to the squadrons ? "
" They are."
" What is Kmita doing ? "
" He was knocking his head against the wall and crying
about disgrace. He was wriggling like a mudfish. He
wanted to run after the Billeviches, but the guards would
not let him. He drew his sabre; they had to tie him. He
is lying quietly now."
" Has the sword-bearer of Rossyeni gone ? "
"There was no order to stop him."
" I forgot!" said the prince. " Open the windows, for it
is stifling and asthma is choking me. Tell Kharlamp to go
to Upita for the squadron and bring it here at once. Give
him money, let him pay the men for the first quarter and
let them get merry. Tell him that he will receive Dyd-
kyemie for life instead of Yolodyovski. The asthma is
choking me. Wait! "
" According to order."
" What is Kmita doing ? "
" As I said, your highness, he is lying quietly."
" True, you told me. Give the order to send him here.
I want to speak with him. Have his fetters taken off."
"Your highness, he is a madman."
" Have no fear, go !"
Harasimovich went out. The prince took from a Vene¬
tian cabinet a case with pistols, opened it, and placed it
near at hand on the table by which he sat.
In a quarter of an hour Kmita entered, attended by four
Scottish soldiers. The prince ordered the men to with¬
draw, and remained face to face with Kmita.
There did not seem to be one drop of blood in the visage
of the young man, so pale was it, but his eyes were gleam-
?34
THE DELUGE.
ing feverishly ; for the rest he was calm, resigned, though
apparently sunk in endless despair.
Both were silent for a while. The prince spoke first.
" You took oath on the crucifix not to desert me."
"I shall be damned if I keep that oath, damned if I
break it. It is all one to me ! "
" Even if I had brought you to evil, you would not be
responsible."
" A month ago judgments and punishments threatened
me for killing; to-day it seems to me that then I was as
innocent as a child."
"Before you leave this room, you will feel absolved from
all your previous sins," said the prince.
Suddenly, changing his tone, he inquired with a certain
confidential kindness, " What do you think it was my duty
to do in the face of two enemies, a hundred-fold stronger
than I, enemies against whom I could not defend this
country ? "
" To die ! " answered Kmita, rudely.
"You soldiers, who can throw off so easily the pressing
burden are to be envied. To die! For him who has
looked death in the eyes and is not afraid, there is nothing
in the world simpler. Your head does not ache over this,
and it will occur to the mind of none that if I had roused
an envenomed war and had died without making a treaty,
not a stone would be left on a stone in this country. May
God not permit this, for even in heaven my soul could not
rest. 0. terque, quaterque beati (0 thrice and four times
blessed) are ye who can die ! Do you think that life does
not oppress me, that I am not hungry for everlasting sleep
and rest ? But I must drain the chalice of gall and vine¬
gar to the bottom. It is needful to save this unhappy
land, and for its salvation to bend under a new burden.
Let the envious condemn me for pride, let them say that I
betrayed the country to exalt myself. God has seen me,
God is the judge whether I desire this elevation, and
whether I would not resign it could matters be otherwise.
Find you who desert me means of salvation; point out the
road, ye who call me a traitor, and this night I will tear
that document and rouse all the squadrons from slumber to
move on the enemy."
Kmita was silent.
"Well, why are you silent?" exclaimed Radzivill, in a
loud voice. " I will make you grand hetman in my place
THE DELUGE.
235
and. voevoda of Vilna. You must not die, for that is no
achievement, but save the country. Defend the occupied
provinces, avenge the ashes of Vilna, defend Jmud against
Swedish invasion, nay, defend the whole Commonwealth,
drive beyond the boundaries every enemy! Rush three
on a thousand; die not, — for that is not permitted, — but
save the country."
" I am not hetman and voevoda of Vilna," answered
Kmita, " and what does not belong to me is not on my
head. But if it is a question of rushing the third against
thousands I will go."
"Listen, then, soldier! Since your head has not to save
the country, leave it to mine."
" I cannot! " said Kmita, with set teeth.
Radzivill shook his head. "I did not dount on the
others, I looked for what happened; but in you I was de¬
ceived. Interrupt not, but listen. I placed you on your
feet, I freed you from judgment and punishment, I gath¬
ered you to my heart as my own son. Know you why ?
Because I thought that in you was a daring soul, ready for
grand undertakings. I needed such men, I hide it not.
Around me was no man who would dare to look at the sun
with unflinching eye. There were men of small soul and
petty courage. To such never show a path other than that
011 which they and their fathers have travelled, for they
will halt saying that you have sent them on a devious way.
And still, where, if not to the precipice, have we all come
by these old roads ? What is happening to the Common¬
wealth which formerly could threaten the world ? "
Here the prince seized his head in his hands and re¬
peated thrice: " 0 God ! God ! God! "
After a while he continued: '• The time of God's anger
has come, — a time of such misfortunes and of such a fall
that with the usual methods we cannot rise from this sick¬
ness ; and if I wish to use new ones, which alone can bring
us salvation, even those desert me on whose readiness I
counted, whose duty it was to have confidence, who took
oath on the cross to trust me. By the blood and wounds of
Christ! Did you think that I submitted to the protection
of Karl Gustav forever, that in truth I think to join this
country to Sweden, that the treaty, for which I am called
a traitor, will last beyond a year ? Why do you look with
astonished eyes ? You will be still more astonished when
you hear all. You will be more astonished, for something
236
THE DELUGE.
will happen which no one will think of, no one admit,
which the mind of a common man has not power to grasp.
But I say to you, Tremble not, for in this is the country's
salvation; do not draw back, for if I find no one to help
me, possibly I may perish, but with me will perish the
Commonwealth and ye all for tlie ages. I alone can save,
but I must bend and trample all obstacles. Woe to him
who opposes me; for God himself will crush him through
me, whether he be the voevoda of Vityebsk or Pan Gosyev-
ski or the army, or a refractory nobility. I wish to save
the Commonwealth; and to me all ways, all methods are
good for that end. Rome in times of disaster named dicta¬
tors, — such power, nay, greater and more lasting, is need¬
ful to me. Not pride draws me to it, — whoso feels equal
to this power let him take it instead of me. But if no one
does I will take the power, though these walls should fall
first on my head !"
Then the prince stretched both his hands upward, as if in
fact he wished to support the arches falling upon his head,
and there was in him something so gigantic that Kmita
opened his eyes and gazed as if he had never seen him be¬
fore ; and at last he asked with changed voice : " Whither
art thou striving, your highness ? What do you wish ? "
" A crown ! " cried Radzivill.
" Jesus, Mary ! "
A moment of deep silence followed; but an owl on the
tower of the castle began to hoot shrilly.
"Listen," said the prince, "it is time to tell you all.
The Commonwealth is perishing, and must perish. There
is 110 salvation on earth for it. The question is to save first
from the ruin this country (Lithuania), this our immediate
fatherland, and then — then make the whole Common¬
wealth rise from its own ashes, as the phoenix rises. I
will do this; and the crown, which I desire, I will place as
a burden on my head, so as to bring out from this great
tomb a new life. Do not tremble ! The ground will not
open, everything stands 011 its own place ; but new times are
coming. I give this country to the Swedes so as to stop
with Swedish arms another enemy, to drive him beyond the
boundaries, to win back what is lost, and force with the sword
a treaty from that enemy in his own capital. Do you hear
me ? But in rocky, hungry Sweden there are not men enough,
not forces enough, not sabres enough to take possession of
this immense Commonwealth. They may defeat our army
THE DELUGE.
237
once and a second time ; but to hold us in obedience they can¬
not. If one Swede were given as a guard to every ten men
in this land, there would still be many tens of them without
guards. Karl Gustav knows this well, and neither does he
wish nor is he able to take the whole Commonwealth. He
will occupy Royal Prussia, most of Great Poland, and will be
content with that. But to hold in coming time these acqui¬
sitions securely, he must break the union of the kingdom
with us ; otherwise he could not remain in those provinces.
What will happen then to this country? To whom will
it be given ? Well, if I refuse the crown which God and
fortune places on my head, it will be given to him who at
this moment is in possession. But Karl Gustav is not will¬
ing to consent to this act, which would increase a neighbor¬
ing power too greatly, and create for himself a formidable
enemy. But if I refuse the crown, he will be forced to con¬
sent. Have I the right, then, to refuse ? Can I allow that
to take place which would threaten us with final ruin ? For
the tenth and the hundredth time I ask, Where are there
other means of salvation ? Let the will of God, then, be done!
I take this burden on my shoulders. The Swedes are on my
side; the elector, our relative, promises aid. I will free the
country from war! With victories and extension of boun¬
daries will begin the rule of my house. Peace and pros¬
perity will flourish; fire will not burn towns and villages.
Thus it will be, thus it must be. So help me God and the
holy cross! I feel within me power and strength from
heaven, I desire the happiness of this land, and that is not
yet the end of my plans. And by those heavenly lights I
swear, by those trembling stars, that if only strength and
health remain to me, I will build anew all this edifice, now
tumbling to ruins; I will make it stronger than ever."
Fire was flashing from the pupils and eyes of the prince ;
his whole form shed an uncommon halo.
"Your highness," cried Kmita, "I cannot grasp that
thought; my head is bursting, my eyes fear to look ahead."
"Besides," said Radzivill, as if pursuing the further
course of his own thoughts, " the Swedes will not deprive
Yan Kazimir of the kingdom nor of rule, but will leave
him in Mazovia and Little Poland. God has not given him
posterity. An election will come in time. Whom will
they choose to the throne if they wish a further union
with Lithuania ? When did the kingdom grow strong
and crush the Knights of the Cross ? After Vladyslav
238
THE DELUGE.
Yagyello had mounted the throne. It will be the same this
time. The Poles can call to the throne only him who will
be reigning here. They cannot and will not call another,
for they would perish, because the breath would not remain
in their breasts between the Germans and the Turks, and
as it is, the Cossack cancer is gnawing the kingdom.
They can call no one else! Blind is he who does not see
this; foolish who does not understand it. Both countries
will unite again and become one power in my house. Then
I shall see if those kinglets of Scandinavia will remain in
their Prussia and Great Poland acquired to-day. Then I'
will say to them, Quos ego f and with this foot will crush
their lean ribs, and create a power such as the world has
not seen, such as history has not described; perhaps I may
carry the cross with tire and sword to Constantinople, and
in peace at home terrify the enemy. Thou great God,
who orderest the circuits of the stars, grant me to save this
ill-fated land, for thy glory and that of all Christendom;
give me men to understand my thought, men to put their
hands to salvation. There is where I stand!" Here the
prince opened his arms, and raised his eyes aloft: " Thou
seest me, thou judgest me ! "
" Mighty prince, mighty prince !" cried Kmita.
" Go, desert me, cast the baton at my feet, break your
oath, call me traitor! Let no thorn be lacking in that
prickly crown which they have put on my head. Destroy
ye the country, thrust it over the precipice, drag away the
hand that could sa-ve it, and go to the judgment of God!
Let him decide between us."
Kmita cast himself on his knees before Badzivill.
" Mighty prince, I am with you to the death ! Father of
the country, savior ! "
Radzivill put both hands on his head, and again followed
a moment of silence. Only the owl hooted unceasingly on
the tower.
"You will receive all that you have yearned for and
wished," said the prince, with solemnity. " Nothing will
miss you, and more will meet you .than your father and
mother desired. Rise, future grand hetman and voevoda
of Vilna! "
It had begun to dawn in the sky.
THE DELUGE.
239
CHAPTER XVI.
Pan Zagloba had his head mightily full when he hurled
the word " traitor" thrice at the eyes of the terrible liet-
man. At an hour nearer morning, when the wine had
evaporated from his bald head, and he found himself with
the two Skshetuskis and Pan Michael in a dungeon of
Kyedani Castle, he saw, when too late, the danger to which
he had exposed his own neck and the necks of his comrades,
and was greatly cast down.
" But what will happen now ? " asked he, gazing with
dazed look on the little knight, in whom he had special
trust in great peril.
" May the devil take life ! it is all one to me !" answered
Yolodyovski.
"We shall live to such times and such infamy as the
world and this kingdom have not seen hitherto ! " said Pan
Yan.
" Would that we might live to them ! " answered Zagloba;
"we could restore virtue in others by our good example.
But shall we live ? That is the great question."
" This is a terrible event, passing belief!" said Pan
Stanislav. "Where has the like of it happened? Save
me, gentlemen, for I feel that there is confusion in my
head. Two wars, — a third, the Cossack, — and in addition
treason, like a plague : Radzyovski, Opalinski, Grudzinski,
Radzivill! The end of the world is coming, and the day of
judgment; it cannot be otherwise ! May the earth open
under our feet! As God is dear to me, I am losing my
mind!"
And clasping his hands at the back of his head, he began
to pace the length and width of the cellar, like a wild beast
in a cage.
" Shall we begin to pray, or what ? " asked he at last.
" Merciful God, save us !"
" Be calm!" said Zagloba; " this is not the time to
despair."
Pan Stanislav ground his teeth on a sudden; rage car¬
ried him away. " I wish you were killed!" cried he to
240
T1IE DELUGE.
Zagloba. " It was your thought to come to this traitor.
May vengeance reach you and him !"
" Bethink yourself, Stanislav," said Pan Yan, sternly.
"No one could foresee what has happened. Endure, for
you are not the only man suffering ; and know that our
place is here, and not elsewhere. Merciful God! pity, not
us, but the ill-fated country."
Stanislav made no answer, but wrung his hands till the
joints were cracking.
They were silent. Pan Michael, however, began to
whistle through his teeth, in despair, and feigned indiffer¬
ence to everything happening around him, though, in fact,
he suffered doubly, — first, for the misfortune of the country,
and secondly, because he had violated his obedience to the
hetman. The latter was a terrible thing for him, a soldier
to the marrow of his bones. He would have preferred to
die a thousand times.
" Ho not whistle, Pan Michael," said Zagloba.
" All one to me ! "
"How is it? Is no one of you thinking whether theie
are not means of escape ? It is worth while to exercise
one's wits on this. Are we to rot in this cellar, when every
hand is needed for the country, when one man of honor
must settle ten traitors ? "
"Father is right," said Pan Yan.
" You alone have not become stupid from pain. What do
you suppose ? What does that traitor think of doing with
us ? Surely he will not punish us with death ? "
Pan Michael burst out in a sudden laugh of despair. " Put
why not ? I am curious to learn ! Has he not authority,
has he not the sword ? Do you not know Eadzivill ? "
" Nonsense ! What right do they give him ? "
" Over me, the right of a hetman ; over you, force ! "
" For which he must answer."
" To whom, — to the King of Sweden ? "
" You give me sweet consolation; there is no denying;
that!"
"I have 110 thought of consoling you."
They were silent, and for a time there was nothing to be
heard but the measured tread of Scottish infantry at the
door of the cellar.
" There is no help here," said Zagloba, " but stratagem."
No one gave answer; therefore he began to talk again
after a while : "I will not believe that we are to be put to
THE DELUGE.
241
death. If for every word spoken in haste and in drink, a
head were cut off, not one noble in this Commonwealth
would walk around with his head on his shoulders. But
neminem cciptivabimus ? Is that a trifle ? "
"You have an example in yourself and in us," answered
Stanislav.
"Well, that happened in haste ; but I believe firmly that
the prince will take a second thought. We are strangers;
in 110 way do we come under his jurisdiction. He must
respect opinion, and not begin with violence, so as not to
offend the nobles. As true as life, our party is too large
to have the heads cut from all of us. Over the officers he has
authority, I cannot deny that; but, as I think, he will look
to the army, which surely will not fail to remember its own.
And where is your squadron, Michael ? "
"In Upita."
" But tell me, are you sure that the men will be true to
you ? "
" Whence should I know ? They like me well enough,
but they know that the hetman is above me."
Zagloba meditated awhile. "Give me an order to them
to obey me in everything, as they would you, if I appear
among them."
"You think that you are free !"
" There is no harm in that. I have been in hotter places,
and God saved me. Give an order for me and the two
Skshetuskis. Whoso escapes first will go straight to the
squadron, and bring it to rescue the others."
" You are raving! It is a pity to lose time in empty talk!
Who will escape from this place ? Besides, 011 what can I
give an order; have you paper, ink, pen? You are losing
your head."
" Desperation!" cried Zagloba; " give me even your
ring."
" Here it is, and let me have peace !"
Zagloba took the ring, put it on his little finger, and be¬
gan to walk and meditate.
Meanwhile the smoking candle went out, and darkness
embraced them completely; only through the grating of the
high window a couple of stars were visible, twinkling in
the clear sky. Zagloba's eye did not leave the grating.
" If heaven-dwelling Podbipienta were living and with us,"
muttered the old man, "he would tear out that grating,
and in an hour we should see ourselves beyond Ivyedani."
VOL. I.— 1G
242
TIIE DELUGE.
"But raise me to the window," said Pan Yan, suddenly.
Zagloba and Pan Stanislav placed themselves at the
wall; in a moment Yan was on their shoulders.
" It cracks! As God is dear to me, it cracks !" cried
Zagloba.
" What are you talking about, father ? I have n't begun
to pull it yet."
"Crawl up with your cousin; I'll hold you somehow.
More than once I pitied Pan Michael because he was so
slender; but now I regret that he is not still thinner, so as
to slip through like a snake. "
But Yan sprang down from their shoulders. "The Scots
are standing on this side!" said he.
"May God turn them into pillars of salt, like Lot's
wife ! " said Zagloba. " It is so dark here that you might
strike a man in the face, and he could not see you. It
will soon be daybreak. I think they will bring us food of
some kind, for even Lutherans do not put prisoners to a
hunger death. Perhaps, too, God will send reflection to
the hetman. Often in the night conscience starts up in a
man, and the devils pinch sinners. Can it be there is only
one entrance to this cellar ? I will look in the daytime.
My head is somehow heavy, and I cannot think out a
stratagem. To-morrow God will strengthen my wit; but
now we will say the Lord's Prayer, and commit ourselves
to the Most Iloly Lady, in this heretical dungeon."
In fact they began a moment later to say the Lord's
Prayer and the litany to the Mother of God ; then Yan,
Stanislav, and Yolodyovski were silent, for their breasts
were full of misfortune, but Zagloba growled in a low voice
and muttered, —
" It must be beyond doubt that to-morrow he will say to
us, aut, aut! (either, or). 'Join Eadzivill and I will pardon
everything.' But we shall see who outwits the other. Do
you pack nobles into prison, have you no respect for age or
services ? Very good! To whom the loss, to him the weep¬
ing ! The foolish will be under, and the Avise on top. I
will promise Avhat you like, but what I observe would not
make a patch for your boot. If you do not hold to the
country, he is virtuous Avho holds not to you. This is cer¬
tain, that final ruin is coming on the Commonwealth if its
foremost dignitaries join the enemy. This has never been
in the world hitherto, and surely a man may lose his senses
from it. Are there in hell torments sufficient for such
THE DELUGE.
243
traitors ? What was wanting to such a Radzivill ? Is it
little that the country has given him, that he should sell it
like a Judas, and in the very time of its greatest misfor¬
tunes, in the time of three wars ? Just is thy anger, 0
Lord ! only give swiftest punishment. So be it! Amen !
If I could only get out of here quickly, I would create
partisans for thee, mighty hetman ! Thou wilt know how
the fruits of treason taste. Thou wilt look on me yet as
a friend; but if thou findest no better, do not hunt a bear
unless thy skin is not dear to thee."
Thus did Zagloba converse with himself. Meanwhile one
hour passed, and a second; at last day began to dawn. The
gray light falling through the grating dissipated slowly the
darkness in the cellar, and brought out the gloomy figures
sitting at the walls. Yolodyovski and the Skshetuskis
were slumbering from weariness; but when things were
more visible, and when from the courtyard came the sounds
of soldiers' footsteps, the clatter of arms, the tramp of hoofs,
and the sound of trumpets at the gate, the knights sprang
to their feet.
"The day begins not too favorably for us," said Yan.
" God grant it to end more favorably," answered Zagloba.
" Do you know what I have thought in the night ? They
will surely treat us with the gift of life if we will take ser¬
vice- with Radzivill and help him in his treason; we
ought to agree to that, so as to make use of our freedom
and stand up for the country."
" May God preserve me from putting my name to treason,"
answered Yan ; " for though I should leave the traitor after¬
ward, my name would remain among those of traitors as an
infamy to my children. I will not do that, I prefer to
die."
"Neither will I! " said Stanislav.
"But I tell you beforehand that I will. No one will
think that I did it voluntarily or sincerely. May the devils
take that dragon Radzivill! We shall see yet who gets the
upper hand."
Further conversation was stopped by sounds in the yard.
Among them were the ominous accents of anger and indig¬
nation. At the same time single voices of command, the
echo of footsteps of whole crowds, and heavy thunder as of
cannon in motion.
" What is going on ? " asked Zagloba. " Maybe there
is some help for us."
244
THE DELUGE.
"There is surely an uncommon uproar/' said Yolodyovski.
"But raise me to the window, for I shall see right away
what it is."
Yan took Yolodyovski and raised him as he would a boy.
Pan Michael caught the grating, and looked carefully through
the yard.
" There is something going on, — there is !" said he, with
sudden alertness. " I see the Hungarian castle regiment of
infantry which Oskyerko led — they loved him greatly, and
he too is arrested; they are demanding him surely. As God
lives ! they are in order of battle. Lieutenant Stahovich is
with them ; he is a friend of Oskyerko."
At that moment the cries grew still louder.
" Ganhoff has ridden up. He is saying something to Sta¬
hovich, and what a shout! I see that Stahovich with two
officers is walking away from the troops. They are going of
course as a deputation to the hetman. As God is dear to me,
mutiny is spreading in the army! The cannon are pointed
against the Hungarians, and the Scottish regiment is also in
order of battle. Men from the Polish squadrons are gather¬
ing to the Hungarians. Without them they would not be so
daring, for in the infantry there is stern discipline."
" In God's name !" cried Zagloba. " In that is salvation
for us. Pan Michael, are there many Polish squadrons ?
If they rise, it will be a rising!"
" Stankyevich's hussars and Mirski's mailed squadrons
are two days' march from Kyedani," answered Yolodyovski.
" If they had been here, the hetman would not have dared
to arrest their commanders. Wait! There are Kharlamp's
dragoons, one regiment, Myeleshko's another; they are for
the prince. Nyevyarovski declared also for the prince, but
his regiment is far away, — two Scottish regiments."
" Then there are four with the prince ? "
" And the artillery under Korf, two regiments."
" Oh, that's a strong force !"
" And Kmita's squadron, well equipped, — six hundred
men."
" And on whose side is Kmita ? "
" I do not know."
" Hid you not see him ? Hid he throw down his baton ? "
"We know not."
" Who are against the prince, — what squadrons ? "
"First, these Hungarians evidently, two hundred men;
then a number of detached men from the commands of Mir-
TIIE DELUGE.
245
ski and Stankyevicli; some nobles and Kmita,—but he is
uncertain."
" God grant him ! — By God's mercy ! — Too few, too few."
"These Hungarians are as good as two regiments, old
soldiers and tried. But wait! They are lighting the
matches at the cannon ; it looks like a battle !"
Yan and Stanislav were silent; Zagloba was writhing as
in a fever, —
" Slay the traitors ! Slay the dog-brothers ! Ai, Kmita!
Kmita ! All depends on him. Is he daring ? "
" As the devil, — ready for anything."
" It must be that he will take our side."
" Mutiny in the army ! See to what the hetman has
brought things ! " cried Yolodyovski.
" Who is the mutineer, — the army, or the hetman who
rose against his own king ? " asked Zagloba.
" God will judge that. Wait! Again there is a move¬
ment ! Some of Kharlamp's dragoons take the part of the
Hungarians. The very best nobles serve in that regiment.
Hear how they shout! "
" The colonels ! the colonels ! " cried threatening voices
in the yard.
"Pan Michael! by the wounds of God, cry to them to
send for your squadron and for the armored regiment and
the hussars."
" Be silent! "
Zagloba began to shout himself : " But send for the rest
of the Polish squadrons, and cut down the traitors ! "
" Be silent there ! "
Suddenly, not in the yard, but in the rear of the castle,
rang forth a sharp salvo of muskets.
"Jesus Mary ! " cried Volodyovski.
" Pan Michael, what is that ? "
"Beyond doubt they have shot Stahovich and the two
officers who went as a deputation," said Yolodyovski,
feverishly. " It cannot be otherwise ! "
" By the passion of our Lord ! Then there is no mercy.
It is impossible to hope."
The thunder of shots drowned further discourse. Pan
Michael grasped the grating convulsively and pressed his
forehead to it, but for a while he could see nothing except
the legs of the Scottish infantry stationed at the window.
Salvos of musketry grew more and more frequent; at last
the cannon were heard. The dry knocking of bullets
246
THE DELUGE.
against the wall over the cellar was heard distinctly, like
hail. The castle trembled to its foundation.
"Jump down, Michael, or yon will be killed!" cried
Yan.
" By no means. The balls go higher; and from the
cannon they are firing in the other direction. I will not
jump down for anything."
And Volodyovski, seizing the grating more firmly, drew
himself entirely to the window-sill, where he did not need
the shoulder of Pan Yan to hold him. In the cellar it
became really dark, for the window was small and Pan
Michael though slender filled it completely; but as a rec¬
ompense the men below had fresh news from the field of
battle every minute.
" I see now !" cried Pan Michael. " The Hungarians are
resting against the wall and are firing. I was afraid that
they would be forced to a corner, then the cannon would
destroy them in a moment. Good soldiers, as God is
dear to me ! Without officers, they know what is needed.
There is smoke again ! I see nothing — "
The firing began to slacken.
" O merciful God, delay not thy punishment!" cried
Zagloba.
" And what, Michael ? " asked Yan.
" The Scots are advancing to the attack !"
" Oh, brimstone thunderbolts, that we must sit here!"
cried Stanislav.
"They are there already, the halberd-men! The Hun¬
garians meet them with the sabre ! Oh, my God! that you
cannot look on. What soldiers ! "
" Fighting with their OAvn and not with an enemy."
" The Hungarians have the upper hand. The Scots are
falling back on the left. As I love God! Myeleshko's
dragoons are going over to them! The Scots are between
two fires. Korf cannot use his cannon, for he would strike
the Scots. I see Ganhoff uniforms among the Hungarians.
They are going to attack the gate. They wish to escape.
They are advancing like a storm, — breaking everything!"
" How is that ? I wish they would capture this castle !"
cried Zagloba.
" Never mind! They will come back to-morrow with the
squadrons of Mirski and Stankyevich — Oh, Kharlamp is
killed! No ! He rises; he is wounded —they are already
at the gate. What is that ? Just as if the Scottish guard
THE DELUGE
247
at the gate were coming over to the Hungarians, for they
are opening the gate, — dust is rising on the outside I see
Kmita ! Kmita is rushing through the gate with cavalry ! "
" On whose side is lie, on whose side ?" cried Zagloba.
For a moment Pan Michael gave no answer; but very
soon the clatter of weapons, shrieks, and shouts were
heard with redoubled force.
"It is all over with them!" cried Pan Michael, with a
shrill voice.
" All over with whom, with whom ? "
"With the Hungarians. The cavalry has broken them,
is trampling them, cutting them to pieces ! Their flag is in
Kmita's hand ! The end, the end ! "
When he had said this, Yolodyovski dropped from the
window and fell into the arms of Pan Yan.
"Kill me !" cried he, "kill me, for I had that man under
my sabre and let him go with his life; I gave him his com¬
mission. Through me he assembled that squadron with
which he will fight now against the country. I saw whom
he got: dog-brothers, gallows-birds, robbers, ruffians, such
as he is himself. God grant me to meet him once more
with the sabre — 0 God ! lengthen my life to the death of
that traitor, for I swear that he will not leave my hands
again."
Meanwhile cries, the trample of hoofs, and salvos of mus¬
ketry were thundering yet with full force; after a time,
however, they began to weaken, and an hour later silence
reigned in the castle of Kyedani, broken only by the meas¬
ured tread of the Scottish patrols and words of command.
" Pan Michael, look out once more and see what has
happened," begged Zagloba.
" What for ?" asked the little knight. " Whoso is a
soldier will guess what has happened. Besides, I saw them
beaten, — Kmita triumphs here !"
"God give him to be torn with horses, the scoundrel,
the hell-dweller! God give him to guard a harem for
Tartars ! "
248
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XVII.
Pan Michael was right. Kmita had triumphed. The
Hungarians and a part of the dragoons of Myeleshko and
Kharlamp who had joined them, lay dead close together in
the court of Kyedani. Barely a few tens of them had
slipped out and scattered around the castle and the town,
where the cavalry pursued them. Many were caught; others
never stopped of a certainty till they reached the camp of
Sapyeha, voevoda of Vityebsk, to whom they were the first
to bring the terrible tidings of the grand hetman's treason,
of his desertion to the Swedes, of the imprisonment of the
colonels and the resistance of the Polish squadrons.
Meanwhile Kmita, covered with blood and dust, presented
himself with the banner of the Hungarians before Radzivill,
who received him with open arms. But Pan Andrei was
not delighted with the victory. He was as gloomy and
sullen as if he had acted against his heart.
"Your highness," said he, "I do not like to hear praises,
and would rather a hundred times fight the enemy than
soldiers who might be of service to the country. It seems
to a man as if he were spilling his own blood."
"Who is to blame, if not those insurgents?" answered
the prince. " I too would prefer to send them to Yilna, and
I intended to do so. But they chose to rebel against
authority. What has happened will not be undone. It
was and it will be needful to give an example."
" What does your highness think of doing with the
prisoners ? "
"A ball in the forehead of every tenth man. Dispose
the rest among other regiments. You will go to-day to the
squadrons of Mirski and Stankyevich, announce my order to
them to be ready for the campaign. I make you commander
over those two squadrons, and over the third, that of Volo-
dyovski. The lieutenants are to be subordinate to you and
obey you in everything. I wished to send Kharlamp to
that squadron at first, but he is useless. I have changed
my mind."
" What shall I do in case of resistance ? For with
Volodyovski are Lauda men who hate me terribly."
THE DELUGE.
249
_" Announce that Mirski, Stankyevicli, and Yolodyovski
will be shot immediately."
" Then they may come in arms to Kyedani to rescue
these officers. All serving under Mirski are distinguished
nobles."
"Take a regiment of Scottish infantry and a German
regiment. First surround them, then announce the order."
" Such is the will of your highness."
Kadzivill rested his hands on his knees and fell to
thinking.
" I would gladly shoot Mirski and Stankyevicli were they
not respected in the whole country as well as in their own
regiments. I fear tumult and open rebellion, an example of
which we have just had before our eyes. I am glad,
thanks to you, that they have received a good lesson, and
each squadron will think twice before rising against us.
But it is imperative to act swiftly, so that resisting men
may not go to the voevoda of Vityebsk."
"Your highness has spoken only of Mirski and Stankye¬
vicli, you have not mentioned Yolodyovski and Oskyerko."
" I must spare Oskyerko, too, for he is a man of note and
widely related; but Yolodyovski comes from Bussia1 and
has no relatives here. He is a valiant soldier, it is true.
I counted on him, — so much the worse that I was deceived.
If the devil had not brought hither those wanderers his
friends, he might have acted differently ; but after what has
happened, a bullet in the forehead waits him, as well as
those two Skshetuskis and that third fellow, that bull who
began first to bellow, " Traitor, traitor !'"
Ban Andrei sprang up as if burned with iron: "Your
highness, the soldiers say that Yolodyovski saved your
life at Tsibyhova."
" He did his duty; therefore I wanted to give him Dyd-
kyemie for life. How he has betrayed me ; hence I give
command to shoot him."
Kmita's eyes flashed, and his nostrils began to quiver.
"Your highness, that cannot be ! "
" How cannot be ? " asked Kadzivill, frowning.
"I implore your highness," said Kmita, carried away,
"that not a hair fall from Volodyovski. Forgive me, I
implore. Yolodyovski had the power not to deliver to me
the commission, for it was sent to him and left at his
1 Yolodyovski was from the Ukraine.
250
THE DELUGE.
disposal. But he gave it. He plucked me out of the
whirlpool. Through that act of his I passed into the
jurisdiction of your highness. He did not hesitate to save
me, though he and I were trying to win the same woman.
I owe him gratitude, and I have vowed to repay him. Your
highness, grant for my sake that no punishment touch him
or his friends. A hair should not fall from the head of
either of them, and as God is true, it will not fall while I
live. I implore your highness."
Pan Andrei entreated and clasped his hands, but his
words were ringing with anger, threats, and indignation.
His unrestrained nature gained the upper hand, and he
stood above Radzivill with flashing eyes and a visage like
the head of an angry bird of prey. The hetman too had a
storm in his face. Before his iron will and despotism
everything hitherto in Lithuania and Russia had bent.
No one had ever dared to oppose him, no one to beg mercy
for those once condemned; but now Kmita's entreating was
merely for show, in reality he presented demands ; and the
position was such that it was impossible to refuse him.
At the very beginning of his career of treason, the despot
felt that he would have to yield more than once to the des¬
potism of men and circumstances, and would be dependent
on adherents of far less importance than this one; that
Kmita, whom he wished to turn into a faithful dog, would
be rather a captive wolf, ready when angry to bite its
master's hand.
All this roused the proud blood of Radzivill. He resolved
to resist, for his inborn terrible vengefulness urged him to
that.
" Volodyovski and the other three must lose their heads,"
said he, with a loud voice.
But to speak thus was to throw powder on fire.
"If I had not dispersed the Hungarians, these are not
the men who had lost their heads," shouted Kmita.
" How is this ? Are you renouncing my service already ? "
asked the hetman, threateningly.
"Your highness," answered Pan Andrei, with passion,
" I am not renouncing ; I am begging, imploring. But the
harm will not happen. These men are famous in all Poland.
It cannot be, it cannot be! I will not be a Judas to
Volodyovski. I will follow your highness into fire, but
refuse not this favor."
" But if I refuse ? "
THE DELUGE.
251
Then £pve command to slioot me ^ I aauII not li\re ! May
thunderbolts split me ! May devils take me living to hell!"
"Remember, unfortunate, before whom you are speaking."
"Bring me not to desperation, your highness."
"To a prayer I may give ear, but a threat I will not
consider."
" I beg, — I implore." Here Pan Andrei threw himself
on his knees. "Permit me, your highness, to serve you
not from constraint, but with my heart, or I shall go mad."
Radzivill said nothing. Kmita was kneeling ; pallor and
flushes chased each other like lightning gleams over his
face. It was clear that a moment more and he would burst
forth in terrible fashion.
" Rise ! " said Radzivill.
Pan Andrei rose.
" To defend a friend you are able. I have the test that
you will also be able to defend me and will never desert.
But God made you of nitre, not of flesh, and have a care
that you run not to fluid. I cannot refuse you anything.
Listen to me : Stankyevich, Mirski, and Oskyerko I will send
to the Swedes at Birji; let the two Skshetuskis and Volo-
dyovski go with them. The Swedes will not tear off their
heads there, and it is better that they sit out the Avar in
quiet."
" I thank your highness, my father," cried Andrei.
"AVait," said the prince. "I have respected your oath
already too much; now respect mine. I have recorded
death in my soul to that old noble, — I have forgotten his
name,—that belloAving devil Avho came here with Skshe-
tuski. He is the man Avho first called me traitor. He
mentioned a bribe ; he urged on the others, and perhaps
there Avould not have been such opposition Avithout his
insolence." Here the prince struck the table Avith his
fist. "I should have expected death sooner, and the end
of the world sooner, than that any one Avould dare to shout
at me, Radzivill, to my face, 'Traitor!' In presence of
people! There is not a death, there are not torments
befitting such a crime. Do not beg me for him; it is
useless."
But Pan Andrei Avas not easily discouraged when once
lie undertook a thing. He Avas not angry now, nor did he
blaze forth. But seizing again the hand of the hetman,
he began to cover it Avith kisses and to entreat with all the
earnestness in his soul, —
252
THE DELUGE.
"With no rope or chain coulcl your highness bind my
heart as with this favor. Only do it not lialf-way nor in
part, but completely. That noble said yesterday what all
thought. I myself thought the same till you opened my
eyes, — may fire consume me, if I did not! A man is not to
blame for being unwise. That noble was so drunk that
what he had on his heart he shouted forth. He thought
that he was defending the country, and it is hard to punish
a man for love of country. He knew that he was exposing
his life, and shouted what he had 011 his mind. He neither
warms nor freezes me, but he is to Pan Volodyovski as a
brother, or quite as a father. Volodyovski would mourn
for him beyond measure, and I do not want that. Such is
the nature within me, that if I wish good to a man I would
give my soul for him. If any one has spared me, but killed
my friend, may the devil take him for such a favor ! Your
highness, my father, benefactor, do a perfect kindness, —
give me this noble, and I will give you all my blood, even
tomorrow, this day, this moment!"
Radzivill gnawed his mustaches. " I determined death
to him yesterday in my soul."
"What the hetman and voevoda of Vilna determined,
that can the Grand Prince of Lithuania and, God grant in
the future, the King of Poland, as a gracious monarch,
efface."
Pan Andrei spoke sincerely what he felt and thought;
but had he been the most adroit of courtiers he could not
have found a more powerful argument in defence of his
friends. The proud face of the magnate grew bright at the
sound of those titles which he did not possess yet, and he
said, —
"You have so understood me that I can refuse you
nothing. They will all go to Birji. Let them expiate
their faults with the Swedes; and when that has happened
of which you have spoken, ask for them a new favor."
"As true as life, I will ask, and may God grant as quickly
as possible !" said Kmita.
" Go now, and bear the good news to them."
" The news is good for me, not for them; and surely they'
will not receive it with gratitude, especially since they did
not suspect what threatened them. I will not go, your
highness, for it would seem as if I were hurrying to boast
of my intercession."
" Do as you please about that, but lose no time in bring-
THE DELUGE.
253
ing the squadrons of Mirski and Stankyevich; immediately
after there will be another expedition for you, from which
surely you will not flee."
" What is that ? "
"You will go to ask on my behalf Pan Billevich, the
sword-bearer of Rossyeni, to come to me here at Kyedani,
with his niece, and stay during the war. Do you under¬
stand ? "
Kmita was confused. " He will not be ready to do that.
He went from Kyedani in a great rage."
" I think that the rage has left him already. In every
case take men, and if they will not come of their own will
put them in a carriage, surround it with dragoons, and bring
them. He was as soft as wax when I spoke with him ; he
blushed like a maiden and bowed to the floor, but he was
as frightened at the name of the Swedes as the devil is at
holy water, and went away. I want him here for myself
and for you ; I hope to form out of that wax a candle that
I can light when I like and for whom I like. It will be
all the better if it happens so ; but if not, I will have a
hostage. The Billeviclies are very powerful in Jmud, for
they are related to almost all the nobles. When I have one
of them in my hands, and that one the eldest, the others
will think twice before they undertake anything against
me. Furthermore, behind them and your maiden are all
that throng of Lauda men, who, if they were to go to the
camp of the voevoda of Vityebsk, would be received by him
with open arms. That is an important affair, so important
that I think to begin with the Billeviclies."
" In Yolodyovski's squadron are Lauda men only."
"The guardians of your maiden. If that is true, begin
by conveying her to Kyedani. Only listen : I will undertake
to bring the sword-bearer to our side, but do you win the
maiden as you can. When I bring over the sword-bearer,
he will help you with the girl. If she is willing, I will have
the wedding for you at once. If not, take her to the altar
without ceremony. When the storm is over, all will be well.
That is the best method with women. She will weep, she
will despair, when they drag her to the altar; but next day
she will think that the devil is not so terrible as they
paint him, and the third day she will be glad. How did
you part from her yesterday ? "
" As if she had given me a slap in the face."
" What did she say ? "
254
THE DELUGE.
"She called me a traitor. I was almost struck with
paralysis."
" Is she so furious ? When you are her husband, tell
her that a distaff is fitter for her than public affairs, and
hold her tight."
"Your highness does not know her. She must have a
thing either virtue or vice; according to that she judges,
and more than one man might envy her her mind. Before
you can look around she has struck the point."
" She has struck you to the heart. Try to strike her in
like manner."
" If God would grant that, your highness ! Once I took
her with armed hand, but afterward I vowed to do so no
more. And something tells me that were I to take her by
force to the altar it would not be to my heart, for I have
promised her and myself not to use force again. If her
uncle is convinced he will convince her, and then she will
look on me differently. Now I will go to Billeviche and
bring them both here, for I am afraid that she may take
refuge in some cloister. But I tell your highness the
pure truth, that though it is a great happiness for me to
look on that maiden, I would rather attack the whole
Swedish power than stand before her at present, for she
does not know my honest intentions and holds me a
traitor."
" If you wish I will send another, — Kharlamp or
Myeleshko."
"No, I would rather go myself; besides, Kharlamp is
wounded."
" That is better. I wanted to send Kharlamp yesterday
to Yolodyovski's squadron to take command, and if need be
force it to obedience; but he is an awkward fellow, and it
turns out that he knows not how to hold his own men. I
have no service for him. Go first for the sword-bearer and
the maiden, and then to those squadrons. In an extreme
case do not spare blood, for we must show the Swedes that
we have powrer and are not afraid of rebellion. I will send
the colonels away at once under escort; I hope that Pontus
de la Gardie will consider this a proof of my sincerity.
Myeleshko will take them. The beginning is difficult.
I see that half Lithuania will ris. against me."
"That is nothing, your highness. YVhoso has a clean
conscience fears no man."
" I thought that all the Radzivills at least would be on
THE DELUGE.
255
my side, but see what Prince Michael writes from
Nyesvyej."
Here the hetman gave Kmita the letter of Kazimir
Michael. Pan Andrei cast his eyes over the letter.
" If I knew not the intentions of your highness I should
think him right, and the most virtuous man in the world.
God give him everything good! He speaks what he
thinks."
" Set out now! " said the prince, with a certain impatience.
256
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Kmita, however, did not start that day, nor the follow¬
ing, for threatening news began to arrive at Kyedani from
every side. Toward evening a courier rushed in with
tidings that Mirski's squadron and Stankyevich's also were
marching to the hetman's residence, prepared to demand
with armed hand their colonels; that there was terrible
agitation among them, and that the officers had sent
deputations to all the squadrons posted near Kyedani, and
farther on to Podlyasye and Zabludovo, with news of the
hetman's treason, and with a summons to unite in defence of
the country. From this it was easy to see that multitudes
of nobles would fly to the insurgent squadrons and form
an important force, which it would be difficult to resist
in unfortified Kyedani, especially since not every regiment
which Radzivill had at hand could be relied on with
certainty.
This changed all the calculations and plans of the
hetman; but instead of weakening, it seemed to rouse his
courage still more. He determined to move at the head
of his faithful Scottish regiments, cavalry and artillery,
against the insurgents, and stamp out the fire at its birth.
He knew that the soldiers without colonels were simply an *
unorganized throng, that would scatter from terror at the
mere name of the hetman. He determined also not to
spare blood, and to terrify with examples the whole army,
all the nobles, nay, all Lithuania, so that it should not dare
even to tremble beneath his iron hand. Everything that
he had planned must be accomplished, and accomplished
with his own forces.
That very day a number of foreign officers went to
Prussia to make new enlistments, and Kyedani was
swarming with armed men. The Scottish regiments,
the foreign cavalry, the dragoons of Myeleshko and
Kharlamp, with the " fire people" of Pan Korf, were
preparing for the campaign. The prince's haiduks, his
servants, and the citizens of Kyedani were obliged to
increase the military forces; and it was determined to
hasten the transfer of the prisoners to Birji, where it would
THE DELUGE.
257
be safer to keep them than in exposed Kyedani. The prince
hoped with reason that to transport the colonels to a remote
fortress, in which, according to treaty, there must be a
Swedish garrison already, would destroy in the minds of the
rebellious soldiers all hope of rescuing them, and deprive
the rebellion itself of every basis. Pan Zagloba, the
Skshetuskis, and Yolodyovski were to share the lot of the
others.
It was already evening when an officer with lantern
in hand entered the cellar in which they were, and said, —
" Prepare, gentlemen, to follow me."
" Whither ? " asked Zagloba, with a voice of alarm.
" That will be seen. Hurry, hurry ! "
" We come."
They went out. In the corridor Scottish soldiers armed
with muskets surrounded them. Zagloba grew more and
more alarmed.
" Still they would not lead us to death without a priest,
without confession," whispered he in the ear of Yolodyovski.
Then he turned to the officer: " What is your rank, I
pray ? "
" What is my rank to you ? "
" I have many relatives in Lithuania, and it is pleasant
to know with whom one has to do."
"No time for inquiries, but he is a fool who is ashamed
of his name. I am Roh Kovalski, if you wish to know."
" That is an honorable stock! The men are good
soldiers, the women are virtuous. My grandmother was a
Kovalski, but she made an orphan of me before I came to
the world. Are you from the Vyerush, or the Korab
Kovalskis ? "
"Do you want to examine me as a witness, in the
night ? "
" Oh, I do this because you are surely a relative of mine,
for we have the same build. You have large bones and
shoulders, just like mine, and I got my form from my
grandmother."
" Well, we can talk about that on the road. We shall
have time!"
" On the road ? " said Zagloba; and a great weight fell
from his breast. He breathed like a bellows, and gained
courage at once.
"Pan Michael," whispered he, "did I not say that they
would not cut our heads off ? "
VOL. I. —17
258
THE DELUGE.
Meanwhile they had reached the courtyard. Night had
fallen completely. In places red torches were burning or
lanterns gleaming, throwing an uncertain light on groups of
soldiers, horse and foot, of various arms. The whole court
was crowded with troops. Clearly they were ready to march,
for a great movement was manifest on all sides. Here and
there in the darkness gleamed lances and gun-barrels; horses'
hoofs clattered on the pavement; single horsemen hur¬
ried between the squadrons, — undoubtedly officers giving
commands.
Kovalski stopped the convoy and the prisoners before an
enormous wagon drawn by four horses, and having a box
made as it were of ladders.
" Take your places, gentlemen," said he.
" Some one is sitting there already," said Zagloba, clam¬
bering up. "But our packs ?"
" They are under the straw," said Kovalski; " hurry,
hurry! "
" But who are sitting here ? " asked Zagloba, looking at
dark figures stretched on the straw.
" Mirski, Stankyevich, Oskyerko," answered voices.
" Volodyovski, Yan and Stanislav Skshetuski, and Za¬
globa," answered our knights.
" With the forehead, with the forehead ! "
"With the forehead! We are travelling in honorable
company. And whither are they taking us, do you know,
gentlemen ? "
"You are going to Birji," said Kovalski.
When he said this, he gave the command. A convoy
of fifty dragoons surrounded the wagon and moved on.
The prisoners began to converse in a low voice.
" They will give us to the Swedes," said Mirski; " I ex¬
pected that."
" I would rather sit among enemies than traitors," an¬
swered Stankyevich.
" And I would rather have a bullet in my forehead," said
Volodyovski, " than sit with folded arms during such an
unfortunate war."
"Do not blaspheme, Michael," answered Zagloba, "for
from the wagon, should a convenient moment come, you
may give a plunge, and from Birji also; but it is hard to
escape with a bullet in the forehead. I foresaw that that
traitor would not dare to put bullets in our heads."
" Is there a thing which Iladzivill does not dare to do ? "
THE DELUGE.
259
asked Mirski. " It is clear that you have come from afar
and know him not. On whomsoever he has sworn vengeance,
that man is as good as in the grave ; and I remember no in¬
stance of his forgiving any one the slightest offence."
" But still he did not dare to raise hands on me !" an¬
swered Zagloba. " Who knows if you have not to thank me
for your lives ? "
" And how ? "
" Because the Khan loves me wonderfully, for I discovered
a conspiracy against his life when I was a captive in the
Crimea. And our gracious king, Yan Kazimir, loves me
too. Radzivill, the son of a such a one, did not wish to break
with two such potentates; for they might reach him, even
in Lithuania."
" Ah ! what are you saying ? He hates the king as the
devil does holy water, and would be still more envenomed
against you did he know you to be a confidant of the king,"
observed Stankyevich.
" I think this," said Oskyerko. " To avoid odium the
hetman would not stain himself with our blood, but I
could swear that this officer is bearing an order to the
Swedes in Birji to shoot us on the spot."
" Oi!" exclaimed Zagloba.
They were silent for a moment; meanwhile the wagon
had rolled into the square of Kyedani. The town was
sleeping, there were no lights in the windows, only
the dogs before the houses snapped angrily at the passing
party.
"Well," said Zagloba, "we have gained time anyhow,
and perhaps a chance will serve us, and some stratagem may
come to my head." Here he turned to the old colonels:
"Gentlemen, you know me little, but ask my comrades
about the hot places in which I have been, and from which
I have always escaped. Tell me, what kind of officer is
this who commands the convoy ? Could he be persuaded
not to adhere to a traitor, but take the side of his country
and join us ? "
" That is Roh Kovalski of the Korab Kovalskis," an¬
swered Oskyerko.
" I know him. You might as well persuade his horse as
him; for as God is bountiful I know not which is more
stupid."
" But why did they make him officer ? "
" He carried the banner with Myeleshko's dragoons; for
260
THE DELUGE.
this no wit is needed. But he was made officer because his
fist pleased the prince; for he breaks horseshoes, wrestles
with tame bears, and the man has not yet been discovered
whom he cannot bring to the earth."
" Has he such strength ? "
" That he has such strength is true ; but were his superior
to order him to batter down a wall with his head he would
fall to battering it without a moment's delay. He is ordered
to take us to Birji, and he will take us, even if the earth had
to sink."
" 'Pon my word," said Zagloba, who listened to this con¬
versation with great attention, " he is a resolute fellow."
"Yes, but with him resolution consists in stupidity alone.
When he has time, and is not eating, he is sleeping. It is
an astonishing thing, which you will not believe; but once
he slept forty-eight hours in the barracks, and yawned when
they dragged him from the plank bed."
" This officer pleases me greatly," said Zagloba, " for I
always like to know with whom I have to do."
When he had said this he turned to Kovalski. " But
come this way, please !" cried he, in a patronizing tone.
" What is it ? " asked Kovalski, turning his horse.
" Have you gorailka ? "
"I have."
" Give it!"
" How give it ? "
"You know, gracious Kovalski, if it were not permitted
you would have had an order not to give it; but since you
have not an order, give it."
" Ah," said Kovalski, astonished, " as I live ! but that is
like forcing."
" Forcing or not forcing, it is permitted you; and it is
proper to assist a blood relative and an older man, who, if
he had married your mother, might have been your father
as easily as wink."
" What relative are you of mine ? "
" I am, for there are two stocks of Kovalskis, — they
who use the seal of Vyerush and have a goat painted on
their shield, with upraised hind leg; and they who have on
their shield the ship in which their ancestor Kovalski sailed
from England across the sea to Poland; and these are my
relatives, through my grandmother, and this is why I, too,
have the ship on my shield."
" As God lives ! you are my relative."
THE DELUGE.
261
" Are you a Korab (ship) ? "
" A Korab."
" My own blood, as God is dear to me !" cried Zagloba.
"It is lucky that we have met, for in very truth I have come
here to Lithuania to see the Kovalskis ; and though I am
in bonds while you are on horseback and in freedom I
would gladly embrace you, for what is one's own is one's
own."
" How can I help you ? They commanded me to take
you to Birji; I will take you. Blood is blood, but service
is service."
"Call me Uncle," said Zagloba.
" Here is gorailka for you, Uncle," said Kovalski; " I can
do that much."
Zagloba took the flask gladly, and drank to his liking.
Soon a pleasant warmth spread through his members.
It began to grow clear in his brain, and his mind became
bright.
" Come clown from the horse," said he to Kovalski, " and
sit here a short time in the wagon; let us talk, for I should
like to have you say something about our family. I respect
service, but this too is permitted."
Kovalski did not answer for a while.
" This was not forbidden," said he, at last.
Soon after he was sitting at the side of Zagloba, and
stretched himself gladly on the straw with which the wagon
was filled.
Zagloba embraced him heartily.
" How is the health of thy old father ?— God help me, —
I've forgotten his name."
" Roh, also."
" That's right, that's right. Roh begat Roh, — that is
according to command. You must call your son Roh as
well, so that every hoopoo may have his topknot. But are
you married ? "
" Of course! I am Kovalski, and here is Pani Kovalski;
I don't want any other."
So saying, the young officer raised to the eyes of Zagloba
the hilt of a heavy dragoon sabre, and repeated, " I don't
want any other."
" Proper ! " said Zagloba. " Roh, son of Roh, you are
greatly pleasing to me. A soldier is best accommodated
when he has no wife save such a one, and I will say more, —
she will be a widow before you will be a widower. The
262
THE DELUGE.
only pity is that you cannot have young Eohs by her, for I
see that you are a keen cavalier, and it would be a sin were
such a stock to die out."
" Oh, no fear of that! " said Kovalski; " there are six
brothers of us."
"And all Eohs?"
"Does Uncle know that if not the first, then the second,
has to be Eoh ? — for Eoh is our special patron."
" Let us drink again."
" Very well."
Zagloba raised the bottle ; he did not drink all, however,
but gave it to the officer and said, " To the bottom, to the
bottom ! It is a pity that I cannot see you," continued he.
" The night is so dark that you might hit a man in the face,
you would not know your own fingers by sight. But hear
me, Eoh, where was that army going from Kyedani when
we drove out ? "
" Against the insurgents."
" The Most High God knows who is insurgent, — you or
they."
" I an insurgent ? How could that be ? I do what my
hetman commands."
" But the hetman does not do what the king commands,
for surely the king did not command him to join the
Swedes. Would you not rather slay the Swedes than give
me, your relative, into their hands ? "
" I might; but for every command there is obedience."
"And Pani Kovalski would rather slay Swedes ; I know
her. Speaking between us, the hetman has rebelled against
the king and the country. Don't say this to any one, but
it is so; and those who serve him are rebels too."
" It is not proper for me to hear this. The hetman has
his superior, and I have mine ; what is his own belongs to
the hetman, and God would punish me if I were to oppose
him. That is an unheard of thing."
" You speak honestly; but think, Eoh, if you were to
happen into the hands of those insurgents, I should be free,
and it would be no fault of yours, for nec Hercules contra
plures ! — I do not know where those squadrons are, but
you must know, and you see we might turn toward them a
little."
" How is that ? "
" As if we went by chance to them ? It would not be
your fault if they rescued us. You would not have me on
THE DELUGE.
263
your conscience, — and to have a relative on a man's con¬
science, believe me, is a terrible burden."
" Oh Uncle, what are you saying ! As God lives, I will
leave the wagon and sit on my horse. It is not I who will
have uncle on my conscience, but the hetman. While I
live, nothing will come of this talk."
" Nothing is nothing ! " said Zagloba; " I prefer that you
speak sincerely, though I was your uncle before Radzivill
was your hetman. And do you know, Roh, what an uncle
is ? "
" An uncle is an uncle."
" You have calculated very adroitly; but when a man has
no father, the Scriptures say that he must obey his uncle.
The power of an uncle is as that of a father, which it is a
sin to resist. For consider even this, that whoever marries
may easily become a father; but in your uncle flows the
same blood as in your mother. I am not in truth the
brother of your mother, but my grandmother must have
been your grandmother's aunt. Know then that the author¬
ity of several generations rests in me ; for like everything
else in the world we are mortal, therefore authority passes
from one of us to another, and neither the hetman nor the
king can ignore it, nor force any one to oppose it. It is
sacred! Has the full hetman or even the grand hetman
the right to command not merely a noble or an officer, but
any kind of camp-follower, to rise up against his father,
his mother, his grandfather, or his blind old grandmother ?
Answer me that, Roh. Has he the right ? "
" What ? " asked Kovalski, with a sleepy voice.
" Against his blind old grandmother ! " repeated Zagloba.
" Who in that case would be willing to marry and beget
children, or wait for grandchildren ? Answer me that,
Roh."
" I am Kovalski, and this is Pani Kovalski," said the
still sleepier officer.
"If it is your wish, let it be so," answered Zagloba.
" Better indeed that you have no children, there will be
fewer fools to storm around in the world. Is it not true,
Roh ? "
Zagloba held down his ear, but heard nothing, — no an¬
swer now.
" Roh ! Roh!" called he, in a low voice.
Kovalski was sleeping like a dead man.
" Are you sleeping ? " muttered Zagloba. " Wait a bit —
264
THE DELUGE.
I will take this iron pot off your head, for it is of no use
to you. This cloak is too tight at the throat; it might
cause apoplexy. What sort of relative were I, did I not
save you ? "
Here Zagloba's hands began to move lightly about the
head and neck of Kovalski. In the wagon all were in a
deep sleep; the soldiers too nodded in the saddles ; some
in front were singing in a low voice, while looking out the
road carefully, — for the night, though not rainy, was ex¬
ceedingly dark.
After a time, however, the soldier leading Kovalski's
horse behind the wagon saw in the darkness the cloak and
bright helmet of his officer. Kovalski, without stopping
the wagon, slipped out and nodded to give him the horse.
In a moment he mounted.
" Pan Commandant, where shall we stop to feed ?"
asked the sergeant, approaching him.
Pan Roh gave no word in reply, but moving forward
passed slowly those riding in front and vanished in the
darkness. Soon there came to the ears of the dragoons the
quick tramp of a horse.
" The commandant has gone at a gallop ! " said they to
one another. " Surely he wants to look around to see if
there is some public house near by. It is time to feed the
horses, — time."
A half-hour passed, an hour, two hours, and Pan Koval¬
ski seemed to be ahead all the time, for somehow he was
not visible. The horses grew very tired, especially those
drawing the wagon, and began to drag on slowly. The
stars were leaving the sky.
" Gallop to the commandant," said the sergeant; " tell
him the horses are barely able to drag along, and the wagon
horses are tired."
One of the soldiers moved ahead, but after an hour re¬
turned alone.
" There is neither trace nor ashes of the commandant,"
said the soldier; " he must have ridden five miles
ahead."
The soldiers began to grumble.
"It is well for him he slept through the day, and just
now on the wagon; but do thou, soldier, pound through the
night with the last breath of thy horse and thyself!"
" There is an inn eighty rods distant," said the soldier
who had ridden ahead. " I thought to find him there, but
THE DELUGE.
265
no! I listened, trying to hear the horse — Nothing to
be heard. The devil knows where he is ! "
" We will stop at the inn anyhow," said the sergeant.
"We must let the horses rest."
In fact they halted before the inn. The soldiers dis¬
mounted. Some went to knock at the door; others untied
bundles of hay, hanging at the saddles, to feed the horses
even from their hands.
The prisoners woke when the movement of the wagon
ceased.
" But where are we going ? " asked old Stankyevich.
"I cannot tell in the night," answered Volodyovski,
"especially as we are not going to Upita."
" But does not the road from Kyedani to Birji lie through
Upita?" asked Pan Yan.
"It does. But in Upita is my squadron, which clearly
the prince fears may resist, therefore he ordered Kovalski
to take another road. Just outside Kyedani we turned to
Dalnovo and Kroki; from the second place we shall go
surely through Beysagoli and Shavli. It is a little out of
the way, but Upita and Ponyevyej will remain at the right.
On this road there are no squadrons, for all that were
there were brought to Kyedani, so as to have them at
hand."
" But Pan Zagloba," said Stankyevich, " instead of
thinking of stratagems, as he promised, is sleeping sweetly,
and snoring."
" Let him sleep. It is clear that he was wearied from
talk with that stupid commandant, relationship with whom
he confessed. It is evident that he wanted to capture him,
but with no result. Whoso would not leave Badzivill for
his country, will surely not leave him for a distant relative."
" Are they really relatives ? " asked Oskyerko.
" They ? They are as much relatives as you and I," an¬
swered Volodyovski. "When Zagloba spoke of their com¬
mon escutcheon, I knew it was not true, for I know well
that his is called wczele (in the forehead)."
" And where is Pan Kovalski ? "
" He must be with the soldiers or in the inn."
" I should like to ask him to let me sit on some soldier's
horse," said Mirski, " for my bones are benumbed."
" He will not grant that," said Stankyevich ; " for the
night is dark, you could easily put spurs to the horse, and
be off. Who could overtake ? "
266
THE DELUGE.
" I will give him my word of honor not to attempt es¬
cape ; besides, dawn will begin directly."
"Soldier, where is the commandant ? " asked Yolodyov-
ski of a dragoon standing near.
" Who knows ? "
" How, who knows ? When I ask thee to call him,
call him."
"We know not ourselves, Colonel, where he is," said the
dragoon. " Since he crawled out of the wagon and rode
ahead, he has not come back."
"Tell him when he comes that we would speak with
him."
" As the Colonel wishes," answered the soldier.
The prisoners were silent. From time to time only loud
yawning was heard on the wagon; the horses were chewing
hay at one side. The soldiers around the wagon, resting
on the saddles, were dozing ; others talked in a low voice,
or refreshed themselves each with what he had, for it
turned out that the inn was deserted and tenantless.
The night had begun to grow pale. On its eastern side
the dark background of the sky was becoming slightly gray;
the stars, going out gradually, twinkled with an uncertain,
failing light. Then the roof of the inn became hoary; the
trees growing near it were edged with silver. The horses
and men seemed to rise out of the shade. After a while it
was possible to distinguish faces, and the yellow color of the
cloaks. The helmets began to reflect the morning gleam.
Yolodyovski opened his arms and stretched himself, yawn¬
ing from ear to ear ; then he looked at the sleeping Zagloba.
All at once he threw back his arms and shouted, —
" May the bullets strike him ! In God's name ! Gracious
gentlemen, look here ! "
" What has happened ?" asked the colonels, opening
their eyes.
" Look here, look here !" said Yolodyovski, pointing at
the sleeping form.
The prisoners turned their glances in the direction in¬
dicated, and amazement was reflected on every face. Under
the burka, and in the cap of Zagloba, slept, with the sleep
of the just, Pan Roh Kovalski; but Zagloba was not in the
wagon.
" He has escaped, as God is dear to me ! " said the aston¬
ished Mirski, looking around on every side, as if he did not
yet believe his own eyes.
THE DELUGE.
267
" Oh, he is a finished rogue ! May the hangman — "
cried Stankyevich.
" He took the helmet and yellow cloak of that fool, and
escaped on his horse."
" Vanished as if he had dropped into water."
" He said he would get away by stratagem."
" They will never see him again !"
" Gentlemen," said Volodyovski, with delight, " you know
not that man; and I swear to you to-day that he will rescue
us yet, — I know not how, when, with what means, — but I
swear that he will."
" God grant it! One cannot believe his eyesight," said
Pan Stanislav.
The soldiers now saw what had happened. An uproar
rose among them. One crowded ahead of the other to the
wagon, stared at their commandant, dressed in a camel's-
haii burka and lynx-skin cap, and sleeping soundly.
The sergeant began to shake him without ceremony.
" Commandant ! commandant !"
" I am Kovalski, and this is Pani Kovalski," muttered
Eoh.
" Commandant, a prisoner has fled."
Kovalski sat up in the wagon and opened his eyes.
" What ? "
" A prisoner has fled, — that bulky noble who was talking
with the commandant."
The officer came to his senses. " Impossible !" cried he,
with terrified voice. " How was it ? What happened ?
How did he escape ? "
" In the helmet and cloak of the commandant; the sol¬
diers did not know him, the night was dark."
" Where is my horse ? " cried Kovalski.
"The horse is gone. The noble fled on him."
" On my horse ? "
" Yes."
Kovalski seized himself by the head. "Jesus of Naza¬
reth! King of the Jews!"
After a while he shouted, " Give here that dog-faith,
that son of a such a one who gave him the horse!"
"Pan Commandant, the soldier is not to blame. The
night was dark, you might have struck a man in the face,
and he took your helmet and cloak; rode near me, and I
did not know him. If your grace had not sat in the wagon,
he could not have done it."
268
THE DELUGE.
" Kill me, kill me ! " cried the unfortunate officer.
" What is to be done ? "
"Kill him, catch him ! "
" That cannot be done in any way. He is on your horse,
— the best horse; ours are terribly road-weary. He fled
at the first cock-crow; we cannot overtake him."
" Hunt for a wind in the field !" said Stankyevich.
Kovalski, in a rage, turned to the prisoners. " You
helped him to escape ! I will — "
Here he balled his gigantic fist, and began to approach
them. Then Mirski said threateningly, " Shout not, and
remember that you are speaking to superiors."
Kovalski quivered, and straightened himself involunta¬
rily ; for really his dignity in presence of such a Mirski was
nothing, and all his prisoners were a head above him in
rank and significance.
Stankyevich added: "If you have been commanded to
take us, take us ; but raise no voice, for to-morrow you may
be under the command of any one of us."
Kovalski stared and was silent.
" There is no doubt you have fooled away your head, Pan
Roh," said Oskyerko. "To say, as you do, that we helped
him is nonsense; for, to begin with, we were sleeping, just
as you were, and secondly, each one would have helped
himself rather than another. But you have fooled away
your head. There is no one to blame here but you. I
would be the first to order you shot, since being an officer
you fell asleep like a badger, and allowed a prisoner to es¬
cape in your own helmet and cloak, nay, on your own horse,
— an unheard of thing, such as has not happened since the
beginning of the world."
" An old fox has fooled the young man ! " said Mirski.
"Jesus, Mary! I have not even the sabre!" cried
Kovalski.
" Will not the sabre be of use to him ? " asked Stankye¬
vich, laughing. " Pan Oskyerko has said well, —you have
fooled away your head. You must have had pistols in the
holsters too ? "
" I had !" said Kovalski, as if out of his mind.
Suddenly he seized his head with both hands : " And the
letter of the prince to the commandant of Birji! What
shall I, unfortunate man, do now ? I am lost for the ages !
God give me a bullet in the head!"
" That will not miss you," said Mirski, seriously. " How
THE DELUGE.
269
will you take us to Birji now ? What will happen if you
say that you have brought us as prisoners, and we, superior
in rank, say that you are to be thrown into the dungeon ?
Whom will they believe ? Do you think that the Swedish
commandant will detain us for the reason simply that Pan
Kovalski will beg him to do so ? He will rather believe us,
and confine you under ground."
" I am lost!" groaned Kovalski.
"Nonsense ! " said Yolodyovski.
" What is to be done, Pan Commandant ?" asked the
sergeant.
'" Go to all the devils ! " roared Kovalski. " Do I know
what to do, where to go ? God give thunderbolts to slay
thee ! "
" Go on, go on to Birji; you will see ! " said Mirski.
" Turn back to Kyedani," cried Kovalski.
" If they will not plant you at the wall there and shoot you,
may bristles cover me ! " said Oskyerko. "How will you
appear before the hetman's face ? Tfu! Infamy awaits you,
and a bullet in the head, —nothing more."
"Por I deserve nothing more!" cried the unfortunate
man.
"Nonsense, Pan Boh! We alone can save you," said
Oskyerko. " You know that we were ready to go to the end
of the world with the hetman, and perish. We have shed
our blood more than once for the country, and always shed
it willingly; but the hetman betrayed the country, — he gave
this land to the enemy; he joined with them against our
gracious lord, to whom we swore allegiance. Do you think
that it came easy to soldiers like us to refuse obedience to
a superior, to act against discipline, to resist our own het¬
man ? But whoso to-day is with the hetman is against the
king. Whoso to-day is with the hetman is a traitor to the
king and the Commonwealth. Therefore we cast down our
batons at the feet of the hetman; for virtue, duty, faith,
and honor so commanded. And who did it ? Was it I
alone ? No ! Pan Mirski, Pan Stankyevich, the best sol¬
diers, the worthiest men. Who remained with the hetman ?
Disturbers. But why do you not follow men better, wiser,
and older than yourself ? Do you wish to bring infamy on
your name, and be trumpeted forth as a traitor ? Enter
into yourself; ask your conscience what you should do, —
remain a traitor with Badzivill, the traitor, or go with us,
who wish to give our last breath for the country, shed the
270
THE DELUGE.
last drop of our blood for it. Would the ground had
swallowed us before we refused obedience to the lietman;
but would that our souls never escaped hell, if we were
to betray the king and the country for the profit of
Radzivill!"
This discourse seemed to make a great impression on
Kovalski. He stared, opened his mouth, and after a while
said, "What do you wish of me, gentlemen ? "
" To go with us to the voevoda of Vityebsk, who will
fight for the country."
"But when I have an order to take you to Birji?"
"Talk with him," said Mirski.
"We want you to disobey the command, —to leave the
hetman, and go with us; do you understand ?" said
Oskyerko, impatiently.
" Say what you like, but nothing will come of that. I
am a soldier; what would I deserve if I left the hetman ?
It is not my mind, but his ; not my will, but his. When he
sins he will answer for himself and for me, and it is my
dog-duty to obey him. I am a simple man; what I do
not effect with my hand, I cannot with my head. But I
know this, — it is my duty to obey, and that is the end
of it."
" Do what you like ! " cried Mirski.
" It is my fault," continued Boh, " that I commanded to
return to Kyedani, for I was ordered to go to Birji; but
I became a fool through that noble, who, though a rela¬
tive, did to me what a stranger would not have done. I
wish he were not a relative, but he is. He had not God in
his heart to take my horse, deprive me of the favor of the
prince, and bring punishment on my shoulders. That is
the kind of relative he is ! But, gentlemen, you will go to
Birji, let come what may afterward."
" A pity to lose time, Pan Oskyerko," said Yolodyovski.
"Turn again toward Birji!" cried Kovalski to the
dragoons.
They turned toward Birji a second time. Pan Boh
ordered one of the dragoons to sit in the wagon; then he
mounted that man's horse, and rode by the side of the pris¬
oners, repeating for a time, " A relative, and to do such a
thing! "
The prisoners, hearing this, though not certain of their
fate and seriously troubled, could not refrain from laugh¬
ter ; at last Yolodyovski said, " Comfort yourself, Pan
THE DELUGE.
271
Kovalski, for that man has hung on a hook persons not
such as you. He surpassed Hmelnitski himself in cunning,
and in stratagems 110 one can equal him."
Kovalski said nothing, but fell away a little from the
wagon, fearing ridicule. He was shamefaced in presence
of the prisoners and of his own soldiers, and was so
troubled that he was pitiful to look at.
Meanwhile the colonels were talking of Zagloba, and
of his marvellous escape.
"In truth, 'tis astonishing," said Yolodyovski, "that
there are not in the world straits, out of which that man
could not save himself. "When strength and bravery are
of no avail, he escapes through stratagem. Other men lose
courage when death is hanging over their heads, or they
commit themselves to God, waiting for what will happen;
but he begins straightway to work with his head, and
always thinks out something. He is as brave in need as
Achilles, but he prefers to follow Ulysses."
" I would not be his guard, though he were bound with
chains," said Stankyevich; " for it is nothing that he will
escape, but besides, he will expose a man to ridicule."
"Of course!" said Pan Michael. "Now he will laugh
at Kovalski to the end of his life; and God guard a man
from coming under his tongue, for there is not a sharper
in the Commonwealth. And when he begins, as is his
custom, to color his speech, then people are bursting from
laughter."
"But you say that in need he can use his sabre ? " asked
Stankyevich.
" Of course ! He slew Burlei at Zbaraj, in view of the
whole army."
"Well, God save us ! " cried Stankyevich, " I have never
seen such a man."
" He has rendered us a great service by his escape," said
Oskyerko, " for he took the letters of the hetman, and who
knows what was written in them against us ? I do not
think that the Swedish commandant at Birji will give ear
to us, and not to Kovalski. That will not be, for we come
as prisoners, and he as commanding the convoy. But
certainly they will not know what to do with us. In every
case they will not cut off our heads, and that is the main
thing."
" I spoke as I did merely to confuse Kovalski com¬
pletely," said Mirski; " but that they will not cut off our
272
THE DELUGE.
heads, as you say, is no great consolation, God knows.
Everything so combines that it would be better not to live ;
now another war, a civil war, will break out, that will be
final ruin. What reason have I, old man, to look on these
things ? "
" Or I, who remember other times ? " said Stankyevich.
"You should not say that, gentlemen; for the mercy of
God is greater than the rage of men, and his almighty hand
may snatch us from the whirlpool precisely when we least
expect."
" Holy are these words," said Pan Yan. " And to us,
men from under the standard of the late Prince Yeremi, it
is grievous to live now, for we were accustomed to victory;
and still one likes to serve the country, if the Lord God
would give at last a leader who is not a traitor, but one
whom a man might trust with his whole heart and soul."
" Oi! true, true !" said Pan Michael. " A man would
fight night and day."
" But I tell you, gentlemen, that this is the greatest de¬
spair," said Mirski; "for every one wanders as in darkness,
and asks himself what to do, and uncertainty stifles him,
like a nightmare. I know not how it is with you, but
mental disquiet is rending me. And when I think that I
cast my baton at the feet of the hetman, that I was the
cause of resistance and mutiny, the remnants of my gray
hair stand on my head from terror. So it is ! But what
is to be done in presence of open treason ? Happy are
they who do not need to give themselves such questions,
and seek for answers in their souls."
" A leader, a leader; may the merciful Lord give a
leader !" said Stankyevich, raising his eyes toward heaven.
" Do not men say that the voevoda of Vityebsk is a won¬
derfully honest man ? " asked Pan Stanislav.
" They do," replied Mirski; " but he has not the baton of
grand or full hetman, and before the king clothes him with
the oflice of hetman, he can act only on his own account.
He will not go to the Swedes, or anywhere else; that is
certain."
"Pan Gosyevski, full hetman, is a captive in Kyedani."
" Yes, for he is an honest man," said Oskyerko.
"When news of that came to me, I was distressed, and had
an immediate foreboding of evil."
Pan Michael fell to thinking, and said after a while :
" I was in Warsaw once, and went to the king's palace.
THE DELUGE.
273
Our gracious lord, since he loves soldiers and had praised
me for the Berestechko affair, knew me at once and com¬
manded me to come to dinner. At this dinner I saw Fan
Charnyetski, as the dinner was specially for him. The king
grew a little merry from wine, pressed Charnyetski's head,
and said at last: ' Even should the time come in which all
will desert me, you will be faithful.' With my own ears
I heard that said, as it were with prophetic spirit. Fan
Charnyetski, from emotion, was hardly able to speak. He
only repeated : ' To the last breath! to the last breath !'
And then the king shed tears —"
"Who knows if those were not prophetic words, for the
time of disaster had already come," said Mirski.
"Charnyetski is a great soldier," replied Stankyevich.
"There are no lips in the Commonwealth which do not
repeat his name."
"They say," said Pan Yan, "that the Tartars, who are
aiding Revera Fototski against Hmelnitski, are so much in
love with Charnyetski that they will not go where he is not
with them."
" That is real truth," answered Oskyerko. " I heard
that told in Kyedani before the hetman. We were all prais¬
ing at that time Charnyetski wonderfully, but it was not to
the taste of Radzivill, for he frowned and said, ' He is
quartermaster of the king, but he might be understarosta
with me at Tykotsin.'"
" Envy, it is clear, was gnawing him."
" It is a well-known fact that an apostate cannot endure
the lustre of virtue."
Thus did the captive colonels converse; then their
speech was turned again to Zagloba. Volodyovski assured
them that aid might be looked for from him, for he was not
the man to leave his friends in misfortune.
" I am certain," said he, "that he has fled to Upita, where
he will find my men, if they are not yet defeated, or taken
by force to Kyedani. With them he will come to rescue
us, unless they refuse to come, which I do not expect; for
in the squadron are Lauda men chiefly, and they are fond
of me."
" But they are old clients of Radzivill," remarked Mirski.
" True; but when they hear of the surrender of Lithuania
to the Swedes, the imprisonment of the full hetman and
Pan Yudytski, of you and me, it will turn their hearts
away greatly from Radzivill. Those are honest nobles;
VOL. I.—18
274
THE DELUGE.
Pan Zagloba will neglect nothing to paint the lietnian with
soot, and he can do that better than any of us."
" True, " said Pan Stanislav ; " but meanwhile we shall
be in Birji."
" That cannot be, for we are making a circle to avoid
Upita, and from Upita the road is direct as if cut with a
sickle. Even were they to start a day later, or two days,
they could still be in Birji before us, and block our way.
We are only going to Shavli now, and from there we shall
go to Birji directly; but you must know that it is nearer
from Upita to Birji than to Shavli."
"As I live, it is nearer, and the road is better," said
Mirski, " for it is a high-road."
" There it is ! And we are not yet in Shavli."
Only in the evening did they see the hill called Saltuves-
Kalnas, at the foot of which Shavli stands. On the road
they saw that disquiet was reigning in all the villages and
towns through which they passed. Evidently news of the
hetman's desertion to the Swedes had run through all
J mud. Here and there the people asked the soldiers if it
were true that the country was to be occupied by Swedes;
here and there crowds of peasants were leaving the villages
with their wives, children, cattle, and effects, and going to
the depths of the forest, with which the whole region was
thickly covered. In places the aspect of the peasants was
almost threatening, for evidently the dragoons were taken
for Swedes. In villages inhabited by nobles they were
asked directly who they were and Avhere they were going;
and when Kovalski, instead of answering, commanded them
to leave the road, it came to shouts and threats to such a
degree that muskets levelled for firing were barely sufficient
to open a passage.
The highway leading from Kovno through Shavli to
Mitava was covered with wagons and carriages, in which
were the wives and children of nobles wishing to take ref¬
uge from war in estates in Courland. In Shavli itself,
which was an appanage of the king, there were no private
squadrons of the hetman, or men of the quota; but here
the captive colonels saw for the first time a Swedish de¬
tachment, composed of twenty-five knights, who had come
on a reconnoissance from Birji. Crowds of Jews and citi¬
zens were staring at the strangers. The colonels too gazed
at them with curiosity, especially Volodyovski, who had
never before seen Swedes; hence he examined them eagerly
THE DELUGE.
275
with the desiring eyes with which a wolf looks at a flock
of sheep.
Pan Kovalski entered into communication with the offi¬
cer, declared who he was, where he was going, whom he
was conveying, and requested him to join his men to the
dragoons, for greater safety on the road. But the officer
answered that he had an order to push as far as possible
into the depth of the country, so as to be convinced of its
condition, therefore he could not return to Birji; but he
gave assurance that the road was safe everywhere, for
small detachments, sent out from Birji, were moving in all
directions, — some were sent even as far as Kyedani. After
he had rested till midnight, and fed the horses, which were
very tired, Pan Roll moved on his way, turning from Shavli
to the east through Yohavishkyele and Posvut toward
Birji, so as to reach the direct highway from Upita and
Ponyevyej.
" If Zagloba comes to our rescue," said Yolodyovski,
about daylight, " it will be easiest to take this road, for he
could start right at Upita."
" Maybe he is lurking here somewhere," said Pan
Stanislav.
" I had hope till I saw the Swedes," said Stankyevich,
" but now it strikes me that there is no help for us."
" Zagloba has a head to avoid them or to fool them; and
he will be able to do so."
" But he does not know the country."
"The Lauda people know it; for some of them take
hemp, wainscots, and pitch to Riga, and there is no lack of
such men in my squadron."
" The Swedes must have occupied all the places about
Birji."
" Fine soldiers, those whom we saw in Shavli, I must
confess," said the little knight, " man for man splendid!
Did you notice what well-fed horses they had ?"
" Those are Livland horses, very powerful," said Mirski.
"Our hussar and armored officers send to Livland for
horses, since our beasts are small."
" Tell me of the Swedish infantry ! " put in Stankyevich.
" Though the cavalry makes a splendid appearance, it is in¬
ferior. Whenever one of our squadrons, and especially
of the important divisions, rushed on their cavalry, the
Swedes did not hold out while you could say ' Our Father'
twice."
276
THE DELUGE.
"You have tried them in old times," said the little
knight, " but I have no chance of testing them. I tell you,
gentlemen, when I saw them now in Shavli, with their
beards yellow as flax, ants began to crawl over my fingers.
Ei, the soul would to paradise; but sit thou here in the
wagon, and sigh."
1 The colonels were silent; but evidently not Pan Michael
alone was burning with such friendly feeling toward the
Swedes, for soon the following conversation of the dragoons
surrounding the wagon came to the ears of the prisoners.
" Did you see those pagan dog-faiths ? " said one soldier;
" we were to fight with them, but now we must clean their
horses."
" May the bright thunderbolts crush them!" muttered
another dragoon.
" Be quiet, the Swede will teach thee manners with a
broom over thy head ! "
" Or I him."
" Thou art a fool! Not such as thou wish to rush at
them ; thou seest what has happened."
"We are taking the greatest knights to them, as if into
the dog's mouth. They, the sons of Jew mothers, will
abuse these knights."
"Without a Jew you cannot talk with such trash. The
commandant in Shavli had to send for a Jew right
away."
" May the plague kill them !"
Here the first soldier lowered his voice somewhat and
said, "They say the best soldiers do not wish to fight
against their own king."
" Of course not! Did you not see the Hungarians, or
how the hetman used troops against those resisting. It is
unknown yet what will happen. Some of our dragoons too
took part with the Hungarians; these men very likely are
shot by this time."
" That is a reward for faithful service !"
"To the devil with such work! A Jew's service ! "
" Halt! " cried, on a sudden, Kovalski riding in front.
" May a bullet halt in thy snout! " muttered a voice near
the wagon.
" Who is there ? " asked the soldiers of one another.
" Halt! " came a second command.
The wagon stopped. The soldiers held in their horses.
The day was pleasant, clear. The sun had risen, and by its
THE DELUGE.
277
rays was to be seen, 011 the highway ahead, clusters of dust
rising as if herds or troops were coming.
Soon the dust began to shine, as if some one were scat¬
tering sparks in the bunches of it; and lights glittered each
moment more clearly, like burning candles surrounded with
smoke.
" Those are spears gleaming! " cried Pan Michael.
" Troops are coming."
" Surely some Swedish detachment! "
"With them only infantry have spears; but there the
dust is moving quickly. That is cavalry, — our men ! "
" Ours, ours ! " repeated the dragoons.
" Form !" thundered Pan Roh.
The dragoons surrounded the wagon in a circle. Pan
Yolodyovski had flame in his eyes.
" Those are my Lauda men with Zagloba! It cannot be
otherwise!"
Now only forty rods divided those approaching from the
wagon, and the distance decreased every instant, for the
coming detachment was moving at a trot. Finally, from
out the dust pushed a strong body of troops moving in good
order, as if to attack. In a moment they were nearer. In
the first rank, a little from the right side, moved, under a
bunchuk, some powerful man with a baton in his hand.
Scarcely had Yolodyovski put eye on him when he
cried, —
" Pan Zagloba ! A"s I love God, Pan Zagloba ! "
A smile brightened the face of Pan Yan. " It is he, and
no one else, and under a bunchuk! He has already created
himself hetman. I should have known him by that whim
anywhere. That man will die as he was born."
" May the Lord God give him health!" said Oskyerko.
Then he put his hands around his mouth and began to
call, " Gracious Kovalski! your relative is coming to visit
you! "
But Pan Roh did not hear, for he was just forming his
dragoons. And it is only justice to declare that though he
had a handful of men, and on the other side a whole squad¬
ron was rolling against him, he was not confused, nor did
he lose courage. He placed the dragoons in two ranks in
front of the wagon; but the others stretched out and ap¬
proached in a half-circle, Tartar fashion, from both sides of
the field. But evidently they wished to parley, for they
began to wave a flag and cry, —
278
THE DELUGE.
" Stop ! stop!"
" Forward!" cried Kovalski.
" Yield !" was cried from the road.
" Fire ! " commanded in answer Kovalski.
Dull silence followed, — not a single dragoon fired. Pan
Roh was dumb for a moment; then he rushed as if wild on
his own dragoons.
" Fire, dog-faiths ! " roared he, with a terrible voice; and
with one blow of his fist he knocked from his horse the
nearest soldier.
Others began to draw back before the rage of the man,
but 110 one obeyed the command. All at once they scattered,
like a flock of frightened partridges, in the twinkle of an
eye.
" Still I would have those soldiers shot!" muttered
Mirski.
Meanwhile Kovalski, seeing that his own men had left
him, turned his horse to the attacking ranks.
" For me death is there !" cried he, with a terrible
voice.
And he sprang at them, like a thunderbolt. But before
he had passed half the distance a shot rattled from Zagloba's
ranks.
Pan Roh's horse thrust his nose into the dust and fell,
throwing his rider. At the same moment a soldier of
Yolodyovski's squadron pushed forward like lightning,
and caught by the shoulder the officer rising from the
ground.
" That is Yuzva Butrym," cried Volodyovski, " Yuzva
Footless!"
Pan Roh in his turn seized Yuzva by the skirt, and the
skirt remained in his hand; then they struggled like two
enraged falcons, for both had gigantic strength. Butrym's
stirrup broke; he fell to the ground and turned over, but
he did not let Pan Roh go, and both formed as it were one
ball, which rolled along the road.
Others ran up. About twenty hands seized Kovalski,
who tore and dragged like a bear in a net; he hurled men
around, as a wild boar hurls dogs; he raised himself again
and did not give up the battle. He wanted to die, but he
heard tens of voices repeating the words, " Take him alive !
take him alive ! " At last his strength forsook him, and he
fainted.
Meanwhile Zagloba was at the wagon, or rather on the
THE DELUGE.
279
wagon, and had seized in his embraces Pan Yan, the little
knight, Mirski, Stankyevich, and Oskyerko, calling with
panting voice, —
"Ha! Zagloba was good for something! Now we
will give it to that Radzi vill. We are free gentlemen,
and we have men. We '11 go straightway to ravage his
property. Well! did the stratagem succeed ? I should
have got you out, — if not in one way, in another. I am
so blown that I can barely draw breath. Now for Radzi-
vill's property, gracious gentlemen, now for Radzivill's
property! You do not know yet as much of Radzivill as
I do!"
Further outbursts were interrupted by the Laudamen,
who ran one after another to greet their colonel. The
Butryms, the Smoky Gostsyeviches, the Domasheviches,
the Stakyans, the Gashtovts, crowded around the wagon,
and powerful throats bellowed continually, —
" Vivat! vivat!"
" Gracious gentlemen, " said the little knight when it
grew somewhat quieter, "most beloved comrades, I thank
you for your love. It is a terrible thing that we must re¬
fuse obedience to the hetman, and raise hands against him;
but since his treason is clear, we cannot do otherwise. We
will not desert our country and our gracious king — Vivat
Johannes Casiinirus Rex ! "
"Vivat Johannes Casimirus Rex!" repeated three hun¬
dred voices.
"Attack the property of Radzivill!" shouted Zagloba,
" empty his larders and cellars !"
" Horses for us !" cried the little knight.
They galloped for horses.
Then Zagloba said, "Pan Michael, I was hetman over
these people in place of you, and I acknowledge willingly
that they acted with manfulness; but as you are now free,
I yield the command into your hands."
" Let your grace take command, as superior in rank," said
Pan Michael, turning to Mirski.
" I do not think of it, and why should I ? " said the old
colonel.
" Then perhaps Pan Stankyevich ? "
" I have my own squadron, and I will not take his from a
stranger. Remain in command; ceremony is chopped straw,
satisfaction is oats! You know the men, they know you,
and they will fight better under you."
280
THE DELUGE.
"Do so, Michael, do so, for otherwise it would not be
well," said Pan Yan.
" I will do so."
So saying, Pan Michael took the baton from Zagloba's
hands, drew up the squadron for marching, and moved with
his comrades to the head of it.
" And where shall we go ? " asked Zagloba.
" To tell the truth, I don't know myself, for I have not
thought of that," answered Pan Michael.
" It is worth while to deliberate on what we should do,"
said Mirski, " and we must begin at once. But may I be
permitted first to give thanks to Pan Zagloba in the name
of all, that he did not forget us in straits and rescued us so
effectually ? "
"Well," said Zagloba, with pride, raising his head and
twisting his mustache. "Without me you would be in
Birji! Justice commands to acknowledge that what no
man can think out, Zagloba thinks out. Pan Michael, we
were in straits not like these. Remember how I saved you
when we were fleeing before the Tartars with Helena ? "
Pan Michael might have answered that in that juncture
not Zagloba saved him, but he Zagloba; still he was silent,
and his mustache began to quiver. The old noble spoke on, —
" Thanks are not necessary, since what I did for you to¬
day you certainly would not fail to do for me to-morrow
in case of need. I am as glad to see you free as if I had
gained the greatest battle. It seems that neither my hand
nor my head has grown very old yet."
" Then you went straightway to Upita ?" asked
Volodyovski.
" But where should I go, — to Kyedani ? — crawl into the
wolf's throat ? Of course to Upita; and it is certain that I did
not spare the horse, and a good beast he was. Yesterday
early I was in Upita, and at midday we started for Birji, in
the direction in which I expected to meet you."
" And how did my men believe you at once ? Por, with
the exception of two or three who saw you at my quarters,
they did not know you."
" To tell the truth, I had not the least difficulty; for first
of all, I had your ring, Pan Michael, and secondly, the men
had just learned of your arrest and the treason of the het-
man. I found a deputation to them from Pan Mirski's
squadron and that of Pan Stankyevich, asking to join them
against the hetrnan, the traitor. When I informed them
THE DELUGE.
281
that you were being taken to Birji, it was as if a man had
thrust a stick into an ant-hill. Their horses were at pas¬
ture ; boys were sent at once to bring tlieni in, and at midday
we started. I took the command openly, for it belonged
to me."
" But, father, where did you get the bunchuk ? " asked Pan
Yan. "We thought from a distance that you were the
hetman."
" Of course, I did not look worse than he ? Where did I
get the bunchuk ? Well, at the same time with the deputa¬
tions from the resisting squadrons, came also Pan Shchyt
with a command to the Lauda men to march to Kyedani,
and he brought a bunchuk to give greater weight to the
command. I ordered his arrest on the spot, and had the
bunchuk borne above me to deceive the Swedes if I met
them."
" As God lives, he thought all out wisely!" cried Oskyerko.
" As Solomon ! " added Stankyevich.
Zagloba swelled up as if he were jrnast.
" Let us take counsel at once as to what should be done,"
said he at last. " If it is agreeable to the company to listen
to me with patience, I will tell what I have thought over on the
road. I do not advise you to commence war with Radzivill
now, and this for two reasons: first, because he is a pike and
we are perches. It is better for perches never to turn head
to a pike, for he can swallow them easily, but tail, for then
the sharp scales protect them. May the devil fix him on a
spit in all haste, and baste him with pitch lest he burn over¬
much."
" Secondly ? " asked Mirski.
" Secondly," answered Zagloba, " if at any time, by any
fortune, we should fall into his hands, he would give
us such a flaying that all the magpies in Lithuania would
have something to scream about. See what was in that
letter which Kovalski was taking to the Swedish command¬
ant at Birji, and know the voevoda of Yilna, in case he was
unknown to you hitherto."
So saying, he unbuttoned his vest, and taking from his
bosom a letter, gave it to Mirski.
" Pshaw! it is in German or Swedish," said the old
colonel. " Who can read this letter ? "
It appeared that Pan Stanislav alone knew a little Ger¬
man, for he had gone frequently to Torun (Thorn), but he
could not read writing.
282
THE DELUGE.
" I will tell you the substance of it," said Zagloba. " When
in Upita the soldiers sent to the pasture for their horses,
there was a little time. I gave command to bring to me by
the locks a Jew whom every one said was dreadfully wise,
and he, with a sabre at his throat, read quickly all that was
in the letter and shelled it out to me. Behold the hetman
enjoined on the commandant at Birji, and for the good
of the King of Sweden directed him, after the convoy
had been sent back, to shoot every one of us, without
sparing a man, but so to do it that no report might go
abroad."
All the colonels began to clap their hands, except Mirski,
who, shaking his head, said,—
" It was for me who knew him marvellous, and it could
not find a place in my head, that he would let us out of
Kyedani. There must surely be reasons to us unknown,
for which he could not put us to death himself."
" Doubtless for him it was a question of public opinion."
" Maybe."
"It is wonderful how venomous he is," said the little
knight; " for without mentioning services, I and Ganhoff
saved his life not so long ago."
"And I," said Stankyevich, "served under his father
and under him thirty-five years."
" He is a terrible man !" added Pan Stanislav.
" It is better not to crawl into the hands of such a one,"
said Zagloba. "Let the devils take him! We will avoid
fighting with him, but we will pluck bare these estates of
his that lie on our way."
" Let us go to the voevoda of Vityebsk, so as to have some
defence, some leader; and on the road we will take what
can be had from the larders, stables, granaries, and cellars.
My soul laughs at the thought, and it is sure that I will let
no one surpass me in this work. What money we can take
from land-bailiffs we will take. The more noisily and
openly we go to the voevoda of Vityebsk, the more gladly
will he receive us."
"He will receive us gladly as we are," said Oskyerko.
" But it is good advice to go to him, and better can 110 one
think out at present."
"Will all agree to that ? " asked Stankyevich.
" As true as life !" said Pan Mirski. " So then to the
voevoda of Vityebsk ! Let him be that leader for whom we
prayed to God."
THE DELUGE.
283
" Amen!" said the others.
They rode some time in silence, till at last Pan Michael
began to be uneasy in the saddle. " But could we not
pluck the Swedes somewhere on the road ?" asked he at
last, turning his eyes to his comrades.
" My advice is : if a chance conies, why not ? " answered
Stankyevich. "Doubtless Badizvill assured the Swedes
that he had all Lithuania in his hands, and that all were
deserting Yan Kazimir willingly; let it be shown that this
is not true."
"And properly!" said Mirski. "Tf some detachment
crawls into our way, we will ride over it. I will say also:
Attack not the prince himself, for we could not stand before
him, he is a great warrior ! But, avoiding battles, it is
worth while to move about Kyedani a couple of days."
" To plunder Radzivill's property ? " asked Zagloba.
" No, but to assemble more men. My squadron and that
of Pan Stankyevich will join us. If they are already
defeated, — and they may be, — the men will come to us
singly. It will not pass either without a rally of nobles to
us. We will bring Pan Sapyeha fresh forces with which
he can easily undertake something."
In fact, that reckoning was good; and the dragoons of the
convoy served as the first example, though Kovalski himself
resisted — all his men went over without hesitation to Pan
Michael. There might be found more such men in Radzi¬
vill's ranks. It might also be supposed that the first at¬
tack on the Swedes would call forth a general uprising in
the country.
Pan Michael determined therefore to move that night
toward Ponyevyej, assemble wrhom he could of the Lauda
nobles in the vicinity of Upita, and thence plunge into the
wilderness of Rogovsk, in wdiich, as he expected, the rem¬
nants of the defeated resisting squadrons would be in hid¬
ing. Meanwhile he halted for rest at the river Lavecha, to
refresh horses and men.
They halted there till night, looking from the density of
the forest to the high-road, along which were passing con¬
tinually new crowds of peasants, fleeing to the woods before
the expected Swedish invasion.
The soldiers sent out on the road brought in from time
to time single peasants as informants concerning the Swedes ;
but it was impossible to learn much from them. The peas¬
ants were frightened, and each repeated separately that the
284
THE DELUGE.
Swedes were liere and there, but no one could give accurate
information.
When it had become completely dark, Pan Volodyovski
commanded the men to mount their horses ; but before
they started a rather distinct sound of bells came to
their ears.
" What is that ? " asked Zagloba, " it is too late for the
Angelus."
Volodyovski listened carefully, for a while. " That is an
alarm !" said he.
Then he went along the line. "And does any one here
know what village or town there is in that direction ? "
" Klavany, Colonel," answered one of the Gostsyeviches;
" we go that way with potash."
" Do you hear bells ? "
" We hear ! That is something unusual."
Volodyovski nodded to the trumpeter, and in a low note
the trumpet sounded in the dark forest. The squadron
pushed forward.
The eyes of all were fixed in the direction from which the
ringing came each moment more powerful; indeed they
were not looking in vain, for soon a red light gleamed on the
horizon and increased every moment.
" A fire!" muttered the men in the ranks.
Pan Michael bent toward Skshetuski. " The Swedes!"
said he.
"We will try them!" answered Pan Yan.
" It is a wonder to me that they are setting fire."
" The nobles must have resisted, or the peasants risen if
they attacked the church."
"Well, we shall see!" said Pan Michael. And he was
panting with satisfaction.
Then Zagloba clattered up to him. " Pan Michael ? "
" What ? "
" I see that the odor of Swedish flesh has come to you.
There will surely be a battle, will there not ? "
" As God gives, as God gives !"
" But who will guard the prisoner ? "
" What prisoner ? "
" Of course, not me, but Kovalski. Pan Michael, it is a
terribly important thing that he should not escape. Re¬
member that the hetman knows nothing of what has hap¬
pened, and will learn from no one, if Kovalski does not
report to him. It is requisite to order some trusty men
THE DELUGE.
285
to guard him; for in time of battle he might escape easily,
especially if he takes up some stratagem."
" He is as capable of stratagems as the wagon on which
he is sitting. But you are right; it is necessary to station
some one near. Will you have him under your eye during
this time ? "
" H'm! I am sorry to be away from the battle ! It is
true that in the night near fire I am as good as blind. If
it were in the daytime you would never have persuaded
me; but since the public good requires it, let this be so."
"Very well, I will leave you with five soldiers to assist;
and if he tries to escape, fire at his head."
" I '11 squeeze him like wax in my fingers, never fear ! —
But the fire is increasing every moment. Where shall I
stay with Kovalski ? "
" Wherever you like. I 've no time now ! " answered Pan
Michael, and he rode on.
The flames were spreading rapidly. The wind was blow¬
ing from the fire and toward the squadron, and with the
sound of bells brought the report of firearms.
" On a trot! " commanded Yolodyovski.
286
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XIX.
When near the village, the Lauda men slackened their
speed, and saw a broad street so lighted by .flames that pins
might be picked from the ground; for on both sides a num¬
ber of cottages were burning, and others were catching
fire from these gradually, for the wind was strong and
carried sparks, nay, whole clusters of them, like fiery birds,
to the adjoining roofs. On the street the flames illuminated
greater and smaller crowds of people moving quickly in
various directions. The cries of men were mingled with
the sounds of the cliurch-bells hidden among trees, with
the bellowing of cattle, the barking of dogs, and with infre¬
quent discharges of firearms.
After they had ridden nearer, Volodyovski's soldiers saw
troopers wearing round hats, not many men. Some were
skirmishing with groups of peasants, armed with scythes
and forks ; firing at them from pistols, and pushing them
beyond the cottages, into the gardens; others were driving
oxen, cows, and sheep to the road with rapiers ; others,
whom it was barely possible to distinguish among whole
clouds of feathers, had covered themselves with poultry,
with wings fluttering in the agonies of death; some were
holding horses, each man having two or three belonging
to officers who were occupied evidently in plundering the
cottages.
The road to the village descended somewhat from a
hill in the midst of a birch-grove; so that the Lauda men,
without being seen themselves, saw, as it were, a picture
representing the enemy's attack on the village, lighted up
by flames, in the glare of which could be clearly distin¬
guished foreign soldiers, villagers, women dragged by
troopers, and men defending themselves in disordered
groups. All were moving violently, like puppets on
springs, shouting,- cursing, lamenting.
The conflagration shook a full mane of flame over the
village, and roared each moment more terribly.
Volodyovski led his men to the open gate, and ordered
them to slacken their pace. He might strike, and with one
blow wipe out the invaders, who were expecting nothing;
THE DELUGE.
287
but the little knight had determined "to taste the Swedes "
in open battle, — he had so arranged that they might see
him coming.
Some horsemen, standing near the gate, saw the ap¬
proaching squadron first. One of them sprang to an
officer, who stood with drawn rapier in the midst of a con¬
siderable group of horsemen, in the middle of the road,
and began to speak to him, pointing to where Yolodyovski
was descending with his men. The officer shaded his eyes
with his hand and gazed for a time; then he gave a sign,
and at once the sharp sound of a trumpet was heard, min¬
gled with various cries of men and beasts.
And here our knight could admire the regularity of the
Swedish soldiers; for barely were the first tones of the
trumpet heard, when some of the horsemen rushed out in
hot haste from the cottages, others left the plundered
articles, the oxen and sheep, and ran to their horses. In
the twinkle of an eye they stood in regular line; at sight
of which the little knight's heart rose with wonder, so
select were the men. All were large, sturdy fellows, dressed
in coats, with leather straps over the shoulders, and black
hats with rim raised on the left side ; all had matched bay
horses, and stood in line with rapiers at their shoulders,
looking sharply, but calmly, at the road.
An officer stepped forth from the line with a trumpeter,
wishing apparently to inquire what sort of men were ap¬
proaching so slowly. Evidently they were thought to be
one of Radzivill's squadrons, from which no encounter was
expected. The officer began to wave his rapier and his
hat; the trumpeter sounded continually, as a sign that
they wished to parley.
" Let some one fire at him," said the little knight, " so
that he may know what to expect from us."
The report sounded; but the shot did not reach, for the
distance was too great. Evidently the officer thought that
there was some misunderstanding, for he began to shout
and to wave his hat.
"Let him have it a second time !" cried Volodyovski.
After the second discharge the officer turned and moved,
though not too hurriedly, toward his own, who also ap¬
proached him on a trot.
The first rank of Lauda men were now entering the gate.
The Swedish officer, riding up, shouted to his men; the
rapiers, hitherto standing upright by the shoulders of the
288
THE DELUGE.
horsemen, dropped and hung at their belts ; but all at the
same instant drew pistols from the holsters, and rested
them on the pommels of tlieir saddles, holding the muzzle
upward.
"Finished soldiers!" muttered Volodyovski, seeing the
rapidity of their movements, which were simultaneous and
almost mechanical. Then he looked at his own men to see
if the ranks were in order, straightened himself in the
saddle, and cried, —
" Forward!"
The Lauda men bent down to the necks of their horses,
and rushed on like a whirlwind.
The Swedes let thein come near, and then gave a simul¬
taneous discharge from their pistols; but this did little
harm to the Lauda men hidden behind the heads of their
horses; only a few dropped the reins and fell backward,
the rest rushed on and struck the horsemen, breast to
breast.
The Lithuanian light squadrons used lances yet, which
in the army of the kingdom the hussars alone used; but
Volodyovski, expecting a battle at close quarters, had or¬
dered his men to plant their lances at the roadside, there¬
fore it came to sabres at once.
The first impetus was not sufficient to break the Swedes,
but it pushed them back, so that they began to retreat,
cutting and thrusting with their rapiers ; but the Lauda
men pushed them furiously along the road. Bodies began
to fall thickl}'-. The throng grew denser each moment;
the clatter of sabres frightened the peasants out of the
broad road, in which the heat from the burning houses was
unendurable, though the houses were separated from the
road and the fences by gardens.
The Swedes, pressed with increasing vigor, retreated
gradually, but still in good order. It was difficult more¬
over to scatter them, since strong fences closed the road
on both sides. At times they tried to stop, but were
unable to do so.
It was a wonderful battle, in which, by reason of the
relatively narrow place of meeting, only the first ranks
fought, those next in order could only push forward those
standing in front of them ; but just for this reason the
struggle was turned into a furious encounter.
Volodyovski, having previously requested the old colo¬
nels and Pan Yan to look after the men during the attack,
THE DELUGE.
289
enjoyed himself to the full in the first rank. And every
moment some Swedish hat fell before him in the throng,
as if it had dived into the ground; sometimes a rapier,
torn from the hand of a horseman, flew whistling above
the rank, and at the same instant was heard the piercing
cry of a man, and again a hat fell; a second took its place,
then a third the place of the second; but Volodyovski
pushed ever forward. His eyes glittered like two ill-
omened sparks, but he was not carried away and did not for¬
get himself; at moments, when he had no one at sword's
length in front of him, he turned his face and blade some¬
what to the right or left, and destroyed in the twinkle of
an eye a horseman, with a movement apparently trifling;
and he was terrible through these slight and lightning
movements which were almost not human.
As a woman pulling hemp disappears in it and is hidden
completely, but by the falling stalks her road is known
easily, so he vanished from the eye for a time in the
throng of large men; but where soldiers were falling like
stalks under the sickle of the harvester who cuts near the
ground, there was Pan Michael. Pan Stanislav and the
gloomy Yuzva Butrym, called Footless, followed hard in his
track.
At length the Swedish rear ranks began to push out
from between the fences to the broad grass-plot before the
church and the bell-tower, and after them came the front
ranks. Now was heard the command of the officer, who
wished evidently to bring all his men into action at once;
and the oblong rectangular body of horsemen stretched out,
deployed in the twinkle of an eye, into a long line to
present its whole front.
But Pan Yan, who directed the battle and led the
squadron, did not imitate the Swede; he rushed forward
with a dense column which, striking the now weaker line,
broke it, as if with a wedge, and turned swiftly to the
right toward the church, taking with this movement the
rear of one half of the Swedes, while on the other half
Mirski and Stankyevich sprang with the reserve in which
were a part of the Lauda men and all of Kovaiski's
dragoons.
Two battles now began; but they did not last long. The
left wing, on which Pan Yan had struck, was unable to
form, and scattered first; the right, in which was the com¬
manding officer, resisted longer, but being too much ex-
VOL. I. — 19
290
THE DELUGE.
tended, it began to break, to fall into disorder, and at last
followed the example of the left wing.
The grass-plot was broad, but unfortunately was enclosed
on all sides by a lofty fence; and the church-servants
closed and propped the opposite gate when they saw what
was taking place.
The scattered Swedes then ran around, but the Lauda
men rushed after them. In some places larger groups
fought, a number at a time, with sabres and rapiers ; in
other places the conflict was turned into a series of duels,
and man met man, the rapier crossed the sabre, and at
times the report of a pistol burst forth. Here and there
a Swedish horseman, escaping from one sabre, ran, as if
to a trap, under another. Here and there a Swede or
a Lithuanian rose from under a fallen horse and fell that
moment under the blow of a weapon awaiting him.
Through the grass-plot terrified horses rushed about
riderless, with waving mane and nostrils distended from
fear; some bit one another; others, blinded from fright,
turned their tails to the groups of fighting men and kicked
them.
Pan Volodyovski, hurling down Swedes as he went,
searched the whole place with his eyes for the officer in
command; at last he saw him defending himself against
two Butryms, and he sprang toward him.
" Aside !" cried he to the Butryms, " aside !"
The obedient soldiers sprang aside, the little knight
rushed on and closed with the Swede, the horses of the two
stood on their haunches.
The officer wished evidently to unhorse his opponent with
a thrust; but Volodyovski, interposing the hilt of his sabre,
described a half-circle like lightning, and the rapier flew
away. The officer bent to his holsters, but, cut through the
cheek at that moment, he dropped the reins from his left
hand.
" Take him alive ! " shouted Volodyovski to the Butryms.
The Lauda men seized the wounded officer and held him
tottering in the saddle ; the little knight pushed on and rode
farther against the Swedes, quenching them before him like
candles.
But the Swedes began to yield everywhere before the
nobles, who were more adroit in fencing and single combat.
Some of the Swedes, seizing their rapier blades, extended
the hilts to their opponents; others threw their weapons at
THE DELUGE.
291
their feet; the word " Pardon !" was heard more and more
frequently on the field. But no attention was paid to the
word, for Pan Michael had commanded to spare but few.
The Swedes, seeing this, rushed anew to the struggle, and
died as became soldiers after a desperate defence, redeeming
richly with blood their own death.
An hour later the last of them were cut down. The
peasants ran in crowds from the village to the grass-plot
to catch the horses, kill the wounded, and plunder the dead.
Such was the end of the first encounter of Lithuanians
with Swedes.
Meanwhile Zagloba, stationed at a distance in the birch-
grove with the wagon in which lay Pan Boh, was forced to
hear the bitter reproach that, though a relative, he had
treated that young man shamefully.
" Uncle, you have ruined me utterly, for not only is a
bullet in the head waiting for me at Kyedani, but eternal
infamy will fall on my name. Henceforth whoso wants to
say, ' Fool,' may say, ' Boh Kovalski!' "
" The truth is that not many will be found to contradict
him," answered Zagloba ; " and the best proof of your folly
is that you wonder at being hung on a hook by me who
moved the Khan of the Crimea as a puppet. Well, did
you think to yourself, worthless fellow, that I would let
you take me and other men of importance to Birji, and
throw us, the ornaments of the Commonwealth, into the
jaws of the Swedes?"
" I was not taking you of my own will."
" But you were the servant of an executioner, and that
for a noble is infamy from which you must purify yourself,
or I will renounce you and all the Kovalskis. To be a
traitor is worse than to be a crabmonger, but to be the
servant of some one worse than a crabmonger is the lowest
thing."
" I was serving the hetman."
"And the hetman the devil. There you have it! You
are a fool, Boh: get that into your head once and forever,
dispute not, but hold to my skirts, and a man will come of
you yet; for know this, that advancement has met more
than one personage through me."
The rattle of shots interrupted further conversation, for
the battle was just beginning in the village. Then the dis¬
charges stopped, but the noise continued, and shouts
reached that retreat in the birch-grove.
292
THE DELUGE.
"Ah, Pan Michael is working," said Zagloba. "He is
not big, but he bites like a viper. They are shelling out
those devils from over the sea like peas. I would rather be
there than here, and through you I must listen here. Is
this your gratitude ? Is this the act of a respectable
relative ? "
" What have I to be grateful for ? " asked Boh.
" For this, that a traitor is not ploughing with you, as with
an ox, — though you are grandly fitted for ploughing, since
you are stupid and strong. Understand me? Ai! it is
getting hotter and hotter there. Do you hear ? That must
be the Swedes who are bawling like calves in a pasture?'
Here Zagloba became serious, for he was a little dis¬
turbed ; on a sudden he asked, looking quickly into Pan
Eoh's eyes, —
" To whom do you wish victory ? "
" To ours, of course."
" See that! And why not to the Swedes ? "
" I would rather pound them. Who are ours, are ours !
" Conscience is waking up in you. But how could you
take your own blood to the Swedes ? "
" For I had an order."
" But now you have no order ? "
" True."
" Your superior is now Pan Yolodyovski, no one else."
"Well, that seems to be true."
"You must do what Pan Volodyovski commands."
" I nrast."
" He commands you now to renounce Radzivill for the
future, and not to serve him, but the country."
" How is that ? " asked Pan Boh, scratching his head.
" A command!" cried Zagloba.
" I obey! " said Kovalski.
" That is right! At the first chance you will thrash the
Swedes."
" If it is the order, it is the order ! " answered Kovalski,
and breathed deeply, as if a great burden had fallen from
his breast.
Zagloba was equally well satisfied, for he had his own
views concerning Kovalski. They began then to listen in
harmony to the sounds of the battle which came to them,
and listened about an hour longer, until all was silent.
Zagloba was more and more alarmed. "If they have not
succeeded ? " asked he.
THE DELUGE.
293
" Uncle, you an old warrior and can say such things !
If they were beaten they would come back to us in small
groups."
" True ! I see thy wit will be of service."
" Do you hear the tramp, Uncle ? They are riding slowly.
They must have cut the Swedes to pieces."
" Oi, if they are only ours ! Shall I go forward, or not ? "
Saying this, Zagloba dropped his sabre at his side, took
his pistol in his hand, and moved forward. Soon he saw
before him a dark mass moving slowly along the road; at
the same time noise of conversation reached him.
In front rode a number of men talking with one another
loudly; soon the well-known voice of Pan Michael struck
the ear of Zagloba. " They are good men! I don't
know what kind of infantry they have, but the cavalry is
perfect."
Zagloba touched his horse with the spurs. " Ah! how
is it, how is it ? Oh, impatience was tearing me, I wanted
to fly into the fire ! But is no one wounded ? "
" All are sound, praise to God; but we have lost more
than twenty good soldiers."
" And the Swedes ? "
"We laid them down like a pavement."
"Pan Michael, you must have enjoyed yourself as a dog
in a spring. But was it a decent thing to leave me, an old
man, 011 guard ? The soul came near going out of me, so
much did I want Swedish meat. Oh, I should have gnawed
them !"
"You may have a roast now if you like, for a number of
them are in the fire."
"Let the dogs eat them. And were prisoners taken ? "
"A captain, and seven soldiers."
" What do you think to do with them ? "
"I would have them hanged, for like robbers they fell
on an innocent village and were killing the people. Yan
says, however, that that will not do."
"Listen to me, gentlemen, hear what has come to my
head just now: there is no good in hanging them ; on the
contrary, let them go to Birji as soon as possible."
" What for ? "
"You know me as a soldier, know me now as a statesman.
We will let the Swedes go, but we will not tell them who
we are. We will say that we are Eadzivill's men, that we
have cut off this detachment at command of the hetman,
294
THE DELUGE.
and in future will cut off whom we meet, for the hetman
only pretended, through strategy, to join the Swedes. They
will break their heads over this, and thus we will under¬
mine the hetman's credit terribly. Just think, this hits
the Swedes and hits Radzivill too. Kyedani is far from
Birji, and Radzivill is still farther from Pontus de la
Gardie. Before they explain to each other what has hap¬
pened and how, they will be ready to fight. We will set
the traitor against the invaders ; and who will gain by this,
if not the Commonwealth ?"
" This is excellent counsel, and quite worth the victory.
May the bullets strike him! " said Stankyevich.
"You have the mind of a chancellor," added Mirski,
"for this will disturb their plans."
" Surely we should act thus," said Pan Michael. " I will
set them free to-morrow ; but to-day I do not wish to know
of anything, for I am dreadfully wearied. It was as hot in
the village as in an oven! Uf! my arms are paralyzed
completely. The officer could not go to-day in any case, for
his face is cut."
" But in what language shall we tell them all this ?
What is your counsel, father ? " asked Pan Yan.
" I have been thinking of that too," answered Zagloba.
" Kovalski told me that there are two Prussians among his
dragoons who know how to jabber German, and are sharp
fellows. Let them tell in German, — which the Swedes
know of course, after fighting so many years in Germany.
Kovalski is ours, soul and body. He is a man in a hundred,
and we will have no small profit from him."
"Well done!" said Volodyovski. "Will some of you,
gentlemen, be so kind as to see to this, for I have no voice
in my throat from weariness ? I have told the men that we
shall stay in this grove till morning. The villagers will
bring us food, and now to sleep! My lieutenant will see
to the watch. 'Pon my word, I cannot see you, for my eyes
are closing."
" Gentlemen," said Zagloba, "there is a stack of hay just
outside the birches ; let us go to the stack, we shall sleep
like susliks, and to the road on the morrow. We shall not
come back to this country, unless with Pan Sapyeha against
Radzivill."
THE DELUGE.
295
CHAPTER XX.
In Lithuania a civil war had begun, which, with two
invasions of the Commonwealth and the ever more stub¬
born war of the Ukraine, filled the measure of misfortune.
The army of the Lithuanian quota, though so small in
number that alone it could not offer effectual resistance to
any of the enemies, was divided into two camps. Some
regiments, and specially the foreign ones, remained with
Radzivill; others, forming the majority, proclaimed the
hetman a traitor, protested in arms against joining Sweden,
but without unity, without a leader, without a plan. Sapy-
eha might be its leader, but he was too much occupied at
that time with the defence of Byhovo and with the desper¬
ate struggle in the interior of the country, to be able to
take his place immediately at the head of the movement
against Radzivill.
Meanwhile the invaders, each considering a whole region
as his own, began to send threatening messages to the
other. Prom their misunderstandings might rise in time
the salvation of the Commonwealth; but before it came to
hostile steps between them there reigned the most terrible
chaos in all Lithuania. Radzivill, deceived in the army,
determined to bring it to obedience through force.
Volodyovski had barely reached Ponyevyej with his squad¬
ron, after the battle of Klavany, when news came to him of
the destruction, by Radzivill, of Mirski's squadron, and that
of Stankyevich. Some of the men were placed by force
among Radzivill's troops ; others were cut down or scattered
to the four winds; the remainder were wandering singly
or in small groups through villages and forests, seeking a
place to hide their heads from vengeance and pursuit.
Fugitives came daily to Ran Michael's detachment, in¬
creasing his force and bringing news the most varied.
The most important item was news of the mutiny of
Lithuanian troops stationed in Podlyasye, near Byalystok
and Tykotsin. After the armies of Moscow had occupied
Yilno the squadrons from that place had to cover the
approach to the territories of the kingdom. But hearing
of the hetman's treason, they formed a confederation, at the
296
THE DELUGE.
head of which were two colonels, Horotkyevich and Yakub
Kmita, a cousin of Andrei, the most trusty assistant of
Kadzivill.
The name of the latter was repeated with horror by the
soldiers. He mainly had caused the dispersion of Stankye-
vich's squadron and that of Mirski; he shot without mercy
the captured officers. The hetman trusted him blindly,
and just recently had sent him against Nyevyarovski's
squadron, which, disregarding the example of its colonel,
refused obedience.
Yolodyovski heard the last account with great attention;
then he turned to the officers summoned in counsel, and
asked, —
" What would you say to this, — that we, instead of hurry¬
ing to the voevoda of Vityebsk, go to those squadrons which
have formed a confederacy in Podlyasye ? "
" You have taken that out of my mouth ! " said Zagloba.
" It is nearer home there, and it is always pleasanter among
one's own people."
" Fugitives mention too a report," added Pan Yan, " that
the king has ordered some squadrons to return from the
Ukraine, to oppose the Swedes on the Vistula. If this
should prove true, we might be among old comrades instead
of pounding from corner to corner."
" But who is going to command those squadrons ? Does
any one know ? "
" They say that Charnyetski will," answered Yolodyovski;
" but people say this rather than know it, for positive in¬
telligence could not come yet."
"However it may be," said Zagloba, "my advice is to
hurry to Podlyasye. We can bring to our side those squad¬
rons that have risen against Kadzivill, and take them to the
king, and that certainly will not be without a reward."
" Let it be so ! " said Oskyerko and Stankyevich.
" It is not easy," said the little knight, " to get to Podly¬
asye, for we shall have to slip through the fingers of the
hetman. If fortune meanwhile should grant us to snap up
Kmita somewhere on the road, I would speak a couple of
words in his ear, from which his skin would grow green."
" He deserves it," said Mirski. " That some old soldiers
who have served their whole lives under the Radzivills hold
to the hetman, is less to be wondered at; but that swaggerer
serves only for his own profit, and the pleasure which he
finds in betrayal."
THE DELUGE.
297
" So then to Podlyasye ? " asked Oskyerko.
" To Podlyasye ! to Podlyasye ! " cried all in one voice.
But still the affair was difficult, as Volodyovski had said;
for to go to Podlyasye it was necessary to pass near Kye-
dani, as near a den in which a lion was lurking.
The roads and lines of forest, the towns and villages were
in the hands of Radzivill ; somewhat beyond Kyedani was
Kmita, with cavalry, infantry, and cannon. The hetman
had heard already of the escape of the colonels, the mutiny
of Yolodyovski's squadron, and the battle of Klavany ; the
last brought him to such rage that there was fear for his
life, since a terrible attack of asthma had for a time almost
stopped his breathing.
In truth he had cause enough for anger, and even for
despair, since that battle brought on his head a whole Swe¬
dish tempest. People began at once after this battle to cut
up here and there small Swedish detachments. Peasants
did this, and individual nobles independently; but the
Swedes laid it to the account of Radzivill, especially as the
officers and men sent by Volodyovski to Birji declared
before the commandant that one of Radzivill's squadrons
had fallen upon them at his command.
In a week a letter came to the prince from the command¬
ant at Birji, and ten days later from Pontus de la Gardie
himself, the commander-in-chief of the Swedish forces.
" Either your highness has no power and significance,"
wrote the latter, — " and in such case how could you conclude
a treaty in the name of the whole country ! — or it is your
wish to bring about through artifice the ruin of the king's
army. If that is the case, the favor of my master will turn
from your highness, and punishment will come quickly, un¬
less you show obedience and efface your faults by faithful
service."
Radzivill sent couriers at once with an explanation of
what had happened and how; but the dart had fastened in
his haughty soul, and the burning wound began to rankle
more and more. He whose word not long before terrified
the country more than all Sweden ; he for the half of whose
property all the Swedish lords might have been bought;
he who stood against his own king, thinking himself the
equal of monarchs ; he who had acquired fame in the whole
world by his victories, and who walked in his own pride as
in sunshine — must now listen to the threats of one Swedish
general, must hear lectures on obedience and faithfulness.
298
THE DELUGE.
It is true that that general was brother-in-law to the king ;
but the king himself, — who was he ? A usurper of the
throne belonging by right and inheritance to Yan Kazimir.
Above all, the rage of the hetman was turned against
those who were the cause of that humiliation, and he swore
to himself to trample Yolodyovski and those colonels who
were with him and the whole squadron of Lauda. With
this object he marched against them; and as hunters to
clear out the ivolf's nest surround a forest with snares, he
surrounded them and began to pursue without rest.
Meanwhile tidings came that Kmita had crushed Nyev-
yarovski's squadron, cut down or scattered the officers, and
joined the men to his own. Radzivill, to strike the more
surely, commanded Pan Andrei to send him some of these
troops.
" Those men," wrote the hetman, " for whose lives you
interceded with us so persistently, and mainly Yolodyovski
with that other straggler, escaped on the road to Birji.
We sent the stupidest officer with them on purpose, so
that they might not win him over; but even he either be¬
came a traitor, or they fooled him. Now Yolodyovski has
the whole Lauda squadron, and fugitives are reinforcing
him. They cut to pieces one hundred and twenty Swedes
at Klavany, saying that they did it at our command, from
which great distrust has arisen between us and Pontus.
The whole cause may be ruined by those traitors, whose
heads, had it not been for your interference, would have
been cut off at our command, as God is in heaven. So we
have to repent of our mildness, though we hope in God
that vengeance will soon overtake them. Tidings have
come to us, too, that in Billeviche nobles assemble at the
house of the sword-bearer and conspire against us. This
must be stopped! You will send all the cavalry to us, and
the infantry to Kyedani to guard the castle and the town,
for from those traitors anything may be expected. You
will go yourself with some tens of horsemen to Billeviche,
and bring the sword-bearer and his niece to Kyedani. At
present it is important, not only for you, but for us; for
whoso has them in hand has the whole Lauda region, in
which the nobles, following the example of Volodyovski,
are beginning to rise against us. We have sent Harasimo-
vich to Zabludovo with instructions how to begin with those
confederates. Of great importance among them is Yakub,
your cousin, to whom you will write, if you think you can
THE DELUGE.
299
act on him through a letter. Signifying to you our con¬
tinual favor, we commit you to the care of God."
When Kmita had read this letter, he was content at heart
that the colonels had succeeded in escaping the Swedes,
and in secret he wished them to escape Radzivill. Still he
carried out all commands of the prince, sent him the cav¬
alry, garrisoned Kyedani with infantry, and began to make
trenches along the castle and the town, promising himself
to go immediately after this work was done to Billeviche
for the sword bearer and the young woman.
" I will use no force, unless in the last resort," thought
he, "and in no case will I urge Olenka. Finally, it is not
my will, 't is the command of the prince. She will not
receive me pleasantly, I know; but God grant that in time
she will know my intentions, and that I serve Radzivill not
against the country, but for its salvation."
Thinking thus, he labored zealously at fortifying Kyedani,
which was to be the residence of his Olenka in the future.
Meanwhile Volodyovski was slipping away before the
hetman, but the hetman pursued him furiously. It was,
however, too narrow for Ran Michael; for from Birji con¬
siderable detachments of Swedish troops pushed toward
the south, the east of the country was occupied by the
legions of the Tsar, and on the road to Kyedani the het¬
man was lying in wait.
Zagloba was greatly depressed by such a condition of
affairs, and he turned with increasing frequency to Pan
Michael with questions: " Pan Michael, by the love of
God, shall we break through or shall we not break
through ? "
"There is not even talk of breaking through here,"
answered the little knight. " You know that I am not
lined with cowardice, and that I attack whom I will, even
the devil himself. But I cannot meet the hetman, for I am
not equal to him. You have said yourself that he is a pike
and we perches. I shall do what is in my power to slip out,
but if it comes to a battle, I tell you plainly that he will
defeat us."
" Then lie will command to chop us up and throw us to
the dogs. As God lives! into any man's hands save
Radzivill's! But in this case why not turn to Pan
Sapyeha ? "
" It is too late now, for the hetman's troops and the
Swedes have closed the roads."
300
THE DELUGE.
"The devil tempted me when I persuaded Pan Yan and
his cousin to go to Radzivill!" said Zagloba, in despair.
But Pan Michael did not lose hope yet, especially since
the nobles, and even the peasants, brought him warning of
the hetman's movements ; for all hearts were turning from
Radzivill. Pan Michael twisted out therefore as he knew
how, — and he knew how famously, for almost from child¬
hood he had inured himself to war with Tartars and
Cossacks. He had been made renowned in the army of
Yeremi by descents on Tartar chambuls, by scouting ex¬
peditions, unexpected attacks, lightning escapes, in which
he surpassed other officers.
At present hemmed in between Upita and Rogova on one
side and Nyevyaja on the other, he doubled around on the
space of a few miles, avoiding battle continually, worrying
the Radzivill squadrons, and even plucking them a little
as a wolf hunted by dogs slips by often near the hunters,
and when the dogs press him too closely, turns and shows
his white gleaming teeth.
But when Kmita's cavalry came up, the hetman closed
the narrowest gaps with them, and went himself to see
that the two ends of the snare came together.
That was at Nyevyaja.
The regiments of JVIyeleshko and Ganhoff with two
squadrons of cavalry, under the lead of the prince himself,
formed as it were a bow, the string of which was the river.
Yolodyovski with his squadron was in the centre of the
bow. He had in front of him, it is true, one ford which
led through a swampy stream, but just on the other side of
the ford were two Scottish regiments and two hundred of
Radzivill's Cossacks, with six fieldpieces, turned in such
manner that even one man could not have reached the
other side under the fire of them.
Now the bow began to contract. The middle of it was
led by the hetman himself.
Happily for Yolodyovski, night and a storm with pouring
rain stopped the advance; but for the enclosed men there
remained not more than a square half-mile of meadow,
grown over with willows, in the middle of the half-ring of
Radzivill's army, and the river guarded on the other side
by the Scots.
Rext morning when the early dawn was just whitening
the tops of the willows, the regiments moved forward to
the river and were struck dumb with amazement.
THE DELUGE.
301
Volodyovski had gone through the earth, —there was not
a living soul in the willows.
The hetman himself was astounded, and then real
thunders fell on the heads of the officers commanding at
the ford. And again an attack of asthma seized the prince
with such force that those present trembled for his life. But
rage overcame even the asthma. Two officers, intrusted
with guarding the bank, were to be shot; but Ganhoff pre¬
vailed on the prince to have inquiries made first as to how
the beast had escaped from the toils.
It appeared in fact that Volodyovski, taking advantage
of the darkness and rain, had led his whole squadron out of
the willows into the river, and swimming or wading with
the current had slipped along Radzivill's right wing, which
touched the bank at that point. Some horses, sunk to their
bellies in the mud, indicated the place where he had come
out on the right bank. From farther tracks it was easy to
see that he had moved with all horse-breath in the direction
of Kyedani. The hetman guessed at once from this that
he wished to make his way to Horotkyevich and Yakub
Kmita in Podlyasye.
"But in passing near Kyedani would he not burn the
town or try to plunder the castle ? "
A terrible fear straitened the heart of the prince. The
greater part of his ready money and treasures were in
Kyedani. Kmita, it is true, was bound to supply it with
infantry; but if he had not done so, the undefended castle
would easily become plunder for the insolent colonel.
Radzivill felt sure that courage would not be wanting
Volodyovski to attack the residence of Kyedani itself. It
might be that time would not be wanting, for escaping in
the beginning of the night he had left pursuit at least six
hours behind.
In every case it was imperative to hasten with all breath
to the rescue. The prince left the infantry, and pushed on
with the cavalry. "When he arrived at Kyedani he did not
find Kmita, but he found everything quiet; and the opinion
which he had of the young colonel's ability increased
doubly at sight of the finished trenches and field-cannon
standing on them. That same day he reviewed them in
company with Ganhoff, to whom he remarked in the
evening, —
"He acted thus of his own mind, without my order, and
finished those trenches so well that a protracted defence
302
THE DELUGE.
might be made here, even against artillery. If that man
does not break his neck too early, he may rise high."
There was another man, at thought of whom the lietman
could not restrain a certain kind of admiration, but mingled
with rage, for the man was Fan Michael. " I could finish
the mutiny soon," said he to Ganhoff, "if I had two such
servants. Kmita may be still more alert, but he has not
the experience, and the other was brought up in the school
of Yeremi, beyond the Dnieper."
" Does your highness give command to pursue him ?"
asked. Ganhoff.
The prince looked at Ganhoff, and said with emphasis,
"He would beat you and escape from me." But after
a while he frowned, and added, " Everything is quiet here
now; but we must move to Podlyasye at once, and finish
those there."
"Your highness," said Ganhoff, "as soon as we move a
foot out of this place, all will seize arms against the
Swedes."
"Which all?"
" The nobles and peasants. And not stopping with the
Swedes, they will turn against the dissidents, for they put
all the blame of this war on our co-religionists, saying that
we sent to the enemy, and in fact brought the enemy in."
"It is a question with me of my cousin Boguslav. I
know not whether he is able to hold out against the
confederates in Podlyasye."
" It is a question of Lithuania to keep it in obedience to
us and the King of Sweden."
The prince began to walk through the room, saying,
" If I could in any way get Horotkyevich and Yakub Kmita
into my hands ! They will devour my property, destroy,
plunder it; they will not leave a stone upon a stone."
" Unless we stipulate with General de la Gardie to
send hither as many troops as possible, while we are in
Podlyasye."
" With Pontus,— never! " answered Eadzivill, to whose
head a wave of blood rushed. " If with any one, with the
king himself. I do not need to treat with servants when I
can treat with their master. If the king were to command
Pontus to place two thousand cavalry at my disposal, that
would be another thing. But I will not ask Pontus for
them. It is needful to send some one to the king; it is
time to negotiate with him directly."
THE DELUGE.
303
The lean face of Ganhoff flushed slightly, and his
eyes were lighted with desire. " If your highness
commanded — "
"You would go; but for you to arrive there is another
thing. You are a German, and it is dangerous for a for¬
eigner to enter an uprisen country. Who knows where the
king is at this moment, and where he will be in half a
month or a month ? It is necessary to ride through the
whole country. Besides, it cannot be! You will not go,
for it is necessary to send one of my own people, a man of
high family, so as to convince the king that not all the
nobles have left me."
"An inexperienced man might do much harm," said Gan¬
hoff:, timidly.
" An envoy will have no work there except to deliver my
letter, and bring back an answer; and any man can explain
that it was not I who gave orders to beat the Swedes at
Klavany."
Ganhoff was silent.
The prince began again to walk with unquiet steps
through the room ; on his forehead was manifest a continual
struggle of thought. In truth, he had not known a mo¬
ment of peace from the time of his treaty with the Swedes.
Pride devoured him, his conscience gnawed him, the un¬
expected resistance of the country and the army gnawed
him; the uncertainty of the future, and the threat of ruin
terrified him. He struggled, he ffmght, he passed sleepless
nights, he was failing in health. His eyes were sinking, he
was growing thin; his face, formerly red, became blue, and
almost with every hour silver threads increased in his
mustaches and his forelock. In a word, he lived in torment,
and bent under the burden.
Ganhoff followed him with his eyes as he walked
through the room ; he had still a little hope that the prince
would bethink himself, and send him.
But the prince halted suddenly, and struck his forehead
with his palm. "Two squadrons of cavalry, to horse at
once ! I will lead them myself."
Ganhoff looked on him with wonderment. " An expedi¬
tion ? " inquired he, involuntarily.
" Move on! " said the prince. " God grant that it be not
too late!"
304
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXL
When Kmita had finished the trenches and secured
Kyedani from sudden attack, he was unable to delay further
his expedition for the sword-bearer and Olenka, especially
since the command of the prince to bring them to Kyedani
was imperative. But still Pan Andrei loitered, and when
at last he did move at the head of fifty dragoons, he was as
unquiet as if going on a forlorn hope. He felt that he
would not be thankfully received, and he trembled at the
thought that the old man might try to resist, even with
armed hand, and in such an event it would be necessary to
use force. But he determined first to persuade and entreat.
With the intent of stripping his visit of all semblance of
armed attack, he left the dragoons at an inn a quarter of a
mile from the village, and two from the house, and order¬
ing the carriage to follow a little later, rode ahead himself,
with only the sergeant and one attendant.
It was in the afternoon, and the sun was already well in¬
clined toward the west, but after a rainy and stormy night
the day was beautiful and the sky pure, only here and
there was it variegated on the western side by small rosy
clouds which pushed slowly beyond the horizon, like a
flock of sheep leaving a field. Kmita rode through the
village with throbbing heart and as uneasy as the Tartar
who entering a village first, in advance of a chambul, looks
around on every side to see if he can discover armed men
in ambush. But the three horsemen attracted no attention.
Barefooted little peasant boys merely jumped out of the
road before the horses; peasants seeing the handsome
officer, bowed to him, sweeping the ground with their caps.
He rode on, and passing the village saw ahead a large
dwelling, the old Billevich nest; behind it broad gardens
ending far beyond in the flat fields.
Kmita slackened his pace still more, and began to talk
with himself, evidently framing answers to questions ; and
meanwhile he gazed with anxious eye on the buildings
rising before him. It was not at all a lordly mansion,
but at the first glance it would have been guessed that a
noble lived there of more than medium fortune. The
THE DELUGE.
305
house itself, with its back to the gardens and front to
the highway, was enormous, but of wood. The pine of the
walls had grown so dark with age that the panes in the
windows seemed white in contrast. Above the walls rose
a gigantic roof with four chimneys in the middle, and two
dovecotes at the gables. A whole cloud of white doves
were collected on the roof, now flying away with clapping
of wings, now dropping, like snowy kerchiefs, on the black
ridges, now flapping around the pillars supporting the
entrance.
That entrance, adorned with a shield on which the Bil-
levich arms were painted, disturbed the proportions of the
house, for it was not in the middle, but toward one side
of it. Evidently the house had once been smaller, but new
parts were added subsequently from one side, though the
added parts had grown so black with the passage of years
as not to differ in anything from the old. Two wings, of
enormous length, rose on both sides of the house proper, and
formed as it were two arms of a horseshoe. In these
wings were guest-chambers used in time of great gatherings,
kitchens, store-houses, carriage-houses, stables for carriage
horses which the masters wished to keep near at hand,
rooms for officials, servants, and house Cossacks.
In the middle of the broad yard grew old linden-trees,
on them were storks' nests. Among the trees was a bear
chained to a pillar. Two well-sweeps at the sides of the
yard, a cross with the Passion of the Lord between two
spears at the entrance, completed this picture of the resi¬
dence of a powerful, noble family. At the right of the
house, in the middle of frequent linden-trees, rose the straw
roofs of stables, cow-houses, sheep-houses, and granaries.
Kmita entered the gate, which was open on both sides;
like the arms of a noble awaiting the arrival of a guest.
Then two dogs loitering through the yard announced the
stranger, and from a wing two boys ran to take the
horses.
At the same moment in the door of the main building
stood a female figure, m which Kmita recognized Olenka
at^ once. His heart beat more quickly, and throwing the
reins to the servant, he went toward the porch with uncov¬
ered head, holding in one hand his sabre, and in the other
his cap.
She stood before him like a charming vision, shading
her eyes with her hand against the setting sun, and then
vol. i. — 20
306
THE DELUGE.
vanished on a sudden, as if frightened by the sight of the
approaching guest.
" Bad ! " thought Pan Andrei; " she hides from me."
He was pained, and his pain was all the greater since
just before the mild sunset, the view of that house, and the
calm so spread around it tilled his heart with hope, though
perhaps Pan Andrei did not note that.
He cherished as it were an illusion that he was going to
his betrothed, who would receive him with eyes gleaming
from joy and a blush on her cheeks.
And the illusion was broken. Scarcely had she seen him
when she rushed away, as if from an evil spirit; and
straightway Pan Tomash came out to meet him with a face
at once unquiet and cloudy.
Kmita bowed and said, " I have long wished to express
duly my devotion to you, my benefactor; but I was unable
to do so sooner in these times of disturbance, though surely
there was no lack in me of desire."
" I am very grateful, and I beg you to enter," answered
the sword-bearer, smoothing the forelock on his head,—
an act usual with him when confused or uncertain of him¬
self. And he stepped aside from the door to let the
guest pass.
Kmita for a while did not wish to enter first, and they
bowed to each other on the threshold; at last Pan Andrei
took the step before the sword-bearer, and in a moment they
were in the room.
They found there two nobles, —one, a man in the bloom
of life, Pan Dovgird of Plemborg, a near neighbor of the
Billeviches ; the other, Pan Hudzynski, a tenant in Eyra-
goly. Kmita noticed that they had barely heard his name
when their faces changed and they seemed to act like dogs
at sight of a wolf; he looked at them first defiantly, and
then feigned not to see them.
A disagreeable silence succeeded.
Pan Andrei grew impatient and gnawed his mustaches;
the guests looked at him with a fixed frown, and the sword-
bearer stroked his forelock.
" Will you drink a glass of poor nobles' mead with us ? "
asked he at last, pointing to a decanter and a glass. I re¬
quest you — "
" I will drink with a gentleman! " said Kmita, rather
abruptly.
Dovgird and Hudzynski began to puff, taking the answer
THE DELUGE.
307
as an expression of contempt for them ; but they would not
begin a quarrel at once in a friendly house, and that with
a roisterer who had a terrible reputation throughout all
Jmud. Still the insult nettled them.
Meanwhile the sword-bearer clapped his hands for a
servant, and ordered him to bring a fourth glass ; then he
filled it, raised his own to his lips, and said, " Into your
hands — I am glad to see you in my house."
" I should be sincerely glad were that true."
" A guest is a guest," said the sword-bearer, sententiously.
After a while, conscious evidently of his duty as a host to
keep up the conversation, he asked, " What do you hear at
Kyedani ? How is the health of the hetman ? "
"Not strong," answered Kmita, "and in these unquiet
times it cannot be otherwise. The prince has a world of
troubles and annoyances."
" I believe that! " said Pan Hudzynski.
Kmita looked at him for a while, then turned to the host
and continued, —
" The prince, being promised assistance by the Swedish
King, expected to move against the enemy at Vilna without
delay, and take vengeance for the ashes of that place, which
have not yet grown cold. And it must be known also to
you that now it is necessary to search for Vilna in Vilna,
for it was burning seventeen days. They say that nothing
is visible among the ruins but the black holes of cellars
from which smoke is still rising continually."
" Misfortune ! " said the sword-bearer.
"Of course a misfortune, which if it could not have been
prevented should be avenged and similar ruins made of the
enemy's capital. In fact, it was coming to this when dis¬
turbers, suspecting the best intentions of an honorable
man, proclaimed him a traitor, and resisted him in arms
instead of aiding him against the enemy. It is not to be
wondered, therefore, that the health of the prince totters,
since he, whom God predestined to great things, sees that
the malice of man is ever preparing new obstacles through
which the entire undertaking may come to naught. The
best friends of the prince have deceived him; those on
whom he counted most have left him, or gone to the
enemy."
" So it is," said the sword-bearer, seriously.
"That is very painful," continued Kmita, "and I myself
have heard the prince say, 'I know that honorable men
308
THE DELUGE.
pass evil judgments on me; but why do they not come to
Kyedani, why do they not tell me to my face what they
have against me, and listen to my reasons ?'"
"Whom has the prince in mind?" asked the sword-
bearer.
"In the first rank you, my benefactor, for whom he has
a genuine regard, and he suspects that you belong to the
enemy."
The sword-bearer began to smooth his forelock quickly.
At last, seeing that the conversation was taking an undesir¬
able turn, he clapped his hands.
A servant appeared in the doorway.
" Seest not that it is growing dark ? Bring lights!"
cried Pan Tomash.
" God sees," continued Kmita, " that I had intended to
lay before you proper assurances of my own devotion sep¬
arately, but I have come here also at the order of the
prince, who would have come in person to Billeviche if the
time were more favoring."
" Our thresholds are too lowly," said the sword-bearer.
" Do not say that, since it is customary for neighbors to
visit one another; but the prince has no time unoccupied,
therefore he said to me, 'Explain in my name to Pan
Billevich that I am not able to visit him, but let him come
to me with his niece, and that of course without delay, for
to-morrow or the day following I know not where I shall
be.' So I have come with a request, and I trust that both
of you are in good health; for when I drove in here I saw
Panna Aleksandra in the door, but she vanished at once,
like mist from the field."
" That is true," said the sword-bearer; " I sent her my¬
self to see who had come."
"I am waiting for your reply, my benefactor," said
Kmita.
At that moment the attendant brought in a light and
placed it on the table; by the shining of the light it was
seen that Billevich was greatly confused.
"This is no small honor for me," said he, "but — I can¬
not go at once. Be pleased to excuse me to the hetman —
you see that I have guests."
"Oh, surely that will not hinder, for these gentlemen
will yield to the prince."
"We have our own tongues in our mouths, and can an¬
swer for ourselves," said Pan Hudzynski.
THE DELUGE.
309
"Without waiting for others to make decisions concern¬
ing us," added Dovgird.
"You see," continued Kmita, pretending to take in good
part the churlish words of the nobles, " I knew that these
were polite cavaliers. But to avoid slighting any one, I
invite them also in the name of the prince to come to
Kyedani."
" Too much favor," said both ; " we have something else
to do."
Kmita looked on them with a peculiar expression, and
then said coldly, as if speaking to some fourth person,
" When the prince invites, it is not permitted to refuse."
At that they rose from their chairs.
" But is that constraint ? " asked the sword-bearer.
"Pan Billevich, my benefactor," answered Kmita, quickly,
"those gentlemen will go whether they wish or not, for
thus it has pleased me; but I desire not to use force with
you, and I beg most sincerely that you will deign to gratify
the prince. I am on service, and have an order to bring
you; but as long as I do not lose hope of effecting some¬
thing with entreaty, I shall not cease to entreat, — and I
swear to you that not a hair will fall from your head while
there. The prince wishes to talk with you, and wishes
you to live in Kyedani during these troubled times, when
even peasants collect in crowds and plunder. This is the
whole affair! You will be treated with fitting respect in
Kyedani, as a guest and a friend; I give my word of
honor for that."
" As a noble, I protest," said the sword-bearer, " and the
law protects me."
"And sabres !" cried Hudzynski and Dovgird.
Kmita laughed, frowned, and said, "Put away your
sabres, gentlemen, or I shall give the order to place you
both against the barn and put a bullet into the head of
each one of you."
At this they grew timid, and began to look at each other
and at Kmita; but the sword-bearer cried,—
"The most outrageous violence against the freedom of
nobles, against privileges !"
" There will be no violence if you comply of your own
will," said Kmita; " and the proof is in this that I left dra¬
goons in the village, and came here alone to invite you as
one neighbor another. Do not refuse, for the times are
such that it is difficult to pay attention to refusals. The
310
THE DELUGE.
prince himself will excuse you therefore, and know that you
will he received as a neighbor and a friend. Understand,
too, that could you be received otherwise, I would a hundred
times rather have a bullet in my head than come here for
you. Not a hair will fall from any Billevich head while I
am alive. Call to mind who I am, remember Heraclius
Billevich, remember his will, and consider whether the
prince would have selected me did he not intend to deal
with you in sincerity."
"Why then does he use force, why have I to go under
constraint ? How am I to trust him, when all Lithuania
talks of the oppression under which honorable citizens are
groaning in Kyedani ? "
Kmita drew breath; for, from his words and voice he
knew that Billevich was beginning to weaken in his
resistance.
"Worthy benefactor," said he, almost joyously, "con¬
straint among neighbors often rises from affection. And
when you order servants to put the carriage-wheel of a
welcome guest in the storehouse, or his provision-chest in
the larder, is not that constraint ? And when you force
him to drink, even when wine is flowing out through his
nostrils, is not that constraint ? And be assured that even
had I to bind you and take you bound to Kyedani among
dragoons, that would be for your good. Just think, insurgent
soldiers are wandering about and committing lawless deeds,
peasants are mustering, Swedish troops are approaching,
and do you think to save yourself from accident in the
uproar, or that some of these will not come to-day or to¬
morrow, plunder and burn your property, and attack your
person ? Is Billeviche a fortress ? Can you defend your¬
self here ? What does the prince wish for you ? Safety ;
for Kyedani is the only place where you are not in danger.
A detachment of the prince's troops will guard your prop¬
erty here, as the eyes in their heads, from all disorder of sol¬
diers ; and if one fork is lost, then take my whole fortune."
Billevich began to walk through the room. " Can I trust
your word ? "
At that moment Panna Aleksandra entered the room.
Kmita approached her quickly, but suddenly remembered
the events of Kyedani, and her cold face fixed him to the
floor ; he bowed therefore from a distance, in silence.
Pan Billevich stood before her. " We have to go to
Kyedani," said he.
THE DELUGE.
311
" And for what reason ? " asked she.
" For the hetman invites."
"Verykindly, —as a neighbor," added Kmita.
"Yes, very kindly," said Billevich, with a certain bitter¬
ness ; " but if we do not go of our own will, this cavalier
has the order to surround us with dragoons and take us by
force."
" God preserve us from that!" said Kmita.
"Have not I told you, Uncle," asked Panna Aleksandra,
" that we ought to flee as far as possible, for they would not
leave us here undisturbed ? Now my words have come true."
" What's to be done, what's to be done ? There is no
remedy against force," cried Billevich.
" True," answered the lady: " but we ought not to go to
that infamous house of our own will. Let murderers take
us, bind us, and bear us. Not we alone shall suffer
persecution, not us alone will the vengeance of traitors
reach; but let them know that we prefer death to infamy."
Here she turned with an expression of supreme contempt
to Kmita : " Bind us, sir officer, or sir executioner, and take
us with horses, for in another way we will not go."
The blood rushed to Kmita's face; it seemed for a time
that he would burst forth in terrible anger, but he re¬
strained himself.
"Ah, gracious lady," said he, with a voice stifled from
excitement, " I have not favor in your eyes, since you wish
to make me a murderer, a traitor, and a man of violence.
May God judge who is right, — whether I serving the hetman,
or you insulting me as a clog. God gave you beauty, but a
heart venomous and implacable. You are glad to suffer
yourself, that you may inflict still greater pain on another.
You exceed the measure,—as I live, you exceed it,—
and nothing will come of that."
"The maiden speaks well," cried Billevich, to whom
daring came suddenly; " we will not go of our own will.
Take us with dragoons."
But Kmita paid no attention whatever to him, so much
was he excited, and so deeply touched.
"You are in love with the sufferings of people," con¬
tinued he to Olenka, " and you proclaim me a traitor
without judgment, without considering a reason, without
permitting me to say a word in my own defence. Let it be
so. But you will go to Kyedani, — of your own will or
against your will; it is all one. There my intentions will
312
THE DELUGE.
become evident; there you will know whether you have
justly accused me of wrong, there conscience will tell you
who of us was whose executioner. I want no other
vengeance. God be with you, but I want that vengeance.
And I want nothing more of you, for you have bent the
bow to the breaking. There is a serpent under your beauty
as under a flower."
" We will not go!" repeated Billevich, still more
resolutely.
" As true as life we will not!" shouted Hudzynski and
Dovgird.
Kmita turned to them; but he was very pale now, for
rage was throttling him, and his teeth chattered as in a
fever.
" Ei! Try now to resist! My horses are to be heard, —
my dragoons are coming. Will some one say again that he
will not go ? "
In fact the tramp of numerous horses was heard. All
saw that there was no help, and Kmita said, —
"Young lady, within the time that a man could repeat
the Lord's Prayer twice you must be in the carriage, or
your uncle will have a bullet in his head."
And it was evident that the wild frenzy of anger was
taking possession more and more of Pan Andrei, for sud¬
denly he shouted till the panes rattled in the windows,
" To the road !"
That same instant the door of the front chamber opened
quietly, and some strange voice inquired, —
" To what place, Cavalier ? "
All became as stone from amazement, and every eye was
turned to the door, in which stood some small man in
armor, and with a naked sabre in his hand.
Kmita retreated a step, as if he had seen an apparition.
" Pan Volodyovski! " cried he.
" At your service ! " answered the little man. And he
advanced into the middle of the chamber; after him entered
in a crowd Mirski, Zagloba, Pan Yan, Pan Stanislav,
Stankyevich, Oskyerko and Roh Kovalski.
" Ha! " cried Zagloba ; " the Cossack caught a Tartar,
and the Tartar holds him by the head!"
Billevich began to speak: " Whoever you are, gentle¬
men, save a citizen whom in spite of law, birth, and office
they wish to arrest and confine. Save, brothers, the freedom
of a noble, whoever you may be."
THE DELUGE.
313
" Fear not! " ansAvered Volodyovski, " the dragoons of
this cavalier are already in fetters, and now he needs
rescue himself more than you do."
" But a priest most of all ! " added Zagloba.
" Sir Knight," said Yolodyovski, turning to Kmita, "you
have no luck with me; a second time I stand in your Avay.
You did not expect me ? "
" I did not! I thought you Avere in the hands of the
prince."
" I have just slipped out of those hands, — this is the
road to Podlyasye. But enough ! The first time that you
bore away this lady I challenged you to sabres, is it not
true ? "
" True," answered Kmita, reaching involuntarily to his
head.
" Kow it is another affair. Then you Avere given to
fighting, — a thing usual with nobles, and not bringing the
last infamy. To-day you do not deserve that an honest
man should challenge you."
" Why is that ? " asked Kmita; and raising his proud
head, he looked Volodyovski straight in the eyes.
" You are a traitor and a renegade," ansAvered Volo¬
dyovski, " for you have cut doAvn, like an executioner,
honest soldiers who stood by their country, — for it is
through your Avork that this unhappy land is groaning under
a new yoke. Speaking briefly, prepare for death, for as
God is in heaven your last hour has come."
"By Avhat right do you judge and execute me?"
inquired Kmita.
" Gracious sir," ansAvered Zagloba, seriously, " say your
prayers instead of asking us about a right. But if you
have anything to say in your defence, say it quickly, for
you will not find a living soul to take your part. Once, as
I have heard, this lady here present begged you from the
hands of Pan Yolodyovski •, but after what you have done
now, she will surely not take your part."
Here the eyes of all turned involuntarily to Panna
Aleksandra, whose face at that moment Avas as if cut
from stone; and she stood motionless, with doAvncast
lids, icy-cold, but she did not advance a step or speak a
word.
The voice of Kmita broke the silence • "I do not ask
that lady for intercession."
Panna Aleksandra was silent.
314
THE DELUGE.
"This way!" called Yolodyovski, turning toward the
door.
Heavy steps were heard, followed by the gloomy rattle
of spurs ; and six soldiers, with Yuzva Butrym in front,
entered the room.
" Take him!" commanded Volodyovski, " lead him outside
the village and put a bullet in his head."
The heavy hand of Butrym rested on the collar of Kmita ,
after that two other hands.
" Do not let them drag me like a dog !" said Kmita to
Yolodyovski. " I will go myself."
Volodyovski nodded to the soldiers, who released him at
once, but surrounded him; and he walked out calmly, not
speaking to any man, only whispering his prayers.
Panna Aleksandra went out also, through the opposite
door, to the adjoining rooms. She passed the first and the
second, stretching out her hand in the darkness before her;
suddenly her head whirled, the breath failed in her bosom,
and she fell, as if dead, on the floor.
Among those who were assembled in the first room a
dull silence reigned for some time ; at last Billevich broke it.
" Is there no mercy for him ? " asked he.
" I am sorry for him," answered Zagloba, " for he went
manfully to death."
To which Mirski said, " He shot a number of officers
out of my squadron, besides those whom he slew in attack."
"And from mine too," added Stankyevich; "and he
cut up almost all of Nyevyarovski's men."
" He must have had orders from Radzivill," said Zagloba.
"Gentlemen," said Billevich, "you bring the vengeance
of Radzivill on my head."
" You must flee. We are going to Podlyasye, for there
the squadrons have risen against traitors; go with us.
There is no other help. You can take refuge in Byalovyej,
where a relative of Pan Skshetuski is the king's hunter.
There no one will find you."
"But my property will be lost."
"The Commonwealth will restore it to you."
" Pan Michael," said Zagloba, suddenly, " I will gallop off
and see if there are not some orders of tlie hetman on that
unfortunate man. You remember what I found oil Boh
Kovalski."
"Mount a horse. There is time yet; later the papers
will be bloody. 1 ordered them to take him beyond the
THE DELUGE.
315
village, so that the lady might not be alarmed at the rattle
of muskets, for women are sensitive and given to fright."
Zagloba went out, and after a while the tramp of the
horse on which he rode away was heard. Yolodyovski
turned to the host.
" What is the lady doing ? "
" Beyond doubt she is praying for that soul which must
go before God."
" May the Lord give him eternal rest! " said Pan Yan.
"Were it not for his willing service with Radzivill, I
should be the first to speak in his favor ; but if he did not
wish to stand by his country, he might at least not have
sold his soul to Radzivill."
" That is true ! " added Yolodyovski.
" He is guilty and deserves what has come upon him,"
said Pan Stanislav; " but I would that Radzivill were in his
place, or Opalinski — oh, Opalinski! "
" Of how far he is guilty, you have best proof here," put
in Oskyerko; " this lady, who was his betrothed, did not
find a word in his favor. I saw clearly that she was in
torment, but she was silent; for how could she take the
part of a traitor."
"She loved him once sincerely, I know that," said
Billevich. "Permit me, gentlemen, to go and see what has
befallen her, as this is a grievous trial for a woman."
" Make ready for the road ! " cried the little knight, " for
we shall merely give rest to the horses. We move farther.
Kyedani is too near this place, and Radzivill must have
returned already."
" Yery well!" said the noble, and he left the room.
After a while his piercing cry was heard. The knights
sprang toward the sound, not knowing what had happened;
the servants also ran in with the lights, and they saw
Billevich raising Olenka, whom he had found lying senseless
on the floor.
Volodyovski sprang to help him, and together they placed
her on the sofa. She gave no sign of life. They began to rub
her. The old housekeeper ran in with cordials, and at last
the young lady opened her eyes.
"Nothing is the matter," said the old housekeeper; "go
ye to that room, we will take care of her."
Billevich conducted his guests. " Would that this had
not happened !" said the anxious host. " Could you not
take that unfortunate with you, and put liim out of the way
316
THE DELUGE.
somewhere on the road, and not on my place ? How can I
travel now, how flee, when the young woman is barely
alive, on the brink of serious illness ? "
"The illness is all over now," answered Volodyovski.
"We will put the lady in a carriage; you must both flee,
for the vengeance of Radzivill spares no man."
"The lady may recover quickly," said Pan Yan.
"A comfortable carriage is ready, with horses attached,
for Kmita brought it with him," said Volodyovski. "Go
and tell the lady how things are, and that it is impossible to
delay flight. Let her collect her strength. We must go, for
before to-morrow morning Kadzivill's troops may be here."
" True," answered Billevich; " I go ! "
He went, and after a while returned with his niece, Avho
had not only collected her strength, but was already dressed
for the road. She had a high color on her face, and her
eyes were gleaming feverishly.
" Let us go, let us go ! " repeated she, entering the room.
Volodyovski went out on the porch for a moment to send
men for the carriage; then he returned, and all began to
make ready for the road.
Before a quarter of an hour had passed, the roll of
wheels was heard outside the windows, and the stamping of
horses' hoofs on the pavement with which the space before
the entrance was covered.
" Let us go ! " said Olenka.
" To the road !" cried the officers.
That moment the door was thrown open, and Zagloba
burst into the room like a bomb.
" I have stopped the execution!" cried he.
Olenka from being ruddy became in one moment as white
as chalk; she seemed ready to faint again; but no one
paid attention to her, for all eyes were turned on Zagloba,
who was panting like a whale, trying to catch breath.
" Have you stopped the execution ? " inquired Volodyov¬
ski. " Why was that ? "
"Why ? — Let me catch breath. This is why, —without
Kmita, without that honorable cavalier, we should all of us
be hanging on trees at Kyedani. Uf! we wanted to kill
our benefactor, gentlemen ! Uf! "
" How can that be ? " cried all, at once.
" How can it be ? Read this letter ; in it is the answer."
Here Zagloba gave a letter to Volodyovski. He began to
read, stopping every moment and looking at his comrades ;
THE DELUGE.
317
for it was in fact the letter in which Radzivill reproached
Kmita bitterly because by his stubborn persistence he had
freed the colonels and Zagloba from death at Kyedani.
" Well, what do you think ? " repeated Zagloba, at each
interval.
The letter ended, as we know, with the commission for
Kmita to bring Billevich and his niece to Kyedani. Pan
Andrei had the letter with him, apparently to show it to
the sword-bearer in case of necessity, and it had not come
to that.
Above all there remained no shadow of doubt that but
for Kmita the two Skshetuskis, Yolodyovski, and Zagloba
would have been killed without mercy in Kyedani, immedi¬
ately after the famous treaty with Pontus de la Gardie.
"Worthy gentlemen," said Zagloba, " if you wish now to
shoot him, as God is dear to me, I will leave your company
and know you no longer."
" There is nothing more to be said here !" replied
Yolodyovski.
" Ah ! " said Skslietuski, seizing his head with both hands,
"what a happiness that father read that letter at once,
instead of bringing it to us !"
"They must have fed you with starlings from child¬
hood !" cried Mirski.
" Ha! what do you say to that ?" asked Zagloba.
"Every one else would have put a bullet in his head. But
the moment they brought me the paper which they found
on him, something touched me, because I have by nature
a universal curiosity. Two men were going ahead of me
with lanterns, and they were already in the held. Said 1 to
them, ' Give me light here ; let me know what is in this !'
I began to read. I tell you, gentlemen, there was dark¬
ness before me as if some man had thumped my bald head
with his fist. ' In God's name !' said I, ' why did you not
show this letter ?' And he answered, ' Because it did not
suit me !' Such a haughty fellow, even at the point of
death! But didn't I seize him, embrace him? 'Benefactor,'
cried I, 'without you the crows would have eaten us
already!' I gave orders to bring him back and lead him
here; and I almost drove the breath out of the horse to
tell you what had happened as quickly as possible. Uf !"
" That is a wonderful man, in whom it is clear as much
good as evil resides," said Pan Stanislav. " If such would
not — "
318
THE DELUGE.
But before he had finished, the door opened and the
soldiers came in with Kmita.
"You are free," said Volodyovski, at once; "and while
we are alive none of us will attack you. What a desperate
man you are, not to show us that letter immediately! We
would not have disturbed you."
Here he turned to the soldiers: " Withdraw, and every
man to horse ! "
The soldiers withdrew, and Pan Andrei remained alone
in the middle of the room. He had a calm face ; but it was
gloomy, and he looked at the officers standing before him,
not without pride.
"You are free !" repeated Volodyovski; "go whitherso¬
ever you please, even to Radzivill, though it is painful to
see a man of honorable blood aiding a traitor to his
country."
"Reflect well," answered Kmita, "for I say beforehand
that I shall go nowhere else but to Radzivill."
"Join us ; let the thunderbolt crush that tyrant of Kye-
dani!" cried Zagloba. " You will be to us a friend and
dear comrade; the country, your mother, will forgive your
offences against her."
" It is no use," said Kmita, with energy. " God will
decide who serves the country better, —you who begin civil
war on your own responsibility, or I, serving a lord who
alone can save this ill-fated Commonwealth. Go your own
way, I will go mine. It is not time to convert you, and the
attempt is vain; but I tell you from the depth of my soul
that you are ruining the country, — you who stand in the
way of its salvation. I do not call you traitors, for I know
that your intentions are honorable ; but this is the position,
— the country is perishing, Radzivill stretches a hand to it,
and you thrust swords into that hand, and in blindness
make traitors of him and all those who stand by him."
" As God is true !" said Zagloba, " if I had not seen how
manfully you went to meet death, I should think that
terror had disturbed your mind. To whom have you given
oath,—to Radzivill or Yan Kazimir, to Sweden or the
Commonwealth ? You have lost your wits !"
" I knew that it would be vain to attempt to convert you.
Farewell! "
" But wait," said Zagloba; " for here is a question of
importance. Tell me, did Radzivill promise that he would
spare us when you interceded for us in Kyedani ? "
THE DELUGE.
319
" He did," said Kinita. " You were to remain during the
war in Birji."
"Know now your Radzivill, who betrays not only the
country, not only the king, but his own servants." When
he had said this, Zagloba gave the hetman's letter to Kmita.
He took it, and began to run over it with his eyes ; and as
he read, the blood came to his face, and a blush of shame
for his own leader covered his forehead more and more.
All at once he crushed the letter in his hand, and threw it
on the floor.
" Farewell! " said he. " Better I had perished at your
hands ! " and he went out of the room.
" Gentlemen," said Pan Yan, after a moment's silence,
" an affair with that man is difficult, for he believes in his
Radzivill as a Turk in Mohammed. I thought myself, as
you do, that he was serving him for profit or ambition, but
that is not the case. He is not a bad man, only an erring
one."
"If he has had faith in his Mohammed hitherto, I have
undermined that faith infernally," said Zagloba. " Did
you see how he threw down the letter as soon as he had
read it ? There will be no small work between them, for
that cavalier is ready to spring at the eyes, not only of
Radzivill, but the devil. As God is dear to me, if a man
had given me a herd of Turkish horses I should not be so
well pleased as I am at having saved him from death."
" It is true he owes his life to you," said Billevich; " no
one will deny that."
"God be with him!" said Volodyovski; "let us take
counsel what to do."
" But what ? Mount and take the road ; the horses have
rested a little," answered Zagloba.
" True, we should go as quickly as possible! Are you
going with us ? " asked Mirski of the sword-bearer.
" I cannot remain here in peace, I must go. But if you
wish to take the road at once, gentlemen, I say sincerely
that it is not convenient to tear away now with you. Since
that man has left here alive, they will not burn me up im¬
mediately, neither will they kill any one ; and before such a
journey it is necessary to provide one's self with this thing
and that. God knows when I shall return. It is necessary
to make one arrangement and another, — to secrete the most
valuable articles, send my cattle to the neighbors, pack
trunks. I have also a little ready money which I would
320
THE DELUGE.
take with me. I shall be ready to-morrow at daybreak; but
to go now, in seize-grab fashion, I cannot."
" On our part we cannot wait, for the sword is hanging
over our heads," said Yolodyovski. "And where do you
wish to take refuge ? "
"In the wilderness, as you advised. At least, I shall
leave the maiden there; for I am not yet old, and my poor
sabre may be of use to the country and the king."
" Farewell! God grant us to meet in better times ! "
"God reward you, gentlemen, for coming to rescue me.
Doubtless we shall see one another in the field."
" Good health ! "
" Happy journey! "
They began to take farewell of one another, and then
each came to bow down before Panna Billevich.
" You will see my wife and little boys in the wilderness ;
embrace them for me, and bloom in good health," said Pan
Yan.
" Remember at times the soldier, who, though he had no
success in your eyes, is always glad to bend the skies for
you."
After them others approached, and last Zagloba.
"Receive, charming flower, farewell from an old man
too. Embrace Pani Skshetuski and my little stumps.
They are boys in a hundred!"
Instead of an answer, Olenka seized his hand, and
pressed it in silence to her lips.
THE DELUGE.
321
CHAPTER XXII.
That night, at the latest two hours after the departure
of Volodyovski's detachment, Radzivill himself came to
Billeviche at the head of his cavalry. He came to the
assistance of Kmita, fearing lest' he might fall into the
hands of Volodyovski. When he learned what had hap¬
pened he took the sword-bearer and Olenka and returned
to Kyedani, without even giving rest to the horses.
The hetman was enraged beyond measure when he heard
the story from the mouth of the sword-bearer, who told
everything, in detail, wishing to turn from himself the
attention of the terrible magnate. He dared not protest,
for the same reason, against the journey to Kyedani, and
was glad in his soul that the storm ended thus. Radzivill,
on his part, though suspecting Billevich of " practices"
(conspiracy), had in fact too many cares to remember the
matter at that moment.
The escape of Volodyovski might change affairs in Podly-
asye. Horotkyevich and Yakub Kmita, who were there at
the head of squadrons confederated against the hetman,
were good soldiers, but not important; hence the whole
confederacy had no weight. But now with Volodyovski
had fled such men as Mirski, Stankyevich, and Oskyerko,
without counting the little knight himself, — all excellent
officers, enjoying universal respect.
But in Podlyasye was Prince Boguslav also, who with
the castle squadrons was opposing the confederates, waiting
meanwhile for aid from his uncle the elector; but the
elector delayed, evidently waiting for events; and the con¬
federated forces were gaining strength, and adherents came
to them every day.
For some time the hetman had been wishing to march to
Podlyasye himself, and crush the insurgents with one blow,
but he was restrained by the thought that let him set foot
over the boundary of Jmud the whole country would rise,
and the importance of the Radzivills be reduced in the
eyes of the Swedes to zero. The prince was meditating
whether it were not better to abandon Podlyasye altogether
for the time, and bring Prince Boguslav to Jmud.
VOL. I.— 21
322
THE DELUGE.
That was necessary and urgent. On the other hand,
threatening news came touching the deeds of the voevoda
of Vityebsk. The hetman had tried to negotiate and bring
him over to his plans, but Sapyeha sent back the letters
unanswered ; and besides, as report said, the voevoda was
selling his effects at auction, disposing of what he could,
melting silver into coin, selling his cattle for ready money,
pawning tapestry and valuables to the Jews, renting his
lands and collecting troops.
The hetman, greedy by nature and incapable of making
sacrifices of money, refused to believe, at first, that any
man would cast his whole fortune without hesitation on the
altar of the country; but time convinced him that this was
really the case, for Sapyeha's military power increased
daily. Fugitives, settled nobles, patriots gathered around
him, — enemies of the hetman, and still worse, his blood
relatives, such as Prince Michael Radzivill, of whom news
came that he had ordered all the income of his estates still
unoccupied by the enemy to be given to the voevoda of
Vityebsk.
In this way then did the edifice, built by the pride of
Yanush Radzivill, crack from its foundations and totter.
The whole Commonwealth was to find a place in that edi¬
fice, but now it appeared in advance that it could not con¬
tain even Jmud.
The condition Avas becoming more and more like a vicious
circle ; for Radzivill might summon against the voevoda of
Vityebsk Swedish forces which were occupying the country
by degrees, but that would be to acknowledge his own
weakness. Besides, the relations of the hetman with the
generalissimo of the Swedes were strained since the affair at
Klavany, thanks to the plan of Zagloba; and in spite of all
explanations, irritation and distrust reigned between them.
The hetman, when setting out to aid Kmita, had hope
that perhaps he might yet seize Volodyovski and destroy
him; therefore, when his reckoning was at fault, he returned
to Kyedani angry and frowning. It astonished him too
that he did not meet Kmita on the road to Billeviche; this
happened because Pan Andrei, whose dragoons Volodyovski
did not fail to take with him, returned alone, and therefore
chose the shortest road through the forest, avoiding Plem-
borg and Eyragoly.
After a night spent entirely on horseback the hetman
came back to Kyedani on the following day at noon with
THE DELUGE.
323
his troops, and his first question was about Kmita. He
was informed that Pan Andrei had returned, but without
soldiers. Of that last circumstance the prince knew already;
but he was curious to hear from the lips of Kmita him¬
self the story, therefore he gave command to call him
at once.
"There was no success for you, as there was none for
me," said he, when Kmita stood before him. " The sword-
bearer told me that you fell into the hands of that little
devil."
" That is true," answered Kmita.
" And my letter saved you ? "
" Of what letter are you speaking, your highness ? For
when they had read themselves the one found on me, they
read to me in return another letter, written to the com¬
mandant of Birji."
The gloomy face of Radzivill was covered as it were with
a bloody skin. " Then do you know ?"
"I know! " answered Kmita, emphatically. "Your high
ness, how could you act so with me ? For a common noble
it is a shame to break his word, but what is it for a prince
and a leader ? "
" Silence ! " cried Radzivill.
" I will not be silent, for before the eyes of those men I
had to take your place. They were urging me to join them ;
but I would not, and said, 1 I serve Radzivill; for with him
is justice, with him virtue.' Then they showed me that
letter : ' See what a man your Radzivill is !' I had to shut
my mouth and gulp shame."
The hetman's lips began to quiver from fury. A wild
desire seized him to wring that insolent head from its
shoulders, and he was already raising his hands to clap for
the servants. Rage closed his eyes, stopped the breath in
his breast; and surely Kmita would have paid dearly for
his outburst were it not for the sudden attack of asthma
which at that moment seized the prince. His face grew
black, he sprang up from the chair and began to beat the
air with his hands, his eyes were coming out of his head,
and from his throat rose a Jioarse bellow, in which Kmita
barely heard the word, " Choking! "
At the alarm the servants and the castle physicians ran
in. They tried to restore the prince, who had lost conscious¬
ness. They roused him in about an hour; and when he
showed signs of life Kmita left the room.
324
THE DELUGE.
In the corridor he met Kharlamp, who had recovered
from the wounds and bruises received in the battle with
Oskyerko's insurgent Hungarians.
" What news ? " asked Great Mustache.
" He has come to himself," answered Kmita.
"H'm ! But any day he may not come! Bad for us,
Colonel; for when the prince dies they will grind out his
deeds on us. My whole hope is in Volodyovski. I trust
that he will shield his old comrades ; therefore I tell you "
(here Kharlamp lowered his voice) "that I am glad he
escaped."
"Was he cornered so closely, then ? "
" What, cornered ! From that willow grove in which we
surrounded him wolves could not have sprung out, and he
sprang out. May the bullets strike him ! Who knows,
who knows that we shall not have to grasp hold of his
skirts, for there is something bad about us here. The
nobles are turning away terribly from our prince, and all
say that they would rather have a real enemy, a Swede,
even a Tartar, than a renegade. That is the position. And,
besides, the prince gives more and more orders to seize and
imprison citizens, — which, speaking between us, is against
law and liberty. To-day they brought in the sword-bearer
of Rossyeni."
" Have they indeed ? "
" Yes, with his niece. The lady is a beauty. You are to
be congratulated !"
" Where are they lodged ? "
"In the right wing. Five rooms are assigned them; they
cannot complain, unless of this, —that a guard walks before
their doors. And when will the wedding be, Colonel ? "
" The music is not yet engaged for it. Farewell!" added
Kmita.
Ban Andrei went from Kharlamp to his own room. A
sleepless night with its stormy events, and his last meeting
with the prince had wearied him to such a degree that he
was barely able to stand. And as every touch causes pain
to a wearied, bruised body, so had he a soul full of anguish.
Kharlamp's simple question < When will the wedding be ?'
pierced him sorely; for before his eyes at once appeared, as
if alive, the icy face of Olenka, and her fixed lips when
their silence confirmed the death-sentence against him.
Even a word from her would have saved him. Volodyovski
would have respected it. All the sorrow and pain which
THE DELUGE.
325
Kmita felt at that moment consisted in this, that she did
not say that word. Still she had not hesitated to save him
twice before. Such now was the precipice between them,
so utterly quenched in her heart was not merely love, but
simple kind feeling, which it was possible to have even for
a stranger, — simple pity, which it is incumbent to have for
every one. The more Kmita thought over this, the more
cruel did Olenka seem to him, the greater his complaint
against her, and the deeper his wrong. " What have I
done of such character," asked he of himself, " that I am
scorned, like one cursed by the church ? Even if it. were
evil to serve Radzivill, still I feel innocent, since I can
answer on my conscience, that not for promotion, not for
gain, nor for bread do I serve him, but because I see profit
to the country from my service. Why am I condemned
without trial ? Well, well! Let it be so ! I will not go
to clear myself of uncommitted offences, nor to beg love,"
repeated he for the thousandth time.
Still the pain did not cease; it increased. On returning
to his quarters Pan Andrei cast himself on the bed and
tried to sleep ; but he could not, despite all his weariness.
After a while he rose and began to walk through the room.
Erom time to time he raised his hands to his forehead and
said aloud to himself, —
" Oh, the heart of that woman is hard ! "
And again, —
" I did not expect that of you, young lady, — May God
reward you ! "
In these meditations an hour passed, and a second. At
last he tired himself out and began to doze, sitting on the
bed; but before he fell asleep an attendant of Radzivill,
Pan Skillandz, roused him and summoned him to the
prince.
Eadzivill felt better already, and breathed more freely,
but on his leaden face could be seen a great weakening.
He sat in a deep armchair, covered with leather, having
before him a physician whom he sent out immediately after
Kmita entered.
" I had one foot in the other world and through you,"
said he to Pan Andrei.
"Your highness, it was not my fault; I said what I
thought."
"Let no further mention be made of this. But do not
add to the weight of the burden which I bear; and know
326
THE DELUGE.
this, that what I have forgiven you I would not forgive
another."
Kinita was silent.
"If I gave order," added the prince, after awhile, "to
execute in Birji these men whom at your request I pardoned
in Kyedani, it was not because I wanted to deceive you,
but to spare you pain. I yielded apparently, because I
have a weakness for you. But their death was imperative.
Am I an executioner, or do you think that I spill blood
merely to feast my eyes on red ? But when older you
will know that if a man would achieve anything in this
world, he is not free to sacrifice great causes to smaller. It
was imperative that these men should die here in Kyedani,
for see what has happened through your prayersr resist¬
ance is increased in the country, civil war begun, friend¬
ship with the Swedes is strained, an evil example given
to others, from which mutiny is spreading like a plague.
More than this, I had to go on a later expedition in my
own person, and be filled with confusion in the presence of
the whole army; you came near death at their hands, and
now they will go to Podlyasye and become chiefs of an up¬
rising. Behold and learn ! If they had perished in Kye¬
dani, nothing of all this would have happened; but when
imploring for them you were thinking only of your own
feelings. I sent them to die at Birji, for I am experienced,
I see farther; for I know from practice that whoso in run¬
ning stumbles, even against a small stone, will easily fall,
and whoso falls may not rise again, and the faster he was
running the less likely is he to rise. God save us, what
harm these people have done ! "
" They are not so important as to undo the whole work
of your highness."
" Had they done 110 more than rouse distrust between me
and Pontus, the harm would be incalculable. It has been
explained that they, not my men, attacked the Swedes; but
the letter with threats which Pontus wrote to me remains,
and I do not forgive him that letter. Pontus is brother-in-
law of the king, but it is doubtful whether he could be¬
come mine, and whether the Badzivill thresholds are not
too high for him."
" Let your highness treat with the king himself, and not
with his servant."
" So I intend to do; and if vexation does not kill me I
will teach that little Swede modesty, — if troubles do not
THE DELUGE.
327
kill me; and would that that were all, for no one here
spares me thorns or pain. It is grievous to me, grievous !
Who would believe that I am the man who was at Loyovo,
Jechytsa, Mozyr, Turoff, Kieff, Berestechko ? The whole
Commonwealth gazed at me and Yishnyevetski, as at two
suns. Everything trembled before Hmelnitski, but he
trembled before me. And the very men whom in time of
universal disaster I led from victory to victory, forsake
me to-day and raise their hands against me as against a
parricide."
"But all are not thus, for there are some who believe in
your highness yet," said Kmita, abruptly.
" They believe till they stop," added Radzivill, with bit¬
terness. " Great is the love of the nobles .' God grant that
I be not poisoned by it! Stab after stab does each one of
you give me, though it occurs not to any that — "
" Consider intentions, not words, your highness."
" I give thanks for the counsel. Henceforth I will con¬
sider carefully what face each common man shows me, and
endeavor with care to please all."
" Those are bitter words, your highness."
"But is life sweet? God created me for great things,
and look at me; I must wear out my powers in district
struggles, which village might wage against village. I
wanted to measure myself with mighty monarchs, and I
have fallen so low that I must hunt some Volodyovski
through my own estates. Instead of astonishing the world
with my power, I astonish it with my weakness; instead
of paying for the ashes of Vilna with the ashes of Moscow,
I have to thank you for digging trenches around Kyedani.
Oh, it is narrow for me, and I am choking, — not alone
because the asthma is throttling me; helplessness is kill¬
ing me, inactivity is killing me! It is narrow for me
and heavy for me ! Do you understand ? "
"I thought myself that affairs would go differently,"
answered Kmita, gloomily.
Radzivill began to breathe with effort.
"Before another crown can come to me they have
crowned me with thorns. I commanded the minister,
Aders, to look at the stars. He made a figure and said
that the conjunctions were evil, but that they would pass.
Meanwhile I am suffering torments. In the night there is
something which will not let me sleep ; something walks in
the room, faces of some kind stare at me in the bed, and
328
THE DELUGE.
at times a sudden cold comes. This means that death is
walking around me. I am suffering. I must be prepared
for more treason and apostasy, for I know that there are
men still who waver."
"There are no longer such," answered Kmita, "for whoso
was to go has gone."
"Do not deceive yourself; you see that the remnant of
the Polish people are beginning to take thought."
Kmita remembered what he had heard from Kharlamp
and was silent.
" Never mind! " continued Radzivill, " it is oppressive and
terrible, but it is necessary to endure. Tell no one of what you
have heard from me. It is well that this attack came to-day,
for it will not be repeated; and especially to-day I need
strength, for I wish to have a feast, and show a glad face
to strengthen the courage of people. And do you brighten
your face and tell nothing to any man, for what I say to
you is for this purpose only, that you at least refrain from
tormenting me. Anger carried me away to-day. Be care¬
ful that this happen not again, for it is a question of your
head. But I have forgiven you. Of those trenches with
which you surrounded Kyedani, Peterson himself would
not be ashamed. Go now and send me Myeleshko. They
have brought in deserters from his squadron, — common sol¬
diers. I shall order them hanged to a man. We need to
give an example. Farewell! It must be joyful to-day-in
Kyedani."
THE DELUGE.
329
CHAPTER XXIII.
The sword-bearer of Rossyeni had a difficult struggle
with Panna Aleksandra before she consented to go to that
feast which the hetman had prepared for his people. lie
had to implore almost with tears the stubborn, bold girl, and
swear that it was a question of his head; that all, not only
the military, but citizens dwelling in the region of Kyedani,
as far as Radzivill's hand reached, were obliged to appear
under terror of the prince's wrath: how then could they
oppose who were subject to the favor and disfavor of the
terrible man ? Olenka, not to endanger her uncle, gave
way.
The company was really not small, for he had forced
many of the surrounding nobles to come with their wives
and daughters. But the military were in the majority, and
especially officers of the foreign regiments, who remained
nearly all with the prince. Before he showed himself to
the guests he prepared an affable countenance, as if no care
had weighed 011 him previously; he wished with that ban¬
quet to rouse courage, not only in his adherents and the
military, but to show that most of the citizens were on his
side, and only turbulent people opposed the union with
Sweden. He did not spare therefore trouble or outlay to
make the banquet lordly, that the echo of it might spread
as widely as possible through the land. Barely had dark¬
ness covered the country when hundreds of barrels were
set on fire along the road leading to the castle and in the
courtyard; from time to time cannons were thundering,
and soldiers were ordered to give forth joyous shouts.
Carriages and covered wagons followed one another on
the road, bringing personages of the neighborhood and the
"cheaper" (smaller) nobility. The courtyard was filled
with equipages, horses, and servants, who had either come
with guests or belonged to the town. Crowds dressed in
velvet, brocade, and costly furs filled the so-called " Golden
Hall; " and when the prince appeared at last, all glittering
from precious stones, and with a welcoming smile on his
face, usually gloomy, and besides wrinkled at that time by
sickness, the first officers shouted in one voice, —
330
THE DELUGE.
" Long live the prince hetman ! Long live the voevoda
of Yilna!"
Radzivill cast his eyes suddenly on the assembled citi¬
zens, wishing to convince himself whether they repeated
the cries of the soldiers. In fact a few tens of voices from
the most timid breasts repeated the cry ; the prince on his
part began at once to bow, and to thank them for the sin¬
cere and " unanimous " love.
"With you, gracious gentlemen!" said he, "we will
manage those who would destroy the country. God reward
you ! God reward you ! "
And he went around through the hall, stopped before
acquaintances, not sparing titles in his speech, — " Lord
brother," " dear neighbor;" and more than one gloomy
face grew bright under the warm rays of the magnate's favor.
" But it is not possible," said those who till recently
looked on his deeds with dislike, " that such a lord, such
a lofty senator should wish ill to his country; either he
could not act differently from what he has acted, or there
is some secret in this, which will come out for the good of
the Commonwealth."
" In fact, we have more rest already from one enemy who
does not wish to fight about us with the Swedes."
" God grant that all turn out for the best."
Some, however, shook their heads, or said with a look to
one another, "We are here because they put the knife
to our throats."
But these were silent; meanwhile others, more easily
brought over, said in loud voices, to be heard by the
prince, —
" It is better to change the king than ruin the Common¬
wealth."
"Let the kingdom think of itself, but we will think of
ourselves."
"Besides, who has given us an example, if not Great
Poland? Extrema necessitas, extremis nititur rationibus!
Tentanda omnia ! "
" Let us put all confidence in our prince, and trust him in
everything. Let him have Lithuania and the government
in his hands."
" He deserves both. If he will not save us, we perish, —
in him is salvation."
"He is nearer to us than Yan Kazimir, for he is our
blood."
THE DELUGE.
331
Eadzivill caught with an eager ear those voices, dictated
by fear or flattery, and did not consider that they came
from the mouths of weak persons, who in danger would be
the first to desert him, — from the mouths of persons whom
every breath of wind might bend as a wave. And he was
charmed with those expressions, and tempted himself, or
his own conscience, repeating from the maxims he had
heard that which seemed to excuse him the most: " Ex¬
tremes necessitas, extremis nititur ratio nibus ! "
But when passing a large group of nobles he heard from
the lips of Pan Yujits, "He is nearer to us than Yan Ka-
zimir," his face grew bright altogether. To compare him
with the king, and then to prefer him, flattered his pride;
he approached Pan Yujits at once and said,—
"You are right, brothers, for in Yan Kazimir, in one pot .
of blood there is a quart of Lithuanian, but in me there is
nothing but Lithuanian. If hitherto the quart has com¬
manded the potful, it depends on you, brothers, to change
that condition."
" We are ready to drink a potful to your health," an¬
swered Pan Yujits.
"You have struck my mind. Eejoice, brothers; I would
gladly invite hither all Lithuania."
" It would have to be trimmed still better," said Pan
Shchanyetski of Dalnovo, — a bold man, and cutting with
the tongue as with the sword.
"What do you mean by that ? " asked the prince, fixing
his eyes on him.
" That the heart of your highness is wider than
Kyedani."
Eadzivill gave a forced laugh and went farther.
At this moment the marshal of the castle approached
him with the announcement that the banquet was ready.
Crowds began to flow, like a river, after the prince to the
same hall in which not long before the union with Sweden
was declared. The marshal seated the guests according to
dignity, calling each one by name and rank. But it was
evident that the orders of the prince had been issued in ad¬
vance on this point, for Kmita's place was between Billevich
and Panna Aleksandra.
The hearts jumped in both when they heard their names
called in succession, and both hesitated at the first moment;
but it occurred to them that to refuse would be to draw on
themselves the eyes of all present, therefore they sat side
332-
THE DELUGE.
by side. They were angry and ill at ease. Pan Andrei
determined to be as indifferent as if a stranger were sitting
next him; but soon he understood that he could not be so
indifferent, and that his neighbor was not such a stranger
that they could begin an ordinary conversation. But both
saw that in that throng of persons of the most varied feel¬
ings, interests, and passions, he thinks only of her and she
of him. For this very reason it was awkward for them.
They would not and could not tell sincerely, clearly, and
openly, what lay on their hearts. They had the past, but
no future. Recent feelings, confidence, even acquaintance,
were all broken. There was nothing between them save
the feeling of disappointment and offence. If this link
should burst, they would be freer; but time only could
bring forgetfulness : it was too soon for that.
For Kmita it was so disagreeable that he almost suffered
torments ; still he would not have yielded, for anything in
the world, the place which the marshal had given him. He
caught with his ear the rustle of her dress ; he watched
every movement of hers, — he watched while feigning not
to watch; he felt the warmth beating from her, and all this
caused him a certain painful delight.
At the same moment he discovered that she too was
equally on the alert, though she was as if not paying atten¬
tion. An unconquerable desire of looking at her drew him
on; therefore he glanced sidewise, until he saw her clear
forehead, her eyes covered with dark lashes, and her fair
face, not touched by paint, as Avere those of other ladies.
For him there had always been something attractive in
that face, so that the heart in the poor knight was shiver¬
ing from sorroAv and pain. "To think that such animosity
could find a place with such beauty," thought he. But the
offence was too deep; hence he added soon in his soul, " I
have nothing to do Avith you; let some other man take
you."
And he felt suddenly that if that " other " were merely
to try to make use of the permission, he would cut him
into pieces as small as chopped straw. At the very
thought terrible anger seized him; but he calmed himself
Avhen he remembered that he was still alone, that no
"other" was sitting near her, and that no one, at least at
that moment, Avas trying to Avin her.
" I will look at her once more and turn to the other
side," thought he.
THE DELUGE.
333
And again he cast a sidelong glance ; but just at that
moment she did the same, and both dropped their eyes
with all quickness, terribly confused, as if they had been
caught in a crime.
Panna Aleksandra too was struggling with herself.
Prom ah that had happened, from the action of Kmita at
Billeviche, from the words of Zagloba and Pan Yan, she
learned that Kmita erred, but that he was not so guilty
and did not deserve such contempt, such unreserved con¬
demnation, as she had thought previously. Besides, he
had saved those worthy men from death, and there was so
much in him of a certain grand pride that when he had
fallen into their hands, having a letter on his person suffi¬
cient to vindicate him, or at least to save him from execu¬
tion, he did not show that letter, he said not a word, but
went to death with head erect.
Olenka, reared by an old soldier who placed contempt
for death above all virtues, worshipped courage with her
whole heart; therefore she could not resist an involuntary
admiration for that stern knightly daring which could be
driven from the body only with the soul.
She understood also that if Kmita served Badzivill he
did so in perfect good faith; what a wrong therefore to
condemn him for intentional treason! And still she had
put that wrong on him, she had spared him neither injus¬
tice nor contempt, she would not forgive him even in the
face of death.
" Bight the wrong," said her heart; " all is finished be¬
tween you, but it is thy duty to confess that thou hast
judged him unjustly. In this is thy duty to thyself
also."
But there was in this lady no little pride, and perhaps
something of stubbornness ; therefore it came at once to
her mind that that cavalier was not worth such satisfaction,
and a flush came to her face.
" If he is not worth it, let him go without it," said her
mind.
But conscience said further that whether the injured one
is worth satisfaction or not, it is needful to give it; but on
the other side her pride brought forth continually new
arguments, —
" If — which might be — he was unwilling to listen, she
would have to swallow her shame for nothing. And
secondly, guilty or not guilty, whether he acts purposely
334
THE DELUGE.
or through blindness, it is enough that he holds with trai¬
tors and enemies of the country, and helps them to ruin it.
It is the same to the country whether he lacks reason or
honesty. God may forgive him; men must and ought to
condemn, and the name of traitor will remain with him.
That is true! If he is not guilty, is she not right in
despising a man who has not the wit to distinguish wrong
from right, crime from virtue ? "
Here anger began to carry the lady away, and her
cheeks flushed.
" I will be silent!" said she to herself. " Let him
suffer what he has deserved. Until I see penitence I have
the right to condemn him."
Then she turned her glance to Kmita, as if wishing to
be convinced whether penitence was yet to be seen in his
face. Just then it was that the meeting of their eyes took
place, at which both were so shame-stricken.
Olenka, it may be, did not see penitence in the face of the
cavalier, but she saw pain and suffering; she saw that face
pale as after sickness; therefore deep pity seized her, tears
came perforce to her eyes, and she bent still more over the
table to avoid betraying emotion.
Meanwhile the banquet was becoming animated. At
first all were evidently under a disagreeable impression,
but with the cups came fancy. The bustle increased. At
last the prince rose, —
" Gracious gentlemen, I ask leave to speak."
" The prince wishes to speak! The prince wishes to
speak!" was called from every side.
" I raise the first toast to the Most Serene King of
Sweden, who gives us aid against our enemies, and ruling
meanwhile this country, will not leave it till he brings peace.
Arise, gentlemen, for that health is drunk standing."
The guests rose, except ladies, and filled their glasses,
but without shouts, without enthusiasm. Pan Shchanyetski
of Dalnovo muttered something to his neighbors, and they
bit their mustaches to avoid laughter. It was evident that
he was jeering at the King of Sweden.
It was only when the prince raised the other toast to his
"beloved guests " kind to Kyedani, who had come even from
distant places to testify their confidence in the intentions of
the host, that they answered him with a loud shout, —
"We thank you from our hearts ! "
" The health of the prince ! "
THE DELUGE.
335
" Our Hector of Lithuania!"
" May he live ! Long life to the prince hetman, our
voevoda."
Now Pan Yujits, a little drunk already, cried with all
the strength of his lungs, "Long life to Yanush I., Grand
Prince of Lithuania !"
Radzivill blushed like a young lady at her betrothal, but
remarking that those assembled were stubbornly silent
and looking at him with astonishment, he said, —
" That is in your power; but your wishes are premature,
Pan Yujits, premature."
"Long live Yanush I., Grand Prince of Lithuania!"
repeated Pan Yujits, with the stubbornness of a drunken
man.
Pan Shchanyetski rose in his turn and raised his glass.
" True," said he, coolly, " Grand Prince of Lithuania,
King of Poland, and Emperor of Germany! "
Again an interval of silence. Suddenly the company
burst out into laughter. All were staring, their mustaches
were dancing on their reddened faces, and laughter shook
their bodies, echoed from the arches of the hall, and lasted
long; and as suddenly as it rose so suddenly did it die on
the lips of all at sight of the hetman's face, which was
changing like a rainbow.
Radzivill restrained the terrible anger which had seized
his breast and said, "Low jests, Pan Shchanyetski."
The noble pouted, and not at all disconcerted answered:
" That also is an elective throne, and we cannot wish your
highness too much. If as a noble your highness may be¬
come King of Poland, as a prince of the German Empire
you might be raised to the dignity of Emperor. It is as
far or near for you to the one as to the other; and who does
not wish this to you, let him rise. I will meet him with
the sabre." Here he turned to the company: " Rise, whoso
does not wish the crown of the German Empire to the
voevoda of Vilna ! "
Of course no one rose. They did not laugh either, for in
the voice of Pan Shchanyetski there was so much insolent
malice that an involuntary disquiet came upon all as to
what would happen.
Nothing happened, save that relish for the banquet was
spoiled. In vain did the servants of the castle fill the
glasses every moment. Wine could not scatter gloomy
thoughts in the minds of the banqueters, nor the disquiet
336
THE DELUGE.
increasing every moment. Eadzivill concealed, his anger
with difficulty, for he felt that, thanks to the toasts of Pan
Shchanyetski, he was belittled in the eyes of the assembled
nobles, and that, intentionally or not, that man had forced
the conviction on those present that the voevoda of Yilna
was no nearer the throne of grand prince than the crown of
Germany. Everything was turned into jests, into ridicule,
while the banquet was given mainly to accustom men's
minds to the coming rule of the Eadzivills. What is more,
Eadzivill was concerned lest this ridicule of his hopes
should make a bad impression on the officers, admitted to.
the secret of his plans. In fact, deep dissatisfaction was
depicted on their faces.
Ganhoff filled glass after glass, and avoided the glance of
the prince. Kmita, however, did not drink, but looked at
the table before him with frowning brow, as if he were
thinking of something, or fighting an internal battle. Eadzi¬
vill trembled at the thought that a light might flash into
that mind any moment, and bring forth truth from the
shadows, and then that officer, who furnished the single
link binding the remnants of the Polish squadrons with
the cause of Eadzivill, would break the link, even if he
had at the same time to drag the heart out of his own
breast.
Kmita had annoyed Eadzivill already over much; and
without the marvellous significance given him by events, he
would long since have fallen a victim to his own impetuosity
and the wrath of the hetman. But the prince was mis¬
taken in suspecting him of a hostile turn of thought, for
Pan Andrei was occupied wholly with Olenka and that
deep dissension which separated them.
At times it seemed to him that he loved that woman
sitting at his side beyond the whole world; then again he
felt such hatred that he wrould give death to her if he could
but give it to himself as well.
Life had become so involved that for his simple nature it
was too difficult, and he felt what a wild beast feels when
entangled in a net from which it cannot escape.
The unquiet and gloomy humor of the whole banquet
irritated him in the highest degree. It was simply
unendurable.
The banquet became more gloomy every moment. It
seemed to those present that they were feasting under a
leaden roof resting on their heads.
THE DELUGE.
337
At that time a new guest entered the hall. The prince,
seeing him, exclaimed,—
" That is Pan Suhanyets, from Cousin Boguslav! Surely
with letters!"
The newly arrived bowed profoundly. "True, Most
Serene Prince, I come straight from Podlyasye."
" But give me the letters, and sit at the table yourself.
The worthy guests will pardon me if I do not defer the
reading, though we are sitting at a banquet, for there may
be news which I shall need to impart to you. Sir Marshal,
pray think of the welcome envoy there."
Speaking thus, he took from the hands of Pan Suhanyets
a package of letters, and broke the seal of the first in
haste.
All present fixed curious eyes on his face, and tried to
divine the substance of the letter. The first letter did not
seem to announce anything favorable, for the face of the
prince was filled with blood, and his eyes gleamed with
wild anger.
"Brothers !" said the hetman, "Prince Boguslav reports
to me that those men who have chosen to form a confedera¬
tion rather than march against the enemy at Vilna, are
ravaging at this moment my villages in Podlyasye. It is
easier of course to wage war with peasant women in villages.
Worthy knights, there is no denying that! —Never mind !
Their reward will not miss them."
Then he took the second letter, but had barely cast his
eyes on it when his face brightened with a smile of triumph
and delight, —
" The province of Syeradz has yielded to the Swedes ! "
cried he, "and following Great Poland, has accepted the
protection of Karl Gustav."
And after a while another, —
" This is the latest dispatch. Good for us, worthy gentle¬
men, Yan Kazimir is beaten at Vidava and Jarnov. The
army is leaving him! He is retreating on Cracow; the
Swedes are pursuing. My cousin writes that Cracow too
must fall."
" Let us rejoice, gracious gentlemen," said Shchanyetski,
with a strange voice.
"Yes, let us rejoice!" repeated the hetman, without
noticing the tone in which Shchanyetski had spoken. ^ And
delight issued from the whole person of the prince, his face
became in one moment as it were younger, his eyes gained
vol. i. — 22
338
THE DELUGE.
lustre; with hands trembling from happiness, he broke the
seal of the last letter, looked, became all radiant as the sun,
and cried, —
" Warsaw is taken ! Long life to Karl Gustav ! "
Here he first noticed that the impression which these
tidings produced on those present was entirely different
from that which he felt himself. For all sat in silence,
looking forward with uncertain glance. Some frowned ;
others covered their faces with their hands. Even cour¬
tiers of the hetman, even men of weak spirit, did not dare
to imitate the joy of the prince at the tidings that Warsaw
was taken, that Cracow must fall, and that the provinces,
one after the other, would leave their legal king and yield
to the enemy. Besides, there was something monstrous in
the satisfaction with which the supreme leader of half the
armies of the Commonwealth, and one of its most exalted
senators, announced its defeats. The prince saw that it
was necessary to soften the impression.
" Gentlemen," said he, " I should be the first to weep with
you, if harm were coming to the Commonwealth; but here
the Commonwealth suffers no harm, it merely changes
kings. Instead of the ill-fated Yan Kazimir we shall have
a great and fortunate warrior. I see all wars now finished,
and enemies vanquished."
" Your highness is right," answered Shchanyetski. " Cup
for cup, the same thing that Radzeyovski and Opalinski
held forth at Uistsie. Let us rejoice, gracious gentlemen!
Death to Yan Kazimir ! "
When he had said this, Shchanyetski pushed back his
chair with a rattle, and walked out of the hall.
" The best of wines that are in the cellar!" cried the
prince.
The marshal hastened to carry out the order. In the
hall it was as noisy as in a hive. When the first impres¬
sion had passed, the nobles began to talk of the news and
discuss. They asked Pan Suhanyets for details from Pod-
lyasye, and adjoining Mazovia, which the Swedes had
already occupied.
After a while pitchy kegs were rolled into the hall and
opened. Spirits began to grow brighter and improve by
degrees.
More and more frequently voices were heard to repeat:
"All is over! perhaps it is for the best!" "We must
bend to fortune!" " The prince will not let us be
THE DELUGE.
339
wronged." "It is better for us than for others. Long
life to Yanush Radzivill, our voevoda, hetman, and
prince !"
" Grand Prince of Lithuania ! " cried again Pan Yujits.
But at this time neither silence nor laughter answered
him; but a number of tens of hoarse throats roared at
once, —
" That is our wish, — from heart and soul our wish !
Long life to him ! May he rule ! "
The magnate rose with a face as red as purple. "I
thank you, brothers," said he, seriously.
In the hall it had become as suffocating and hot, from
lights and the breath of people, as in a bath.
Panna Aleksandra bent past Kmita to her uncle. " I
am weak," said she; " let us leave here."
In truth her face was pale, and on her forehead glittered
drops of perspiration; but the sword-bearer of Rossyeni
cast an unquiet glance at the hetman, fearing lest it be
taken ill of him to leave the table. In the field he was a
gallant soldier, but he feared Radzivill with his whole
soul.
At that moment, to complete the evil, the hetman said, —
" He is my enemy who will not drink all my toasts to
the bottom, for I am joyful to-day."
"You have heard ? " asked Billevich.
" Uncle, I cannot stay longer, I am faint," said Olenka,
with a beseeching voice.
" Then go alone," answered Pan Tomash.
The lady rose, wishing to slip away unobserved; but her
strength failed, and she caught the side of the chair in her
weakness.
Suddenly a strong knightly arm embraced her, and sup¬
ported the almost fainting maiden.
"I will conduct you," said Pan Andrei.
And without asking for permission he caught her form
as if with an iron hoop. She leaned on him more and more;
before they reached the door, she was hanging powerless
on his arm.
Then he raised her as lightly as he would a child, and
bore her out of the hall.
.340
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXIV.
That evening after the banquet, Pan Andrei wished ab¬
solutely to see the prince, but he was told that the prince
was occupied in a secret interview with Pan Suhanyets.
He went therefore early next morning, and was admitted
at once.
"Your highness," said he "I have come with a prayer."
" What do you wish me to do for you ? "
" I am not able to live here longer. Each day increases
my torment. There is nothing for me here in Kyedani.
Let your highness find some office for me, send me whither¬
soever it please you. I have heard that regiments are to
move against Zolotarenko; I will go with them."
" Zolotarenko would be glad to have an uproar with us,
but he cannot get at us in any way, for Swedish protection
is here already, and we cannot go against him without the
Swedes. Count Magnus advances with terrible dilatori-
ness because he does not trust me. But is it so ill for you
here in Kyedani at our side ? "
"Your highness is gracious to me, and still my suffering
is so keen that I cannot describe it. To tell the truth, I
thought everything would take another course, — I thought
that we should fight, that we should live in fire and smoke,
day and night in the saddle. God created me for that.
But to sit here, listen to quarrels and disputes, rot in inac¬
tivity, or hunt down my own people instead of the enemy,
— I cannot endure it, simply I am unable. I prefer death
a hundred times. As God is dear to me, this is pure
torture! "
"I know whence that despair comes. From love,—
nothing more. When older, you will learn to laugh at
these torments. I saw yesterday that you and that maiden
were more and piore angry with each other."
" I am nothing to her, nor she to me. What has been is
ended."
" But what, did she fall ill yesterday ? "
" She did."
The prince was silent for a while, then said: " I have
THE DELUGE.
341
advised you already, and I advise once more, if you care
for her take her. I will give command to have the mar¬
riage performed. There will be a little screaming and cry¬
ing, — that's nothing ! After the marriage take her to
your quarters; and if next day she still cries, that will be
the most."
" I beg, your highness, for some office in the army, not
for marriage," said Kmita, roughly.
" Then you do not want her ? "
"I do not. Neither I her, nor she me. Though it were
to tear the soul within me, I will not ask her for anything.
I only wish to be as far away as possible, to forget every¬
thing before my mind is lost. Here there is nothing to do;
and inactivity is the worst of all, for trouble gnaws a man
like sickness. Remember, your highness, how grievous
it was for you yesterday till good news came. So it is
with me to-day, and so it will be. What have I to do ?
Seize my head, lest bitter thoughts split it, and sit down ?
What can I wait for ? God knows what kind of times
these are, God knows what kind of war this is, which I
cannot understand nor grasp with my mind, — which causes
me still more grief. Now, as God is dear to me, if your
highness will not use me in some way, I will flee, collect a
party, and fight."
" Whom ? " asked the prince.
" Whom ? I will go to Vilna, and attack as I did Ho-
vanski. Let your highness permit my squadron to go with
me, and war will begin."
" I need your squadron here against internal enemies."
"That is the pain, that is the torment, to watch in
Kyedani with folded arms, or chase after some Volodyov-
ski whom I would rather have as a comrade by my side."
" I have an office for you," said the prince. " I will not
let you go to Vilna, nor will I give you a squadron; and if
you go against my will, collect a squadron and fight, know
that by this you cease to serve me."
" But I shall serve the country."
"He serves the country who serves me, — I have con¬
vinced you of that already. Remember also that you have
taken an oath to me. Finally, if you go as a volunteer you
will go also from under my jurisdiction, and the courts are
waiting for you with sentences. In your own interest you
should not do this."
" What power have courts now ? "
342
THE DELUGE.
" Beyond Kovno none; but here, where the country is
still quiet, they have not ceased to act. It is true you may
not appear, but decisions will be given and will weigh
upon you until times of peace. Whom they have once
declared they will remember even in ten years, and the
nobles of Lauda will see that you are not forgotten."
"To tell the truth to your highness, when it comes to
atonement I will yield. Formerly I was ready to war with
the whole Commonwealth, and to win for myself as many
sentences as the late Pan Lashch, who had a cloak lined
with them. But now a kind of galled spot has come out
on my conscience. A man fears to wade farther than he
wished, and mental disquiet touching everything gnaws
him."
" Are you so squeamish ? But a truce to this ! I will
tell you, if't is your wish to go hence, I have an office for
you and a very honorable one. Ganhoff is creeping into
my eyes for this office, and talks of it every day. I have
been thinking to give it to him. Still 't is impossible to
do so, for I must have a man of note, not with a trifling
name, not a foreigner, but a Pole, who by his very person
will bear witness that not all men have left me, that there
are still weighty citizens on my side. You are just the
man; you have so much good daring, are more willing
to make others bend than to bow down yourself."
"What is the task ?"
" To go on a long journey."
"I am ready to-day ! "
"And at your own cost, since I am straitened for money.
Some of my revenues the enemy have taken; others, our
own people are ravaging, and no part comes in season;
besides, all the army which I have here, has fallen to my
expense. Of a certainty the treasurer, whom I have now
behind a locked door, does not give me a copper, — first,
because he has not the wish to do so; second, because he
has not the coin. Whatever public money there is, I take
without asking; but is there much ? From the Swedes
you will get anything sooner than money, for their hands
tremble at sight of a farthing."
" Your highness need not explain. If I go, it will be at
my own expense."
"But it will be necessary to appear with distinction,
without sparing."
" I will spare nothing."
THE DELUGE.
343
The hetman's face brightened; for in truth he had no
ready money, though he had plundered Yilna not long be¬
fore, and, besides, he was greedy by nature. It was also
true that the revenues from his immense estates, extend¬
ing from Livonia to Kieff and from Smolensk to Mazovia,
had really ceased to flow in, and the cost of the army in¬
creased every day.
" That suits me," said he; "Ganhoff would begin at once
to knock on my coffers, but you are another kind of man.
Hear, then, your instructions."
" I am listening with care."
" First, you will go to Podlyasye. The road is perilous;
for the confederates, who left the camp, are there and act¬
ing against me. How you will escape them is your own
affair. Yakub Kmita might spare you; but beware of
Horotkyevich, Jyromski, and especially of Yolodyovski
with his Lauda men."
"I have been in their hands already, and no evil has
happened to me."
"That is well. You will go to Zabludovo, where Pan
Harasimovich lives; you will order him to collect what
money he can from my revenues, the public taxes and
whencesoever it is possible, and send it to me, —not to this
place, however, but to Tyltsa, where there are effects of
mine already. What goods or property he can pawn, let
him pawn ; what he can get from the Jews, let him take.
Secondly, let him think how to ruin the confederates. But
that is not your mission; I will send him instructions under
my own hand. You will give him the letter and move
straight to Tykotsin, to Prince Boguslav — "
Here the hetman stopped and began to breathe heavily,
for continuous speaking tortured him greatly. Kmita
looked eagerly at Radzivill, for his own soul was chafing
to go, and he felt that the journey, full of expected adven¬
tures, would be balsam to his grief.
After a while the hetman continued : " I am astonished
that Boguslav is loitering still in Podlyasye. As God is
true, he may ruin both me and himself. Pay diligent atten¬
tion to what he says; for though you will give him my
letters, you should supplement them with living speech, and
explain that which may not be written. Now understand
that yesterday's intelligence was good, but not so good as
I told the nobles, —not so good, in fact, as I myself thought
at first. The Swedes have the upper hand, it is true ; they
344
THE DELUGE.
have occupied Great Poland, Mazovia, Warsaw; the prov¬
ince of Syeradz has yielded to them, they are pursuing
Yan Kazimir to Cracow, and as God is in heaven, they will
besiege the place. Charnyetski is to defend it. He is a
newly baked senator, but, I must confess, a good soldier.
Who can foresee what will happen ? The Swedes, of
course, know how to take fortresses, and there was no
time to fortify Cracow. Still, that spotted little castellan1
(Charnyetski) may hold out there a month, two, three.
Such wonders take place at times, as we all remember in
the case of Zbaraj. If he will stand obstinately, the devil
may turn everything around. Learn now political secrets.
Know first that in Vienna they will not look with willing
eye on the growing power of Sweden, and may give aid.
The Tartars, too, I know this well, are inclined to assist
Yan Kazimir, and to move against the Cossacks and Mos¬
cow with all force; and then the armies in the Crimea under
Pototski would assist. Yan Kazimir is in despair, but to¬
morrow his fortune may be preponderant."
Here the prince was forced to give rest again to his
wearied breast, and Pan Andrei experienced a wonderful
feeling which he could not himself account for at once.
Behold, he, an adherent of Radzivill and Sweden, felt as it
were a great joy at the thought that fortune might turn
from the Swedes!
" Suhanyets told me," said the prince, " how it was at
Vidava and Jarnov. There in the first onset our advance
guard — I mean the Polish — ground the Swedes into the
dust. They were not general militia, and the Swedes lost
courage greatly."
" Still victory was with the Swedes, was it not ? "
" It was, for the squadrons mutinied against Yan Kazi¬
mir, and the nobles declared that they would stand in line,
but would not fight. Still it was shown that the Swedes
are no better in the field than the quarter soldiers. Only
let there be one or two victories and their courage may
change. Let money come to Yan Kazimir to pay wages,
and the troops will not mutiny. Pototski has not many
men, but they are sternly disciplined and as resolute as
hornets. The Tartars will come with Pototski, but the
elector will not move with his reinforcement."
" How is that ? "
" Boguslav and I concluded that he would enter at once
1 Charnyetski was pock-marked.
THE DELUGE.
345
into a league with the Swedes and with us, for we know
how to measure his love for the Commonwealth. He is
too cautious, however, and thinks only of his own interest.
He is waiting to see what will happen; meanwhile he is
entering into a league, but with the Prussian towns, which
remain faithful to Yan Kazimir. I think that in this
there will be treason of some kind, iinless the elector is not
himself, or doubts Swedish success altogether. But until
all this is explained, the league stands against Sweden; and
let the Swedes stumble in Little Poland, Great Poland
and Mazovia will rise, the Prussians will go with them, and
it may come to pass — " Here the prince shuddered as if
terrified at his supposition.
" What may come to pass ? " asked Kmita.
"That not a Swedish foot will go out of the Common¬
wealth," answered the prince, gloomily.
Kmita frowned and was silent.
" Then," continued the hetman, in a low voice, " our for¬
tune will have fallen as low as before it was high."
Pan Andrei, springing from his seat, cried with sparkling
eyes and flushed face: " What is this ? Why did your high¬
ness say not long ago that the Commonwealth was lost, —
that only in league with the Swedes, through the person
and future reign of your highness, could it possibly be
saved ? What have I to believe, — what I heard then, or
what I hear now ? If what your highness says to-day is
true, why do we hold with the Swedes, instead of beating
them ? — and the soul laughs at the thought of this."
Radzivill looked sternly at Kmita. " You are over bold! "
said he.
But Kmita was careering on his own enthusiasm as on
a horse. " Speak later of what kind of man I am; but now
answer my question, your highness."
" I will give this answer," said Radzivill, with emphasis :
" if things take the turn that I mention, we will fall to
beating the Swedes."
Pan Andrei ceased distending his nostrils, slapped his
forehead with his palm, and cried, " I am a fool! I am a
fool!"
" I do not deny that," answered the prince. " I will say
more: you exceed the measure of insolence. Know then
that I send you to note the turns of fortune. I desire the
good of the country, nothing else. I have mentioned to you
suppositions which may not, which certainly will not, come
346
THE DELUGE.
true. But there is need to be cautious. Whoso wishes
that water should not bear him away must know how to
swim, and whoso goes through a pathless forest must stop
often to note the direction in which he should travel. Do
you understand ? "
" As clearly as sunshine."
"We are free to draw back, and we are bound to do so if
it will be better for the country; but we shall not be able
if Prince Boguslav stays longer in Podlyasye. Has he lost
his head, or what ? If he stays there, he must declare for
one side or the other, —either for the Swedes or Yan Kazi-
mir, — and that is just what would be worst of all."
" I am dull, your highness, for again I do not understand."
"Podlyasye is near Mazovia; and either the Swedes will
occupy it or reinforcements will come from the Prussian
towns against the Swedes. Then it will be necessary to
choose."
" But why does not Prince Boguslav choose ? "
"Until he chooses, the Swedes will seek us greatly and
must win our favor ; the same is true of the elector. If it
comes to retreating and turning against the Swedes, he is
to be the link between me and Yan Kazimir. He is to ease
my return, which he could not do if previously he had
taken the side of the Swedes. But since he will be forced
to make a final choice if he remains in Podlyasye, let him
go to Prussia, to Tyltsa, and wait there for events. The
elector stays in Brandenburg. Boguslav will be of greater
importance in Prussia; he may take the Prussians in hand
altogether, increase his army, and stand at the head of a
considerable force. And then both the Swedes and Yan
Kazimir will give what we ask in order to win us both;
and our house will not only not fall, but will rise higher,
and that is the main thing."
"Your highness said that the good of the country was
the main thing."
" But do not break in at every word, since I told you at
first that the two are one; and listen farther. I know well
that Prince Boguslav, though he signed the act of union
with Sweden here in Kyedani, does not pass as an adherent
of theirs. Though the report will be baseless, do you de¬
clare along the road that I forced him to sign it against
his heart. People will believe this readily, for it hap¬
pens frequently that even full brothers belong to different
parties. In this way he will be able to gain the confi
THE DELUGE.
347
dence of the confederates, invite the leaders to his camp
as if for negotiations, and then seize and take them to
Prussia. That will be a good method, and salutary for the
country, which those men will ruin completely unless they
are stopped."
" Is this all that I have to do ? " asked Kmita, with a
certain disillusion.
" This is merely a part, and not the most important.
From Prince Boguslav you will go with my letters to Karl
Gustav himself. I cannot come to harmony with Count
Magnus from the time of that battle at Klavany. He looks
at me askance, and does not cease from supposing that if
the Swedes were to stumble, if the Tartars were to rush at
the other enemy, I would turn against the Swedes."
"By what your highness has said just now, his supposi¬
tion is correct."
" Correct or not, I do not wish it held, or wish him to
see what trumps I have in my hand. Besides, he is ill-
disposed toward me personally. Surely he has written
more than once against me to the king, and beyond a
doubt one of two things, — either that I am weak, or that I
am not reliable. This must be remedied. You will give
my letter to the king. If he asks about the Klavany affair,
tell the truth, neither adding nor taking away. You may
confess that I condemned those officers to death, and you
obtained their pardon. That will cost you nothing, but
the sincerity may please him. You will not complain
against Count Magnus directly in presence of the king, for
he is his brother-in-law. But if the king should ask, so,
in passing, what people here think, say that they are sorry
because Count Magnus does not repay the hetman suffi¬
ciently, in view of his sincere friendship for the Swedes;
that the prince himself (that is I) grieves greatly over this.
If he asks if it is true that all the quota troops nave left
me, say that't is not true ; and as proof offer yourself. Tell
him that you are colonel; for you are. Say that the parti¬
sans of Pan Gosyevski brought the troops to mutiny, but
add that there is a mortal enmity between us. Say that if
Count Magnus had sent me cannon and cavalry I should
have crushed the confederates long ago,—that this is the
general opinion. Finally, take note of everything, give
ear to what they are saying near the person of the king,
and report, not to me, but, if occasion offers, to Prince
Boguslav in Prussia. You may do so even through the
348
THE DELUGE.
elector's men, should you meet them. Perhaps you know
German ? "
"I had an officer, a noble of Courland, a certain Zend,
whom the Lauda men slew; from him I learned German not
badly. I have also been often in Livonia."
" That is well."
" But, your highness, where shall I find the King of
Sweden ? "
" You will find him where he will be. In time of war he
may be here to-day and there to-morrow. Should you find
him at Cracow, it would be better, for you will take letters
to other persons who live in those parts."
" Then I am to go to others ? "
"Yes. You must make your way to the marshal of the
kingdom, Pan Lyubomirski. It is of great moment to me
that he come to our views. He is a powerful man, and in
Little Poland much depends on him. Should he declare
sincerely for the Swedes, Yan Kazimir would have no place
in the Commonwealth. Conceal not from the King of
Sweden that you are going from me to Lyubomirski to win
him for the Swedes. Do not boast of this directly, but
speak as it were inadvertently. That will influence him
greatly in my favor. God grant that Lyubomirski declare
for us. He will hesitate, that I know; still I hope that my
letters will turn the scale, for there is a reason why he
must care greatly for my good will. I will tell you the
whole affair, that you may know how to act. You see Pan
Lyubomirski has been coming around me for a long time,
as men go around a bear in a thicket, and trying from afar
to see if I would give my only daughter to his son Hera-
clius. They are children yet, but the contract might be
made, — which is very important for the marshal, more than
for me, since there is not another such heiress in the
Commonwealth, and if the two fortunes were united, there
would not be another such in the world. That is a well-
buttered toast! But if the marshal were to conceive the
hope that his son might receive the crown of the Grand
Principality as the dower of my daughter! Rouse that
hope in him and he will be tempted, as God is in heaven,
for he thinks more of his house than he does of the
Commonwealth."
" What have I to tell him ? "
"That which I cannot write. But it must be placed
before him with skill. God preserve you from disclosing
THE DELUGE.
349
that you have heard from me how I desire the crown, — it
is too early for that yet, — but say, ' All the nobles in
Laudaand Lithuania talk of crowning Radzivill, and rejoice
over it; the Swedes themselves mention it, I have heard it
near the person of the king.' You will observe who of his
courtiers is the marshal's confidant, and suggest to that
courtier the following thought: 'Let Lyubomirski join the
Swedes and ask in return the marriage of Heraclius and
Radzivill's daughter, then let him support Radzivill as
Grand Prince. Heraclius will be Radzivill's heir.' That
is not enough; suggest also that once Heraclius has the
Lithuanian crown he will be elected in time to the throne
of Poland, and so the two crowns may be united again in
these two families. If they do not grasp at this idea with
both hands, they will show themselves petty people.
Whoso does not aim high and fears great plans, should be
content with a little baton, with a small castellanship; let
him serve, bend his neck, gain favor through chamber at¬
tendants, for he deserves nothing better ! God has created
me for something else, and therefore I dare to stretch my
hands to everything which it is in the power of man to
reach, and to go to those limits which God alone has placed
to human effort."
Here the prince stretched his hands, as if wishing to
seize some unseen crown, and gleamed up altogether, like
a torch; from emotion the breath failed in his throat
again.
After a while he calmed himself and said with a broken
voice, —
" Behold — where my soul flies — as if to the sun — Dis¬
ease utters its warning — let it work its will — I would
rather death found me on the throne — than in the ante¬
chamber of a king."
" Shall the physician be called ? " asked Kmita.
Radzivill waved his hand.
"No need of him — I feel better now — That is all I had
to say — In addition keep your eyes open, your ears open —
See also what the Pototskis will do. They hold together,
are true to the Vazas (that is, to Yan Kazimir) —and they
are powerful — It is not known either how the Konyetspol-
skis and Sobyeskis will turn — Observe and learn — ISiow
the suffocation is gone. Have you understood everything
clearly ? "
" Yes. If I err, it will be my own fault."
350
THE DELUGE.
"I have letters written already; only a few remain.
When do you wish to start ? "
" To-day ! As soon as possible."
" Have you no request to make ? "
"Your highness," began Kmita, and stopped suddenly.
The words came from his mouth with difficulty, and on his
face constraint and confusion were depicted.
" Speak boldly," said the hetma.n.
" I pray," said Kmita, " that Billevich and she — suffer
no harm while here."
" Be certain of that. But I see that you love the girl
yet."
" Impossible," answered Kmita. " Do I know ! An hour
I love her, an hour I hate her. The devil alone knows!
All is over, as I have said, — suffering only is left. I do
not want her, but I do not want another to take her. Your
highness, pardon me, I know not myself what I say. I
must go, — go with all haste ! Pay no heed to my words.
God will give back my mind the moment I have gone
through the gate."
"I understand that, because till love has grown cold
with time, though not wanting her yourself, the thought
that another might take her burns you. But be at rest on
that point, for I will let 110 man come here, and as to going
away they will not go. Soon it will be full of foreign sol¬
diers all around, and unsafe. Better, I will send her to
Tanrogi, near Tyltsa, where my daughter is. Be at rest,
Yendrek. Go, prepare for the road, and come to me to
dine."
Kmita bowed and withdrew, and Kadzivill began to
draw deep breaths. He was glad of the departure of
Kmita. He left him his squadron and his name as an ad¬
herent ; for his person the prince cared less.
But Kmita in going might render him notable services;
in Kyedani he had long since grown irksome to the hetman,
who was surer of him at a distance than near at hand.
The wild courage and temper of Kmita might at any in¬
stant bring an outburst in Kyedani and a rupture very
dangerous for both. The departure put danger aside.
" Go, incarnate devil, and serve!" muttered the prince,
looking at the door through which the banneret of Orsha
had passed. Then he called a page and summoned
Ganhoff.
"You will take Kmita's squadron," said the prince to
THE DELUGE.
351
him, " and command over all the cavalry. Kmita is going
on a journey."
Over the cold face of GanhofE there passed as it were a
ray of joy. The mission had missed him, but a higher mili¬
tary office had come. He bowed in silence, and said, —
" I will pay for the favor of your highness with faithful
service." Then he stood erect and waited.
" And what will you say further ? " asked the prince.
"Your highness, a noble from Yilkomir came this morn¬
ing with news that Pan Sapyeha is marching with troops
against your highness."
Kadzivill quivered, but in the twinkle of an eye he mas¬
tered his expression.
"You may go," said he to Ganhoff.
Then he fell into deep thought.
352
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXV.
Kmita was very busily occupied in preparations for the
road, and in choosing the men of his escort; for he de¬
termined not to go without a certain-sized party, first for
his own safety, and second for the dignity of his person as
an envoy. He was in a hurry, since he wished to start
during the evening of that day, or if the rain did not cease,
early next morning. He found men at last, — six trusty
fellows who had long served under him in those better days
when before his journey to Lyubich he had stormed around
Hovanski, — old fighters of Orsha, ready to follow him even
to the end of the earth. They were themselves nobles and
attendant boyars, the last remnant of that once powerful
band cut down by the Butryms. At the head of them was
the. sergeant Soroka, a trusty servant of the Kmitas, — an old
soldier and very reliable, though numerous sentences were
hanging over him for still more numerous deeds of violence.
After dinner the prince gave Pan Andrei the letters and
a pass to the Swedish commanders whom the young envoy
might meet in the more considerable places ; he took fare¬
well of him and sent him away with much feeling, really
like a father, recommending wariness and deliberation.
Meanwhile the sky began to grow clear; toward evening
the weak sun of autumn shone over Kyedani and went
down behind red clouds, stretched out in long lines on the
west.
There was nothing to hinder the journey. Kmita was
just drinking a stirrup cup with Ganhoff, Kharlamp, and
some other officers when about dusk Soroka came in and
asked, —
" Are you going, Commander ? "
" In an hour," answered Kmita.
" The horses and men are ready now in the yard."
The sergeant went out, and the officers began to strike
glasses still more; but Kmita rather pretended to drink
than to drink in reality. The wine had no taste for him,
did not go to his head, did not cheer his spirit, while the
others were already merry.
THE DELUGE.
65 3
" Worthy Colonel," said Ganhoff, " commend me to the
favor of Prince Boguslav. That is a great cavalier; such
another there is not in the Commonwealth. With him you
will be as in France. A different speech, other customs,
every politeness may be learned there more easily than
even in the palace of the king."
"I remember Prince Boguslav at Berestechko," said
Kharlamp; " he had one regiment of dragoons drilled in
French fashion completely, — they rendered both infantry
and cavalry service. The officers were French, except a few
Hollanders ; of the soldiers the greater part were French,
all dandies. There was an odor of various perfumes from
them as from a drug-shop. In battle they thrust fiercely
with rapiers, and it was said that when one of them thrust a
man through he said, ' Pardonnez-moi!' (pardon me); so
they mingled politeness with uproarious life. But Prince
Boguslav rode among them with a handkerchief on his
sword, always smiling, even in the greatest din of battle,
for it is the French fashion to smile amid bloodshed. He
had his face touched with paint, and his eyebrows blackened
with coal, at which the old soldiers were angry and called
him a bawd. Immediately after battle he had new
ruffs brought him, so as to be always dressed as if for a
banquet, and they curled his hair with irons, making mar¬
vellous ringlets out of it. But he is a manful fellow, and
goes first into the thickest fire. He challenged Pan
Kalinovski because he said something to him, and the king
had to make peace."
" There is no use in denying," said Ganhoff. " You
will see curious things, and you will see the King of Sweden
himself, who next to our prince is the best warrior in the
world."
" And Pan Charnyetski," ■ said Kharlamp ; " they are
speaking more and more of him."
" Pan Charnyetski is on the side of Yan Kazimir, and
therefore is our enemy," remarked Ganhoff, severely.
" Wonderful things are passing in this world," said
Kharlamp, musingly. " If any man had said a year or two
ago that the Swedes would come hither, we should all have
thought, 'We shall be fighting with the Swedes;' but see
now."
" We are not alone; the whole Commonwealth has received
them with open arms," said Ganhoff.
"True as life," put in Kmita, also musingly.
vol. i.— 23
354
THE DELUGE.
" Except Sapyeha, Gosyevski, Charnyetski, and the het-
mans of the crown," answered Kharlamp.
" Better not speak of that," said Ganhoff:. " But, worthy
Colonel, come back to us in good health; promotion awaits
you."
" And Panna Billevich ? " added Kharlamp.
" Panna Billevich is nothing to you," answered Kmita,
brusquely.
" Of course nothing, I am too old. The last time — Wait,
gentlemen, when was that ? Ah, the last time during the
election of the present mercifully reigning Yan Kazimir."
" Cease the use of that name from your tongue," inter¬
rupted Ganhoff. " To-day rules over us graciously Karl
Gustav."
" True! Consuetudo altera natura (custom is a second
nature). Well, the last time, during the election of Yan
Kazimir, our ex-king and Grand Duke of Lithuania, I fell
terribly in love with one lady, an attendant cf the Princess
Vishnyevetski. Oh, she was an attractive little beast! But
when I wanted to look more nearly into her eyes, Pan
Yolodyovski thrust up his sabre. I was to fight with him;
then Bogun came between us, — Bogun, whom Volodyovski
cut up like a hare. If it had not been for that, you would
not see me alive. But at that time I was ready to fight,
even with the devil. Yolodyovski stood up for her only
through friendship, for she was betrothed to another, a
still greater swordsman. Oh, I tell you, gentlemen, that I
thought I should wither away — I could not think of eating
or drinking. When our prince sent me from Warsaw to
Smolensk, only then did I shake off my love on the road.
There is nothing like a journey for such griefs. At the
first mile I was easier, before I had reached Yilna my head
was clear, and to this day I remain single. That is the
whole story. There is nothing for unhappy love like a
journey."
" Is that your opinion ? " asked Kmita.
" As I live, it is ! Let the black ones take all the
pretty girls in Lithuania and the kingdom, I do not
need them."
" But did you go away without farewell ? "
" Without farewell; but I threw a red ribbon behind me,
which one old woman, very deeply versed in love matters,
advised me to do."
" Good health!" interrupted Ganhoff, turning again to
Pan Andrei.
THE DELUGE.
355
" Good health! " answered Kmita, " I give thanks from
my heart."
" To the bottom, to the bottom ! It is time for you to
mount, and service calls us. May God lead you forth and
bring you home."
" Farewell! "
" Throw the red ribbon behind," said Kharlamp, " or at
the first resting-place put out the fire yourself with a
bucket of water; that is, if you wish to forget."
" Be with God! "
"We shall not soon see one another."
" Perhaps somewhere on the battlefield," added Ganhoff:.
" God grant side by side, not opposed."
" Of course not opposed," said Kmita.
And the officers went out.
The clock on the tower struck seven. In the yard the
horses were pawing the stone pavement with their hoofs,
and through the window were to be seen the men waiting.
A wonderful disquiet seized Pan Andrei. He was repeat¬
ing to himself, " I go, I go ! " Imagination placed before
his eyes unknown regions, and a throng of strange faces
which he was to see, and at the same time wonder seized
him at the thought of the journey, as if hitherto it had
never been in his mind.
He must mount and move on. " What happens, will
happen. What will be, will be ! " thought he to himself.
When, however, the horses were snorting right there at
the window, and the hour of starting had struck, he felt
that the new life would be strange, and all with which he
had lived, to which he had grown accustomed, to which he
had become attached heart and soul, would stay in that
region, in that neighborhood, in that place. The former
Kmita would stay there as well. Another man as it were
would go hence, — a stranger to all outside, as all outside
were strangers to him. He would have to begin there an
entirely new life. God alone knew whether there would be
a desire for it.
Pan Andrei was mortally wearied in soul, and therefore
at that moment he felt powerless in view of those new
scenes and new people. He thought that it was bad for him
here, that it would be bad for him there, at least it would
be burdensome.
But it is time, time. He must put his cap on his head
and ride off.
356
THE DELUGE.
But will he go without a last word ? Is it possible to be
so near and later to be so far, to say not one word and go
forth ? See to what it has come ! But what can he say to
her ? Shall he go and say, " Everything is ruined ; my lady,
go thy Avay, I will go mine " ? Why, why say even that,
when without saying it is so ? He is not her betrothed, as
she is not and will not be his wife. What has been is lost,
is rent, and will not return, will not be bound up afresh.
Loss of time, loss of words, and new torture.
" I will not go !" thought Pan Kmita.
But, on the other hand, the will of a dead man binds them
yet. It is needful to speak clearly and without anger of final
separation, and to say to her, " My lady, you wish me not; I
return you your word. Therefore we shall both act as
though there had been no will, and let each seek happiness
where each can find it ? "
But she may answer : " I have said that long since; why
tell it to me now ? "
" I will not go, happen what may ! " repeated Kmita to
himself.
And pressing the cap on his head, he went out of the
room into the corridor. He wished to mount straightway
and be outside the gate quickly.
All at once, in the corridor, something caught him as it
were by the hair. Such a desire to see her, to speak to
her, possessed him, that he ceased to think whether to go or
not to go, he ceased to reason, and rather pushed on with
closed eyes, as if wishing to spring into water.
Before the very door whence the guard had just been
removed, he came upon a youth, a servant of the sword-
bearer.
" Is Pan Billevich in the room ? " asked he.
" The sword-bearer is among the officers in the barracks."
" And the lady ? "
" The lady is at home."
" Tell her that Pan Kmita is going on a long journey and
wishes to see the lady."
The youth obeyed the command; but before he returned
with an answer Kmita raised the latch and went in without
question.
" I have come to take farewell," said he, " for I do not
know whether we shall meet again in life."
Suddenly he turned to the youth: " Why stand here
yet ? "
THE DELUGE.
357
" My gracious lady," continued Kmita, when the door had
closed after the servant, "I intended to go without parting,
but had not the power. God knows when I shall return,
or whether I shall return, for misfortunes come lightly.
Better that we part without anger and offence in our hearts,
so that the punishment of God fall not on either of us.
There is much to say, much to say, and now the tongue can¬
not say it all. Well, there was no happiness, clearly by the
will of God there was not; and now, O man, even if thou
batter thy head against the wall, there is 110 cure ! Blame
me not, and I will not blame you. We need not regard
that testament now, for as I have said, the will of man is
nothing against the will of God. God grant you happiness
and peace. The main thing is that we forgive each other.
I know not what will meet me outside, whither I am
going. But I cannot sit longer in torture, in trouble, in
sorrow. A man breaks himself on the four walls of a room
without result, gracious lady, without result! One has no
labor here, —only to take grief on the shoulders, only think
for whole days of unhappy events till the head aches, and
in the end think out nothing. This journey is as needful
to me, as water to a fish, as air to a bird, for without it I
should go wild."
" God grant you happiness," said Panna Aleksandra.
She stood before him as if stunned by the departure, the
appearance, and the words of Pan Kmita. On her face
were confusion and astonishment, and it was clear that she
was struggling to recover herself; meanwhile she gazed on
the young man with eyes widely open.
" 1 do not cherish ill will against you," said she after a
time.
" Would that all this had not been ! " said Kmita. " Some
evil spirit came between us and separated us as if with a sea,
and that Avater is neither to be swum across nor waded
through. The man did not do what he wanted, he went
not where he wished, but something as it were pushed him
till we both entered pathless regions. But since we are to
vanish the one from the eyes of the other, it is better to
cry out even from remoteness, ' God guide !' It is needful
also for you to know that offence and anger are one thing,
and sorrow another. From anger I have freed myself, but
sorrow sits in me — maybe not for you. Do I know myself
for whom and for what ? Thinking, I have thought out
nothing ; but still it seems to me that it will be easier both
358
THE DELUGE.
to you and to me if we talk. You hold me a traitor, and
that pricks me most bitterly of all, for as I wish my soul's
salvation, I have not been and shall not be a traitor."
" I hold ycu that no longer," said Olenka.
" Oi, how could you have held me that even, one hour ?
You know of me, that once I was ready for violence, ready
to slay, burn, shoot; that is one thing, but to betray for
gain, for advancement, never! God guard me, God judge
me ! You are a woman, and cannot see in what lies the
country's salvation ; hence it beseems you not to condemn,
to give sentence. And why did you utter the sentence ?
God be with you ! Know this, that salvation is in Prince
Kadzivill and the Swedes; and who thinks otherwise, and
especially acts, is just ruining the country. But it is no
time to discuss, it is time to go. Know that I am not a
traitor, not one who sells. May I perish if I ever be that!
Know that unjustly you scorned me, unjustly consigned me
to death — I tell you this under oath and at parting, and
I say it that I may say with it, I forgive you from my
heart; but do you forgive me as well."
Panna Aleksandra had recovered completely. "You say
that I have judged you unjustly; that is true. It is my
fault; I confess it and beg your forgiveness."
Here her voice trembled, her blue eyes tilled with tears,
and he cried with transport, —
" I forgive ! I forgive! I would forgive you even my
death!"
" May God guide you and bring you to the right road.
May you leave that on which you are erring."
" But give peace, give peace !" cried Kmita, excitedly;
" let no misunderstanding rise between us again. Whether
I err or err not, be silent on that point. Let each man follow
the way of his conscience ; God will judge every intention.
Better that I have come hither, than to go without fare¬
well. Give me your hand for the road. Only that much
is mine; for to-morrow I shall not see you, nor after to¬
morrow, nor in a month, perhaps never — Oi, Olenka ! and
in my head it is dim—Olenka! And shall we never
meet again ? "
Abundant tears like pearls were falling from Panna
Aleksandra's lashes to her cheeks.
"Pan Andrei, leave traitors, and all may be."
"Quiet, oh, quiet!" said Kmita, with a broken voice.
" Tt may not be — I cannot — better say nothing — Would
THE DELUGE.
359
1 were slain ! less should I suffer — For God's sake, why
does this meet us ? Farewell for the last time. And then
let death close my eyes somewhere outside — Why are you
weeping ? Weep not, or I shall go wild ! "
And in supreme excitement he seized her half by con¬
straint, and though she resisted, he kissed her eyes and
her mouth, then fell at her feet. At last he sprang up, and
grasping his hair like a madman, rushed forth from the
chamber.
"The devil could do nothing here, much less a red
ribbon."
Olenka saw him through the window as he was mounting
in haste; the seven horsemen then moved forward. The
Scots on guard at the gate made a clatter with their
weapons, presenting arms; then the gate closed after the
horsemen, and they were not to be seen on the dark road
among the trees.
Eight too had fallen completely.
360
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Kovno, and the whole region on the left bank of the
Vilia, with all the roads, were occupied by the enemy (the
Russians) ; therefore Kmita, not being able to go to Pod-
lyasye by the high-road leading from Kovno to Grodno
and thence to Byalystok, went by side-roads from Kyedani
straight down the course of the Nyevyaja to the Xyemen,
which he crossed near Vilkovo, and found himself in the
province of Trotsk.
All that part of the road, which was not over great, he
passed in quiet, for that region lay as it were under the
hand of Radzivill.
Towns, and here and there even villages, were occupied
by castle squadrons of the hetman, or by small detachments
of Swedish cavalry which the hetman pushed forward thus
far of purpose against the legions of Zolotarenko, which
stood there beyond the Yilia, so that occasions for collisions
and war might be more easily found.
Zolotarenko would have been glad too to have an
"uproar" with the Swedes, according to the words of the
hetman ; but those whose ally he was did not wish war with
them, or in every case wished to put it off as long as
possible. Zolotarenko therefore received the strictest
orders not to cross the river, and in case that Radzivill
himself, together with the Swedes, moved on him, to
retreat with all haste.
For these reasons the country on the right side of the
Vilia was quiet; but since from one side Cossack pickets,
from the other those of the Swedes and Radzivill were
looking at one another, one musket-shot might at any
moment let loose a terrible -war.
In prevision of this, people took timely refuge in safe
places. Therefore the whole country was quiet, but empty.
Pan Andrei saw deserted towns, everywhere the windows
of houses held up by sticks, and whole villages depopu¬
lated. The fields were also empty, for there was no crop
that year. Common people secreted themselves in fathom¬
less forests, to which they drove all their cattle; but the
nobles fled to neighboring Electoral Prussia, at that time
THE DELUGE.
361
altogether safe from war. For this reason there was an
uncommon movement over the roads and trails of the
wilderness, and the number of fugitives was still more
increased by those who from the left bank of the Vilia
were able to escape the oppression of Zplotarenko.
The number of these was enormous, and especially of
peasants; for the nobles who had not been able hitherto to
flee from the left bank went into captivity or yielded their
lives on their thresholds.
Fan Andrei, therefore, met every moment whole crowds
of peasants with their wives and children, and driving
before them flocks of sheep with horses and cattle. That
part of the province of Trotsk touching upon Electoral
Prussia was wealthy and productive; therefore the well-to-
do people had something to save and guard. The ap¬
proaching winter did not alarm fugitives, who preferred to
await better days amid mosses of the forest, in snow
covered huts, than to await death in their native villages at
the hands of the enemy.
Kmita often approached the fleeing crowds, or fires
gleaming at night in dense forest places. Wherever he met
people from the left bank of the Vilia, from near Kovno,
or from still remoter neighborhoods, he heard terrible tales
of the cruelties of Zolotarenko and his allies, who extermi¬
nated people without regard to age or sex; they burned
villages, cut down even trees in the gardens, leaving only
land and water. Never had Tartar raids left such desola¬
tion behind.
Not death alone was inflicted on the inhabitants, but
before death they were put to the most ingenious tortures.
Many of those people fled with bewildered minds. These
filled the forest depths at night with awful shrieks; others
were ever in a species of continual fear and expectation of
attack, though they had crossed the Nyemen and Vilia,
though forests and morasses separated them from Zolota-
renko's bands. Many of these stretched their hands to
Kmita and his horsemen of Orsha, imploring rescue and
pity, as if the enemy were standing there over them.
Carriages belonging to nobles were moving toward Prus¬
sia; in them old men, women, and children ; behind them,
dragged on wagons with servants, effects, supplies of
provisions, and other things. All these fleeing people were
panic-stricken, terrified and grieved because they were
going into exile.
362
THE DELUGE.
Pan Andrei comforted these unfortunates at times by
telling them that the Swedes would soon pass over and
drive that enemy far away. Then the fugitives stretched
their hands to heaven and said, —
" God give health, God give fortune to the prince voevoda !
When the Swedes come we will return to our homes, to our
burned dwellings."
And they blessed the prince everywhere. From mouth
to mouth news was given that at any moment he might
cross the Vilia at the head of his own and Swedish troops.
Besides, they praised the " modesty" of the Swedes, their
dicipline, and good treatment of the inhabitants. Badzivill
was called the Gideon of Lithuania, a Samson, a savior.
These people from districts steaming with fresh blood and
fire were looking for him as for deliverance.
And Kmita, hearing those blessings, those wishes, those
almost prayers, was strengthened in his faith concerning
Badzivill, and repeated in his soul, —
" I serve such a lord ! I will shut my eyes and follow
blindly his fortune. At times he is terrible and beyond
knowing; but he has a greater mind than others, he knows
better what is needed, and in him alone is salvation."
It became lighter and calmer in his breast at this thought;
he advanced therefore with greater solace in his heart,
dividing his soul between sorrow for Kyedani and thoughts
on the unhappy condition of the country.
His sorrow increased continually. He did not throw the
red ribbon behind him, he did not put out the fire with
water; for he felt, first, that it was useless, and then he did
not wish to do so.
" Oh that she were present, that she could hear the
wailing and groans of people, she would not beg God to
turn me away, she would not tell me that I err, like
those heretics who have left the true faith. But never
mind! Earlier or later she will be convinced, she will
see that her own judgment was at fault. And then what
God will give will be. Maybe we shall meet again in
life."
And yearning increased in the young cavalier; but the
conviction that he was marching by the right, not by the
wrong road, gave him a peace long since unknown. The
conflict of thought, the gnawing, the doubts left him by
degrees, and he rode forward; he sank in the shoreless
forest almost with gladness. From the time that he had
THE DELUGE.
363
come to Lyubich, after his famous raids on Hovanski, he
had not felt so vivacious.
Kharlamp was right in this, that there is no cure like
the road for cares and troubles. Pan Andrei had iron
health; his daring and love of adventures were coming
back every hour. He saw these adventures before him,
smiled at them, and urged 011 his convoy unceasingly,
barely stopping for short night-rests.
Olenka stood ever before the eyes of his spirit, tearful,
trembling in his arms like a bird, and he said to himself, " I
shall return."
At times the form of the hetman passed before him,
gloomy, immense, terrible. But it may be just because he
was moving away more and more, that that form became al¬
most dear to him. Hitherto he had bent before Kadzivill;
now he began to love him. Hitherto Kadzivill had borne him
along as a mighty whirlpool of water seizes and attracts
everything that comes within its circle ; now Ivmita felt
that he wished with his whole soul to go with him.
And in the distance that gigantic voevoda increased con¬
tinually in the eyes of the young knight, and assumed almost
superhuman proportions. More than once, at his night
halt, when Pan Andrei had closed his eyes in sleep, he saw
the hetman sitting on a throne loftier than the tops of the
pine-trees. There was a crown on his head; his face was
the same, gloomy, enormous ; in his hand a sword and a
sceptre, at his feet the whole Commonwealth. And in his
soul Kmita did homage to greatness.
On the third day of the journey they left the Hyemen
far behind, and entered a country of still greater forests.
They met whole crowds of fugitives on the roads ; but no¬
bles unable to bear arms were going almost without excep¬
tion to Prussia before the bands of the enemy, who, not
held in curb there, as on the banks of the Vilia, by the
regiments of Sweden and Kadzivill, pushed at times far
into the heart of the country, even to the boundary of
Electoral Prussia. Their main object was plunder.
Frequently these were detachments as if from the army
of Zolotarenko, but really recognizing no authority, —
simply robber companies, so called " parties " commanded
at times even by local bandits. Avoiding engagements in
the field with troops and even with townspeople, they
attacked small villages, single houses, and travellers.
The nobles on their own account attacked these parties
364
THE DELUGE.
with their household servants, and ornamented with them
the pine-trees along the roads ; still it was easy in the forest
to stumble upon their frequent bands, and therefore Fan
Andrei was forced to exercise uncommon care.
But somewhat beyond Pilvishki on the Sheshupa, Kmita
found the population living quietly in their homes. The
townspeople told him, however, that not longer than a
couple of days before, a strong band of Zolotarenko's men,
numbering as many as five hundred, had made an attack,
and would, according to their custom, have cut down all the
people, and let the place rise in smoke, were it not for un¬
expected aid which fell as it were from heaven.
" We had already committed ourselves to God," said the
master of the inn in which Fan Andrei had taken lodgings,
" when the saints of the Lord sent some squadrons. We
thought at first that a new enemy had come, but they wei-e
ours. They sprang at once on Zolotarenko's ruffians, and
in an hour they laid them out like a pavement, all the more
easily as we helped them."
" What kind of a squadron was it ? " asked Kmita.
" God give them health! They did not say who they
were, and we did not dare to ask. They fed their horses,
took what hay and bread there was, and rode away."
" But whence did they come, and whither did they go ? "
" They came from Kozlova Buda, and they went to the
south. We, who before that wished to flee to the woods,
thought the matter over and stayed here, for the under-
starosta said that after such a lesson the enemy would not
look in on us again soon."
The news of the battle interested Kmita greatly, there¬
fore he asked further : " And do you not know who com¬
manded that squadron ?"
"We do not know; but we saw the colonel, for he talked
with us on the sqxrare. He is young, and sharp as a needle.
He does not look like the warrior that he is."
" Volodyovski! " cried Kmita.
" Whether he is Yolodyovski, or not, may his hands be
holy, may God make him hetman ! "
Fan Andrei fell into deep thought. Evidently he was
going by the same road over which a few days before
Yolodyovski had marched with the Lauda men. In fact,
that was natural, for both were going to Podlyasye. But
it occurred to Fan Andrei that if he hastened he might
easily meet the little knight and be captured; in that case,
THE DELUGE.
365
all the letters of Radzivill would fall with him into pos¬
session of the confederates. Such an event might destroy
his mission, and bring God knows what harm to the cause
of Radzivill. For this reason Pan Andrei determined to
stay a couple of days in Pilvishki, so that the squadron of
Lauda might have time to advance as far as possible.
The men, as well as the horses, travelling almost with
one sweep from Kyedani (for only short halts had been
given on the road hitherto), needed rest; therefore Kmita
ordered the soldiers to remove the packs from the horses
and settle themselves comfortably in the inn.
Next day he was convinced that he had acted not only
cleverly but wisely, for scarcely had he dressed in the
morning, when his host stood before him.
" I bring news to your grace," said he.
" It is good ? "
"Neither good nor bad, but that we have guests. An
enormous court arrived here to-day, and stopped at the
starosta's house. There is a regiment of infantry, and
what crowds of cavalry and carriages with servants! —
The people thought that the king himself had come."
" What king ? "
The innkeeper began to turn his cap in his hand. " It is
true that we have two kings now, but neither one came, —
only the prince marshal."
Kmita sprang to his feet. " What prince marshal ?
Prince Boguslav ? "
" Yes, your grace ; the cousin of the prince voevoda
of Vilna."
Pan Andrei clapped his hands from astonishment. " And
so we have met."
The innkeeper, understanding that his guest was an
acquaintance of Prince Boguslav, made a lower bow than
the day before, and went out of the room; but Kmita be¬
gan to dress in haste, and an hour later was before the
house of the starosta.
The whole place was swarming with soldiers. The in¬
fantry were stacking their muskets on the square; the
cavalry had dismounted and occupied the houses at the
side. The soldiers and attendants in the most varied cos¬
tumes had halted before the houses, or were walking
along the streets. From the mouths of the officers were
to be heard French and German. Nowhere a Polish sol¬
dier, nowhere a Polish uniform; the musketeers and dra-
THE DELCGE.
goons were dressed in strange fashion, different, indeed,
from the foreign squadrons which Pan Andrei had seen in
Kyedani, for they were not in German but in French style.
The soldiers, handsome men and so showy that each one
in the ranks might be taken for an officer, delighted the
eyes of Pan Andrei. The officers looked on him also with
curiosity, for he had arrayed himself richly in velvet and
brocade, and six men, dressed in new uniforms, followed
him as a suite.
Attendants, all dressed in French fashion, were hurry¬
ing about in front of the starosta's house; there were
pages iu caps and feathers, armor-bearers in velvet kaftans,
and equerries in Swedish, high, wide-legged boots.
Evidently the prince did not intend to tarry long in
Pilvishki, and had stopped only for refreshment, for the
carriages were not taken to the shed; and the equerries,
in waiting, were feeding horses out of tin sieves which
they held in their hands.
Kmita announced to an officer on guard before the house
who he was and what was his mission ; the officer went to
inform the prince. After a while he returned hastily, to
say that the prince was anxious to see a man sent from the
hetman ; and showing Kmita the way, he entered the house
with him.
After they had passed the antechamber, they found in
the dining-hall a number of attendants, with legs stretched
out, slumbering sweetly in arm-chairs; it was evident that
they must have started early in the morning from the last
halting-place. The officer stopped before the door of the
next room, and bowing to Pan Andrei, said, —
" The prince is there."
Pan Andrei entered and stopped at the threshold. The
prince was sitting before a mirror fixed in the corner of
the room, and was looking so intently at his own face, ap¬
parently just touched with rouge and white, that he did
not turn attention to the incomer. Two chamber servants,
kneeling before him, were fastening buckles at the ankles 011
his high travelling-boots, while he was arranging slowly with
his fingers the luxuriant, evenly cut forelock of his bright
gold-colored Avig, or it might be of his own abundant hair.
He was still a young man, of thirty-five years, but seemed
not more than five and twenty. Kmita knew the prince,
but looked on him always with curiosity: first, because of
the great knightly fame which surrounded him, and which
THE DELUGE.
367
was won mainly through duels fought with various foreign
magnates ; second, by reason of his peculiar figure, — whoso
saw his form once was forced to remember it ever after.
The prince was tall and powerfully built, but on his broad
shoulders stood a head as diminutive as if taken from an¬
other body. His face, also, was uncommonly small, al¬
most childlike; but in it, too, there was no proportion, for
he had a great Roman nose and enormous eyes of unspeak¬
able beauty and brightness, with a real eagle boldness of
glance. In presence of those eyes and the nose, the rest
of his face, surrounded, moreover, with plentiful tresses
of hair, disappeared almost completely; his mouth was
almost that of a child; above it was a slight mustache
barely covering his upper lip. The delicacy of his com¬
plexion, heightened by rouge and white paint, made him
almost like a young lady; and at the same time the inso¬
lence, pride, and self-confidence depicted in that face per¬
mitted no one to forget that he was that chercheur de
noises (seeker of quarrels), as he was nicknamed at the
French court, — a man out of whose mouth a sharp word
came with ease, but whose sword came from its scabbard
with still greater ease.
In Germany, in Holland, in France, they related marvels
of his military deeds, of his disputes, quarrels, adventures,
and duels. He was the man who in Holland nished into
the thickest whirl of battle, among the incomparable regi¬
ments of Spanish infantry, and with his own princely hand
captured a flag and a cannon ; he, at the head of the regi¬
ments of the Prince of Orange, captured batteries declared
by old leaders to be beyond capture; he, on the Rhine, at
the head of French musketeers, shattered the heavy squad¬
rons of Germany, trained in the Thirty Years' War; he
wounded, in a duel in France, the most celebrated fencer
among French knights, Prince de Fremouille; another
famous fighter, Baron Yon Goetz, begged of him life, on
his knees; he wounded Baron Grot, for which he had to
hear bitter reproaches from his cousin Yanush, because he
was lowering his dignity as prince by fighting with men
beneath him in rank; finally, in presence of the whole
French court, at a ball in the Louvre, he slapped Marquis
de Rieux on the face, because he had spoken to him "un¬
becomingly." The duels that he had fought incognito in
smaller towns, in taverns and inns, did not enter into
reckoning.
3G8
THE DELUGE.
He was a mixture of effeminacy and unbounded daring.
During rare and sliort visits to his native land he amused
himself by quarrels with the Sapyehas, and with hunting;
but on those occasions the hunters had to find for him she-
bears with their young, as being dangerous and enraged;
against these he went armed only with a spear.
But it was tedious for him in his own country, to which
he came, as was said, unwillingly, most frequently in time
of war; he distinguished himself by great victories at
Berestecliko, Mogilyoff, and Smolensk. War was his ele¬
ment, though he had a mind quick and subtle, equally
fitted for intrigues and diplomatic exploits. In these he
knew how to be patient and enduring, far more enduring
than in the "loves," of which a whole series completed
the history of his life. The prince, at the courts where he
had resided, was the terror of husbands who had beautiful
wives. For that reason, doubtless, he was not yet married,
though his high birth and almost inexhaustible fortune
made him one of the most desirable matches in Europe.
The King and Queen of France, Marya Ludvika of Poland,
the Prince of Orange, and his uncle, the Elector of Bran¬
denburg, tried to make matches for him; but so far he
preferred his freedom.
" I do not want a dower," said he, cynically; " and of the
other pleasures I have no lack as I am."
In this, fashion he reached the thirty-fifth year of his
age.
Kmita, standing on the threshold, examined with curios¬
ity Boguslav's face, which the mirror reflected, while he
was arranging with seriousness the hair of his forelock;
at last, when Pan Andrei coughed once and a second time,
he said, without turning his head, —
" But who is present ? Is it a messenger from the prince
voevoda ? "
" Not a messenger, but from the prince voevoda," replied
Pan Andrei.
Then the prince turned his head, and seeing a brilliant
young man, recognized that he had not to do with an
ordinar}' servant.
" Pardon, Cavalier," said he, affably, " for I see that I was
mistaken in the office of the person. But your face is known
to me, though I am not able to recall your name. You are
an attendant of the prince hetman ? "
" My name is Kmita," answered Pan Andrei, " and I am
THE DELUGE.
369
not an attendant; I am a colonel from the time that I
brougt my own squadron to the prince hetman."
" Kmita! " cried the prince, " that same Kmita, famous in
the last war, who harried Hovanski, and later on managed
not worse on his own account ? I have heard much about
you."
Having said this, the prince began to look more care¬
fully and with a certain pleasure at Pan Andrei, for from
what he had heard he thought him a man of his own
cut.
" Sit down," said he, " I am glad to know you more inti¬
mately. And what is to be heard in Kyedani ? "
"Here is a letter from the prince hetman," answered
Kmita.
The servants, having finished buckling the prince's boots,
went out. The prince broke the seal and began to read.
After a while there was an expression of weariness and
dissatisfaction on his face. He threw the letter under the
mirror and said, —
" Nothing new ! The prince voevoda advises me to go to
Prussia, to Tyltsa or to Taurogi, which, as you see, I am
just doing. Mafoi, I do not understand my cousin. He
reports to me that the elector is in Brandenburg, and that
he cannot make his way to Prussia through the Swedes,
and he writes at the same time that the hairs are standing
on his head because I do not communicate with him, either
for health or prescription : and how can I ? If the elector
cannot make his way through the Swedes, how can my
messenger do so ? 1 am in Podlyasye, for I have nothing
else to do. I tell you, my cavalier, that I am as much
bored as the devil doing penance. I have speared all the
bears near Tykotsin; the fair heads of that region have the
odor of sheepskin, which my nostrils cannot endure. But —
Do you understand Prench or German ? "
"I understand German," answered Kmita.
" Praise be to God for that! I will speak German, for
my lips fly off from your language."
When he had said this the prince put out his lower lip
and touched it with his fingers, as if wishing to be sure
that it had not gone off: then he looked at the mirror and
continued, —
"Report has come to me that in the neighborhood of
Lukovo one Skshetuski, a noble, has a wife of wonderful
beauty. It is far from here; but I sent men to carry her
voi.. i. — 24
370
THE DELUGE.
off and bring her. Now, if you will believe it, Pan Kmita,
they did not find her at home."
" That was good luck," said Pan Andrei, " for she is the
wife of an honorable cavalier, a celebrated man, who made his
way out of Zbaraj through the whole power of Hmelnitski."
"The husband was besieged in Zbaraj, and I would have
besieged the wife in Tykotsin. Do you think she would
have held out as stubbornly as her husband ? "
" Your highness, for such a siege a counsel of war is not
needed, let it pass without my opinion," answered Pan
Andrei, brusquely.
" True, loss of time !" said the prince. " Let us return to
business. Have you any letters yet ? "
"What I had to your highness I have delivered; besides
those I have one to the King of Sweden. Is it known to
your highness where I must seek him ? "
" I know nothing. What can I know ? He is not in
Tykotsin; I can assure you of that, for if he had once seen
that place he would have resigned his dominion over the
whole Commonwealth. Warsaw is now in Swedish hands,
but you will not find the king there. He must be before
Cracow, or in Cracow itself, if he has not gone to Royal
Prussia by this time. To my thinking Karl Gustav must
keep the Prussian towns in mind, for he cannot leave them
in his rear. Who would have expected, when the whole
Commonwealth abandons its king, when all the nobles join
the Swedes, when the provinces yield one after the other,
that just then towns, German and Protestant, would not
hear of the Swedes but prepare for resistance ? They wish
to save the Commonwealth and adhere to Yan Kazimir. In
beginning our work we thought that it would be otherwise :
that before all they would help us and the Swedes to cut
that loaf which you call your Commonwealth ; but now
they won't move ! The luck is that the elector has his eye
on them. He has offered them forces already against the
Swedes; but the Dantzig people do not trust him, and say
that they have forces enough of their own."
" We knew that already in Kyedani," said Kmita.
"If they have not forces enough, in every case they have
a good sniff," continued the prince, laughing; "for the
elector cares as much, I think, about the Commonwealth as
I do, or as the prince voevoda of Vilna does."
" Your highness, permit me to deny that," said Kmita,
abruptly. " The prince cares that much about the Common-
THE DELUGE.
371
wealth that he is ready at every moment to give his last
breath and spill his last blood for it."
Prince Boguslav began to laugh.
"You are young, Cavalier, young! But enough! My
uncle the elector wants to grab Royal Prussia, and for
that reason only, he offers his aid. If he has the towns
once in hand, if he has his garrisons in them, he will be
read}' to agree with the Swedes next day, nay, even with
the Turks or with devils. Let the Swedes add a bit of
Great Poland, he will be ready to help them with all his
power to take the rest. The only trouble is in this, that
the Swedes are sharpening their teeth against Prussia, and
hence the distrust between them and the elector."
" I hear with astonishment the words of your highness,"
said Kmita.
" The devils were taking me in Podlyasye," answered the
prince,— " I had to stay there so long in idleness. But
what was I to do ? An agreement was made between me
and the prince voevoda, that until affairs were cleared up
in Prussia, I was not to take the Swedish side publicly.
And that was right, for thus a gate remains open. I sent
even secret couriers to Yan Kazimir, announcing that I was
ready to. summon the general militia in Podlyasye if a
manifesto were sent me. The king, as king, might have
let himself be tricked; but the queen it is clear does not
trust me, and must have advised against it. If it were not
for that woman, I should be to-day at the head of all the
nobles of Podlyasye; and what is more, those confederates
who are now ravaging the property of Prince Yanusli
would have no choice but to come under my orders. I
should have declared myself a partisan of Yan Kazimir,
but, in fact, having power in my hand, would treat with
the Swedes. But that woman knows how grass grows, and
guesses the most secret thought. She is the real king, not
queen ! She has more wit in one finger than Yan Kazimir
in his whole body."
" The prince voevoda — " began Kmita.
"The prince voevoda," interrupted Boguslav, with im¬
patience, " is eternally late with his counsel; he writes to
me in every letter, 'Do this and do that,' while I have in
fact done it long before. Besides, the prince voevoda loses
his head. For listen what he asks of me."
Here the prince took up the letter and began to read
aloud, —
THE DELUGE,
" Be cautious yourself on the road; and those rascals, the com
federates, who have mutinied against me and are ravaging Podly-
asye, for God's sake think how to disperse them, lest they go to the
king. They are preparing to visit Zabludovo, and beer in that
place is strong; when they get drunk, let them be cut off, — each
host may finish his guest. Nothing better is needed ; for when the
heads are removed, the rest will scatter — "
Boguslav threw the letter with vexation on the table.
" Listen, Pan Kmita," said he, " you see I have to go to
Prussia and at the same time arrange a slaughter in Zablu¬
dovo. I must feign myself a partisan of Yan Kazimir and
a patriot, and at the same time cut off those people who
are unwilling to betray the king and the country. Is that
sense ? Does one hang to the other ? Ma foi, the prince
is losing his head. I have met now, while coming to Pil-
vishki, a whole insurgent squadron travelling along through
Podlyasye. I should have galloped over their stomachs with
gladness, even to gain some amusement; but before I am
an open partisan of the Swedes, while my uncle the elector
holds formally with the Prussian towns, and with Yan
Kazimir too, I cannot permit myself such pleasure, God
knows I cannot. What could I do more than to be polite
to those insurgents, as they are polite to me, suspecting me
of an understanding with the hetman, but not having
black on white ? "
Here the prince lay back comfortably in the armchair,
stretched out his legs, and putting his hands behind his
head carelessly, began to repeat, —
"Ah, there is nonsense in this Commonwealth, nonsense !
In the world there is nothing like it! "
Then he was silent for a moment; evidently some idea
came to his head, for he struck his wig and inquired, —
" But will you not be in Podlyasye ? "
"Yes," said Kmita, " I must be there, for I have a letter
with instructions to Harasimovich, the under-starosta in
Zabludovo."
"In God's name ! " exclaimed the prince, "Harasimovich
is here with me. He is going with the hetman's effects
to Prussia, for we were afraid that they might fall into
the hands of the confederates. Wait, I will have him
summoned."
Here the prince summoned a servant and ordered him to
call the under-starosta.
" This has happened well," said the prince. " You will
THE DELUGE.
373
save yourself a journey,—though it may be too bad that
you will not visit Podlyasye, for among the heads of the
confederacy there is a namesake of yours whom you might
secure."
" I have no time for that," said Kmita, " since I am in a
hurry to go to the king and Pan Lyubomirski."
" Ah, you have a letter to the marshal of the kingdom ?
Well, I can divine the reason of it. Once the marshal
thought of marrying his son to Yanush's daughter. Did
not the hetman wish this time to renew negotiations
delicately ? "
" That is just the mission."
" Both are quite children. H'm ! that's a delicate mis¬
sion, for it does not become the hetman to speak first.
Besides — "
Here the prince frowned.
"Nothing will come of it. The daughter of the hetman
is not for Heraclius, I tell you that! The prince hetman
must understand that his fortune is to remain in possession
of the Radzivills."
Kmita looked with astonishment 011 the prince, who was
walking with quicker and quicker pace through the room.
All at once he stopped before Pan Andrei, and said,
"Give me the word of a cavalier that you will answer
truly my question."
"Gracious prince," said Kmita, "only those lie who are
afraid, and I fear no man."
" Did the prince voevoda give orders to keep secret from
me the negotiations with Lyubomirski ? "
" Had I such a command, I should not have mentioned
Lyubomirski."
" It might have slipped you. Give me your word."
" I give it," said Kmita, frowning.
"You have taken a weight from my heart, for I thought
that the voevoda was playing a double game with me."
" I do not understand, your highness."
" I would not marry, in France, Rohan, not counting half
threescore other princesses whom they were giving me.
Do you know why ? "
" I do not."
" There is an agreement between me and the prince
voevoda that his daughter and his fortune are growing up
for me. As a faithful servant of the Radzivills, you may
know everything."
374
THE DELUGE.
" Thank you for the confidence. But your highness is
mistaken. I am not a servant of the Radzivills."
Boguslav opened his eyes widely. " What are you ? "
" I am a colonel of the hetman, not of the castle; and
besides I am the hetman's relative."
" A relative ? "
" I am related to the Kishkis, and the hetman is born of
a Kishki."
Prince Boguslav looked for a while at Kmita, on whose
face a light flush appeared. All at once he stretched forth
his hands and said, —
" I beg your pardon, cousin, and I am glad of the rela¬
tionship."
The last words were uttered Avith a certain inattentive
though showy politeness, in which there was something
directly painful to Pan Andrei. His face flushed still more,
and he was opening his mouth to say something hasty,
when the door opened and Harasimovich appeared on the
threshold.
" There is a letter for you," said Boguslav.
Harasimovich boAved to the prince, and then to Pan
Andrei, who gave him the letter.
" Read it! " said Prince Boguslav.
Harasimovich began to read, —
" Pan Harasimovich! Now is the time to show the good will of
a faithful servant to his lord. As whatever money you are able to
collect, you in Zabludovo and Pan Pjinski in Orel — "
"The confederates have slain Pan Pjinski in Orel, for
Avhich reason Pan Harasimovich has taken to his heels,"
interrupted the prince.
The under-starosta boAved and read further, —
" — and Pan Pjinski in Orel, eATen the public revenue, even the
excise, rent — "
" The confederates have already taken them," interrupted
Boguslav again.
"— send me at once," continued Harasimovich. " If you can
mortgage some villages to neighbors or townspeople, obtaining as
much money on them as possible, do so, and whatever means there
may be of obtaining money, do your best in the matter, and send
the money to me. Send horses and whatever effects there are in
Orel. There is a great candlestick too, and other things, — pic¬
tures, ornaments, and especially the cannons on the porch at my
cousins; for robbers may be feared— "
THE DELUGE.
375
" Again counsel too late, for these cannons are going with
me," said the prince.
" If they are heavy with the stocks, then take them without the
stocks and cover tht-m, so it may not be known that you are bring¬
ing them. And take these things to Prussia with all speed, avoid¬
ing with utmost care those traitors who have caused mutiny in my
army and are ravaging my estates — "
" As to ravaging, they are ravaging ! They are pounding
them into dough," interrupted the prince anew.
" — ravaging my estates, and are preparing to move against Zablu-
dovo on their way perhaps to the king. With them it is difficult
to fight, for they are many ; but if they are admitted, and given
plenty to drink, and killed in the night while asleep (every host
can do that), or poisoned in strong beer, or (which is not difficult
in that place) a wild crowd let in to plunder them — "
"Well, that is nothing new!" said Prince Boguslav.
" You may journey with me, Pan Harasiinovich."
" There is still a supplement," said the under-starosta.
And he read on,
" The wines, if you cannot bring them away (for with us such
can be had nowhere), sell them quickly — "
Here Harasimovich stopped and seized himself by the
head,—
" For God's sake ! those wines are coming half a day's
road behind us, and surely have fallen into the hands of
that insurgent squadron which was hovering around us.
There will be a loss of some thousands of gold pieces. Let
your highness give witness with me that you commanded
me to wait till the barrels were packed in the wagons."
Harasimovich's terror would have been still greater had
he known Pan Zagloba, and had he known that he was in
that very squadron. Meanwhile Prince Boguslav smiled
and said, —
" Oh, let the wines be to their health ! Read on !
" — if a merchant cannot be found — "
Prince Boguslav now held his sides from laughter. " He
has been found," said he, " but you must sell to him on
credit."
" — but if a merchant cannot be found,'' read Harasimovich, in
a complaining voice, " bury it in the ground secretly, so that more
376
THE DELUGE.
than two should not know where it is; but leave a keg in Orel and
one in Zabludovo, and those of the best and sweetest, so that the
officers may take a liking to it; and put in plenty of poison, so that
the officers at least may be killed, then the squadron will break
up. For God's sake, serve me faithfully in this, and secretly, for
the mercy of God. Burn what I write, and whoso finds out any¬
thing send him to me. Either the confederates will find and drink
the wine, or it may be given as a present to make them friendly."
The under-starosta finished reading, and looked at Prince
Boguslav, as if waiting for instructions; and the prince
said, —
" I see that my cousin pays much attention to the confed¬
erates ; it is only a pity that, as usual, he is too late. If he
had come upon this plan two weeks ago, or even one week,
it might have been tried. But now go with God, Pan
Harasimovich ; I do not need you."
Harasimovich bowed and went out.
Prince Boguslav stood before the mirror, and began to
examine his own figure carefully ; he moved his head
slightly from right to left, then stepped back from the
mirror, then approached it, then shook his curls, then
looked askance, not paying any attention to Kmita, who
sat in the shade with his back turned to the window.
But if he had cast even one look at Pan Andrei's face he
would have seen that in the young envoy something won¬
derful was taking place; for Kmita's face was pale, on his
forehead stood thick drops of sweat, and his hands shook
convulsively. After a while he rose from the chair, but
sat down again immediately, like a man struggling with
himself and suppressing an outburst of anger or despair.
Finally his features settled and became fixed ; evidently he
had with his whole strong force of will and energy enjoined
calm on himself and gained complete self-control.
" Your highness," said he, " from the confidence which
the prince hetman bestows on me you see that he does not
wish to make a secret of anything. I belong soul and sub¬
stance to his work ; with him and your highness my for¬
tune may increase; therefore, whither you both go, thither
go I also. I am ready for everything. But though I serve
in those affairs and am occupied in them, still I do not of
course understand everything perfectly, nor can I penetrate
all the secrets of them with my weak wit."
"What do you wish then, Sir Cavalier, or rather, fair
cousin ? "
THE DELUGE.
377
"I ask instruction, your highness; it would be a shame
indeed were I unable to learn at the side of such statesmen.
I know not whether your highness will be pleased to
answer me without reserve — "
" That will depend on your question and on my humor,"
answered Boguslav, not ceasing to look at the mirror.
Kmita's eyes glittered for a moment, but he continued
calmly, —
"This is my question : The prince voevoda of Vilna
shields all his acts with the good and salvation of the Com¬
monwealth, so that in fact the Commonwealth is never
absent from his lips; be pleased to tell me sincerely, are
these mere pretexts, or has the hetman in truth nothing
but the good of the Commonwealth in view ? "
Boguslav cast a quick glance 011 Pan Andrei. " If I should
say that they are pretexts, would you give further service ? "
Kniita shrugged his shoulders carelessly. " Of course !
As I have said, my fortune will increase with the fortune of
your highness and that of the hetman. If that increase
comes, the rest is all one to me."
" You will be a man ! Remember that I foretell this.
But why has my cousin not spoken openly with you ? "
"Maybe because he is squeamish, or just because it did
not happen to be the topic."
"You have quick wit, Cousin Cavalier, for it is the real
truth that he is squeamish and shows his true skin unwil¬
lingly. As God is dear to me, true ! Such is his nature.
So, even in talking with me, the moment he forgets himself
he begins to adorn his speech with love for the country.
When I laugh at him to his eyes, he comes to his senses.
True ! true ! "
" Then it is merely a pretext ? " asked Kmita.
The prince turned the chair around and sat astride of it,
as 011 a horse, and resting his arms on the back of it was
silent awhile, as if in thought ; then he said, —
"Hear me, Pan Kmita. If we Radzivills lived in Spain,
Prance, or Sweden, where the son inherits after the father,
and where the right of the king comes from God himself,
then, leaving aside civil war, extinction of the royal stock,
or some uncommon event, we should serve the king and the
country firmly, being content with the highest offices which
belong to us by family and fortune. But here, in the land
where the king has not divine right at his back, but the no¬
bles create him, where everything is in free suffrage, we ask
378
THE DELUGE.
ourselves with reason, — Why should a Yaza rule, and not
a Radzivill ? There is no objection so far as the Vazas are
concerned, for they take their origin from hereditary kings ;
but who will assure us, who will guarantee that after the
Vazas the nobles will not have the whim of seating on the
throne of the kingdom and on the throne of the Grand
Principality even Pan Harasimovich, or some Pan Mye-
leshko, or some Pan Pyeglasyevich from Psivolki ? Tfu!
can I guess whom they may fancy ? And must we, Radzi-
vills, and princes of the German Empire, come to kiss the
hand of King Pyeglasyevich ? Tfu! to all the horned
devils, Cavalier, it is time to finish with this! Look
meanwhile at Germany, — how many provincial princes
there, who in importance and fortune are fitted to be under-
starostas for us. Still they have their principalities, they
rule, wear crowns on their heads, and take precedence of
us, though it would be fitter for them to bear the trains of
our mantles. It is time to put an end to this, and accom¬
plish that which was already planned by my father."
Here the prince grew vivacious, rose from the chair, and
began to walk through the room.
" This will not take place without difficulty and obsta¬
cles," continued he, " for the Radzivills of Olyta and Nyes-
vyej are not willing to aid us. I know that Prince Michael
wrote to my cousin that he would better think of a hair-shirt
than of a royal mantle. Let him think of a hair-shirt him¬
self, let him do penance, let him sit on ashes, let the Jesuits
lash his skin with disciplines; if he is content with being
a royal carver, let him carve capons virtuously all his vir¬
tuous life, till his virtuous death! We shall get on with¬
out him and not drop our hands, for just now is the time.
The devils are taking the Commonwealth; for now it is so
weak, has gone to such dogs, that it cannot drive them away.
Every one is crawling in over its boundaries, as into an un-
fenced garden. What has happened here with the Swedes
has happened nowhere on earth to this day. We, Sir Cav¬
alier, may sing in truth < Te Deum laudamus.' In its way the
event is unheard of, unparalleled. Just think: an invader
attacks a counti*y, an invader famous for rapacity; and not
only does he not find resistance, but every living man deserts
his old king and hurries to a new one, — magnates, nobles,
the army, castles, towns, all, — without honor, without fame,
without feeling, without shame ! History gives not another
such example. Tfu! tfu ! trash inhabit this country, —
THE DELUGE.
379
men without conscience or ambition. And is such a country
not to perish ? They are looking for our favor! Ye will
have favor ! In Great Poland already the Swedes are thumb-
screwing nobles ; and so will it be everywhere, — it cannot
be otherwise."
Kmita grew paler and paler, but with the remnant of his
strength he held in curb an outburst of fury ; the prince,
absorbed in his own speech, delighted with his own words,
with his own wisdom, paid no attention to his listener, and
continued, —
" There is a custom in this land that when a man is dying
his relatives at the last moment pull the pillow from under
his head, so that he may nbt suffer longer. I and the prince
voevoda of Vilna have determined to render this special ser¬
vice to the Commonwealth. But because many plunderers
are watching for the inheritance and we cannot get it all, we
wish that a part, and that no small one, should come to us.
As relatives, we have that right. If with this comparison I
have not spoken on a level with your understanding, and have
not been able to hit the point, I will tell you in other words :
Suppose the Commonwealth a red cloth at which are pulling
the Swedes, Hmelnitski, the Hyperboreans,1 the Tartars, the
elector, and whosoever lives around. But I and the prince
voevoda of Vilna have agreed that enough of that cloth must
remain in our hands to make a robe for us ; therefore we do
not prevent the dragging, but we drag ourselves. Let Hmel¬
nitski stay in the Ukraine; let the Swedes and the elector
settle about Prussia and Great Poland; let Rakotsy, or who¬
ever is nearer, take Little Poland, — Lithuania must be for
Prince Yanush, and, together with his daughter, for me."
Kmita rose quickly. " I give thanks, your highness; that
is all I wanted to know."
" You are going out, Sir Cavalier ? "
" I am."
The prince looked carefully at Kmita, and at that moment
first noted his pallor and excitement.
"What is the matter, Pan Kmita?" asked he. "You
look like a ghost."
" Weariness has knocked me off my feet, and my head is
dizzy. Farewell, your highness ; I will come before starting,
to bow to you again."
" Make liaste, then, for I start after midday myself."
"I shall return in an hour at furthest."
1 The Russians.
380
THE DELUGE.
When he had said this, Kmita bent his head and went out.
In the other room the servants rose at sight of him, but he
passed like a drunken man, seeing no one. At the threshold
of the room he caught his head with both hands, and began
to repeat, almost with a groan, —
" Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews ! Jesus, Mary,
Joseph!"
With tottering steps he passed through the guard, com¬
posed of six men with halberds. Outside the gate were his
own men, the sergeant Soroka at the head of them.
" After me ! " called Kmita. And he moved through the
town toward the inn.
Soroka, an old soldier of Kmita's, knowing him perfectly,
noticed at once that something uncommon had happened to
the colonel.
" Let your soul be on guard," said he quietly to the men;
" woe to him on whom his anger falls now ! "
The soldiers hastened their steps in silence, but Kmita did
not go at a walk; he almost ran, waving his hand and repeat¬
ing words well-nigh incoherent.
To the ears of Soroka came only broken phrases, —
" Poisoners, faith-breakers, traitors ! Crime and treason,—
the two are the same — "
Then he began to mention his old comrades. The names
Kokosinski, Kulvyets, Ranitski, Rekuts, and others fell from
his lips one after another; a number of times he mentioned
Volodyovski. Soroka heard this with wonder, and grew
more and more alarmed; but in his mind he thought, —
" Some one's blood will flow; it cannot be otherwise."
Meanwhile they had come to the inn. Kmita shut him¬
self in his room at once, and for about an hour he gave no
sign of life. The soldiers meanwhile had tied on the packs
and saddled the horses without order.
"That is no harm," said Soroka; " it is necessary to be
ready for everything."
" We too are ready! " answered the old fighters, moving
their mustaches.
In fact, it came out soon that Soroka knew his colonel
well; for Kmita appeared suddenly in the front room, with¬
out a cap, in his trousers and shirt only.
" Saddle the horses ! " cried he.
"They are saddled."
" Fasten on the packs ! "
" They are fastened."
THE DELUGE.
381
"A ducat a man !" cried the young colonel, who in spite
of all his fever and excitement saw that those soldiers had
guessed his thought quickly.
" We give thanks, Commander ! " cried all in chorus.
" Two men will take the pack-horses and go out of the place
immediately toward Dembova. Go slowly through the town;
outside the town put the horses on a gallop, and stop not till
the forest is reached."
" According to command ! "
" Four others load their pistols. For me saddle two horses,
and let another be ready."
" I knew there would be something ! " muttered Soroka.
"Now, Sergeant, after me ! " cried Kmita.
And undressed as he was, in trousers only, and open shirt,
he went out of the front room. Soroka followed him, open¬
ing his eyes widely with wonder; they went in this fashion
to the well in the yard of the inn. Here Kmita stopped,
and pointing to the bucket hanging from the sweep, said, —
" Pour water on my head !"
Soroka knew from experience how dangerous it was to ask
twice about an order; he seized the rope, let the bucket down
into the water, drew up quickly, and taking the bucket in his
hands, threw the water on Pan Andrei, who, puffing and blow¬
ing like a whale, rubbed his wet hair Avith his hands, and
cried, —
" More!"
Soroka repeated the act, and threAV Avater with all his force,
just as if he were putting out a fire.
" Enough !" saicl Kmita, at length. " Follow me, help me
to dress."
Both went to the inn. At the gate they met the tAvo men
going out with two pack-horses.
" SloAA'ly through the toAvn; outside the tbwn on a gallop!"
commanded Kmita; and he Avent in.
Half an hour later he appeared dressed completely, as if
for the road, Avith high boots and an elkskin coat, girded
Avith a leather belt into Avhich Avas thrust a pistol.
The soldiers noticed, too, that from under his kaftan
gleamed the edge of chain mail, as if he Avere going to battle.
He had his sabre also girt high, so as to seize the hilt more
easily. His face Avas calm enough, but stern and threaten¬
ing. Casting a glance at the soldiers to see if they Avere
ready and armed properly, he mounted his horse, and throw¬
ing a ducat at the innkeeper, rode out of the place.
382
THE DELUGE.
Soroka rode at his side; three others behind, leading a
horse. Soon they found themselves on the square filled
by Boguslav's troops. There was movement among them
already; evidently the command had come to prepare for
the road. The horsemen were tightening the girths of the
saddle and bridling the horses ; the infantry were taking
their muskets, stacked before the houses; others were at¬
taching horses to wagons.
Kmita started as it were from meditation.
" Hear me, old man," said he to Soroka; " from the
starosta's house does the road go on, — it will not be neces¬
sary to come back through the square ? "
" But where are we going, Colonel ? "
" To Dembova."
" Then we must go from the square past the house. The
square will be behind us."
" It is well," said Kmita.
" Oh, if only those men were alive now ! Few are fitted
for work like this, — few ! "
Meanwhile they passed the square, and began to turn
toward the starosta's house, which lay about one furlong
and a half farther on, near the roadside.
" Stop !" cried Kmita, suddenly.
The soldiers halted, and he turned to them. "Are you
ready for death ? " asked he, abruptly.
" Heady ! " answered in chorus these dare-devils of Orsha.
" We crawled up to Hovanski's throat, and he did not de¬
vour us, — do you remember ? "
" We remember !"
" There is need to dare great things to-day. If success
comes, our gracious king will make lords of you, — I guar¬
antee that! If failure, you will go to the stake !"
" Why not success ? " asked Soroka, whose eyes began to
gleam like those of an old wolf.
" There will be success !" said three others, — Biloiis, Zav-
ratynski, and Lubyenyets.
"We must carry off the prince marshal!" said Kmita.
Then he was silent, wishing to see the impression which
the mad thought would make on the soldiers. But they
were silent too, and looked on him as on a rainbow; only,
their mustaches quivered, and their faces became terrible
and murderous.
" The stake is near, the reward far away," added Kmita.
" There are few of us," muttered Zavratynski.
THE DELUGE.
383
" It is worse than against Hovanski," said Lubyenyets.
"The troops are all in the market-square, and at the
house are only the sentries and about twenty attendants,"
said Kmita, "who are off their guard, and have not even
swords at their sides."
"You risk your head; why should we not risk ours ?"
said Soroka.
" Hear me," continued Kmita. " If we do not take him
by cunning, we shall not take him at all. Listen! I will
go into the room, and after a time come out with the prince.
If the prince will sit on my horse, I will sit on the other,
and we will ride 011. When we have ridden about a hun¬
dred or a hundred and fifty yards, then seize him from
both sides by the shoulders, and gallop the horses with all
breath."
" According to order ! " answered Soroka.
"If I do not come out," continued Kmita, "and you hear
a shot in the room, then open on the guards with pistols,
and give me the horse as I rush from the door."
" That will be done," answered Soroka.
" Forward ! " commanded Kmita.
They moved on, and a quarter of an hour later halted at
the gate of the starosta's house. At the gate were six guards
with halberds; at the door of the anteroom four men were
standing. Around a carriage in the front yard were occu¬
pied equerries and outriders, whom an attendant of conse¬
quence was overseeing, — a foreigner, as might be known
from his dress and wig.
Farther on, near the carriage-house, horses were being at¬
tached to two other carriages, to which gigantic Turkish
grooms were carrying packs. Over these watched a man
dressed in black, with a face like that of a doctor or an
astrologer.
Kmita announced himself as he had previously, through
the officer of the day, who returned soon and asked him to
the prince.
" How are y^u, Cavalier ? " asked the prince, joyfully.
" You left me so suddenly that I thought scruples had
risen in you from my words, and I did not expect to see
you again."
"Of course I could not go without making my obeisance."
"Well, I thought: the prince voevoda has known whom
to send on a confidential mission. I make use of you also,
for I give you letters to a number of important persons, and
384
THE DELUGE.
to tlie King of Sweden himself. Bnt why armed as if for
battle ? "
" I am going among confederates ; I have heard right here
in this place, and your highness has confirmed the report,
that a confederate squadron passed. Even here in Pilvishki
they brought a terrible panic on Zolotarenko's men, for a
famed soldier is leading that squadron."
" Who is he ? "
"Pan Yolodyovski; and with him are Mirski, Oskyerko,
and the two Skshetuskis, — one that man of Zbaraj, whose
wife your highness wanted to besiege in Tykotsin. All re¬
belled against the prince voevoda; and it is a pity, for they
were good soldiers. What is to be done? There are still
fools in the Commonwealth who are unwilling to pull the
red cloth with Cossacks and Swedes."
"There is never a lack of fools in the world, and espe¬
cially in this country," said the prince. " Here are the let¬
ters ; and besides, when you see his Swedish grace, say as if
in confidence that in heart I am as much his adherent as
my cousin, but for the time I must dissemble."
" Who is not forced to that ? " answered Kmita. " Every
man dissembles, especially if he thinks to do something
great."
" That is surely the case. Acquit yourself well, Sir Cava¬
lier, I will be thankful to you, and will not let the hetman
surpass me in rewarding."
" If the favor of your highness is such, I ask reward in
advance."
"You have it! Surely my cousin has not furnished you
over abundantly for the road. There is a serpent in his
money-box."
" May God guard me from asking money! I did not ask
it of the hetman, and I will not take it from your highness.
I am at my own expense, and I will remain so."
Prince Boguslav looked at the young knight with
wonder. " I see that in truth the Kmitas are not of those
who look at men's hands. What is your wish then, Six-
Cavalier ? "
"The matter is as follows : without thinking carefully in
Kyedani, I took a horse of high blood, so as to show myself
before the Swedes. I do not exaggerate when I say there
is not a better in the stables of Kyedani. Xow I am sorry
for him, and I am afraid to injure him on the road, in the
stables of inns, or for want of rest. And as accidents are
THE DELUGE.
385
not hard to meet, he may fall into enemies' hands, even
those of that Volodyovski, who personally is terribly hostile
to me. I have thought, therefore, to beg your highness to
take him to keep and use until I ask for him at a more con¬
venient time."
" Better sell him to me."
" Impossible, — it would be like selling a friend. At a
small estimate that horse has taken me a hundred times
out of the greatest danger; for he has this virtue too, that
in battle he bites the enemy savagely."
" Is he such a good horse ? " asked Prince Boguslav, with
lively interest.
" Is he good ? If I were sure your highness would not
be offended, I would bet a hundred gold florins without
looking, that your highness has not such a one in your
stables."
" Maybe I would bet, if it were not that to-day is not the
time for a trial. I will keep him willingly, though; if pos¬
sible, I would buy. But where is this wonder kept ? "
"My men are holding him just here in front of the gate.
As to his being a wonder, he is a wonder; for it is no ex¬
aggeration to say that the Sultan might covet such a horse.
He is not of this country, but from Anatolia; and in Ana¬
tolia, as I think, only one such was found."
"Then let us look at him."
" I serve your highness."
Before the gate Kmita's men were holding two horses
completely equipped: one was indeed of high breed, black
as a raven, with a star on his forehead, and a white fetlock
to a leg like a lance; he neighed slightly at sight of his
master.
" I guess that to be the one," said Boguslav. " I do not
know whether he is such a wonder as you say, but in truth
he is a fine horse."
" Try him! " cried Kmita; " or no, I will mount him
myself!"
The soldiers gave Kmita the horse; he mounted, and began
to ride around near the gate. Under the skilled rider the
horse seemed doubly beautiful. His prominent eyes gained
brightness as he moved at a trot; he seemed to blow forth
inner fire through his nostrils, while the wind unfolded his
- mane. Pan Kmita described a circle, changed his gait; at
last he rode straight on the prince, so that the nostrils of
the horse were not a yard from his face, and cried, —
vol. i. — 25
386
THE DELUGE.
" Halt!"
The horse stopped with his four feet resisting, and stood
as if fixed to the ground.
" What do you say ? " asked Kmita.
" The eyes and legs of a deer, the gait of a wolf, the nos¬
trils of an elk, and the breast of a woman!" said Boguslav.
" Here is all that is needed. Does he understand German
command ? "
"Yes; for my horse-trainer Zend, who was a Courlander,
taught him."
" And the beast is swift ? "
"The wind cannot come up with him; a Tartar cannot
escape him."
"Your trainer must have been a good one, for I see that
the horse is highly taught."
" Is he taught ? Your highness will not believe. He goes
so in the rank that when the line is moving at a trot, you
may let the reins drop and he will not push one half of his
nose beyond the line. If your highness will be pleased to
try, and if in two furlongs he will push beyond the others
half a head, then I will give him as a gift."
" That would be the greatest wonder, not to advance with
dropped reins."
" It is wonderful and convenient, for both hands of the
rider are free. More than once have I had a sabre in one
hand and a pistol in the other, and the horse went alone."
" But if the rank turns ? "
" Then he will turn too without breaking the line."
" Impossible ! " exclaimed the prince ; " no horse will do
that. I have seen in France horses of the king's muske¬
teers, greatly trained, of purpose not to spoil the court
ceremonies, but still it was necessary to guide them with
reins."
" The wit of man is in this horse. Let your highness try
him yourself."
" Give him here !" said the prince, after a moment's
thought.
Kmita held the horse till Boguslav mounted. He sprang
lightly into the saddle, and began to pat the steed 011 his
shining neck.
" A wonderful thing," said he; " the best horses shed
their hair in the autumn, but this one is as if he had come
out of water. In what direction shall Ave go ? "
" Let us move in a line, and if your highness permits,
THE DELUGE.
387
toward the forest. The road is even and broad, but in
the direction of the town some wagon might come in the
way."
" Let us ride toward the forest."
"Just two furlongs. Let your highness drop the reins
and start on a gallop. Two men on each side, and I will
ride a little behind."
" Take your places ! " said the prince.
The line was formed; they turned the horses' heads from
the town. The prince was in the middle.
Forward ! " said he. " On a gallop from the start, —
march! "
The line shot on, and after a certain time was moving
like a whirlwind. A cloud of dust hid them from the eyes
of the attendants and equerries, who, collecting in a crowd
at the gate, looked with curiosity at the racing. The trained
horses going at the highest speed, snorting from effort, had
run already a furlong or more; and the prince's steed, though
not held by the reins, did not push forward an inch. They
ran another furlong. Kmita turned, and seeing behind only
a cloud of dust, through which the starosta's house could
barely be seen, and the people standing before it not at all,
cried with a terrible voice, —
" Take him !"
At this moment Biloiis and the gigantic Zavratynski
seized both arms of the prince, and squeezed them till the
bones cracked in their joints, and holding him in their iron
fists, put spurs to their own horses.
The prince's horse in the middle held the line, neither
pushing ahead nor holding back an inch. Astonishment,
fright, the whirlwind beating in his face, deprived Prince
Boguslav of speech for the first moment. He struggled
once and a second time, — without result, however, for pain
from his twisted arms pierced him through.
" What is this, ruffians? Know ye not who I am ? " cried
he at last.
Thereupon Kmita pushed him with the barrel of the
pistol between the shoulders. "Resistance is useless; it
will only bring a bullet in your body ! " cried he.
" Traitor! " said the prince.
" But who are you ? " asked Kmita.
And they galloped on farther.
388
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXVII.
They ran long through the pine-forest with such speed
i^iat the trees by the roadside seemed to flee backward in
panic; inns, huts of forest guards, pitcli-clearings, flashed by,
and at times wagons singly or a few together, going to Pil-
vishki. From time to time Boguslav bent forward in the
saddle as if to struggle ; but his arms were only wrenched
the more painfully in the iron hands of the soldiers, while
Pan Andrei held the pistol-barrel between the prince's
shoulders again, and they rushed on till the white foam
was falling in flakes from the horses.
At last they were forced to slacken the speed, for breath
failed both men and beasts, and Pilvishki was so far be¬
hind that all possibility of pursuit had ceased. They rode
on then a certain time at a walk and in silence, surrounded
by a cloud of steam, which was issuing from the horses.
For a long time the prince said nothing; he was evidently
trying to calm himself and cool his blood. When he had
done this he asked, —
" Whither are you taking me ? "
" Your highness will know that at the end of the road,"
answered Kmita.
Boguslav was silent, but after a while said, " Cavalier,
command these trash to let me go, for they are pulling out
my arms. If you command them to do so, they will only
hang; if not, they will go to the stake."
"They are nobles, not trash," answered Kmita; "and as
to the punishment which your highness threatens, it is not
known whom death will strike first."
" Know ye on whom ye have raised hands ? " asked the
prince, turning to the soldiers.
" We know," answered they.
" By a million horned devils ! " cried Boguslav, with an
outburst. "Will you command these people to let me go,
or not ? "
" Your highness, I will order them to bind your arms
behind your back ; then you will be quieter."
" Impossible ! You will put my arms quite out of joint."
" 1 would give orders to let another off on his word that
THE DELUGE.
389
he would not try to escape, but you know how to break
your word," said Kmita.
" I will give another word," answered the prince, — "that
not only will I escape at the first opportunity, but I will
have you torn apart with horses, when you fall into my
hands."
" What God wants to give, he gives ! " said Kmita. " But
I prefer a sincere threat to a lying promise. Let go his
hands, only hold his horse by the bridle; but, your highness,
look here ! 1 have but to touch the trigger to put a bullet
into your body, and I shall not miss, for I never miss. Sit
quietly; do not try to escape."
" I do not care, Cavalier, for you or your pistol."
When he had said this, the prince stretched his aching
arms, to straighten them and shake off the numbness. The
soldiers caught the horse's bridle on both sides, and led
him on.
After a while Boguslav said, "You dare not look me in
the eyes, Pan Kmita; you hide in the rear."
" Indeed ! " answered Kmita; and urging forward his
horse, he pushed Zavratynski away, and seizing the reins of
the prince's horse, he looked Boguslav straight in the
face. " And how is my horse ? Have I added even one
virtue ? "
" A good horse ! " answered the prince. " If you wish, I
will buy him."
" This horse deserves a better fate than to carry a traitor
till his death."
" You are a fool, Pan Kmita."
" Yes, for I believed the Radzivills."
Again came a moment of silence, which was broken by
the prince.
" Tell me, Pan Kmita, are you sure that you are in your
right mind, that your reason has not left you ? Have you
asked yourself what you have done, madman ? Has it not
come to your head that as things are now it would have
been better for you if your mother had not given you birth,
and that no one, not only in Poland, but in all Europe,
would have ventured on such a dare-devil deed ? "
" Then it is clear that there is no great courage in that
Europe, for I have carried off your highness, hold you, and
will not let you go."
" It can only be an affair with a madman," said the prince,
as if to himself.
390
THE DELUGE.
" My gracious prince," answered Pan Andrei, " you are
in my hands ; be reconciled to that, and waste not words in
vain. Pursuit will not come up, for your men think to this
moment that you have come off with me voluntarily.
When my men took you by the arms no one saw it, for the
dust covered us; and even if there were no dust, neither the
equerries nor the guards could have seen, it was so far.
They will wait for you two hours; the third hour they will
be impatient, the fourth and filth uneasy, and the sixth
will send out men in search; but we meanwhile shall be
beyond Maryapole."
" What of that ? "
" This, that they will not pursue; and even if they should
start immediately in pursuit, your horses are just from the
road, while ours are fresh. Even if by some miracle they
should come up, that would not save you, for, as truly as
you see me here, I should open your head, — which I shall
do if nothing else is possible. This is the position! Radzi-
vill has a court, an army, cannon, dragoons ; Kmita has six
men, and Kmita holds Radzivill by the neck."
" What further ? " asked the prince.
"Nothing further! We will go where it pleases me.
Thank God, your highness, that you are alive; for were it
not that I gave orders to throw many gallons of water on
my head to-day, you would be in the other world already,
that is, in hell, for two reasons, — as a traitor and as a
Calvinist."
" And would you have dared to do that ? "
"Without praising myself T say that your highness
would not easily find an undertaking on which I would not
venture ; you have the best proof of that in yourself."
The prince looked carefully at the young man and
said, " Cavalier, the devil has written on your face that you
are ready for anything, and that is the reason why I have a
proof in myself. I tell you, indeed, that you have been able
to astonish me with your boldness, and that is no easy
thing."
" That's all one to me. Give thanks to God, your high¬
ness, that you are alive yet, and quits."
"No, Cavalier. First of all, do you thank God; for if
one hair had fallen from my head, then know that the
Radzivills would find you even under the earth. If you
think that because there is disunion between us and those
of Nyesvyej and Olyta, and that they will not pursue you,
THE DELUGE.
391
you are mistaken. Radzivill blood must be avenged, an
awful example must be given, otherwise there would be no
life for us in this Commonwealth. You cannot bide abroad,
either : the Emperor of Germany will give you up, for I
am a prince of the German Empire; the Elector of Bran¬
denburg is my uncle; the Prince of Orange is his brother-in-
law ; the King and Queen of Erance and their ministers are
my friends. Where will you hide ? The Turks and Tar¬
tars will sell you, though we had to give them half our
fortune. You will not find on earth a corner, nor such
deserts, nor such people —"
" It is a wonder to me," replied Kmita, " that your high¬
ness takes such thought in advance for my safety. A great
person a Radzivill! Still I have only to touch a trigger."
" I do not deny that. More than once it has happened
in the world that a great man died at the hands of a com¬
mon one. A camp-follower killed Pompey; French kings
perished at the hands of low people. Without going far¬
ther, the same thing happened to my great father. But I
ask you what will come next ? "
" What is that to me ? I have never taken much thought
of what will be to-morrow. If it comes to close quarters
with all the Radzivills, God knows who will be warmed up
best. The sword has been long hanging over my head, but
the moment 1 close my eyes I sleep as sweetly as a suslik.
And if one Radzivill is not enough for me, I will carry off
a second, and a third."
" As God is dear to me, Cavalier, you please me much;
for I repeat that you alone in Europe could dare a deed
like this. The beast does not care, nor mind what will
come to-morrow. I love daring people, and there are fewer
and fewer of them in the world. Just think ! he has car¬
ried off a Radzivill and holds him as his own. Where
were you reared in this fashion, Cavalier ? Whence do you
come ? "
" I am banneret of Orsha,"
" Pan Banneret of Orsha, I grieve that the Radzivills
are losing a man like you, for with such men much might
be done. If it were not a question of myself — h'm! I
would spare nothing to win you."
"Too late ! " said Kmita.
" That is to be understood," answered the prince. "Much
too late! But I tell you beforehand that I will order you
only to be shot, for you are worthy to die a soldier's death.
392
THE DELUGE.
What an incarnate devil to carry me off from the midst of
my men!"
Kmita made no answer; the prince meditated awhile,
then cried,—
" If you free me at once, I will not take vengeance. Only
give me your word that you will tell no one of this, and
command your men to be silent."
" Impossible ! " replied Kmita.
" Do you want a ransom ? "
" I do not."
" What the devil, then, did you carry me off for ? I
cannot understand it."
"It would take a long time to tell. I will tell your
highness later."
" But what have we to do on the road unless to talk ?
Acknowledge, Cavalier, one thing: you carried me off in
a moment of anger and desperation, and now you don't
know well what to do with me."
" That is my affair! " answered Kmita ; " and if I do not
know what to do, it will soon be seen."
Impatience was depicted on Prince Boguslav's face.
" You are not over-communicative, Pan Banneret of
Orsha; but answer me one question at least sincerely: Did
you come to me, to Podlyasye, with a plan already formed
of attacking my person, or did it enter your head in the
last moment ? "
" To that I can answer your highness sincerely, for my
lips are burning to tell you why I left your cause; and while
I am alive, while there is breath in my body, I shall not
return to it. The prince voevoda of Yilna deceived me,
and in advance brought me to swear on the crucifix that I
would not leave him till death."
" And you are keeping the oath well. There is nothing
to be said on that point."
" True ! " cried Kmita, violently. " If I have lost my soul,
if I must be damned, it is through the Radzivills. But I give
myself to the mercy of God, and I would rather lose my
soul, I would rather burn eternally, than to sin longer with
knowledge and willingly, — than to serve longer, knowing
that I serve sin and treason. May God have mercy on me!
I prefer to burn, I prefer a hundred times to burn; I
should burn surely, if I remained with you. I have noth¬
ing to lose; but at least I shall say at the judgment of
God : ' I knew not what I was swearing, and had I dis-
THE DELUGE.
393
covered that I had sworn treason to the country,.destruction
to the Polish name, I should have broken the oath right
there.' Now let the Lord God be my judge."
" To the question, to the question !" said Boguslav, calmly.
But Pan Andrei breathed heavily, and rode on some time
in silence, with frowning brow and eyes fixed on the earth,
like a man bowed down by misfortune.
" To the question !" repeated the prince.
Kmita roused himself as if from a dream, shook his head,
and said, —
" I believed the prince hetman as I would not have
believed my own father. I remember that banquet at
which he announced his union with the Swedes. What I
suffered then, what I passed through, God will account to
me. Others, honorable men, threw their batons at his feet
and remained with their country; but I stood like a stump
with the baton, with shame, with submission, with infamy,
in torture, for I was called traitor to my eyes. And who
called me traitor ? Oi, better not say, lest I forget my¬
self, go mad, and put a bullet right here in the head of
your highness. You are the men, you the traitors, the
Judases, who brought me to that."
Here Kmita gazed with a terrible expression on the prince,
and hatred came out on his face from the bottom of his soul,
like a dragon which had crawled out of a cave to the light
of day; but Boguslav looked at the young man with a calm,
fearless eye. At last he said, —
"But that interests me, Pan Kmita; speak on."
Kmita dropped the bridle of the prince's horse, and
removed his cap as if wishing to cool his burning head.
"That same night," continued he, "I went to the hetman,
for he gave command to call me. I thought to myself, 'I
will renounce his service, break my oath, suffocate him,
choke him with these hands, blow up Kyedani with
powder, and then let happen what may.' He knew too that
I was ready for anything, knew what I was ; I saw well
that he was fingering a box in. which there Avere pistols.
'That is nothing,' thought I to myself; 'either he will miss
me or he will kill me.' But he began to reason, to speak, to
show such a prospect_ to me, simpleton, and put himself
forward as such a savior, that your highness knows what
happened."
" He convinced the young man," said Boguslav.
" So that I fell at his feet," cried Kmita, " and saAV in him
394
THE DELUGE.
tlie father, the one savior, of the country ; so that I gave
myself to him soul and body as to a devil. For him, for
his honesty I was ready to hurl myself headlong from the
tower of Kyedani."
" I thought such would be the end," said Boguslav.
"What I lost in his cause I will not say, but I rendered
him important services. I held in obedience my squadron,
which is in Kyedani now, — God grant to his ruin ! Others,
who mutinied, I cut up badly. I stained my hands in
brothers' blood, believing that a stern necessity for the
country. Often my soul was pained at giving command to
shoot honest soldiers; often the nature of a noble rebelled
against him, when one time and another he promised some¬
thing and did not keep his word. But I thought: ' I am
simple, he is wise ! — it must be done so.' But to-day, when
I learned for the first time from those letters of the
poisons, the marrow stiffened in my bones. How ? Is
this the kind of war ? You wish to poison soldiers ? And
that is to be in hetman fashion ? That is to be the
Badzivill method, and am I to carry such letters ? "
" You know nothing of politics, Cavalier," interrupted
Boguslav.
" May the thunders crush it! Let the criminal Italians
practise it, not a noble whom God has adorned with more
honorable blood than others, but at the same time obliged
him to war with a sabre and not with a drug-shop."
" These letters, then, so astonished you that you deter¬
mined to leave the Badzivills ? "
" It was not the letters, — I might have thrown them to
the hangman, or tossed them into the fire, for they refer
not to my duties ; it was not the letters. I might have
refused the mission without leaving the cause. Do I
know what I might have done ? I might have joined the
dragoons, or collected a party again, and harried Hovanski
as before. But straightway a suspicion came to me : 'But
do they not wish to poison the country as well as those
soldiers ? ' God granted me not to break out, though my
head was burning like a grenade, to remember myself, to
have the power to think: ' Draw him by the tongue, and
discover the whole truth; betray not what you have at
heart, give yourself out as worse than the Badzivills
themselves, and draw him by rthe tongue.'"
" Whom, — me ? "
"Yes! God aided me, so that I, simple man, deceived
THE DELUGE.
395
a politician, — so that your highness, holding me the last
of rufhans, hid nothing of your own ruffianism, confessed
everything, told everything, as if it had been written on
the hand. The hair stood on my head, but 1 listened
and listened to the end. 0 traitors ! arch hell-dwellers !
0 parricides! How is it, that a thunderbolt has not
stricken you down before now ? How is it that the earth
has not swallowed you ? So you are treating with
Hmelnitski, with the Swedes, with the elector, with
Rakotsy, and with the devil himself to the destruction of
this Commonwealth ? Now you want to cut a mantle out
of it for yourself, to sell it to divide it, to tear your
own mother like wolves ? Such is your gratitude for all
the benefits heaped on you, •— fox the offices, the honors,
the dignities, the wealth, the authority, the estates which
foreign kings envy you ? And you were ready without
regard to those tears, torments, oppression. Where is
your conscience, where your faith, where your honesty ?
What monster brought you into the world ? "
" Cavalier," interrupted Boguslav, coldly, " you have me
in your hand, you can kill me ; but I beg one thing, do not
bore me."
Both were silent.
However, it appeared plainly, from the words of Kmita,
that the soldier had been able to draw out the naked truth
from the diplomat, and that the prince was guilty of great
incautiousness, of a great error in betraying his most secret
plans and those of the hetman. This pricked his vanity;
therefore, not caring to hide his ill-humor, he said, —
" Do not ascribe it to your own wit merely, Pan Kmita,
that you got the truth from me. I spoke openly, for I
thought the prince voevoda knew people better, and had
sent a man worthy of confidence."
" The prince voevoda sent a man worthy of confidence,"
answered Kmita, "but you have lost him. Henceforth
only scoundrels will serve you."
" If the way in which you seized me was not scoundrelly,
then may the sword grow to my hand in the first battle."
"It Avas a stratagem! I learned it in a hard school.
You wish, your highness, to know Kmita. Here he is ! I
shall not go with empty hands to our gracious lord."
" And you think that a hair of my head will fall from the
hand of Yan Kazimir ? "
" That is a question for the judges, not for me."
396
THE DELUGE.
Suddenly Kmita reined in his horse : " But the letter
of the prince voevoda, — have you that letter on your
person ? "
"If I had, I would not give it. The letter remained in
Pilvishki."
" Search him ! " cried Kmita.
The soldiers seized the prince again by the arms. Soroka
began to search his pockets. After a while he found the
letter.
" Here is one document against you and your works,"
said Pan Andrei, taking the letter. " The King of Poland
will know from it what you have in view; the Swedish
King will know too, that although now you are serving him,
the prince voevoda reserves to himself freedom to withdraw
if the Swedish foot stumbles. All your treasons will come
out, all your machinations. But I have, besides, other
letters, —to the King of Sweden, to Wittemberg, to Radze-
yovski. You are great and powerful; still I am not sure
that it will not be too narrow for you in this Common¬
wealth, when both kings will prepare a recompense worthy
of your treasons."
Prince Boguslav's eyes gleamed with ill-omened light,
but after a while he mastered his anger and said, —
" Well, Cavalier! For life or death between us ! We
have met! You may cause us trouble and much evil, but
I say this : No man has dared hitherto to do in this coun¬
try what you have done. Woe be to you and to yours ! "
" I have a sabre to defend myself, and I have something
to redeem my own with," answered Kmita.
" You have me as a hostage," said the prince.
And in spite of all his anger he breathed calmly; he
understood one thing at this moment, that in no case was
his life threatened, — that his person was too much needed
by Kmita.
Then they went again at a trot, and after an hour's ride
they saw two horsemen, each of whom led a pair of pack-
horses. They were Kmita's men sent in advance from
Pilvishki.
'• What is the matter ? " asked Kmita.
"The horses are terribly tired, for we have not rested
yet."
" We shall rest right away ! "
" There is a cabin at the turn, maybe 't is a public
house."
THE DELUGE.
397
"Let the sergeant push on to prepare oats. Public
house or not, we must halt."
" According to order, Commander."
Soroka gave reins to the horses, and they followed him
slowly. Kmita rode at one side of the prince, Lubyenyets at
the other. Boguslav had become completely calm and quiet;
he did not draw Pan Andrei into further conversation. He
seemed to be exhausted by the journey, or by the position
in which he found himself, and dropping his head some¬
what on his breast, closed his eyes. Still from time to
time he cast a side look now at Kmita, now at Lubyenyets,
who held the reins of the horse, as if studying to discover
who would be the easier to overturn so as to wrest himself
free.
They approached the building situated on the roadside at
a bulge of the forest. It was not a public house, but a forge
and a wheelwright-shop, in which those going by the road
stopped to shoe their horses and mend their wagons. Be¬
tween the forge and the road there was a small open area,
sparsely covered with trampled grass ; fragments of wagons
and broken wheels lay thrown here and there on that place,
but there were no travellers. Soroka's horses stood tied to
a post. Soroka himself was talking before the forge to the
blacksmith, a Tartar, and two of his assistants.
" We shall not have an over-abundant repast," said the
prince ; " there is nothing to be had here."
" We have food and spirits with us," answered Kmita.
"That is well! We shall need strength."
They halted. Kmita thrust his pistol behind his belt,
sprang from the saddle, and giving his horse to Soroka,
seized again the reins of the prince's horse, which however
Lubyenyets had not let go from his hand on the other side.
" Your highness will dismount! " said Kmita.
" Why is that ? I will eat and drink in the saddle," said
the prince, bending down.
" I beg you to come to the ground ! " said Kmita, threat¬
eningly.
" But into the ground with you !" cried the prince, with
a terrible voice; and drawing with the quickness of light¬
ning the pistol from Kmita's belt, he thundered into his
very face.
" Jesus, Mary ! " cried Kmita.
At this moment the horse under the prince struck with
spurs reared so that he stood almost erect; the prince
398
THE DELUGE.
turned like a snake in tlie saddle toward Lubyenyets, and
with all the strength of his powerful arm struck him with
the pistol between the eyes.
Lubyenyets roared terribly and fell from the horse.
Before the others could understand what had happened,
before they had drawn breath, before the cry of fright
had died on their lips, Boguslav scattered them as a storm
would have done, rushed from the square to the road, and
shot on like a whirlwind toward Pilvishki.
" Seize him ! Hold him ! Kill him !" cried wild voices.
Three soldiers who were sitting yet on the horses rushed
after him ; but Soroka seized a musket standing at the
wall, and aimed at the fleeing, man, or rather at his horse.
The horse stretched out like a deer, and moved forward
like an arrow urged from the string. The shot thundered.
Soroka rushed through the smoke for a better view of what
he had done; he shaded his eyes with his hand, gazed
awhile, and cried at last, —
" Missed!"
At this moment Boguslav disappeared beyond the bend,
and after him vanished the pursuers.
Then Soroka turned to the blacksmith and his assistants,
who were looking up to that moment'with dumb astonish¬
ment at what had happened, and cried, —
" Water!"
The blacksmith ran to draw water, and Soroka knelt
near Pan Andrei, who was lying motionless. Kmita's face
was covered with powder from the discharge, and with
drops of blood ; his eyes were closed, his left brow and left
temple were blackened. The sergeant began first to feel
lightly with his fingers the head of his colonel.
" His head is sound."
But Kmita gave no signs of life, and blood came abun¬
dantly from his face. The blacksmith's assistants brought a
bucket of water and a cloth. Soroka, with equal delibera¬
tion and care, began to wipe Kmita's face.
Finally the wound appeared from under the blood and
blackness. The ball had opened Kmita's left cheek deeply,
and had carried away the end of his ear. Soroka examined
to see if his cheek-bone were broken.
After a while he convinced himself that it was not, and
drew a long breath. Kmita, under the influence of cold
water and pain, began to give signs of life. His face quiv¬
ered, his breast heaved with breath.
THE DELUGE.
399
" He is alive ! — nothing ! he will be unharmed," cried
Soroka, joyfully; and a tear rolled down the murderous
face of the sergeant.
Meanwhile at the turn of the road appeared Bilous, one
of the three soldiers who had followed the prince.
" Well, what ? " called Soroka.
The soldier shook his head. " Nothing !"
" Will the others return soon ? "
"The others will not return."
With trembling hands the sergeant laid Kmita's head on
the threshold of the forge, and sprang to his feet. " How
is that ? "
" Sergeant, that prince is a wizard! Zavratynski caught
up first, for he had the best horse, and because the prince
let him catch up. Before our eyes Boguslav snatched the
sabre from his hand and thrust him through. We had
barely to cry out. Yitkovski was next, and sprang to
help; and him this Radzivill cut down before my eyes, as
if a thunderbolt had struck him. He did not give a sound.
I did not wait my turn. Sergeant, the prince is ready to
come back here."
"There is nothing in this place for us," said Soroka.
" To horse !"
That moment they began to make a stretcher between
the horses for Kmita. Two of the soldiers, at the command
of Soroka, stood with muskets on the road, fearing the re¬
turn of the terrible man.
But Prince Boguslav, convinced that Kmita was not alive,
rode quietly to Pilvishki. About dark he was met by a
whole detachment of horsemen sent out by Patterson, whom
the absence of the prince had disturbed for some time. The
officer, on seeing the prince, galloped to him, —
"Your highness, we did not know — "
"That is nothing!" interrupted Prince Boguslav. "I
was riding this horse in the company of that cavalier, of
whom I bought him."
And after a while he added I paid him well."
400
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The trusty Soroka carried his colonel through the deep
forest, not knowing himself what to begin, whither to go
or to turn.
Kmita was not only wounded, but stunned by the shot.
Soroka from time to time moistened the piece of cloth in a
bucket hanging by the horse, and washed his face ; at times
he halted to take fresh water from the streams and forest
ponds; but neither halts nor the movement of the horse
could restore at once consciousness to Pan Andrei, and he
lay as if dead, till the soldiers going with him, and less ex¬
perienced in the matter of wounds than Soroka, began to
be alarmed for the life of their colonel.
" He is alive," answered Soroka; " in three days he will
be on horseback like any of us."
In fact, an hour later, Kmita opened his eyes; but from
his mouth came forth one word only, —
" Drink !"
Soroka held a cup of pure water to his lips; but it seemed
that to open his mouth caused Pan Andrei unendurable
pain, and he was unable to drink. But he did not lose
consciousness: he asked for nothing, apparently remem¬
bered nothing; his eyes were wide open, and he gazed,
without attention, toward the depth of the forest, on the
streaks of blue sky visible through the dense branches
above their heads, and at his comrades, like a man roused
from sleep, or like one recovered from drunkenness, and
permitted Soroka to take care of him without saying a
word, — nay, the cold water with which the sergeant washed
the wound seemed to give him pleasure, for at times his
eyes smiled. But Soroka comforted him, —
" To-morrow the dizziness will pass, Colonel; God grant
recovery."
In fact, dizziness began to disappear toward evening; for
just before the setting of the sun Kmita seemed more self-
possessed and asked on a sudden, " What noise is that ? "
" What noise ? There is none," answered Soroka.
Apparently the noise was only in the head of Pan Andrei,
for the evening was calm. The setting sun, piercing the
THE DELUGE.
401
gloom with its slanting rays, filled with golden glitter the
forest darkness, and lighted the red trunks of the pine-trees.
There was no wind, and only here and there, from hazel,
birch, and hornbeam trees leaves dropped to the ground, or
timid beasts made slight rustle in fleeing to the depths of
the forest in front of the horsemen.
The evening was cool; but evidently fever had begun to
attack Pan Andrei, for he repeated, —
"Your highness, it is life or death between us ! "
At last it became dark altogether, and Soroka was think¬
ing of a night camp; but because they had entered a damp
forest and the ground began to yield under the hoofs of
their horses, they continued to ride in order to reach high
and dry places.
They rode one hour and a second without being able to
pass the swamp. Meanwhile it was growing lighter, for
the moon had risen. Suddenly Soroka, who was in ad¬
vance, sprang from the saddle and began to look carefully
at the ground.
"Horses have passed this way," said he, at sight of
tracks in the soft earth.
" Who could have passed, when there is no road ? " asked
one of the soldiers supporting Pan Kmita.
" But there are tracks, and a whole crowd of them!
Look here between the pines, — as evident as on the palm
of the hand! "
"Perhaps cattle have passed."
" Impossible. It is not the time of forest pastures;
horse-hoofs are clearly to be seen, somebody must have
passed. It would be well to find even a forester's cabin."
" Let us follow the trail."
" Let us ride forward !"
Soroka mounted again and rode on. Horses' tracks in
the turfy ground were more distinct; and some of them, as
far as could be seen in the light of the moon, seemed quite
fresh. Still the horses sank to their knees, and beyond.
The soldiers were afraid that they could not wade through,
or would come to some deeper quagmire ; when, at the end
of half an hour, the odor of smoke and rosin came to their
nostrils.
" There must be a pitch-clearing here," said Soroka.
" Yes, sparks are to be seen," said a soldier.
And really in the distance appeared a line of reddish
vol. i. — 26
402
THE DELUGE.
smoke, filled with flame, around which were dancing the
sparks of a fire burning under the ground.
When they had approached, the soldiers saw a cabin, a
well, and a strong shed built of pine logs. The horses,
wearied from the road, began to neigh; frequent neighing
answered them from under the shed, and at the same time
there stood before the riders some kind of a figure, dressed
in sheepskin, wool outward.
" Are there many horses ? " asked the man in the sheep¬
skin.
" Is this a pitch-factory ? " inquired Soroka.
" What kind of people are ye ? Where do ye come from ? "
asked the pitch-maker, in a voice in which astonishment and
alarm were evident.
"Never fear! " answered Soroka; "we are not robbers."
" Go your own way ; there is nothing for you here."
" Shut thy mouth, and guide us to the house since we ask.
Seest not, scoundrel, that we are taking a wounded man ? "
" What kind of people are ye ?"
"Be quick, or Ave answer from guns. It will be better for
thee to hurry. Take us to the house ; if not, we will cook
thee in thy own pitch."
" I cannot defend myself alone, but there will be more
of us. Ye will lay down your lives here."
" There will be more of us too ; lead on ! "
" Go on yourselves ; it is not my affair."
" What thou hast to eat, give us, and gorailka. We are
carrying a man who will pay."
" If lie leaves here alive."
Thus conversing, they entered the cabin ; a fire was burn¬
ing in the chimney, and from pots, hanging by the handles,
came the odor of boiling meat. The cabin Avas quite large.
Soroka saw at the Avails six Avooden beds, covered thickly
Avith sheepskins.
" This is the resort of some company," muttered he to his
comrades. " Prime your guns and Avatcli well. Take care
of this scoundrel, let him not slip aAvay. The OAvners sleep
outside to-night, for Ave shall not leave the house."
" The men Avill not come to-day," said the pitch-maker.
"That is better, for Ave shall not quarrel about room, and
to-morrow Ave will go on," replied Soroka; " but now dish
the meat, for Ave are hungry, and spare no oats on the
horses."
" Where can oats be found here, great mighty soldiers ? "
THE DELUGE.
403
,vWe heard horses under the shed, so there must be oats ;
thou dost not feed them with pitch."
"They are not my horses."
"Whether they are yours or not, they must eat as well as
ours. Hurry, man, hurry ! if thy skin is dear to thee ! "
The pitch-maker said nothing. The soldiers entered the
house, placed the sleeping Kmita on a bed, and sat down to
supper. They ate eagerly the boiled meat and cabbage, a
large kettle of which was in the chimney. There was millet
also, and in a room at the side of the cabin Soroka found
a large decanter of spirits.
He merely strengthened himself with it slightly, and gave
none to the soldiers, for he had determined to hold it in re¬
serve for the night. This empty house with six beds for
men, and a shed in which a band of horses were neighing,
seemed to him strange and suspicious. He judged simply
that this was a robbers' retreat, especially since in the room
from which he brought the decanter he found many weapons
hanging on the wall, and a keg of powder, with various fur¬
niture, evidently plundered from noble houses. In case the
absent occupants of the cabin returned, it was impossible to
expect from them not merely hospitality, but even mercy.
Soroka therefore resolved to hold the house with armed
hand, and maintain himself in it by superior force or
negotiations.
This was imperative also in view of the health of Pan
Kmita, for whom a journey might be fatal, and in view of
the safety of all.
Soroka was a trained and seasoned soldier, to whom one
feeling was foreign, — the feeling of fear. Still in that
moment, at thought of Prince Boguslav, fear seized him.
Having been for long years in the service of Kinita, he had
blind faith, not only in the valor, but the fortune of the man;
he had seen more than once deeds of his which in daring
surpassed every measure, and touched almost on madness,
but which still succeeded and passed without harm. With
Kmita he had gone through the "raids " on Hovanski; had
taken part in all the surprises, attacks, fights, and onsets,
and had come to the conviction that Pan Andrei could do all
things, succeed in all things, come out of every chaos, and
destroy whomsoever he wished. Kmita therefore was for
him the highest impersonation of power and fortune,—but
this time he had met his match seemingly, nay, he had met
his superior. How was this ? One man carried away, with-
404
THE DELUGE.
out weapons, and in Kmita's hands, had freed himself from
those hands; not only that, he had overthrown Kmita, con¬
quered his soldiers, and terrified them so that they ran
away in fear of his return. That was a wonder of won.
ders, and Soroka lost his head pondering over it. To his
thinking, anything might come to pass in the world rather
than this, that a man might be found who could ride over
Kmita.
" Has our fortune then ended ? " muttered he to himself,
gazing around in wonder.
It was hot long since with eyes shut he followed Pan
Kmita to Hovanski's quarters surrounded by eighty thou¬
sand men; now at the thought of that long-haired prince
with lady's eyes and a painted face, superstitious terror
seized him, and he knew not what to do. The thought
alarmed him, that to-morrow or the next day he would
have to travel on highways where the terrible prince him¬
self or his pursuers might meet him. This was the rea¬
son why he had gone from the road to the dense forest,
and at present wished to stay in that cabin until pursuers
were deluded and wearied.
But since even that hiding-place did not seem to him safe
for other reasons, he wished to discover what course to take;
therefore he ordered the soldiers to stand guard at the door
and the windows, and said to the pitch-maker, —
" Here, man, take a lantern and come with me."
" I can light the great mighty lord only with a pitch-torch,
for we have no lantern."
"Then light the torch; if thou burn the shed and the
horses, it is all one to me."
After such words a lantern was found right away. Soroka
commanded the fellow to go ahead, and followed himself
with a pistol in his hand.
" Who live in this cabin ? " asked he 011 the road.
" Men live here."
"What are their names ? "
" That is not free for me to say."
" It seems to me, fellow, that thou 'It get a bullet in thy
head."
" My master," answered the pitch-maker, " if I had told
in a lie any kind of name, you would have to be satisfied."
" True ! But are there many of those men ? "
" There is an old one, two sons, and two servants."
" Are they nobles ? "
THE DELUGE.
405
" Surely nobles."
" Do they live here ? "
" Sometimes here, and sometimes God knows where."
" But the horses, whence are they ? "
" God knows whence they bring them."
" Tell the truth; do thy masters not rob on the high¬
way ? "
" Do I know ? It seems to me they take horses, but
whose, — that's not on my head."
" What do they do with the horses ? "
" Sometimes they take ten or twelve of them, as many as
there are, and drive them away, but whither I know not."
Thus conversing, they reached the shed, from which was
heard the snorting of horses.
"Hold the light," said Soroka.
The fellow raised the lantern, and threw light on the
horses standing in a row at the wall. Soroka examined
them one after another with the eye of a specialist, shook
his head, smacked his lips, and said, —
" The late Fan Zend would have rejoiced. There are
Polish and Muscovite horses here, — there is a Wallachian,
a German, — a mare. Fine horses ! What dost thou give
them to eat ? "
"Not to lie, my master, I sowed two fields with oats in
springtime."
"Then thy masters have been handling horses since
spring ? "
"No, but they sent a servant to me with a command."
" Then art thou theirs ?"
" I was till they went to the war."
" What war ? "
" Do I know ? They went far away last year, and came
back in the summer."
" Whose art thou now ? "
" These are the king's forests."
" Who put thee here to make pitch ? "
" The royal forester, a relative of these men, who also
brought horses with them; but since he went away once
with them, he has not come back."
" And do guests come to these men ? "
"Nobody comes here, for tnere are swamps around, and
only one road. It is a wonder to me that ye could come, my
master; for whoso does not strike the road, will be drawn in
by the swamp."
406
THE DELUGE.
Soroka wanted to answer that he knew these woods and
the road very well; hnt after a moment's thought he deter¬
mined that silence wras better, and inquired, —
" Are these woods very great ? "
The fellow did not understand the question. "How is
that ? "
" Do they go far ? "
" Oh! who has gone through them ? Where one ends
another begins, and God knows where they are not; I have
never been in that place."
" "Very well! " said Soroka.
Then he ordered the man to go back to the cabin, and
followed himself.
On the way he was pondering over what he should do,
and hesitated. On one hand the wish came to him to take
the horses while the cabin-dwellers were gone, and flee with
this plunder. The booty was precious, and the horses
pleased the old soldier's heart greatly ; but after a while he
overcame the temptation. To take them was easy, but
what to do further. Swamps all around, one egress, — how
hit upon that ? Chance had served him once, but perhaps
it would not a second time. To follow the trail of hoofs
was useless, for the cabin-dwellers had surely wit enough
to make by design false and treacherous trails leading
straight into quagmires. Soroka knew clearly the methods
of men who steal horses, and of those who take booty.
He thought awhile, therefore, and meditated; all at once
he struck his head with his fist, —
" I am a fool! " muttered he. " I '11 take the fellow on a
rope, and make him lead me to the highway."
Barely had he uttered the last word when he shuddered,
" To the highway ? But that prince will be there, and
pursuit. To lose fifteen horses !" said the old fox to
himself, with as much sorrow as if he had cared for the
beasts from their coltliood. " It must be that our fortune is
ended. We must stay in the cabin till Pan Kmita re¬
covers, — stay with consent of the owners or without their
consent; and what will come later, that is work for the
colonel's head."
Thus meditating, he returned to the cabin. The watch¬
ful soldiers were standing at the door, and though they
saw a lantern shining in the dark from a distance, — the same
lantern with which Soroka and the pitch-maker had gone
out, — still they forced them to tell who they were before
THE DELUGE.
407
they let them enter the cabin. Soroka ordered his soldiers
to change the watch about midnight, and threw himself
down on the plank bed beside Kmita.
It had become quiet in the cabin ; only the crickets raised
their usual music in the adjoining closet, and the mice
gnawed from moment to moment among the rubbish piled
up there. The sick man woke at intervals and seemed to
have dreams in his fever, for to Soroka's ears came the
disconnected words, —
" Gracious king, pardon — Those men are traitors — I
will tell all their secrets — The Commonwealth is a red
cloth — Well, I have you, worthy prince — Hold him! —
Gracious king, this way, for there is treason!"
Soroka rose on the bed and listened; but the sick man,
when he had screamed once and a second time, fell asleep,
and then woke and cried,—
" Olenka, Olenka, be not angry ! "
About midnight he grew perfectly calm and slept
soundly. Soroka also began to slumber; but soon a gentle
knocking at the door of the cabin roused him.
The watchful soldier opened his eyes at once, and
springing to his feet went out.
" But what is the matter ? " asked he.
" Sergeant, the pitch-maker has escaped."
" A hundred devils ! he '11 bring robbers to us right away."
" Who was watching him ? "
" Biloiis."
" I went with him to water our horses," said Biloiis, ex¬
plaining. " I ordered him to draw the water, and held
the horses myself."
" And what ? Did he jump into the well ? "
"Ho, Sergeant, but between the logs, of which there are
many near the well, and into the stump-holes. I let the
horses go; for though they scattered there are others here,
and sprang after him, but I fell into the first hole. It was
night, — dark ; the scoundrel knows the place, and ran
away. May the pest strike him !"
" He will bring those devils here to us, — he '11 bring
them. May the thunderbolts split him! "
The sergeant stopped, but after a while said, —
" We will not lie down ; we must watch till morning. Any
moment a crowd may come."
And giving an example to the others, he took his place on
the threshold of the cabin with a musket in his hand. The
408
THE DELUGE.
soldiers sat near him talking in an undertone, listening
sometimes to learn if in the night sounds of the pine-
Avoods the tramp and snort of coming horses could reach
them.
It was a moonlight night, and calm, but noisy. In the
forest depths life was seething. It was the season of
mating; therefore the wilderness thundered with terrible
bellowing of stags. These sounds, short, hoarse, full of
anger and rage, were heard round about in all parts of the
forest, distant and near, — sometimes right there, as if a
hundred yards from the cabin.
" If men come, they will bellow too, to mislead us," said
Biloiis.
" Eh ! they will not come to-night. Before the pitch-
maker finds them 't will be day," said the other soldiers.
" In the daytime, Sergeant, it would be well to examine
the cabin and dig under the walls ; for if robbers dwell here
there must be treasures."
"The best treasures are in that stable," said Soroka,
pointing with his finger to the shed.
" But Ave '11 take them ? "
"Ye are fools! there is no way out, — nothing but
SAvamps all around."
" But Ave came in."
"God guided us. A living soul cannot come here or
leave here Avithout knowing the road."
" We Avill find it in the daytime."
"We shall not find it, for tracks are made everyAvhere
purposely, and the trails are misleading. It Avas not right
to let the man go."
" It is known that the highroad is a day's journey dis¬
tant, and in that direction," said Biloiis.
Here he pointed with his finger to the eastern part of the
forest.
"We will ride on till we pass through, — that's what
we '11 do! You think that you will be a lord when you
touch the highway ? Better the bullet of a robber here
than a rope there."
" How is that, father ? " asked Biloiis.
" They are surely looking for us there."
" Who, father ? "
" The prince."
Soroka was suddenly silent; and after him were silent the
others, as if seized with fear.
THE DELUGE.
409
" Oi!" said Biloiis, at last. " It is bad here and bad
there; though you twist, you can't turn."
" They have driven us poor devils into a net; here rob¬
bers, and there the prince," said another soldier.
" May the thunderbolts burn them there! I would
rather have to do with a robber than with a wizard," added
Biloiis; " for that prince is possessed, yes, possessed.
Zavratynski could wrestle with a bear, and the prince took
the sword from his hands as from a child. It can only be
that he enchanted him, for I saw, too, that when he rushed
at Vitkovski Boguslav grew up before the eyes to the size
of a pine-tree. If he had not, I should n't have let him go
alive."
" But you were a fool not to jump at him."
" What had I to do, Sergeant ? I thought this way : he
is sitting on the best horse ; if he wishes, he will run away,
but if he attacks me I shall not be able to defend myself,
for with a wizard is a power not human! He becomes in¬
visible to the eye or surrounds himself with dust — "
" That is truth," answered Soroka; " for when I fired at
him he was surrounded as it were by a fog, and I missed.
Any man mounted may miss when the horse is moving,
but on the ground that has not happened to me for ten
years."
" What's the use in talking ? " said Biloiis, " better count:
Lyubyenyets, Vitkovski, Zavratynski, our colonel; and one
man brought them all down, and he without arms, — such
men that each of them has many a time stood against
four. Without the help of the devil he could not have
done this."
" Let us commend our souls to God; for if he is possessed,
the devil will show him the road to this place."
" But without that he has long arms for such a lord."
" Quiet ! " exclaimed Soroka, quickly ; " something is
making the leaves rustle."
The soldiers were quiet and bent their ears. Near by,
indeed, were heard some kind of heavy steps, under which
the fallen leaves rustled very clearly.
" I hear horses," whispered Soroka.
But the steps began to retreat from the cabin, and soon
after was heard the threatening and hoarse bellowing of a
stag.
" That is a stag ! He is making himself known to a doe,
or fighting off another horned fellow."
410
THE DELUGE.
" Throughout the whole forest are entertainments as if
at the wedding of Satan."
They were silent again and began to doze. The sergeant
raised his head at times and listened for a while, then
dropped it toward his breast. Thus passed an hour, and a
second; at last the nearest pine-trees from being black be¬
came gray, and the tops grew whiter each moment, as if
some one had burnished them with molten silver. The
bellowing of stags ceased, and complete stillness reigned in
the forest depths. Dawn passed gradually into day; the
white and pale light began to absorb rosy and golden
gleams ; at last perfect morning had come, and lighted the
tired faces of the soldiers sleeping a firm sleep at the cabin.
Then the door opened. Kmita appeared on the threshold,
and called, —
" Soroka! come here !"
The soldiers sprang up.
"For God's sake, is your grace on foot ? " asked Soroka.
" But you have slept like oxen; it would have been
possible to cut off your heads and throw them out before
any one would have been roused."
" We watched till morning, Colonel; we fell asleep only
in the broad day."
Kmita looked around. " Where are we ? "
" In the forest, Colonel."
" I see that myself. But what sort of a cabin is this ? "
" We know not ourselves."
" Follow me," said Kmita. And he turned to the inside
of the cabin. Soroka followed.
" Listen," said Kmita, sitting on the bed. " Did the
prince fire at me ? "
" He did."
" And what happened to him ? "
" He escaped."
A moment of silence followed.
" That is bad," said Kmita, " very bad! Better to lay
him down than to let him go alive."
"We wanted to do that, but —"
" But what ? "
Soroka told briefly all that had happened. Kmita lis¬
tened with wonderful calmness; but his eyes began to
glitter, and at last he said, —
" Then he is victor; but we '11 meet again. Why did you
leave the highroad ? "
THE DELUGE.
411
" I was afraid of pursuit."
"That was right, for surely there Avas pursuit. There
are too few of us now to light against Boguslav's power, —
too feAV. Besides, he has gone to Prussia; Ave cannot reach
him there, Ave must wait — "
Soroka was relieved. Pan Kmita evidently did not fear
Boguslav greatly, since he talked of overtaking him. This
confidence was communicated at once to the old soldier
accustomed to think with the head of his colonel and to
feel with his heart.
Meanwhile Pan Andrei, Avho had fallen into deep
thought, came to himself on a sudden, and began to seek
something about his person with both his hands.
" Where are my letters ? " asked he.
" What letters ? "
" Letters that I had on my body. They were fastened
to my belt; where is the belt ?" asked Pan Andrei, in
haste.
"I unbuckled the belt myself, that your grace might
breathe more easily; there it is."
"Bring it."
Soroka gave him a belt lined with Avhite leather, to Avhich
a bag Avas attached by cords. Kmita untied it and took out
papers hastily.
" These are passes to the SAvedish commandants; but
where are the letters ? " asked he, in a voice full of
disquiet.
" What letters ? " asked Soroka.
" Hundreds of thunders ! the letters of the hetman to the
Swedish King, to Pan Lyubomirski, and all those that I
had."
"If they are not on the belt, they are noAvhere. They
must have been lost in the time of the riding."
" To horse and look for them! " cried Kmita, in a terrible
voice.
But before the astonished Soroka could leave the room
Pan Andrei sank to the bed as if strength had failed him,
and seizing his head Avith his hands, began to repeat in a
groaning voice, —
" Ai! my letters, my letters ! "
Meanwhile the soldiers rode off, except one, whom Soroka
commanded to guard the cabin. Kmita remained alone in
the room, and began to meditate over his position, Avhich
was not deserving of envy. Boguslav had escaped. Over
412
THE DELUGE.
Pan Andrei was hanging the terrible and inevitable ven¬
geance of the powerful Radzivills. And not only over
him, but over all whom he loved, and speaking briefly,
over Olenka. Kmita knew that Prince Yanush would not
hesitate to strike where he could wound him most pain¬
fully, — that is, to pour out his vengeance on the person
of Panna Billevich. And Olenka was still in Kyedani at
the mercy of the terrible magnate, whose heart knew no
pity. The more Kmita meditated over his position, the
more clearly was he convinced that it was simply dreadful.
After the seizure of Boguslav, the Radzivills will hold him
a traitor; the adherents of Yan Kazimir, the partisans of
Sapyelia, and the confederates who had risen up in Podlya-
sye look on him as a traitor now, and a damned soul of the
Radzivills. Among the many camps, parties, and foreign
troops occupying at that moment the fields of the Com¬
monwealth, there is not a camp, a party, a body of troops
which would not count him as the greatest and most ma¬
lignant enemy. Indeed, the reward offered for his head by
Hovanski is still in force, and now Radzivill and the
Swedes will offer rewards, — and who knows if the adher¬
ents of the unfortunate Yan Kazimir have not already
proclaimed one ?
" I have brewed beer and must drink it," thought Kmita.
When he bore away Prince Boguslav, he did so to throw
him at the feet of the confederates, to convince them be¬
yond question that he had broken with the Radzivills, to
purchase a place with them, to win the right of fighting for
the king and the country. Besides, Boguslav in his hands
was a hostage for the safety of Olenka. But since Boguslav
has crushed Kmita and escaped, not only is Olenka's safety
gone, but also the proof that Kmita has really left the
service of the Radzivills. But the road to the confederates
is open to him ; and if he meets Volodyovski's division and
his friends the colonels, they may grant him his life, but
will they take him as a comrade, will they believe him,
will they not think that he has appeared as a spy, or has
come to tamper with their courage and bring over people
to Radzivill ? Here he remembered that the blood of con¬
federates was weighing on him; that to begin with, he had
struck down the Hungarians and dragoons in Kyedani, that
he had scattered the mutinous squadrons or forced them to
yield, that he had shot stubborn officers and exterminated
soldiers, that he had surrounded Kyedani with trenches
THE DELUGE.
413
and fortified it, and thus assured the triumph of Radzivill
inJmud. "How could I go?" thought he; "the plague
would in fact be a more welcome guest there than I! With
Boguslav on a lariat at the saddle it would be possible;
but with only my mouth and empty hands ! "
If he had those letters he might join the confederates, he
would have had Prince Yanush in hand, for those letters
might undermine the credit of the hetman, even with the
Swedes, — even with the price of them he might save
Olenka; but some evil spirit had so arranged that the
letters were lost.
When Kmita comprehended all this, he seized his own
head a second time.
"For the Radzivills a traitor, for Olenka a traitor, for
the confederates a traitor, for the king a traitor ! I have
ruined my fame, my honor, myself, and Olenka!"
The wound in his face was burning, but in his soul hot
pain, a hundred-fold greater, was burning him. In addition
to all, his self-love as a knight was suffering.' For he was
shamefully beaten by Boguslav. Those slashes "which Volo-
dyovski had given him in Lyubich were nothing. There he
was finished by an armed man whom he had called out in a
duel, here by a defenceless prisoner whom he had in his
hand.
With every moment increased in Kmita the conscious¬
ness of how terrible and shameful was the plight into
which he had fallen. The longer he examined it the more
clearly he saw its horror; and every moment he saw new
black corners from which were peering forth infamy and
shame, destruction to himself, to Olenka, wrong against
the country, — till at last terror and amazement seized
him.
" Have I done all this ? " asked he of himself; and the hair
stood on his head.
" Impossible ! It must be that fever is shaking me yet,"
cried he. " Mother of God, this is not possible!"
"Blind, foolish quarreller," said his conscience, "this
would not have come to thee in fighting for the king and
the country, nor if thou hadst listened to Olenka."
And sorrow tore him like a whirlwind. Hei! if only he
could say to himself: " The Swedes against the country, I
against them ! Radzivill against the king, I against him! "
Then it would be clear and transparent in his soul. Then
he might collect a body of cut-throats from under a dark
414
THE DELUGE.
star and, frolic with them as a gypsy at a fair, fall upon the
Swedes, and ride over their breasts with pure heart and
conscience; then he might stand in glory as in sunlight be¬
fore Olenka, and say, —
" I am no longer infamous, but defensor -patriae (a defen¬
der of the country) ; love me, as I love thee."
But what was he now? That insolent spirit, accus¬
tomed to self-indulgence, would not confess to a fault alto¬
gether at first. It was the Kadzivills who (according to
him) had pushed him down in this fashion; it was the
Kadzivills who had brought him to ruin, covered him with
evil repute, bound his hands, despoiled him of honor and
love.
Here Pan Kmita gnashed his teeth, stretched out his
hands toward Jmud, on which Yanush, the hetman, was
sitting like a wolf on a corpse, and began to call out in a
voice choking with rage, —
" Vengeance! Vengeance!"
Suddenly he threw himself in despair on his knees in the
middle of the room, and began to cry, —
" I vow to thee, 0 Lord Christ, to bend those traitors and
gallop over them with justice, with fire, and with sword, to
cut them, while there is breath in my throat, steam in my
mouth, and life for me in this world ! So help me, 0
Nazarene King! Amen !"
Some kind of internal voice told him in that moment,
" Serve the country, vengeance afterward."
Pan Andrei's eyes were flaming, his lips were baked, and
he trembled as in a fever; he waved his hands, and talking
with himself aloud, walked, or rather ran, through the room,
kicked the bed with his feet; at last he threw himself once
more on his knees.
"Inspire me, 0 Christ, what to do, lest I fall into
frenzy."
At that moment came the report of a gun, which the for¬
est echo threw from pine-tree to pine-tree till it brought it
like thunder to the cabin.
Kmita sprang up, and seizing his sabre ran out.
" What is that ? " asked he of the soldier standing at the
threshold.
" A shot, Colonel."
" Where is Soroka ? "
" He went to look for the letters."
" In what direction was the shot ? "
THE DELUGE.
415
The soldier pointed to the eastern part of the forest, which
was overgrown with dense underwood.
There!"
At that moment was heard the tramp of horses not yet
visible.
" Be on your guard !" cried Kmita.
But from out the thicket appeared Soroka, hurrying as
fast as his horse could gallop, and after him the other soldier.
They rushed up to the cabin, sprang from the horses, and
from behind them, as from behind breastworks, took aim at
the thicket.
" What is there ? " asked Kmita.
"A party is coming," answered Soroka.
416
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Silence succeeded; but soon something began to rustle in
the near thicket, as if wild beasts were passing. The move¬
ment, however, grew slower the nearer it came. Then there
was silence a second time.
" How many of them are there ? " asked Kmita.
" About six, and perhaps eight; for to tell the truth I could
not count them surely," said Soroka.
" That is our luck ! They cannot stand against us."
"They cannot, Colonel; but we must take one of them
alive, and scorch him so that he will show the road."
" There will be time for that. Be watchful!"
Kmita had barely said, " Be watchful," when a streak of
white smoke bloomed forth from the thicket, and you would
have said that birds had fluttered in the near grass, about
thirty yards from the cabin.
" They shot from old guns, with hob-nails !" said Kmita;
" if they have not muskets, they will do nothing to us, for
old guns will not carry from the thicket."
Soroka, holding with one hand the musket resting on
the saddle of the horse standing in front of him, placed the
other hand in the form of a trumpet before his mouth, and
shouted, —
" Let any man come out of the bushes, he will cover him¬
self with his legs right away."
A moment of silence followed ; then a threatening voice
was heard in the thicket, —
" What kind of men are you ? "
" Better than those who rob on the highroad."
" By what right have you found out our dwelling ? "
" A robber asks about right! The hangman will show you
right! Come to the cabin."
"We will smoke you out just as if you were badgers."
" But come on; only see that the smoke does not stifle
you too."
The voice in the thicket was silent; the invaders, it
seemed, had begun to take counsel. Meanwhile Soroka
whispered to Kmita, —
THE DELUGE.
417
"We must decoy some one hither, and bind him ; we shall
then have a guide and a hostage."
" Pshaw !" answered Kmita, " if any one comes it will be
on parole."
" With robbers parole may be broken."
" It is better not to give it! " said Kmita.
With that questions sounded again from the thicket.
" What do you want ? "
How Kmita began to speak. "We should have gone as
we came if you had known politeness and not fired from
a gun."
" You will not stay there, — there will be a hundred horse
of us in the evening."
"Before evening two hundred dragoons will come, and your
swamps will not save you, for they will pass as we passed."
" Are you soldiers ? "
"We are not robbers, you may be sure."
" From what squadron ? "
"But are you hetman? We will not report to you."
" The wolves will devour you, in old fashion."
"And the crows will pick you!"
" Tell what you want, a hundred devils ! Why did you
come to our cabin ? "
" Come yourselves, and you will not split your throat cry¬
ing from the thicket. Hearer, nearer ! "
" On your word."
" A word is for knights, not for robbers. If it please you,
believe ; if not, believe not."
" May two come ? "
" They may."
After a while from out the thicket a hundred yards distant
appeared two men, tall and broad-shouldered. One some¬
what bent seemed to be a man of years ; the other went up¬
right, but stretched his neck with curiosity toward the cabin.
Both wore short sheepskin coats covered with gray cloth of
the kind used by petty nobles, high cowhide boots, and fur
caps drawn down to their ears.
"What the devil!" said Kmita, examining the two men
with care.
" Colonel!" cried Soroka, " a miracle indeed, but those are
our people."
Meanwhile they approached within a few steps, but could
not see the men standing near the cabin, for the horses con¬
cealed them.
vol. i. — 27
418
THE DELUGE.
All at once Kmita stepped forward. Those approaching
did not recognize him, however, for his face was bound up ;
they halted, and began to measure him with curious and un¬
quiet eyes.
" And where is the other son, Pan Kyemlicli ?" asked
Kmita; "he has not fallen, I hope."
" Who is that — how is that — what — who is talking ? "
asked the old man, in a voice of amazement and as it were
terrified.
And he stood motionless, with mouth and eyes widely
open ; then the son, who since he was younger had quicker
vision, took the cap from his head.
" For God's sake, father! that's the colonel! " cried he.
" O Jesus ! sweet Jesus! " cried the old man, " that is Pan
Kmita!"
And both took the fixed posture of subordinates saluting
their commanders, and on their faces were depicted both
shame and wonder.
" Ah! such sons," said Pan Andrei, laughing, "and greeted
me from a gun ? "
Here the old man began to shout, —
" Come this way, all of you ! Come !"
From the thicket appeared a number of men, among whom
were the second son of the old man and the pitch-maker; all
ran up at breakneck speed with weapons ready, for they knew
not what had happened. But the old man shouted again, —
" To your knees, rogues, to your knees! This is Pan Kmita!
What fool was it who fired ? Give him this way !"
" It was you, father," said young Kyemlich.
" You lie, —you lie like a dog! Pan Colonel, who could
know that it was your grace who had come to our cabin ?
As God is true, I do not believe my own eyes yet."
" I am here in person," answered Kmita, stretching his
hand toward him.
" 0 Jesus ! " said the old man, " such a guest in the pine-
woods. I cannot believe my own eyes. With what can we
receive your grace here ? If we expected, if we knew ! "
Here he turned to his sons : " Run, som'e blockhead, to
the cellar, bring mead ! "
" Give the key to the padlock, father."
The old man began to feel in his belt, and at the same
time looked suspiciously at his son.
" The key of the padlock ? But I know thee, gypsy;
thou wilt drink more thyself than thou 'It bring. What's
THE DELUGE.
419
to be done ? I '11 go myself; be wants the key of the pad¬
lock ! But go roll off the logs, and I '11 open and bring it
myself."
" I see that you have spoons hidden under the logs, Pan
Kyemlich," said Kmita.
<< But can anything be kept from such robbers !" asked
the old man, pointing to the sons. " They would eat up
their father. Ye are still here ? Go roll away the logs.
Is this the way ye obey him who begat you ? "
The young men went quickly behind the cabin to the pile
of logs.
" You are in disagreement with your sons in old fashion,
it seems ? " said Kmita.
" Who could be in agreement with them ? They know
how to fight, they know how to take booty ; but when it
comes to divide with their father, I must tear my part from
them at risk of my life. Such is the pleasure I have; but
they are like wild bulls. I beg your grace to the cabin, for
the cold bites out here. Tor God's sake ! such a guest, such
a guest! And under the command of your grace we took
more booty than during this whole year. We are in poverty
now, wretchedness! Evil times, and always worse; and
old age, too, is no joy. I beg you to the cabin, over our
lowly threshold. Eor God's sake! who could have looked
for your grace here! "
Old Kyemlich spoke with a marvellously rapid and com¬
plaining utterance, and -while speaking cast quick, restless
glances on every side. He was a bony old man, enormous
in stature, with a face ever twisted and sullen! He, as well
as his two sons, had crooked eyes. His brows were bushy,
and also his mustaches, from beneath which protruded be¬
yond measure an underlip, which when he spoke came to
his nose, as happens with men who are toothless. The
agedness of his face -was in wonderful contrast to the quick¬
ness of his movements, "which displayed unusual strength
and alertness. His movements were as rapid as if a spring
stirred him; he turned his head continually, trying to take
in with his eyes Everything around, — men as well as things.
Toward Kmita he became every minute more humble, in
proportion as subservience to his former leader, fear, and
perhaps admiration or attachment were roused in him.
Kmita knew the Kyemliches well, for the father and two
sons had served under him when single-handed he had car¬
ried on war in White Russia with Hovanski. They were
420
THE DELUGE.
valiant soldiers, and as cruel as valiant. One son, Kosma,
was standard-bearer for a time in Kmita's legion; but he
soon resigned that honorable office, since it prevented him
from taking booty. Among the gamblers and unoridled
souls who formed Kmita's legion, and who drank away and
lost in the day what they won with blood in the night from
the enemy, the Kyemliclies were distinguished for mighty
greed. They accumulated booty carefully, and hid it in the
woods. They took with special eagerness horses, which
they sold afterward at country houses and in towns. The
father fought no worse than the twin sons, but after each
battle he dragged away from them the most considerable
part of the booty, scattering at the same time complaints
and regrets that they were wronging him, threatening a
father's curse, groaning and lamenting. The sons grum¬
bled at him, but being sufficiently stupid by nature they
let themselves be tyrannized over. In spite of their end¬
less squabbles and scoldings, they stood up, one for the
other, in battle venomously without sparing blood. They
were not liked by their comrades, but were feared univer¬
sally, for in quarrels they were terrible; even officers avoided
provoking them. Kmita was the one man who had roused
indescribable fear in them, and after Kmita, Pan Kanitski,
before whom they trembled when from anger his face was
covered with spots. They revered also in both lofty birth;
for the Kmitas, from old times, had high rank in Orsha, and
in Kanitski flowed senatorial blood.
It was said in the legion that they had collected great
treasures, but no one knew surely that there was truth in
this statement. On a certain day Kmita sent them away
with attendants and a herd of captured horses ; from that
time they vanished. Kmita thought that they had fallen;
his soldiers said that they had escaped with the horses, the
temptation in this case being too great for their hearts.
Now, as Pan Andrei saw them in health, and as in a shed
near the cabin horses were neighing, and the rejoicing and
subservience of the old man were mingled with disquiet,
he thought that his soldiers were right in their judgment.
Therefore, when they had entered the cabin he sat on a
plank bed, and putting his hands on his sides, looked
straight into the old man's eyes and asked, —
" Kyemlich, where are my horses ? "
"Jesus! sweet Jesus!" groaned the old man. " Zolo-
tarenko's men took the horses; they beat us and wounded
THE DELUGE.
421
us, drove us ninety miles ; we hardly escaped with our lives.
Oh, Most Holy Mother ! we could not find either your grace
or your men. They drove us thus far into these pine-woods,
into misery and hunger, to this cabin and these swamps.
God is kind that your grace is living and in health, though,
I see, wounded. Maybe we can nurse you, and put on
herbs ; and those sons of mine went to roll off the logs, and
they have disappeared. What are the rogues doing ? They
are ready to take out the door and get at the mead. Hun¬
ger here and misery; nothing more! WTe live on mush¬
rooms ; but for your grace there will be something to drink
and a bite to eat. Those men took the horses from us, robbed
us, — there is no denying that! And they deprived us of
service with your grace. We shall not have a bit of bread
for old age, unless your grace takes us back into service."
"That may happen too," answered Kmita.
Kow the two sons of the old man came in, —Kosma and
Damian, twins, big fellows, awkward, with enormous heads
completely overgrown with an immensely thick bush of
hair, stiff as a brush, sticking out unevenly around the ears,
forming hair-screws and fantastic tufts on their skulls.
When they came in they stood near the door, for in pres¬
ence of Kmita they dared not sit down; and Damian
said, —
" The cellar is cleared."
" 'T is well," answered old Kyemlich, " I will go to bring
mead."
Here he looked significantly at his sons.
"And Zolotarenko's men took the horses," said he, with
emphasis; and went out of the cabin.
Kmita glanced at the two who stood by the door, and
who looked as if they had been hewn out of logs roughly
with an axe.
" What are you doing now ? "
"We take horses ! " answered the twins at the same time.
" From whom ? "
" From whomsoever comes along."
" But mostly ? "
" From Zolotarenko's men."
" That is well, you are free to take from the enemy; but
if you take from your own you are robbers, not nobles.
What do you do with those horses ?"
"Father sells them in Prussia."
" Has it happened to you to take from the Swedes ?
422
THE DELUGE.
Swedish companies are not far from here. Have you
attacked the Swedes ? "
" We have."
" Then you fall on single men or small companies; but
when they defend themselves, what then ? "
" We pound them."
"Ah, ha, you pound them ! Then you have a reckoning
with Zolotarenko's men and with the Swedes, and surely
you could not have got away dry had you fallen into their
hands."
Kosma and Damian were silent.
" You are carrying on a dangerous business, more becom¬
ing to robbers than nobles. It must be, also, that some
sentences are hanging over you from old times ? "
" Of course there are !" answered Kosma and Damian.
" So I thought. From what parts are you ? "
"We are from these parts."
" Where did your father live before ? "
" In Borovichko."
"Was that his village ? "
" Yes, together with Fan Kopystynski."
" And what became of him ? "
" We killed him."
"And you had to flee before the law. It will be short
work with you Kyemliches, and you'll finish on trees.
The hangman will light you, it cannot be otherwise!"
Just then the door of the room creaked, and the old man
came in bringing a decanter of mead and two glasses. He
looked unquietly at his sons and at Kniita, and then said, —
" Go and cover the cellar."
The twins Avent out at once. The old man poured mead
into one glass ; the other he left empty, Avaiting to see if
Kmita Avould let him drink Avith him.
But Kmita Avas not able to drink himself, for he even
spoke Avith difficulty, such pain did the Avound cause him.
Seeing this, the old man said, —
" Mead is not good for the Avound, unless poured in, to
clear it out more quickly. Your grace, let me look at the
Avound and dress it, for I understand this matter as Avell as
a barber."
Kmita consented. Kyemlich removed the bandage, and
began to examine the Avound carefully.
" The skin is taken off, that's nothing! The ball passed
along the outside ; but still it is SAvollen."
THE DELUGE.
423
" That is why it pains me."
"But it is not two clays old. Most Holy Mother! some
one who must have been very near shot at your grace."
" How do you know that ? "
" Because all the powder was not burned, and grains like
cockle are under the skin. They will stay with your grace.
Now we need only bread and spider-web. Terribly near
was the man who fired. It is well that he did not kill
your grace."
" It was not fated me. Mix the bread and the spider-web
and put them on as quickly as possible, for I must talk
with you, and my jaws pain me."
The old man looked suspiciously at the colonel, for in
his heart there was fear that the talk might touch again on
the horses said to have been taken by the Cossacks ; but he
busied himself at once, kneaded the moistened bread first,
and since it was not hard to find spider-webs in the cabin
he attended promptly to Kmita.
" I am easy now," said Ban Andrei; " sit down, worthy
Kyemlich."
"According to command of the colonel," answered the old
man, sitting on the edge of a bench and stretching out his
iron-gray bristly head uneasily toward Kmita.
But Kmita, instead of conversing, took his own head in
his hands and fell into deep thought. Then he rose and
began to walk in the room ; at moments he halted before
Kyemlich and gazed at him with distraught look; appar¬
ently he. was weighing something, wrestling with thoughts.
Meanwhile about half an hour passed; the old man
squirmed more and more uneasily. All at once Kmita
stopped before him.
"Worthy Kyemlich," said he, "where are the nearest of
those squadrons which rose up against the prince voevocla
of Yilna ? "
" The old man began to wink his eyes suspiciously.
" Does your grace wish to go to them ? "
" I do not request you to ask, but to answer."
" They say that one squadron is quartered in Shchuchyn,
— that one which came here last from Jmud."
" Who said so ? "
" The men of the squadron themselves."
" Who led it ? "
" Pan Volodyovski."
" That's well. Call Soroka !"
424
THE DELUGE.
The old man went out, and returned soon with the sergeant.
" Have the letters been found ? " asked Kmita.
" They have not, Colonel," answered Soroka.
Kmita shook his hands. "Oh, misery, misery! You
may go, Soroka. For those letters which you have lost you
deserve to hang. You may go. Worthy Kyemlich, have
you anything on which to write ? "
" I hope to find something," answered the old man.
" Even two leaves of paper and a pen."
The old man vanished through the door of a closet which
was evidently a storeroom for all kinds of things, but he
searched long. Kmita was walking the while through the
room, and talking to himself, —
" Whether I have the letters or not," said he, " the hetman
does not know that they are lost, and he will fear lest I
publish them. I have him in hand. Cunning against
cunning! I will threaten to send them to the voevoda of
Vityebsk. That is what I- will do. In God is my hope,
that the hetman will fear this."
Further thought was interrupted by old Kyemlich, who,
coming out of the closet, said, —
" Here are three leaves of paper, but no pens or ink."
" No pens ? But are there no birds in the woods here ?
They may be shot with a gun."
" There is a falcon nailed over the shed."
" Bring his wing hither quickly !"
Kyemlich shot off with all speed, for in the voice of
Kmita was impatience, and as it were a fever. He re¬
turned in a moment with the falcon's wing. Kmita seized
it, plucked out a quill, and began to make a pen of it with
his dagger.
" It will do !" said he, looking at it before the light; " but
it is easier to cut men's heads than quills. Now we need
ink."
So saying, he rolled up his sleeve, cut himself deeply in
the arm, and moistened the quill in blood.
"Worthy Kyemlich," said he, "leave me."
The old man left the room, and Pan Andrei began to
write at once : —
I renounce the service of your highness, for I will not serve
traitors and deceivers. And if I swore on the crucifix not to leave
your highness, God will forgive me ; and even if he were to damn
me, I would rather burn for my error than for open and purposed
treason to my country and king. Your highness deceived me, so
THE DELUGE.
425
that I was like a blind sword in your hand, ready to spill the blood
of my brethren. Therefore I summon your highness to the judg¬
ment of God, so that it may be known on whose side was treason,
and on whose honest intention. Should we ever meet, though you
are powerful and able to strike unto death, not only a private man,
but the whole Commonwealth, and I have only a sabre in my hand,
still I will vindicate my own, and will strike your highness, for
which my regret and compunction will give me power. And your
highness knows that I am of those who without attendant squad¬
rons, without castles and cannon, can injure. While in me there is
breath, over you there is vengeance, so that you can be sure neither
of the day nor the hour. And this is as certain to be as that this is
my own blood with which I write. I have your letters, letters to
ruin you, not only with the King of Poland, but the King of
Sweden, for in them treason to the Commonwealth is made mani¬
fest, as well as this too, that you are ready to desert the Swedes if
only a leg totters under them. Even had you twice your present
power, your ruin is in my hands, for all men must believe signatures
and seals. Therefore I say this to your highness : If a hair falls from
the heads which I love and which are left in Kyedani, I will send
those letters and documents to Pan Sapyeha, and I will have copies
printed and scattered through the land. Your highness can go by
land or water (you have your choice); but after the war, when
peace comes to the Commonwealth, you will give me the Bille-
viches, and I will give you the letters, or if I hear evil tidings Pan
Sapyeha will show them straightway to Pontus de la Gardie. Your
highness wants a crown, but where will you put it when your head
falls either from the Polish or the Swedish axe ? It is better, I
think, to have this understanding now; though I shall not forget
revenge hereafter, I shall take it only in private, excepting this
case. I would commend you to God were it not that you put the
help of the devil above that of God. Kmi^a.
P. S. Your highness will not poison the confederates, for there
will be those who, going from the service of the devil to that
of God, will forewarn them to drink beer neither in Orel nor
Zabludovo.
Here Kmita sprang up and began to walk across the
room. His face was burning, for his own letter had heated
him like fire. This letter was a declaration of war against
the Radzivills ; but still Kmita felt in himself some extra¬
ordinary power, and Avas ready, even at that moment, to
stand eye to eye before that poAverful family Avho shook
the whole country. He, a simple noble, a simple knight,
an outlaAV pursued by justice, Avho expected assistance
from no place, Avho had offended all so that everyAvhere
he Avas accounted an enemy, — he, recently oarerthroAvn,
felt in himself now such power that he suav, as if Avith the
426
THE DELUGE.
eyes of a prophet, the humiliation of Prince Yanush and
Boguslav, and his own victory. How he would wage war,
where he would find allies, in what way he would conquer, he
knew not, — what is more, he had not thought of this. But
he had profound faith that he would do what he ought to
do, — that is, what is right and just, in return for which God
would be with him. He was filled with confidence beyond
measure and bounds. It had become sensibly easier in his
soul. Certain new regions were opened as it were entirely
before him. Let him but sit on his horse and ride thither
to honor, to glory, to Olenka.
" But a hair will not fall from her head," repeated he to
himself, with a certain feverish joy ; " the letters will defend
her. The hetman will guard her as the eye in his head, —
as I myself would. Oh, I have settled this ! I am a poor
worm, but they will be afraid of my sting."
Then this thought came to him : "And shall I write to
her too ? The messenger who will take the letter to the
hetman can give a slip of paper to her secretly. Why not
inform her that I have broken with the Kadzivills, and that
I am going to seek other service ? "
This thought struck his heart greatly. Cutting his arm
again, he moistened the pen and began to write, —
Olknka, — I am no longer on the Radzivill side, for I have seen
through them at last —
But suddenly he stopped, thought awhile, and said to
himself, " Let deeds, not words, bear witness for me
henceforth; I will not write." And he tore the paper.
But he wrote on a third sheet a short letter to Volodyovski
in the following words, —
Gracious Colonel, — The undersigned friend warns you and
the other colonels to be on your guard. There were letters from
the hetman to Prince Boguslav and Pan Harasimovich to poison
you, or to have men murder you in your own quarters. Harasimo¬
vich is absent, for he has gone with Prince Boguslav to Tyltsa in
Prussia; but there may be similar commands to other managers.
Be careful of those managers, receive nothing from them, and at
night do not sleep without guards. 1 know also to a certainty that
the hetman will march against you soon with an army; he is wait¬
ing only for cavalry which General de la Gardie is to send, fifteen
hundred in number. See to it, therefore, that he does not fall upon
you and destroy you singly. But better send reliable men to the
voevoda of Vityebsk to come with all haste and take chief command.
THE DELUGE.
427
A well-wisher counsels this, — believe him. Meanwhile keep to¬
gether, choosing quarters for the squadrons one not far from the
other, so that you may be able to give mutual assistance. The het-
mau has few cavalry, only a small number of dragoons, and Kmita s
men, but. they are not reliable. Kmita himself is absent. The het-
nian found some other office for him ; it being likely that he does not
trust him. Kmita too is not such a traitor as men say ; lie is merely
led astray. I commit you to God. Babimcii.
Pan Andrei did not wish to put his own name to the
letter, for he judged that it would rouse in each one aver¬
sion and especially distrust. " In case they understand,"
thought he, " that it would be better for them to retreat
before the hetman than to meet him in a body, they will
suspect at once, if they see my name, that I wish to collect
them, so that the hetman may finish them at a blow ; they
will think this a new trick, but from some Babinicli they
will receive warning more readily."
Pan Andrei called himself Babinicli from the village
Babiniche, near Orsha, which from remote times belonged
to the Kmitas.
When he had written the letter, at the end of which he
placed a few timid words in his own defence, he felt new
solace in his heart at the thought that with that letter he
had rendered the first service, not only to Yolodyovski and
his friends, but to all the colonels who would not desert
their country for Badzivill. He felt also that that thread
would go farther. The plight into which he had fallen
was difficult, indeed, almost desperate; but still there Avas
some help, some issue, some narrow path which would lead
to the highroad.
But now Avhen Olenka in all probability Avas safe from
the vengeance of Badzivill, and the confederates from an
unexpected attack, Pan Andrei put the question, What
was he to do himself ?
He had broken Avith traitors, he had burned the bridges
in the rear, he Avished now to serve his country, to devote to
it his strength, his health, his life; but how was he to do
this, how begin, to Avhat could he put his hand ?
Again it came to his head to join the confederates; but
if they will not receive him, if they will proclaim him a
traitor and cut him doAvn, or Avhat is Avorse, expel him in
disgrace ?
"I avouId rather they killed me!" cried Pan Andrei;
and he flushed from shame and the feeling of his oavii
428
THE DELUGE.
disgrace. Perhaps it is easier to save Olenka or the
confederates than his own fame.
Now the position was really desperate, and again the
young hero's soul began to seethe.
" But can I not act as I did against Hovanski ? " asked he
of himself. "I will gather a party, will attack the Swedes,
burn, pursue. That is nothing new for me! No one has
resisted them; I will resist until the time comes when the
whole Commonwealth will ask, as did Lithuania, who is
that hero who all alone dares to creep into the mouth of the
lion ? Then I will remove my cap and say, 1 See, it is I, it is
Kmita!' "
And such a burning desire drew him on to that bloody
work that he wished to rush out of the room and order the
Kyemliches, their attendants, and his own men to mount
and move on. But before he reached the door he felt as
if some one had suddenly punched him in the breast and
pushed him back from the threshold. He stood in the
middle of the room, and looked forward in amazement.
" How is this ? Shall I not efface my offences in this
way ? "
And at once he began to reckon with his own conscience.
" Where is atonement for guilt ? " asked his conscience.
" Here something else is required! "
" What ? " asked Kmita.
"With what can thy guilt be effaced, if not with service
of some kind, difficult and immense, honorable and pure as a
a tear ? Is it service to collect a band of ruffians and rage like
a whirlwind with them through the fields and the wilderness ?
Dost thou not desire this because fighting has for thee a sweet
odor, as has roast meat for a dog ? That is amusement, not
service; a carnival, not war; robbery, not defence of the
country ! And didst thou not do the same against Hovanski,
but what didst thou gain ? Ruffians infesting the forests are
ready also to attack the Swedish commands, and whence canst
thou get other men ? Thou wilt attack the Swedes, but also
the inhabitants ; thou wilt bring vengeance on these inhabi¬
tants, and what wilt thou effect ? Thou art trying to escape,
thou fool, from toil and atonement."
So conscience spoke in Kmita; and Kmita saw that it was
right, and vexation seized him, and a species of grief over his
own conscience because it spoke such bitter truth.
" What shall I begin ? " asked he, at last; " who will help
me, who will save me ? "
THE DELUGE.
429
Here somehow his knees began to bend till at last he knelt
down at the plank bed and began to pray aloud, and implore
from his whole soul and heart, —
"0 Jesus Christ, dear Lord," said he, "as on the cross
thou hadst pity for the thief, so now have pity for me. Be¬
hold I desire to cleanse myself from sins, to begin a new
life, and to serve my country honestly; but I know not how,
for I am foolish. I served those traitors, 0 Lord, also not
so much from malice, but especially as it were through folly;
enlighten me, inspire me, comfort me in my despair, and
rescue me in thy mercy, or I perish."
Here Pan Andrei's voice quivered; he beat his broad breast
till it thundered in the room, and repeated, " Be merciful to
me, a sinner ! Be merciful to me, a sinner! Be merciful to
me, a sinner! " Then placing his hands together and stretch¬
ing them upward, he said, "And thou, Most Holy Lady, in¬
sulted by heretics in this land, take my part with thy Son,
intercede for my rescue, desert me not in my suffering and
misery, so that I may be able to serve thee, to avenge the
insults against thee, and at the hour of my death have thee
as a patroness for my unhappy soul."
When Pan Andrei was imploring thus, tears began to fall
from his eyes; at last he dropped his head on the plank
bed and sank into silence, as if waiting for the effect of his
ardent prayer. Silence followed in the room, and only the
deep sound of the neighboring pine-trees entered from out¬
side. Then chips crackled under heavy steps beyond the
window, and two men began to speak, —
" What do you think, Sergeant ? Where shall we go from
here ? "
" Do I know ? " answered Soroka. " We shall go some¬
where, maybe far off, to the king who is groaning under the
Swedish hand."
"Is it true that all have left him ? "
" But the Lord God has not left him."
Kmita rose suddenly from the bed, but his face was clear
and calm; he went straight to the door, and opening it said
to the soldier, —
" Have the horses ready! it is time for the road ! "
430
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXX.
A movement rose quickly among the soldiers, who were
glad to go out of the forest to the distant world, all the more
since they feared pursuit on the part of Boguslav Radzivill;
and old Kyemlich went to the cabin, understanding that
Kmita would need him.
" Does your grace wish to go ? " asked he.
"I do. Will you guide me out of the forest? Do you
know all the roads ? "
•' I know all the roads in these parts. But whither does
your grace wish to go ? "
" To our gracious king."
The old man started back in astonishment. "0 Wise
Lady !" cried he. " To what king."
" Xot to the Swedish, you may be sure."
Kyemlich not only failed to recover, but began to make
the sign of the cross.
" Then surely your grace does not know that people say
our lord the king has taken refuge in Silesia, for all have
deserted him. Cracow is besieged."
" We will go to Silesia."
" Well, but how are we to pass through the Swedes ? "
" Whether Ave pass through as nobles or peasants, on horse¬
back or on foot, is all one to me, if only we pass."
" Then too a tremendous lot of time is needed."
" We have time enough, but I should be glad to go as
quickly as possible."
Kyemlich ceased to Avonder. The old man Avas too cun¬
ning not to surmise that there Avas some particular and se¬
cret cause for this undertaking of Pan Kmita's, and that
moment a thousand suppositions began to crowd into his
head. But as the soldiers, on Avhom Pan Andrei had en¬
joined silence, said nothing to the old man or his sons about
the seizure of Prince Boguslav, the supposition seemed to
him most likely that the prince voevoda of Vilna had sent
the young cclonel on some mission to the king. He Avas
confirmed in this opinion specially because he counted
Kmita a zealous adherent of Prince Yanush, and knew
THE DELUGE.
431
of his services to the lietman; for the confederate squad¬
rons had spread tidings of him throughout the whole prov¬
ince of Podlyasye, creating the opinion that Kmita was a
tyrant and a traitor.
" The hetman is sending a confidant to the king," thought
the old man ; " that means that surely he wishes to agree
with him and leave the Swedes. Their rule must be bitter
to him already, else why send ? "
Old Kyemliclr did not struggle long over this question,
for his interest in the matter was altogether different; and
namely, what profit could he draw from such circumstances ?
If he served Kmita he would serve at the same time the
hetman and the king, which would not be without a notable
reward. The favor of such lords would be of service, too,
should he be summoned to account for old sins. Besides,
there will surely be war, the country will flame up, and then
plunder will crawl of itself into his hands. All this smiled
at the old man, who besides was accustomed to obey Kmita,
and had not ceased to fear him like fire, cherishing toward
him also a certain kind of love, which Kmita knew how
to rouse in all his subordinates.
" Your grace," said he, " must go through the whole Com¬
monwealth to reach the king. Swedish troops are noth¬
ing, for we may avoid the towns and go through the woods ;
but the worst is that the woods, as is usual in unquiet times,
are full of parties of freebooters, who fall upon travellers;
and your grace has few men."
"You will go with me, Pan Kyemlich, and your sons and
the men whom you have; there will be more of us."
" If your grace commands I will go, but I am a poor man.
Only misery with us ; nothing more. How can I leave even
this poverty and the roof over my head ? "
" Whatever you do will be paid for; and for you it is
better to take your head out of this place while it is yet on
your shoulders."
" All the Saints of the Lord ! What does your grace
say ? How is that ? What threatens me, innocent man, in
this place ? Whom do we hinder ? "
" I know you robbers ! " answered Pan Andrei. " You
had partnership with Kopystynski, and killed him; then
you ran away from the courts, you served with me, you
took away my captured horses.
" As true as life ! 0 Mighty Lady ! " cried the old man.
" A ait and be silent! Then you returned to your old
432
THE DELUGE.
lair, and began to ravage in tlie neighborhood like robbers,
taking horses and booty everywhere. Do not deny it, for I
am not your judge, and you know best whether I tell the
truth. If you take the horses of Zolotarenko, that is well;
if the horses of the Swedes, that is well. If they catch you
they will flay you; but that is their affair."
" True, true ; but we take only from the enemy," said
the old man.
"Untrue ; for you attack your own people, as your sons
have confessed to me, and that is simple robbery, and a
stain on the name of a noble. Shame on you, robbers ! you
should be peasants, not nobles."
" Your grace wrongs us," said old fox, growing red, " for
we, remembering our station, do no peasant deed. We do
not take horses at night from any man's stable. It is some¬
thing different to drive a herd from the fields, or to capture
horses. This is permitted, and there is no prejudice to a
noble therefrom in time of war. But a horse in a stable is
sacred; and only a gypsy, a Jew, or a peasant would steal
from a stable, — not a noble. We, your grace, do not do that.
But war is war ! "
" Though there were ten wars, only in battle can plunder
be taken; if you seek it 011 the road, you are robbers."
" God is witness to our innocence."
" But you have brewed beer here. In few words, it is
better for you to leave this place, for sooner or later the
halter will take you. Come with me ; you will wash away
your sins with faithful service and win honor. I will re¬
ceive you to my service, in which there will be more profit
than in those horses."
"We will go with your grace everywhere; we will guide
you through the Swedes and through the robbers, — for true
is the speech of your grace, that evil people persecute us
here terribly, and for what? For our poverty, — for noth¬
ing but our poverty. Perhaps God will take pity on us,
and save us from suffering."
Here old Kyemlich rubbed his hands mechanically, and
.his eyes glittered. " From these works," thought he, " it
will boil in the country as in a kettle, and foolish the man
who takes no advantage."
Kmita looked at him quickly. " Only don't try to betray
me ! " said he, threateningly, " for you will not be able, and
the hand of God only could save you."
" We have never betrayed," answered Kyemlich, gloomily,
THE DELUGE.
433
" and may God condemn me if such a thought entered my
head."
" I believe you," said Kmita, after a short silence, " for
treason is something different from robbery; no robber
will betray."
" What does your grace command now ? " asked Kyemlich.
" First, here are two letters, requiring quick delivery.
Have you sharp men ? "
" Where must they go ? "
" Let one go to the prince voevoda, but without seeing
Kadzivill himself. Let him deliver the letter in the first
squadron of the prince, and come back without awaiting an
answer."
"The pitch-maker will go; he is a sharp man and ex¬
perienced."
" He will do. The second letter must be taken to Pod-
lyasye ; inquire for Pan Volodyovski's Lauda squadron,
and give it into the hands of the colonel himself."
The old man began to mutter cunningly, and thought,
" I see work on every side; since he is sniffing with the
confederates there will be boiling water,—there will be,
there will be ! "
"Your grace," said he, aloud, "if there is not such a
hurry with this letter, when we leave the forest it perhaps
might be given to some man on the road. There are many
nobles here friendly to the confederates ; any one would
take it willingly, and one man more would remain to us."
"You have calculated shrewdly," answered Kmita, "for
it is better that he who delivers the letter should not know
from whom he takes it. Shall we go out of the forest
soon ? "
"As your grace wishes. We can go out in two weeks,
or to-morrow."•
" Of that later; but now listen to me carefully, Kyemlich."
" I am attending with all my mind, your grace."
" They have denounced me in the whole Commonwealth
as a tyrant, as devoted to the lietman, or altogether to
Sweden. If the king knew who I am, he might not trust
me, and might despise my intention, which, if it is not sin¬
cere, God sees ! Are you attending, Kyemlich ? "
" I am, your grace."
"Therefore I do not call myself Kmita, but Babinich,
do you understand ? No one must know my real name.
Open not your lips ; let not a breath out. If men ask
vol. i. — 28
434
THE DELUGE.
whence I come, say that you joined me on the road and
do not know, but say, 'Whoso is curious, let him ask the
man himself.' "
" I understand, your grace."
"Warn your sons, and also your men. Even if straps
were cut out of them, they must say my name is Babinich.
You will answer for this with your life."
" It will be so, your grace. I will go and tell my sons,
for it is necessary to put everything into the heads of those
rogues with a shovel. Such is the joy I have with them.
God has punished me for the sins of my youth ; that is the
trouble. Let me say another word, your grace."
" Speak boldly."
" It seems to me better not to tell soldiers or men where
we are going."
" That is true."
" It is enough for them to know that Babinich, not Pan
Kmita, is travelling. And on such a journey it is better to
conceal your grace's rank."
" Why ? "
"Because the Swedes give passes to the more consider¬
able people; and whoso has not a pass, him they take to the
commandant."
" I have passes to the Swedish troops."
Astonishment gleamed in the cunning eyes of Kyemlich;
but after a while he askedr "Will your grace let me say
once more what I think ? "
" If you give good counsel and delay not, speak ; for I
see that you are a clever man."
" If you have passes, it is better, for in need they may be
shown; but if your grace is travelling on an errand that
should remain secret, it is safer not to show the passes. I
know not whether they are given in the name of Babinich
or Kmita; but if you show them, the trace will remain and
pursuit will be easier."
" You have struck the point! " cried Kmita. "I prefer
to reserve the passes for another time, if it is possible to go
through without them."
" It is possible, your grace ; and that disguised either as
a peasant or a petty noble,—which will be easier, for I
have some clean clothes, a cap and gray coat, for example,
just such as petty nobles wear. We may travel with a
band of horses, as if we were going to the fairs, and drive
farther till we come to Lovich and Warsaw, as I have done
THE DELUGE.
435
more than once during peace, and I know the roads. About
this time there is a fair in Sobota, to which people come
from afar. In Sobota we shall learn of other places where
there are fairs, and so on. The Swedes too take less note
of small nobles, for crowds of them stroll about at all the
fairs. If some commandant inquires we will explain our¬
selves, but if a small party asks we will gallop over their
bellies, God and the Most Holy Lady permitting."
" But if they take our horses ? Requisitions in time of
war are of daily occurrence."
" Either they" will buy or they will take them. If they
buy we will go to Sobota, not to sell, but to buy horses ; and
if they take them, Ave will raise a lament and go with our
complaint to Warsaw and to Cracow."
" You have a cunning mind," said Kmita, "and I see
that you will serve me. Even if the Swedes take these
horses, some man will be found to pay for them."
" I was going to Elko in Prussia with them ; this turns
out well, for just in that direction does our road lie. From
Elko we will go along the boundary, then turn to Ostro-
lenko, thence through the wilderness to Pultusk and to
Warsaw."
" Where is that Sobota ? " 1
" Rot far from Pyantek."2
" Are you jesting, Kyemlich ? "
" How should I dare," answered the old man, crossing his
arms on his breast and bending his head; "but they have
such wonderful names for towns in this region. It is a
good bit of road beyond Lovich, your grace."
" Are there large fairs in that Sobota ? "
" Not such as in Lovich ; but there is one at this time of
year, to which horses are driven from Prussia, and crowds
of people assemble. Surely it will not be worse this year,
for it is quiet about there. The Swedes are in power
everywhere, and have garrisons in the towns. Even if a
man wanted to rise against them, he could not."
" Then I will take your plan. We will go with horses,
and that you suffer no loss I will pay for them in advance."
" I thank your grace for the rescue."
" Only get sheepskin coats ready and common saddles
and sabres, for we will start at once. Tell your sons and
men who I am, what my name is, that I am travelling with
horses, that you and they are hired assistants. Hurry! "
1 Saturday. 2 Friday.
436
THE DELUGE.
When the old man turned to the door, Pan Andrei said
further, " No one will call me grace nor commandant nor
colonel, only you and Babinich."
Kyemlich went out, and an hour later all were sitting on
their horses ready to start on the long journey. Kmita
dressed in the gray coat of a poor noble, a cap of worn
• sheepskin, and with a bandaged face, as if after a duel in
some inn, was difficult of recognition, and looked really like
some poor devil of a noble, strolling from one fair to
another. He was surrounded by people dressed in like
fashion, armed with common poor sabres, with long whips
to drive the horses, and lariats to catch those that might
try to escape.
The soldiers looked with astonishment at their colonel,
making various remarks, in low tones, concerning him. It
was a wonder to them that he was Babinich instead of Pan
Kmita, that they were to say you to him ; and most of all
shrugged his shoulders old Soroka, who, looking at the
terrible colonel as at a rainbow, muttered to Biloiis, —
"That you will not pass my throat. Let him kill me,
but I will give him, as of old, Avhat belongs to him."
The soldiers knew not that the soul in Pan Andrei had
changed as well as his external form.
" Move on ! " cried Babinich, on a sudden.
The whips cracked; the riders surrounded the horses,
which were huddled together, and they moved on.
THE DELUGE.
437
CHAPTER XXXI.
Passing along the very boundary between the province
of Trotsk and Prussia, they travelled through broad and
pathless forests known only to Kyemlich, until they entered
Prussia and reached Leng, or, as old Kyemlich, called it,
Elko, where they got news of public affairs from nobles
stopping there, who, taking their wives, children, and effects,
had fled from the Swedes and sought refuge under the
power of the elector.
Leng had the look of a camp, or rather it might be
thought that some petty diet was in session there. The
nobles drank Prussian beer in the public houses, and talked,
while every now and then some one brought news. With¬
out making inquiries and merely by listening with care,
Babinich learned that Royal Prussia and the chief towns in
it had taken decisively the side of Yan Kazimir, and had
made a treaty of mutual defence with the elector against
every enemy. It was said, however, that in spite of the
treaty the most considerable towns were unwilling to admit
the elector's garrisons, fearing lest that adroit prince, when
he had once entered with armed hand, might hold them for
good, or might in the decisive moment join himself treach¬
erously to the Swedes, — a deed which his inborn cunning
made him capable of doing.
The nobles murmured against this distrust entertained by
townspeople; but Pan Andrei, knowing the Radzivill
intrigues with the elector, had to gnaw his tongue to refrain
from telling what was known to him. He was held back
by the thought that it was dangerous in Electoral Prussia
to speak openly against the elector; and secondly, because
it did not beseem a small gray-coated noble who was going
to a fair with horses, to enter into the intricate subject of
politics, over which the ablest statesmen were racking their
brains to no purpose.
He sold a pair of horses, bought new ones, and journeyed
farther, along the Prussian boundary, but by the road
leading from Leng to Shchuchyn, situated in the very
corner of the province of Mazovia, between Prussia on the
one side and the province of Podlyasye on the other. To
438
THE DELUGE.
Shchuchyn Pan Andrei liad no wish to go, for he learned
that in that town were the quarters of the confederate
squadron commanded by Volodyovski.
Volodyovski must have passed over almost the same
road on which Kmita was travelling, and stopped before the
very boundary of Podlyasye, either for a short rest or for
-temporary quarters, in Slicliuchyn, where it must have been
easier to find food for men and horses than in greatly
plundered Podlyasye.
Kmita did not wish to meet the famous colonel, for he
judged that having no proofs, except words, he would not be
able to persuade Volodyovski of his conversion and sin¬
cerity. He gave command, therefore, to turn to the west
toward Vansosh, ten miles from Shchuchyn. As to the
letter he determined to send it to Pan Michael at the first
opportunity.
But before arriving at Vansosh, they stopped at a way¬
side inn called " The Mandrake," and disposed themselves
for a night's rest, which promised to be comfortable, for
there was no one at the inn save the host, a Prussian.
But barely had Kmita with the three Kyemliches and
Soroka sat down to supper when the rattling of wheels and
the tramp of horses were heard. As the sun had not gone
down yet, Kmita went out in front of the inn to see who
was coming, for he was curious to know if it was some
Swedish party; but instead of Swedes he saw a carriage,
and following it two pack-wagons, surrounded by armed
men.
At the first glance it was easy to see that some personage
was coming. The carriage was drawn by four good
Prussian horses, with large bones and rather short backs ;
a jockey sat on one of the front horses, holding two beau¬
tiful dogs in a leash; 011 the seat was a driver, and at his
side a haiduk dressed in Hungarian fashion ; in the carriage
was the lord himself, in a cloak lined with wolfskin and
fastened with numerous gilded buttons.
In the rear followed two wagons, well filled, and at each
of them four servants armed with sabres and guns.
The lord, though a personage, was still quite young, a
little beyond twenty. He had a plump, red face, and in
his whole person there was evidence that he did not stint
himself in eating.
When the carriage stopped, the haiduk sprang to give
his hand to help down the lord; but the lord, seeing Kmita
THE DELUGE.
439
standing on the threshold, beckoned with his glove, and
called, —
" Come this way, my good friend ! "
Kmita instead of going to him withdrew to the interior,
for anger seized him at once. He had not become ac¬
customed yet to the gray coat,- or to being beckoned at with
a glove. He went back therefore, sat at the table, and
began to eat. The unknown lord came in after him.
When he had entered he half closed his eyes, for it was
dark in the room, since there was merely a small lire
burning in the chimney.
" But why did no one come out as I was driving up ? "
asked the unknown lord.
" The host has gone to another room," answered Kmita,
" and we are travellers, like your grace."
" Thank you for the confidence. And what manner of
travellers ? "
" Oh, a noble travelling with horses."
" And your company are nobles too ? "
" Boor men, but nobles."
" With the forehead, then, with the forehead. Whither is
God guiding you ? "
"From fair to fair, to sell horses."
" If you stay here all night, I '11 see, perhaps I '11 pick
out something. Meanwhile will you permit me to join
you at the table ? "
The unknown lord asked, it is true, if they would let him
sit with them, but in such a tone as if he were perfectly
sure that they would; and he was not mistaken. The young
horse-dealer said, —
"We beg your grace very kindly, though Ave have nothing
to offer but sausage and peas."
"There are better dainties in my bags," answered the
lordling, not without a certain pride ; "but I have a soldier's
palate, and sausage Avith peas, if well cooked, I prefer to
everything." When he had said this, — and he spoke very
sloAvly, though he looked quickly and sharply, — he took
his seat on the bench on which Kmita pushed aside to give
convenient room.
" Oh, I beg, I beg, do not incommode yourself. On the
road rank is not regarded; and though you were to punch
me with your elbow, the crown would not fall from mv
head."
Kmita, who was pushing a plate of peas to the unknown,
440
THE DELUGE.
and who, as has been said, was not used to such treatment,
would certainly have broken the plate on the head of the
puffed up young man if there had not been something in
that pride of his which amused Pan Andrei; therefore not
only did he restrain his internal impulse at once, but
laughed and said, —
" Such times are the present, your grace, that crowns fall
from the loftiest heads ; for example, our king Yan Kazimir,
who by right should wear two crowns, has none, unless it
be one of thorns."
The unknown looked quickly at Kmita, then sighed and
said, " Times are such now that it is better not to speak of
this unless with confidants." Then after a moment he
added: "But you have brought that out well. You must
have served with polished people, for your speech shows
more training than your rank."
" Rubbing against people, I have heard this and that, but
I have never been a servant."
" Whence are you by birth, I beg to ask ? "
" From a village in the province of Trotsk."
" Birth in a village is no drawback, if you are only
noble ; that's the main thing. What is to be heard in
Lithuania ? "
" The old story, — no lack of traitors."
" Traitors, do you say ? What kind of traitors ? "
"Those who have deserted the king and the Common¬
wealth."
"How is the prince voevoda of Yilna?"
" Sick, it is said; his breath fails him."
" God give him health, he is a worthy lord ! "
"For the Swedes he is, since he opened the gates to
them."
" I see that you are not a partisan of his."
Kmita noticed that the stranger, while asking him ques¬
tions as it were good-naturedly, was observing him.
" What do I care ! " said he; " let others think of him.
My fear is that the Swedes may take my horses in
requisition."
"You should have sold them on the spot, then. In Pod-
lyasye are stationed, very likely, the squadrons which
rebelled against the hetman, and surely they have not too
many horses."
" I do not know that, for I have not been among them,
though some man in passing gave me a letter to one of
their colonels, to be delivered when possible."
THE DELUGE.
441
" How could that passing man give you a letter when
you are not going to Podlyasye ? "
"Because in Shchuchyn one confederate squadron is
stationed, therefore the man said to me, ' Either give it
yourself or find an opportunity in passing Shchuchyn.' "
" That comes out well, for I am going to Shchuchyn."
" Your grace is fleeing also before the Swedes ? "
The unknown, instead of an answer, looked at Kmita and
asked phlegmatically, " Why do you say also, since you not
only are not fleeing from the Swedes, but are going among
them and will sell them horses, if they do not take your
beasts by force ? "
At this Kmita shrugged his shoulders. " I said also, be¬
cause in Leng I saw many nobles who escaped before the
Swedes; and as to me, if all were to serve them as much
as I wish to serve them, I think they would not warm the
places here long."
" Are you not afraid to say this ? "
"I am not afraid, for I am not a coward, and in the
second place your grace is going to Shchuchyn, and there
every one says aloud what he thinks. God grant a quick
passage from talking to action."
" I see that you are a man of wit beyond your station,"
repeated the unknown. " But if you love not the Swedes,
why leave these squadrons, which have mutinied against the
hetman ? Have they mutinied because their wages were
kept back, or from caprice ? No ! but because they would
not serve the hetman and the Swedes. It would have been
better for those soldiers, poor fellows, to remain under the
hetman, but they preferred to give themselves the name of
rebels, to expose themselves to hunger, hardships, and
many destructive things, rather than act against the king.
That it will come to war between them and the Swedes is
certain, and it would have come already were it not that
the Swedes have not advanced to that corner as yet. Wait,
they will come, they will meet here, and then you will
see !"
" I think, too, that war will begin here very soon," said
Kmita.
"Well, if you have such an opinion, and a sincere hatred
for the Swedes, — which looks out of your eyes, for you
speak truth, I am a judge of that, —then why not join these
worthy soldiers ? Is it not time, do they not need hands
and sabres ? Not a few honorable men are serving among
442
THE DELUGE.
tliem, who prefer their own king to a foreign one, and soon
there will be more of these. You come from places in
which men know not the Swedes as yet, but those who
have made their acquaintance are shedding hot tears. In
Great Poland, though it surrendered to them of its own
will, they thumbscrew nobles, plunder, make requisitions,
seize everything they can. At present in this province
their manner is no better. General Stenbok gave forth a
manifesto that each man remain quietly at home, and his
property would be respected. But what good was in that!
The General has his will, and the smallest commandants
have theirs, so that no man is sure of to-morrow, nor of
what property he holds. Every man wishes to get good of
what he has, to use it in peace, wants it to bring him
pleasure. But now the first best adventurer will come and
say, ' Give.' If you do not give, he will find reason to strip
you of your property, or without reason will have your
head cut off. Many shed bitter tears, when they think of
their former king. All are oppressed and look to those
confederates unceasingly, to see if some rescue for the
country and the people will not come from them."
"Your grace, as I see, has no better wish for the Swedes
than I have," said Kmita.
The unknown looked around as it were with a certain
alarm, but soon calmed himself and spoke on, —
" I would that pestilence crushed them, and I hide that
not from you, for it seems to me that you are honest; and
though you were not honest, you would not bind me and
take me to the Swedes, for I should not yield, having
armed men, and a sabre at my side."
" Your grace may be sure that I will not harm you ; your
courage is to my heart. And it pleases me that your grace
did not hesitate to leave property behind, in which the
enemy will not fail to punish you. Such good-will to the
country is highly deserving of praise."
Kmita began unwittingly to speak in a patronizing tone,
as a superior to a subordinate, without thinking that such
words might seem strange in the mouth of a small horse-
dealing noble; but apparently the young lord did not pay
attention to that, for he merely winked cunningly and
said, —
"But am 1 a fool? "With me the first rule is that my
own shall not leave me, for what the Lord God has given
must be respected. I stayed at home quietly with my pro-
THE DELUGE.
443
duce and grain, and when I had sold in Prussia all my
crops, cattle, and utensils, I thought to myself : " It is time
for the road. Let them take vengeance on me now, let
them take whatever pleases their taste."
" Your grace has left the land and the buildings for good ? "
" Yes, for I hired the starostaship of Vansosh from the voe-
vodaof Mazovia, and just now the term has expired. I have
not paid the last rent, and I will not, for I hear the voevoda
of Mazovia is an adherent of the Swedes. Let the rent be
lost to him for that, and it will add to my ready money."
'"'Pon my word," said Kmita, smiling, " I see that your
grace is not only a brave cavalier, but an adroit one."
"Of course," replied the unknown. "Adroitness is the
main thing! But 1 was not speaking of that. Why is it that,
feeling the wrongs of our country and of our gracious king,
you do not go to those honorable soldiers in Podlyasye and
join their banner ? You would serve both God and yourself;
luck might come, for to more than one has it happened to
come out of war a great man, from being a small noble. It
is evident that you are bold and resolute, and since your birth
is no hindrance, you might advance quickly to some fortune,
if God favors you with booty. If you do not squander that
which here and there will fall into your hands, the purse will
grow heavy. I do not know whether you have land or not,
but you may have it; with a purse it is not hard to rent an
estate, and from renting an estate to owning one, with the
help of the Lord, is not far. And so, beginning as an atten¬
dant, you may die an officer, or in some dignity in the coun¬
try, in case you are not lazy in labor; for whoso rises early,
to him God gives treasure."
_ Kmita gnawed his mustache, for laughter seized him; then
his face quivered, and he squirmed, for from time to time pain
came from the healing wound. The unknown continued, —
" As to receiving you there, they will receive you, for they
need men; besides, you have pleased me, and I take you under
my protection, witla which you may be certain of promotion."
Here the young man raised his plump face with pride, and
began to smooth his mustaches ; at last he said, —
" Will you be my attendant, carry my sabre, and manage
my men ? "
Kmita did not restrain himself, but burst out in sincere,
joyous laughter, so that all his teeth gleamed.
" Why laugh ? " asked the unknown, frowning.
"Prom delight at the service."
444
THE DELUGE.
But the youthful personage was offended in earnest, and
said,—
" He was a fool who taught you such manners, and be care¬
ful with whom you are speaking, lest you exceed measure in
familiarity."
" Forgive me, your grace," answered Kmita, joyously, " for
really I do not know before whom I am standing."
The young lord put his hands on his hips: " I am Pan Jend-
zian of Vansosh," said he, with importance.
Kmita had opened his mouth to tell his assumed name,
when Biloiis came hurriedly into the room.
" Pan Com— "
Here the soldier, stopped by the threatening look of
Kmita, was confused, stammered, and finally coughed out
with effort, —
" I beg to tell you some people are coming."
"Where from ? "
"From Shchuchyn."
Kmita was embarrassed, but hiding his confusion quickly,
he answered, " Be on your guard. Are there many ? "
" About ten men on horseback."
" Have the pistols ready. Go ! "
When the soldier had gone out, Kmita turned to Pan Jend-
zian of Vansosh and asked, —
" Are they not Swedes ? "
"Since you are going to them," answered Pan Jendzian,
who for some time had looked with astonishment on the
young noble, "you must meet them sooner or later."
" I should prefer the Swedes to robbers, of whom there are
many everywhere. Whoso goes with horses must go armed
and keep on the watch, for horses are very tempting."
" If it is true that Pan Volodyovski is in Shchuchyn," said
Pan Jendzian, "this is surely a party of his. Before they
take up their quarters there they wish to know if the coun¬
try is safe, for with Swedes at the border it would be diffi¬
cult to remain in quiet."
When he heard this, Pan Andrei walked around in the
room and sat down in its darkest corner, where the sides of
the chimney cast a deep shadow on the corner of the table ;
but meanwhile the sound of the tramp and snorting of
horses came in from outside, and after a time a number of
men entered the room.
Walking in advance, a gigantic fellow struck with wooden
foot the loose planks in the floor of the roc .n. Kmita looked
THE DELUGE.
445
at him, and the heart died within his bosom. It was Yuzva
Butrym, called Footless.
" But where is the host ?" inquired he, halting in the
middle of the room.
" I am here !" answered the innkeeper, " at your service."
" Oats for the horses !"
" I have no oats, except what these men are using." Say¬
ing this, he pointed at Jendzian and the horse-dealer's men.
" Whose men are you ? " asked Jendzian.
" And who are you yourself ? "
"The starosta of Vansosh."
His own people usually called Jendzian starosta, as he
was the tenant of a starostaship, and he thus named himself
on the most important occasions.
Yuzva Butrym was confused, seeing with what a high
personage he had to do; therefore he removed his cap, and
said, —
" With the forehead, great mighty lord. It was not possi¬
ble to recognize dignity in the dark."
" Whose men are these ? " repeated Jendzian, placing his
hands on his hips.
"The Lauda men from the former Billevich squadron,
and now of Pan Volodyovski's."
"For God's sake! Then Pan Volodyovski is in the town
of Shchuchyn ? "
"In his own person, and with other colonels who have
come from Jmud."
" Praise be to God, praise be to God!" repeated the
delighted starosta. "And what colonels are with Pan
Volodyovski ? "
"Pan Mirski was," answered Butrym, "till apoplexy
struck him on the road; but Pan Oskyerko is there, and
Pan Kovalski, and the two Skshetuskis."
" What Skshetuskis ? " cried J endzian. " Is not one of
them Skshetuski from Bujets ? "
" I do not know where he lives," said Butrym, " but I know
that he was at Zbaraj."
" Save us ! that is my lord! "
Here Jendzian saw how strangely such a word would
sound in the mouth of a starosta, and added,—
" JVIy lord godson's father, I wanted to say."
The starosta said this without forethought, for in fact he
had been the second godfather to Skshetuski's first son,
Yaremka.
446
THE DELUGE.
Meanwhile thoughts one after another were crowding to the
head of Pan Kniita, sitting in the dark corner of the room.
First the soul within him was roused at sight of the terrible
graycoat, and his hand grasped the sabre involuntarily. For
he knew that Yuzva, mainly, had caused the death of his
comrades, and was his most inveterate enemy. The old-
time Pan Kniita would have commanded to take him and
tear him with horses, but the Pan Babinich of that day con¬
trolled himself. Alarm, however, seized him at the thought
that if the man were to recognize him various dangers might
come to his farther journey and the whole undertaking.
He determined, therefore, not to let himself be known, and
he pushed ever deeper into the shade; at last he put his
elbow 011 the table, and placing his head in his palms began
to feign sleep; but at the same time he whispered to Soroka,
who was sitting at the table, —
" Go to the stable, let the horses be ready. We will go in
the night."
Soroka rose and went out; Kmita still feigned sleep.
Various memories came to his head. These people reminded
him of Lauda, Vodokty, and that brief past which had van¬
ished as a dream. When a short time before Yuzva Butryni
said that he belonged to the former Billevich squadron,
the heart trembled in Pan Andrei at the mere name. And
it came to his mind that it was also evening, that the lire
was burning in the chimney in the same way, when he
dropped unexpectedly into Vodokty, as if with the snow,
and for the first time saw in the servants' hall Olenka
among the spinners.
He saw now with closed lids, as if with eyesight, that
bright, calm lady; he remembered everything that had
taken place, — how she wished to be his guardian angel, to
strengthen him in good, to guard him from evil, to show
him the straight road of worthiness. If he had listened to
her, if he had listened to her! She knew also what ought
to be done, 011 what side to stand; knew where was virtue,
honesty, duty, and simply would have taken him by the
hand and led him, if he had listened to her.
Here love, roused by remembrance, rose so much in Pan
Andrei's heart that he was ready to pour out all his blood,
if he could fall at the feet of that lady ; and at that moment
he was ready to fall on the neck of that bear of Lauda, that
slayer of his comrades, simply because he was from that
region, had named the Billeviches, had seen Olenka.
THE DELUGE.
447
His own name repeated a number of times by Yuzva
Butrym roused him first from his musing. The tenant.of
Vansosh inquired about acquaintances, and Yuzva told him
what had happened in Kyedani from the time of the mem¬
orable treaty of the hetman with the Swedes ; he spoke of
the oppression of the army, the imprisonment of the
colonels, of sending them to Birji, and their fortunate
escape. The name of Kmita, covered with all the horror
of treason and cruelty, was repreated prominently in those
narratives. Yuzva did not know that Pan Volodyovski, the
Skshetuskis, and Zagloba owed their lives to Kmita ; but he
told of what had happened in Billeviche, —
" Our colonel seized that traitor in Billeviche, as a fox in
his den, and straightway commanded to lead him to death;
I took him with great delight, for the hand of God had
reached him, and from moment to moment I held the
lantern to his eyes, to see if he showed any sorrow. But
no ! He went boldly, not considering that he would stand
before the judgment of God, — such is his reprobate
nature. And when I advised him to make even the sign of
the cross, he answered, ' Shut thy mouth, fellow; 't is no
affair of thine !' We posted him under a pear-tree out¬
side the village, and I was already giving the word, when
Pan Zagloba, who went with us, gave the order to search
him, to see if he had papers on his person. A letter was
found. Pan Zagloba said, ' Hold the light!' and he read.
He had barely begun reading when he caught his head:
< Jesus, Mary! bring him back to the house!' Pan
Zagloba mounted his horse and rode off, and we brought
Kmita back, thinking they would burn him before death,
to get information from him. But nothing of the kind!
They let the traitor go free. It was not for my head to
judge what they found in the letter, but I would not have
let him go."
" What was in that letter ? " asked the tenant of Vansosh.
" I know not; I only think that there must have been
still other officers in the hands of the prince voevoda, who
would have had them shot right away if we had shot Kmita.
Besides, our colonel may have taken pity on the tears of
Panna Billevich, for she fell in a faint, so that hardly were
they able to bring her to her senses. I do not make bold
to complain; still evil has happened, for the harm which that
man has done, Lucifer himself would not be ashamed of. All
Lithuania weeps through him ; and how many widows and
448
THE DELUGE.
orphans and how many poor people complain against him
is known to God only. Whoso destroys him will have
merit in heaven and before men."
Here conversation turned again to Pan Volodyovski, the
Skshetuskis, and the squadrons in Podlyasye.
" It is hard to find provisions," said Butrym, " for the
lands of the hetman are plundered completely, — nothing
can be found in them for the tooth of a man or a horse;
and the nobles are poor in the villages, as with us in Jmud.
The colonels have determined therefore to divide the horses
into hundreds, and post them five or ten miles apart. But
when winter comes, I cannot tell what will happen."
Kmita, who had listened patiently while the conversa¬
tion touched him, moved now, and had opened his mouth
to say from his dark corner, " The hetman will take you,
when thus divided, one by one, like lobsters from a net."
But at that moment the door opened, and in it stood So-
roka, whom Kmita had sent to get the horses ready for
the road. The light from the chimney fell straight on
the stern face of the sergeant. Yuzva Butrym glanced
at him, looked a long time, then turned to Jendzian and
asked, —
" Is that a servant of your great mightiness ? I know
him from some place or another."
"No," replied Jendzian; "those are nobles going with
horses to fairs."
"But whither?" asked Yuzva.
" To Sobota," said old Kyemlich.
" Where is that ? "
"Not far from Pyantek."
Yuzva accounted this answer an untimely jest, as Kmita
had previously, and said with a frown, "'Answer when
people ask ! "
" By what right do you ask ? "
" I can make that clear to you, for I am sent out to see
if there are not suspicious men in the neighborhood. In¬
deed it seems to me there are some, who do not wish to tell
where they are going."
Kmita, fearing that a fight might rise out of this conver¬
sation, said, without moving from the dark corner, —
"Be not angry, worthy soldier, for Pyantek and Sobota
are towns, like others, in which liorse-fairs are held in the
fall. If you do not believe, ask the lord starosta, who
must know of them."
THE DELUGE.
449
" They are regular places," said Jendzian.
" In that case it is all right. But why go to those places ?
You can sell horses in Shchuchyn, where there is a great
lack of them, and those which we took in Pilvishki are
good for nothing ; they are galled."
"Every man goes where it is better for him, and we
know our own road," answered Kmita.
" I know not whether it is better for you; but it is not
better for us that horses are driven to the Swedes and in¬
formants go to them."
"It is a wonder to me," said the tenant of Vansosh.
" These people talk against the Swedes, and somehow they
are in a hurry to go to them." Here he turned to Kmita :
" And you do not seem to me greatly like a horse-dealer,
for I saw a fine ring on your finger, of which no lord would
be ashamed."
" If it has pleased your grace, buy it of me ; I gave two
quarters for it in Leng."
"Two quarters ? Then it is not genuine, but a splendid
counterfeit. Show it."
" Take it, your grace."
" Can you not move yourself ? Must I go ? "
"I am terribly tired."
" Ah, brother, a man would say that you are trying to
hide your face."
Hearing this, Yuzva said not a word, but approached
the chimney, took out a burning brand, and holding it high
above his head, went straight toward Kmita and held the
light before his eyes.
Kmita rose in an instant to his whole height, and during
one wink of an eyelid they looked at each other eye to eye.
Suddenly the brand fell from the hand of Yuzva, scattering
a thousand sparks on the way.
"Jesus, Mary!" screamed Butrym, "this is Kmita!"
" I am he !" said Pan Andrei, seeing that there were no
further means of concealment.
" This way, this way ! Seize him !" shouted Yuzva to
the soldiers who had remained outside. Then turning to
Pan Andrei, he said, —
" Thou art he, 0 hell-dweller, traitor ! Thou art that
Satan in person! Once thou didst slip from my hands,
and now thou art hurrying in disguise to the Swedes. Thou
art that Judas, that torturer of women and men ! I have
thee!"
vol. i. — 29
450
THE DELUGE.
So saying, lie seized Pan Andrei by the shoulder; but
Pan Andrei seized him. First, however, the two young
Kyemliches, Kosma and Damian, had risen from the
bench, almost touching the ceiling with their bushy
heads, and Kosma asked, —
" Shall we pound, father ? "
" Pound ! " answered old Kyemlich, unsheathing his
sabre.
The doors burst open, and Yuzva's soldiers rushed in;
but behind them, almost on their necks, came Kyemlich's
men.
Yuzva caught Pan Andrei by the shoulder, and in his right
hand held a naked rapier, making a whirlwind and light¬
ning with it around himself. But Pan Andrei, though he
had not the gigantic strength of his enemy, seized Butrym's
throat as if in a vice. Yuzva's eyes were coming out; he
tried to stun Kmita with the hilt of his rapier, but did not
succeed, for Kmita thundered first on his forehead with the
hilt of his sabre. Yuzva's fingers, holding the shoulder of
his opponent, opened at once ; he tottered and bent back¬
ward under the blow. To make room for a second blow,
Kmita pushed him again, and slashed him with full sweep
on the face with his sabre. Yuzva fell on his back like an
oak-tree, striking the floor with his skull.
" Strike !" cried Kmita, in whom was roused, in one
moment, the old fighting spirit.
But he had no need to urge, for it was boiling in the
room, as in a pot. The two young Kyemliches slashed
with their sabres, and at times butted "with their heads,
like a pair of bullocks, putting down a man with each
blow; after them advanced their old father, bending every
moment to the floor, half closing his eyes, and thrusting
quickly the point of his weapon under the arms of his
sons.
But Soroka, accustomed to fighting in inns and close
quarters, spread the greatest destruction. He pressed his
opponents so sorely that they could not reach him with
a blade; and when he had discharged his pistols in the
crowd, he smashed heads with the butts of the pistols,
crushing noses, knocking out teeth and eyes. Kyemlich's
servants and Kmita's two soldiers aided their masters.
The fight moved from the table to the upper end of the
room. The Lauda men defended themselves with rage; but
from the moment that Kmita, having finished Yuzva, sprang
THE DELUGE.
451
into the fight and stretched out another Butrym, the victory
began to incline to his side.
Jendzian's servants also sprang into the room with sabres
and guns; but though their master cried, " Strike!" they
were at a loss what to do, for they could not distinguish one
side from the other, since the Lauda men wore no uniforms,
and in the disturbance the starosta's young men were pun¬
ished by both sides.
Jendzian held himself carefully outside the battle, wish¬
ing to recognize Kmita, and point him out for a shot; but
by the faint light of the fire Kmita vanished time after time
from his eye, — at one instant springing to view as red as a
devil, then again lost in darkness.
Resistance on the part of the Lauda men grew weaker
and weaker, for the fall of Yuzva and the terrible name of
Kmita had lessened their courage; still they fought on
with rage. Meanwhile the innkeeper went past the strag¬
glers quietly with a bucket of water in his hand and dashed
it on the fire. In the room followed black darkness; the
stragglers gathered into such a dense crowd that they could
strike with fists only; after a while cries ceased; only pant¬
ing breaths could be heard, and the orderless stamp of boots.
Through the door, then flung open, sprang first Jendzian's
people, after them the Lauda men, then Kmita's attendants.
Pursuit began in the first room, in the bins before the
house, and in the shed. Some shots were heard; then up¬
roar and the noise of horses. A battle began at Jendzian's,
wagons, under which his people hid themselves; the Lauda
men too sought refuge there, and Jendzian's people, taking
them for the other party, fired at them a number of
times.
_" Surrender !" cried old Kyemlich, thrusting the point of
his sabre between the spokes of the wagon and stabbing at
random the men crouched beneath.
" Stop ! we surrender!" answered a number of voices.
Then the people from Vansosh threw from under the
wagon their sabres and guns ; after that the young Kyem-
liches began to drag them out by the hair, till the old man
cried, —
" To the wagons ! take what comes under your hands !
Quick! quick! to the wagons ! "
The young men did not let the command be given thrice,
but rushed to untie the coverings, from beneath which
the swollen sides of Jendzian's sacks appeared. They had
452
THE DELUGE.
begun to throw out the sacks, when suddenly Kmita's voice
thundered, —
" Stop !"
And Kmita, supporting his command by his hand, fell to
slashing them with the flat of his bloody sabre.
Kosma and Da mi an sprang quickly aside.
" Cannot we take them, your grace ? " asked the old man,
submissively.
" Stand back! " cried Kmita. " Find the starosta for
me."
Kosma and Damian rushed to the search in a moment,
and behind them their father; in a quarter of an hour they
came bringing Jendzian, who, when he saw Kmita, bowed
low and said, —
"With the permission of your grace, I will say that
wrong is done me here, for I did not attack any man, and
to visit acquaintances, as I am going to do, is free to
all."
Kmita, resting on his sabre, breathed heavily and was
silent; Jendzian continued,—
" I did no harm here either to the Swedes or the prince
hetman. I was only going to Pan Volodyovski, my old
acquaintance; we campaigned together in Russia. Why
should I seek a quarrel ? I have not been in Kyedani, and
what took place there is nothing to me. I am trying to
carry off a sound skin ; and what God has given me should
not be lost, for I did not steal it, but earned it in the sweat
of my brow. I have nothing to do with this whole ques¬
tion ! Let me go free, your great mightiness — "
Kmita breathed heavily, looking absently at Jendzian
all the time.
"I beg humbly, your great mightiness," began the sta¬
rosta again. "Your great mightiness saw that I did not
know those people, and was not a friend of theirs. They
fell upon your grace, and now they have their pay; but
why should I be made to suffer ? Why should my prop¬
erty be lost ? How am I to blame ? If it cannot be other¬
wise, I will pay a ransom to the soldiers of your great
mightiness, though there is not much remaining to me,
poor man. I will give them a thaler apiece, so that their
labor be not lost, — I will give them two; and your great
mightiness will receive from me also — "
" Cover the wagons ! " cried Kmita, suddenly. "But do
you take the wounded men and go to the devil!"
THE DELUGE.
453
" I thank your grace humbly," said the lord tenant of
Vansosh.
Then old Kyemlich approached, pushing out his under-
lip with the remnants of his teeth, and groaning, —
"Your grace, that is ours. Mirror of justice, that is
ours."
But Kmita gave him such a look that the old man cow¬
ered, and dared not utter another word.
Jendzian's people rushed, with what breath they had, to
put the horses to the wagons. Kmita turned again to the
lord starosta, —
" Take all the wounded and killed, carry them to Pan
Volodyovski, and tell him from me that I am not his enemy,
but may be a better friend than he thinks. I wish to avoid
him, for it is not yet time for us to meet. Perhaps that
time will come later; but to-day he would neither believe
nie, nor have I that wherewith to convince him, — perhaps
later — Do you understand ? Tell him that those people
fell upon me and I had to defend myself."
"In truth it was so," responded Jendzian.
" Wait; tell Pan Volodyovski, besides, to keep the troops
together, for Radzivill, the moment he receives cavalry
from Pontus de la Gardie, will move on them. Perhaps
now he is on the road. Yanush and Boguslav Radzivill
are intriguing with the Elector of Brandenburg, and it is
dangerous to be near the boundary. But above all, let them
keep together, or they will perish for nothing. The voe-
voda of Vityebsk wishes to come to Podlyasye; let them
go to meet him, so as to give aid in case of obstruction."
" I will tell everything, as if I were paid for it."
" Though Kmita says this, though Kmita gives warning,
let them believe him, take counsel with other colonels, and
consider that they will be stronger together. I repeat that
the hetman is already on the road, and I am not an enemy
of Pan Volodyovski."
" If I had some sign from your grace, that would be still
better," said Jendzian.
" What good is a sign ? "
"Pan Volodyovski would straightway have greater be¬
lief in your grace's sincerity; would think, < There must be
something in what he says if he has sent a sign.'"
" Then here is the ring; though there is no lack of signs
of me on the heads of those men whom you are taking to
Pan Volodyovski."
454
THE DELUGE.
Kniita drew the ring from his finger. Jendzian on his
part took it hastily, and said, —
" I thank your grace humbly."
An hour later, Jendzian with his wagons and his people, a
little shaken up however, rode forward quietly toward
Shchuchyn, taking three killed and the rest wounded, among
whom were Yuzva Butrym, with a cut face and a broken
head. As he rode along Jendzian looked at the ring, in
which the stone glittered wonderfully in the moonlight, and
he thought of that strange and terrible man, who having
caused so much harm to the confederates and so much good
to the Swedes and Radzivill, still wished apparently to
save the confederates from final ruin.
" For he gives sincere advice," said Jendzian to himself.
"It is always better to hold together. But why does he
forewarn ? Is it from love of Volodyovski, because the
latter gave him his life in Billeviche ? It must be from
love! Yes, but that love may come out with evil result for
the hetman. Kmita is a strange man ; he serves Radzivill,
wishes well to our people, and is going to the Swedes; I do
not understand this." After a while he added : " He is a
bountiful lord ; but it is eYil to come in his way."
As earnestly and vainly as Jendzian, did old Kyemlich
rack his brain in effort to find an answer to the query,
"Whom does Pan Kmita serve?"
"He is going to the king, and kills the confederates, who
are fighting specially on the king's side. What is this ?
And he does not trust the Swedes, for he hides from them.
What will happen to us ? "
Not being able to arrive at any conclusion, he turned in
rage to his sons : " Rascals! You will perish without
blessing! And you could not even pull away a little from
the slain ? "
" We were afraid !" answered Kosma and Damian.
Soroka alone was satisfied, and he clattered joyously after
his colonel.
"Evil fate has missed us," thought he, "for we killed
those fellows. I 'm curious to know whom we shall kill
next time."
And it was all one to him, as was also this, — whither
he was faring.
No one dared approach Kmita or ask him anything, for
the young colonel was as gloomy as night. He grieved
terribly that he had to kill those men, at the side of whom
THE DELUGE.
455
he would have been glad to stand as quickly as possible in
the ranks. But if he had yielded and let himself be taken
to Volodyovski, what would Volodyovski have thought on
learning that he was seized making his way in disguise to
the Swedes, and with passes to the Swedish commandants ?
" My old sins are pursuing and following me," said
Kmita to himself. " I will flee to the farthest place ; and
guide me, 0 God !"
He began to pray earnestly and to appease his conscience,
which repeated, " Again corpses against thee, and not
corpses of Swedes."
" 0 God, be merciful! " answered Kmita. " I am going
to my king; there my service will begin."
456
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXXII.
Jendzian had no intention of passing a night at "The
Mandrake," for from Vansosh to Shchuchyn was not far, —
he wanted merely to give rest to his horses, especially to
those drawing the loaded wagons. Therefore, when Kmita
let him travel farther, Jendzian lost no time, and entered
Shchuchyn late in the evening. Having announced him¬
self to the sentries, he took his place on the square; for the
houses were occupied by soldiers, who even then were not
all able to find lodgings. Shchuchyn passed for a town,
but was not one in reality; for it had not yet even walls,
a town hall, courts of justice, or the college of monks,
founded in the time of King Yan III. It had a few houses,
but a greater number of cabins than houses, and was called
a town, because it was built in a quadrangular form with a
market-place in the centre, slightly less swampy than the
pond at which the paltry little place was situated.
Jendzian slept under his warm wolfskin till morning, and
then went straight to Pan Volodyovski, who, as he had not
seen him for an age, received him with gladness and took
him at once to Pan Yan and Zagloba. Jendzian shed tears
at sight of his former master, whom he had served faith¬
fully so many years; and with whom he had passed through
so many adventures and worked himself finally to fortune.
Without shame of his former service, Jendzian began to
kiss the hands of Pan Yan and repeat with emotion,—
" My master, my master, in what times do we meet
again ! "
Then all began in a chorus to complain of the times;
at last Zagloba said, —
" But you, Jendzian, are always in the bosom of fortune,
and as I see have come out a lord. Did I not prophesy
that if you were not hanged you would have fortune ?
What is going on with you now ? "
" My master, why hang me, when I have done nothing
against God, nothing against the law ? I have served
faithfully; and if I have betrayed any man, he was an
enemy, — which I consider a special service. And if I de-
THE DELUGE.
457
stroyed a scoundrel here and there by stratagem, as some one
of the rebels, or that witch, — do you remember, my master ?
— that is not a sin; but even if it were a sin, it is my
master's, not mine, for it was from you that I learned
stratagems."
" Oh, that cannot be ! See what he wants ! " said Zagloba.
" If you wish me to howl for your sins after death, give me
their fruit during life. You are using alone all that wealth
which you gained with the Cossacks, and alone you will be
turned to roast bacon in hell."
" God is merciful, my master, though it is untrue that I
use wealth for myself alone; for first I beggared our wicked
neighbors with lawsuits, and .took care of my parents, who
are living now quietly in Jendziane, without any disputes, —
for the Yavorskis have gone off with packs to beg, and I,
at a distance, am earning my living as I can."
"Then you are not living in Jendziane?" asked Pan
Yan.
"In Jendziane my parents live as of old, but I am living
in Vansosh, and I cannot complain, for God has blessed me.
But when I heard that all you gentlemen were in Shchuchyn,
I could not sit still, for I thought to myself, ' Surely it is
time to move again!' There is going to be war, let it
come!"
" Own up," said Zagloba, " the Swedes frightened you
out of Vansosh ? "
" There are no Swedes yet in Vidzka, though small
parties appear, and cautiously, for the peasants are terribly
hostile."
"That is good news for me," said Volodyovski, "for yes¬
terday I sent a party purposely to get an informant con¬
cerning the Swedes, for I did not know whether it was
possible to stay in Shchuchyn with safety; surely that
party conducted you hither ? "
" That party ? Me ? I have conducted it, or rather I
have brought it, for there is not even one man of that
party who can sit on a horse alone."
"What do you say? What has happened?" inquired
Volodyovski.
" They are terribly beaten ! " explained Jendzian.
" Who beat them ? "
"Pan Kmita."
The Skshetuskis and Zagloba sprang up from the benches,
one interrupting the other in questioning, —
458
THE DELUGE.
"Pan Kmita? But what was he doing here ? Has the
prince himself come already ? Well! Tell right away
what has happened."
Pan Volodyovski rushed out of the room to see with his
eyes, to verify the extent of the misfortune, and to look at
the men; therefore Jendzian said,—
" Why should I tell ? Better wait till Pan Volodyovski
comes back; for it is more his affair, and it is a pity to
move the mouth twice to repeat the same story."
" Did you see Kmita with your own eyes ?" asked
Zagloba.
" As I see you, my master !"
" And spoke with him ? "
"Why should I not speak with him, when we met at
' The Mandrake' not far from here ? I was resting my
horses, and he had stopped for the night. An hour would
have been short for our talk. I complained of the Swedes,
and he complained also of the Swedes —"
"Of the Swedes? He complained also?" asked Pan
Yan.
" As of devils, though he was going among them."
" Had he many troops ? "
" He had no troops, only a few attendants; true, they
were armed, and had such snouts that even those men who
slaughtered the Holy Innocents at Herod's command had
not rougher or viler. He gave himself out as a small noble
in pigskin boots, and said that he went with horses to the
fairs. But though he had a number of horses, his story did
not seem clear to me, for neither his person nor his bearing
belonged to a horse-dealer, and I saw a fine ring on his
finger, — this one." Here Jendzian held a glittering stone
before the listeners.
Zagloba struck himself on the side and cried: " Ah,
you gypsied that out of him ! By that alone might I know
you, Jendzian, at the end of the world !"
" With permission of my master, I did not gypsy it; for I
am a noble, not a gypsy, and feel myself the equal of any
man, though I live 011 rented lands till I settle on my own.
This ring Pan Kmita gave as a token that what he said was
true; and very soon I will repeat his words faithfully to
your graces, for it seems to me that in this case our skins
are in question."
" How is that ? " asked Zagloba.
At this moment Volodyovski came in, roused to the
THE DELUGE.
459
utmost, and pale from anger; lie threw his cap on the table
and cried, —
"It passes imagination! Three men killed; Yuzva
Butryin cut up, barely breathing!"
" Yuzva Butrym ? He is a man with the strength of a
bear! " said the astonished Zagloba.
"Before my eyes Pan Kmita stretched him out," put in
Jendzian.
"I've had enough of that Kmita !" cried Yolodyovski,
beside himself; " wherever that man shows himself he
leaves corpses behind, like the plague. Enough of this !
Balance for balance, life for life; but now a new reckon¬
ing ! He has killed my men, fallen upon good soldiers ;
that will be set to his account before our next meeting."
" He did not attack them, but they him; for he hid himself
in the darkest corner, so they should not recognize him,"
explained Jendzian.
" And you, instead of giving aid to my men, testify in
his favor !" said Volodyovski, in anger.
"I speak according to justice. As to aid, my men tried
to give aid; but it was hard for them, for in the tumult they
did not know whom to beat and whom to spare, and there¬
fore they suffered. That I came away with my life and my
sacks is due to the sense of Pan Kmita alone, for hear how
it happened."
Jendzian began a detailed account of the battle in " The
Mandrake," omitting nothing; and when at length he told
what Kmita had commanded him to tell, they were all
wonderfully astonished.
" Did he say that himself ? " asked Zagloba.
"He himself," replied Jendzian. "'I,'said he, 'am not
an enemy to Pan Volodyovski or the confederates, though
they think differently. Later this will appear; but mean¬
while let them come together, in Hod's name, or the voevoda
of Yilna will take them one by one like lobsters from a
net.'»
"And did he say that the voevoda was already on the
march?" asked Pan Yan.
"He said that the voevoda was only waiting for Swed¬
ish reinforcements, and that he would move at once on
Podlyasye."
"What do you think of all this, gentlemen?" asked
Yolodyovski, looking at his comrades.
"Either that man is betraying Kadzivill, or he is prepar-
460
THE DELUGE.
ing some ambush for us. But of what kind ? He advises
us to keej) in a body. What harm to us may rise out of
that ? "
" To perish of hunger," answered Volodyovski. "I have
just received news that Jyromski, Kotovski, and Lipnitski
must dispose their cavalry in parties of some tens each
over the whole province, for they cannot get forage to¬
gether."
" But if Radzivill really does come," asked Pan Stani-
slav, " who can oppose him ? "
No one could answer that question, for really it was as
clear as the sun that if the grand lietman of Lithuania
should come and find the confederates scattered, he could
destroy them with the greatest ease.
" An astonishing thing! " repeated Zagloba; and after a
moment's silence he continued: " Still I should think that
he had abandoned Radzivill. But in such a case he would
not be slipping past in disguise, and to whom, — to the
Swedes." Here he turned to Jendzian: "Did he tell you
that lie was going to Warsaw?"
" He did."
" But the Swedish forces are there already."
"About this hour he must have met the Swedes, if he
travelled all night," answered Jendzian.
" Have you ever seen such a man ? " asked Zagloba, look¬
ing at his comrades.
" That there is in him evil with good, as tares with wheat,
is certain," said Pan Yan ; "but that there is any treason
in this counsel that he gives us at present, I simply deny. I
do not know whither he is going, why he is slipping past
in disguise; and it would be idle to break my head over
this, for it is some mystery. But he gives good advice,
warns us sincerely: I will swear to that, as well as to this,
— that the only salvation for us is to listen to his advice.
Who knows if we are not indebted to him again, for safety
and life ? "
"For God's sake," cried Volodyovski, "how is Radzivill
to come here when Zolotarenko's men and Hovanski's in¬
fantry are in his way ? It is different in our case! One
squadron may slip through, and even with one we had to
open a way through Pilvishki with sabres. It is another
thing with Kinita, who is slipping by with a few men; but
when the prince hetman passes with a whole army ? Either
he will destroy those first — "
THE DELUGE.
461
Volodyovski had not finished speaking when the door
opened and an attendant came in.
« A messenger with a letter to the Colonel/' said he.
" Bring it."
The attendant went out and returned in a moment with
the letter. Pan Michael broke the seal quickly and read, —
That which I did not finish telling the tenant of Vansosh yester¬
day, I add to-day in writing. The hetman of himself has troops
enough against you, but he is waiting for Swedish reinforcements,
so as to go with the authority of the King of Sweden; for then if the
Northerners 1 attack him they will have to strike the Swedes too,
and that would mean war with the King of Sweden. They will
not venture to make war without orders, for they fear the Swedes,
and will not take 011 themselves the responsibility of beginning a
war. They have discovered that it is Radzivill's purpose to put the
Swedes forward against them everywhere; let them shoot or cut
down even one man, there would be war at once. The Northerners
themselves know not what to do now, for Lithuania is given up
to the Swedes; they stay therefore in one place, only waiting for
what will be, and warring 110 further. For these reasons they do
not restrain Radzivill, nor oppose him. He will go directly against
you, and will destroy you one after the other, unless you collect in
one body. For God's sake, do this, and beg the voevoda of Vityebsk
to come quickly, since it is easier for him to reach you now through
the Northerners while they stand as if stupefied. 1 wanted to warn
you under another name, so that you might more easily believe,
but because tidings are given you already from another, 1 write my
own name. It is destruction if you do not believe. 1 am not now
what 1 was, and God grant that you will hear something altogether
different about me.
Kmita.
"You washed to know how Kadzivill would come to us ;
here is your answer !" said Pan Yan.
" That is true, he gives good reasons," answered
Volodyovski.
" What good reasons ! holy reasons!" cried Zagloba.
" There can be no doubt here. I was the first to know that
man; and though there are no curses that have not been
showered on his head, I tell you we shall bless him yet.
With me it is enough to look at a man to know his value.
You remember how he dropped into my heart at Kyedani ?
He loves us, too, as knightly people. When he heard my
name the first time, he came near suffocating me with
admiration, and for my sake saved you all."
1 Russians.
462
THE DELUGE.
"You have not changed," remarked Jendzian; "why
should Pan Kmita admire you more than my master or Pan
Yolodyovski ? "
"You are a fool!" answered Zagloba. "He knew you
at once ; and if he called you the tenant, and not the fool of
Vansosh, it was through politeness."
" Then maybe he admired you through politeness ! " re¬
torted Jendzian.
" See how the bread swells ; get married, lord tenant, and
surely you will swell better — I guarantee that."
"That is all well," said Yolodyovski; "but if he is so
friendly, why did he not come to us himself instead of slip¬
ping around us like a wolf and biting our men ? "
"Not your head, Pan Michael. What we counsel do you
carry out, and 110 evil will come of it. If your wit were as
good as your sabre, you would be grand hetman already, in
place of Revera Pototski. And why should Kmita come
here ? Is it not because you would not believe him, just as
you do not now believe his letter, from which it might come
to great trouble, for he is a stubborn cavalier. But suppose
that you did believe him, what would the other colonels do,
such as Kotovski, Jyromski, or Lipnitski ? What would
your Lauda men say ? Would not they cut him down the
moment you turned your head away ? "
"Father is right!" said Pan Y"an; "he could not come
here."
" Then why was he going to the Swedes ? " insisted the
stubborn Pan Michael.
" The devil knows, whether he is going to the Swedes ;
the devil knows what may flash into Kmita's wild noddle.
That is nothing to us, but let us take advantage of the
warning, if we wish to carry away our heads."
"There is nothing to meditate on here," said Pan
Stanislav.
" It is needful to inform with all speed Kotovski, Jyrom¬
ski, Lipnitski, and that other Kmita," said Pan Yan. " Send
to them, Michael, news at once ; but do not write who gave
the warning, for surely they would not believe."
"We alone shall know whose the service, and in due time
we shall not fail to publish it!" cried Zagloba. " Onward,
lively, Michael!"
" And we will move to Byalystok ourselves, appointing a
muster there for all. God give us the voevoda of Yityebsk
at the earliest," said Yan.
THE DELUGE.
463
a from Byalystok we must send a deputation from the
army to him. God grant that we shall stand before the
eyes of the hetman of Lithuania," said Zagloba, " with equal
force or greater than his own. It is not for us to rush at
him, but it is different with the voevoda. He is a worthy
man, and honest; there is not another such in the Common¬
wealth."
« Do you know Pan Sapyeha ?" asked Stanislav.
"Do I know him ! I knew him as a little boy, not higher
than my sabre. But he was then like an angel."
" And now he has turned into money, not only his prop¬
erty, not only his silver and jewels, but most likely he has
melted into coin the metal of his horse-trappings, so as to
collect as many troops as possible against the enemy," said
Yolodyovski.
"Thank God that there is even one such man," an¬
swered Pan Stanislav, " for remember how we trusted in
Radzivill."
"Oh that is blasphemous!" cried Zagloba. "Voevoda
of Yityebsk, ba! ba! Long life to the voevoda of Vityebsk!
And you, Michael, to the road with all speed, to the road!
Let the mudfish remain in these swamps of Shchuchyn, but
we will go to Byalystok, where perhaps we shall find other
fish. The Jews there, on Sabbath, bake very excellent
bread. Well, at least war will begin ; I am yearning for
it. And if we break through Radzivill we will begin at
the Swedes. We have shown them already what we can
do. To the road, Michael, for periculum in mora (there is
danger in delay) ! "
" I will go to put the squadrons in line !" said Pan Yan.
An hour later, messengers, between ten and twenty in
number, were flying as a horse gallops toward Podlyasye,
and soon after them moved the whole squadron of Lauda.
The officers went in advance, arranging and discussing; and
Roh Kovalski, the lieutenant, led the soldiers. They went
through Osovyets and Gonyandz, shortening for themselves
the road to Byalystok, where they hoped to find other con¬
federate squadrons.
464
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Pan Volodyovski's letters, announcing the expedition
of Radzivill, found hearing with all the colonels, scattered
throughout the whole province of Podlyasye. Some had
divided their squadrons already into smaller detachments,
so as to winter them more easily; others permitted officers
to lodge in private houses, so that there remained at each
flag merely a few officers and some tens of soldiers. The
colonels permitted this partly in view of hunger, and partly
through the difficulty of retaining in just discipline squad¬
rons which after they had refused obedience to their own
proper authority were inclined to oppose officers on the slight¬
est pretext. If a chief of sufficient weight had been found,
and had led them at once to battle against either of the two
enemies, or even against Radzivill, discipline would have
remained surely intact; but it had become weakened by idle¬
ness in Podlyasye, where the time passed in shooting at
Radzivill's castles, in plundering the goods of the voevoda,
and in parleying with Prince Boguslav. In these circum¬
stances the soldier grew accustomed only to violence and
. oppression of peaceful people in the province. Some of
the soldiers, especially attendants and camp-followers, de¬
serted, and forming unruly bands, worked at robbery on
the highway. And so that army, which had not joined
any enemy and was the one hope of the king and the pa¬
triots, was dwindling day by day. The division of squad¬
rons into small detachments had dissolved them completely.
It is true that it was difficult to subsist in a body, but still
it may be that the fear of want was exaggerated purposely.
It was autumn, and the harvest had been good ; no enemy
had up to that time ravaged the province with fire and
sword. Just then the robberies of the confederate sol¬
diers were destroying this province precisely as inactivity
was destroying the soldiers themselves ; for things had com¬
bined so wonderfully that the enemy left those squadrons
in peace.
The Swedes, flooding the country from the west and ex¬
tending to the south, had not yet come to that corner which
THE DELUGE.
4 Go
between the province of Mazovia and Lithuania formed
Podlyasye; from the other side the legions of Hovanski,
Trubetskoi, and Serebryani, stood in inactivity in the dis¬
trict occupied by them, hesitating, or rather not knowing
what to lay hold on. In the Russian provinces Buturlin
and Hmelnitski sent parties out in old fashion, and just
then they had defeated at Grodek a handful of troops led
by Pototski, grand hetinan of the kingdom. But Lithuania
was under Swedish protection. To ravage and to occupy
it further meant, as was stated justly by Kmita in his letter,
to declare war against the Swedes, who were terrible and
roused universal alarm in the world. "There was there¬
fore a moment of relief from the Northerners ; " and some
experienced men declared that they would soon be allies of
Yan Kazimir and the Commonwealth against the King of
Sweden, whose power, were he to become lord of the whole
Commonwealth, would not have an equal in Europe.
Hovanski therefore attacked neither Podlyasye nor the
confederate squadrons, while these squadrons, scattered
and without a leader, attacked no one, and were unable to
attack or to undertake anything more important than plun¬
dering the property of Radzivill; and withal they were
dwindling away. But Yolodyovski's letters, touching the
impending attack by the hetinan, roused the colonels from
their inactivity and slumber. They assembled the squad¬
rons, called in scattered soldiers, threatening with penalties
'those who would not come. Jyromski, the most important
of the colonels, and whose squadron was in the best con¬
dition, moved first, and without delay, to Byalystok ; after
him came m one week Yakub Kmita, —true, with only one
hundred and twenty men; then the soldiers of Kotovski and
Lipnitski began to assemble, now singly, now in crowds;
petty nobles from the surrounding villages also came in as
volunteers, such as the Zyentsinkis, the Sviderskis, the
Yavorskis, the Jendzians, the Mazovyetskis; volunteers
came even from the province of Lyubelsk, such as the
Karvovskis and the Turs; and from time to time ap¬
peared a more wealthy noble with a few servants, well
armed. Deputies were sent from the squadrons to levy
contributions, to collect money and provisions for receipts ;
in a word, activity reigned everywhere, and military prepa¬
rations sprang up. When Volodyovski with his Lauda
squadron arrived, there were already some thousands of
people under arms, to whom only a leader was wanting.
VOL. I. — 30
466
THE DELUGE.
These men were unorganized and unruly, though not so
unorganized nor so unruly as those nobles of Great Poland,
who a few months before had the task of defending the
passage of Uistsie against the Swedes ; for these men from
Podlyasye, Lublin, and Lithuania were accustomed to war,
and there were none among them, unless youths, who had
not smelled powder, and who " had not used the snuff-box
of Gradivus." Each in his time had fought, — now against
the Cossacks, now against the Turks, now against Tartars;
there were some who still held in remembrance the Swed¬
ish wars. But above all towered in military experience
and eloquence Pan Zagloba; and he was glad to be in that
assemblage of soldiers, in which there were no deliberations
with a dry throat.
Zagloba extinguished the importance of colonels the most
important. The Lauda men declared that had it not been
for him, Yolodyovski, the Skslietuskis, Mirski, and Osky-
erko would have died at the hands of Radzivill, for they
were being taken to Birji to execution. Zagloba did not
hide his own services, but rendered complete justice to
himself, so that all might know whom they had before
them.
"I do not like to praise myself," said he, "nor to speak
of what has not been ; for with me truth is the basis, as my
sister's son also can testify."
Here he turned to Roh Kovalski, who straightway
stepped forth from behind Pan Zagloba, and said, with
a ringing, stentorian voice, —
" Uncle never lies ! "
And, puffing, Pan Roh rolled his eyes over the audience, as
if seeking the insolent man who would dare to gainsay him.
But no one ever gainsaid him. Then Zagloba began to
tell of his old-time victories, — how during the life of Ko-
nyetspolski he had caused victory twice over Gustavus Adol-
phus, how in later times he staggered Hmelnitski, how he
acted at Zbaraj, how Prince Yeremi relied on his counsels in
everything, how he confided to him the leadership in sorties.
" And after each sortie," said he, " when we had spoiled
five or ten thousand of the ruffians, Hmelnitski in despair
used to butt his head against the wall, and repeat, 'No
one has done this but that devil of a Zagloba !' and when
it came to the treaty of Zborovo, the Khan himself looked
at me as a wonder, and begged for my portrait, since he
wished to send it as a gift to the Sultan."
THE DELUGE.
467
" Such men do we need now more than ever/' said the
liBEirGrs.
And since many had heard besides of the marvellous
deeds of Zagloba, accounts of which were travelling over
the whole Commonwealth, and since recent events in Kye-
dani, such as the liberation of the colonels, and the battle
with the Swedes at Klavany, confirmed the old opinion
concerning the man, — his glory increased still more; and
Zagloba walked in it, as in the sunlight, before the eyes of
all men, bright and radiant beyond others.
" If there were a thousand such men in the Commonwealth,
it would not have come to what it has !" said the soldiers.
" Let us thank God that we have even one among us."
" He was the first to proclaim Kadzivill a traitor."
" And he snatched honorable men from his grasp, and on
the road he so pommelled the Swedes at Klavany that a
witness of their defeat could not escape."
" He won the first victory! "
" God grant, not the last!"
Colonels like Jyromski, Kotovski, Yakub Kmita, and
Lipnitski looked also 011 Zagloba with great respect. They
urged him to their quarters, seizing him from one another
by force; and his counsel was sought in everything, while
they wondered at his prudence, which was quite equal to
his bravery.
And just then they were considering an important affair.
They had sent, it is true, deputies to the voevoda of Vity-
ebsk, asking him to come and take command; but since
no one knew clearly where the voevoda was at that moment,
the deputies went away, and as it were fell into water. There
ffrere reports that they had been taken by Zolotarenko's par¬
ties, which came as far as Volkovysk, plundering on their
own account.
The colonels at Byalystok therefore decided to choose a
temporary leader who should have management of all till
the arrival of Sapyeha. It is not needful to say that, with
the exception of Yolodyovski, each colonel was thinking of
himself.
Then began persuading and soliciting. The army gave
notice that it wished to take part in the election, not through
deputies, but in the general circle which was formed for
that purpose.
Volodyovski, after advising with his comrades, gave strong
support to Jyromski, who was a virtuous man and important;
468
THE DELUGE.
besides, he impressed the troops by his looks, and a senato¬
rial beard to his girdle. He was also a ready and experienced
soldier. He, through gratitude, recommended Yolodyovski;
but Kotovski, Lipnitski, and Yakub Kmita opposed this,
insisting that it was not possible to select the youngest, for
the chief must represent before the country the greatest
dignity.
" But who is the oldest here ? " asked many voices.
" Uncle is the oldest," cried suddenly Roll Kovalski, with
such a thundering voice that all turned toward him.
"It is a pity that he has no squadron ! " said Yahovich,
Jyromski's lieutenant.
But others began to cry: " Well, what of that ? Are
we bound to choose only a colonel ? Is not the election in
our poAver ? Is this not free suffrage ? Any noble may
be elected king, not merely commander."
Then Pan Lipnitski, as he did not favor Jyromski, and
wished by all means to prevent his election, raised his
voice, —
"As true as life ! You are free, gracious gentlemen, to
vote as may please you. If you do not choose a colonel, it
will be better; for there will be no offence to any man, nor
will there be jealousy."
Then came a terrible uproar. Many voices cried, "To
the vote! to the vote!" but others, " Who here is more
famous than Pan Zagloba ? Who is a greater knight ?
Who is a more experienced soldier ? We want Pan Za¬
globa ! Long life to him ! Long life to our commander! "
" Long life to Pan Zagloba! long life to him !" roared
more and more throats.
" To the sabres Avith the stubborn!" cried the more
quarrelsome.
" There is no opposition ! By acclamation!" answered
croAvds.
" Long life to him ! He conquered Gustavus Adolphus !
He staggered Hmelnitski! "
" He saved the colonels themselves !"
"He conquered the SAvedes at Klavany!"
" Vivat! vivat! Zagloba dux ! Yivat! vivat!"
And throngs began to hurl their caps in the air, Avhile
running through the camp in search of Zagloba.
He Avas astonished, and at the first moment confused, for
he had not sought the office. He Avanted it for Pan Yan, and
did not expect such a turn of affairs. So Avhen a throng of
THE DELUGE.
469
some thousands began to shout his name, his breath failed
him, and he became as red as a beet. Then his comrades
rushed around him; but in their enthusiasm they inter¬
preted everything in a good sense, for seeing his confusion
they fell to shouting, —
" Look at him ! he blushes like a maiden ! His modesty
is equal to his manhood! Long life to him, and may he lead
us to victory ! "
Meanwhile the colonels also came up, — glad, not glad ;
they congratulated him on his office, and perhaps some were
even glad that it had missed their rivals. Pan Volodyovski
merely moved his mustaches somewhat, he was not less aston¬
ished than Zagloba; and Jendzian, with open eyes and mouth,
stared with unbelief, but already with respect, at Zagloba,
who came to himself by degrees, and after a while put his
hands on his hips, and rearing his head, received with fitting
dignity the congratulations.
Jyromski congratulated first on behalf of the colonels, and
then of the army. Pan Jymirski, an officer of Kotovski's
squadron, spoke very eloquently, quoting the maxims of
various sages.
Zagloba listened, nodded; finally, when the speaker had
finished, the commander gave utterance to the following
words, —
" Gracious gentlemen ! Even if a man should endeavor to
drown honest merit in the unfordable ocean, or cover it with
the heaven-touching Carpathians, still, having like oil the
property of floating to the surface, it would work itself out,
so as to say to the eyes of men, ' I am that which trembles
not before light, which has no fear of judgment, which waits
for reward.' But as a precious stone is set in gold, so should
that virtue be set in modesty; therefore, gracious gentle¬
men, standing here in your presence, I ask : Have I not hid¬
den myself and my services ? Have I praised myself in your
presence ? Have I asked for this office, with which you have
adorned me ? You yourselves have discovered my merits,
for I am this moment ready to deny them, and to say to you :
There are better than T, such as Pan Jyromski, Pan Kotov-
ski, Pan Lipnitski, Pan Kmita, Pan Oskyerko, Pan Skshe-
tuski, Pan Volodyovski, — such great cavaliers that an¬
tiquity itself might be proud of them. Why choose me
leader, and not some one of them ? It is still time. Take
from my shoulders this office, and clothe in this mantle a
worthier man ! "
470
THE DELUGE.
" Impossible ! impossible! " bellowed hundreds and thou¬
sands of voices.
" Impossible !" repeated the colonels, delighted with the
public praise, and wishing at the same time to show their
modesty before the army.
" I see myself that it is impossible now," said Zagloba;
"then, gracious gentlemen, let your will be done. I thank
you from my heart, lords brothers, and I have faith that
God will grant that you be not deceived in the trust which
you have placed in me. As you are to stand with me to
death, so I promise to stand with you ; and if an inscrutable
fate brings us either victory or destruction, death itself will
not part us, for even after death we shall share a common
renown."
Tremendous enthusiasm reigned in the assembly. Some
grasped their sabres, others shed tears ; sweat stood in drops
on the bald head of Zagloba, but the ardor within him grew
greater.
" We will stand by our lawful king, by our elected, and
by our country," shouted he; " live for them, die for
them! Gracious gentlemen, since this fatherland is a father¬
land never have such misfortunes fallen on it. Traitors
have opened the gates, and there is not a foot of land, save
this province, where an enemy is not raging. In you is the
hope of the country, and in me your hope ; on you and on me
the whole Commonwealth has its eyes fixed! Let us show
that it holds not its hands forth in vain. As you ask from
me manhood and faith, so I ask of you discipline and obedi¬
ence ; and if we be worthy, if Ave open, by our example, the
eyes of those whom the enemy has deceived, then half the
Commonwealth will fly to us ! Whoso has God and faith in
his heart will join us, the forces of heaven will support us,
and who in that hour can oppose us ? "
" It will be so! As God lives, it Avill be so ! Solomon is
speaking! Strike ! strike ! " shouted thundering voices.
But Zagloba stretched forth his hands to the north, and
shouted, —
" Come now, Radzivill! Come now, lord hetman, lord
heretic, voevoda of Lucifer ! We are waiting for you, — not
scattered, but standing together ; not in discord, but in har¬
mony ; not with papers and compacts, but with swords in
our hands ! An army of virtue is waiting for you, and I am
its leader. Take the field! Meet Zagloba! Call the devils
to your side; let us make the trial! Take the field ! "
THE DELUGE.
471
Here he turned again to the army, and roared till his voice
was heard throughout the whole camp, —
"As God is true, gracious gentlemen, prophecies support
me! Only harmony, and we shall conquer those scoundrels,
those wide-breeches and stocking fellows, fish-eaters and
lousy rogues, sheepskin tanners who sleigh-ride in summer .
We '11 give them pepper, till they wear off their heels racing
home. Let every living man slay them, the dog brotheis !
Slay, whoso believes in God, to whom virtue and the country
are dear!"
Several thousand sabres were gleaming at once. Throngs
surrounded Zagloba, crowding, trampling, pushing, and
roaring, —
" Lead us on! lead us on!"
"I will lead you to-morrow! Make ready!" shouted
Zagloba, with ardor.
This election took place in the morning, and in the after¬
noon there was a review of the army. The squadrons were
disposed on the plain of Horoshchan, one by the other in
great order, with the colonels and banners in front; and be¬
fore the regiments rode the commander, under a horse-tail
standard, with a gilded baton in his hand, and a heron
feather in his cap, — you would have said, a born hetman!
And so he reviewed in turn the squadrons, as a shepherd
examines his flock, and courage was added to the soldiers at
sight of that lordly figure. Each colonel came out to him in
turn, and he spoke with each, — praised something, blamed
something; and in truth those of the new-comers who in the
beginning were not pleased with the choice were forced to
admit in their souls that the new commander was a soldier
very well conversant with military affairs, and for whom
leadership was nothing new.
Volodyovski alone moved his mustaches somewhat
strangely when the new commander clapped him on the
shoulder at the review, in presence of the other colonels,
and said,—
' Pan Michael, I am satisfied with you, for your squadron
is in such order as no other. Hold on in this fashion, and
you may be sure that I '11 not forget you."
"'Pon my word !" whispered Volodyovski to Pan Yan on
the way home from the review, " what else could a real
hetman have told me ? "
That same day Zagloba sent detachments in directions in
which it was needful to go, and in direction in which there
472
THE DELUGE.
was no need of going. When they returned in the morn¬
ing, he listened with care to every report; then he betook
himself to the quarters of Volodyovski, who lived with Pan
Yan and Pan Stanislav.
" Before the army I must uphold dignity," said he, kindly;
" when we are alone we can have our old intimacy, — here I
am a friend, not a chief. Besides, I do not despise your coun¬
sel, though I have my own reason ; for I know you as men of
experience such as few in the Commonwealth have."
They greeted him therefore in old fashion, and "intimacy "
soon reigned completely. Jendzian alone dared not be with
him as formerly, and sat on the very edge of his bench.
" What does father think to do ? " asked Pan Yan.
" First of all to uphold order and discipline, and keep the
soldiers at work, that they may not grow mangy from lazi¬
ness. I said well, Pan Michael, that you mumbled like a
suckling when I sent those parties toward the four points
of the world; but I had to do so to inure men to service,
for they have been idle a long time. That first, second,
what do we need ? Not men, for enough of them come,
and more will come yet. Those nobles who fled from
Mazovia to Prussia before the Swedes, will come too.
Men and sabres will not be wanting; but there are not
provisions enough, and without supplies no army on earth
can remain in the field. I had the idea to order parties to
bring in whatever falls into their hands, — cattle, sheep,
pigs, grain, hay; and in this province and the district of
Vidzko in Mazovia, which also has not seen an enemy yet,
there is abundance of everything."
" But those nobles will raise heaven-climbing shouts,"
said Pan Yan, "if their crops and cattle are taken."
"The army means more for me than the nobles. Let
them cry ! Supplies will not be taken for nothing. I shall
command to give receipts, of which I have prepared so many
during the night, that half the Commonwealth might be
taken under requisition with them. I have no money; but
when the war is over and the Swedes driven out, the Com¬
monwealth will pay. What is the use in talking! It would be
worse for the nobles if the army were to grow hungry, go
around and rob. I have a plan too of scouring the forests,
for I hear that very many peasants have taken refuge there
with their cattle. Let the army people return thanks to
the Holy Ghost, who inspired them to choose me, for no
other man would have managed in such fashion."
THE DELUGE.
473
" On your great mightiness is a senator's head, that is
certain!" exclaimed Jendzian.
"Hei!" retorted Zagloba, rejoiced at the flattery, "and
you are not to be imposed on, you rogue! Soon it will be
seen how I'll make you lieutenant, only let there be a
vacancy."
" I thank your great mightiness humbly," replied
Jendzian.
" This is my plan," continued Zagloba : " first to collect
such supplies that we could stand a siege, then to make a
fortified camp, and let Radzivill come with Swedes or
with devils. I'm a rascal if I do not make a second
Zbaraj here !"
" As God is dear to me, a noble idea!" cried Volody-
ovski; " but where can we get cannon ? "
"Pan Kotovski has two howitzers, and Yakub Kmita has
one gun for firing salutes; in Byalystok are four eight-
pounders which were to be sent to the castle of Tykotsin;
for you do not know, gentlemen, that Byalystok was left by
Pan Vyesyolovski for the support of Tykotsin Castle, and
those cannon were bought the past year with the rent, as
Pan Stempalski, the manager here, told me. He said also
that there were a hundred charges of powder for each
cannon. We '11 help ourselves, gracious gentlemen; only
support me from your souls, and do not forget the body
either, which would be glad to drink something, for it is
time now for that."
Volodyovski gave orders to bring drink, and they talked
on at the cups.
"You thought that you would have the picture of a
commander," continued Zagloba, sipping lightly the old
mead. " Never, never ! I did not ask for the favor ; but
since they adorn me with it, there must be obedience and
order. I know what each office means, and see if I am not
equal to every one. I'll make a second Zbaraj in this
place, nothing but a second Zbaraj ! Radzivill will choke
himself well; and the Swedes will choke themselves before
they swallow me. I hope that Hovanski will try us too ; I
would bury him in such style that he would not be found at
the last judgment. They are not far away, let them try !
— Mead, Pan Michael!"
Volodyovski poured out mead. Zagloba drank it at a
draught, wrinkled his forehead, and as if thinking of
something said, —
474
THE DELUGE.
" Of what was I talking ? What did I want ? — Ah !
mead, Pan Michael! "
Volodyovski poured out mead again.
" They say," continued Zagloba, " that Pan Sapyeha likes
a drink in good company. No wonder ! every honorable
man does. Only traitors, who have false thoughts for
their country, abstain, lest they tell their intrigues. Radzi-
vill drinks birch sap, and after death will drink pitch. I
think that Sapyeha and I shall be fond of each other; but
I shall have everything here so arranged that when he
comes all will be ready. There is many a thing on my
head ; but what is to be done ? If there is no one in the
country to think, then think thou, old Zagloba, while
breath is in thy nostrils. The worst is that I have no
chancellery."
" And what does father want of a chancellery ? " asked
Pan Yan.
" Why has the king a chancellery ? And why must there
be a military secretary with an army ? It will be necessary
to send to some town to have a seal made for me."
"A seal ?" repeated Jendzian, with delight, looking with
growing respect at Zagloba.
" And on what will your lordship put the seal ? " asked
Volodyovski.
" In such a confidential company you may address me as
in old times. The seal will not be used by me, but by my
chancellor, — keep that in mind, to begin with ! "
Here Zagloba looked with pride and importance at those
present, till Jendzian sprang up from the bench, and Pan
Stanislav muttered, —
" Honores mutant mores (honors change manners) ! "
"What do I want of a chancellery? But listen to
me ! " said Zagloba. " Know this, to begin with, that those
misfortunes which have fallen upon our country, according
to my understanding, have come from no other causes
than from license, unruliness, and excesses — Mead, Pan
Michael!—and excesses, I say, which like a plague are
destroying us; but first of all, from heretics blaspheming
with ever-growing boldness the true faith, to the damage
of our Most Holy Patroness, who may fall into just anger
because of these insults."
" He speaks truly," said the knights, in chorus; " the
dissidents were the first to join the enemy, and who
knows if they did not bring the enemy hither ? "
THE DELUGE.
475
"For example, the grand hetman of Lithuania! "
"But in this province, where 1 am commander, there is
also no lack of heretics, as in Tykotsin and other towns ;
therefore to obtain the blessing of God on our undertaking
at its inception, a manifesto will be issued, that whoso is
living in error must turn from it in three days, and those
who will not do that will have their property confiscated to
the army."
The knights looked at one another with astonishment.
They knew that there was no lack of adroit reason and
stratagem in Zagloba, but they did not suppose him to be
such a statesman and judge of public questions.
" And you ask," continued Zagloba, with triumph, " where
we shall get money for the army ? But the confiscations,
and all the wealth of the Kadzivills, which by confiscation
will become army property ? "
" Will there be right on our side ? " asked Volodyovski.
" There are such times at present that whoever has a
sword is right. And what right have the Swedes and all
those enemies who are raging within the boundaries of the
Commonwealth ? "
" It is true ! " answered Pan Michael, with conviction.
" That is not enough ! " cried Zagloba, growing warmer;
"another manifesto will be issued to the nobles of Podly-
asye, and those lands in the neighboring provinces which
are not yet in the hands of the enemy, to assemble a gen¬
eral militia. These nobles must arm their servants, so that
we may not lack infantry. I knovr that many would be
glad to appear, if only they could see some government.
They will have a government and manifestoes."
" You have, in truth, as much sense as the grand chancel¬
lor of the kingdom," cried Volodyovski.
" Mead, Pan Michael! — A third letter will be sent to
Hovanski, telling him to go to destruction ; if not, we will
smoke him out of every town and castle. They (the
Northerners) are quiet now in Lithuania, it is true, and
do not capture castles ; but Zolotarenko's men rob, going
along in parties of one or two thousand. Let him restrain
them, or we will destroy them."
"We might do that, indeed," said Pan Yan, "and the
troops would not be lying idle."
"I am thinking of this, and I will send new parties to¬
day, precisely to Volkovysk; but some things are to be done,
and others are not to be omitted. I wish to send a fourth
476
THE DELUGE.
letter to our elected, our good king, to console him in his
sorrow; saying that there are still men who have not de¬
serted him, that there are sabres and hearts ready at his
nod. Let our father have at least this comfort in a strange
land; our beloved lord, our Yagellon blood, which must
wander in exile, — think of it, think of it! "
Here Zagioba fell to sobbing, for he had much mead in
his head, and at last he roared from pity over the fate of
the king, and Pan Michael at once seconded him in a thin¬
ner voice. Jendzian sobbed too, or pretended to sob; but
Pan Yan and Pan Stanislav rested their heads on their
hands, and sat in silence.
The silence continued for a while ; suddenly Zagioba fell
into a rage.
" What is the elector doing ? " cried he. " If he has
made a pact with the Prussian towns, let him take the
field against the Swedes, let him not intrigue on both
sides, let him do what a loyal vassal is bound to do, and
take the field in defence of his lord and benefactor."
"Who can tell that he will not declare for the Swedes ? "
asked Pan Stanislav.
" Declare for the Swedes ? Then I will declare to him !
The Prussian boundary is not far, and I have some thou¬
sands of sabres within call! You will not deceive Zagioba !
As true as you see me here, the commauder of this noble
army, I will visit him with fire and sword. We have not
provisions; well, we shall find all we need in Prussian
storehouses."
"Mother of God!" cried Jendzian, in ecstasy. "Your
great mightiness will conquer crowned heads !"
"I will write to him at once: 'Worthy Pan Elector,
there is enough of turning the cat away by the tail,
enough of evasion and delay! Come out against the
Swedes, or I will come on a visit to Prussia. It cannot
be otherwise.' — Ink, pen, and paper ! — Jendzian, will you
go with the letter ? "
" I will go ! " answered the tenant of Vansosh, delighted
with his new dignity.
But before pen, ink, and paper were brought to Zagioba,
shouts ivere raised in front of the house, and throngs of
soldiers darkened the Avindows. Some shouted " Vivat! "
others cried, "Allah," in Tartar. Zagioba and his comrades
went out to see Avhat Avas taking place.
It appeared that they Avere bringing those eight pound-
THE DELUGE.
477
ers which Zagloba had remembered, and the sight of which
was now delighting the hearts of the soldiers.
Pan Stempalski, the manager of Byalystok, approached
Zagloba, and said, —
"Serene, great mighty Commander ! From the time that
he of immortal memory, the lord marshal of the Grand
Principality of Lithuania, left by will his property at
Byalystok to support the castle of Tykotsin, I, being
manager of that property, have applied faithfully and
honestly all its income to the benefit of that castle, as I
can show to the whole Commonwealth by registers. So
that working more than twenty years I have provided that
castle with powder and guns and brass ; holding it as a
sacred duty that every copper should go to that object to
which the serene great mighty marshal of the Grand Princi¬
pality of Lithuania commanded that it should go. But when
by the changing wheel of fate the castle of Tykotsin became
the greatest support in this province of the enemies of the
country, I asked God and my own conscience whether I
ought to strengthen it more, or whether I was not bound to
give into the hands of your great mightiness this wealth
and these military supplies obtained from the income of
the present year."
"You should give them to me !" interrupted Zagloba,
with importance.
" I ask but one thing, — that your great mightiness be
pleased, in presence of the whole army and in writing, to
give me a receipt, that I applied nothing from that prop¬
erty to my own use, and that I delivered everything into the
hands of the Commonwealth, worthily represented here by
you, the greaty mighty commander."
Zagloba motioned with his head,as a sign of assent, and
began at once to look over the register.
It appeared that besides the eight-pounders there were
put away in the storehouses three hundred German mus¬
kets, very good ones; besides two hundred Moscow hal-
berts, for infantry in the defence of walls and breastworks ;
and six thousand ducats in ready money.
"The money will be divided among the army," said
Zagloba; " and as to the muskets and halberts," — here he
looked around, — " Pan Oskyerko, you will take them and
form a body of infantry; there are a few foot-soldiers here
from the Eadzivill fugitives, and as many as are lacking
may be taken from the millers."
478
THE DELUGE.
Then he turned to all present. " Gracious gentlemen,
there is money, there are cannons, there will be infantry
and provisions, — these are my orders, to begin with."
" Vivat! " shouted the army.
"And now, gracious gentlemen, let all the young men go
on a jump to the villages for spades, shovels, and pick¬
axes. We will make a fortified camp, a second Zbaraj!
But whether a man belongs to cavalry or infantry, let none
be ashamed of the shovel, and to work ! "
Then the commander withdrew to his quarters, attended
by the shouts of the army.
" As God is true, that man has a head on his shoulders,"
said Volodyovski to Pan Yan, "and things begin to go in
better order."
" If only Radzivill does not come soon," put in Pan
Stanislav, " for he is such a leader that there is not another
like him in the Commonwealth. Our Pan Zagloba is good
for provisioning the camp; but it is not for him to measure
strength with such a warrior as Radzivill."
"That is true ! " answered Pan Yan. "When it comes
to action we will help him with counsel, for he does not
understand war. Besides, his rule will come to an end the
moment Sapyeha arrives."
"He can do much good before that time," said Volodyovski.
In truth, the army needed some leader, even Zagloba; for
from the day of his election better order reigned in the
camp. On the following day they began to make breast¬
works near the Byalystok ponds. Pan Oskyerko, who had
served in foreign armies and understood fortification, di¬
rected the whole labor. In three days there had arisen
a very strong entrenchment, really something like Zbaraj,
for the sides and the rear of it were defended by swampy
ponds. The sight of this work raised the hearts of the
soldiers ; the whole army felt that it had some ground un¬
der its feet. But courage was strengthened still more at
sight of the supplies of food brought by strong parties.
Every day they drove in oxen, sheep, pigs; every day came
wagons bringing all kinds of grain and hay. Some things
came from Lukovo, others from Wdzko. There came also,
in continually greater numbers, nobles, small and great;
for when the tidings Avent around that there Avas a govern¬
ment, an army, and a commander, there was more confi¬
dence among people. It Avas burdensome for the inhabitants
to support a " whole division; " but to begin Avith, Zagloba
THE DELUGE.
479
did not inquire about that; in the second place, it was bet¬
ter to give half to the army and enjoy the rest in peace,
than to be exposed every moment to losing all through the
unruly bands, which had increased considerably and raged
like Tartars, and which, at command of Zagloba, were pur¬
sued and destroyed.
" If the commander turns out to be such a leader as he is
a manager," said the soldiers in camp, " the Commonwealth
does not know yet how great a man it has."
Zagloba himself was thinking, with definite alarm, of the
coming of Yanush Radzivill. He called to mind all the
victories of Radzivill; then the form of the hetman took
on monstrous shapes in the imagination of the new com¬
mander, and in his soul he said, —
" Oh, who can oppose that dragon ? I said that he would
choke himself with me, but he will swallow me as a sheat-
fish a duck."
And he promised himself, under oath, not to give a gen¬
eral battle to Radzivill.
" There will be a siege," thought he, " and that always
lasts long. Negotiations can be tried too, and by that time
Sapyeha will come up."
In case he should not come up, Zagloba determined to
listen to Pan Yan in everything, for he remembered how
highly Prince Yeremi prized this officer and his military
endowments.
"You, Pan Michael," said Zagloba to Yolodyovski, "are
just created for attack, and you may be sent scouting, even
with a large party, for you know how to manage, and fall
on the enemy, like a wolf on sheep ; but if you were com¬
manded to be hetman of a whole army, — I pass, I pass !
You will not fill a vault with your mind, since you have no
wit for sale; but Yan, he has the head of a commander,
and if I were to die he is the only man who could fill my
place."
Meanwhile contradictory tidings came. First it was
reported that Radzivill was marching through Electoral
Prussia; second, that having defeated Hovanski's troops,
he had taken Grodno and was marching thence with great
force; further, there were men who insisted that not Prince
Yanush, but Sapyeha, with the aid of Prince Michael Radzi¬
vill, had defeated Hovanski. Scouting-parties brought no
reliable news, saving this, that a body of Zolotarenko's
men, about two thousand in number, were at Volkovysk,
480
THE DELUGE.
and threatened the town. The neighborhood was in
flames.
One day later fugitives began to come in who confirmed
the news, reporting besides that the townspeople had sent
envoys to Hovanski and Zolotarenko with a prayer to spare
the place, to which they received answer from Hovanski
that that band was a separate one, having nothing to do
with his army. Zolotarenko advised the people to ransom
themselves ; but they, as poor men after the recent fire and
a number of plunderings, had no ransom to give. They
implored the commander in God's name to hasten to their
rescue, while they were conducting negotiations to ransom
the town, for afterward there would not be time. Zagloba
selected fifteen hundred good troops, among them the Lauda
men,, and calling Yolodyovski, said, —
"Now, Pan Michael, it is time to show what you can do.
Go to Volkovysk and destroy those ruffians who are threat¬
ening an undefended town. Such an expedition is not a
novelty for you; I think you will take it as a favor that I
give such functions." Here he turned to the other colonels:
"I must remain in camp myself, for all the responsibility
is on me, that is, first; and second, it does not beseem my
office to go 011 an expedition against ruffians. But let Rad-
zivill come, then in a great battle it will be shown who is
superior,—the hetman or the commander."
Yolodyovski set out with alacrity, for he was weary of
camp life and yearned for battle. The squadrons selected
marched out willingly and with singing; the commander
appeared on the rampart on horseback, and blessed the
departing, making over them the sign of the cross for the
road. There were some who wondered that Zagloba sent
off that party with such solemnity, but he remembered that
Jolkyevski and other hetmans had the habit of making the
sign of the cross over squadrons when going to battle; be¬
sides, he loved to do everything with ceremony, for that
raised his dignity in the eyes of the soldiers.
Barely had the squadrons vanished in the haze of the
distance, when he began to be alarmed about them.
" Yan! " said he, " another handful of men might be sent
to Volodyovski."
" Be at rest, father," answered Pan Yan. " For Volod¬
yovski to go on such an expedition is the same as to eat a
plate of fried eggs. Dear God, he has done nothing else
all his life ! "
THE DELUGE.
481
"That is true; but if an overwhelming force should at¬
tack him ? Nec Hercules contra plures (Neither Hercules
against [too] many)."
" What is the use in talking about such a soldier ? He
will test everything carefully before he strikes; and if the
forces against him are too great, he will pluck off what he
can and return, or will send for reinforcements. You may
sleep quietly, father."
" Ah, I also knew whom I was sending, but I tell you that
Pan Michael must have given me some herb; I have such a
weakness for him. I have never loved any one so, except
Podbipienta and you. It cannot be but that little fellow
has given me something."
Three days passed. Provisions were brought continually,
volunteers also marched in, but of Pan Michael not a sound.
Zagloba's fears increased, and in spite of Pan Yan's remon¬
strance that in no way could Volodyovski return yet from
Yolkovysk, Zagloba sent one hundred of Yakub Kmita's
light horse for intelligence.
The scouts marched out, and two days more passed
without news.
On the seventh day, during a gray misty nightfall, the
camp-attendants sent for food to Bobrovniki returned in
great haste, with the report that they had seen some army
coming out of the forest beyond Bobrovniki.
"Pan Michael!" exclaimed Zagloba, joyfully.
But the men contradicted that. They had not gone to
meet it for the special reason that they saw strange flags,
not belonging to Volodyovski's troops. And besides, this
force was greater. The attendants, being attendants, could
not fix the number exactly; some said there were three
thousand ; others five thousand, or still more.
" I will take twenty horsemen and go to meet them,"
said Captain Lipnitski.
He went.
An hour passed, and a second; at last it was stated that
not a party was approaching, but a whole army.
It is unknown why, but on a sudden it was thundered
through the camp, —
" Radzivill is coming ! "
This report, like an electric shock, moved and shook the
whole camp; the soldiers rushed to the bulwarks. On some
faces terror was evident; the men did not stand in proper
order; Oskyerko's infantry only occupied the places indi-
VQL. I. —31
482
THE DELUGE.
cated. Among the volunteers there was a panic at the
first moment. From mouth to mouth flew various reports:
" Radzivill has cut to pieces Volodyovski and the second
party formed of Yakub Kmita's men," repeated some.
"Not a witness of the defeat has escaped!" said others.
" And now Lipnitski has gone, as it were, under the earth."
" Where is the commander ? Where is the commander ? "
The colonels rushed to establish order; and since all in
the camp, save a few volunteers, were old soldiers, they
soon stood in order, waiting for what would appear.
When the cry came, " Radzivill is coming ! " Zagloba was
greatly confused; but in the first moment he would not be¬
lieve it.
" What has happened to Yolodyovski ? Has he let him¬
self be surrounded, so that not a man has come back with a
warning ? And the second party ? And Pan Lipnitski ?
Impossible ! " repeated Zagloba to himself, wiping his fore¬
head, which was sweating profusely. " Has this dragon,
this man-killer, this Lucifer, been able to come from Kye-
dani already ? Is the last hour approaching ? "
Meanwhile from every side voices more and more numer¬
ous cried, " Radzivill! Radzivill ! "
Zagloba ceased to doubt. He sprang up and rushed to
Pan Yan's quarters. " Oh, Yan, save! It is time now ! "
"What has happened ?" asked Pan Yan.
" Radzivill is coming ! To your head I give everything,
for Prince Yeremi said that you are a born leader. I will
superintend myself, but do you give counsel and lead."
" That cannot be Radzivill! " said Pan Yan. " From
what direction are the troops marching ? "
"From Volkovysk. It is said that they have taken
Volodyovski and the second party which I sent not long
ago."
" Volodyovski let himself be taken ! Oh, father, you
do not know him. He is coming back himself, — no one
else!"
" But it is said that there is an enormous army ! "
" Praise be to God! it is clear then that Sapyeha is
coming."
" For God's sake ! what do you tell me ? Why then was
it said that Lipnitski went against them ? "
" That is just the proof that it is not Radzivill who is
coming. Lipnitski discovered who it was, joined, and all
are coming together. Let us go out, let us go out! "
THE DELUGE.
483
" I said that the first moment!" cried Zagloba. " All were
frightened, but I thought, ' That cannot be!' I saw the
position at once. Come ! hurry, Yan, hurry! Those men
out there are confused. Aha! "
Zagloba and Pan Yan hastened to the ramparts, occupied
already by the troops, and began to pass along. Zagloba's
face was radiant; he stopped every little while, and cried so
that all heard him, —
" Gracious gentlemen, we have guests! I have no
reason to lose heart! If that is Radzivill, I '11 show him
the road back to Kyedani!"
" We '11 show him !" cried the army.
"Kindle fires on the ramparts ! We will not hide our¬
selves ; let them see us, we are ready ! Kindle fires!"
Straightway they brought wood, and a quarter of an hour
later the whole camp was flaming, till the heavens grew red
as if from daybreak. The soldiers, turning away from the
light, looked into the darkness in the direction of Bobrovniki.
Some of them cried that they heard a clatter and the stamp
of horses.
Just then in the darkness musket-shots were heard from
afar. Zagloba pulled Pan Yan by the skirts.
" They are beginning to fire ! " said he, disquieted.
" Salutes !" answered Pan Yan.
After the shots shouts of joy were heard. There was no
reason for further doubt; a moment later a number of riders
rushed in on foaming horses, crying, —
" Pan Sapyeha ! the voevoda of Vityebsk ! "
Barely had the soldiers heard this, when they rushed
forth from the walls, like an overflowed river, and ran for¬
ward, roaring so that any one hearing their voices from afar
might think them cries from a town in which victors were
putting all to the sword.
Zagloba, wearing all the insignia of his office, with a baton
in his hand and a heron's feather in his cap, rode out under
his horse-tail standard, at the head of the colonels, to the
front of the fortifications.
After a while the voevoda of Vityebsk at the head of
his officers, and with Volodyovski at his side, rode into
the lighted circle. He was a man already in respectable
years, of medium weight, with a face not beautiful, but
wise and kindly. His mustaches, cut evenly over his upper
lip, were iron-gray, as was also a small beard, which made
him resemble a foreigner, though he dressed in Polish
484
THE DELUGE.
fashion. Though famous for many military exploits he
looked more like a civilian than a soldier; those who knew
him more intimately said that in the countenance of the
voevoda Minerva was greater than Mars. But, besides
Minerva and Mars, there was in that face a gem rarer in
those times; that is honesty, which flowing forth from his
soul was reflected in his eyes as the light of the sun is in
water. At the first glance people recognized that he was a
just and honorable man.
" We waited as for a father ! " cried the soldiers.
" And so our leader has come !" repeated others, with
emotion.
" Yivat, vivat!"
Pan Zagloba, at the head of his colonels, hurried toward
Sapyeha, who reined in his horse and began to bow with his
lynx-skin cap.
" Serene great mighty voevoda!" began Zagloba,
" though I possessed the eloquence of the ancient Romans,
nay, of Cicero himself, or, going to remoter times, of that
famous Athenian, Demosthenes, I should not be able to
express the delight which has seized our hearts at sight of
the worthy person of the serene great mighty lord. The
whole Commonwealth is rejoicing in our hearts, greeting
the wisest senator and the best son, with a delight all the
greater because unexpected. Behold, we were drawn out
here on these bulwarks under arms, not ready for greeting,
but for battle, — not to hear shouts of delight, but the
thunder of cannon, — not to shed tears, but our blood!
When however hundred-tongued Fame bore around the
news that the defender of the fatherland was coming, not
the heretic, — the voevoda of Vityebsk, not the grand
hetman of Lithuania, — Sapyeha, not Radzivill — "
But Pan Sapyeha was in an evident hurry to enter; for
he waved his hand quickly, with a kindly though lordly
inattention, and said, —
" Radzivill also is coming. In two days he will be
here !"
Zagloba was confused; first, because the thread of his
speech was broken, and second, because the news of Radzi¬
vill made a great impression on him. He stood therefore a
moment before Sapyeha, not knowing what further to say;
but he came quickly to his mind, and drawing hurriedly the
baton from his belt, said with solemnity, calling to mind
what had taken place at Zbaraj, —
THE DELUGE.
485
" The army has chosen me for its leader, but I yield this
into worthier hands, so as to give an example to the
younger how we must resign the highest honors for the
public good."
The soldiers began to shout; but Pan Sapyeha only
smiled and said, —
" Lord brother, I would gladly receive it, but Eadzivill
might think that you gave it through fear of him."
" Oh, he knows me already," answered Zagloba, " and will
not ascribe fear to me. I was the first to stagger him in
Kyedani; and I drew others after me by my example."
" If that is the case, then lead on to the camp/' said
Sapyeha. " Volodyovski told pie on the road that you are
an excellent manager and have something on which to
subsist; and we are wearied and hungry."
So saying, he spurred on his horse, and after him moved
the others; and all entered the camp amid measureless
rejoicing. Zagloba, remembering what was said of Sapyeha,
— that he liked feasts and the goblet, — determined to give
fitting honor to the day of his coining; hence he appeared
with a feast of such splendor as had not been yet in the
camp. All ate and drank. At the cups Volodyovski told what
had happened at Volkovysk, —how forces, considerably
greater than his own, had been sent out by Zolotarenko,
how the traitor had surrounded him, how straitened he
was when the sudden arrival of Sapyeha turned a desperate
defence into a brilliant victory.
" We gave them something to think of," said he, " so
that they will not stick an ear out of their camp."
Then the conversation turned to Eadzivill. The voevoda.
of Vityebsk had very recent tidings, and knew through
reliable people of everything that took place in Kyedani.
He said therefore that the hetman had sent a certain
Kmita with a letter to the King of Sweden, and with a
request to strike Podlyasye from two sides at once.
" This is a wonder of wonders to me!" exclaimed
Zagloba; "for had it not been for that Kmita, we should
not have concentrated our forces to this moment, and if
Eadzivill had come he might have eaten us up, one after
the other, like puddings of Syedlets."
"Volodyovski told me all that," said Sapyeha, "from
which I infer that Kmita has a personal affection for you.
It is too bad that he has n't it for the country. But people
who see nothing above themselves, serve no cause well
486
THE DELUGE.
and are ready to betray any one, as in this case Kmita
Radzivill."
" But among us there are no traitors, and we are ready-
to stand up with the serene great mighty voevoda to
the death ! " said Jyromski.
" I believe that here are most honorable soldiers,"
answered Sapyeha, " and I had no expectation of finding
such order and abundance, for which I must give thanks
to his grace Pan Zagloba."
Zagloba blushed with pleasure, for somehow it had
seemed to him hitherto that though the voevoda of
Vityebsk had treated him graciously, still he had not
given him the recognition and respect which he, the
ex-commander, desired. He began therefore to relate how
he had made regulations, what he had done, what sup¬
plies he had collected, how he had brought cannon, and
formed infantry, finally what an extensive correspondence
he had carried on; and not without boasting did he make
mention of the letters sent to the banished king, to Ho-
vanski, and to the elector.
" After my letter, his grace the elector must declare for
us openly or against us," said he, with pride.
The voevoda of Vityebsk was a humorous man, and
perhaps also he was a little joyous from drink; therefore
he smoothed his mustache, laughed maliciously, and said, —
" Lord brother, but have you not written to the Emperor
of Germany ? "
" Ho ! " answered Zagloba, astonished.
" That is a pity," said the voevoda ; " for there an equal
would have talked with an equal."
The colonels burst into a thundering laugh; but Zagloba
showed at once that if the voevoda wished to be a scythe,
he had struck a stone.
u Serene great mighty lord," said he, " I can write to the
elector, for as a noble I am an elector myself, and I
exercised my rights not so long ago when I gave my voice
for Yan Kazimir."
" You have brought that out well," answered Sapyeha.
" But with such a potentate as the Emperor I do not cor¬
respond," continued Zagloba, " lest he might apply to me a
certain proverb which I heard in Lithuania."
" What was the proverb ? "
" Such a fool's head as that must have come out of Vi¬
tyebsk !" answered Zagloba, without confusion.
THE DELUGE.
487
Hearing this, the colonels were frightened; but the voe-
voda leaned back and held his sides from laughter.
" Ah, but you have settled me this time! Let me embrace
you! Whenever I want to shave my beard I '11 borrow your
tongue!"
The feast continued till late in the night; it was broken
up by the arrival of nobles from Tykotsin, who brought news
that Kadzivill's scouts had already reached that place.
488
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Radzivill would have fallen on Podlyasye long before,
had not various reasons held him back in Kyedani. First,
he was waiting for the Swedish reinforcements, which Pon-
tus de la Gardie delayed by design. Although bonds of
relationship connected the Swedish general with the king
himself, he could not compare in greatness of family, in
importance, in extensive connections by blood, with that
Lithuanian magnate; and as to fortune, though at that time
there was no ready money in Radzivill's treasury, all the
Swedish generals might have been portioned with one half
of the prince's estates and consider themselves wealthy.
Now, when by the turn of fortune Radzivill was dependent
on Pontus, the general could not deny himself the pleasure
of making that lord feel his dependence and the superiority
of De la Gardie.
Radzivill did not need reinforcements to defeat the con¬
federates, since for that he had forces enough of his own ;
but the Swedes were necessary to him for the reasons men¬
tioned by Kmita in his letter to Volodyovski. He was shut
off from Podlyasye by the legions of Hovanski, who might
block the road to him ; but if Radzivill marched together
with Swedish troops, and under the aegis of the King of
Sweden, every hostile step on the part of Hovanski would
be considered a challenge to Karl Gustav. Radzivill wished
this in his soul, and therefore he waited impatiently for the
arrival of even one Swedish squadron, and while urging
Pontus he said more than once to his attendants, —
" A couple of years ago he would have thought it a favor
to receive a letter from me, and would have left the letter
by will to his descendants ; but to-day he takes on the airs
of a superior."
To which a certain noble, loud-mouthed and truth-telling,
known in the whole neighborhood, allowed himself to an¬
swer at once, —
"According to the proverb, mighty prince, 'As a man
makes his bed, so must he sleep on it.'"
Radzivill burst out in anger, and gave orders to cast the
noble into the tower; but on the following day he let him
THE DELUGE.
489
out and presented him with a gold button; for of this noble
it was said that he had ready money, and the prince wanted
to borrow money of him on his note. The noble accepted
the button, but gave not the money.
Swedish reinforcements came at last, to the number of
eight hundred horse, of the heavy cavalry. Pontus sent
directly to the castle of Tykotsin three hundred infantry and
one hundred light cavalry, wishing to have his own garrison
there in every event.
Hovanski's troops withdrew before them, making no oppo¬
sition ; they arrived therefore safely at Tykotsin, for this
took place when the confederate squadrons were still scat¬
tered over all Podlyasye, and were occupied only in plun¬
dering the estates of Radzivill.
It was hoped that the prince, after he had received the de¬
sired reinforcements, would take the held at once ; but he
loitered yet. The cause of this was news from Podlyasye
of disagreement in that province ; of lack of union among
the confederates, and misunderstandings between Kotovski,
Lipnitski, and Yakub Kmita.
" It is necessary to give them time," said the prince, "to
seize one another by the heads. They will gnaw one an¬
other to pieces; their power will disappear without war ;
and then we will strike on Hovanski."
But on a sudden contradictory news began to come; the
colonels not only did not fight with one another, but had
assembled in one body at Byalystok. The prince searched
his brain for the cause of this change. At last the name of
Zagloba, as commander, came to his ears. He was informed
also of the making of a fortified camp, the provisioning of
the army, and the cannon dug out at Byalystok by Zagloba,
of the increase of confederate strength, of volunteers com¬
ing from the interior. Prince Yanush fell into such wrath
that Ganhoff, a fearless soldier, dared not approach him for
some time.
At last the command was issued to the squadrons to pre¬
pare for the road. In one day a whole division was ready, —
one regiment of German infantry, two of Scottish, one of
Lithuanian. Pan Korf led the artillery; Ganhoff took com¬
mand of the cavalry. Besides, Kharlamp's dragoons, the
Swedish cavalry, and the light regiment of Nyevyarovski,
there was the prince's own heavy squadron, in which Slizyen
was lieutenant. It was a considerable force, and composed
of veterans. With a force no greater the prince, during the
490
THE DELUGE.
first wars with Hmelnitski, had won those victories which
had adorned his name with immortal glory; with a power
no greater he had beaten Nebaba at Loyovo, crushed a
number of tens of thousands led by the famous Krechovski,
destroyed Mozyr and Turoff, had taken Kieff by storm, and
so pushed Hmelnitski in the steppes that he was forced to
seek safety in negotiations.
But the star of that powerful warrior was evidently set¬
ting, and he had no good forebodings himself. He cast his
eyes into the future, and saw nothing clearly. He would
go to Podlyasye, tear apart with horses the insurgents, give
orders to pull out of his skin the hated Zagloba, — and
what would come of that ? What further ? What change
of fate would come ? Would he then strike Hovanski,
would he avenge the defeat at Tsibyhova, and adorn his
own head with new laurels ? The prince said that he
would, but he doubted, for just then reports began to
circulate widely that the Northerners, fearing the growth
of Swedish power, would cease to wage war, and might
even form an alliance with Yan Kazimir. Sapyeha con¬
tinued to pluck them still, and defeated them where he
could; but at the same time he negotiated with them. Pan
Gosyevski had the same plans.
Then in case of Hovanski's retreat that field of action
would be closed, and the last chance of showing his power
would vanish from Radzivill; or if Yan Kazimir could make
a treaty with those who till then had been his enemies, and
urge them against the Swedes, fortune might incline to his
side against Sweden, and thereby against Radzivill.
Prom Poland there came, it is true, the most favorable
news. The success of the Swedes surpassed all expectation.
Provinces yielded one after another; in Great Poland Swedes
ruled as in Sweden; in Warsaw, Radzeyovski governed;
Little Poland offered no resistance ; Cracow might fall at
any moment; the king, deserted by the army and the nobles,
with confidence in his people broken to the core, went to
Silesia; and Karl Gustav himself was astonished at the ease
with which he had crushed that power, always victorious
hitherto in war with the Swedes.
But just in that ease had Radzivill a foreboding of danger
to himself ; for the Swedes,' blinded by triumph, would not
count with him, would not consider him, especially because
he had not shown himself so powerful and so commanding
as all, not excepting himself, had thought him.
THE DELUGE
491
Will the Swedish King give him then Lithuania, or even
White Russia ? Will he not prefer to pacify an eternally
hungry neighbor with some eastern slice of the Common¬
wealth, so as to have his own hands free in the remnants
of Poland ?
These were the questions which tormented continually
the soul of Prince Yanush. Days and nights did he pass in
disquiet. He conceived that Pontus de la Gardie would not
have dared to treat him so haughtily, almost insultingly, had
he not thought that the king would confirm such a manner
of action, or what is worse, had not his instructions been
previously prepared.
" As long as I am at the head of some thousands
of men," thought Radzivill, " they will consider me; but
when money fails, when my hired regiments scatter, what
then ? "
And the revenues from his enormous estates did not come
in. An immense part of them, scattered throughout Lithu¬
ania and far away to Polesie or Kieff, lay in ruins ; those m
Podlyasye the confederates had plundered completely. At
times it seemed to the prince that he would topple over the
precipice; that from all his labof and plotting only the
name traitor would remain to him, — nothing more.
Another phantom terrified him — the phantom of death,
which appeared almost every night before the curtain
of his bed, and beckoned with its hand, as if wishing
to say to him, "Come into darkness, cross the unknown
river."
Had he been able to stand on the summit of glory, had
he been able to place on his head, even for one day, for one
hour, that crown desired with such passion, he might meet
that awful and silent phantom with unterrified eye. But to
die and leave behind evil fame and the scorn of men, seemed
to that lord, who was as proud as Satan himself, a hell dur¬
ing life.
More than once then, when he was alone or with his as¬
trologer, in whom he placed the greatest trust, did he seize
his temples and repeat with stifled voice, —
" I am burning, burning, burning ! "
Under these conditions he was preparing for the campaign
against Podlyasye, when the day before the march it was
announced that Prince Boguslav had left Taurogi.
At the mere news of this, Prince Yanush, even before he
saw his cousin, revived as it were; for that Boguslav brought
492
THE DELUGE.
with him his youth and a blind faith in the future. In him
the line of Birji was to be renewed, for him alone was Prince
Yanush toiling.
When he heard that Boguslav was coming, the hetman
wished to go out to meet him, but etiquette did not permit
him to go forth to meet a younger cousin; he sent therefore
a gilded carriage, and a whole squadron as escort, and from
the breastworks raised by Kmita and from the castle itself
mortars were fired at his command, just as at the coming
of a king.
When the cousins, after a ceremonial greeting, were left
alone at last, Yanush seized Boguslav in his embrace and
began to repeat, with a voice of emotion, —
" My youth has returned ! My health has returned in a
moment! "
But Boguslav looked at him carefully and asked, —
" What troubles your highness ? "
" Let us not give ourselves titles if no one obeys us.
What troubles me? Sickness irritates me so that I am
falling like a rotten tree. But a truce to this ! How is my
wife and Maryska ? "
" They have gone from Taurogi to Tyltsa. They are
both well, and Marie is like a rosebud; that will be a won¬
derful rose when it blooms. Ma foi! more beautiful feet
there are not in the world, and her tresses flow to the very
ground."
" Did she seem so beautiful to you ? That is well. God
inspired you to come; I feel better in spirit when I see
you. But what do you bring touching public affairs ? What
is the elector doing ? "
" You know that he has made a league with the Prussian
towns ? "
" I know."
" But they do not trust him greatly. Dantzig will not
receive his garrisons. The Germans have a good sniff."
" I know that too. But have you not written to him ?
What are his plans touching us ? "
" Touching us ? " repeated Boguslav, inattentively.
He cast his eyes around the room, then rose. Prince
Yanush thought that he was looking for something; but he
hurried to a mirror in the corner, and withdrawing a proper
distance,' rubbed his whole face with a finger of his right
hand; at last he said, —
" My skin is chapped a little from the journey, but before
THE DELUGE.
493
morning it will be healed. What are the elector's plans
touching us? Nothing; he wrote to me that he will not
forget us."
" What does that mean ? "
" I have the letter with me ; I will show it to you. He
writes that whatever may happen he will not forget us;
and I believe him, for his interests enjoin that. The elec¬
tor cares as much for the Commonwealth as I do for an old
wig, and would be glad to give it to Sweden if he could
seize Prussia; but the power of Sweden begins to alarm
him, therefore he would be glad to have an ally ready for
the future; and he will have one if you mount the throne
of Lithuania."
"Would that had happened ! Not for myself do I wish
that throne !•"
"All Lithuania cannot be had, perhaps, at first, but even
if we get a good piece with White Kussia and Jmud — "
" But what of the Swedes ? "
"The Swedes will be glad also to use us as a guard
against the East."
"You pour balsam on me."
"Balsam ! Aha ! A certain necromancer in Taurogi
wanted to sell me balsam, saying that whoever would
anoint himself with it would be safe from spears, swords,
and sabres. I ordered a soldier to rub him with it at once
and thrust a spear into him. Can you imagine, the spear
went right through his body."
Here Prince Boguslav laughed, showing teeth as white
as ivory. But this conversation was not to the taste of
Yanush; he began again therefore on public affairs.
" I sent letters to the King of Sweden, and to many others
of our dignitaries. You must have received a letter through
Kmita."
" But wait! I was coming to that matter. What is your
idea of Kmita ? "
" He is hot-headed, wild, dangerous, and cannot endure
restraint; but he is one of those rare men who serve us in
good faith."
" Surely," answered Boguslav; "and he came near earn¬
ing the kingdom of heaven for me."
" How is that ? " asked Yanush, Avith alarm.
" They say, lord brother, that if your bile is stirred
suffocation results. Promise me to listen with patience
and quietly, and I will tell something of your Kmita, from
494
THE DELUGE.
which you will know him better than you have up to this
moment."
"Well, I will be patient, only begin."
" A miracle of God saved me from the hands of that in¬
carnate devil," said Boguslav; and he began to relate all
that had happened in Pilvishki.
It was no smaller miracle that Prince Yanush did not
have an attack of asthma, but it might be thought that apo¬
plexy would strike him. He trembled all over, he gnashed
his teeth, he covered his eyes with his hand; at last he
cried with a hoarse voice, —
" Is that true ? Very well! He has forgotten that his
little wench is in my hands — "
" Restrain yourself, for God's sake ! Hear on. I acquitted
myself with him as beseems a cavalier, and if I have not
noted this adventure in my diary, and do not boast of it, I
refrain because't is a shame that I let myself be tricked by
that clown, as if I were a child, — I, of whom Mazarin said
that in intrigue and adroitness there was not my equal in
the whole court of Prance. But no more of this ! I thought
at first that I had killed your Kmita ; now I have proof in
my hands that he has slipped away."
"That is nothing ! We will find him! We will dig him
out! We will get him, even from under the earth ! Mean¬
while I will give him a sorer blow than if I were to flay
him alive."
"You will give him no blow, but only injure your own
health. Listen! In coming hither I noticed some low fel¬
low on a pied horse, who held himself at no great distance
from my carriage. I noticed him specially because his
horse was pied, and I gave the order at last to summon
him. ' Where art thou going ? ' ' To Kyedani.' ' What
art thou taking ?' ' A letter to the prince voevoda.' I or¬
dered him to give the letter, and as there are no secrets be¬
tween us I read it. Here it is ! "
Then he gave Prince Yanush Kmita's letter, written from
the forest at the time when he was setting out with the
Kyemliches.
The prince glanced over the letter, and crushing it with
rage, cried, —
" True ! in God's name, true ! He has my letters, and in
them are things which may make the King of Sweden him¬
self suspicious, nay more, give him mortal offence."
Here choking seized him, and the expected attack came
THE DELUGE.
495
on. His mouth opened widely, and he gasped quickly after
air; his hands tore the clothing near his throat. Prince
Boguslav, seeing this, clapped his hands, and when the ser¬
vants ran in, he said, —
" Save the prince your lord, and when he recovers breath
beg him to come to my chamber; meanwhile I will rest a
little." And he went out.
Two hours later, Yanush, with bloodshot eyes, hanging
lids, and a blue face, knocked at Prince Boguslav's cham¬
ber. Boguslav received him lying in bed, his face rubbed
with milk of almonds, which was to enhance the softness
and freshness of his skin. Without a wig on his head,
without the colors on his face, and with unblackened brows,
he seemed much older than in full dress; but Prince Ya¬
nush paid no heed to that.
" I have come to the conclusion," said he, " that Kmita
will not publish those letters, for if he should he would by
that act write the sentence of death for the maiden. He
understands well that only by keeping them does he hold
me; but I cannot pour out my vengeance, and that gnaws
me, as if I were carrying about a mad dog in my breast."
"Still, it will be necessary to get those letters," said
Boguslav.
" But quo m.odo (in what way ) ? "
" Some adroit man must be sent after him, to enter into
friendship and at a given opportunity seize the letters and
punch Kmita with a knife. It is necessary to offer a great
reward."
" Who here would undertake that deed ? "
" If it were only in Paris, or even in Germany, I could
find a hundred volunteers in one day, but in this country
such wares are not found."
" And one of our own people is needed, for he would be on
his guard against a stranger."
"It seems to me that I can find some one in Prussia."
" Oh, if he could be taken alive and brought to my hands,
I would pay him once for all. I say that the insolence of
that man passes every measure. I sent him away because
he enraged me, for he would spring at my throat for any
reason, just like a cat; he hurled at me his own wishes
in everything. A hundred times lacking little had I the
order just — just in my mouth to shoot him; but I could
not, I could not."
" Tell me, is he really a relative of ours ? "
496
THE DELUGE.
" He is a relative of the Kishkis, and through the Kishkis
of us."
" In his fashion he is a devil, and an opponent dangerous
in the highest degree."
" He ? You might command him to go to Tsargrad1 and
pull the Sultan from his throne, or tear out the beard of the
King of Sweden and bring it to Kyedani. But what did he
not do here in time of war ? "
" He has that look, but he has promised us vengeance to
the last breath. Luckily he has a lesson from me that 'tis
not easy to encounter us. Acknowledge that I treated him
in Radzivill fashion; if a French cavalier had done a deed
like mine, he would boast of it whole days, excepting the
hours of sleeping, eating, and kissing; for they, when
they meet, emulate one another in lying, so that the sun is
ashamed to shine."
" It is true that you squeezed him, but I would that it
had not happened."
" And I would that you had chosen better confidants, with
more respect for the Radzivill bones."
" Those letters ! those letters !"
The cousins were silent for a while. Boguslav spoke
first.
"But what sort of a maiden is she ?"
" Panna Billevich ? "
" Billevich or Myeleshko, one is the equal of the other.
I do not ask for her name, but if she is beautiful."
" I do not look on those things ; but this is certain, —the
Queen of Poland need not be ashamed of such beauty."
" The Queen of Poland ? Marya Ludvika ? In the time
of Cinq-Mars maybe the Queen of Poland was beautiful, but
now the dogs howl when they see her. If your Panna Bille¬
vich is such as she, then I '11 hide myself; but if she is
really a wonder, let me take her to Tanrogi, and there she
and I will think out a vengeance for Kmita."
Yanush meditated a moment.
" I will not give her'to you," said he at last, " for you will
constrain her with violence, and then Kmita will publish
the letters."
" I use force against one of your tufted larks ! Without
boasting I may say that I have had affairs with not such as
she, and I have constrained no one. Once only, but that was
1 Tsargrad = Tsar's city, Constantinople.
THE DELUGE.
497
in Flanders, — she was a fool, — the daughter of a jeweller.
After me came the infantry of Spain, and the affair was
accounted to them."
" You do not know this girl; she is from an honorable
house, walking virtue, you would say a nun."
" Oh, we know the nuns too !'"
" And besides she hates us, for she is a patriot. She has
tried to influence Kmita. There are not many such among
our women. Her mind is purely that of a man; and she is
the most ardent adherent of Yan Kazimir."
" Then we will increase his adherents."
" Impossible, for Kmita will publish the letters. I must
guard her like the eyes in my head—for a time. After¬
ward I will give her to you or to your dragoons, all one
to me !"
" I give my word of a cavalier that I will not constrain
her; and a word given in private I always keep. In politics
it is another thing. It would be a shame for me indeed if
I could gain nothing by her."
" You will not."
" In the worst case I '11 get a slap in the face, and from a
woman that is no shame. You are going to Podlyasye,
what will you do with her ? You will not take her with
you, you cannot leave her here; for the Swedes will come to
this place, and the girl should remain always in our hands
as a hostage. Is it not better that I take her to Tanrogi
and send Kmita, not an assassin, but a messenger with a
letter in which I shall write, ' Give the letters and I '11 give
you the maiden.'"
" True," answered Prince Yanush; " that's a good
method."
" But if," continued Boguslav, " not altogether as I took
her, that will be the first step in vengeance."
" But you have given your word not to use violence."
" I have, and I say again that it would be a shame for
me — "
" Then you must take also her uncle, the sword-bearer of
Rossyeni, who is staying here with her."
"I do not wish to take him. The noble in the fashion of
this region wears, of course, straw in his boots, and I cannot
bear that."
" She will not go alone."
" That's to be seen. Ask them to supper this evening,
so that I may see and know whether she is worth putting
vol. i. — 32
498
THE DELUGE.
between the teeth, and immediately I '11 think out methods
against her. Only, for God's sake, mention not Kmita's act,
for that would confirm her in devotion to him. But during
supper, no matter what I say, contradict not. You will see
my methods, and they will remind you of your own years
of youth."
Prince Yanush waved his hands and went out; and Bo-
guslav put his hands under his head, and began to meditate
over means.
THE DELUGE.
499
CHAPTER XXXV.
To the supper, besides the sword-bearer of Rossyeni and
Olenka, were invited the most distinguished officers of
Kyedani and some attendants of Prince Boguslav. He
came himself in such array and so lordly that he attracted
all eyes. His wig was dressed in beautiful waving curls;
his face in delicacy of color called to mind milk and roses;
his small mustache seemed to be of silken hair, and his eyes
stars. He was dressed in black, in a kaftan made of stripes
of silk and velvet, the sleeves of which were slashed and
fastened together the length of the arm. Around his neck
he had a broad collar, of the most marvellous Brabant lace,
of inestimable value, and at the wrists ruffles of the same
material. A gold chain fell on his breast, and over the
right shoulder along the whole kaftan went to his left hip
a sword-strap of Dutch leather, so set with diamonds that
it looked like a strip of changing light. The hilt of his
sword glittered in like manner, and in his shoe-buckles
gleamed the two largest diamonds, as large as hazel-nuts.
The whole figure seemed imposing, and as noble as it was
beautiful.
In one hand he held a lace handkerchief ; in the other he
carried, according to the fashion of the time, on his sword-
hilt, a hat adorned with curling black ostrich feathers of
uncommon length.
All, not excepting Prince Yanush, looked at him with
wonder and admiration. His youthful years came to the
memory of the prince voevoda, when he in the same way
surpassed all at the French court with his beauty and his
wealth. Those years were now far away, but it seemed at
that moment to the hetman that he was living again in that
brilliant cavalier who bore the same name.
Prince Yanush grew vivacious, and in passing he touched
with his index finger the breast of his cousin.
"Light strikes from you as from the moon," said he. "Is
it not for Panna Billevich that you are so arrayed ? "
" The moon enters easily everywhere," answered Bo¬
guslav, boastingly.
500
THE DELUGE.
And then he began to talk with Ganhoff, near whom he
halted, perhaps of purpose to exhibit himself the better,
for Ganhoff was a man marvellously ugly; he had a face
dark and pitted with small-pox, a nose like the beak of a
hawk, and mustaches curled upward. He looked like the
spirit of darkness, but Boguslav near him like the spirit of
light.
The ladies entered, — Pani Korf and Olenka. Boguslav
cast a swift glance at Olenka, and bowed promptly to Pani
Korf; he was just putting his fingers to his mouth, to send
in cavalier fashion a kiss to Panna Billevich, when he saw
her exquisite beauty, both proud and dignified. He changed
his tactics in an instant, caught his hat in his right hand,
and advancing toward the lady bowed so low that he al¬
most bent in two; the curls of his wig fell on both sides of
his shoulders, his sword took a position parallel with the
floor, and he remained thus, moving purposely his cap and
sweeping the floor in front of Olenka with the ostrich
feather, in sign of respect. A more courtly homage he
could not have given to the Queen of Prance. Panna
Billevich, who had learned of his coming, divined at once
who stood before her; therefore seizing her robe with
the tips of her fingers, she gave him in return a courtesy
equally profound.
All wondered at the beauty and grace of manners of the
two, which was evident from the greeting itself, — grace
not over usual in Kyedani, for, as a Wallachian, Yanush's
princess was more in love with eastern splendor than
with courtliness, and Yanush's daughter was still a little
girl.
Boguslav now raised his head, shook the curls of his wig
over his shoulders, and striking his heels together with
force, moved quickly toward Olenka; at the same time he
threw his hat to a page and gave her his hand.
" I do not believe my eyes, and see as it were in a dream
what I see," said he, conducting her to the table; " but
tell me, beautiful goddess, by what miracle you have
descended from Olympus to Kyedani ? "
"Though simply a noble woman, not a goddess," an¬
swered Olenka, " I am not so simple-minded as to take
the words of your highness as anything beyond courtesy."
" Though I tried to be politest of all, your glass would
tell more than I."
" It would not tell more, but more truly," answered
THE DELUGE.
501
Olenka, pursing her mouth according to the fashion of the
time.
" Were there a mirror in the room, I would conduct you
to it straightway; meanwhile look into my eyes, and you
will see if their admiration is not sincere."
Here Boguslav bent his head before Olenka; his eyes
gleamed large, black as velvet, sweet, piercing, and at the
same time burning. Under the influence of their fire the
maiden's face was covered with a purple blush. She
dropped her glance and pushed away somewhat, for she
felt that with his arm Boguslav pressed lightly her arm
to his side.
So he came to the table. He sat near her, and it was
evident that in truth her beauty had made an uncommon im¬
pression on him. He expected to find a woman of the
nobles, shapely as a deer, laughing and playful as a nut¬
cracker, ruddy as a poppy-flower; but he found a proud
lady, in whose black brows unbending will was revealed,
in whose eyes were reason and dignity, in whose whole
face was the transparent repose of a child ; and at the same
time she was so noble in bearing, so charming and wonder¬
ful, that at any king's castle she might be the object of
homage and courtship from the first cavaliers of the
realm.
Her beauty aroused admiration and desire; but at the
same time there was in it a majesty which curbed these, so
that despite himself Boguslav thought, " I pressed her arm
too early ; with such a one subtlety is needed, not haste !"
Nevertheless he determined to possess her heart, and he
felt a wild delight at the thought that the moment would
come when the majesty of the maiden and that purest
beauty would yield to his love or his hatred. The threaten¬
ing face of Kmita stood athwart these imaginings ; but to
that insolent man this was but an incentive the more.
Under the influence of these feelings he grew radiant; blood
began to play in him, as in an Oriental steed; all his
faculties flashed up uncommonly, and light gleamed from
his whole form as from his diamonds.
Conversation at the table became general, or rather it
was turned into a universal chorus of praise and flattery of
Boguslav, which the brilliant cavalier heard with a smile,
but without overweening delight, since it was common and
of daily occurrence. They spoke first of his military deeds
and duels. The names of the conquered princes, margraves,
502
THE DELUGE.
barons, streamed as if out of a sleeve. He threw in care¬
lessly from time to time one more. The listeners were
astonished; Prince Yanush stroked his long mustaches with
delight, and at last Ganhoff said, —
" Even if fortune and birth did not stand in my way, I
should not like to stand in the way of your highness, and
the only wonder to me is that men of such daring have been
found."
" What is to be done, Ganhoff ? There are men of iron
visage and wild-cat glance, whose appearance alone causes
terror; but God has denied me that power, — even a young
lady would not be frightened at my face."
" Just as darkness is not afraid of a torch," said
Pani Korf, simpering and posing, " until the torch burns
in it."
Boguslav laughed, and Pani Korf talked on without
ceasing to pose, —
" Duels concern soldiers more, but we ladies would be
glad to hear of your love affairs, tidings of which have
come to us."
"Untrue ones, my lady benefactress, untrue, — they
have all merely grown on the road. Proposals were made
for me, of course. Her Grace, the Queen of France was
so kind — "
"With the Princess de Rohan," added Yanush.
" With another too, — De la Forse," added Boguslav; " but
even a king cannot command his own heart to love, and we
do not need, praise be to God, to seek wealth in France, hence
there could be no bread out of that flour. Graceful ladies
they were, 't is true, and beautiful beyond imagination; but
we have still more beautiful, and I need not go out of this
hall to find such."
Here he looked long at Olenka, who, feigning not to hear,
began to say something to the sword-bearer; and Pani Korf
raised her voice again, —
" There is no lack here of beauties; still there are none
who in fortune and birth could be the equal of your
highness."
" Permit me, my benefactress, to differ," responded
Boguslav, with animation ; " for first I do not think that a
Polish noble lady is inferior in any way to a Rohan or De la
Forse; second, it is not a novelty for the Radzivills to marry
a noble woman, since history gives many examples of that.
I assure you, my benefactress, that that noble lady who
THE DELUGE.
503
should become Radzivill would have the step and precedence
of princesses in France."
" An affable lord!" whispered the sword-bearer to
Olenka.
" That is how I have always understood," continued
Boguslav, " though more than once have I been ashamed of
Polish nobles, when I compare them with those abroad; for
never would that have happened there which has happened
in this Commonwealth,—that all should desert their king,
nay, even men are ready to lay in wait for his life. A
French noble may permit the worst action, but he will not
betray his king — "
Those present began to look at one another and at the
prince with astonishment. Prince Yanush frowned and
grew stern ; but Olenka fixed her blue eyes on Boguslav's
face with an expression of admiration and thankfulness.
"Pardon, your highness," said Boguslav, turning to
Yanush, who was not able yet to recover himself, "I know
that you could not act otherwise, for all Lithuania would
have perished if you had followed my advice ; but respect¬
ing you as older, and loving you as a brother, I shall not
cease to dispute with you touching Yan Kazimir. We are
among ourselves, I speak therefore what I think. Our
insufficiently lamented king, good, kind, pious, and doubly
dear to me, — I was the first of Poles to attend him when he
was freed from durance in France. I was almost a child at
the time, but all the more I shall never forget him; and
gladly would I give my blood to protect him, at least from
those who plot against liis sacred person."
Though Yanush understood Boguslav's game now, still
it seemed to him too bold and too hazardous for such a
trifling object; therefore without hiding his displeasure he
said, —
" In God's name, of what designs against the safety of
our ex-king are you speaking ? Who cherishes them, where
could such a monster be found among the Polish people ?
True as life, such a thing has not happened in the Common¬
wealth since the beginning of the world."
Boguslav hung his head.
"Not longer than a month ago," said he, with sadness in
his voice, " on the road between Podlyasye and Electoral
Prussia, when I was going to Tanrogi, there came to me a
noble of respectable family. That noble, not being aware
of my real love for our gracious king, and thinking that I,
504
THE DELUGE.
like others, was an enemy of his, promised for a considerable
reward to go to Silesia, carry off Yan Kazimir and deliver
him to the Swedes, either living or dead."
All were dumb with amazement.
" And when with anger and disgust I rejected such an
offer," said Boguslav, in conclusion, " that man with brazen
forehead said, ' I will go to Radzeyovski; he will buy and
pay me gold by the pound.'"
" I am not a friend of the ex-king," said Yanush ; " but if
the noble had made me a proposal like that, I should have
placed him by a wall, and in front of him six musketeers."
" At the first moment I wanted to do so, but did not,"
answered Boguslav, " as the conversation was with four
eyes, and people might cry out against the violence and
tyranny of the Radzivills. I frightened him, however, by
saying that Radzeyovski and the King of Sweden, even
Hmelnitski, would put him to death for such a proposal;
in one word, I brought that criminal so far that he
abandoned his plan."
" That was not right; it was not proper to let him go
living, he deserved at least the impaling-stake," cried Korf.
Boguslav turned suddenly to Yanush.
" I cherish also the hope that punishment will not miss
him, and first I propose that he perish not by an ordinary
death ; but your highness alone is able to punish him, for
he is your attendant and your colonel."
''In God's name ! my colonel ? Who is he, — who ?
Speak!
" His name is Kmita," said Boguslav.
" Kmita! " repeated all, with astonishment.
" That is not true ! " cried Panna Billevich at once, rising
from her chair, with flashing eyes and heaving breast.
Deep silence followed. Some had not recovered yet from
the fearful news given by Boguslav; others were astonished
at the boldness of that lady who had dared to throw a
lie in the eyes of Prince Boguslav; the sword-bearer began
to stutter, " Olenka ! Olenka!" But Boguslav veiled his
face in sorrow, and said without anger, —
" If he is your relative or betrothed, I am grieved that I
mentioned this fact; but cast him out of your heart, for he
is not worthy of you, 0 lady."
She remained yet a moment in pain, flushed, and aston¬
ished ; but by degrees her face became cool, until it was cold
and pale. She sank down in the chair, and said, —
THE DELUGE.
505
" Forgive me, your highness , I made an unseemly con¬
tradiction. All is possible for that man."
" May God punish me if I feel aught save pity ! " answered
Boguslav, mildly.
" He was the betrothed of this lady," said Prince Yanush,
" and I myself made the match. He was a young man, hot¬
headed ; he caused a world of turmoil. I saved him from
justice, for he was a good soldier. I saw that he was law¬
less, and would be; but that he, a noble, could think of
such infamy, I did not expect."
" He is an evil man; that I knew long since," said Ganhoff.
" And why did you not forewarn me ? " inquired Yanush,
in a tone of reproach.
" I was afraid that your highness might suspect me of
envy, for he had everywhere the first step before me."
" Horribile dictu et auditu (horrible in the speaking and
the hearing)," said Korf.
" Gracious gentlemen," exclaimed Boguslav, " let us give
peace to him. If it is grievous for you to hear of this, what
must it be for Panna Billevich ? "
" Your highness, be pleased not to consider me," said
Olenka ; " I can listen to everything now."
The evening was drawing toward its close. Water was
given for the washing of fingers; then Prince Yanush rose
first and gave his arm to Pani Korf, and Prince Boguslav
to Olenka.
" God has punished the traitor already," said he to her;
"for whoso has lost you has lost heaven. It is less than
two hours since I first saw you, charming lady, and I should
be glad to see you forever, not in pain and in tears, but in
joy and in happiness."
" I thank your highness," answered Olenka.
After the departure of the ladies the men returned to the
table to seek consolation in cups, which went around fre¬
quently. Prince Boguslav drank deeply, for he was satis¬
fied with himself. Prince Yanush conversed with the
sword-bearer of Rossyeni.
" I march to-morrow with the army for Podlyasye," said
he. " A Swedish garrison will come to Kyedani. God knows
when I shall return. You cannot stay here with the maiden;
it would not be a fit place for her among soldiers. You will
both go with Prince Boguslav to Taurogi, where she may
stay with my wife among her ladies in waiting."
"Your highness," answered the sword-bearer, "God has
506
THE DELUGE.
given us a corner of our own ; why should we go to strange
places ? It is a great kindness of your highness to think of
us : but not wishing to abuse favor, we prefer to return to
our own roof."
The prince was unable to explain to the sword-bearer all
the reasons for which he would not let Olenka out of his
hands at any price; but some of them he told with all the
rough outspokenness of a magnate.
" If you wish to accept it as a favor, all the better, but I
will tell you that it is precaution as well. You will be a
hostage there; you will be responsible to me for all the
Billeviches, who I know well do not rank themselves among
my friends, and are ready to raise Jmud in rebellion when
I am gone. Advise them to sit in peace, and do nothing
against the Swedes, for your head and that of your niece
will answer for their acts."
At this juncture patience was evidently lacking ^to the
sword-bearer, for he answered quickly, —
" It would be idle for me to appeal to my rights as a noble.
Power is on the side of your highness, and it is all one to
me where I must sit in prison; I prefer even that place to
this."
" Enough ! " said the prince, threateningly.
" What is enough, is enough!" answered the sword-
bearer. " God grant to this violence an end, and to justice
new power. Speaking briefly, do not threaten, your high¬
ness, for I fear not."
Evidently Boguslav saw lightnings of anger gleaming on
the face of Yanush, for he approached quickly.
" What is the question ?" asked he, standing between
them.
" I was telling the hetrnan," said the sword-bearer, with
irritation, " that I choose imprisonment in Taurogi rather
than in Kyedani."
" In Taurogi there is for you not a prison, but my house,
in which you will be as if at home. I know that the hetrnan
chooses to see in you a hostage; I see only a dear guest."
" I thank your highness," answered the sword-bearer.
" And I thank you. Let us strike glasses and drink to¬
gether, for they say that a libation must be made to friend¬
ship, or it will wither at its birth."
So saying, Boguslav conducted the sword-bearer to the
table, and they fell to touching glasses and drinking to each
other often and frequently. An hour later the sword-bearer
THE DELUGE.
507
turned with somewhat uncertain step toward his room, re¬
peating in an undertone, —
" An amiable lord ! A worthy lord ! A more honest one
could not be found with a lantern, — gold, pure gold ! I
would gladly shed my blood for him ! "
Meanwhile the cousins found themselves alone. They
had something yet to talk over, and besides, certain letters
came; a page was sent to bring these from Ganhoff.
"Evidently," said Yanush, "there is not a word of truth
in what you reported of Kmita?"
" Evidently. You know best yourself. But, well ?
Acknowledge, was not Mazarin right ? With one move to
take terrible vengeance on an enemy, and to make a breach
in that beautiful fortress, — well, who could do that ? This is
called intrigue worthy of the first court in the world ! But
that Panna Billevich is a pearl, and charming too, lordly
and distinguished as if of princely blood. I thought I should
spring from my skin."
" Remember that you have given your word, — remember
that he will ruin us if he publishes those letters."
" What brows ! What a queenly look, so that respect
seizes one! Whence is there such a girl, such well-nigh
royal majesty ? I saw once in Antwerp, splendidly em¬
broidered on Gobelin tapestry Diana hunting the curious
Actseon with dogs. She was like this one as cup is like cup."
" Look out that Kmita does not publish the letters, for
then the dogs would gnaw us to death."
"Not true ! I will turn Kmita into an Acfceon, and hunt
him to death. I have struck him down on two fields, and it
will come to battle between us yet."
Further conversation was interrupted by the entrance of
a page with a letter. The voevoda of Vilna took the letter
in his hand and made the sign of the cross. He did that
always to guard against evil tidings; then, instead of
opening, he began to examine it carefully. All at once his
countenance changed.
" Sapyeha's arms are on the seal! " exclaimed he; " it is
from the voevoda of Vityebsk."
" Open quickly ! " said Boguslav.
The hetman opened and began to read, interrupting him¬
self from time to time with exclamations.
" He is marching on Podlyasye ! He asks if T have no
messages for Tykotsin ! An insult to me ! Still worse; for
listen to what he writes further, —
508
THE DELUGE.
" ' Do you wish civil war, your highness? do you wish to sink one
more sword in the bosom of the mother? If you do, come to Pod-
lyasye. I am waiting for you, and I trust that God will punish
your pride with my hands. But if you have pity on the country,
if conscience stirs within you, if you value your deeds of past times
and you wish to make reparation, the field is open before you. In
stead of beginning a civil war, summon the general militia, raise
the peasants, and strike the Swedes while Pontus, feeling secure, sus¬
pects nothing and is exercising no vigilance. From llovanski you
will have no hindrance, for reports come to me from Moscow that
they are thinking there of an expedition against Livonia, though
they keep that a secret. Besides, if Hovanski wished to undertake
anything I hold him in check, and if I could have sincere trust
I would certainly help you with all my forces to save the country.
All depends on you, for there is time yet to turn from the road and
efface your faults. Then it will appear clearly that you did not
accept Swedish protection for personal purposes, but to avert final de¬
feat from Lithuania. May God thus inspire you ; for this I implore
him daily, though your highness is pleased to accuse me of envy.
" ' P. S. I have heard that the siege of Nyesvyej is raised, and
that Prince Michael will join us as soon as he repairs his losses.
See, your highness, how nobly your family act, and consider their
example ; in every case remember that you have now a boat and
a carriage.'1
"Have you heard?" asked Prince Yanush, when he had
finished reading.
" I have heard — and what ? " answered Boguslav, looking
quickly at his cousin.
" It would be necessary to abjure all, leave all, tear down
our work with our own hands."
" Break with the powerful Karl Gustav, and seize the
exiled Yan Kazimir by the feet, that he might deign to for¬
give and receive us back to his service, and also implore
Sapyeha's intercession."
Yanusli's face was filled with blood.
" Have you considered how he writes to me : ( Correct
yourself, and I will forgive you,' as a lord to an underling."
"He would write differently if six thousand sabres were
hanging over his neck."
" Still — " Here Prince Yanush fell to thinking gloomily.
" Still, what ? "
" Perhaps for the country it would be salvation to do as
Sapyeha advises."
1 " A boat and a carriage " means you can go by either, — that is, by land
or water; you have your choice.
THE DELUGE.
509
" But for you, — for me, for the Radzivills ? "
Yanush made no answer; he dropped his head on his
fists and thought.
" Let it be so ! " said he, at last; " let it be accomplished ! "
" What have you decided ? "
" To-morrow I march on Podlyasye, and in a week I shall
strike on Sapyeha."
" You are a Radzivill ! " cried Boguslav. And they
grasped each other's hands.
After a while Boguslav went to rest. Yanush remained
alone. Once, and a second time he passed through the room
with heavy steps. At last he clapped his hands. A page en¬
tered the room.
" Let the astrologer come in an hour to me with a ready
figure," said he.
The page went out, and the prince began again to walk
and repeat his Calvinistic prayers. After that he sang a
psalm in an undertone, stopping frequently, for his breath
failed him, and looking from time to time through the win¬
dow at the stars twinkling in the sky.
By degrees the lights were quenched in the castle; but
besides the astrologer and the prince one other person was
watching in a room, and that was Olenka Billevich.
Kneeling before her bed, she clasped both hands over her
head, and whispered with closed eyes, —
" Have mercy on us! Have mercy on us ! "
The first time since Kmita's departure she would not,
she could not pray for him.
510
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Kmita had, it is true, Radzivill's passes to all the Swe¬
dish captains, commandants, and governors, to give him a
free road everywhere, and make no opposition, but he did
not dare to use those passes; for he expected that Prince
Boguslav, immediately after Pilvishki, had hurried off
messengers in every direction with information to the
Swedes of what had happened, and with an order to seize
him. For this reason Pan Andrei had assumed a strange
name, and also changed his rank. Avoiding therefore
Lomja and Ostrolenko, to which the first warning might
have come, he directed his horses and his company to
Pjasnysh, whence he wished to go through Pultusk to
Warsaw.
But before he reached Pjasnysh he made a bend on the
Prussian boundary through Vansosh, Kolno, and Myshy-
nyets, because the Kyemliches, knowing those wildernesses
well, were acquainted with the forest trails, and besides
had their " cronies " among the Bark-shoes,1 from whom
they might expect aid in case of emergency.
The country at the boundary was occupied for the most
part by the Swedes, who limited themselves, however, to
occupying the most considerable towns, going not too boldly
into the slumbering and fathomless forests inhabited by
armed men, — hunters who never left the wilderness, and
were still so wild that just a year before, the Queen, Marya
Ludvika, had given a command to build a chapel in Myshy-
nyets and settle there Jesuits, who were to teach religion
and soften the manners of those men of the wilderness.
" The longer we do not meet the Swedes," said old
Kyemlich, " the better for us."
" We must meet them at last," answered Pan Andrei.
" If a man meets them in a large town they are often
afraid to do him injustice ; for in a town there is always
some government and some higher commandant to whom
1 So called because they wore shoes made from the inner bark of bass-
wood or linden trees.
THE DELUGE.
511
it is possible to make complaint. I have always asked
people about this, and I know that there are commands
from the King of Sweden forbidding violence and extor¬
tion. But the smaller parties sent far away from the eyes
of commandants have no regard for orders, and plunder
peaceful people."
They passed on then through the forests, meeting Swedes
nowhere, spending the nights with pitch-makers in forest
settlements. The greatest variety of tales concerning the
invasion were current among the Bark-shoes, though al¬
most none of them had known the Swedes hitherto. It
was said that a people had come from over the sea who did
not understand human speech, who did not believe in Christ
the Lord, the Most Holy Lady, or the Saints, and that they
were wonderfully greedy. Some told of the uncommon
desire of those enemies for cattle, skins, nuts, mead, and
dried mushrooms, which if refused, they burned the woods
straightway. Others insisted that, on the contrary, they
were a people of were-wolves, living on human flesh, and
feeding specially on the flesh of young girls.
Under the influence of those terrible tidings, which flew
into the remotest depths of the wilderness, the Bark-shoes
began to watch and to search through the forests. Those
who were making potash and pitch; those who worked at
gathering hops; wood-cutters and fishermen, who had
their wicker nets fixed in the reedy banks of the Rosoga;
trappers and snarers, bee-keepers and beaver-hunters, as¬
sembled at the most considerable settlements, listening to
tales, communicating news, and counselling how to drive
out the enemy in case they appeared in the wilderness.
Kmita, going with his party, met more than once greater
or smaller bands of these men, dressed in hemp shirts, and
skins of wolves, foxes, or bears. More than once he was
stopped at narrow places, and by inquiries, —
" Who art thou ? A Swede ? "
" No !" answered Pan Andrei.
" God guard thee ! "
Kmita looked with curiosity at those men who lived al¬
ways in the gloom of forests, and whose faces the open sun
had never burned; he wondered at their stature, their bold¬
ness of look, the sincerity of their speech, and their daring,
not at all peasant-like.
The Kyemliches, who knew them, assured Pan Andrei
that there were 110 better shots than these men in the whole
512
THE DELUGE.
Commonwealth. When he discovered that they all had
good German muskets bought in Prussia for skins, he
asked them to show their skill in shooting, was astonished
at sight of it, and thought, " Should I need to collect a
party, I will come here."
At Myshynyets itself he found a great assembly. More
than a hundred marksmen held constant watch at the mis¬
sion, for it was feared that the Swedes would show them¬
selves there first, especially because the starosta of Ostro-
lenko had commanded them to cut out a road in the forest
so that the priests settled at the mission might have " ac¬
cess to the world."
The hop-raisers, who took their produce to Pjasnysh to
the celebrated breweries there, and hence passed for men of
experience, related that Lomja, Ostrolenko, and Pjasnysh
were swarming with Swedes, who were managing and col¬
lecting taxes there as if at home.
Kmita tried to persuade the Bark-shoes not to wait for
the Swedes in the wilderness, but to strike on them at Os¬
trolenko, and begin war; he offered to command them him¬
self. He found a great willingness among them; but two
priests led them away from this mad enterprise, telling
them to wait till the whole country moved, and not draw
on themselves the terrible vengeance of the enemy by pre¬
mature attack.
Pan Andrei departed, but regretted his lost opportunity.
The only consolation remaining was this, — he had con¬
vinced himself that if powder were to explode anywhere,
neither the Commonwealth nor the king would lack defend¬
ers in those parts.
" This being the case," thought he, " it is possible to be¬
gin in another place."
His fiery nature was restive for quick action, but judg¬
ment said: " The Bark-shoes alone cannot conquer the
Swedes. You will go through a part of the country; you
will look around, examine, and then obey the king's order."
He travelled on therefore. He went out of the deep
wilderness to the forest borders, to a neighborhood more
thickly settled; he saAv an uncommon movement in all the
villages. The roads were crowded with nobles going in
wagons, carriages, and carts, of various kinds, or on horse¬
back. All were hastening to the nearest towns and vil¬
lages to give Swedish commanders an oath of loyalty to the
new king. In return they received certificates which were
THE DELUGE.
513
to preserve their persons and property. In the capitals of
provinces and districts " capitulations " were published
securing freedom of confession and privileges pertaining to
the order of nobles.
The nobles went with the requisite oath, not only will¬
ingly, but in haste ; for various punishments threatened the
stubborn, and especially confiscation and robbery. It was
said that here and there the Swedes had already begun, as
in Great Poland, to thumb-screw suspected men. It was re¬
peated also, with alarm, that they were casting suspicion on
the wealthiest on purpose to rob them.
In view of all this, it was unsafe to remain in the coun¬
try; the wealthier therefore hurried to the towns to live
under the immediate eye of Swedish commandants, so as to
avoid suspicion of intrigue against the King of Sweden.
Pan Andrei bent his ear carefully to what nobles were
saying, and though they did not wish greatly to speak with
him, since he was a poor fellow, he discovered this much,
that near neighbors, acquaintances, even friends, did not
speak among themselves with sincerity touching the
Swedes or the new government. It is true they complained
loudly of the " requisitions; " and in fact there was reason,
for to each village, each hamlet, came letters from com¬
mandants with orders to furnish great quantities of grain,
bread, salt, cattle, money ; and frequently these orders ex
ceeded the possible, especially because when supplies of one
kind were exhausted, others were demanded ; whoso did not
pay, to him was sent an execution in thrice the amount.
But the old days had gone ! Each man extricated him¬
self as best he was able, took out of his own mouth, gave,
paid; complaining, groaning, and thinking in his soul that
long ago it was different. But they comforted themselves
for the time, saying that when the war was over the
requisitions would cease. The Swedes promised the same,
saying, 'Only let the king gain the whole country, he will
begin to govern at once like a father."
For the nobles who had given up their own king and
country; who before, and not long before, had called the
kindly Yan Kazimir a tyrant, suspecting him of striving for
absolute power; who opposed him in everything, protesting
in provincial and national diets, and in their hunger for
novelty and change went so far that they recognized, almost
without opposition, an invader as lord, so as to have some
change, — it would be a shame then even to complain.
vol. i. — 33
514
THE DELUGE.
Karl G-ustav had freed them from the tyrant, they had
abandoned of their own will their lawful king ; but they
had the change so greatly desired.
Therefore the most intimate did not speak sincerely
among themselves touching what they thought of that
change, inclining their ears willingly to those who asserted
that the attacks, requisitions, robberies, and confiscations
were, of course burdens, but only temporary ones, which
would cease as soon as Karl Gustav was firm on the
throne.
" This is grievous, brother, grievous," said one noble to
another at times, " but still we must be thankful for the
new ruler. He is a great potentate and warrior ; he will
conquer the Tartars, restrain the Turks, drive the North¬
erners away from the boundaries ; and we together with
Sweden will flourish."
" Even if we were not glad," answered another, " what is
to be done against such power ? We cannot fly to the sun
on a spade."
At times, too, they referred to the fresh oath. Kmita
was enraged listening to such talks and discussions; and
once when a certain noble said in his presence in an inn
that a man must be faithful to him to whom he had taken
oath, Pan Andrei shouted out to him, —
" You must have two mouths, — one for true and the other
for false oaths, for you have sworn to Yan Kazimir! "
There were many other nobles present, for this hap¬
pened not far from Pjasnysh. Hearing these words, all
started. On some faces wonder was visible at the boldness
of Kmita; others flushed. At last the most important man
said,—
" No one here has broken his oath to the former king.
He broke it himself; for he left the country, not watching
over its defence."
" Would you were killed! " cried Kmita. " But King
Lokyetek, — how many times was he forced to leave the
country, and still he returned, for the fear of God was yet
in men's hearts. It was not Yan Kazimir who deserted,
but those who sold him and who now calumniate him,
so as to palliate their own sins before God and the
world!"
" You speak too boldly, young man ! Whence come you
who wish to teach us people of this place the fear of God ?
See to it that the Swedes do not overhear you."
THE DELUGE.
515
" If you are curious, I will tell you whence I am. I am
from Electoral Prussia, and belong to the elector. But
being of Sarmatian blood, I feel a good will toward the
country, and am ashamed of the indifference of this
people."
Here the nobles, forgetting their anger, surrounded him
and began to inquire hurriedly and with curiosity, —
"You are from Electoral Prussia? But tell what you
know ! What is the elector doing there ? Does he think
of rescuing us from oppression ? "
" From what oppression ? You are glad of the new ruler,
so do not talk of oppression. As you have made your bed,
so you must sleep on it."
" We are glad, for we cannot help it. They stand with
swords over our necks. But speak out, as if we were not
glad."
" Give him something to drink, let his tongue be
loosened ! Speak boldly, there are no traitors here among
us."
" You are all traitors ! " roared Pan Andrei, " and I don't
wish to drink with you; you are servants of the Swedes."
Then he went out of the room, slamming the door, and
they remained in shame and amazement; no man seized his
sabre, no man moved after Kmita to avenge the insult.
But he went directly to Pryasnysh. A few furlongs
before the place Swedish patrols took him and led him
before the commandant. There were only six men in the
patrol, and an under-officer was the seventh; therefore
Soroka and the two Kyemliches began to look at them
hungrily, like wolves at sheep, and asked Kmita with their
eyes, if he would not give order to surround them.
Pan Andrei also felt no small temptation, especially since
the Vengyerka flowed near, between banks overgrown with
reeds; but he restrained himself, and let the party be taken
quietly to the commandant.
There he told the commandant who he was, — that he had
come from the elector's country, and that he went every
year with horses to Sobota. The Kyemliches too had
certificates with which they provided themselves in Leng,
for the place was well known to them; therefore the
commandant, who was himself a Prussian German, made
no difficulty, only inquired carefully what kind of horses
they were driving and wished to see them.
When Kmita's attendants drove the beasts up, in
516
THE DELUGE.
accordance with the commandant's wish, he looked at them
carefully and said, —
" I will buy these. From another I would have taken
them without pay; but since you are from Prussia, I will
not harm you."
Kmita seemed somewhat confused when it came to sell¬
ing, for by this the reason for going farther was lost, and
he would have to go back to Prussia. He asked therefore
a price so high that it was almost twice the real value of
the horses. Beyond expectation the officer was neither
angry, nor did he haggle about the price.
"Agreed!" said he. "Drive the horses into the shed,
and I will bring you the pay at once."
The Kyemliches were glad in their hearts, but Pan
Andrei fell into anger and began to curse. Still there was
no way but to drive in the horses. If they refused, they
would be suspected at once of trading only in appearance.
Meanwhile the officer came back, and gave Kmita a piece
of paper with writing.
" What is this ? " asked Pan Andrei.
" Money or the same as money, — an order."
" And where will they pay me ? "
" At headquarters !"
" Where are headquarters ? "
"In Warsaw," said the officer, laughing maliciously.
"We sell only for ready money."
" How's that, what's that, oh, gates of heaven ? " began
old Kyemlich, groaning.
Kmita turned, and looking at him threateningly, said, —
" For me the word of the commandant is the same as
ready money. I will go willingly to Warsaw, for there I
can buy honest goods from the Armenians, for which I shall
be well paid in Prussia."
Then, when the officer walked away, Pan Andrei said, to
comfort Kyemlich, —
" Quiet, you rogue! These orders are the best passes ;
we can go to Cracow with our complaints, for they will not
pay us. It is easier to press cheese out of a stone than
money out of the Swedes. But this is just playing into my
hand. This breeches fellow thinks that he has tricked me, but
he knows not what service he has rendered. I '11 pay you out
of my own pocket for the horses ; you will be at no loss."
The old man recovered himself, and it was only from
habit that he did not cease yet for a while to complain, —
THE DELUGE.
517
" They have plundered us, brought us to poverty !"
But Pan Andrei was glad to find the road open before
him, for he foresaw that the Swedes would not pay for the
horses in Warsaw, and in all likelihood they would pay no¬
where, — hence he would be able to go on continually as it
were seeking for justice, even to the Swedish king, who was
at Cracow occupied with the siege of the ancient capital.
Meanwhile Kmita resolved to pass the night in Pjasnysh
to give his horses rest, and without changing his assumed
name to throw aside his exterior of a poor noble. He saw
that all despised a poor horse-dealer, that any one might
attack him more readily and have less fear to answer for
injustice to an insignificant man. It was more difficult in
that dress to have approach to important nobles, and there¬
fore more difficult to discover what each one was thinking.
He procured therefore clothing answering to his station
and his birth, and went to an inn so as to talk with his
brother nobles. But he was not rejoiced at what he heard.
In the taverns and public houses the nobles drank to the
health of the King of Sweden, and to the success of the pro¬
tector, struck glasses with the Swedish officers, laughed at
the jokes which these officers permitted themselves to make
at the expense of Yan Kazimir and Charnyetski.
Pear for their own lives and property had debased people
to such a degree that they were affable to the invaders, and
hurried to keep up their good humor. Still even that de¬
basement had its limits. The nobles allowed themselves,
their king, the hetmans, and Pan Charnyetski to be ridi¬
culed, but not their religion; and when a certain Swedish
captain declared that the Lutheran faith was as good as the
Catholic, Pan Grabkovski, sitting near him, not being able
to endure that blasphemy, struck him on the temple with a
hatchet, and taking advantage of the uproar, slipped out of
the public house and vanished in the crowd.
They fell to pursuing him, but news came which turned
attention in another direction. Couriers arrived with
news that Cracow had surrendered, that Pan Charnyetski
was in captivity, and that the last barrier to Swedish
dominion was swept away.
The nobles were dumb at the first moment, but the Swedes
began to rejoice and cry "Vivat." In the church of the
Holy Ghost, in the church of the Bernardines, and in the
cloister of Bernardine nuns, recently erected by Pani Mus-
kovski, it was ordered to ring the bells. The infantry and
518
THE DELUGE.
cavalry came out on tlie square, from the breweries and
cloth-shearing mills, in battle-array, and began to fire from
cannons and muskets. Then they rolled out barrels of go-
railka, mead, and beer for the army and the citizens; they
burned pitch-barrels and feasted till late at night. The
Swedes dragged out the inhabitants from the houses to
dance with them, to rejoice and frolic; and together with
throngs of soldiers straggled along nobles who drank with
the cavalry, and were forced to feign joy at the fall of
Cracow and the defeat of Charnyetski.
Disgust carried away Kmita, and he took refuge early in
his quarters outside the town, but he could not sleep. A
fever tormented him, and doubts besieged his soul. Had he
not turned from the road too late, when the whole country
was in the hands of the Swedes ? It came into his head
that all was lost now, and the Commonwealth would never
rise from its fall.
" This is not a mere unlucky war," thought he, " which
may end with the loss of some province; this is accom¬
plished ruin! This means that the whole Commonwealth be¬
comes a Swedish province. We have caused this ourselves,
and I more than others."
This thought burned him, and conscience gnawed. Sleep
fled from him. He knew not what to do, — to travel far¬
ther, remain in the place, or return. Even if he collected
a party and harried the Swedes, they would hunt him as a
bandit, and not treat him as a soldier. Besides, he is in a
strange region, where no one knows -who he is. Who will
join him ? Eearless men rallied to him in Lithuania, where
he, the most famous, called them together ; but here, even
if some had heard of Kmita, they held him a traitor and a
friend of the Swedes, but surely no one had ever heard of
Babinich.
All is useless ! It is useless to go to the king, for it is
too late; it is useless to go to Podlyasye, for the Confed¬
erates think him a traitor; it is useless to go to Lithuania,
for there the Badzivills own all; it is useless to stay where
he is, for there he has nothing to do. The best would be
to drive out the soul, and not look on this world, but flee
from remorse.
But will it be better in that world for those who having
sinned their fill in this life, have not effaced their sins in
any way, and will stand before judgment beneath the whole
weight of these sins ? Kmita struggled in his bed, as if
THE DELUGE.
519
lying on a bed of torture. Such unendurable torments he
had not passed through, even in the forest cabin of the
Kyemliches.
He felt strong, healthy, enterprising, — the soul in him
was rushing out to begin something, to do something, —
and here every road was blocked ; even knock the head
•against a wall, — there is no issue, no salvation, no hope.
After he had tossed during the night on his bed, he
sprang up before daybreak, roused his men, and rode on.
They went toward Warsaw, but he knew not himself
wherefore or why. He would have escaped to the Saitch
in despair, if times had not changed, and if Hmelnitski, to¬
gether with Buturlin, had not just overborne the grand
hetman of the kingdom, at Grodek, carrying at the same
time fire and sword through the southwestern regions of
the Commonwealth, and sending predatory bands as far
as Lublin.
Along the roads to Pultusk, Pan Andrei met at all points
Swedish parties, escorting wagons with provisions, grain,
bread, beer, and herds of every kind of cattle. With the
herds and wagons went crowds of peasants, small nobles,
weeping and groaning, for they were dragged away num¬
bers of miles with the wagons. Happy the man who was
allowed to return home with his wagon; and this did not
happen in every case, for after they had brought the sup¬
plies peasants and petty nobles were forced to labor at
repairing castles, building sheds and magazines.
Kmita saw also that in the neighborhood of Pultusk the
Swedes acted more harshly with the people than in Pjas-
nysh; and not being able to understand the cause, he in¬
quired about it of the nobles whom he met on the road.
"The nearer you go to Warsaw," answered one of the
travellers, " the harsher you will find the oppressors.
Where they have just come and are not secure, they are
more kindly, publish the commands of the king against
oppression, and promulgate the capitulations; but where
they feel safe, and have occupied castles in the neighbor¬
hood, they break all promises, have no consideration,
commit injustice, plunder, rob, raise their hands against
churches, the clergy, and sacred nuns. It is nothing here
yet, but to describe what is going on in Great Poland words
fail in the mouths of men."
Here the noble began to describe what was taking place in
Great Poland, —what extortions, violence, and murders the
520
THE DELUGE.
savage enemy committed ; how men were thumbscrewed and
tortured to discover money ; how the Provincial, Father
Branetski, was killed in Poznan itself; and peasants were
tortured so fearfully that the hair stood on one's head at
the mere thought of it.
" It will come to this everywhere," said the noble; " it is
the punishment of God. The last judgment is near. Worse
and worse every day, — and salvation from no point."
" It is a marvel to me," said Kmita, " for I am not of these
parts and know not how people feel here, that you, gracious
gentlemen, being nobles and knightly persons, endure these
oppressions in patience."
"With what can we rise up ? " answered the noble. "In
their hands are the castles, fortresses, cannon, powder, mus¬
kets ; they have taken from us even fowling-pieces. There
was still some hope in Charnyetski; but since he is in prison,
and the king in Silesia, who will think of resistance ? There
are hands, but nothing in them, and there is 110 head."
"And there is no hope," added Kmita, in a hollow voice.
Here they dropped the conversation, for a Swedish divi¬
sion came up convoying wagons, small nobles, and a "requisi¬
tion." It was a wonderful spectacle. Sitting on horses as
fat as bullocks, mustached and bearded troopers rode on in a
cloud of dust, with their right hands on their hips, with their
hats on the sides of their heads, with tens of geese and hens
hanging at their saddles. Looking at their warlike and
insolent faces, it was easy to see that they felt like lords,
gladsome and safe. But the brotherhood of petty nobles
walked at the side of the wagons, not onty barefooted, but
with heads drooping on their bosoms, abused, troubled, fre¬
quently urged forward with whips.
On seeing this, Kmita's lips quivered as in a fever, and he
fell to repeating to the noble near whom he was riding, —
" Oh, my hands are itching, my hands are itching, my
hands are itching !"
" Quiet, in the name of the Merciful God! you will ruin
yourself, me, and my little children."
More than once, however, Pan Andrei had before him
sights still more marvellous. Behold at times, among
parties of horsemen, he saw marching groups, larger or
smaller, of Polish nobles, with armed attendants ; these
nobles were joyous, singing songs, drunk, and with Swedes
and Germans on the footing of "lord brother."
" How is this ? " asked Kmita. " They are persecuting
THE DELUGE.
521
some nobles and crushing them, while with others they
enter into friendship. It must be that those citizens
whom I see among the soldiers are fanatical traitors ? "
"Not merely fanatical traitors, but worse, for they are
heretics," answered the noble. "They are more grievous
to us Catholics than the Swedes ; they are the men who
plunder most, burn houses, carry off maidens, commit
private offences. The whole country is in alarm from them,
for everything drops from these men altogether without
punishment, and it is easier to get justice from Swedish
commanders against a Swede, than against one of our own
heretics. Every commandant, if you utter a word, will
answer at once, ' I have no right to touch him, for he is not
my man; go to your own tribunals.' And what tribunals
are there here now, and what execution of law when
everything is in Swedish hands ? Where the Swede can¬
not go the heretics will take him, and they are the men
chiefly who incite the Swedes against churches and clergy.
This is the way in which they punish the country, our
mother, for having given them refuge here and freedom
for their blasphemous faith when they were persecuted
in other Christian lands justly, for their intrigues and
abominations."
The noble stopped and looked with alarm at Kmita, —
" But you say that you are from Electoral Prussia, so you
may be a Lutheran ? "
" God save me from that," answered Pan Andrei. " I am
from Prussia, but of a family Catholic for ages, for we went
from Lithuania to Prussia."
" Then praise to the Most High, for I was frightened.
My dear sir, as to Lithuania there is no lack of dissidents
there; and they have a powerful chief in Radzivill, who
has turned out so great a traitor that he can come into
comparison with Radzeyovski alone."
" May God grant the devils to pull the soul out through
his throat before the New Year !" exclaimed Kmita, with
venom.
" Amen! " answered the noble, " and also the souls of his
servants, his assistants, his executioners, of whom tidings
have come even to us, and without whom he would not
have dared to bring destruction on this country."
Kmita grew pale and said not a word. He did not ask
even — he did not dare to ask — of what assistants,
servants, and executioners that noble was speaking.
522
THE DELUGE.
Travelling slowly, they came to Pultusk late in the
evening; there they called Kmita to the bishop's palace
or castle to give answer to the commandant.
" I am furnishing horses to the army of his Swedish
Grace," said Pan Andrei, "and I have orders with which
I am going to Warsaw for money."
Colonel Israel (such was the name of the commandant)
smiled under his mustaches and said, —
" Oh, make haste, make haste, and take a wagon for the
return, so as to have something to carry that money in ! "
" I thank you for the counsel," answered Pan Andrei.
" I understand that you are jeering at me ; but I will go for
my own, even if I have to go to his grace the king !"
" Go ! don't give away your own ; a very nice sum belongs
to you."
"The hour will come when you'll pay me," retorted
Kmita, going out.
In the town itself he came on celebrations again, for rejoic¬
ing over the capture of Cracow was to last three days. He
learned, however, that in Pjasnysh the Swedish triumph
was exaggerated, perhaps by design. Charnyetski, the
castellan of Kieff, had not fallen into captivity, but had
obtained the right of marching from the city with his
troops, with arms and lighted matches at the cannon. It
was said that he was to retire to Silesia. This was not
a great consolation, but still a consolation.
In Pultusk there were considerable forces which were to
go thence to the Prussian boundary, under command of
Colonel Israel, to alarm the elector; therefore neither the
town nor the castle, though very spacious, could furnish
lodging for the soldiers. Here too, for the first time,
Kmita saw soldiers encamped in a church, — in a splendid
Gothic structure, founded almost two hundred years before
by Bishop Gijytski, were quartered hireling German infantry.
Inside the sanctuary it was flaming with light as on Easter,
for on the stone floor were burning fires kindled in various
places. Kettles were steaming over the fires. Around
kegs of beer were groups of common soldiers, — hardened
robbers, who had plundered all Catholic Germany, and of a
certainty were not spending their first night in a church.
In the church were heard talking and shouting. Hoarse
voices were singing camp songs ; there sounded also the out¬
cry and merriment of women, who in those days straggled
usually in the wake of an army.
THE DELUGE.
523
Kmita stood in the open door; through the smoke in the
midst of ruddy flames he saw the red, mustached faces of
soldiers who, inflamed with drink, were sitting on kegs and
quaffing beer; some throwing dice or playing cards, some
selling church vestments, others embracing low women
dressed in bright garments. Uproar, laughter, the clatter
of tankards, the sound of muskets, the echoes thundering
in the vaults deafened him. His head whirled ; he could
not believe what his eyes saw; the breath died in his
breast; hell would not have more greatly amazed him.
At last he clutched his hair and ran out repeating as if
in bewilderment, —
" 0 God, aid us ! 0 God, correct us'! 0 God, deliver us ! "
524
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
In Warsaw the Swedes had been managing for a long
time. Wittemberg, the real governor of the city and the
commander of the garrison, was at that moment in Cracow;
Radzeyovski carried on the government in his place. Not
less than two thousand soldiers were in the city proper sur¬
rounded by walls, and in the jurisdictions beyond the walls
built up with splendid edifices belonging to the church and
the world. The castle and the city were not destroyed; for
Pan Vessel, starosta of Makovo, had yielded them up without
battle, and he with the garrison disappeared hurriedly, fear¬
ing the personal vengenace of Radzeyovski, his enemy.
But when Pan Kmita examined more closely and care¬
fully, he saw on many houses the traces of plundering hands.
These were the houses of those citizens who had fled from the
city, not wishing to endure foreign rule, or who had offered
resistance when the Swedes were breaking over the walls.
Of the lordly structures in the jurisdictions those only
retained their former splendor the owners of which stood
soul and body with the Swedes. Therefore the Kazanovski
Palace remained in all its magnificence, for Radzeyovski
had saved that, his own, and the palace of Konyetspolski,
the standard-bearer, as well as the edifice reared by Vla¬
dislav IV., and which was afterward known as the Kazi-
mirovski Palace. But edifices of the clergy were injured
considerably; the Denhof Palace was half wrecked ; the
chancellor's or the so-called Ossolinski Palace, on Refor-
matski Street, was plundered to its foundations. German
hirelings looked out through its windows ; and that costly
furniture which the late chancellor had brought from Italy
at such outlay, — those Florentine leathers, Dutch tapestry,
beautiful cabinets inlaid with mother-of-pearl, pictures,
bronze and marble statues, clocks from Venice and Dant-
zig, and magnificent glasses were either lying in disor¬
dered heaps in the yard, or, already packed, were waiting
to be taken, when the time came, by the Vistula to Sweden.
Guards watched over these precious things, but meanwhile
they were being ruined under the wind and rain.
THE DELUGE.
525
In other cities the same thing might be seen; and though
the capital had yielded without battle, still thirty gigantic
flat-boats were ready on the Vistula to bear away the plunder.
The city looked like a foreign place. On the streets
foreign languages were heard more than Polish ; every¬
where were met Swedish soldiers, German, French, Eng¬
lish, and Scottish mercenaries, in the greatest variety of
uniforms, — in hats, in lofty helmets, in kaftans, in breast¬
plates, half breastplates, in stockings, or Swedish boots,
with legs as wide as water-buckets. Everywhere a foreign
medley, foreign garments, foreign faces, foreign songs.
Even the horses had forms different from those to which
the eye was accustomed. There had also rushed in a mul¬
titude of Armenians with dark faces, and black hair covered
with bright skull-caps ; they had come to buy plundered
articles.
But most astonishing of all was the incalculable number
of gypsies, who, it is unknown for what purpose, had
gathered after the Swedes from all parts of the country.
Their tents stood at the side of the Uyazdovski Palace,
and along the monastery jurisdiction, forming as it were
a special town of linen houses within a town of walled
structures.
In the midst of these various-tongued throngs the inhabi¬
tants of the city almost vanished; for their own safety they
sat gladly enclosed in their houses, showing themselves
rarely, and then passing swiftly along the streets. Only
occasionally the carriage of some magnate, hurrying from
the Cracow suburbs to the castle, and surrounded by
haiduks, Turkish grooms, or troops in Polish dress, gave
reminder that the city was Polish.
Only on Sundays and holidays, when the bells announced
services, did crowds come forth from the houses, and the
capital put on its former appearance, — though even then
lines of foreign soldiers stood hedgelike in front of the
churches, to look at the women or pull at their dresses
when, with downcast eyes, they walked past them. These
soldiers laughed, and sometimes sang vile songs just when
the priests were singing Mass in the churches.
All this flashed past the astonished eyes of Pan Kmita like
jugglery; but he did not warm his place long in Warsaw,
for not knowing any man he had no one before whom to
open his soul. Even with those Polish nobles who were
stopping in the city and living in public houses built during
526
THE DELUGE.
the reign of King Sigismund III. on Dluga Street, Pan An¬
drei did not associate closely. He conversed, it is true, with
this one and that, to learn the news; but all were fanatical
adherents of the Swedes, and waiting for the return of
Karl Gustav, clung to Radzeyovski and the Swedish officers
with the hope of receiving starostaships, confiscated private
estates, and profits from church and other recoupments.
Each man of them would have been served rightly had
some one spat in his eyes, and from this Kmita did not
make great effort to restrain himself.
From the townspeople Kmita only heard that they re¬
gretted past times, and the good king of the fallen country.
The Swedes persecuted them savagely, seized their houses,
exacted contributions, imprisoned them. They said also
that the guilds had arms secreted, especially the linen-
weavers, the butchers, the furriers, and the powerful guild
of tailors ; that they were looking continually for the re¬
turn of Yan Kazimir, did not lose hope, and with assistance
from outside were ready to attack the Swedes.
Hearing this, Kmita did not believe his own ears. It
could not find place in his head that men of mean station
and rank should exhibit more love for the country and
loyalty to their lawful king than nobles, who ought to
bring those sentiments into the world with their birth.
But it was just the nobles and magnates who stood by
the Swedes, and the common people who for the greater
part wished to resist; and more than once it happened that
when the Swedes were driving common people to work at
fortifying Warsaw, these common people chose to endure
flogging, imprisonment, even death itself, rather than aid in
confirming Swedish power.
Beyond Warsaw the country was as noisy as in a bee¬
hive. All the roads, the towns, and the hamlets were occu¬
pied by soldiers, by attendants of great lords and nobles,
and by lords and nobles serving the Swedes. All was
captured, gathered in, subdued; everything was as Swedish
as if the country had been always in their hands.
Pan Andrei met no people save Swedes, adherents of the
Swedes, or people in despair, indifferent, who were con¬
vinced to the depth of their souls that all was lost. Ko one
thought of resistance; commands were carried out quietly
and promptly one half or a tenth part of which would
have been met in times not long past with opposition and
protest. Fear had reached that degree that even those
THE DELUGE.
527
who were injured praised loudly the kind protector of the
Commonwealth.
Formerly it happened often enough that a noble received
his own civil and military deputies of exaction with gun in
hand, and at the head of armed servants; now such tributes
were imposed as it pleased the Swedes to impose, and the
nobles gave them as obediently as sheep give their wool to
the shearer. It happened more than once that the same
tribute was taken twice. It was vain to use a receipt as
defence; it was well if the executing officer did not moisten
it in wine and make the man who showed it swallow the
paper. That was nothing! " Vivat protector ! " cried the
noble; and when the officer had departed he ordered his
servant to crawl out on the roof and see if another were not
coming. And well if only all were ended with Swedish
contributions ; but worse than the enemy were, in that as
in every other land, the traitors. Old private grievances,
old offences were brought up; ditches were filled, meadows
and forests were seized, and for the friend of the Swedes
everything went unpunished. Worst, however, were the
dissidents ; and they were not all. Armed bands were
formed of unfortunates, desperadoes, ruffians, and gamblers.
Assisted by Swedish marauders, Germans, and disturbers
of all kinds, these bands fell upon peasants and nobles.
The country was filled with fires; the armed hand of the
soldier was heavy on the towns; in the forest the robber
attacked. No one thought of curing the Commonwealth;
no one dreamed of rescue, of casting off the yoke ; no one
had hope.
It happened that Swedish and German plunderers near
Sohachev besieged Pan Lushchevski, the starosta of that
place, falling upon him at Strugi, his private estate. He,
being of a military turn, defended himself vigorously, though
an old man. Kmita came just then; and since his patience
had on it a sore ready to break at any cause, it broke at
Strugi. He permitted the Kyemliches, therefore, " to
pound," and fell upon the invaders himself with such vigor
that he scattered them, struck them down ; no one escaped,
even prisoners were drowned at his command. The sta¬
rosta, to whom the aid was as if it had fallen from heaven,
received his deliverer with thanks and honored him at once.
Pan Andrei, seeing before him a personage, a statesman, and
besides a man of old date, confessed his hatred of the Swedes,
and inquired of the starosta what he thought of the future
528
THE DELUGE.
of the Commonwealth, in the hope that he would pour
balsam on his soul.
But the starosta viewed the past differently, and said :
" My gracious sir, I know not what I should have answered
had this question been put when I had ruddy mustaches
and a mind clouded by physical humor ; but to-day I have
gray mustaches, and the experience of seventy years on
my shoulders, and I see future things, for I am near the
grave ; therefore I say that not only we, even if we should
correct our errors, but all Europe, cannot break the Swedish
power."
" How can that be ? Where did it come from ? " cried
Kmita. " When was Sweden such a power ? Are there
not more of the Polish people on earth, can we not have
a larger army ? Has that army yielded at any time to
Sweden in bravery ? "
" There are ten times as many of our people. God has
increased our produce so that in my starostaship of So-
hachev more wheat is grown than in all Sweden; and as to
bravery, I was at Kirchholm when three thousand hussars
of us scattered in the dust eighteen thousand of the best
troops of Sweden."
" If that is true," said Kmita, whose eyes flashed at re¬
membrance of Kirchholm, " what earthly causes are there
why we should not put an end to them now ? "
" First, this," answered the old man, with a deliberate
voice, " that we have become small and they have grown
great; that they have conquered us with our own hands,
as before now they conquered the Germans with Germans.
Such is the will of God ; and there is no power, I repeat,
that can oppose them to-day."
" But if the nobles should come to their senses and rally
around their ruler, — if all should seize arms, what would
you advise to do then, and what would you do yourself ? "
" I should go with others and fall, and I should advise
every man to fall; but after that would come times on
which it is better not to look."
" Worse times cannot come ! As true as life, they cannot!
It is impossible !" cried Kmita.
" You see," continued the starosta, " before the end of the
world and before the last judgment Antichrist will come,
and it is said that evil men will get the upper hand of the
good. Satans will go through the world, will preach a faith
opposed to the true one, and will turn men to it. With the
THE DELUGE.
529
permission of God, evil will conquer everywhere until the
moment in which trumpeting angels shall sound for the
end of the world."
Here the starosta leaned against the back of the chair on
which he was sitting, closed his eyes, and spoke on in a low,
mysterious voice, —
"It was said, 'There will be signs.' There have been
signs on the sun in the form of a hand and a sword. God
be merciful to us, sinners ! The evil gain victory over the
just, for the Swedes and their adherents are conquering.
The true faith is failing, for behold the Lutheran is rising.
Men ! do ye not see that dies irce, dies ilia (the day of
wrath, that day) is approaching ? I am seventy years old;
I stand on the brink of the Styx, — I am waiting for the
ferryman and the boat, — I see — "
Here the starosta became silent, and Kmita looked at him
with terror; for the reasons seemed to him just, the conclu¬
sions fitting, therefore he was frightened at his decisions
and reflected deeply. But the starosta did not look at him;
he only looked in front of himself, and said at last, —
" And of course the Swedes conquer here when that is the
permission of God, the express will mentioned and spoken
of in the Prophecies — Oi, people, to Chenstohova, to Chen-
stohova!" And again the starosta was silent.
The sun was just setting, and looking only aslant into the
room, its light broke into colors on the glass fitted in lead,
and made seven colored stripes on the floor ; the rest of the
room was in darkness. It became more and more awe-
inspiring for Kmita; at moments it seemed to him that if
the light were to vanish, that instant the trumpeting angel
would summon to judgment.
" Of what prophecies is your grace speaking ? " asked
Kmita, at last; for the silence seemed to him still more
solemn.
The starosta instead of an answer turned to the door of
an adjoining room, and called, —
" Olenka! Olenka! "
" In God's name !" cried Kmita, " whom are you calling? "
At that moment he believed everything, — believed that
his Olenka by a miracle was brought from Kyedani and would
appear before his eyes. He forgot everything, fastened his
gaze on the door, and waited without breath in his breast.
" Olenka ! Olenka! "
The door opened, and there entered not Panna Billevich,
VOL. I. — 34.
530
THE DELUGE.
but a young woman, shapely, slender, tall, a little like
Olenka, with dignity and calm spread over her face. She
was pale, perhaps ill, and maybe frightened at the recent
attack; she walked with downcast eyes as lightly and
quietly as if some breath were moving her forward.
" This is my daughter," said the starosta. " I have no
sons at home; they are with Pan Pototski, and with him
near our unfortunate king."
Then he turned to his daughter : " Thank first this manful
cavalier for rescuing us, and then read to him the prophecy
of Saint Bridget."
The maiden bowed down before I an Andrei, then went
out, and after a while returned with a printed roll in her
hand, and standing in that many-colored light, began to
read in a resonant and sweet voice, —
" The prophecy of Saint Bridget, I "will declare to you first of the
five kings and their rule: Gustav the son of Erick, the lazy ass, be¬
cause neglecting the right worship he went over to the false. Re¬
jecting the faith of the Apostles, he brought to the kingdom the
Augsburg Confession, putting a stain on his reputation. Look at
Ecclesiastes, where it is stated of Solomon that he defiled his glory
with idolatry — "
" Are you listening ? " asked the starosta, pointing to¬
ward Kmita with the index finger of his left hand and
holding the others, ready for counting.
" Yes," answered Kmita.
" Erick, the son of Gustavus, a wolf of unsatiable greed," read the
lady, " with which he drew on himself the hatred of all men and of
his brother Yan. First, suspecting Yan of intrigues with Denmark
and Poland, he tormented him with war, and taking him with his wife
he held them four years in a dungeon Yan. at last brought out of
imprisonment and aided by change of fortune, conquered Erick,
expelled him from the kingdom, and put him into prison forever-
more. There is an unforeseen event! "
" Consider," said the old man. " Here is another."
The lady read further : —
" Yan, the brother of Erick, a lofty eagle, thrice conqueror over
Erick, the Danes, and the Northerners. Ilis son Sigismund, in whom
dwells nobility of blood, chosen to the Polish throne. Praise to his
offshoots ! — "
" Do you understand ? " asked the starosta.
" May God prosper the years of Yan Kazimir !" answered
Kmita.
THE DELUGE.
531
" Karl, the prince of Sudermanii, the ram, who as rams lead the
flock, so he led the Swedes to injustice; and he attacked justice."
" That is the fourth! " interrupted the starosta.
"The fifth, Gustavus Adolphus," read the lady, "is the lamb
slain, but not spotless, whose blood was the cause of suffering and
misfortune — "
"Yes; that is Gustavus Adolphus!" said the starosta.
" Of Christiana there is no mention, for only men are
counted. Bead now the end, which refers accurately to
the present time."
She read as follows : —
" I will show to thee the sixth, who distracts land and sea and
brings trouble on the simple ; whose hour of punishment I will
place in my own hand. Though he attained his end quickly, my
judgment draws near him; he will leave the kingdom in suffering and
it will be written : They sowed rebellion and reap suffering and
pain. Not only will I visit that kingdom, but rich cities and power¬
ful ; for the hungry are called, who will devour their sufficiency.
Internal evils will not be lacking, and misfortune will abound.
The foolish will rule, and the wise and the old men will not raise
their heads. Honor and truth will fall, till that man shall come
who will implore away my anger and who will not spare his own
soul in love of truth."
" There you have it! " said the starosta.
" All is verified, so that only a blind man could doubt! "
answered Kmita.
" Therefore the Swedes cannot be conquered," said the
starosta.
" Till that man shall come who wall not spare his soul
for the love of truth ! " exclaimed Kmita. " The prophecy
leaves hope ! Not judgment, but salvation awaits us."
"Sodom was to be spared if ten just men could be found
in it," said the starosta; " but that many were not found.
In the same manner will not be found the man who will
not spare his soul for love of truth; and the hour of
judgment will strike."
" It cannot be but that he will be found," called out
Kmita.
Before the starosta answered the door opened, and into
the room walked a man no longer young, in armor and with
a musket in his hand.
" Pan Shchebjytski ? " said the starosta.
" Yes," answered the newly arrived. " I heard that
532
THE DELUGE.
ruffians had besieged you, and I hastened with my servants
to the rescue."
" Without the will of God a hair will not fall from the
head of a man," answered the starosta. " This cavalier has
already freed me from oppression. But whence do you
come ? "
" From Sohachev."
" Have you heard anything new ? "
"Every news is worse. Hew misfortune — "
" What has happened ? "
" The provinces of Cracow, Sandomir, Bus, Lubelsk,
Belzk, Yolynia, and Kieff have surrendered to Karl Gustav.
The act is already signed by envoys and by Karl."
The starosta shook his head, and turned to Kmita, —
" See," said he, " do you still think that the man will be
found who will not spare his soul for the love of truth ? "
Kmita began to tear the hair from his forelock: " Despair !
despair ! " repeated he, in distraction.
And Pan Shchebjytski continued: " They say also that
the remnants of the army, which are with Pototski, the
hetman, have already refused obedience and wish to go to
the Swedes. The hetman probably is not sure of safety or
life among them, and must do what they want."
" They sow rebellion and reap suffering and pain," said
the starosta. " Whoso wishes to do penance for his sins,
now is his time ! "
Kmita could not hear further either prophecies or news ;
he wanted to sit with all speed on his horse and cool his
head in the wind. He sprang up therefore, and began to
take farewell of the starosta.
" But whither so hastily ? " asked the latter.
" To Chenstohova, for I too am a sinner! "
" Though glad to entertain, I will not delay you, since
your work is more urgent, for the day of judgment is
at hand."
Kmita went out; and after him went the young lady,
wishing instead of her father to do honor to the guest, for
the old man was weak on his feet.
"Be in good health, young lady," said Kmita; "you do
not know how thankful I am to you."
" If you are thankful to me," answered the young lady,
"do me one service. You are going to Chenstohova; here
is a ruddy ducat, — take it, I beg, and give it for a Mass in
the chapel."
THE DELUGE.
533
" For whose intention ? " asked Kmita.
The prophetess dropped her eyes, trouble spread over
her face; at the same time a slight flush came to her cheeks,
and she said with a low voice, like the rustle of leaves, —
"For the intention of Andrei, that God may turn him
from sinful ways."
Kmita pushed back two steps, stared, and from astonish¬
ment could not speak for a time.
" By the wounds of Christ! " cried he, at last, " what
manner of house is this ? Where am I ? The prophecy
itself, the soothsaying, and the indications — Your name
is Olenka, and you give me for a Mass for the intentions of
a sinful Andrei. This cannot be chance; it is the finger
of God, — it is, it is. I shall go wild ! — As God lives, I
shall! »
" What is the matter ? "
He caught her hands violently and began to shake them.
" Prophesy further, speak to the end ! If that Andrei will
return and efface his faults, will Olenka keep faith
with him ? Speak, answer, for I shall not go away
without that!"
" What is your trouble ? "
" Will Olenka keep faith with him ? " repeated Kmita.
Tears came suddenly into the eyes of the maiden : " To
the last breath, to the hour of death!" said she, with
sobbing.
She had not finished speaking when Kmita fell his whole
length at her feet. She wanted to flee; he would not let
her, and kissing her feet, he said, —
"I too am a sinful Andrei, who wants to return. I too
have my loved one, Olenka. May yours return, and may
mine keep faith. May your words be prophetic. You have
poured balsam and hope into my suffering soul, — God
reward you, God reward you ! "
Then he sprang up, sat on his horse, and rode away.
534
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
The words of the young daughter of the starosta of
Sohachev filled Kmita with great consolation, and for three
days they did not leave his head. In the daytime on
horseback, in the night on the bed, he was thinking of what
had happened to him, and he came always to the conclusion
that this could not be simple chance, but an indication
from God, and a presage that if he would hold out, if he
would not leave the good road, that same road which
Olenka had shown him, she would keep faith and give him
her former affection.
" If the starosta's daughter," thought Kmita, " keeps
faith with her Andrei, who has not begun to grow better,
there is still hope for me, with my honest intention of
serving virtue, the country, and the king."
But, on the other hand, suffering was not absent from Pan
Andrei. He had an honest intention, but had it not come
too late ? Was there yet any road, were there yet any
means ? The Commonwealth seemed to sink deeper each
day, and it was difficult to close one's eyes to the terrible
truth that for it there was no salvation. Kmita wished
nothing more intently than to begin some kind of work,
but he saw no willing people. Every moment new figures,
every moment new faces, passed before him in the time of
his journey; but the sight of them, their talk and discus¬
sions, merely took from him the remnant of his hopes.
Some had gone body and soul to the Swedish camp, seek¬
ing in it their own profit; these people drank and caroused
as at a wake, drowning, in cups and in riot, shame and the
honor of nobles ; others told, with blindness beyond under¬
standing, of that power which the Commonwealth would
form in union with Sweden, under the sceptre of the first
warrior on earth; and these were the most dangerous, for
they were sincerely convinced that the whole earth must
bow before such an alliance. A third party, like the sta¬
rosta of Sohachev, honorable people and wishing well to the
country, sought signs on the earth and in the heavens, re-
THE DELUGE.
535
peated prophecies, and seeing the will of God and unbend¬
ing predestination in all things that happened, came to the
conclusion that there was no hope, no salvation; that the
end of the world was drawing nigh; therefore it would be
madness to think of earthly instead of heavenly salvation.
Others hid in the forest, or escaped with their lives beyond
the boundaries of the Commonwealth. Kmita met only un¬
restrained, corrupted, mad, timid, or desperate people. He
met no man who had hope.
Meanwhile the fortune of the Swedes was increasing.
News that the rest of the army had revolted, were conspir¬
ing, threatening the hetmans, and wishing to go over to
the Swedes, gained certainty every day. The report that
Konyetspolski with his division had joined Karl Gustav
reverberated like thunder through every corner of the
Commonwealth, and drove out the remnant of faith from
men's hearts, for Konyetspolski was a knight of Zbaraj. He
was followed by the starosta of Yavor and Prince Dymitr
Yishnyevetski, who was not restrained by a name covered
with immortal glory.
Men had begun now to doubt Lyubomirski, the marshal.
Those who knew him well asserted that ambition surpassed
in him both reason and love of country; that for the time
being he was on the king's side because he was flattered,
because all eyes were turned to him, because one side and
the other tried to win him, to persuade him, because he
was told that he had the fate of the country in his hands.
But in view of Swedish success he began to hesitate, to de¬
lay ; and each moment he gave the unfortunate Yan Kazimir
to understand more clearly that he could save him, or sink
him completely.
The refugee king was living in Glogov with a handful of
trusted persons, who shared his fate. Each day some one
deserted him, and went over to the Swedes. Thus do the
weak bend in days of misfortune, even men to whom the
first impulse of the heart points out the thorny'path of
honor. Karl Gustav received the deserters with open arms,
rewarded them, covered them with promises, tempted and
attracted the remnant of the faithful, extended more widely
his rule; fortune itself pushed from before his feet every
obstacle ; he conquered Poland with Polish forces ; he was
a victor without a battle.
Crowds of voevodas, castellans, officials of Poland and
Lithuania, throngs of armed nobles, complete squadrons of
536
THE DELUGE.
incomparable Polish cavalry, stood in his camp, watching
the eyes of their newly made lord and ready at his beck.
The last of the armies of the kingdom was calling more
and more emphatically to its hetrnan: " Go, incline thy
gray head before the majesty of Karl, — go, for we wish to
belong to the Swedes."
" To the Swedes ! to the Swedes !"
And in support of these words thousands of sabres flashed
forth.
At the same time war was flaming continually on the east.
The terrible Hmelnitski was besieging Lvoff again; and
legions of his allies, rolling on past the unconquered walls of
Zamost, spread over the whole province of Lubelsk, reaching
even to Lublin.
Lithuania was in the hands of the Swedes and Hovanski.
Kadzivill had begun war in Podlyasye, the elector was loiter¬
ing, and any moment he might give the last blow to the ex¬
piring Commonwealth; meanwhile he was growing strong in
Royal Prussia.
Embassies from every side were hastening to the King of
Sweden, wishing him a happy conquest.
Winter was coming ; leaves were falling from the trees ;
flocks of ravens, crows, and jackdaws had deserted the
forests, and were flying over the villages and towns of the
Commonwealth.
Beyond Pyotrkoff Kmita came again upon Swedish par¬
ties, who occupied all the roads and highways. Some of
them, after the capture of Cracow, were marching to War¬
saw, for it was said that Karl Gustav, having received
homage from the northern and eastern provinces and
signed the " capitulations," was only waiting for the sub¬
mission of those remnants of the army under Pototski and
Lantskoronski; that given, he would go straightway to
Prussia, and therefore he was sending the army ahead.
The road was closed in no place to Pan Andrei, for in gen¬
eral nobles roused no suspicion. A multitude of armed at¬
tendants were going with the Swedes; others were going
to Cracow, — one to bow down before the new king, another
to obtain something from him. No one was asked for
a pass or a letter, especially since in the neighborhood
of Karl, who was counterfeiting kindness, no man dared
trouble another.
The last night before Chenstohova met Pan Andrei in
Krushyn; but barely had he settled down when guests
THE DELUGE.
537
arrived. First a Swedish detachment of about one hun¬
dred horse, under the lead of a number of officers and some
important captain. This captain was a man of middle age,
of a form rather imposing, large, powerful, broad-shouldered,
quick-eyed; and though he wore a foreign dress and looked
altogether like a foreigner, still when he entered the room
he spoke to Pan Andrei in purest Polish, asking who he
was and whither he was going.
Pan Andrei answered at once that he was a noble from
Sohachev, for it might have seemed strange to the officer
that a subject of the elector had come to that remote place.
Learning that Pan Andrei was going to the King of Sweden
with complaint that payment of money due him by the
Swedes was refused, the officer said, —
"Prayer at the high altar is best, and wisely you go to
the king ; for though he has a thousand affairs on his head,
he refuses hearing to no one, and he is so kind to Polish
nobles that you are envied by the Swedes."
"If only there is money in the treasury ? "
" Karl Gustav is not the same as your recent Yan Kazi-
mir, who was forced to borrow even of Jews, for whatever
he had he gave straightway to him who first asked for it.
But if a certain enterprise succeeds, there will be 110 lack
of coin in the treasury."
" Of what enterprise is your grace speaking ? "
" I know you too little to speak confidentially, but be as¬
sured that in a week or two the treasury of the King of
Sweden will be as weighty as that of the Sultan."
" Then some alchemist must make money for him, since
there is no place from which to get it in this country."
" In this country ? It is enough to stretch forth daring
hands. And of daring there is no lack among us, as is
shown by the fact that we are now rulers here."
" True, true," answered Kmita; " we are very glad of that
rule, especially if you teach us how to get money like chips."
" The means are in your power, but you would rather die
of hunger than take one copper."
Kmita looked quickly at the officer, and said, —
" For there are places against which it is terrible, even
for Tartars, to raise hands."
"You are too mysterious, Sir Cavalier," answered the offi¬
cer, " and remember that you are going, not to Tartars, but to
Swedes for money."
Further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a
538
THE DELUGE.
new party of men, whom the officer was evidently expect¬
ing, for he hurried out of the inn. Kmita followed and
stood in the door to see who were coming.
In front was a closed carriage drawn by four horses, and
surrounded by a party of Swedish horsemen; it stopped
before the inn. The officer who had just been talking to
Kmita went up to the carriage quickly, and opening the door
made a low bow to the person sitting inside.
" He must be some distinguished man," thought Kmita.
That moment they brought from the inn a flaming torch.
Out of the carriage stepped an important personage dressed
in black, in foreign fashion, with a cloak to his knees, lined
with fox-skin, and a hat with feathers. The officer seized
the torch from the hands of a horseman, and bowing once
more, said, —
" This way, your excellency!"
Kmita pushed back as quickly as possible, and they en¬
tered after him. In the room the officer bowed a third time
and said, —
"Your excellency, I am Count Veyhard Vjeshchovich,
ordinarius proviantmagister, of his Royal Grace Karl Gus-
tav, and am sent with an escort to meet your excellency."
" It is pleasant for me to meet such an honorable cavalier,"
said the personage in black, giving bow for bow.
" Does your excellency ivish to stop here some time or
to go on at once ? His Royal Grace wishes to see your
excellency soon."
"I had. intended to halt at Chenstohova for prayers,"
answered the newly arrived, " but in Vyelunie I received
news that his Royal Grace commands me to hurry; there¬
fore, after I have rested, we will go on. Meanwhile dismiss
the escort, and thank the captain who led it."
The officer went to give the requisite order. Pan Andrei
stopped him on the way.
" Who is that ? " asked he.
" Baron Lisola, the Imperial Envoy, now on his way from
the court of Brandenburg to our lord," answered the officer.
Then he went out, and after a while returned.
"Your excellency's orders are carried out," said he to
the baron.
" I thank you," said Lisola; and with great though very
lofty affability he indicated to Count Veyhard a place oppo¬
site himself. " Some kind of storm is beginning to whistle
outside," said he, "and rain is falling. It may continue
THE DELUGE.
539
long; meanwhile let us talk before supper. What is to be
heard here ? I have been told that the voevodas of Little
Poland have submitted to his Grace of Sweden."
" True, your excellency; his Grace is only waiting for
the submission of the rest of the troops, then he will go at
once to Warsaw and to Prussia."
" Is it certain that they will surrender ? "
"Deputies from the army are already in Cracow. They
have no choice, for if they do not come to us Hmelnitski
will destroy them utterly."
Lisola inclined his reasoning head upon his breast. " Ter¬
rible, unheard of things ! " said he.
The conversation was carried on in the German language.
Kmita did not lose a single word of it.
" Your excellency." said Count Veyhard, " that has hap¬
pened which had to happen."
" Perhaps so; but it is difficult not to feel compassion for
a power which has fallen before our eyes, and for which a
man who is not a Swede must feel sorrow."
" I am not a Swede; but if Poles themselves do not feel
sorrow, neither do I," answered the count.
Lisola looked at him seriously. " It is true that your
name is not Swedish. From what people are you, I pray ? "
"I am a Cheh" (Bohemian).
"Indeed? Then you are a subject of the German
emperor ? We are under the same rule."
" I am in the service of the Most Serene King of Sweden,"
said Veyhard, with a bow.
" I wish not to derogate from that service in the least,"
answered Lisola, "but such employments are temporary;
being then a subject of our gracious sovereign, whoever
you may be, whomsover you may serve, you cannot consider
any one else as your natural sovereign."
" I do not deny that."
" Then I will tell you sincerely, that our lord mourns over
this illustrious Commonwealth, over the fate of its noble
monarch, and he cannot look with a kindly or willing eye
on those of his subjects who are aiding in the final ruin of
a friendly power. What have the Poles done to you, that
you show them such ill will ? "
"Your excellency, I might answer many things, but I
fear to abuse your patience."
"You seem to me not only a famous soldier, but a wise
man. My office obliges me to observe, to listen, to seek
540
THE DELUGE.
causes ; speak then, even in the most minute way, and fear
not to annoy my patience. If you incline at any time to
the service of the emperor, which I wish most strongly, you
will find in me a friend who will explain and repeat your
reasons, should any man wish to consider your present ser¬
vice as wrong."
" Then I will tell you all that I have on my mind. Like
many nobles, younger sons, I had to seek my fortune outside
my native land. I came to this country where the people
are related to my own, and take foreigners into service
readily."
" Were you badly received ? "
"Salt mines were given to my management. I found
means of livelihood, of approach to the people and the
king himself; I serve the Swedes at present, but should
any one wish to consider me unthankful, I could contradict
him directly."
" How ? "
" Can more be asked of me than of the Poles themselves ?
Where are the Poles to-day ? Where are the senators of this
kingdom, the princes, the magnates, the nobles, if not in the
Swedish camp ? And still they should be the first to know
what they ought to do, where the salvation of their country
is, and where its destruction. I follow their example; who
of them then has the right to call me unthankful ? Why
should I, a foreigner, be more faithful to the King of Poland
and the Commonwealth than they themselves are ? Why
should I despise that service for which they themselves are
begging ? "
Lisola made no answer. He rested his head on his hand
and fell into thought. It would seem that he was listen¬
ing to the whistle of the wind and the sound of the
autumn rain, which had begun to strike the windows of
the inn.
" Speak on," said he, at last; " in truth you tell me strange
things."
"I seek fortune where I can find it," continued Count
Veyhard; "and because this people are perishing, I do not
need to care for them more than they do for themselves.
Besides, even if I were to care, it would avail nothing, for
they must perish."
" But why is that ? "
" First, because they wish it themselves; second, because
they deserve it. Your excellency, is there another country
THE DELUGE.
541
in the world where so many disorders and such violence
may be seen ? What manner of government is there here ?
The king does not rule, because they will not let him ; the
diets do not rule, because the members break them ; there
is no army, because the Poles will not pay taxes ; there is
no obedience, for obedience is opposed to freedom; there is
no justice, for there is no one to execute decisions, and each
strong man tramples on decisions; there is no loyalty in this
people, for all have deserted their king; there is no love for
the country, for they have given it to the Swede, for the
promise that he will not prevent them from living in old
fashion according to their ancient violence. Where could
anything similar be found ? What people in the world
would aid an enemy in conquering their own country ?
Who would desert a king, not for his tyranny, not for his
evil deeds, but because a stronger one came ? Where is
there a people who love private profits more, or trample
more on public affairs ? What have they, your excellency ?
Let any one mention to me even one virtue, — prudence, rea¬
son, cleverness, endurance, abstinence. What have they ?
Good cavalry ? that and nothing more. But the Numidians
were famous for cavalry, and the Gauls, as may be read in
Roman history, had celebrated soldiers; but where are they ?
They have perished as they were bound to perish. Whoso
wishes to save the Poles is merely losing time, for they will
not save themselves. Only the mad, the violent, the mali¬
cious, and the venal inhabit this land."
Count Veyhard pronounced the last words with a genuine
outburst of hatred marvellous in a foreigner who had found
bread among that people; but Lisola was not astonished.
A veteran diplomat, he knew the world and men. He knew
that whoso does not know how to pay his benefactor with
his heart, seeks in him faults, so as to shield with them his
own unthankfulness. Besides, it may be that he recognized
that Count Veyhard was right. He did not protest, but
asked quickly, " Are you a Catholic ? "
The count was confused. "Yes, your excellency," an¬
swered he.
" I have heard in Vyelunie that there are persons who
persuade the king, Karl Gustav, to occupy the monastery of
Yasna Gora.1 Is it true ? "
" Your excellency, the monastery lies near the Silesian
boundary, and Yan Kazimir can easily receive messages
1 Bright Mountain.
542
THE DELUGE.
therefrom. We must occupy it to prevent that. I was the
first to direct attention to this matter, and therefore his
Royal Grace has confided these functions to me."
Here Count Veyhard stopped suddenly, remembered
Kmita, sitting in the other corner of the room, and com¬
ing up to him, asked, —
" Do you understand German ? "
"Not a word, even if a man were to pull my teeth,"
answered Pan Andrei.
"That is too bad, for we wished to ask you to join our
conversation." Then he turned to Lisola.
" There is a strange noble here, but he does not under¬
stand German ; we can speak freely."
" I have no secret to tell," said Lisola; " but as I am
a Catholic too, I should not like to see such injustice
done to a sacred place. And because I am certain that
the most serene emperor has the same feeling, I shall
beg his Grace the King of Sweden to spare the monks.
And do not hurry with the occupation until there is a
new decision."
" I have express, though secret, instructions; but I shall
not withhold them from your excellency* for I wish to serve
faithfully my lord the emperor. I can assure your excel¬
lency that no profanation will come to the sacred place. I
am a Catholic."
Lisola laughed, and wishing to extort the truth from a
man less experienced than himself, asked jokingly, —
" But you will shake up their treasury for the monks ? It
will not pass without that, will it ? "
"That may happen," answered Count Veyhard. "The
Most Holy Lady will not ask for thalers from the priors'
caskets. When all others pay, let the monks pay too."
" But if the monks defend themselves ? "
The count laughed. " In this country no man will de¬
fend himself, and to-day no man is able. There was a time
for defence, — now it is too late."
" Too late," repeated Lisola.
The conversation ended there. After supper they went
away. Kmita remained alone. This was for him the bitter¬
est night that he had spent since leaving Kyedani. While
listening to the words of Count Veyhard, Kmita had to
restrain himself with all his power to keep from shouting at
him, " Thou liest, thou cur! " and from falling on him with
his sabre. But if he did not do so, it was unhappily because
THE DELUGE.
543
he felt and recognized truth in the words of the foreigner, —
awful truth burning like fire, but genuine.
" What could I say to him ? " thought he ; " with what
could I offer denial except with my fist ? What reasons
could I bring ? He snarled out the truth. Would to God
he were slain! And that statesman of the emperor ac¬
knowledged to him that in all things and for all defence it
was too late."
Kmita suffered in great part perhaps because that " too
late " was the sentence not only of the country, but of his
own personal happiness. And he had had his fill of suffer¬
ing ; there was no strength left in him, for during all those
weeks he had heard nothing save, " All is lost, there is no
time left, it is too late." jSTo ray of hope anywhere fell
into his soul.
Ever riding farther, he had hastened greatly, night and
day, to escape from those prophecies, to find at last some
place of rest, some man who would pour into his spirit
even one drop of consolation. But he found every moment
greater fall, every moment greater despair. At last the
words of Count Veyhard filled that cup of bitterness and
gall; they showed to him clearly this, which hitherto was
an undefined feeling, that not so much the Swedes, the
Northerners, and the Cossacks had killed the country, as
the whole people.
"The mad, the violent, the malicious, the venal, inhabit
this land," repeated Kmita after Count Veyhard, "and there
are no others ! They obey not the king, they break the
diets, they pay not the taxes, they help the enemy to the
conquest of this land. They must perish.
" In God's name, if I could only give him the lie ! Is there
nothing good in us save cavalry; no virtue, nothing but
evil itself ? "
Kmita sought an answer in his soul. He was so wearied
from the road, from sorrows, and from everything that had
passed before him, that it grew cloudy in his head. He
felt that he was ill and a deathly sickness seized possession
of him. In his brain an ever-growing chaos was working.
Faces known and unknown pushed past him, — those whom
he had known long before and those whom he had met on
this journey. Those figures spoke, as if at a diet, they
quoted sentences, prophecies ; and all was concerning
Olenka. She was awaiting deliverance from Kmita; but
Count Veyhard held him by the arms, and looking into
544
THE DELUGE.
his eyes repeated: " Too late! what is Swedish is Swed¬
ish !" and Boguslav Radzivill sneered and supported Count
Veyhard. Then all of them began to scream : " Too late,
too late, too late! " and seizing Olenka they vanished with
her somewhere in darkness.
It seemed to Pan Andrei that Olenka and the country
were the same, that he had ruined both and had given
them to the Swedes of his own will. Then such meas¬
ureless sorrow grasped hold of him that he woke, looked
around in amazement and listening to the wind which
in the chimney, in the walls, in the roof, whistled in
various voices and played through each cranny, as if on
an organ.
But the visions returned, Olenka and the country were
blended again in his thoughts in one person whom Count
Veyhard was conducting away saying: " Too late, too
late !"
So Pan Andrei spent the night in a fever. In moments
of consciousness he thought that it would come to him to
be seriously ill, and at last he wanted to call Soroka to bleed
him. But just then dawn began; Kmita sprang up and
went out in front of the inn.
The first dawn had barely begun to dissipate the dark¬
ness ; the day promised to be mild; the clouds were breaking
into long stripes and streaks on the west, but the east was
pure ; on the heavens, which were growing pale gradually,
stars, unobscured by mist, were twinkling. Kmita roused
his men, arrayed himself in holiday dress, for Sunday had
come and they moved to the road.
After a bad sleepless night, Kmita was wearied in body
and spirit. Neither could that autumn morning, pale but
refreshing, frosty and clear, scatter the sorrow crushing the
heart of the knight. Hope in him had burned to the last
spark, and was dying like a lamp in which the oil is
exhausted. What would that day bring ? Nothing! —
the same grief, the same suffering, rather it will add to the
weight on his soul; of a surety it will not decrease it.
He rode forward in silence, fixing his eyes on some point
which was then greatly gleaming upon the horizon. The
horses were snorting; the men fell to singing with drowsy
voices their matins.
Meanwhile it became clearer each moment, the heavens
from pale became green and golden and that point on the
horizon began so to shine that Kmita's eyes were dazzled
THE DELUGE.
545
by its glitter. The men ceased their singing and all gazed
in that direction, at last Soroka said, —
" A miracle or what ? —That is the west, and it is as if
the sun were rising."
In fact, that light, increased in the eyes: from a point it
became a ball, from a ball a globe; from afar you would
have said that some one had hung above the earth a giant
star, which was scattering rays immeasurable.
Kmita and his men looked with amazement on that bright,
trembling, radiant vision, not knowing what was before
their sight. Then a peasant came along from Krushyn in
a wagon with a rack. Kmita turning to him saw that the
peasant, holding his cap in his hand and looking at the
light, was praying.
" Man," asked Pan Andrei, " what is that which shines
so?"
"The church on Yasna Gora."
" Glory to the Most Holy Lady !" cried Kmita. He took
his cap from his head, and his men removed theirs.
After so many days of suffering, of doubts, and of
struggles, Pan Andrei felt suddenly that something wonder¬
ful was happening in him. Barely had the words, " the
church on Yasna Gora," sounded in his ears when the
confusion fell from him as if some hand had removed it.
A certain inexplicable awe seized hold of Pan Andrei, full
of reverence, but at the same time a joy unknown to ex¬
perience, great and blissful. From that church shining on
the height in the first rays of the sun, hope, such as for a
long time Pan Andrei had not known, was beating, — a
strength invincible on which he wished to lean. A new life,
as it were, entered him and began to course through his
veins with the blood. He breathed as deeply as a sick man
coming to himself out of fever and unconsciousness.
But the church glittered more and more brightly, as if it
were taking to itself all the light of the sun. The whole
region lay at its feet, and the church gazed at it from the
height; you would have said, " 'T is the sentry and guardian
of the land."
For a long time Kmita could not take his eyes from that
light; he satisfied and comforted himself with the sight of
it. The faces of his men had grown serious, and were pene¬
trated with aAve. Then the sound of a bell was heard in the
silent morning air.
" From your horses ! " cried Pan Andrei.
vol. i. — 35
546
THE DELUGE.
All sprang from their saddles, and kneeling on the road
began the litany. Kmita repeated it, and the soldiers
responded together.
Other wagons came up. Peasants seeing the praying men
on the road joined them, and the crowd grew greater con¬
tinually. When at length the prayers were finished Pan
Andrei rose, and after him his men; but they advanced on
foot, leading their horses and singing: " Hail, ye bright
gates!"
Kmita went on with alertness as if he had wings on his
shoulders. At the turns of the road the church van¬
ished, then came out again. When a height or a mist con¬
cealed it, it seemed to Kmita that light had been captured
by darkness; but when it gleamed forth again all faces were
radiant.
So they went on for a long time. The cloister and the
walls surrounding it came out more distinctly, became more
imposing, more immense. At last they saw the town in the
distance, and under the mountain whole lines of houses
and cottages, which, compared with the size of the church,
seemed as small as birds' nests.
It was Sunday : therefore when the sun had risen well the
road was swarming with wagons, and people on foot going
to church. Prom the lofty towers the bells great and small
began to peal, filling the air with noble sounds. There was
in that sight and in those metal voices a strength, a majesty
immeasurable, and at the same time a calm. That bit of
land at the foot of Yasna Gora resembled in no wise the
rest of the country.
Throngs of people stood black around the walls of the
church. Under the hill were hundreds of wagons, car¬
riages, and equipages; the talk of men was blended with
the neighing of horses tied to posts. Farther on, at the
right, along the chief road leading to the mountain, were to
be seen whole rows of stands, at which were sold metal offer¬
ings, wax candles, pictures, and scapulars. A river of peo¬
ple flowed everywhere freely.
The gates were wide open; whoso wished entered, whoso
wished went forth; on the walls, at the guns, were no sol¬
diers. Evidently the very sacredness of the place guarded
the church and the cloister, and perhaps men trusted in the
letters of Karl Gustav in which he guaranteed safety.
THE DELUGE.
547
CHAPTER XXXIX.
From the gates of the fortress peasants and nobles, vil¬
lagers from various neighborhoods, people of every age, of
both sexes, of all ranks, pressed forward to the church on
their knees, singing prayerful hymns. That river flowed
slowly, and its course Avas stopped whenever the bodies of
people crowded against one another too densely. At ti mes the
songs ceased and the cro\\rds began to repeat a litany, and then
the thunder of words A\ras heard from one end of the place
to the other. Between hymn and litany, between litany and
hymn, the people were silent, struck the ground with their
foreheads, or cast themselves down in the form of a cross.
At these moments were heard only the imploring and shrill
voices of beggars, who sitting at both banks of the human
river exposed their deformed limbs to public gaze. Their
hoAvling was mingled with the clinking of coppers thrown
into tin and wooden dishes. Then again the river of heads
flowed omvard, and again the hymns thundered.
As the river flowed nearer to the church door, excitement
grew greater, and was turned into ecstasy. You could see
hands stretched toward heaven, eyes turned upward, faces
pale from emotion or glowing Avith prayer. Differences of
rank disappeared: the coat of the peasant touched the robe
of the noble, the jacket of the soldier the yellow coat of the
artisan.
In the church door the crush was still greater. The bodies
of men had become not a river, but a bridge, so firm that }7ou
might travel on their heads and their shoulders Avithout
touching the ground Avith a foot. Breath failed their breasts,
space failed their bodies; but the spirit which inspired gave
them iron endurance. Each man was praying; no one
thought of aught else. Each one bore on himself the pres¬
sure and weight of the whole of that mass, but no man fell;
and pressed by those thousands he felt in himself power
against thousands, and with that power he pushed forward,
lost in prayer, in ecstasy, in exaltation.
Kmita, creeping forAvard in the first ranks with his men,
reached the church with the earliest; then the current car-
548
THE DELUGE.
ried him too to the chapel of miracles, where the multitude
fell on their faces, weeping, embracing the floor with their
hands, and kissing it with emotion. So also did Pan Andrei;
and when at last he had the boldness to raise his head, de¬
light, happiness, and at the same time mortal awe, almost
took from him consciousness.
In the chapel there was a ruddy gloom not entirely dispersed
by the rays of candles burning on the altar. Colored rays fell
also through the window-panes; and all those gleams, red,
violet, golden, fiery, quivered on the walls, slipped along the
carvings and windings, made their way into dark depths
bringing forth to sight indistinct forms buried as it were in
a dream. Mysterious glimmers ran along and united with
darkness, so undistinguisliable that all difference between
light and darkness was lost. The candles on the altar had
golden halos ; the smoke from the censers formed purple
mist; the white robes of the monks serving Mass played
with the darkened colors of the rainbow. All things there
were half visible, half veiled, unearthly; the gleams were
unearthly, the darkness unearthly, mysterious, majestic,
blessed, filled with prayer, adoration, and holiness.
From the main nave of the church came the deep sound
of human voices, like the mighty sound of the sea; but in
the chapel deep silence reigned, broken only by the voice
of the priest chanting Mass.
The image was still covered ; expectation therefore held
the breath in all breasts. There were only to be seen,
looking in one direction, faces as motionless as if they had
parted with earthly life, hands palm to palm and placed
before mouths, like the hands of angels in pictures.
The organ accompanied the singing of the priest, and gave
out tones mild and sweet, flowing as it were from flutes be¬
yond the earth. At moments they seemed to distil like
water from its source; then again they fell softly but quickly
like dense rain showers in May.
All at once the thunder of trumpets and drums roared,
and a quiver passed through all hearts. The covering be¬
fore the picture was pushed apart from the centre to the
sides, and a flood of diamond light flashed from above on
the faithful.
Groans, weeping, and cries were heard throughout the
chapel.
" Salve, Regina ! " (Hail, 0 Queen!) cried the nobles,
"Monstra te esse matrem! " (Show thyself a mother); but the
THE DELUGE.
549
peasants cried, " 0 Most Holy Lady ! Golden Lady ! Queen
of the Angels ! save us, assist us, console us, pity us ! "
Long did those cries sound, together with sobs of women
and complaints of the hapless, with prayers for a miracle on
the sick or the maimed.
The soul lacked little of leaving Kmita ; he felt only that
he had before him infinity, which he could not grasp, could
not comprehend, and before which all things were effaced.
What were doubts in presence of that faith which all exist¬
ence could not exhaust ? what was misfortune in presence
of that solace ? what was the power of the Swedes in pres¬
ence of that defence ? what was the malice of men before
the eyes of such protection ?
Here his thoughts became settled, and turned into facul¬
ties ; he forgot himself, ceased to distinguish who he was,
where he was. It seemed to him that he had died, that his
soul was now flying with the voices of organs, mingled in
the smoke of the censers ; his hands, used to the sword and
to bloodshed, were stretched upward, and he was kneeling
in ecstasy, in rapture.
The Mass ended. Pan Andrei knew not himself how he
reached again the main nave of the church. The priest gave
instruction from the pulpit; but Kmita for a long time heard
not, understood not, like a man roused from sleep, who does
not at once note where his sleeping ended and his waking
moments began.
The first words which he heard were: " In this place
hearts change and souls are corrected, for neither can the
Swedes overcome this power, nor those wandering in dark¬
ness overcome the true light! "
" Amen !" said Kmita in his soul, and he began to strike
his breast; for it seemed to him then that he had sinned
deeply through thinking that all was lost, and that from no
source was there hope.
After the sermon Kmita stopped the first monk he met,
and told him that he wished to see the prior on business of
the church and the cloister.
_ He got hearing at once from the prior, who was a man in
ripe age, inclining then toward its evening. He had a face
of unequalled calm. A thick black beard added to the
dignity of his face ; he had mild azure eyes with a penetrat¬
ing look. In his white habit he seemed simply a saint.
Kmita kissed his sleeve; he pressed Kmita's head, and in¬
quired who he was and whence he had come.
550
THE DELUGE.
"I have come from Jnrad," answered Kmita, "to serve
the Most Holy Lady, the suffering country, and my deserted
king, against all of whom I have hitherto sinned, and in
sacred confession I beg to make a minute explanation. I
ask that to-day or to-morrow my confession be heard, since
sorrow for my sins draws me to this. I will tell you also,
revered father, my real name, — under the seal of con¬
fession, not otherwise, for men ill inclined to me prevent
and bar me from reform. Before men I wish to be called
Babinich, from one of my estates, taken now by the enemy.
Meanwhile I bring important information to which do you,
revered father, give ear with patience, for it is a question of
this sacred retreat and this cloister."
" I praise your intentions and the change of life which
you have undertaken," said the prior, Father Kordetski;
" as to confession, I will yield to your urgent wish and hear
it now."
" I have travelled long," added Kmita, " I have seen
much and I have suffered not a little. Everywhere the
enemy has grown strong, everywhere heretics are raising
their heads, nay, even Catholics themselves are going over
to the camp of the enemy; who, emboldened by this, as well
as by the capture of two capitals, intend to raise now
sacrilegious hands against Yasna Gora."
" From whom have you this news ? " asked the prior.
" I spent last night at Krushyn, where I saw Count
Veyhard Yjeshchovich and Baron Lisola, envoy of the
Emperor of Germany, who was returning from the Brand¬
enburg court, and is going to the King of Sweden."
"The King of Sweden is no longer in Cracow," said the
prior, looking searchingly into the eyes of Pan Andr,ei.
But Pan Andrei did not drop his lids and talked on, —
" I do not know whether he is there or not. I know that
Lisola is going to him, and Count Yeyhard was sent to
relieve the escort and conduct him farther.' Both talked
before me in German, taking no thought of my presence;
for they did not suppose that I understood their speech. I
knowing German, was able to learn that Count Veyhard has
proposed the occupation of this cloister and the taking of
its treasure, for which he has received permission from the
king."
" And you have heard this with your own ears ? "
" Just as I am standing here."
" The will of God be done ! " said the priest, calmly.
THE DELUGE.
551
Kmita was alarmed. He thought that the priest called
the command of the King of Sweden the will of God and
was not thinking of resistance; therefore he said, —
" I saw in Pultusk a church in Swedish hands, the soldiers
were playing cards in the sanctuary of God, kegs of beer
were on the altars, and shameless women were there with
the soldiers."
The prior looked steadily, directly in the eyes of the
soldier. " A wonderful thing!" said he ; " sincerity and
truth are looking out of your eyes."
Kmita flushed. " May I fall a corpse here if what I say
is not true."
" In every case these tidings over which we must
deliberate are important."
" You will permit me to ask the older fathers and some
of the more important nobles who are now dwelling with
us. You will permit, — "
"I will repeat gladly the same thing before them."
Father Kordetski went ont, and in quarter of an hour
returned with four older fathers. Soon after Pan Rujyts-
Zamoyski, the sword-bearer of Syeradz, entered, — a dignified
man; Pan Okyelnitski, banneret of Vyelunie; Pan Pyotr
Charnyetski, a young cavalier with a fierce war-like face,
like an oak in stature and strength; and other nobles of
various ages. The prior presented to them Pan Babinich
from Jmud, and repeated in the presence of all the tidings
which he had brought. They wondered greatly and began
to measure Pan Andrei with their eyes inquiringly and
incredulously, and when no one raised his voice the prior
said, —
" May God preserve me from attributing to this cavalier
evil intention or calumny ; but the tidings which he brings
seem to me so unlikely that I thought it proper for us to ask
about them in company. With the sincerest intention this
cavalier may be mistaken; he may have heard incorrectly,
understood incorrectly, or have been led into error through
heretics. To fill our hearts with fear, to cause panic in a
holy place, to harm piety, is for them an immense delight,
which surely no one of them in his wickedness would like
to deny himself."
" That seems to me very much like truth," said Father
Nyeshkovski, the oldest in the assembly.
"It would be needful to know in advance if this cavalier
is not a heretic himself ? " said Pyotr Charnyetski.
THE DELUGE.
" I am a Catholic, as you are ! " answered Kmita.
" It behooves us to consider first the circumstances," put
in Zamoyski.
" The circumstances are such," said the prior, Kordetski,
" that surely God and His Most Holy Mother have sent blind¬
ness of purpose on these enemies, so that they might exceed
the measure in their iniquities ; otherwise they never would
have dared to raise the sword against this sacred retreat.
Hot with their own power have they conquered this Com¬
monwealth, whose own sons have helped them. But
though our people have fallen low, though they are wading
in sin, still in sin itself there is a certain limit which they
would not dare to pass. They have deserted their king,
they have fallen away from the Commonwealth; but they
have not ceased to revere their Mother, their Patroness and
Queen. The enemy jeer at us and ask with contempt what
has remained to us of our ancient virtues. I answer they
have all perished; still something remains, for faith in the
Most Holy Lady and reverence for Her have remained to
them, and on this foundation the rest may be built. I see
clearly that, let one Swedish ball make a dint in these
sacred walls, the most callous men will turn from the con¬
queror, — from being friends will become enemies of the
Swedes and draw swords against them. But the Swedes
have their eyes open to their own danger, and understand
this well. Therefore, if God, as I have said, has not sent
upon them blindness intentionally, they will never dare to
strike Yasna Gora; for that day would be the day of their
change of fortune and of our revival."
Kmita heard the words of the prior with astonishment,
words which were at the same time an answer to what had
come from the mouth of Count Veyhard against the Polish
people. But recovering from astonishment, he said, —
" Why should we not believe, revered father, that God
has in fact visited the enemy with blindness ? Let us
look at their pride, their greed of earthly goods, let us
consider their unendurable oppression and the tribute
which they levy even on the clergy, and we may un¬
derstand with ease that they will not hesitate at sacrilege
of any kind."
The prior did not answer Kmita directly, but turning to
the whole assembly, continued, —
" This cavalier says that he saw Lisola, the envoy, going
to the King of Sweden. How can that be since I have
THE DELUGE.
553
undoubted news from the Paulists in Cracow that the king
is not in Cracow, nor in Little Poland, since he went to
Warsaw immediately after the surrender of Cracow."
" He cannot have gone to Warsaw," answered Kmita, " and
the best proof is that he is waiting for the surrender and
homage of the quarter soldiers, who are with Pototski."
" General Douglas is to receive homage in the name of
the king, so they write me from Cracow."
Kmita was silent; he knew not what to answer.
" But I will suppose," continued the prior, " that the
King of Sweden does not wish to see the envoy of the
emperor and has chosen purposely to avoid him. Carolus
likes to act thus, — to come on a sudden, to go on a sudden ;
besides the mediation of the emperor displeases him. I
believe then readily that he went away pretending not to
know of the coming of the envoy. I am less astonished
that Count Veyhard, a person of such note, was sent out to
meet Lisola with an escort, for it may be they wished to
show politeness and sugar over the disappointment for the
envoy; but how are we to believe that Count Veyhard would
inform Baron Lisola at once of his plans,"
"Unlikely ! " said Father Nyeshkovski, " since the baron is
a Catholic and friendly both to us and the Commonwealth."
" In my head too that does not find place," added
Zamoyski.
" Count Veyhard is a Catholic himself and a well-wisher
of ours," said another father.
"Does this cavalier say that he has heard this with his
own ears ?" asked Charnyetski, abruptly.
" Think, gentlemen, over this too," added the prior, " I
have a safeguard from Carolus Gustavus that the cloister
and the church are to be free forever from occupation and
quartering."
" It must be confessed," said Zamoyski, with seriousness,
" that in these tidings no one thing holds to another. It
would be a loss for the Swedes, not a gain, to strike Yasna
Gora; the king is not present, therefore Lisola could not go
to him; Count Veyhard would not make a confidant of him;
farther, Count Veyhard is not a heretic, but a Catholic, —
not an enemy of the cloister, but its benefactor; finally,
though Satan tempted him to make the attack, he would
not dare to make it against the order and safeguard of
the king." Here he turned to Kmita,—
" What then will you say, Cavalier, and why, with what
554
THE DELUGE.
purpose, do you wish to alarm the reverend fathers and us
in this place ?"
Kmita was as a criminal before a court. On one hand,
despair seized him, because if they would not believe, the
cloister would become the prey of the enemy ; on the other,
shame burned him, for he saw that all appearances argued
against his information, and that he might easily be ac¬
counted a calumniator. At thought of this, anger tore him,
his innate impulsiveness was roused, his offended ambition
was active; the old-time half-wild Kmita was awakened.
But he struggled until he conquered himself, summoned all
his endurance, and repeated in his soul: " For my sins, for
my sins! " and said, with a changing face, —
" What I have heard, I repeat once more : Count Yeyhard
is going to attack this cloister. The time I know not, but
I think it will be soon, — I give warning and on you will
fall the responsibility if you do not listen."
" Calmly, Cavalier, calmly," answered Pyotr Charnyetski,
with emphasis. " Do not raise your voice." Then he spoke
to the assembly, — " Permit me, worthy fathers, to put a few
questions to the newly arrived."
" You have no right to offend me," cried Kmita.
" I have not even the wish to do so," answered Pan Pyotr,
coldly; " but it is a question here of the cloister and the
Holy Lady and Her capital. Therefore you must set aside
offence; or if you do not set it aside, do so at least for the
time, for be assured that I will meet you anywhere. You
bring news which we want to verify — that is proper and
should not cause wonder; but if you do not wish to answer,
we shall think that you are afraid of self-contradiction."
" Well, put your questions !" said Babinich, through his
teeth.
" You say that you are from Jmud ? "
" True."
" And you have come here so as not to serve the Swedes
and Radzivill the traitor ? "
" True."
" But there are persons there who do not serve him, and
oppose him on the side of the country; there are squadrons
which have refused him obedience ; Sapyeha is there. Why
did you not join them ? "
" That is my affair."
"Ah, ha! your affair," said Charnyetski. "You may
give me that answer to other questions."
THE DELUGE.
555
Pan Andrei's hands quivered, he fixed his eyes on the
heavy brass bell standing before him on the table, and from
that bell they were turned to the head of the questioner.
A wild desire seized him to grasp that bell and bring it
down on the skull of Charnyetski. The old Kmita was
gaining the upper hand over the pious and penitent Babi-
nich ; but he broke himself once more and said, —
" Inquire."
" If you are from Jrnud, then you must know what is
happening at the court of the traitor. Name to me those
who have aided in the ruin of the country, name to me
those colonels who remain with him."
Kmita grew pale as a handkerchief, but still mentioned
some names. Charnyetski listened and said, " I have a
friend, an attendant of the king, Pan Tyzenhauz, who told
me of one, the most noted. Do you know nothing of this
arch criminal ? "
" I do not know."
" How is this ? Have you not heard of him who spilled
his brother's blood, like Cain ? Have you not heard, being
from Jmud, of Kmita ? "
" Revered fathers! screamed Pan Andrei, on a sudden,
shaking as in a fever, " let a clerical person question me,
I will tell all. But by the living God do not let this noble
torment me longer ! "
"Give him peace," said the prior, turning to Pan Pyotr.
"It is not a question here of this cavalier."
" Only one more question," said Zamoyski; and turning
to Babinich, he asked, — "You did not expect that we
would doubt your truth ? "
" As God is in heaven I did not! "
" What reward did you expect ? "
Pan Andrei, instead of giving an answer, plunged both
hands into a small leather sack which hung at his waist
from a belt, and taking out two handfuls of pearls, emer¬
alds, turquoises, and other precious stones, scattered them
on the table. " There ! " said he, with a broken voice, " I
have not come here for money ! Not for your rewards !
These are pearls and other small stones ; all taken from
the caps of boyars. You see what I am. Do I want a re¬
ward ? I wish to offer these to the Most Holy Lady ; but
only after confession, with a clean heart. Here they are —
That's the reward which I ask. I have more, God grant
you—"
556
THE DELUGE.
All were silent in astonishment, and the sight of jewels
thrown out as easily as grits from a sack made no small
impression; for involuntarily every one asked himself what
reason could that man have, if he had no thought of
rewards ?
Pan Pyotr was confused; for such is the nature of man
that the sight of another's power and wealth dazzles him.
Finally his suspicions fell away, for how could it be supposed
that that great lord, scattering jewels, wanted to frighten
monks for profit.
Those present looked at one another and Kmita stood
over his jewels with head upraised like the head of a
roused eagle, with fire in his eyes and a flush on his face.
The fresh wound passing through his cheek and his temple
was blue ; and terrible was Pan Babinich threatening with
his predatory glance Charnyetski, on whom his anger was
specially turned.
" Through your anger truth itself bursts forth," said
Kordetski; "but put away those jewels, for the Most Holy
Lady cannot receive that which is offered in anger, even
though the anger be just; besides, as I have said, it is not a
question here of you, but of the news which has filled us
with terror and fear. God knows whether there is not
some misunderstanding or mistake in it, for, as you see
yourself, what you say does not fit with reality. How are
we to drive out the faithful, diminish the honor of the Most
Holy Lady, and keep the gates shut night and day ? "
" Keep the gates shut, for God's mercy, keep the gates
shut! " cried Pan Andrei, wringing his hands till his fingers
cracked in their joints.
There was so much truth and unfeigned despair in his
voice that those present trembled in spite of themselves, as
if danger was really there at hand, and Zamoyski said, —
"As it is, we give careful attention to the environs, and
repairs are going on in the walls. In the day-time we can
admit people for worship; but it is well to observe caution
even for this reason, that the king has gone, and Wittem-
berg rules in Cracow with iron hand, and oppresses the
clergy no less than the laity."
"Though I do not believe in an attack, I have nothing
to say against caution," answered Charnyetski.
"And I," said the prior, "will send monks to Count
Veyhard to enquire if the safeguard of the king has
validity."
THE DELUGE.
557
Kmita breathed freely and cried, —
" Praise be to God, praise be to God !"
" Cavalier," said the prior, " God reward you for the good
intention. If you have warned us with reason, you will
have a memorable merit before the Holy Lady and the
country ; but wonder not if we have received your informa¬
tion with incredulity; more than once have we been alarmed.
Some frightened us out of hatred to our faith, to destroy the
honor shown the Most Holy Lady; others, out of greed, so as
to gain something; still others, so as to bring news and gain
consideration in the eyes of people; and maybe there were
even those who were deceived. Satan hates this place most
stubbornly, and uses every endeavor to hinder piety here
and to permit the faithful to take as little part in it as
possible, for nothing brings the court of hell to such despair
as reverence for Her who crushed the head of the serpent.
But now it is time for vespers. Let us implore Her love,
let us confide ourselves to Her guardianship, and let each
man go to sleep quietly ; for where should there be peace
and safety, if not under Her wings ? "
All separated. When vespers were finished Father
Kordetski himself heard the confession of Pan Andrei, and
listened to him long in the empty church; after that, Pan
Andrei lay in the form of a cross before the closed doors of
the chapel till midnight. At midnight he returned to his
room, roused Soroka, and commanded the old man to flog
him before he went to sleep, so that his shoulders and
back were covered with blood.
558
THE DELUGE.
CHAPTER XL.
Next morning, a wonderful and unusual movement
reigned in the cloister. The gate was open, and entrance
was not refused to the pious. Services were celebrated in
the usual course; but after services all strangers were
directed to leave the circuit of the cloister. Kordetski him¬
self, in company with Zamoyski and Pan Pyotr, examined
carefully the embrasures, and the escarpments supporting
the walls from the inside and outside. Directions were given
for repairing places here and there; blacksmiths in the town
received orders to make hooks and spears, scythes fixed on
long handles, clubs and heavy sticks of wood filled with
strong spikes. And since it was known that they had
already a considerable supply of such implements in the
cloister, people in the town began at once to say that the
cloister expected a sudden attack. New orders in quick
succession seemed to confirm these reports. Toward night
two hundred men were working at the side of the walls.
Twelve heavy guns sent at the time of the siege of Cracow
by Pan Varshytski, castellan of Cracow, were placed on
new carriages and properly planted.
From the cloister storehouses monks and attendants
brought out balls, which were placed in piles near the
guns ; carts with powder were rolled out; bundles of mus¬
kets were untied, and distributed to the garrison. On the
towers and bastions watchmen were posted to look care¬
fully, night and day, on the region about; men were sent
also to make investigation through the neighborhood,—to
Pjystaini, Klobuchek, Kjepitsi, Krushyn, and Mstov.
To the cloister storehouses, which were already well
filled, came supplies from the town, from Chenstohovka
and other villages belonging to the cloister.
The report went like thunder through the whole neighbor¬
hood. Townspeople and peasants began to assemble and
take counsel. Many were unwilling to believe that any
enemy would dare to attack Yasna Gora.
It was said that only Chenstohova itself was to be occu¬
pied ; but even that excited the minds of men, especially
THE DELUGE.
559
when some of them remembered that the Swedes were
heretics, whom nothing restrained, and who were ready to
offer' a purposed affront to the Most Holy Lady.
Therefore men hesitated, doubted, and believed in turn.
Some wrung their hands, waiting for terrible signs on
earth and in heaven, — visible signs of God's anger;
others were sunk in helpless and dumb despair; an anger
more than human seized a third party, whose heads were
filled as it were with flame. And when once the fancy of
men had spread its wings for flight, straightway there was
a whirl of news, ever changing, ever more feverish, ever
more monstrous.
And as when a man thrusts a stick or throws fire into an
ant-hill, unquiet swarms rush forth at once, assemble, sepa¬
rate, reassemble; so was the town, so were the neighboring
hamlets, in an uproar.
In the afternoon crowds of townspeople and peasants,
with women and children, surrounded the walls of the
cloister, and held them as it were in siege, weeping and
groaning. At sunset Kordetski went out to them, and
pushing himself into the throng, asked, —
" People, what do you want ? "
" We want to go as a garrison to the cloister to defend
the Mother of God," cried men, shaking their flails, forks,
and other rustic weapons.
" We wish to look for the last time on the Most Holy
Lady," groaned women.
The prior went on a high rock and said, —
" The gates of hell will not prevail against the might of
heaven. Calm yourselves, and receive consolation into
your hearts. The foot of a heretic will not enter these
holy walls. Neither Lutherans nor Calvinists will cele¬
brate their superstitious incantations in this retreat of
worship and faith. I know not in truth whether the
insolent enemy will come hither ; but I know this, that
if he does come, he will be forced to retreat in shame
and disgrace, for a superior power will crush him, his
malice will be broken, his power rubbed out, and his
fortune will fail. Take consolation to your hearts.
You are not looking for the last time on our Patroness:
you will see her in still greater glory, and you will see
new miracles. Take consolation, dry your tears, and
strengthen yourselves in faith; for I tell you — and it
is not I who speak, but the Spirit of God speaks through
560
THE DELUGE.
me — that the Swede will not enter these walls; grace
will flow hence, and darkness will not put out the light,
just as the night which is now coming will not hinder
God's sun from rising to-morrow."
It was just sunset. Dark shade had covered already
the region about; but the church was gleaming red in
the last rays of the sun. Seeing this, the people knelt
around the walls, and consolation flowed into their hearts
at once. Meanwhile the Angelus was sounded on the
towers, and Kordetski began to sing, " The Angel of the
Lord ;" and after him whole crowds sang. The nobles and
the soldiers standing on the walls joined their voices, the
bells greater and smaller pealed in accompaniment, and it
seemed that the whole mountain was singing and sound¬
ing like a gigantic organ to the four points of the earth.
They sang till late; the prior blessed the departing on
their way, and said, —
" Those men who have served in war, who know how to
wield weapons and who feel courage in their hearts, may
come in the morning to the cloister."
" I have served, I was in the infantry, I will come ! "
cried numerous voices.
And the throngs separated slowly. The night fell
calmly. All woke next morning with a joyous cry : "The
Swede is not here ! " Still, all day workmen were bringing
supplies which had been called for. An order went out
also to those who had shops at the eastern walls of the
cloister to bring their goods to the cloister; and in the
cloister itself work did not cease on the walls. Secured
especially were the so-called "passages;" that is, small
openings in the walls, which were not gates, but which
might serve in making sallies. Pan Zamoyski gave orders
to bring beams, bricks, and dung, so at a given moment
they could be easily closed from within.
All day, too, wagons were coming in with supplies and
provisions; there came also some noble families who were
alarmed by the news of the impending attack of the enemy.
About midday the men who had been sent out the pre¬
ceding day to gather tidings came back; but no one
had seen the Swedes nor even heard of them, except
those who were stationed near Kjepitsi.
Still, preparations were not abandoned in the cloister.
By order of the prior, those of the townspeople and peas¬
antry came who had formerly served in the infantry and
THE DELUGE.
561
who were accustomed to service. They were assigned
to the command of Pan Mosinski, who was defending
the northeastern bastion. Pan Zamoyski was occupied
during the day either'in disposing the men in their places,
instructing each one what to do, or holding counsel with
the fathers in the refectory.
Kmita with joy in his heart looked at the military
preparations, at the soldiers as they were mustered, at
the cannon, at the stacks of muskets, spears, and hooks.
That was his special element. In the midst of those
terrible implements, in the midst of the urgent prep¬
arations and military feverishness, it was light, pleasant,
and joyous for him. It was the easier and more joyous be¬
cause he had made a general confession of his whole life,
and beyond his own expectations had received absolution ;
for the prior took into account his intention, his sincere
desire to reform, and this too, that he had already entered
on the road.
So Pan Andrei had freed himself from the burdens
under which he was almost falling. Heavy penances had
been imposed on him, and every day his back was bleeding
under Soroka's braided lash; he was enjoined to practice
obedience, and that was a penance still more difficult, for he
had not obedience in his heart; on the contrary, he had
pride and boastfulness. Finally, he was commanded to
strengthen his reformation by virtuous deeds ; but that was
the easiest, he desired and asked for nothing more; his
whole soul was tearing forth toward exploits, for by ex¬
ploits he understood war and killing the Swedes from
morning till evening without rest and without mercy.
And just then, what a noble road was opening to him!
To kill Swedes, not only in defence of the country, not
only in defence of the king to whom he had sworn loyalty,
but in defence of the Queen of the Angels, — that was a
happiness beyond his merit.
Whither had those times gone when he was standing as
it were on the parting of the roads, asking himself whither
he should go ? where are those times in which he knew not
what to begin, in which he was always meeting doubt, and
in which he had begun to lose hope ? And those men,
those white monks, and that handful of peasants and nobles
were preparing for serious defence, for a life-and-death
struggle. That was the one spot of such character in the
Commonwealth, and Pan Andrei had come just to that
VOL. i — 36
562
THE DELUGE.
spot, as if led by some fortunate star. And he believed
sacredly in victory, though the whole power of Sweden were
to encircle those walls; hence in his heart he had prayer,
joy, and gratitude.
In this frame of mind he walked along the walls, and
with a bright face examined, inspected, and saw that good
was taking place. With the eye of experience, he saw at
once from the preparations that they were made by men of
experience, who would be able to show themselves when it
came to the test. He wondered at the calmness of the
prior, for whom he had conceived a deep reverence; he
was astonished at the prudence of Zamoyski, and even
of Pan Charnyetski; though he was displeased at him, he
did not show a wry face. But that knight looked on
Pan Andrei harshly, and meeting him on the wall the day
after the return of the messengers, he said, —
"No Swedes are to be seen; and if they do not come, the
dogs will eat your reputation."
"If any harm should result from their coming to this
holy place, then let the dogs eat my reputation."
"You would rather not smell their powder. We know
knights who have boots lined with hare's skin."
Kmita dropped his eyes like a young girl. "You might
rather let disputes rest," said he. "In what have I of¬
fended you ? I have forgotten your offences against me,
do you forget mine against you."
"You called me a whipper-snapper," said Charnyetski,
sharply. " I should like to know who you are. In what
are the Babiniches better than the Charnyetskis ? Are
they a senatorial family too ? "
"My worthy sir," said Kmita, with a pleasant face, "if
it were not for the obedience which was imposed on me in
confession, if it were not for those blows which are given
me every day on my back for my follies of past time,
I would speak to you differently; but I am afraid of
relapsing into previous offences. As to whether the
Babiniches or the Charnyetskis are better, that will ap¬
pear when the Swedes come."
"And what kind of office do you think of getting?
Do you suppose that they will make you one of the
commanders ? "
Kmita grew serious. "You accused me of seeking
profit; now you speak of office. Know that I have not
come here for honor. I might have received higher
THE DELUGE.
503
honor elsewhere. I will remain a simple soldier, even
under your command."
" Why, for what reason ? "
"Because you do me injustice, and are ready to torment
me."
" H'm ! There is no reason for that. It is very beauti¬
ful of you to be willing to remain a simple soldier when it
is clear that you have wonderful daring, and obedience
does not come easy. Would you like to fight ?"
" That will appear with the Swedes, as I have said."
" But if the Swedes do not come ? "
" Then do you know what ? we will go to look for them,"
said Kmita.
" That pleases me! " cried Charnyetski. " We could
assemble a nice party. Silesia is not far from this place,
and at once soldiers could be collected. Officers, like my
uncle, have promised, but nothing has been said about
soldiers; a great number of them might be had at the first
call."
" And this would give a saving example to others!"
cried Kmita, with warmth. " I have a handful of men
too,—you ought to see them at work."
" Good, good !" said Charnyetski, " as God is dear to
me! let me have your face!"
" And give yours," said Kmita.
And without long thinking they rushed into each other's
arms. Just then the prior was passing, and seeing what
had happened he began to bless both. They told at once
of what they had been talking. The prior merely smiled
quietly, and went on saying to himself, —
" Health is returning to the sick."
Toward evening preparations were finished, and the
fortress was entirely ready for defence. Nothing was
wanting,—neither supplies, nor powder, nor guns; only
walls sufficiently strong and a more numerous garrison.
Chenstohova, or rather Yasna Gora, though strengthened
by nature and art, was counted among the smallest and
weakest fortresses of the Commonwealth. But as to the
garrison, as many people might have been had for the
summoning as any one wished ; but the prior purposely
did not overburden the walls with men, so that supplies
might hold out for a long time. Still there were those,
especially among the German gunners, who were convinced
that Chenstohova could not defend itself.
564
THE DELUGE.
Fools! they thought that it had no defence but its
walls and its weapons; they knew not what hearts filled
with faith are. The prior then fearing lest they might
spread doubt among the people, dismissed them, save one
who was esteemed a master in his art.
That same day old Kyemlich and his sons came to Kmita
with a request to be freed from service. Anger carried
away Pan Andrei. "Dogs!" cried he, "you are ready
to resign such a service and will not defend the Most
Holy Lady. — Well, let it be so ! You have had pay for
your horses, you will receive the rest for your services
soon."
Here he took a purse from a casket, and threw it on
the floor to them. "Here are your wages! You choose to
seek plunder on that side of the walls, — to be robbers in¬
stead of defenders of Mary ! Out of my sight! you are
not worthy to be here ! you are not worthy of Christian
society! you are not worthy to die such a death as awaits
you in this place ! Out, out! "
"We are not worthy," answered the old man, spreading
his hands and bending his head, "we are not worthy to
have our dull eyes look on the splendors of Yasna Gora,
Fortress of heaven! Morning Star! Refuge of sinners!
We are not worthy, not worthy." Here he bent so low
that he bent double, and at the same time with his thin
greedy hands, grown lean, seized the purse lying on the
floor. "But outside the walls," said he, "we shall not
cease to serve your grace. In sudden need, we will let
you know everything; we will go where 't is needful;
we will do what is needful. Your grace will have ready
servants outside the walls."
" Be off!" repeated Pan Andrei.
They went out bowing; for fear was choking them, and
they were happy that the affair had ended thus. Toward
evening they were no longer in the fortress.
A dark and rainy night followed. It was November 8;
an early winter was approaching, and together with waves
of rain the first flakes of wet snow were flying to the
ground. Silence was broken only by the prolonged voices
of guards calling from bastion to bastion, " Hold watch !"
and in the darkness slipped past here and there the white
habit of the prior, Kordetski. Kmita slept not; he was on
the walls with Charnyetski, with whom he spoke of his past
campaigns. Kmita narrated the course of the war with
THE DELUGE.
565
Hovanski, evidently not mentioning the part which he had
taken in it himself; and Charnyetski talked of the skir¬
mishes with the Swedes at Pjedbor, at Jarnovtsi, and in the
environs of Cracow, of which he boasted somewhat and
said,—
" What was possible was done. You see, for every Swede
whom I stretched out I made a knot on my sword-sash.
I have six knots, and God grant me more! For this rea¬
son I wear the sword higher toward my shoulder. Soon
the sash will be useless; but I '11 not take out the knots,
in every knot I will have a turquoise set; after the war
I will hang up the sash as a votive offering. And have you
one Swede on your conscience ? "
"No!" answered Kmita, with shame. "Not far from
Sohachev I scattered a band, but they were robbers."
" But you might make a great score of Northerners ? "
" I might do that."
"With the Swedes it is harder, for rarely is there one of
them who is not a wizard. They learned from the Finns
how to use the black ones, and each Swede has two or three
devils in his service, and there are some who have seven.
These guard them terribly in time of battle ; but if they
come hither, the devils will help them in no way, for the
power of devils can do nothing in a circle where the tower
on Yasna Gora is visible. Have you heard of this ? "
Kmita made no answer; he turned his head to listen
attentively.
" They are coming! " said he, suddenly.
" Who, in God's name ? What do you say ? "
" I hear cavalry."
" That is only wind and the beating of rain."
" By the wounds of Christ! that is not the wind, but
horses ! I have a wonderfully sharp ear. A multitude of
cavalry are marching, and are near already; but the wind
drowns the noise. The time has come! The time has
come!"
The voice of Kmita roused the stiffened guards, dozing
near at hand; but it had not yet ceased when below in the
darkness was heard the piercing blare of trumpets, and
they began to sound, prolonged, complaining, terrible. All
sprang up from slumber in amazement, in fright, and asked
one another, —
" Are not those the trumpets sounding to judgment in
this gloomy night ? "
566
THE DELUGE.
Then the monks, the soldiers, the nobles, began to come
out on the square.
The bell-ringers rushed to the bells ; and soon they were
all heard, the great, the smaller, and the small bells, as if
for a fire, mingling their groans with the sounds of the
trumpets, which had not ceased to play.
Lighted matches were thrown into pitch-barrels, pre¬
pared of purpose and tied with chains; then they were
drawn upward with cranks. Red light streamed over the
base of the cliff, and then the people on Yasna Gora
saw before them a party of mounted trumpeters, — those
standing nearest with trumpets at their mouths, behind
them long and deep ranks of mounted men with unfurled
flags.
The trumpeters played some time yet, as if they wished
with those brazen sounds to express the whole power of
the Swedes, and to terrify the monks altogether. At last
they were silent; one of them separated from the rank, and
waving a white kerchief, approached the gate.
" In the name of his Royal Grace," cried the trumpeter,
" the Most Serene King of the Swedes, Goths, and Yandals,
Grand Prince of Finland, Esthonia, Karelia, Stettin, Pom-
erania, and the Kashubes, Prince of Rugen, Lord of Ingria,
Wismark, and Bavaria, Count of the Rhenish Palatinate,
open the gates."
" Admit him," said Kordetski.
They opened, but only a door in the gate.
The horseman hesitated for a time; at last he came down
from his horse, entered within the circle of the walls, and
seeing a crowd of white habits, he asked, —
"Who among you is the superior ?"
" I am," answered Kordetski.
The horseman gave him a letter with seals, and said :
" Count Veyhard will wait for an answer at Saint
Barbara's."
The prior summoned at once the monks and nobles to
the council-chamber to deliberate.
On the way, Pan Charnyetski said to Kmita : " Come you
also."
" I will go, but only through curiosity," answered Pan
Andrei; "for I have no work there. Henceforward I will
not serve the Most Holy Lady with my mouth."
When they had entered the council-chamber, the prior
broke the seal and read as follows : —
THE DELUGE.
567
"It is not a secret to you, worthy fathers, with what favorable
mind and with what heart I have always looked on this holy place
and your Congregation ; also, how constantly I have surrounded you
with my care and heaped benefits on you. Therefore I desire that
you remain in the conviction that neither my inclination nor good
wishes toward you have ceased in the present juncture. Not as an
enemy, but as a friend, do I come this day. Put your cloister under
my protection without fear, as the time and present circumstances
demand. In this way you will find the calm which you desire, as
well as safety. I promise you solemnly that the sacredness of the
place will be inviolate; your property will not be destroyed. I will
bear all expenses myself, and in fact add to your means. Consider
also carefully how much you will profit if, satisfying me, you confide
to me your cloister. liemember my advice, lest a greater misfortune
reach you from the terrible General Miller, whose orders will be the
more severe because he is a heretic and an enemy of the true faith.
When he comes, you must yield to necessity and carry out his com¬
mands; and you will raise useless complaints with pain in your souls
and your bodies, because you disregarded my mild counsel."
The memory of recent benefactions of Count Veyhard
touched the monks greatly. There were some who had con¬
fidence in his good-will, and wished to see in his counsel
the avoidance of future defeats and misfortunes. But
no one raised a voice, waiting for what Kordetski would
say. He was silent for a while, but his lips were moving in
prayer; then he said, —
"Would a true friend draw near in the night-time and
terrify with such a dreadful voice of trumpets and crooked
horns the sleeping servants of God? Would he come at
the head of those armed thousands who are now standing
under these walls ? Why did he not come with four or
nine others, if he hoped for the reception given a wel¬
come benefactor ? What do those stern legions mean, if not
a threat in case we refuse to yield up this cloister ? Listen;
remember, too, dearest brothers, that this enemy has never
kept word nor oath nor safeguard. We too have that of the
King of Sweden sent us spontaneously, in which is an express
promise that the cloister shall remain free of occupation.
And why are they standing now under its walls, trumpeting
their own lie with fearful brazen sound ? My dear brothers,
let each man raise his heart to heaven, so that the Holy
Ghost may enlighten it, and then let us consider what
conscience dictates to each one touching the good of this
holy retreat."
Silence followed. Then Kmita's voice rose: " I heard in
Krushyn Lisola ask him, (Will yon shake up their treas-
568
THE DELUGE.
ury for the monks ?' to which the count, who now stands
under these walls, answered, ' The Mother of God will not
ask for the thalers in the priors' chests.' To-day this same
Count Veyhard writes to you, reverend fathers, that he will
bear all expenses himself, and besides add to your means.
Consider his sincerity ! "
To this Father Myelko, one of the oldest in the assembly,
and besides a former soldier, answered: "We live in pov¬
erty, and burn these torches before the altar of the Most
Holy Lady in Her praise. But though we were to take them
from the altar so as to purchase immunity for this holy place,
where is our guarantee that the Swedes will respect the im¬
munity, that they with sacrilegious hands will not remove
offerings, sacred vestments, church furniture ? Is it possi¬
ble to trust liars ? "
" Without the Provincial to whom we owe obedience, we
can do nothing," said Father Dobrosh.
"War is not our affair," added Father Tomitski; "let
us listen to what these knights will say who have taken
refuge under the wings of the Mother of God in this
cloister."
All eyes were now turned to Pan Zamoyski, the oldest in
years, the highest in dignity and office. He rose and spoke
in the following words : —
"It is a question here of your fate, reverend fathers.
Compare then the strength of the enemy with the resistance
which you can place against him according to your force and
will. What counsel can we, guests here, impart to you ?
But, reverend fathers, since you ask us what is to be done,
I will answer: Until the inevitable forces us, let the thought
of surrender be far away; for it is a shameful and an
unworthy act to purchase with vile submission an uncertain
peace from a faithless enemy. We have taken refuge here
of our own will, with our wives and children; surrender¬
ing ourselves to the guardianship of the Most Holy Lady,
we have determined with unswerving faith to live with you,
and, if God shall so desire, to die with you. It is indeed
better for us thus than to accept a shameful captivity or be¬
hold an affront to a holy place; of a certainty, that Mother
of the Most High God who has inspired our breasts with
a desire of defending Her against godless and sacrilegious
heretics will second the pious endeavors of Her servants
and support the cause of Her own defence."
At this point Pan Zamoyski ceased speaking; all paid
THE DELUGE.
569
attention to his words, strengthening themselves with the
meaning of them; and Kmita, without forethought, as was
his wont, sprang forward and pressed the hand of the old
man to his lips. The spectators were edified by this sight,
and each one saw a good presage in that youthful ardor,
and a desire to defend the cloister increased and seized
all hearts.
Meanwhile a new presage was given: outside the win¬
dow of the refectory was heard unexpectedly the trembling
and aged voice of Constantsia, the old beggar woman of the
church, singing a pious hymn: —
" In vain dost thou threaten me, 0 savage Hussite,
In vain dost thou summon devils' horns to thy aid,
In vain dost thou burn, sparing no blood,
For thou'It not subdue me;
Though thousands of pagans were now rushing hither,
Though armies were flying against me on dragons,
Neither sword, flame, nor men will avail thee,
For I shall he victor!"
" Here," said Kordetski, " is the presage which God sends
through the lips of that old beggar woman. Let us defend
ourselves, brothers ; for in truth besieged people have never
yet had such aids as will come to us."
"We will give our lives willingly," said Charnyetski.
" We will not trust faith-breakers ! We will not trust
heretics, nor those among Catholics who have accepted the
service of the evil spirit!" shouted others, who did not
wish to let those speak who opposed.
It was decided to send two priests to Count Veyhard with
information that the gates would remain closed and the
besieged would defend themselves, to which action the safe¬
guard of the king gave them a right.
But in their own way the envoys were to beg the Count
humbly to desist from his design, or at least to defer it for
a time until the monks could ask permission of Father
Teofil Bronyevski, Provincial of the order, who was then
in Silesia.
The envoys, Fathers Benedykt Yarachevski and Martseli
Tomitski, passed out through the gate; the others awaited,
in the refectory, their return with throbbing hearts, for
terror had seized those monks, unused to war, when the hour
had struck and the moment had come in which they were
forced to choose between duty and the anger and vengeance
of the enemy.
570
THE DELUGE.
But half an hour had barely elapsed when the two fathers
appeared before the council. Their heads were hanging
over their breasts, on their faces were pallor and grief. In
silence they gave Kordetski a letter from Count Veyhard,
which he took from their hands and read aloud. There
were eight points of capitulation under which the count
summoned the monks to surrender the cloister.
When he had finished reading, the prior looked long in
the faces of those assembled; at last he said with a solemn
voice, —
" In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! in
the name of the Most Pure and Most Holy Mother of God!
to the walls, beloved brethren ! "
" To the walls, to the walls !" was the answer of all.
A little later a bright flame lighted the base of the
cloister. Count Veyhard had given orders to burn the
buildings connected with the church of Saint Barbara.
The fire seizing the old houses grew with each moment.
Soon pillars of red smoke reared themselves toward the sky;
in the midst of these, fiery sparkling tongues were gleaming.
Finally one conflagration was spreading in clouds.
By the gleam of the fire, divisions of mounted soldiers
could be seen passing quickly from place to place. The
usual license of soldiers had begun. The horsemen drove
out from the stables cattle, which running with fright, filled
the air with plaintive bellowing; sheep, gathered in groups,
pushed at random toward the fire. Many of the defenders
saw for the first time the bloody face of war, and their
hearts grew benumbed with terror at sight of people driven
by soldiers and slashed with sabres, at sight of women
dragged by the hair through the market-place. And by the
bloody gleams of the fire all this was as visible as on the
palm of the hand. Shouts, and even words, reached the ears
of the besieged perfectly.
Since the cannon of the cloister had not answered yet,
horsemen sprang from their horses and approached the foot
of the mountain itself, shaking their swords and muskets.
Every moment some sturdy fellow, dressed in a yellow cav¬
alry jacket, putting his hands around his mouth, jeered and
threatened the besieged, who listened patiently, standing at
their guns with lighted matches.
Kmita was at the side of Charnyetski, just in front of the
church, and saw everything clearly. On his cheeks a deep
flush came out, his eyes were like two torches, and in his
THE DELUGE.
571
hand he held an excellent bow, which he had received as
an inheritance from his father, who had captured it from
a celebrated Aga at Hotsin. He heard the threats and in¬
vectives, and finally when a gigantic horseman had come
under the cliff and was making an uproar he turned to
Charnyetski, —
" As God is true, he is blaspheming against the Most
Holy Lady. I understand German; he blasphemes dread¬
fully ! I cannot endure it! " And he lowered the bow;
but Charnyetski touched him with his hand, —
"God will punish him for his blasphemy," said he; "but
Kordetski has not permitted us to shoot first, let them
begin."
He had barely spoken when the horseman raised his
musket to his face; a shot thundered, and the ball, with¬
out reaching the walls, was lost somewhere among the
crannies of the place.
"We are free now ! " cried Kmita.
"Yes," answered Charnyetski.
Kmita, as a true man of war, became calm in a moment.
The horseman, shading his eyes with his hands, looked
after the ball; Kmita drew the bow, ran his finger along
the string till it twittered like a swallow, then he bent care¬
fully and cried, —
" A corpse, a corpse ! "
At the same moment was heard the whirring whistle of
the terrible arrow; the horseman dropped his musket,
raised both hands on high, threw up his head, and fell on
his back. He struggled for a while like a fish snatched from
water, and dug the earth with his feet; but soon he stretched
himself and remained without motion.
" That is one ! " said Kmita.
" Tie it in your sword-sash," ansAvered Charnyetski.
"A bell-rope would not be long enough, if God will
permit!" cried Pan Andrei.
A second horseman rushed to the dead man, wishing to
see what had happened to him, or perhaps to take his purse,
but the arrow whistled again, and the second fell on the
breast of the first. Meanwhile the field-pieces which
Count Yeyhard had brought with him opened fire. He
could not storm the fortress with them, neither could he
think of capturing it, having only cavalry ; but he gave
command to open fire to terrify the priests. Still a begin¬
ning was made.
572
THE DELUGE.
Kordetski appeared at the side of Charnyetski, and with
him came Father Dobrosh, who managed the cloister artillery
in time of peace, and on holidays fired salutes , therefore he
passed as an excellent gunner among the monks.
The prior blessed the cannon and pointed them out to
the priest, who rolled up his sleeves and began to aim at a
point in a half circle between two buildings where a number
of horsemen were raging, and among them an officer with
a rapier in his hand. The priest aimed long, for his repu¬
tation was at stake. At last he took the match and touched
the priming.
Thunder shook the air and smoke covered the view ; but
after a while the wind bore it aside. In the space between
the buildings there was not a single horseman left. A
number were lying with their horses on the ground; the
others had fled.
The monks on the walls began to sing. The crash of
buildings falling around Saint Barbara's church accompanied
the songs. It grew darker, but vast swarms of sparks sent
upward by the fall of timbers pierced the air.
Trumpets were sounded again in the ranks of Count Vey-
hard's horsemen; but the sound from them receded. The
fire was burning to the end. Darkness enveloped the foot
of Yasna Gora. Here and there was heard the neighing of
horses; but ever farther, ever weaker, the Count was with¬
drawing to Kjepitsi.
Kordetski knelt on the walls.
" Mary ! Mother of the one God," said he, with a powerful
voice, " bring it to pass that he whose attack comes after
this man will retreat in like manner, — with shame and vain
anger in his soul."
While he prayed thus the clouds broke suddenly above
his heajl, and the bright light of the moon whitened the
towers, the walls, the kneeling prior and the burned ruins
of buildings at Saint Barbara.
THE DELUGE.
573
CHAPTER XLI.
The following day peace reigned at the foot of Yasna
Gora; taking advantage of which, the monks were occupied
the more earnestly in preparations for defence. The last re¬
pairs were made in the walls and the curtains, and still more
appliances were prepared to serve in resisting assault.
From Zdebov, Krovodja, Lgota, and Grabuvka a number
of tens of peasants volunteered, who had served before in
the land-infantry. These were accepted and placed among
the defenders. Kordetski doubled and trebled himself. He
performed divine service, sat in council, neglected the sick
neither day nor night, and in the interval visited the walls,
talked with nobles and villagers. Meanwhile he had in his
face and whole person a calm of such character that one
might almost say it belonged to stone statues only. Looking
at his face, grown pale from watching, it might be thought
that that man slept an easy and sweet sleep ; but the calm
resignation and almost joy burning in his eyes, his lips
moving in prayer, announced that he watched, thought,
prayed, and made offerings for all. From his spirit, with
all its powers intent upon God, faith flowed in a calm
and deep stream ; all drank of this faith with full lips,
and whoso had a sick soul was made well. Wherever his
white habit was seen, there calm appeared on the faces of
men, their eyes smiled, and their lips repeated: " Our kind
father, our comforter, our defender, our good hope." They
kissed his hands and his habit; he smiled like thp dawn,
and went farther, while around him, above and before him,
went confidence and serenity.
Still he did not neglect earthly means of salvation ; the
fathers who entered his cell found him, if not on his knees,
over letters which he sent in every direction. He wrote to
Wittemberg, the commander-in-chief at Cracow, imploring
him to spare a sacred place ; and to Yan Kazimir, who in
Opola had made the last effort to save a thankless people ;
to Stefan Charnyetski, held by his own word as on a chain
at Syevyej ; to Count Veyhard ; and to Colonel Sadovski, a
Lutheran Cheh, who served under Miller, but who, having
574
THE DELUGE.
a noble soul, had endeavored to dissuade the fierce general
from this attack on the cloister.
Two conflicting councils were held before Miller. Count
Veyhard, irritated by the stubbornness which he had met on
November 8, used all efforts to incline the general to a
campaign; lie promised him untold treasures and profit,
he asserted that in the whole world there were scarcely
churches which could be compared with Chenstohova or
Yasna Gora. Sadovski opposed in the following manner: —
" General," said he to Miller, " you who have taken so
many famed fortresses that you have been justly named
Poliorcetes by cities in Germany, know how much blood
and time it may cost to take even the weakest fortress,
if the assaulted are willing to resist unto death.
" But the monks will not resist ? " asked Miller.
" I think just the contrary. The richer they are, the
more stubborn a defence will they make; they are confident
not only in the might of arms, but in the sacredness of the
place, which the Catholic superstition of this whole country
considers inviolable. It is enough to recall the German
war; how often have monks given an example of daring
and stubbornness, even in cases where soldiers themselves
despaired of defence ! It will take place this time too, all
the more since the fortress is not so insignificant as Count
Veyhard would like to consider it. It is situated on a rocky
eminence difficult for the miner, the walls which, if they
were not indeed in good condition, have been repaired be¬
fore this time ; and as to supplies of arms, powder, and
provisions, a cloister so rich has inexhaustible supplies;
fanaticism will animate their hearts and, — "
" And do you think, gracious colonel, that they will force
me to retreat ? "
" I do not think that, but I believe that we shall be
forced to remain long under the walls, we shall have to
send for larger guns than those we have here, and you must
go to Prussia. It is necessary to calculate how much time
we can devote to Chenstohova; for if his Grace the King of
Sweden summons you from the siege for the more important
affairs of Prussia, the monks will report without fail that you
were forced to retreat. And then think, your grace, what
a loss your fame as Poliorcetes will sustain, not to speak
of the encouragement which the resisting will find in the
whole country. Only [here Sadovski lowered his voice] let
the mere intention of attacking this cloister be noised about,
THE DELUGE.
575
and it will make the worst impression. You do not know —
for no foreigner, not a papist, can know — what Chenstohova
is to this people. Very important for us are those nobles,
who yielded so readily; those magnates ; the quarter troops,
who together with the hetmans, have come over to our
side. Without them we could not have done what we have
done. With their hands we have occupied half the country,
— nay, more than half; but let one shot fall at Chenstohova,
— who knows ? perhaps not a Pole will remain with us. So
great is the strength of superstition ! A new most terrible
war may flame up ! "
Miller recognized in his soul the justice of Sadovski's
reasoning, all the more since he considered monks in
general, and the Chenstohova monks in particular, wizards,
— that Swedish general feared enchantments more than
guns; still wishing to irritate, and maybe prolong the
dispute, he said, —
" You speak as though you were prior of Chenstohova, or
as if they had begun to pay you a ransom."
Sadovski was a daring soldier and impulsive, and because
he knew his value he was easily offended.
"I will not say another word," answered he, haughtily.
Miller in his turn was angry at the tone in which the
above words were spoken.
" I will make no further request of you," said he; " Count
Veyhard is enough for me, he knows this country better."
" We shall see !" responded Sadovski, and went out of
the room.
Count Veyhard in fact took his place. He brought a
letter, which he had received from Varshytski with a
request to leave the cloister in peace; but from this letter
the obstinate man drew counsel directly opposed.
"They beg," said he to Miller; "therefore they know
that there will be no defence."
A day later the expedition against Chenstohova was
decided upon at Vyelunie.
It was not kept a secret; therefore Father Yatsek
Rudnitski, provost of the monastery at Vyelunie, was able
to go in time to Chenstohova with the news. The poor
monk did not admit for one moment that the people of
Yasna Gora would defend themselves. He only wanted to
forewarn them so that they might know what course to take
and seek favorable conditions. In fact, the news bowed
down the minds of the monks. In some souls courage
576
THE DELUGE.
weakened at once. But Kordetski strengthened it; he
warmed the cold with the heat of his own heart, he
promised days of miracle, he made the very presence of
death agreeable, and changed them so much through the
inspiration of his own soul that unwittingly they began to
prepare for the attack as they were accustomed to prepare
for great church festivals, — hence with joy and solemnity.
The chiefs of the lay garrison, Zamoyski and Charnyetski,
also made their final preparations. They burned all the
shops which were nestled around the walls of the fortress
and which might lighten an assault for the enemy; the
buildings near the mountain were not spared either, so
that for a whole day a ring of flame surrounded the fortress ;
but when there remained of the shops merely the ashes of
timbers and planks, the guns of the cloister had before
them empty space, unhedged by any obstacles. Their black
jaws gaped freely into the distance, as if searching for the
enemy impatiently and wishing to greet them at the earliest
moment with ominous thunder.
Meanwhile winter was drawing near with swift step. A
sharp north'wind was blowing, swamps were turned into
lumps of earth; and in the mornings, water in shallow places
was congealed into frail icy shells. The prior, Kordetski,
making the rounds of the walls, rubbed his hands blue from
cold, and said, —
" God will send frost to assist us. It will be hard to
intrench batteries and dig mines; meanwhile you will take
rest in warm rooms, and the north wind will soon disgust
them with the siege."
But for this very reason Miller was anxious to finish
quickly. He had nine thousand troops, mostly infantry, and
nineteen guns. He had also two squadrons of Polish cavalry,
but he could not count on them : first, because he could not
employ the cavalry in taking the lofty fortress ; and second,
because the men went unwillingly, and gave notice before¬
hand that they would take no part in the struggles. They
went rather to protect the fortress, in case of capture,
against the greed of the conquerors., — so at least the
colonels declared to the soldiers ; they went finally because
the Swedes commanded, for the whole army of the country
was in their camp and had to obey.
From Vyelunie to Chenstohova the road is short. On
November 18 the siege was to begin. But the Swedish
general calculated that it would not last above a couple of
THE DELUGE.
577
days, and that he -would take the precious fortress by
negotiation.
Meanwhile Kordetski, the prior, prepared the souls of
men. They went to divine services as on a great and joyous
festival; and had it not been for the unquiet and pallor of
some faces, it might have been supposed that that was a joy¬
ous and solemn thanksgiving. The prior himself celebrated
Mass; all the bells were ringing. The services did not end
with Mass, for a grand procession went out on the walls.
The prior, bearing the Most Holy Sacrament, was sup¬
ported under the arms by Zamoyski and Pan Pyotr
Charnyetski. In front walked young boys in robes, they
carried censers with myrrh and incense; before and after
the baldachin marched ranks of white-habited monks, with
eyes and heads raised toward heaven, —men of various
years, from decrepit old men to tender youths who had just
begun their novitiate. The yellow flames of the candles
quivered in the air; but the monks moved onward and sang,
buried altogether in God, as if mindful of naught else in
the world. Behind them appeared the shaven temples of
nobles, the tearful faces of women, but calm beneath their
tears, inspired with faith and trust; peasants marched
also, long-haired, wearing coarse coats, resembling the
primitive Christians; little children, maidens, and boys
mingled with the throng, joining their thin voices with the
general chorus. And God heard that pouring forth of
hearts, that fleeing from earthly oppression to the single
defence of His wings. The wind went down, the air grew
calm, the heavens became azure, and the autumnal sun
poured a mild pale golden, but still warm, light on the
earth. The procession passed once around the walls, but
did not return, did not disperse, — went farther. Pays from
the monstrance fell on the face of the prior, and that face
seemed golden and radiant from their light. Kordetski kept
his eyes closed, and on his lips was a smile not of earth, — a
smile of happiness, of sweetness, of exaltation; his soul
was in heaven, in brightness, in endless delight, in un¬
broken calm. But as if taking orders from above, and
forgetting not this earthly church, the men, the fortress,
and that hour then impending, he halted at moments,
opened his eyes, elevated the monstrance, and gave
blessing.
He blessed the people, the army, the squadrons, bloom¬
ing like flowers and gleaming like a rainbow; he blessed
vol. 1—37
578
THE DELUGE.
the walls, and that eminence which looked down and around
upon the land; he blessed the cannon, the guns, smaller
and greater, the balls, iron and lead, the vessels with powder,
the planking at the cannon, the piles of harsh implements
used to repel the assaults of the enemy; he blessed the
armies lying at a distance; he blessed the north, the south,
the east, and the west, as if to cover that whole region, that
whole land, with the power of God.
It had struck two in the afternoon, the procession was
still on the walls ; but meanwhile on those edges, where the
sky and the earth seemed to touch, a bluish haze was spread
out, and just in that haze something began to shimmer, to
move, — forms of some kind were creeping. At first dim,
unfolding gradually, these forms became every moment
more distinct. A cry was heard suddenly at the end of
the procession, —
" The Swedes are coming; the Swedes are coming ! "
Then silence fell, as if hearts and tongues had grown
numb; bells only continued to sound. But in the still¬
ness the voice of the prior thundered, far reaching though
calm, —
"Brothers, let us rejoice! the hour of victories and
miracles is drawing near! "
And a moment later he exclaimed: " Under Thy protec¬
tion we take refuge, Our Mother, Our Lady, Our Queen ! "
Meanwhile the Swedish cloud had changed into an im¬
measurable serpent, which was crawling forward ever
nearer. Its terrible curves were visible. It twisted, un¬
coiled; at one time it glittered under the light with its
gleaming steel scales, at another it grew dark, crawled,
crawled on, emerged from the distance.
Soon eyes looking from the walls could distinguish every¬
thing in detail. In advance came the cavalry, after it
infantry in quadrangles; each regiment formed a long
rectangular body, over which rose a smaller one formed
of erect spears ; farther on, behind, after the infantry,
came cannon with jaws turned rearward and inclined to
the earth.
Their slowly moving barrels, black or yellowish, shone
with evil omen in the sun ; behind them clattered over the
uneven road the powder-boxes and the endless row of
wagons with tents and every manner of military appliance.
Dreadful but beautiful was that advance of a regular
army, which moved before the eyes of the people on Yasna
THE DELUGE.
579
Gora, as if to terrify tliem. A little later the cavalry sepa¬
rated from the rest of the army and approached at a trot,
trembling like waves moved by wind. They broke soon
into a number of greater and smaller parties. Some
pushed toward the fortress; some in the twinkle of an
eye scattered through the neighboring villages in pursuit
of plunder; others began to ride around the fortress, to
examine the walls, study the locality, occupy the buildings
which were nearest. Single horsemen flew back continually
as fast as a horse could gallop from the larger parties to
the deep divisions of infantry to inform the officers where
they might dispose themselves.
The tramp and neighing of horses, the shouts, the ex¬
clamations, the murmur of thousands of voices, and the
dull thump of cannon, came distinctly to the ears of the be¬
sieged, who till that moment were standing quietly on the
wall, as if for a spectacle, looking with astonished eyes at
that great movement and deploying of the enemy's troops.
At last the infantry regiments arrived and began to wan¬
der around the fortress, seeking places best fitted for forti¬
fication. Now they struck, on Chenstohovka, an estate near
the cloister, in which there were no troops, only peasants
living in huts.
A regiment of Finns, who had come first, fell savagely on
the defenceless peasants. They pulled them out of the
huts by the hair, and simply cut down those who resisted;
the rest of the people driven from the manor-house were
pursued by cavalry and scattered to the four winds.
A messenger was sent with Miller's summons to surren¬
der; he had already sounded his trumpet before the gates
of the church; but the defenders, at sight of the slaughter
and cruelty of the soldiers in Chenstohova, answered with
cannon fire.
Now, when the people of the town had been driven out
of all the nearer buildings, and the Swedes had disposed
themselves therein, it behooved to destroy them with all
haste, so that the enemy might not injure the cloister under
cover of those buildings. Therefore the walls of the clois¬
ter began to smoke all around like the sides of a ship sur¬
rounded by a storm and by robbers. The roar of cannon
shook the air till the walls of the cloister were trembling,
and glass in the windows of the church and other buildings
was rattling. Fiery balls in the form of whitish cloudlets
describing ill-omened arcs fell on the Swedish places of
580
THE DELUGE.
refuge, they broke rafters, roofs, walls ; and columns of
smoke were soon rising from the places into which balls
had descended.
Conflagration had enwrapped the buildings. Barely had
the Swedish regiments taken possession when they fled from
the new quarters with all breath, and, uncertain of their
positions, hurried about in various directions. Disorder
began to creep among them ; they removed the cannon not
yet mounted, so as to save them from being struck. Miller
was amazed; he had not expected such a reception, nor such
gunners on Yasna Gora.
Meanwhile night came, and since he needed to bring the
army into order, he sent a trumpeter with a request for a
cessation. The fathers agreed to that readily.
In the morning, however, they burned another enormous
storehouse with great supplies of provisions, in which
building the Westland regiment had taken its quarters.
The fire caught the building so quickly, the shots fell, one
after another, with such precision that the Westlanders were
unable to carry off their muskets or ammunition, which ex¬
ploded, hurling far around burning brands.
The Swedes did not sleep that night; they made prepara¬
tions, entrenchments for the guns, filled baskets with earth,
formed a camp. The soldiers, though trained during so
many years in so many battles, and by nature valiant and
enduring, did not wait for the following day with joy. The
first day had brought defeat.
The cannon of the cloister caused such loss among the
Swedes that the oldest warriors were confounded, attribut¬
ing this to careless approach to the fortress, and to going
too near the walls.
But the next day, even should it bring victory, did not
promise glory; for what was the capture of an inconsiderable
fortress and a cloister to the conquerors of so many famed
cities, a hundred times better fortified ? The greed of rich
plunder alone upheld their willingness, but that oppressive
alarm with which the allied Polish squadrons had approached
this greatly renowned Yasna Gora was imparted in a mys¬
terious way to the Swedes. Some of them trembled at the
thought of sacrilege, while others feared something indefi¬
nite, which they could not explain, and which was known
under the general name of enchantment. Miller himself
believed in it • why should not the soldiers believe ?
It was noticed that when Miller was approaching the
THE DELUGE.
581
church of Saint Barbara, the horse under him slipped sud¬
denly, started back, distended his nostrils, pricked up his
ears, snorted with fright, and refused to advance. The old
general showed no personal alarm ; still the next day he
assigned that place to the Prince of Hesse, and marched him¬
self with the heavier guns to the northern side of the clois¬
ter, toward the village of Chenstohova; there he made
intrenchments during the night, so as to attack in the
morning.
Barely had light begun to gleam in the sky when heavy
artillery firing began; but this time the Swedish guns opened
first. The enemy did not think of making a breach in the
walls at once, so as to rush through it to storm; he wanted
only to terrify, to cover the church and the cloister with
balls, to set fire, to dismount cannon, to kill people, to
spread alarm.
A procession went out again on the walls of the fortress, for
nothing strengthened the combatants like a view of the Holy
Sacrament, and the monks marching forward with it calmly.
The guns of the cloister answered, — thunder for thunder,
lightning for lightning, so far as the defenders were able,
so far as breath held out in the breast. The very earth
seemed to tremble in its foundations. A sea of smoke
stretched over the cloister and the church.
What moments, what sights for men who had never in
their lives beheld the bloody face of war! and there were
many such in the fortress. That unbroken roar, lightnings,
smoke, the howling of balls tearing the air, the terrible hiss
of bombs, the clatter of shot on the pavement, the dull blows
against the wall, the sound of breaking windows, the ex¬
plosions of bursting bombs, the whistling of fragments of
them, the breaking and cracking of timbers; chaos, annihi¬
lation, hell!
In those hours there was not a moment of rest nor ces¬
sation ; breasts half-suffocated with smoke, every moment
new flocks of cannon-balls; and amid the confusion shrill
voices in various parts of the fortress, the church, and the
cloister, were crying, —
" It is on fire ! water, water !"
" To the roof with barefooted men ! more cloth ! "
" Aim the cannon higher! — higher ! — aim at the centre
of the buildings — fire! "
About noon the work of death increased still more. It
might seem that, if the smoke were to roll away, the Swedes
582
THE DELUGE.
would see only a pile of balls and bombs in place of the
cloister. A cloud of lime, struck from the walls by the
cannon, rose up, and mingling with the smoke, hid the light.
Priests went out with relics to exorcise these clouds, lest
they might hinder defence. The thunders of cannon were
interrupted, but were as frequent as the breath gulps of a
panting dragon.
Suddenly on a tower, newly built after a fire of the pre¬
vious year, trumpets began to sound forth the glorious
music of a church hymn. That music flowed down through
the air and was heard round about, was heard everywhere,
as far as the batteries of the Swedes. The sound of the
trumpets was accompanied by the voices of people, and
amidst the bellowing and whistling, amidst the shouts, the
rattle and thunder of muskets, were heard the words, —
" Mother of God, Virgin,
Glorified by God Mary ! "
Here a number of bombs burst; the cracking of rafters
and beams, and then the shout: " Water !" struck the ear,
and again the song flowed on in calmness.
" From Thy Son the Lord
Send down to us, win for us,
A time of bread, a time of plenty."
Kmita, who was standing on the wall at the cannon, op¬
posite the village of Chenstohova, in which Miller's quarters
were, and whence the greatest fire came, pushed away a less
accurate cannoneer to begin work himself; and worked so
well that soon, though it was in November and the day cold,
he threw off his fox-skin coat, threw off his vest, and toiled
in his trousers and shirt.
The hearts grew in people unacquainted with war, at
sight of this soldier blood and bone, to whom all that was
passing — that bellowing of cannon, those flocks of balls, that
destruction and death — seemed as ordinary an element as
fire to a salamander.
His brow was wrinkled, there was fire in his eyes, a flush
on his cheeks, and a species of wild joy in his face. Every
moment he bent to the cannon, altogether occupied with
the aiming, altogether given to the battle, thinking of
naught else; he aimed, lowered, raised, at last cried, " Fire! "
and when Soroka touched the match, he ran to the opening
and called out from time to time, —
THE DELUGE.
583
" One by the side of the other !"
His eagle eyes penetrated through smoke and dust, and
when among the buildings he saw somewhere a dense mass
of caps or helmets, straightway he crushed it with an accu¬
rate shot, as if with a thunderbolt. At times he burst out
into laughter when he had caused greater or less destruc¬
tion. The balls flew over him and at his side, — he did not
look at anything; suddenly, after a shot he sprang to the
opening, fixed his eyes in the distance, and cried, —
" The gun is dismounted ! Only three pieces are play¬
ing there now!"
He did not rest until midday. Sweat was pouring from
him, his shirt was steaming; his face was blackened with
soot, and his eyes glittering. Pyotr Charnyetski himself
wondered at his aim, and said to him repeatedly, —
" War is nothing new to you; that is clear at a glance.
Where have you learned it so well ? "
At three o'clock in the afternoon a second Swedish gun
was silent, dismounted by Kmita's accurate aim. They drew
out the remaining guns from the intrenchments about an
hour later. Evidently the Swedes saw that the position
was untenable.
Kmita drew a deep breath.
" Best! " said Charnyetski to him.
"Well! I wish to eat something. Soroka, give me what
you have at hand."
The old sergeant bestirred himself quickly. He brought
some gorailka in a tin cup and some dried fish. Kmita
began to eat eagerly, raising his eyes from time to time
and looking at the bombs flying over at 110 great distance,
just as if he were looking at crows. But still they flew in
considerable number, not from Chenstohova, but from the
opposite side; namely, all those which passed over the clois¬
ter and the church.
" They have poor gunners, they point too high," said Pan
Andrei, without ceasing to eat; " see, they all go over us, and
they are aimed at us."
A young monk heard these words, — a boy of seventeen
years, who had just entered his novitiate. He was the
first always to bring balls for loading, and he did not leave
his place though every vein in him was trembling from
fear, for he saw war for the first time. Kmita made an
indescribable impression on him by his calmness, and hear¬
ing his words he took refuge near him with an involun-
584
THE DELUGE.
tary movement as if wishing to seek protection and safety
under the wings of that strength.
" Can they reach us from that side ? " asked
" Why not ? " answered Kmita. " And why, my dear
brother, are you afraid ? "
" I thought," answered the trembling youth, " that war
was terrible ; but I did not think it was so terrible."
" Not every bullet kills, or there would not be men in the.
world, there would not be mothers enough to give birth to
them."
" I have the greatest fear of those fiery balls, those bombs.
Why do they burst with such noise ? Mother of God, save
us ! and they wound people so terribly."
" I will explain to you, and you will discover by experi¬
ence, young father. That ball is iron, and inside it is loaded
with powder. In one place there is an opening rather small,
in which is a fuse of paper or sometimes of wood."
" Jesus of Nazareth ! is there a fuse in it ? "
" There is ; and in the fuse some tow steeped in sulphur,
which catches fire when the gun is discharged. Then the
ball should fall with the fuse toward the ground, so as to
drive it into the middle; then the fire reaches the powder
and the ball bursts. But many balls do not fall on the
fuse; that does not matter, however, for when the fire burns
to the end, the explosion comes."
On a sudden Kmita stretched out his hand and cried,
" See, see ! you have an experiment."
" Jesus ! Mary! Joseph ! " cried the young brother, at
sight of the coming bomb.
The bomb fell on the square that moment, and snarling
and rushing along began to bound on the pavement, drag¬
ging behind a small blue smoke, turned once more, and
rolling to the foot of the wall on which they were sitting,
fell into a pile of wet sand, which it scattered high to the
battlement, and losing its power altogether, remained with-
oiit motion.
Luckily it had fallen with the fuse up; but the sulphur
was not quenched, for the smoke rose at once.
" To the ground ! on your faces ! " frightened voices
began to shout. " To the ground, to the ground!"
But Kmita at the same moment sprang to the pile of
sand, with a lightning movement of his hand caught the
fuse, plucked it, pulled it out, and raising his hand with
the burning sulphur cried, —
THE DELUGE.
585
" Rise up ! It is just as if you had pulled the teeth out
of a dog ! It could not kill a fly now."
When he had said this, he kicked the bomb, those
present grew numb at sight of this deed, which surpassed
human daring, and for a certain time no one made bold to
speak; at last Charnyetski exclaimed, —
" You are a madman! If that had burst, it would have
turned you into powder ! "
Pan Andrei laughed so heartily that his teeth glittered.
"But do we not need powder ? You could have loaded a
gun with me, and after my death I could have done harm to
the Swedes."
" May the bullets strike you ! Where is your fear ? "
The young monk placed his hands together and looked
with mute homage on Kmita. But the deed was also seen
by Kordetski, who was approaching on that side. He came
up, took Pan Andrei with his hands by the head, and then
made the sign of the cross on him.
"Such men as you will not surrender Yasna Gora; but I
forbid exposing a needful life to danger. When the firing
is over and the enemy leave the field, take that bomb, pour
the powder out of it, and bear it to the Most Holy Lady.
That gift will be dearer to Her than those pearls and bright
stones which you offered Her."
" Father," answered Kmita, deeply moved, " what is there
great in that ? For the Most Holy Lady I would — Oh !
words do not rise in my mouth — I would go to torments,
to death. I know not what I would not do to serve Her."
Tears glistened in the eyes of Pan Andrei, and the prior
said, —
" Go to Her with those tears before they dry. Her favor
will flow to thee, calm thee, comfort thee, adorn thee
with glory and honor."
When he had said this he took him by the arm and led
him to the church. Pan Charnyetski looked after them
for a time. At last he said, —
" I have seen many daring men in my life, who counted
no danger to themselves; but this Lithuanian is either the
D "
Here Charnyetski closed his mouth with his hand, so as
not to speak a foul name in the holy place.
END OF VOL. I.
YALE UNIVERSITY
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39002 0Q29^9981b