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PAN MICHAEL
AN HISTORICAL NOVEL
BY
HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ
TRANSLATED FROM THE POLISH BY
DR. SAMUEL A. BINION
TRANSLATOR OF "QUO VADIS," ETC.
NEW YORK
THE FEDERAL BOOK COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
PRESERVATION
3OPY ADDED
DRIGINALTOef:..;
RETAINED
FEB221994
COPYRIGHT, 1898
BY HENRY ALTEMUS
Pan Michael
HENRY MORSE ST
ROLOGUE.
After the Hungarian "War, when the marriage of Pan
Andrey Kmitsa with Panna Alexandra Billevick took place,
the equally famous warrior in the Commonwealth, Pan Jerzy
Michael Volodiyovski, Colonel of the Lauda Cavalry, also was
to have been married to Panna Anna Borzobohata Krashy-
enska.
But the affair was hindered and postponed by a remarkable
series of obstacles. Panna Anna Borzobohata was the foster-
daughter of Princess Grizelda Vishnyovyetski, without whose
consent she would not wed. Pan Michael therefore was
obliged to leave Panna Anna at Vodokta and set out for Za-
most 1 in order to obtain her consent and blessing.
But his lucky star was not in the ascendant. He did not
find the princess in Zamos^as she had left for the Imperial
Court of Vienna to educate her son. The persevering Knight
however followed her to Vienna, though the journey con-
sumed much time. There, matters were successfully ar-
ranged and he returned to his own land with eager antici-
pation.
On reaching home he found fresh troubles: the army w r as
forming a confederacy, the rebellion in the Ukraine still con-
tinued, and the flames on the eastern frontier had not yet
been extinguished. Fresh troops were levied so that tin
frontiers at least might be protected. Before his arrival in
Warsaw, he had received a commission signed by the Russian
Voyevoda himself. Considering that patriotism should
always take precedence of private affairs, he abandoned all
thoughts of immediate marriage and departed for the
Ukraine. There, he fought for years, scarcely rinding time
to send even an occasional letter to his anxious betrothed,
and living in the midst of incessant battle, tqjj ^nd hardship.
1 Zamos'o.
4 PROLOG VE.
He was next sent to the Crimea, and ihon followed the un-
happy internecine strife in which Pan Michael took the side
of the King and fought against that infamous character, UK-
traitor, Lnbomirski. Then, under Pan Sobieski, he ieJ't again
for the Ukraine. From that time on, his reputation grew so
greatly that he was generally regarded as the foremost soldier
of the state; hut for him the years were filled with anxieties,
sighings, and longings, until at last dawned the year 1668 in
which, at the request of the Castellan, the order was granted
for him to rest. At the beginning of the year therefore, he
hastened to his beloved at Vodokta, and with her, proceeded
to Cracow. They went there because Princess Grizelda, who
had returned from the Imperial dominions, had invited them
to celebrate their marriage at that place, offering to become
the mother of the bride. The Kmitsas remained at Vodokta,
not having received early information of Pan Michael's move-
ments, and entirely occupied with the expectation of another
guest altogether. Hitherto, children had been denied to
them, but at last Providence had hrought about a change in
accordance with their most earnest wishes.
That year was one of marvellous productiveness. Grain
was so plentiful that the barns could not contain it. The
country was covered with stacks through its whole length
and breadth. In the tracts devastated by the war, pine sap-
lings had grown up in that one Spring higher even than in
two ordinary years. There was abundance of game, mush-
rooms carpeted the forests, and the waters teemed with fish,
so that it seemed as though all the creatures of the earth had
been endowed with an extraordinary fecundity. The friends
of Pan Michael regarded this condition of things as a happy
omen for his marriage, but Fate had determined otherwise.
PAN MICHAEL.
CHAPTER I.
On a beautiful day in Autumn, Pan Andrey Kmitsa 1 was
sitting in a shady bower and drinking his after-dinner mead:
from time to time he gazed at his wife through the trellis
which was overgrown with wild hops. Pani Kmitsa was walk-
ing on a well-kept walk in front of the bower.
She was tall, and well-shaped, with shining hair and a
serene and almost angelic face.
She walked with care and deliberation for the Lord had
blessed her among women.
Pan Andrey Kmitsa gazed lovingly at her. When she
moved, his eyes followed her with the devotion that a dog
shows for his master. From time to time he smiled, for it
made him happy to look at her, and he twisted up the ends
of his moustache.
At such moments his face was full of mischievous fun. It
was evident that the soldier was of a gay disposition and in
his bachelor days had had many a frolic.
The silence of the garden was broken only by the fall to
the ground of the over-ripe fruit and the hum of insects. It
was early in September and the weather was beautiful. The
extreme heat of the sun had abated, but the golden glow was
still ample. In the sunlight rosy apples were glistening
among the grey leaves in such numbers as to conceal the
boughs. The branches of the plum-trees were bending under
the weight of the fruit covered with greyish gum.
The least motion of the air was shown by the spider-webs
hanging from the trees; they were swaying in a faint breeze
that scarcely moved the leaves.
Perhaps 'it was the lovely weather that had made Pan
^Polish Kmitsits."
6 ... 'PAN MICHAEL.
Andrey so' joyous, ''for : his face grew more radiant every
moment : Ajk: IjWt- life; .took a .draught of mead and called to
his wife':** * ' : *' : ' '
"Olenka, come here! I want to say something to you."
"It may be something that I should not care to hear."
"As God is dear to me, it is not. Listen to me."
Then he caught her by the waist, pressed his moustache
to her shining hair and whispered:
"If a boy, let him be Michael."
She turned away with a faint flush on her face and mur-
mured:
"But- you promised not to object to Heraclius!"
"Do you not see that it is to honor Volodiyovski ?"
"But should we not first remember my grandfather?"
"And my benefactor! H'm! true, but the next shall be
Michael. It must be so."
At this, Olenka stood up and tried to free herself from
Pan Audrey's arms; but he held her closer to his breast and
began to kiss her on the eyes and mouth, saying:
"My precious one, my dearest love!"
At this point the conversation was interrupted by the ap-
pearance of a boy ait the end of the path who ran quickly
towards the bower.
"What is the 1 matter?" asked Pan Andrey, releasing his
wife.
"Pan Kharlamp has arrived and is waiting in the parlor,"
answered the boy.
"And here he is himself!" cried Pan Andrey at the sight
of a man approaching. "Good God! how grey his moustache
is! Greetings, dear friend! greetings old comrade!"
Then he darted out and hastened with open arms to re-
ceive Pan Kharlamp. But the latter first bowed low to
Olenka,, whom he had seen of old at the court of Kieydan;
then he pressed her hand to his enormous moustache and,
casting himself into Audrey's arms, he sobbed on his
shoulder.
"For God's sake what is the matter?" cried the astonished
host.
"God has given happiness to one and taken it away from
another," said Kharlamp. "But the cause of my grief I can
tell to you only."
Here he glanced at Olenka who, seeing thait he did not wish
to speak in her presence, said to her husband, "I will send
mead to you gentlemen, and meanwhile I will leave you.
PAN MICHAEL. j
Pan Audrey led Kharlamp into the bower, and seating
him on a bench asked:
"What is it? Are you in need of assistance? Rely upon
me as upon Zavisha." 1
"There is nothing the matter with me," said the old sol-
dier, "and while I can still move this hand and this sabre I
need no assistance; but our friend, the worthiest knight in
the Commonwealth, is in terrible suffering. I know not
whether he is still breathing/'
"By Christ's wounds! has anything happened to Volo-
diyovski?"
"Yes/* said Kharlamp, again giving way to tears. "Know
that Panna Anna Borzobohata has left this vale " m
"Dead!" cried Kmitsa, bowing his head in his hands.
"As a bird pierced by a dart."
A moment's silence followed, there was no sound but
that of an occasional heavy fall of an apple to the earth and
of Pan Kharlamp's sobs as he tried to restrain his tears. But
Andrey wrung his hands and shook his head and kept re-
peating:
"Dear God! dear God! dear God!"
"Your lordship will not wonder at my tears," at last Khar-
lamp said, "for if the mere tidings of what has happened op-
presses your heart so grievously, what must it be for me who
witnessed her pain and sufferings, that were excessive?"
At this point the- servant appeared, bearing a tray with a
pitcher and a second glass; he was followed by Andrews wife,
who could not restrain her curiosity. Seeing from her hus-
band's face that he was in great suffering she immediately
said:
fr Wha<t tidings have you brought? Do not send me away.
I will do my best to comfort you, or weep with you, or aid
you with my counsel."
"Your head can find no help in this case," said Pan
Andrey, and I fear that sorrow may have an evil effect on
your health."
"I can stand a great deal. It is worse to live in uncer-
tainty."
"Anusia is dead," said Kmitsa.
^ Olenka turned pale and sank heavily down on the bench.
Kmitsa thought that she was going to fain^; but she was af-
'A famous Polish magnate of the 17th Century, who distinguished himself
by his writings and statesmanship Translator,
g PAN MICHAEL.
faeted more by grief than by the shock of the sudden an-
nouncement, and burst into tears, in which she was joined by
the two knights.
"Olenka," said Pan Andrey, at last trying to lead his wife's
thoughts in another direction, do you not believe she is in
Paradise?"
"I am not grieving for her, but for her loss and for the
bereavement of Pan Michael. As for her eternal happiness,
I wish I had such sure hope of my own salvation as i have
of hers. A worthier maiden, 'or one of a better heart never
existed. Oh, my Anulka! 1 my beloved Anulka!" ....
"I saw her die," said Kharlamp, "God grant that none of
us may die with less piety!"
Then silence followed, as though some of the sharpness
of sorrow had departed with their tears; at length Kmitsa
said:
"Tell us how it happened, and take some mead to support
yourself -at the saddest points of your story."
"Thank you," answered Kharlamp, "I will drink now and
then, if you will join me, for grief, like a wolf, seizes a man
not only by the heart but also by the throat, and when it
seizes him there is no help, it chokes him. I was on my way
from Chenstohovo to settle down on a farm in my native
place in my old age. I have had enough of war; I began as
a stripling and now my moustache is grey. If I cannot stay
at home altogether I will serve in one of the squadrons, but
these military confederations are formed to the detriment of
the fatherland and comfort of the enemy, and this eternal
civil strife has thoroughly disgusted me with war. . . .
Good God! the pelican nourishes its young with its own blood,
but this country has no longer any blood left in its breast,
Sviderski was a great warrior. . . ,, May God judge him
there. . . .
| "My most beloved Anulu!" interrupted Olenka, weeping,
'''without thee what would have happened to me and all of
us! Thou wast a refuge and a defence to me! Oh, my be-
loved Anulu!"
As he heard her, Kharlamp again began to sob, but Andrey
broke in with the question:
"But where did you go to meet Pan Michael?"
To Chenstohovo, where they intended to rest, fe~ v
*Anulka, Anula, and Anusia are endeariug name* of Ata.
PAN MICHAEL. 9
on the road they would make offerings. He immediately told
me how that he was going from this place to Cracow to visit
Princess Grizelda, without whose permission and blessing
Anusia would not marry. She was in good health then and
Pan Michael was as joyous as a bird. 0, he said, "See what a
reward the Lord has given me for my labor/' He bragged
a good deal, too (God comfort him!) and joked with me not
a little because, as you know, at one time I quarrelled with
him about the lady and we were nearly fighting a duel. And
now, poor woman! where is she?"
Here Kharlamp again burst into tears until Audrey
checked him a second time', asking:
"You say she was well: then how did it happen so sud-
denly?"
"What is sudden is sudden. She was staying with Pani
Mairtsinova Zamoyska,, who was spending some days at Chens-
tohovo with her husband. Pan Michael would sit by her side
all day, he was rather impatient with the delay and said that
at that rate they would be a whole year on the journey to
Cracow because everyone on the way would want to detain
them. And no wonder! Everybody would be happy to en-
tertain such a soldier as Pan Michael and all who could get
hold of him would keep him. He also took me to his lady
and smilingly threatened to cut me to pieces if I attempted
to make love to her; but she had no eyes for anybody else.
1 sometimes felt squeamishly because an old man like myself
is like a nail in a wall. No matter! One night Pan Michael
came running in to me in great distress: "For God's sake,
can you find a doctor?" "What has happened?" "She is so
ill that she does not recognize anyone." "When was she
taken ill?" I asked. "Pani Zamoyska has brought me word,"
he replied. "It is now night. Where can I find a doctor in
this place where there is nothing but a cloister and more ruins
than people?" At last I found a barber surgeon, but even he
was unwilling to come till I threatened violence with my axe.
But a priest was more necessary than a doctor and indeed we
found a worthy Paulist who restored her to consciousness
with his prayers. She was able to receive the sacrament and
take an affecting farewell of Pan Michael. By the next noon
it was all over with her. The barber surgeon said that some-
thing must have been administered to her, but that is im-
possible, for philters- are ineffective in Chenstohovo. But
what happened to Pan Michael! What did he say? -I h<jpc
I0 PAN MICHAEL.
that the Lord Jesus will not hold him to account for it, for
a man does not heed his words when grief is tearing at his
heart. (Pan Kharlamp here lowered his voice.) "You see,"
he said, "in his madness he blasphemed."
"For God's sake! did he blaspheme?" asked Pan Kmitsa
in a whisper.
"From her corpse he rushed out into the ante-chamber,
and from there into the yard and reeled about like a drunken
man. He raised his clenched fists on high and cried in a
terrible voice: 'Such is my reward for my wounds, for my
labors, for my blood, for my attachment to my country! . . .
I had one ewe-lamb and that one, Lord, Thou hast taken
from me. To strike down an armed man who walks the earth
in his pride is a deed for God's hand, but a cat, a hawk, or
a kite can kill a harmless dove, and ' ;
"By God's wounds!" cried Olenka, "say no more, or you
will bring misfortune upon this house."
Kharlamp crossed himself and continued. "The distracted
soldier thought that after all his service this was his reward.
Ah, God knows best what he is doing though it is not clear to
human reason, nor can be gauged by human justice."
"Immediately after blaspheming he became rigid and fell
to the earth and the Paulist read an exorcism over him so
that evil spirits should not enter into him as they might,
taking advantage of his blasphemy."
"Did he soon recover?"
"He lay like one dead for about an hour and then revived
and retired to his chamber, refusing to see anyone. At the
burial I said to him, "Let your heart turn to God." He re-
plied not a word. I stayed three days longer at Ohenstohovo,
as I was unwilling to leave him; but he would not open his
door to me. He did not want me. I gave much anxious
thought to the question whether I should make further efforts
to get in or go away and leave him. How could I leave such
a man comfortless? But not being able to do anything I
went to Pan Skshetuski. He is his best friend and Pan Zag-
loba is also a friend of his, perhaps they will manage to touch
his heart, mo<re especially Pan Zagloba, who is clever and
knows how to prevail with people."
"Did you go to Skshetuski's?"
"I did, but even there I was unfortunate,, for both he and
Zagloba had gone to Kalish to see the captain of horse,
Pan Stanislav. No one knew when they would return. Then
PAN MICHAEL. n
I reflected, 'As Jmudj is on iny way, I will go to Pan Andrey
and tell him what has occurred/ ' ;
"I always knew that you were a worthy knight/ 7 said An-
drey.
"In this case it was not a question of myself but of Pan
Michael, and I must confess I have great fears that his mind
is unbalanced/'
"God preserve him from that," said Olenka.
"If God preserves him he will certainly take the cowl, for
I assure you that I have never seen such grief as his in all
my life. It is a pity for such a soldier as he is a great pity!"
"Why a pity? It would be to the greater glory of God,"
said Olenka.
Kharlamp's lips moved and he passed his hand across his
brow.
"Well, gracious lady, either it will or will not. Think how
many infidels and heretics he has slain in his Hie which surely
has pleased Our Saviour and His Mother more than any priest
could with sermons. IFm! it is a pleasant thing to think of.
Let each man serve the glory of God in his own way as he best
can. There are thousands wiser than he among the Jesuits,
but there is not such another sabre in the Commonwealth."
"As God is dear to me, that is true," cried Andrey. "Do
you know if he stayed on in Chenstohovo?"
"He was still there when I left; I know not what he has
done since. This only I pray: God preserve him from losing
Ms mind, God preserve him from sickness which often ac-
companies despair, he is alone, alone without help, without
a relative, without a friend, and without consolation."
"May Our Most Holy Lady of that place of miracles save
thee, trusty friend, for no brother could have done more than
thou hast done for me!"
Olenka became very thoughtful and there was a long
silence; at length she raised her shining head and said, "Yen-
drek. 1 you remember all that we owe him?"
"If I forget I will borrow the eyes of a dog, for I shall
never again dare to look an honest man in the face with my
own."
"Yendrek, you cannot leave him in that condition."
"How can I help him?"
"Go to him."
"There speaks a woman's true heart; there i a noble
*The same as Andrey.
12 PAN MICHAEL.
woman/ 7 cried Kharlamp, seizing her hands and covering
them with kisses.
But the 'advice did not please Pan Andrey; so he shook
his head and said, "I would go to the world's end for him,
but you know how it is if you were well I might but
you know. God preserve you from any accident! The wife
comes before the best friend. I am sorry for Pan Michael,
but you know."
"I will remain under the care of the Lauda Fathers. Every-
thing is quiet here now and there is nothing for me to be
afraid of. Without the will of God not a hair of my head will
fall to the ground; and there Pan Michael needs rescue per-
chance."
"Indeed he does need it!" added Kharlamp.
"Yendrek, I am in good health. No harm will come to me;
I know that you do not want to go."
"I would rather attack cannon with an oven-stick !" Andrey
broke in.
"If you do not go do you not think it will be hard for you
when you reflect 'I have abandoned my friend?' and more-
over the Lord in his righteous indignation may well deprive us
of his blessing."
"You have raised a knotty point for me. You say that he
may take away his blessing? I dread that thought."
"It is a sacred duty to save such a friend as Pan Michael."
"I am devoted to Michael. It is a hard case! If there is a
necessity for it, it is immediate, for in this matter every hour
counts. I will go to the stables without delay. By the living
God, is there no alternative. The Devil inspired those fel-
lows to go to Kalish. With me it is not a question of myself
but of you, beloved, I would rather lose all that I possess than
do without you for one day. If anyone said that I left you ex-
cept upon public service I would drive my sword into his
mouth up to the cross-hilt. You say it is my duty! So be it.
The man who hesitates is lost. If it were for anyone but
Michael I would not do it."
Here he turned to Kharlamp, "Noble sir, I beg you to ac-
company me to the stables and we will choose our horses.
And you, Olenka, see that my baggage is ready. Get some of
the Lauda men to attend to the threshing. Pan Kharlamp
you must stay with us for a fortnight at least; you will look
after my wife in my absence. You can find some land to suit
you in this neighborhood. Take Lubich! Come to the sta-
bles. I will start in an hour. If it must be it must be!"
CHAPTER II.
Sometime before sunset the Knight took leave of his tear-
ful wife who blessed his departure with a crucifix in which
were portions of the True Cross set in gold, and as he had
been accustomed to taking sudden journeys for many years,
he started out as if after Tartars who were vanishing with
spoil.
After passing Yilno he proceeded through Grodno to
Bialystok and so to Sy edicts. 1 In Lukov he learned that
Pan Yan Skshetuski had returned the day before from Kalish
with his family and Pan Zagloba. He therefore determined
to seek them, for who could better advise as to the means of
saving Pan Michael?
They were surprised and delighted to see him but when he
told them the cause of his visit their joy was turned into
sorrow.
Pan Zagloba did not recover his equanimity the whole day
and shed so many tears that, as he afterwards said, the water
in the mill-pond rose and they had to open the flood-gate.
But when his eyes had run dry he fell into deep thought and
at the council he delivered himself as follows:
"Yan cannot go for he is elected to the Chapter; there will
be many matters to attend to, as the land is full of restless
spirits after so much war. From what you say, Andrey, it is
evident that the storks will remain at Vodokta the whole
winter, since they are on the programme and must perform
their functions. No wonder that under such domestic con-
ditions you are not anxious to undertake the journey especi-
ally since we can't tell how long it may take. You have shown
your noble heart by coming, but my candid advice is to re-
turn, for in this case Michael needs a close confidant, one who
will not take a sharp answer to heart, nor be hurt at any un-
willingness to receive him. What is wanted is patience and
great experience and you have only friendship for Michael,
which is not sufficient. But don't be angry, for you must
iSiedlec.
(13)
I4 PAN MICHAEL.
acknowledge that Yan and I are older friends of his and have
passed through more adventures with him than you have.
Dear God, on how many occasions have he and I saved each
other, from disaster! 77
"I will resign my duties as a deputy!" Pan Yan interrupted.
"Yan that is public duty!" protested Zagloba sternly.
"God knows/ 7 cried the troubled Pan Yan, "that I love my
cousin with true fraternal affection; but Michael is closer to
me than a brother even."
"He is closer to me than any blood relation, especially as
I never had one. This, is not the time to discuss our affection.
You see, Yan, if this misfortune had just fallen upon Michael
I might say to you 'Let the Diet go to the DeviF and go! But
think how much time it has taken for Pan Kharlamp to go to
Jmudj from Chenstohovo and for Andrey to reach here from
Jnmdj. Now, it is not only necessary to go to Michael, but
to stay with him; not only to sorrow with him, but to reason
with him; not only to point to the Crucified as an example,
but to cheer him up with^pleasant humour. So you see who
ought to go, I, and I will go, so help me God! If I find
him at Chenstohovo I will bring him here; if not I will follow
him even to Moldavia and will not cease to seek him while I
have the strength left to take a pinch of snuff."
When they heard this the two cavaliers began to embrace
Pan Zagloba and he became somewhat affected at the thought
of Pan Michael's misfortune and his own approaching toils.
So he began to weep and at last when they had embraced him
to liis content he said:
"Do not thank me for Michael: you are no nearer to him
than I."
"We are not thanking you for Pan Michael," said Andrey,
but a man must have a hard and inhuman heart indeed not to
be moved at the sight of your readiness, which, at a friend's
necessity, takes no account of fatigue and no thought of age.
At your years other men are thinking of a comfortable nook
by the fire; but you talk of a long journey as if you were no
older than Pan Yan or myself."
Pan Zagloba made no secret of his years, it is true; but he
did not like people to talk as if incapability accompanied old
age. So that though his eye? were still red he glanced sharply
and somewhat resentfully at Pan Andrey and replied:
"My dear sir, at the beginning of my seventy-seventh year
1 felt a slight sinking at the heart because two axes were over
PAN MICHAEL. ! 5
my neck, but when the eighth decade had passed I gained
such spirit that a wife came tripping into my mind. And if
I had married we might have seen which of us would first
have had cause to boast, you or I."
"I do not boast," said Andrey, "but neither do I flatter
you."
"And I should certainly have confounded you as I did
Pototski, the Hetman, in the king's presence when he was
jesting about my age. I challenged him to try who could
make the greatest number of consecutive goat-springs. And
what was the result? Revera made three; the haiduks had to
lift him for he could not get up alone; and I went all over the
place with thirty-five springs. Ask Pan Yan who was a wit-
ness to it all!"
Pan Yan, who was long accustomed to have Zagloba appeal
to him as a witness to everything, did not move an eyelid but
returned to the subject of Pan Michael. Zagloba was silent
and seemed to be thinking deeply; at last he recovered his
good humor and after the meal he said:
"I will tell you something that would not occur to every-
one. I trust to God that our Michael will get over this
calamity more easily than we thought at first."
"God grant it! but what makes you think so?" asked
Andrey.
"H'm! Besides being well acquainted with Michael, a
natural quick wit and long experience are needed, and that is
not possible at your years. Every man has his own special
gifts. When misfortune strikes some men it is, figuratively
speaking, like casting a stone into a river. On the surface
the water flows on quietly, but the stone lies on the bottom
and impedes the current and breaks it dreadfully and it will
lie there and break it till all the waters cease flowing into the
Styx_ Yan, you may be classed among such men; but the
world has more suffering for them, for the pain and the
memory of what caused it never leave them. But others take
misfortune like a punch on the shoulder. They lose their
senses for a moment but soon revive and when the black-and-
blue bruise is gone they forget it. Ah! that kind of nature is
the best for this world which is full of vicissitudes."
The cavaliers attentively listened to Zagloba's words of
wisdom; he was gratified at their respectful attention and pro-
ceeded:
"I know Michael thoroughly: and God is my witness that
Ib PAX MICHAEL.
I have no desire to find fault with him now but I have an idea
that his grief is more for the loss of the marriage than of the
maiden. It is nothing that a terrihle despair has taken hold
of him, though that too lies hard upon him. You cannot
conceive what a desire that man had to marry. In his nature
there is no manner of greed, nor ambition, nor self-seeking;
he has neglected what he possessed, he has as good as lost his
own fortune, he forgot his salary; but in return for all his
toils and services he only demanded from the Lord God and
the Commonwealth a wife. And in his own soul he said that
he was entitled to such bread, and he was about to put it in
his mouth when at that very moment it was as if someone
jeered at him and said, 'Now you have it! Eat it!' Is it any
wonder that he gave way to despair? I do not say that he
did not grieve over the maiden; but, as God is dear to me, he
grieved more about the marriage, though of course he himself
would swear to the contrary."
"God grant it!" repeated Pan Yan.
"Wait! Only let those wounds in his heart close and be
covered with fresh skin, and we shall see whether his old de-
sire does not return. The only danger is that now, crushed
with despair, he may take some step or make some decision
that afterwards he would regret. But whatever was to hap-
pen has already happened, for in misfortunes decisions are
quickly made. My servant is packing my clothes. I am not
saying this to dissuade you from going but only to comfort
you."
"Once again, father, you will be a healing balm to Michael/'
said Pan Yan.
"As I was to you, you recollect? If only I can find him
soon, for I fear that he may be hiding in some ruins, or will
disappear somewhere among the far steppes with which he
has been familiar since childhood. Pan Kmitsits, your lord-
ship dwells upon my years; but I tell you that if ever a Boyar 1
courier made such speed with his despatches as I shall, then
when I return set me to untangle a skein, shell peas, or work
at the distaff. Hardships shall not deter me, nor marvels of
hospitality turn me aside; eating and drinking even shall not
detain me. You have never yet seen such a journey! I can
scarcely sit still now, it seems as if someone were pricking me
with an awl under the chair. I have even given orders for
my travelling-shirt to be rubbed with goat's grease so as to be
proof against snakes." . . .
J Bojar (Boyar), ft Noble of the equestrian order.
CHAPTER III.
However, Pan Zagloba did not make such speed as he
had promised his friends. The nearer he came to Warsaw
the more slowly he travelled. It was at that point when
John Casimir, king, statesman, and great leader, having ex-
tininguished the flames of foreign war and having, as it were,
drawn the Commonwealth out of the depths of a deluge, had
abdicated power. He had suffered everything, endured every-
thing, and exposed his breast to every blow from the foreign
foe, but when subsequently he had attempted internal re-
forms and had only met with opposition and ingratitude
from the nation instead of aid, of his own free will he took
from his anointed head the crown whose weight had be-
come intolerable to him.
The local and general diets had already been held, and Praj-
movski, the Primate, had summoned the Convocation for
November the fifth.
The early efforts of various candidates and the rivalries
of the several parties were very great; and though the elec-
tion alone could decide, yet all felt the unusual importance
of the Diet of Convocation. Therefore deputies from all
directions were hastening to Warsaw in carriage and on horse-
back, with servants and followers; senators were proceeding
to the capital each with a brilliant escort.
The roads were thronged; the inns were crowded; and the
discovery of rooms for even one night was attended with great
delay. However chambers were given up to Zagloba out of
respect to his years, but on the other hand his great fame
frequently exposed him to loss of time.
It happened thus: he would arrive at some inn where not
another finger could be squeezed in, whereupon the person-
age, who occupied the house with his retinue, would come
out through curiosity to see the new arrival, and, seeing a
man with a beard and moustache as white as milk, and moved
by his venerable appearance, would say:
"I pray your beneficent lordship to come in with me for a
little refreshment."
1 8 PAN MICHAEL.
Pan Zagioba was no churl and would not refuse, as lie
knew that every man would be pleased to make his acquaint-
ance. As his host led him across the threshold and as Iced
"Whom have I the honor of entertaining?" he would simply
put his hands on his ribs and, sure of the effect, answer in
the two words:
"Zagloba sum!"
Indeed after those two words a great opening of arms
never failed to follow, with such exclamations as "I shall
number this among my happiest days!" And the officers
or nobles present would say, "Look at him! there is the pat-
tern, the gloria et decus (glory and honor) of all the pillars
of the Commonwealth." Then they thronged to gaze at
Zagloba and the younger of them came and kissed the hem
of his travelling-coat. Then they took kegs and vessels out
of the wagons and a gaudium (drinking-bout) followed and
sometimes lasted for several days.
Everybody thought that he was going as a deputy to the
Diet and when he denied it there was general astonishment.
But he explained that he had ceded his mandate to Pan
Domashevski, so that younger men might devote themselves
to public affairs. To a few he stated the real reason of his
journey but to the inquiries of others he replied as follows:
"Accustomed to war from my childhood, in my old age
I wanted to strike a last blow with Doroshenko."
At these words ihey marvelled still more and in no" one's
eyes did he lose importance for not being a deputy, for all
fenew that among the spectators were many who were more
powerful than the deputies themselves. Moreover every
senator, even the most eminent reflected that the election
would take place in a couple of months and then the slightest
word of a man of such reputation among the nobles would
be inestimably valuable.
Therefore they carried Zagloba about in their arms and
even the greatest lords stood before him with uncovered
heads. Pan Podlaski drank with him for three days; the
Patsovs, whom he met at Katushyn, 1 bore him in their arms.
More than one man gave orders to fill the old hero's baskets
with expensive presents, from vodka and wine to richly or-
namented caskets, sabres, and pistols.
Zalgoba's servants also greatly profited; and notwithstand-
ing his promises and intentions, he travelled so slowly that
he did not reach Minsk till the third week.
iKatuszyn.
PAN MICHAEL. 19
But there he did not halt for refreshments. As he was
driving through the square he saw so striking and splendid
a retinue that nothing he had yet met on the way could
equal it: retainers in brilliant colors and at least half a regi-
ment of infantry, for people did not go on horseback and
armed to the Diet of Convocation, but these troops were
*o well-ordered that the King of Sweden himself had -no
better guard; the square was filled with gilded carriages bear-
ing tapestry and carpets for use in the inns along the way;
wagons with boxes of provisions and food, attended by ser-
vants who were principally foreigners so that in the whole
crowd very few could make themselves understood.
At last Zagloba saw an attendant in the Polish dress, so,
giving orders to halt and feeling sure of good entertain-
ment, he had already put one foot on the ground and asked:
"Whose is this retinue that is so gorgeous that the King
can have no finer?"
The attendant answered, "Whose should it be but our lord,
the Prince Marshal of Lithuania?"
"Whose," repeated Zagloba.
"Are you deaf? Prince Boguslav Radzivill, who is going
to the Convocation and who, God grant, after the election will
find himself to be chosen."
Zagloba withdrew his foot quickly into the carriage.
"Drive on!" he shouted. "There is nothing here for us."
And he proceeded, trembling with rage.
"Great God!" he cried, "inscrutable are thy decrees and
if thou dost not strike this traitor with thy lightnings it is
because thou hast some design which human reason is not
permitted to fathom, though humanly speaking, it would be
well to chastise such a bull-driver. But it is evident that
evil is at work in this most enlightened Commonwealth if
such men without honor or conscience and venal betrayers
of their country are not only unpunished, but ride in power
and safety, nay, more, they also exercise civil functions.
Surely we must end in ruin, for in what other state or country
could such things happen? John Casimir was a good king,
but he pardoned too freely and accustomed the most iniqui-
tous to trust to impunity and safety. Still, that was not en-
tirely his fault. It is evident that throughout the nation
the public conscience and the sense of civic virtue have
utterly perished. Phew! phew! he a deputy! The idea of
placing in his hands the care and safety of the country! those
very hands that are destroying it and fastening Swedish
20 PAX MICHAEL.
bonds upon it! We shall be lost: it cannot be otherwise!
And then to make a king of him, the But there! it is evi-
dent that with such people (everything is possible. He a
deputy! Good God! But the law distinctly declares that
a man who is filling an office in an alien country cannot
be a deputy, and he is a governor-general under his scabby
uncle the Prussian prince. Ah, ha! wait, I have thee! What
are the verifications at the Diet for? If 1 do not go to the
chamber and raise this question, though I am only an ar-
biter, may I this moment be turned into a fat sheep and my
coachman into a butcher! 1 will find among the deputies
some to support me. I know not, venal traitor, whether 1
can succeed in balking such a potentate and excluding thee,
but be sure that what I do will not aid thy election. And
Michael, poor fellow, must wait for me since this is a matter
of public urgency."
Thus meditated Zagloba, promising himself carefully to
see to that matter of exclusion and privately win over de-
puties; for this reason he made greater haste to Warsaw from
Minsk, dreading to arrive late at the opening of the Con-
vocation.
But he arrived in time. The concourse of deputies and
others was so great that it was utterly impossible to find
accommodation in Warsaw itself, or in Praga, or even in the
suburbs; it was also difficult to find a lodging in a private
house, for three or four persons were sleeping in a single
room. Zagloba spent the first night in a shop at Fukiera and
with reasonable comfort; but in the morning when he en-
tered his carriage he did not well know what to do.
"God! God!" he cried bitterly, looking back on the
suburbs of Cracow as he passed, "here are the Bernard ines
and there the ruins of the Kazanovski Palace! Ungrateful
city! I bled and toiled to wrest it from the foe, and now it
refuses me a place to lay my grey head."
But it was not that the city grudged a resting-place for
the grey head; it simply hadn't one left. But a lucky star
was shining for him, for scarcely had he reached the palace
of Konyetspolski when a voice beside the carriage cried to his
driver:
"Halt!"
The man pulled up and a stranger approached the car-
riage with radiant face arid exehimod:
"Pan Zagloba, does not your lordship know me?"
PAN MICHAEL. 21
Pan Zagloba saw before him a man of rather more than
thirty years, wearing a plumed leopard-skin cap an unmis-
takable sign of military service, a poppy-colored tunic, and
a dark red kontush held by a gold embroidered belt. The
stranger's face was unusually handsome: he had a delicate
complexion though somewhat tanned by the wind of the
steppes; his blue eyes were pensive and melancholy; his fea-
tures were unusually beautiful and almost too delicate for
a man. Notwithstanding his Polish dress he wore his hair
long and his beard with a foreign cut. Halting beside the
carriage he extended his arms, and though Zagloba could
not at first remember him, he leaned over and embraced him.
They pressed each other cordially and held one another
at arm's length to take a better look.
At last Zagloba said, "Pardon me, your lordship, bufc I
cannot yet recollect/'
"Hassling-Ketling!"
"Good Lord! The face seemed familiar to me but the
dress has entirely altered you, for of old I only saw you in
cavalry uniform. Now you wear the Polish dress?"
"Yes; for I have adopted this Commonwealth as my mother
for she received me when I was a wanderer almost in child-
hood and I do not want a mother of my own. You are not
aware that I was nationalized after the war."
"You give me good news! So you have been fortunate!"
"Both in this and otherwise, for in Courland on the
Jmudj frontier I found a man of my own name who adopted
me, gave me his coat of arms, and bestowed a fortune upon
me. He lives at Svyenta in Courland; but he owns an estate
on this side of the border which he has given to me."
"God bless you! Then you have given up war?"
"Only let the opportunity come and I shall be found in
my place. With that anticipation I have leased my land and
am waiting here for orders."
"That is the chivalrous spirit I love. In my youth I was
like that and there is vigor yet in my bones. What are you
doing now in Warsaw ?"
"I am a deputy to the Diet of Convocation."
"God's wounds! But you are already a Pole to the back-
bone!"
The young knight smiled.
"In my soul, which is better."
"Are you
22
PAN MICHAEL.
aiiswered Ketling.
"That is all that is wanting. But I think but stay! Have
you got over the old feeling for Panna Billevich?"
"Since you know what I thought was my own secret be
sure that no other has superseded it."
"Oh, don't think of her! She will soon present a young
Kmitsits to the world. Never mind! What sense is there
in sighing wiien another is living with her happily? Truly
that is absurd."
Ketling raised his mournful eyes:
"I said only that no new feelinghas come."
"It will come, never fear, we'll have you married yet. I
konw from my own experience too much constancy brings
only suffering. In my day I was as faithful as Troilus and
lost no end of pleasure and a great many chances; and how
I suffered!"
"God grant everyone the preservation of such, a jovial
mood as your lordship's!"
"Because I never lived to excess and therefore there are
no aches in my bones. Where are you staying? Have you
found lodgings?"
"I have a comfortable cottage at Mokotov which I built
after the war."
"That is lucky; but I have been searching the whole city
since yesterday."
"For God's sake, my benefactor, I hope you will not re-
fuse to stay with me. There is plenty of room; besides the
house there are offices and a commodious stable. There is
room for your servants and horses."
"This has fallen from Heaven, as God is dear to me."
Ketling took his seat in the carriage and they drove on.
On the way Zagloba told him about Pan Michael's mis-
fortune and he wrung his hands, for it was the first he had
heard of it.
"The blow is all the harder for me," he said at last; "per-
haps your lordship does not know what deep friendship has
grown up between us recently. Together we went through
all the last wars with Prussia, besieging the fortresses with
Swedish garrisons. We went in company to the Ukraine,
and against Pan Lubomirski, and again to the Ukraine after
the death of the Voyevoda of Russia under the Crown Mar-
shal Sobieski. The same saddle served as a pillow and we
ate from the same dish; we were called Castor and Pollux.
PAN M1CUAKL. 23
And only when he came to Lithuania for Panna Borzobo-
hata were we separated. Who would have thought that his
fondest hopes were to disappear like an arrow in the air?' 7
"There is nothing sure in this vale of tears," said Zagloba.
"Except true friendship ! ... We must confer together
and find out where he now is. We may learn something
from the marshal of the kingdom who loves Michael as the
apple of his eye. If he cannot tell us anything there are
deputies here from every direction. It cannot be that no
one has heard of such a knight. I will assist you to the ut-
most of my power more willingly even than if it was my own
affair."
Thus conversing they at last arrived at Ketling's 'cottage'
which proved to be a mansion. The interior arrangements
were very extensive and it was full of costly furniture either
purchased or obtained in campaigning. The collection of
weapons was especially noteworthy. Zagloba was charmed
with everything he saw and exclaimed:
"Why, you could find quarters here for a score of men.
I was very fortunate to meet you. I might have shared
rooms with Pan Anton Khrapovitski who is an old acquaint-
ance. The Patsovs also invited me, they are seeking par-
tisans against the Radzivills, but I much prefer being with
you/ 7
"I have heard from the Lithuanian deputies/ 'said Ketling,
"that now that it is Lithuania's turn they are extremely
anxious to select Pan Khrapovitski as Marshal of the Diet. r
"And justly. He is a true and worthy man, but somewhat
easy-going. To his mind nothing is so precious as harmony:
he is ever trying to reconcile some couple or other and that
is futile. But tell me plainly, what is Boguslav Eadzivill to
you?"
"Since the time when Pan Audrey's Tartars took me pris-
oner at Warsaw he has been nothing. I cast off that service
and never went back to it; for, though a great lord, he is
a malicious and bad man. I saw enough of him in Taurogi
when he was plotting against that being who is superior to
this earth."
"How, superior? Man, what are you talking about? She
is formed of clay and may be broken like any other vessel
of olay. But that is of no consequence."
At this point Zagloba grew red with anger and his eves
seemed starting from their sockets.
24 PAX MICHAEL.
"Just imagine it, that villian is a deputy!"
"Who?" asked Ketling in amazement, for his thoughts
were still running on Olenka.
"Boguslav Radzivill! But the verifications, what are they
for? Listen: you are a deputy 1 will hout to you in sup-
port from the gallery; fear not. The right is with us and
if they attempt to trample upon it a tumult may be started
among the spectators that will not be stayed without blood-
shed."
"Do not do that your lordship, for the love of God! I
will raise the question, for it is proper to do so; but God
forbid that we should disturb the Diet!"
"I will go to Khrapovitski though he is as lukewarm water;
but that cannot be helped, for much depends on him as the
future Marshal. I will rouse the Patsovs. I will publicly
proclaim all Boguslav's intrigues at least. Moreover on the
road I heard that the scoundrel is thinking of seeking the
crown for himself."
"A nation would be in its last decline and unworthy to
exist if such a man could gain the crown," said Ketling.
"But rest now and in a day or two we will go to the Crown
Marshal and make inquiries about our friend."
CHAPTER IV.
Some days afterwards came the opening of the Diet to
which, as Ketling had foreseen, Pan Khrapovitski was called,
he was chamberlain of Smolensk and subsequently Voyevoda
of Vitebsk. Since the only matters were to fix the date of
the election and to appoint the supreme Chapter, and as such
affairs afforded no scope for the intrigues of either party, the
convocation worked quietly enough. Only the question of
the verification of the members of the Diet disturbed it a
little just at first. When the deputy Ketling called into ques-
tion the election of the secretary of Belsk and of his colleague
Prince Boguslav Radzivill, a deep voice in the audience called
out "Traitor! foreign tool!" Other voices followed suit and
some deputies joined in and unexpectedly the Diet was di-
vided into two parties, one attempting to exclude the depu-
ties of Belsk and the other to confirm their election. Finally
a committee was appointed to settle the question and their
election was recognized. Nevertheless it was a painful blow
to Prince Boguslav. The mere fact that the Diet was dis-
cussing the question whether the Prince was qualified to sit
in the Diet and that all his treason and falseness at the time
of the Swedish invasion were dragged into public, covered
him with fresh shame in the eyes of the Commonwealth and
undermined all his ambitious schemes from the foundation.
He had calculated that when the partisans of Conde,
Neuburgh, and Lorraine without mentioning lesser candi-
dates, had mutually injured each other the selection might
easily fall on a man of the native country.
Conceit and his flatterers told him that if that should hap-
pen the native could only be a man of the greatest genius,
power, and fame himself.
Keeping his plans secret till the time was ripe, the prince
had been spreading his nets over Lithuania first, and was now
about to extend them to Warsaw, when suddenly they were
torn at the very beginning and such a big hole was made in
them that all the fish might easily escape. He ground his
2 6 PAN MICHAEL.
teeth during the whole time the investigation was being made
and since he could not visit his revenge on the head of Ket-
ling, as the latter was a deputy, he offered his followers a
reward if they would discover the spectator who had shouted
"Traitor, foreign tool!" at the conclusion of Ketling's pro-
posal.
Zagloba's name was too well known for him to remain long
hidden; besides he did not make any attempt at concealment.
The prince raised a great storm but was greatly discomfited
at learning that he was opposed by so popular a man and one
whom it would be dangerous to attack.
Zagloba also was aware of his own power, for when threats
were in the air he once at a great meeting of the nobles said:
"I know not whether it would be dangerous for the man
who should cause a hair of my head to fall. The election is
not far off' and where a hundred thousand brotherly sabres
are gathered together there may easily be hewing and
hacking."
These words reached the ears of the prince who only bit
his lips and smiled sarcastically, but secretly he knew that the
old man was right.
The next day he altered his behaviour towards the old
knight for when someone was speaking of Zagloba at a feast
given by the Prince Chamberlain, Boguslav remarked:"
"I hear that that noble is bitterly opposed to me; but I have
such a regard for noble natures that I shall always love him,
even though he does not cease to injure me in the future."
And the prince repeated the same words a week later to Pan
Zagloba in person, when they met at the house of the Grand
Hetman Sobieski.
Though Zagloba preserved a tranquil and courageous coun-
tenance the sight of the prince made his heart beat a little
faster, for Boguslav had a long reach and his violence made
him an object of dread to everybody. However the prince
called across the table:
"Noble Zagloba, it is reported to me that although you are
not a deputy you wished to drive me, an innocent man, out of
the Diet; but like a Christian I forgive you, and should you
ever want advancement I shall not hesitate to serve you."
"I only stood by the Constitution," replied Zagloba, "as it
is the duty of a noble to do; as for aid at my age God's is the
aid that I am most likely to need, for I am almost ninety."
"A beautiful age if it is as full of virtues as years and that I
have not the slightest inclination to doubt."
MICHAEL. 27
"I served my king and country without going after strange
gods."
The prince slightly frowned.
"You served against me also as I know. But let there be
peace between us. All is forgoten and above all that you
aided the private enmity of another against me. I have still
an account to settle with that foe, but to your lordship I ex-
tend my hand and proffer my friendship/' 5
"I am only a servant; the friendship is too exalted for me.
I should have to stand on tiptoe, or jump up to reach it; and
that is troublesome in old age. If your highness is speaking
of an account between yourself and Pan Kmitsits, my friend,
I would far rather have nothing to do with that arithmetic."
"Why so, I pray?" asked the prince.
"Because there are four fundamental rules in arithmetic.
Although Pan Kmitsits has a considerable fortune it is a
midge in comparison with your princely wealth, therefore
Pan Kmitsits will not consent to divide with you. He is
engaged in multiplication on his own account and will allow
no man to subtract aught from him; I doubt if your highness
would be anxious to accept what he would give you."
Although Boguslav was skillful at word-fencing, yet,
whether confounded by the argument or the insolence of
Zagloba, he seemed to forget that he had a tongue in his head.
Those present shook their sides with laughter. Pan Sobieski
laughed with all his heart and said:
"He is an old war-horse of Zbaraj. He knows how to
wield a sabre and is also no uncommon player with the tongue.
Best leave him alone!"
Boguslav, seeing that he had come across an irreconcilable,
made no further efforts to win Zagloba over; but, beginning
to talk with another guest, he cast occasional malignant
glances across the table in the direction of the old knight.
But Sobieski was delighted and proceeded:
"You are a master, my lord, a real master. Have you ever
met with your equal in the Commonwealth?"
"At the sabre," answered the gratified Zagloba, "Michael
is my match, and Andrey also gives fair evidence of my train-
ing."
He gazed at Bogu?lav; but the prince pretended not to hear
him and went on talkinsr diligently to his neighbour.
"True," said the Hetman, "I have seen Pan Michael at
work on more than one occasion and would warrant him were
28 PAX MICHAEL.
even the fate of the whole of Christendom at stake. What a
pity it is that such a soldier has been struck as it were by a
thunderbolt,"
"What has happened to him?" asked Sarbyevski, the sword-
bearer of Chekhanovyetski.
"The maiden he loved has died at Chenstohovo," Zagloba
replied, "and the worst of it is that I cannot get any tidings
of his whereabouts."
"By God! I saw him/ 7 cried Pan Varshytski, the Castellan
of Cracow. "As I came to Warsaw I met him on the road
coming hither also; and he told me that being disgusted with
the world and its vanities he was going to Mons Regius to
spend the rest of his burdensome life in prayer and medi-
tation."
Zagloba clutched at his few remaining locks.
"He has become a Camaldoli monk as I love God !" he cried
in the deepest despair.
Indeed the Castellan's words had greatly impressed every-
body. Pan Sobieski, who loved soldiers, and well knew what
great need the country had of them, was deeply concerned
and said after a pause:
"It is not good to withstand the will of men and the glory
of God, but it is a misfortune to lose him and, gentlemen, it
would be difficult for me to hide from you that I am grieved.
A soldier of Prince Yeremy's school he was excellent against
any enemy, but against the wild hordes he was unequalled.
There are but few of his kind in the Steppes, such as Pan
Pivo among the Cossacks, and Pan Ruschyts in the cavalry;
but even these are inferior to Pan Michael."
"It is fortunate that the times are somewhat more tran-
quil," said the sword-bearer of Chekhanovyetski, "and that
Paganism is faithfully observing the treaty of Podhaytsa ex-
torted by my master's invincible sword."
Here the sword-bearer bowed to Sobieski who was gratified
at such praise in public and replied:
"That was due first to the favor of God who enabled me to
make a stand at the frontier of this Commonwealth and do
some execution among the enemy; and secondly, to the valor
of good soldiers who are ready to undertake anything. I
know that the Khan personally would be glad to maintain
the treaty, but even in the Crimea he has turbulent subjects
and the Russe horde will not obey him at all. I have just
received tidings that on the Moldavian border cloudi are
PAN MICHAEL. 29
gathering and raids are to be looked for: I have given orders
for the tracks to be carefully watched, but I have not enough
soldiers. When I send them to one point another is left un-
guarded. I need men who have had special training and are
acquainted with the ways of the riders; and that is why I am
so sorry about Pan Michael."
Zagloba raised his bowed head from his hands and cried
"But he shall not remain a Camaldolian even if I have to take
Mons Regius by assault to bring him away by force. For
God's sake! I will go straight to him to-morrow and perhaps
I may induce him to comply; if not I will go to the Primate,
to the General of the Order I will go even to Rome if I must.
I have no wish to take away aught from the glory of the Lord,
but what sort of a monk would he be without a beard?
There is as much hair on his face as on my fist! As I love
God, he will never be able to sing Mass; or if he does the rats
will scurry out of the cloisters thinking it the amorous cry
of a tom-cat. Pardon me, gentlemen, for saying what sorrow
dictates. I love that man better than I ever should a son of
my own if I had one. God be with him! God be with him!
Were he even a Bernardine! but a Camaldolian! ! As I am
a living man it shall not be! I will go direct to the Primate
to-morrow for a letter to the General of the Order."
"He cannot have taken the vows yet," said the Marshal,
"but let not your lordship be too insistent, lest he become
stubborn; and there is another consideration, has not the will
of God declared itself in his intention?"
"The will of God! The will of God does not come on a
sudden; as the old proverb says, 'What is sudden is of the
Devil'. It it were the will of God I should have remarked it
in him long ago, and he was never a priest but a dragoon.
If he had made such a resolve in full possession of his reason,
calmly and thoughtfully, I should have nothing to say; but
the will of God does not strike a desperate man as a falcon
strikes a duck. I will put no pressure upon him. Before
going I will consider my words so that I may not increase his
disgust with life; but my hope is in God. This little soldier
has always put more trust in my wit than in his own and I
have no doubt that he will do so in this case also, unless he
has greatly altered."
CHAPTER V.
The next day Zagloba, having concerted his plans with
Hassling, and being armed with a letter from the Primate,
rang the bell at the gate of the monastery on Mons Regius.
His heart was beating violently at the thought, 'How will
Michael receive me?' and though he had prepared in advance
what to say he confessed to himself that much depended on
his reception. With this conviction he pulled the bell a sec-
ond time and when the key rattled in the lock and the door
slightly opened he thrust himself into the aperture with some
violence and said to the confused young monk:
"I know that special pel-mission is required to gain admis-
sion here, buf I have a letter from the Archbishop which you,
dear frater, will kindly give to the reverend Prior."
"It shall be done according to your lordship's desire," said
the porter, bowing at the sight of the Primate's seal.
Then he pulled a cord hanging from the tongue of a bell
and clanged it twice to call another, for he had no right to
leave the door. A second monk answered the summons and,
taking the letter, departed in silence. Pan Zagloba placed on
a bench a package he had brought with him, and sitting down
beside it, began to puff violently.
"Frater," said he at last, how long have } r ou been in the
monastery ?"
"Five years," the porter replied.
"Is it possible? so young, and five years already! Therefore
it is too late to leave, even if you wished to do so. Sometimes
you must pine for the world; for one man the world smells of
war, for another of feasting, for a third of women."
"Avaunt!" cried tne monk, crossing himself with devotion.
"How is that? Have you never been seized with the temp-
tation to leave the cloister?" repeated Zagloba.
The monk looked distrustfully at the envoy of the Arch-
bishop who was talking so strangely, and answered, "When
this door once closes on any man he never goes out again."
(30)
PAN MICHAEL. 3 X
"We'll see to tha/t! How is Pan Volodiyovski ? Is he alive?
Is he well ?"
"There is no one here of that name."
"Frater Michael?" said Zagloba at a venture. A former
colonel of dragoons who lately came here."
"We call him Brother Yerzy; but he has not yet taken the
vows, and cannot do so till the end of the term."
"And he certainly will not take them; for, brother, you"
would never believe what a man he is after women! You
could not find a man more destructive to female virtue among
the whole clerg I mean cavalry."
"This is not proper for me to listen to," said the monk in
growing confusion and surprise.
"Listen, f rater! I know not where visitors are received,
but if it is here I advise you to withdraw a little when Brother
Yerzy arrives, as far off as that grille for instance for our
conversation will deal with exceedingly worldly matters."
"I would rather go away at once," said the monk.
At this moment Pan Michael, or rather Brother Yerzy, ap-
peared, but he was so greatly changed that Zagloba did not
recognize Pan Michael in the approaching figure. In the first
place he looked taller in his long white habit than in his
dragoon jacket; then his moustache, usually curled up to his
eyes, was now drooping, and he was growing a beard that now
formed little yellow locks no longer than half a finger; and
finally he had become very spare and thin and his eyes had
lost all their old fire. He approached slowly, with his hands
hidden in his breast beneath his habit, and his head was
drooping.
Zagloba, not recognizing him, thought it might perhaps be
the Prior himself approaching, and therefore rose from the
bench and was beginning, "Laudetur" when suddenly
looking more closely he opened his arms and cried, "Pan
Michael! Pan Michael!"
Frater Yerzy allowed himself to be embraced and something
that sounded like a sob heaved his breast, but nis eyes re-
mained dry. Zagloba held him in a long embrace and at last
said:
"You have not been alone in bewailing your misfortune. I
wept; Yan, Andrey, and their families also wept. It is God's
will! Resign yourself to it Michael. Mav the Father of Mercy
comfort and reward you! . . . You have done well to im-
mure yourself hero for a time. In times of trouble there is
32 PAN MICHAEL.
nothing better than prayer and pious meditation. Come, let
me again embrace you! I can scarcely see you through my
tears."
And Zagloba shed genuine tears in his emotion at seeing
Pan Michael in this condition.
At last he said, "Forgive me for breaking in on your medi-
tation, but I could not do otherwise, as you will acknowledge
when you hear my reasons. Ah! Michael, you and I have
gone through a world of good and evil. Have you found
solace behind these bars?"
"I have," replied Pan Michael "in the words that I hear
daily in this retreat, and which I repeat and desire to repeat
till I die, Memento mori 'remember death/ In death there
is solace for me."
"H'm! death is to be met with more readily on the battle-
field than in the cloister where life passes as though one were
slowly unwinding thread from a ball."
"There is no life here for there are no mundane affairs, and
even before the soul leaves the body it lives, so to speak, in
another world."
"If that be true I will not tell you that the Byalogrod tribes
axe gathering in great force against the Commonwealth, for
that will be of no interest to you!"
Pan Michael's lips suddenly quivered and his right hand
mechanically moved to his. left side, but, finding no sword
there, he put both hands again under his habit, bowed his
head, and repeated:
"Memento mori."
"Certainly, certainly!" replied Zagloba, blinking his sound
eye with a certain amount of impatience. "Only yesterday
Pan Sobieski, the Hetman, was saying: 'Only let Volodiyovski
serve till this tempest is past and then he can go to whatever
monastery he likes. Such action would not be displeasing to
God; on the contrary, such a monk would be so much the
more meritorious/ But it is not to be wondered at that you
should consider your own peace of mind before the happiness
of the country, for charity begins at home."
A long silence followed; only Pan Michael's moustache
seemed to stand out somewhat more stiffly above his lips as
they worked.
"You have not taken the vows yet?" asked Zagloba at
length, "and you can Ipave at any moment?"
"I am not yet a monk, for I have been waiting for the
PAN MICHAEL.
33
grace of God, and till my soul should be purged of all dis-
tracting earthly thoughts. His grace is with me now: peace
of mind is coming back to me. I can depart, but have no
desire to do so since the time is approaching when I can make
my vows with a clear conscience and a heart free from all
earthly longings."
"I have no wish to divert you from it; on the contrary I
applaud your resolve, though I remember that when once
Yan was thinking of taking the cowl he deferred doing so
until the land was relieved of hostile attack. But do as you
will. Indeed I will never be the one to deter you, for there
was a time when I myself felt a vocation for a monastic life.
Fifty years ago I entered on my novitiate; I am a liar if I
did not. Well, God ordained otherwise. Only I tell you this,
Michael, you must come away with me just for two days."
"Why must I go? Leave me in peace!"
Zagloba raised the skirt of his coat to his eyes and com-
menced to sob. "I do not crave succor for myself," he cried in
broken accents, "though Prince Boguslav Radzivill is pursu-
ing me with his vengeance; he sets his assassins in ambush for
me and there is no one to defend or protect me, a poor old
man. ... I was thinking that you . . . But no mat-
ter ... I will still love you till I die, even though you are
unwilling to take any interest in me. . . . Only pray for
my soul, for I shall not be able to escape Boguslav's hands. . .
Let come what will to me; but another of your friends who
shared his last crust with you, is now on his death-bed and
desires to see you without fail. He is not willing to die with-
out seeing you; for he wants to make a confession on which
the peace of his soul depends.'
Pan Michael who had listened to Zagloba's account of his
danger with great emotion, now sprang forward and, grasping
his arm, asked, "Is it Pan Yan?"
"No, not Yan, but Ketling!"
"For God's sake! what has happened him?"
"He was shot by one of Prince Boguslav's ruffians while
defending me; I know not if he can live for twenty-four hours.
It was on your account that we got into this trouble, for we
only came to Warsaw to try to find some way of consoling you.
Come, if only for two days, and soothe a dying man. You
can then return . . . you can become a monk. I have
brought the Primate's orders to raise no obstacle in your way.
Only hasten, for every moment is precious."
MICHAEL.
"Good God!" exclaimed Pan Michael; "what do I hear?
There are no obstacles, for so far I am here only for medita-
tion. As God lives, the prayer of a dying man is sacred! I
cannot refuge that/'
"It would be a mortal sin!" cried Zagloba.
"True! It is always that traitor Boguslav. But may I
never return here if I do not avenge Ketling! I will find those
villains and cleave their heads in two! Great God! sinful
thoughts are already assailing me! Memento moril Wait here
only till I have put on my old clothes, for it is forbidden to
go outside in the habit."
"Here are some clothes!" cried Zagloba, springing to the
bundle lying on the bench beside them. "I foresaw and pre-
pared everything! Here are boots, a rapier, and a, good over-
coat."
"Come to the cell," said the little knight hurriedly.
They went to the cell and when they came out by the side
of Zagloba walked, not a white monk, but an officer with
yellow boots up to the knees, a rapier at his side and a white
scarf over his shoulder. Zagloba winked and smiled at the
frater at the door, who was evidently scandalized as he opened
the gate for the pair.
Lower down the hill not far from the monastery Zagloba's
carriage was waiting in charge of two attendants. One was
sitting on the seat holding the reins of four richly-harnessed
horses over which Pan Michael rapidly cast an experienced
eye. The other was standing beside the carriage with a crust-
ed, corpulent bottle in one hand and two glasses in the other.
"It is quite a distance to Mokotov," said Zagloba, "and
sharp grief awaits us at Ketling' s bedside. . Take a drink,
Michael, to gain strength to stand it all, for you are greatly
run down."
Zagloba took the bottle from the hands of the servant
and filled both goblets with wine that was almost viscous
with age.
"This is generous liquor," said Zagloba, setting the bottle
on the ground and taking the goblets. "To the health of
Ketling!"
"To his health!" Pan Michael responded. "Let us hasten!"
They drained the goblets at a draught.
"Let us hasten," repeated Zagloba. "Pour out man," he
added turning to his attendant. "The health of Pan Yan!
Let us make haste!"
PAN M1UHAUL. 35
Tkey again emptied the goblets at a draught, for there was
no time to lose.
"Let us take our seats," cried Pan Michael.
"But won't you drink my health?" asked Zagloba quer-
ulously.
"If you will be quick!"
And they again drank in haste. Zagloba emptied his gob-
let with one gulp, though it held half a quart, and then said,
without even wiping his moustache, "It would be ungrateful
of me not to drink your health, too. Pour out, fellow!"
"Thanks!" answered Frater Yerzy.
The bottom of the bottle was reached and Zagloba took it
by the neck and smashed it to pieces, for he could not bear
the sight of empty vessels. Then they hastily took their seats
and drove on.
The noble liquor soon put warmth into their veins and
gladness into their hearts. Frater Yerzy's cheeks gained a
bright color and his eyes brightened.
His hand rose involuntarily to his moustache and twisted it
upwards in sharp spikes to his eyes. Meanwhile he gazed
curiously about him as if taking notice for the first time. Sud-
denly Zagloba slapped his knees and cried without apparent
reason :
"Ho! ho! I hope the sight of you will restore Ketling to
health! Ho! ho!"
And putting his arms around Pan Michael's neck he began
to embrace him with all his might. The latter returned the
embrace with equal cordiality.
They drove on for some time silently but happily. Mean-
time small suburban houses began to dot both sides of the
road. In front of these there was considerable movement and
animation. In all directions people were walking, mingled
with servants in various liveries, soldiers, and richly robed
nobles.
"Crowds of the nobility have come to the Diet," said Zag-
loba; "for though not one in a hundred is a deputy, they all
want to be present to hear and see. The houses and inns are
so full that it is difficult to get a room, and what a lot of fine
women there are in the streets! You couldn't number them
on the hairs in your beard. The darlings are monstrous
pretty, too, so that a man is inclined to flap his wings and
crow like a cock. But look there! look at that brunette with
the haiduk carrying the green shuba behind her; isn't she a
beauty? Eh?"
3 6 PAN MICHAEL.
Here Zagloha poked Pan Michael in the ribs with his fist
and Pan Michael looked and twirled his moustache; his eyes
sparkled, but in a moment his face fell, he bowed his head and
after a moment's silence, he said, "Memento moril"
But Zagloba embraced him again and exclaimed, Per amiti-
tiam nostram, "By our friendship, as you love and honor me,
get married. There are so many worthy women, get married!"
I Frater Yerzy gazed at his friend in amazement. Zagloba
I could not be drunk, however, because many a time he had
taken three times as much wine without its affecting liim, so
that he could only be speaking from his affection. But all
thoughts of marriage were far from Pan Michael at that mo-
ment, so that at first his surprise was greater than his in-
dignation.
Then he gazed sternly at Zagloba and asked:
"Are you drunk?"
"From the bottom of my heart I repeat, get married!"
Pan Michael's eyes became still more stern and he repeated,
"Memento mori"
But Zagloba was not one to be easily abashed.
"Michael, if you love me humor me in this matter and kiss
a dog's nose with your 'memento/ I repeat, you can please
yourself, but this is the way I argue: Let every man serve
God in his own vocation, and God created you for the sword:
his will is plainly shown since He has enabled you to become
such an expert in its use. If he had intended you to be a
priest he would have endowed you with an entirely different
mind and a stronger inclination to books and Latin. Remem-
ber also that in Heaven warrior-saints enjoy quite as much
honor as friar-saints, and that they battle against the legions
of Hell and receive their meed from God's own hand when
they return with captured standards. . . . You cannot
deny that this is true!"
"I do not deny it, and I know that you are a tough ad-
versary in a war of argument; but neither can you deny that
for sorrow the life of the cloister is better than that of the
world."
"Better, bah! All the. more reason then for avoiding the
cloister. The man is a fool who feeds instead of starving his
sorrow so that the brute may die of famine as soon as pos-
sible."
Pan Michael could find no ready reply and was therefore
silent, but alter a little he said sadly:
PI IV MICHAEL. 37
"Do not speak of marriage, for the word only giv<
greater pain. Desire is dead in me, for tears have washed
it away and love i^ not I'or one of my years. My hair is begin-
ning to grow white. Forty-two years twenty-five of warfare
are no joke, no joke."
"0 God, do not punish him for blasphemy! Forty-two
years! Pshaw! I have more than twice as many on my back
and yet I sometimes have to discipline myself to beat the heat
out of my blood like dust out of clothing. Respect the mem-
ory of that sweet dead one. Michael, you were good enough
for her I suppose! Then how can you be too old or not good
enough for any other?"
"Leave me in peace! leave me in peace!" cried Pan Michael
in poignant accents.
And tears began to trickle down his cheeks.
"I won't say another word," said Zagloba; "only give me
your knightly word that you will stay with us for a month,
no matter what happens to Ketling. You must see Yan. . .
Afterwards, if you still desire to return to the cloister, no one
will try to prevent you."
"I give you my word," said Pan Michael.
And they began to talk of other matters. Zagloba told
about the Diet and how he had raised the question of exclud-
ing Prince Boguslav, and of Ketling's misfortune,. Never-
theless occasionally he suspended his tale and fell into deep
thought; apparently his meditations were cheerful ones, for
now and again he would slap his knoes and ejaculate:
"Ho! ho!"
"But as they neared Mokotov his face gave signs of anxiety.
Suddenly turning to Michael he said:
"Your word is passed, remember, that you will remain with
us for a month no matter what happens to Ketling."
"I passed my word and I will remain," answered Pan
Michael.
"Here is Ketling's lodging," cried Zagloba, "a respectable
place."
Than he called to the driver, "Fire off your whip! There
will be a feast in this house to-day."
Loud cracks of the whip were heard. But the carriage had
scarcely entered the gate when a number of Pan Michael's
lirothers in arms rushed out of the ante-room; among them
were also old comrades of the days of Khmyelnitski, and
young comrades of later days. Among the latter were Pan
MICHAEL.
Vasilevski and Pan Novovyeyski, still in early manhood
though they were already seasoned warriors, having run away
from school when mere boys and fought for some years under
Pan Michael. The latter had a very strong affection for
them both.
Among the older ones was Pan Orlik of the housa of Novin,
with a skull plated with gold where a. Swedish grenade had
once taken a piece out of it; and Pan Rushchyts, a half -savage
leader of the steppes, with few equals in border-warfare and
second only in reputation to Pan Michael himself; besides
several others. At the sight of the two in the carriage they all
began to shout:
"Thqre he is! there he is! Zagloba has won! There he is!"
And springing to the side of the carriage they seized Pan
Michael in their arms and carried him to the hall, crying:
"Welcome! dearest comrade, live for us! We have you
now and won't let you go again! Long live Volodyovski, the
first knight and ornament of the whole army! To the steppes
with us, Brother! To the wild plains! There the winds will
blow your sorrow away."
They set him down only in the entrance-hall. He was
much moved at his reception and greeted them all, but imme-
diately asked:
"How is Ketling? Is he yet alive?"
"Alive! alive!" 'they replied in chorus, and the old soldiers
began to smile queerly. "Go to him, for he cannot keep his
bed much longer; he impatiently awaits you."
"I see he is not so near death as Zagloba said."
They passed into a large room, in the middle of which was
a table spread for a feast; in one corner was a plank-bed cov-
ered with a white horse-robe on which Ketling was lying.
"My friend!" cried Pan Michael, hastening towards him.
"Michael!" cried Ketling, springing up in full health and
vigor and clasping the little knight to his breast.
They embraced each other so vigorously that each lifted the
other off his feet in turn.
"They ordered me to feign sickness," cried the Scotchman,
"to pretend to be dead; but when I saw you I could not keep
it up. I am as lively as an eel, and nothing has happened to
me. But it was a matter of getting you out of the cloister.
. . . Forgive us, Michael! It was for love of you that we
contrived this trick."
"To the wild steppes!" cried the officers again; and they
PAN MICHAEL. ^
raised a terrible din by striking their sabres with their horny
hands.
But Pan Michael was absolutely bewildered. For some
time he was silent and then he began to gaze at each in turn,
and Zagloba in particular.
At last he exclaimed, "Oh, traitors! I thought that Ketling
was mortally wounded/'
"How is this, Michael?" cried Zagloba. Are you provoked
because Ketling is well? Are you sorry for that and would
you rather have him dead? Has your heart so completely
turned to stone that you would be glad to see us all ghosts,
including Ketling, and Pan Orlik, and Pan Rushchyts and
these youngsters, nay, even Pan Yan, even me, me that
love you like a son?"
Here Zagloba shut his eyes and exclaimed in still more
lamentable tones: "We have nothing to live for, gentlemen,
there is no gratitude left in this world, callousness only re-
mains/ 7
"By Heaven! I do not wish you ill, but you have not re-
spected my sorrow,'' cried Pan Michael.
"Have pity upon our lives!" repeated Zagloba.
"Leave me in peace!"
He says we show no respect to his sorrow; but what floods
of tears we have shed for him, gentlemen! We have indeed,
Michael. I call God to witness that we wish we might bear it
for you as comrades should. But since you have promised to
stay with us for a month love us at least for that month."
"I will love you till death," said Pan Michael.
At this point the conversation was interrupted by a fresh
arrival. The officers, engaged with Pan Michael, had not
heard his approach and saw him only when he stood in the
doorway. He was a man of great stature and noble form and
bearing. He had the face of a Roman Csesar; it expressed
power mingled with true kingly kindness and courtesy.
He contrasted strongly with the officer? present: he seemed
to gain in grandeur before them, as though the kingly eagle
had appeared suddenly in a flock of hawks, falcons, and
merlins.
"The Grand Hetman!" cried Ketling, springing up as the
host to welcome him.
"Pan Sobieski!" others exclaimed.
Every head bowed with deep respect.
"All except Pan Michael were aware that the Hetman was
40 PAN MICHAEL.
coming, for hd had promised Ketling to do so; and yet his
arrival had produced such an effect that no one dared to be
the first to speak. This was also unusual homage. But Sobi-j-
ski loved soldiers above all men, especially those with whom
he had so often broken and swept away the Tartar chamhuls;
he regarded them as his own children and therefore he had
determined to greet Pan Michael to condole with him and
show him such favor and honor as to induce him to remain
in the army.
After greeting Ketling, therefore he at once extended his
hand to the little knight and, when the latter approached
and embraced his knees, Sobieski laid his hand affectionately
on Pan Michael's head.
"Old soldier," he said, "the hand of God has bowed thee
to the earth, but I will raise and comfort thee. The Lord is
with thee! Thou wilt stay with us now."
"I will stay," said Pan Michael in a voice broken with sobs.
"That is well; give me as many as possible of such men as
thou. And now, old comrade, let us recall the days we spent
in the Russian steppes when we feasted in tents. I am happy
to be among you again. Our host, let us begin!"
And all cried, "Vivat Joannes dux."
The feast commenced and lasted long.
The following day the Hetman sent a very valuable cream-
colored charger to Pan Michael.
CHAPTER VI.
Ketling and Pan Michael mutually vowed to ride stirrup
to stirrup again should the opportunity occur, to sleep at the
same fire and with their he-ads on the same saddle, but in the
meantime something occurred to separate them. Not more
than a week after their reunion a messenger arrived from
Courland with tidings that the Hassling who had adopted
the young Scot and given him his estates had suddenly fallen
ill and greatly desired to see his adopted son. The young
knight did not hesitate, but mounted his horse and rode away.
Before departing he begged Zagloba and Pan Michael to
consider his house as their own and live there till they were
tired of it.
"Pan Yan may come," he said. "He will surely come
during the election and even if he brings all his children
there is room enough for the whole family. I have no rela-
tives; and even if I had any brothers they could not be any
nearer to me than you are."
Zagloba in particular was gratified with the invitation, for
he was very comfortable in Ketling's house; but Pan Michael
was also glad of it.
Pan Yan did not come, but Pan Michael's sister an-
nounced her arrival. She was the wife of Pan Makovyetska,
Stolnik 1 of Latychov. His messenger inquired at the Het-
man's residence if any of his followers knew of the knight
and Ketling's house was pointed out to him at once.
Pan Michael was greatly delighted for it was many years
since he had seen his sister and when he heard that for lack
of better accommodation she had stopped at Rybak at a mean
hut, he immediately hastened to invite her to Ketling's
house.
It was twilight when he rushed into her presence; but he
knew her immediately, though two other ladies were present,
for she was very short and round as a ball of thread. She
recognized him also; they fell into each other's embrace and
iStolnik pantler, a title of nobility in Poland.
(40
41 PAN MICHAEL.
for a long time they remained silent while he felt her warm
tears on his face.
Pani Makoveytska was the first to recover her speech and
began to say in rather thin and shrill accents:
"So many years! so many years! God help you dearest
brother! The moment I received tidings of your misfortune
I at once hastened to come hither and my husband did not
detain me. There is also talk of the Byalogrod Tartars and
the roads are becoming black with immense nocks of birds
and that always happens before an invasion. God console
you brother dear! Brother of gold! My husband had to
come to the election himself so he said: "Take the girls
and go on before me. You will comfort Michael in his sor-
row and you must hide your head somewhere from the Tar-
tars, for the country here will be in names, so that one thing
fits in with the other. Go to Warsaw while there is time to
hire good quarters so that we may have some place to dwell.
He is watching the roads with the inhabitants of those parts.
There are very few troops in the country as is always the
way. Michael beloved, come to the window and let me look
at you; your lips have grown thin, but in sorrow it cannot
be otherwise. In Russia it was easy for my husband to say
'Find lodgings T but they are nowhere to be had. We are in
this shanty. I have been scarcely able to get three bundles
of straw to sleep on."
"Allow me, sister," said the little knight.
But his sister would not allow and kept on talking like
the rattle of a mill.
"We stopped here, there was no other place. My host
glares at one with the eyes of a wolf; most likely they are
bad people in the house. It is true that we have four trust-
worthy attendants and we are not timid ourselves, for unless
a woman had a bold heart in our parts she could not live
there. I always carry a pistol with me and Basia has two;
but Krysia does not like firearms. But this is a queer place,
and we should like safer lodgings."
"Allow me, sister ..." repeated Pan Michael.
"But where are you staying, Michael? You must aid me
in finding lodgings, for you are acquainted with Warsaw."
"I have lodgings ready," interrupted Pan Michael, "and
they are fine enough for a senator to occupy with his train.
I am staying with my friend, Captain Ketling, and will take
you with me at once."
PAN MICHAEL. 43
"But recollect that there are three of us with two servants
and four attendants. But Good Heavens! I have not yet
introduced you to my two companinos."
Here she turned to them.
"Young ladies, you know who he is, but he does not know
who you are; you must make each other's acquaintance even
if it is dark. The stove has not yet been lighted. This is
Panna Krystina Drohoyovska and that Panna Barbara
Yezyorkovska. My husband is the guardian of them and
their property; they are orphans and live with us. It is not
proper for young ladies to live alone."
As his sister spoke Pan Michael made a military bow and
the young ladies took hold of their skirts and courtesied
and Panna Barbara tossed her head like a young colt.
"Let us take our seats in the carriage and go!" said Pan
Michael. "Pan Zagloba is staying with us. I asked him to
have supper ready."
"The famous Pan Zagloba?" quickly asked Panna Basia. 1
"Basia, be quiet!" said the lady. "I am afraid that we shall
be giving trouble!'
"Oh, if Pan Zagloba has anything to do with the supper
there will be enough even though twice as many should ap-
pear," interrupted the little knight. "And young ladies,
will you order out the trunks? I also brought a wagon for
the baggage and Ketlingfs carriage is so roomy that we four
can easily sit in it. This is my idea, if you have sober at-
tendants they can stay till the morning with the horses and
larger things. We will now take only what is most needed."
"We need not leave anything," said the lady, "for our
wagons have not yet been unpacked; just harness the horss
and they can go at once. Basia go and fill the orders!"
Basia darted into the hall and a few Paters later, returned
with the announcement that all was ready.
"Let us go," said Pan Michael.
They were soon in the carriage and on the way to Mokotov.
Pan Michael's sister and Panna Krystina occupied t/he rear
seat and the little knight sat beside Basia in front. It was
already so dark that they could not distinguish one another's
features.
"Are you acquainted with Warsaw, young ladies?" asked
'Basia and Bashknave, diminutives of Barbara ; Krysia, diminutive of Krys-
tina. The Sclavonic languages arc rich in diminutives and endearing names
ometimes expressing familiarity, love, pity, etc.
44 P&X MICHAEL.
Pan Michael, leaning towards Panna Krysia and raising his
voice above the clatter of the carriage.
"No," she answered in a low, but sweet and resonant voice.
"We are regular country girls and till this moment have
known neither famous cities nor famous men."
Then she slightly bowed as if intimating that she num-
bered Pan Michael among the latter; which reply he grate-
fully received. "A courteous maiden," he thought and be-
gan to rack his brains for an answering compliment.
"Even if the city were ten times as large as it is," said he
at last, "still you, ladies, would be its greatest ornament."
"But how can you tell that in the dark?" quickly asked
Panna Yezyorkovska.
"Aha, here is a goat for you!" thought Pan Michael.
But he said nothing and they drove along in silence for
some time. Basia again turned to the little kinght and
asked:
"Do you know if there is sufficient room in the stables?
We have ten horses and two carriages."
"Even if there were thirty they could be accommodated."
"Whew! whew!" answered the young lady.
"Bashka," said Pani Makovyetska, reprovingly.
"Ah, it is easy to say, 'Bashka, Bashka!' but who took
care of the horses during the whole journey?"
Thus conversing they arrived at Ketling's house.
All the windows were brilliantly illuminated to receive
the Pani Stolnikova. The servants hurried out, headed by
Pan Zagloba; on reaching the carriage and seeing three ladies
he immediately asked:
"Which of you ladies have I the honor to greet as my
particular benefactress and the sister of my best friend,
Michael?"
"I am she!" the lady answered.
Zagloba then took her hand and began fervently to kiss
it, repeating "I am your slave! I am your slave!"
Then he aided her to alight and led her with great cere-
mony and clattering of feet to the ante-room.
"Allow me to offer again my most humble welcome at the
threshold," he said on the way.
Meanwhile Pan Michael was helping the young ladies out
of the carriage. As it was high and the steps were hard to
find in the dark he seized Panna Krystina around the waist
and lifted her to the ground and she for an instant submitted
to the pressure of his breast against hers and said:
PAN MICHAEL. 45
'Thank you/'
Pan Michael then turned to Panna Barbara; but she had
already jumped out on the other side of the carriage and
eo he offered his arm to Panna Krystina.
Inside the house they were introduced to Pan Zagloba.
lie was delighted to see the two young ladies and imme-
diately invited them to sit down to supper. The dishes
were already steaming on the table and, as Michael had fore-
seen, there was enough for twice as large a party.
They took their seats. Pan Michael's sister occupied the
first place; on her right sat Zagloba, and then came Panna
Basia. Pan Michael sat on the left next to Panna Krysia.
And now for the "first time the little knight was able to
take a good look at the ladies.
Both were handsome; but each in a different style. Kry-
sia's hair was black as a raven's wing, with brows to match,
her eyes were of a deep blue; though a brunette her com-
plexion was so delicate that the blue veins on her temples
were visible. A dark down scarcely discernible shaded her
upper lip, revealing a sweet and alluring mouth that slightly
pouted as if for a kiss. She was in mourning, for she had
recently lost her father and the sombreness of her dress to-
gether with her delicate complexion and dusky hair gave her
a certain severe and melancholy air. At the first glance she
seemed older than her companion but on looking more
closely Pan Michael could see that the blood of first youth was
ilowing beneath that transparent skin. The longer he gazed
the more he admired her air of distinction, her swan-like
neck, and her charming contours of maiden grace.
"She is a great lady with a noble soul," he thought, "but
the other is a regular hoyden."
In truth the comparison was a just one.
Basia was much more petite than her companion, though
by no means spare; she was light-haired and red as a bunch
of roses. Her hair 'had been cut short, as if after illness, and
she wore it in a golden net. But it would not stay still on
her restless head and the ends peeped out through each mesh
of the net and strayed over her brow in disorderly yellow
locks like the shock of a Cossack which, in combination with
her sharp restless eyes and saucy air, made that rosy face like
that of a schoolboy who is only waiting for a chance to
embroil others and himself escape punishment.
Still she was so fresh and shapely that it was difficult tf
46 ^V MICHAEL.
take ones eyes off her; her diminutive nose was slightly re-
trousse with mobile and dilating nostrils and dimples in her
cheeks and chin, revealing a merry nature.
But now she was sitting in quiet dignity and eating heart-
ily, only glancing from time to time at Zagloba and Michael
in turn and gazing at them with a glance that was almost
childlike in its curiosity, as though at some great marvel.
Pan Michael was silent, for though he felt it incumbent
on him to entertain Panna Krysia, he did not know how to
begin. Generally speaking the little knight was not adroit
in conversing with ladies; but now he was more taciturn
than usual, for these maidens vividly recalled the dear one
who was dead.
Pan Zagloba entertained Pani Makovyetska with the re-
lation of Pan Michael's exploits and his own. Half way
through supper he began to tell how they had once escaped
with Princess Kurtsevich and Jendzian through an entire
chambul and how they two had hurled themselves against
the chambul to hinder the pursuit and save the princess.
Basia stopped eating and, resting her chin on her hand,
listened intently, occasionally shaking her locks, blinking her
eyes, 'and snapping her fingers at the most interesting places
and crying:
"Ah, ha! well, what next? what next?"
But when he came to the place where Kushel's dragoons
galloped up unexpectedly to their aid, fell upon the Tartars,
and rode on sabring them for half a mile, she could contain
herself no longer, but clapped her hands with all her might
and cried:
"Ah! I should have loved to be there, God knows I
should!"
"Bashka!" cried the plump little Pani Makovyetska in a
strong Eussian accent, "you are now among polite people;
avoid your 'God knows/ Great God! the only thing left
is for you to ejaculate, 'May the bullets strike me!' v
The maiden burst out laughing again in silvery tones sud-
denly placing her hands on her knees and said:
"May the bullets strike me! Auntie."
"0 my God, my ears will shrivel up! I beg the whole com-
pany's pardon," said the lady.
Then Bashka, anxious to obtain her aunt's pardon, sprang
from her seat and in doing so dropped her knife and spoons
under the table and then dived after them.
PAN MICHAEL. 47
The plump little lady could no longer restrain her laughter
and she had an extraordinary laugh, for she first began to
shake and tremble and then to pipe in a thin voice. The
merriment was general. Zagloba was in raptures.
"You see what trouble I have with her/' said Pani Mako-
vyetska convulsively.
"She is absolutely delightful, as God is dear to me/' cried
Zagloba.
Meanwhile Bashka had crawled from under the table; she
had found her knife and spoons, but had lost her net and
her hair was falling all about her eyes. She stood erect, and
with quivering nostrils, said:
"Aha, ladies and gentlemen, you make merry at my con-
fusion! Very well!"
"No one is laughing/ 7 said Zagloba in a tone that carried
conviction with it, "no one is laughing, no one is laughing!
We are only rejoicing that the Lord God has delighted us
with the presence of your ladyship."
After the meal they went into the salon. Seeing a lute
on the wall Panna Krysia took it down and began to finger
the notes. Pan Michael begged her to sing something to
its accompaniment and she answered with kindness and can-
dor:
"I am quite willing if it will relieve your soul of some of its
sadness."
"Thank you," answered Pan Michael gratefully looking at
her.
In a few moments she sang as follows;
" Knights, heed my tale,
Useless is mail,
Shields naught avail.
Strongest steel parts,
Cupid's keen darts
Pierce to all hearts."
"I cannot find words to thank you," said Zagloba as he
sat apart with Pan Michael's sister and kissed her hands, "for
coming yourself and bringing with you such lovely maidens
that the. very Graces might be their handmaids. That little
haiduk in particular pleases me, for a creature of that kind
banishes sorrow so that a weasel could not hunt mice more
successfully. In truth, what is grief but mice that consume
the grains of joy stored in our hearts. You, my benefactress,
must know that our late king, John Oasimir, was so fond
4 8 PAN MICHAEL.
of my similes that he could not endure a day without them.
I had to compose proverbs and wise maxims for him. He
used to have them repeated to him at bedtime and his policy
was guided by them. But that is another matter. I hope
that our Michael will entirely forget his terrible misfortune
in the company of these delightful girls. You are not aware
that it is only a week since I dragged him out of the Camedoli
cloister where he wanted to take the vows; but I gained the
intervention of the nuncio 'himself who threatened the Prior
with turning all the monks in the monastery into dragoons
if he did not immediately let Michael go. That was no place
for him. Praise be to (rod! . . . Praise be to God! I
know him! if not to-day then to-morrow one of these two
will strike such sparks out of him that his heart will burn
like tinder/
Meanwhile Krysia continued:
" If shields cannot save
The strong and the brave
From darts and the grave,
How shall a fair maid
Love's raiders evade ?
Whom turn to for aid ?"
"The fair maid has as much fear of those darts as a dog
has of meat/" whispered Zagloba to Pan Michael's sister.
"But confess, my benefactress, you did not bring those little
mice here without ulterior designs. They are maidens in a
hundred! that little haiduk in particular. I wish I were
as fresh as she! Has not Michael a cunning little sister, eh?"
Pani Makovyetska assumed a very knowing look, which,
however, did not at all become her honest simple countenance
and said, "I had my own thoughts, as is natural, women are
not lacking in shrewdness. My husband had to come here
for the election and I brought the girls on first, for with
us there is never anyone to see except Tartars. If any good
fortune should happen to Michael in consequence I would
make a pilgrimage to some miracle-working image."
"It will happen! it will happen!" said Zagloba.
"Both come of great houses and have property; which
also means something in these troublous times."
"You need not tell me that. The war has eaten up
Michael's fortune, though I know that he has some funds
out at interest with great nobles. More than once, gracious
lady, we captured great spoil; and though it was turned over
PAN MICHAEL. 49
to the Hetman, still a part was shared 'according to sabres 7
in military parlance. More than once Michael's share was
o great that if he had saved it all he would have had a nice
fortune hy now. But a soldier takes no thought of the
morrow; he only enjoys himself to-day. And Michael would
have squandered all he possessed, if it had not been that I
always restrained him. You say then, gracious lady, that
these maidens are of gentle blood?"
"Krysia is of senatorial blood. It is true that our cas-
tellans of the border are not castellans of Cracow and few
people in the Commonwealth have ever heard of some of
them; but still he who has once occupied a senator's chair
bequeaths his splendor and power to his posterity. As to
connections Bashka 'almost surpasses Krysia."
"Really! I myself am descended from a king of the Mas-
sagetas so that I like to hear genealogies."
"Bashka does not come from such an exalted nest as
that, but if you care to listen, for in our parts we can tell
the degrees of kinship of every house on our fingers, she is
in fact related to the Pototskis and the Yazlovyetskis and the
Lasohes. You see, Sir, this is how it is."
Here Pani Stolnikova arranged the folds of her dress and
assumed a more comfortable position so that nothing might
interfere with her favorite story; she spread out the fingers
of one hand and prepared to tell off the ancestors with the
index finger of the other.
"Elizabeth, the daughter of Pan Yakob Pototski, by his
second wife, a Yazlovyetski, married Pan Yan Smyotanko,
banneret of Podolia."
"I have taken note of that," said Zagloba.
"From that union was born Michael Smyotanko, likewise
banneret of Podolia."
"IFm, a fine position," said Zagloba.
"He was first married to a Dorohosto no! to a ftojynski
no! to a Voronich! The deuce, I forget!"
"May she rest in eternal peace, whoever she was," said
Zagloba gravely.
"And as his second wife he married Panna Laschovna."
"I expected that! How did the marriage result?"
"Their sons died."
"Every joy of this world fades away."
"But of our daughters, the youngest, Anna, marrivd Yezy-
orkovski, of the house of Ravich, a commissioner for settling
4
50 PAN MICHAEL.
the boundaries of Podolia; if I am not mistaken he was after-
wards Sword-Bearer of Podolia."
"I remember, he was," cried Zagloba, in a tone of convic-
tion.
"From that marriage you see Bashka was born/'
"I see and moreover I see that at this moment she is taking
aim with Ketling's musket/ 7 In fact Krysia and the little
knight were engaged in conversation and Bashka was amus-
ing herself with aiming the musket at the window.
Pani Makovyetska began to tremble and call out at the
sight.
"You cannot imagine what I suffer with that girl! She
is a regular haydamak."
"If the haydamaks were all like her I would join them
immediately."
"Her head runs on nothing but arms, horses, and war.
Once she stole away from the house to hunt ducks with a
gun. She crept in somewhere among the reeds and was
looking about her when they suddenly parted and what do
you think she saw? The head of a Tartar stealing through
the reeds towards the village! Any other woman would have
been terrified and woe to her if she did not fire quickly! The
Tartar dropped into the water. Just think! she had dropped
him like a flash and what with, do you think? Duck-shot/'
Here the lady began again to shake and laugh at the Tar-
tar's misfortune and then added:
"And, to tell the truth, she saved us all, for an entire
chambul was advancing; but as she came and gave the alarm
we had time to escape to the woods with the servants. That
is what we always do!"
Zagloba's face was radiant and his eyes were blinking; he
sprang up, hurried across to the maiden, and before she had
noticed him, he had kissed her on the brow, saying:
"Take this from an old soldier for that Tartar among the
reeds."
She gave her golden locks a vigorous shake.
"Didn't he get in the neck?" she cried in her fresh child-
like voice that sounded so strangely at variance with her
words.
"You dearest little haydamak!" cried Zagloba with emo-
tion.
"But what is one Tartar? You gentlemen have cut them
down by the thousand, besides Swedes, and Germans, and
PAN MICHAEL. 5 !
Rakotsi's Hungarians. Wha't am I compared with you gentle-
men, knights who have no peers in the Commonwealth! I
know that well enough!
"I will teach you to wield the sabre since you are so cour-
ageous. I am rather heavy now, but Michael is also a
master."
At this offer she sprang to her feet and kissed Zagloba on
the shoulder and courtesied to the little knight, saying
"Many thanks for the promise: I know a little about it
already."
But Pan Michael was absorbed in conversation with Krysia
and therefore answered absently,
"Whatever you command."
Zagloba with a beaming face again took his seat beside
Pani Makovyetska.
"My gracious benefactress," he said, "I well know which
are the best Turkish sweetmeats, as I spent many years at
Stambul; but I also know that there is a whole universe
of people just hungry for them. How is it that no one has
hitherto coveted that maiden?"
"As God lives, they had no lack of wooers. But we jok-
ingly call Bashka the widow of three husbands, for at one
time three worthy cavaliers were all paying their addresses
to her at once, all nobles of our district, and heirs, whose re-
lationship I can explain to you in detail."
Pani Makovyetska spread out the fingers of her left hand
and extended her right index finger when Zagloba hastily
said:
"And what happned to them?"
"All three died in battle; so we call Basia a widow."
"H'm! but how did she support her loss?"
"With us you see it is a case of daily occurrence and it
is a rare thing for any man after reaching maturity to die
a natural death. Some of us even hold that it does not befit
a noble to die otherwise than in the field. How did Bashka
take it? Oh, she ^hed a few tears, poor girl, but principally
in the stable, for when anything troubles her tiki's where
she goes. Once I sent for her and asked 'Whom are you
grieving over?' 'All three' she answered. I saw from the
reply that she had not been pleased by any one in particular.
I think that as her head is full of other things slu- has not
yet met her fate; Krysia has been somewhat touched, but
Bashka perhaps not at all."
j2 PAN MICHAEL.
"She will meet it!" said Zagloba. "Gracious lady you and
I understand that well enough. She will meet it!"
"It is predestined for all of us," said Pani Makovyetska,
"Exactly! You took the words out of my mouth."
Further conversation was interrupted by the approach of
the young people.
The little knight had grown quite hold with Krysia and
she in the manifest goodness 'oi her heart, ministered to
him and his sorrow like a physican to a patient. ]Jor this
very reason perhaps she showed him more kindness than was
warranted by their short acquaintance. But as Pan Michael
was the brother of the Stolnikova to whose husband the
young r lady was related, no one was surprised. Bashka kept
somewhat; apart and only Zagloba gave her his undivided
attention. But however that might be, apparently it was
all the same to Bashka whether anyone paid her any at-
tention or not. At first she gazed admiringly at both knights,
but she examined Ketling's wonderful weapons displayed on
the walls with equal admiration. Later on she began to
yawn; then her eyes became heavier and heavier till at last
she said:
"I 'am so sleepy that I shall not be fully awake till the
morning."
At these words all immediately separated; for the ladies
were . greatly fatigued from the journey and only waited
for their beds to be made ready. At last when Zagloba found
himself alone with Pan Michael, he first began to wink
significantly and then to pummel him lightly. "Michael!
what, Michael, like turnips, eh? That bilberry Krysia is a
sweet one. And that rosy little haiduk, eh? What have you
to say about her, Michael?"
"What? Nothing!" answered the little knight.
"That little haiduk pleased me most. I tell you that when
I sat beside her at supper I was as warm as a stove."
"She is still a kid; the other is ever so much statelier."
"Parma Drohoyovska is a Hungarian plum; but the other
is a little nut! As God lives, if only I had teeth! I meant
to say that if I had such a daughter I would give her up to no
man but you. She is an almond, I say, an almond!"
Pan Michael suddenly became very sad, for he remembered
the names Zagloba used to call Anusia. She rose in his
memory and stood before him as in life, her figure, her
little face, her dark tresses, her joyousness, her words, and
PAN MICHAEL,
Oo
looks. These were both younger, and yet she was a hundred
times dearer than any who had the advantage of youth.
The little knight covered his face with his hands and was
overcome with grief the more in that it was unexpected.
Zagloba was amazed and for some time kept silence and
gazed uneasily at him, finally he asked:
"Michael, what is the matter? tell me, for (rod's sake!"
Michael answered:
"So many are alive and walking through the world, but
my lamb is no longer among them; I shall see her never
again/ 7
Then his voice choked with anguish; he rested his brow
on the side of the divan and murmured through his clenched
teeth, "0 God! God! God!"
CHAPTER VII.
Panna Basia insisted that Pan Michael should give her
some fencing lessons; he did not refuse though he put it off
for some days. He preferred Krysia; still, he liked Basia
very much; in fact it was impossible not to like her.
One morning the first lesson began, principally because
Basia boasted and asserted that that she was by no means a
novice in the art and that no ordinary person could stand
before her.
"An old soldier taught me," she said, "there are plenty of
them among us and it is notorious that our swordsmen have
no superiors. It is a question even whether you gentlemen
would not find your match/'
"What are you talking about?" cried Zagloba. "We have
no equals in the whole world/'
"I wish it might prove that even I am your equal. I do not
expect that, but I should like it."
"It it were pistol practice I also would take a hand," said
Pani Makovyetska, laughing.
Good heavens! the Amazons themselves must live in Laty-
chov," cried Zagloba.
Then he turned to Krysia:
"And what weapon does your ladyship handle best?"
"None," answered Krysia,
"Ah, ha! none!" cried Basia. And then, mimicing Krysia's
voice, she began to sing:
"Knights, heed my tale,
Useless is mail,
Shields naught avail.
Strongest steel parts,
Cupid's keen darts
Pierce to all hearts."
"She wields weapons of that kind; never fear," added Basia,
turning to Pan Michael and Zaglobe*- "In that she is a war-
rior of no mean skill."
PAN MICHAEL. 55
"Take your position, young lady!" said Pan Michael, try-
ing to cover his confusion.
"Oh, as God lives! if it should turn out as I think!" ex-
claimed Basia, flushing with pleasurable anticipation.
And she at once took up position with a light Polish sabre
in her right hand; she raised the left hand behind her, and
with breast advanced, head up, and nostrils dilating, she
looked so pretty and rosy that Zagloba whispered to Pan
Michael's sister:
"No flask, even if filled with Hungarian a century old,
would give such delight to gaze on it."
"Remember," said the knight to Basia, "I will only defend
myself; I will not once lunge. You may attack as rapidly as
you like."
"Very well. Say' when you want me to stop."
"I could stop the attack without a word, if I chose."
"How could you do that?"
"I could easily disarm a fencer like you."
"We shall see."
"We shall not, for on account of politeness I won't do it."
"There is no need of politeness in this case. Do it if you
can. I know I am not so skilful as you, but still I will not
allow you to do that."
"Then you permit it?"
"I do."
"Oh, don't give permission, sweetest haiduk," said Zagloba.
"He has disarmed the greatest masters."
"We shall see!" repeated Basia.
"Let us begin," said Pan Michael, rather nettled at her
boasting.
They began.
Basia lunged terribly, skipping about like a colt in a field.
Pan Michael stood on one spot moving his sword ever so
slightly, as was his custom, and faying but little respect to
the assault.
"You brush me off like an annoying fly," cried the exasper-
ated Basia.
"I am not putting you to the test; I am giving you a les-
son," answered the knight. "That is good! Not at all bad for
a fair head! Steadier with the wrist!"
"For a fair head! Have at you for a fair head! have at
you have at you !"
But Pan Michael, although Basia used her best passes, had
5 6 PAN MICHAEL.
an impregnable guard. He purposely kept up a conversation
with Zagloba to show how little he cared for Basia's thrusts:
"Stand away from the window, you are in the lady's light,
and though a sabre is larger than a needle she has less experi-
ence with it."
Basia's nostrils dilated still more and her hair fell over her
nashing eyes. "Do you despise me?" she asked panting
rapidly.
"Not your person; God forbid!"
"Pan Michael, I hate you!"
"You have a graduate as your instructor in the art," an-
swered the knight. Again he turned to Zagloba: "God grant
that snow may soon fall."
"Here is snow! snow! snow!" cried Basia, giving thrust after
thrust.
"Basia, that is enough! you are quite out of breath," said
Pani Makovyetska.
"Now hold on to your sabre, for I am going to strike it
from your hand."
"We shall see!"
"There it is!"
And the little sabre, flying like a bird out of Basia's hand,
fell with a clatter near the stove.
"I dropped it myself unwittingly," she cried with tears in
her voice; and, recovering it she thrust again like lightning.
"Try it now!"
"There!" said Pan Michael. And a second time the sabre
lay beside the stove.
"That is enough for to-day," then said the knight.
Pani Makovyetska began to chatter more loudly than usual;
but Basia stood in the middle of the room humiliated, pant-
ing, and biting her lips to keep back the tears that suffused
her eyes notwithstanding her efforts. She knew that if she
gave way to tea,rs they woufd laugh at her all the more and
therefore tried her utmost to repress them; but finding that
it was beyond her power, she suddenly darted out of the room.
"For God's sake!" cried Pani Makovyetska, "she has cer-
tainly gone to the stable and in her heated condition will catch
cold. Someone must go after her. Kyrsia, don't you go!"
With these words she went out and, taking a warm shawl
from the hall hurried to the stable: Zagloba followed her,
being anxious about his little haiduk. Krysia wanted to go
too, but Pan Michael seized her by the hand.
PAN MICHAEL. 57
"You were forbidden, you heard! I will not release this
hand till they return."
And he kept hold of it. But that hand was as soft as silk.
He felt as if a warm current was running through those
slender fingers into his own frame and instilling delightful
sensations; so he took a firmer grasp.
A fleeting blush tinged Krysia's face.
"I see that I am taken captive."
"Whoever captured such a prisoner would have no reason
to envy even the Sultan, for the Sultan would gladly resign
half his dominions for her."
"But you would not sell me to the Infidels?"
"No more than I would sell my soul to the Devil !"
Here Pan Michael saw that momentary enthusiasm had
gone too far so he moderated it with:
"No more than I would sell my sister."
"That is the right word," said Krystina gravely. "I am
an affectionate sister to your sister and will be the same to
you."
"I thank you from my heart!" said Pan Michael, kissing
her hand, "for I am in great need of consolation."
"I know, I know!" replied the maiden, "for I also have suf-
fered a loss." Here a little tear fell from her eyelid and
trickled down to the corner of her mouth.
Michael gazed at the tear on the faintly shaded lip and at
length said:
"You are as kind as a real angel; I already feel consoled."
Krysia smiled sweetly:
"May God reward you."
Pan Michael felt that it would comfort him still more to
kiss her hand again, but at that moment his sister appeared.
"Basia took the shawl," she said, "but she is so upset that
she cannot be induced to come in. Pan Zagloba is chasing
her all over the stable."
In fact Zagloba, with mingled jest and entreaty, not only
chased Basia all over the stable but at last drove her into the
yard hoping to induce her to return to the house. She ran
awaw crying, "I will not go! Let me be frozen! I will not go!
I will not go!" At last seeing a ladder leaning against the
side of the house, she sprang up it like a squirrel and stopped
at the eaves of the roof. From her seat there she turned to
Pan Zagloba and called out half laughingly, "Well, I will go
if you will come up here after me."
5 g PAN MICHAEL.
"What kind of a tom-cat do you think I am, little haiduk,
to crawl along roofs after you? Is this the way you requite
my love for you?"
"I love you also, but from the roof."
"Grandfather wants to have his way and grandmother hers.
Come down this moment!"
"I will not."
"It is quite laughable to see you take your defeat to heart
BO. You angry weasel, not only you but Pan Andrey who
was considered a master of masters was treated by Pan
Michael in the same way, and not in sport but in a duel. The
most celebrated swordsmen, Italians, Germans, and Swedes,
could not stand before him long enough for a Pater and here
is a gadfly that takes it to heart! Fie! be ashamed of your-
self and come down! Besides you are only a beginner."
"But I cannot endure Pan Michael!"
"God bless you! Is it because he is a past-master in what
you yourself want to know? You ought to like him all the
more."
Zagloba was not mistaken. Basia's admiration for Pan
Michael had increased in spite of her defeat; but she replied:
"Let Kryfeia love him."
"Come down! come down!"
"I won't."
"Very well then, stay there; but I will tell you one thing:
it is not quite the thing for a young lady to sit up on a ladder,
for she may afford the world an interesting exhibition."
"But I'm not," cried Basia, gathering in her skirts.
"I'm an old fellow, I won't stare my eyes out; but I'll call
the others in a moment and let them look at you."
"I'll come down!" cried Basia,
With that Zagloba turned away. "As God lives, there's
somebody coming!" he cried.
And in fact, round the corner of the house came young
Adam Novovyeyski who had arrived on horseback and tied
his horse at the side-gate and was coming round to enter by
the main entrance. On seeing him Basia was on the ground in
a couple of skips but it was too late. Unfortunately Pan
Adam had caught sight of her coming down the ladder and
stood still in confusion and surprise, blushing like a little girl.
Basia stood before him also covered with blushes till at last
she exclaimed:
"A second confusion!"
PAN MICHAEL. 59
Pan Zagloba's sound eye twinkled with amusement; at
length he said:
"Pan Novovyeyski, a friend and subordinate of our
Michael, and this is Panna Drabinovska 1 , I meant to say
Yezyorkovska."
Pan Adam quickly recovered himself and being a quick-
witted soldier, though youthful, he bowed and lifting his eyes
to this vision of loveliness, said "God! roses bloom amid the
snow in Ketling's garden."
But as Basia bowed she muttered "For some other nose
than yours." Then she said most charmingly:
"Come into the house, I beg you. 7 '
She led the way, and darting into the room where Pan
Michael and the others were sitting, said, referring to the Pan
Adam's red kontush:
"The red finch has come!" She then took.a seat, crossed
her hands, and pursed up her lips in the manner of a modest
and carefully trained young lady.
Pan Michael introduced his young friend to his sister and
Panna Krysia, and the former seeing another young lady
equally beautiful, but in a different style, was again con-
fused; however he covered his nervousness with a bow and to
regain his courage raised his hand to his budding moustache.
Twisting his fingers above his upper lip he turned to Pan
Michael and explained the object of his visit. The Grand
Hetman was anxious to see the little knight. So far as Pan
Adam could tell it was about some military matters, for the
Hetman had recently received letters from Pan Vilchkovski,
Pan Silnitski, Colonel Pivo and other commanders in the
Ukraine and Podolia with unfavorable reports of happenings
in the Crimea.
"The Khan himself and Sultan Galga who concluded a
treaties with us at Podhayets," proceeded Pan Adam, "wish
to observe the terms: but Budzyak is as restless as a beehive
at swarming-time. The Byalogrod tribes were also in a fer-
ment and are unwilling to obey either the Khan or Galga."
"Pan Sobieski has already told me of that and asked my
advice/' said Zagloba. "What do they now say about the
Spring?"
"They say that the first grass will certainly see a movement
of these vermin, and it will be necessary to stamp them out
a Second time," replied Pan Adam.
Wrabina is Polish for ladder.
fo PAN MICHAEL.
As he said this he assumed the expression of a terrible Mars
and twisted his tiny moustache till his upper lip reddened.
Basia, who had very sharp eyes, observed this at once;
therefore pushing back her chair a little so that Pan Adam
might not see her, she pretended to twist her moustache in
imitation of the youthful knight.
Pan Michael's sister gazed at her with threatening eyes., but
at the same time she began to shake and with difficulty re-
strained her laughter. Pan Michael bit his lips and Krysia
lowered her eyes till her long lashes cast a shadow on her
cheeks.
"You are a young man," said Zagloba, "for an experienced
soldier."
"I am twenty-two years old and I have served my country
for seven years continuously; I ran away to the field from the
lowest class at school in my fifteenth year,'" he replied.
"He knows the steppe, and how to find his way through the
grass and fall on the raiders like a kite on a partridge," added
Pan Michael, "he is no ordinary warrior. The Tartar cannot
hide from his eyes in the steppes."
Pan Adam blushed with pleasure at receiving praise from
such famous lips in the presence of ladies.
He was not merely a falcon of the steppes, but a handsome
fellow in addition, dark, and tanned by the weather. His
face was seamed by a scar reaching from his ear to his nose
which was thinner on one side in consequence of the cut. He
had sharp eyes, accustomed to be on the look-out, with very
dark, meeting brows, that formed a kind of Tartar bow. His
head, close-cropped at the sides, was surmounted by curly
locks. Both his address and bearing pleased Basia and never-
theless she did not cease to mimic him.
"It is pleasant for an old man like me to see that a new
generation worthy of us is growing up," said Zagloba.
<c Not so worthy," protested Pan Adam.
"I like their modesty too. We shall soon see you in com-
mand."
"That has happened already!" cried Pan Michael. He has
been in command and gained victories by himself."
Pan Adam began to twist his moustache so vigorously thnt
he almost pulled it out. And Basia kept her eyes on him
end also lifted her hand to her mouth and imitated every
motion.
But the keen soldier quickly noticed that the eyes of the
PAN MICHAEL.
whole company were directed beyond him where the y
lady, whom he had sr<.-ji on the ladder, was sitting, and he at
once divined that it must be on account of something con-
nected with himself.
He went on talking as if he had not noticed it and played
with his moustache as before. At last he selected his chance
and turned round so suddenly that Basia had no time either
to turn her eyes away from him or to drop her hand. She
blushed furiously and, scarcely knowing what to do, rose
from her seat. A moment of general confusion followed.
"A third confusion!" suddenly cried Basia in her silvery
tones.
"Gracious lady," said Adam vivaciously, "I saw at once that
there was something going on behind me. I must confess
that I am anxious to have a moustache, but if I don't get one
it will be because I have fallen for my country, and in that
case I hope I shall merit the tears rather than the laughter
of your ladyship."
Basia stood still with downcast eyes and was quite abashed
by the knight's ingenuous words.
"You must pardon her," said Zagloba. "She is wild, be-
cause she is young, but she has a heart of gold."
And Basia, as if in confirmation of Zagloba's words at once
said in a low voice: "I beg your pardon . . . most earnestly."
Pan Adam immediately caught hold of her hands and
began to kiss them. "For God's sake, don't take it to heart!
I am not a savage. I ought to beg your pardon fcr having
spoiled your amusement. We soldiers are very fond of joking
ourselves. Mea culpal I will kiss these little hands again
and, if I have to kiss them till I obtain your forgiveness, for
God's sake don't forgive me till the evening!"
"You see this is a courteous cavalier, Basia!" said Pani
Makovyetska.
"I see he is," Basia answered.
"It is all right now," cried Pan Adam.
As he said these words he stood upright and instinctively
raised his hand to his moustache, but suddenly remembering:
himself, he burst into a hearty laugh. Basia joined him, and
the rest followed. They were all merry. Zagloba immedi-
ately ordered up a couple of bottles from Ketlin's cellar, and
all were at their ease. Pan Adam jingled his spurs again. -t
each other, passed his fingers through his hair and gazed
more ardently at Basia every moment. lie was immensely
62 PAN MICHAEL.
taken with her. He became very eloquent; and as he had
served under the Hetnian, lie had seen the world, and con-
sequently had something to talk about.
He told them of the Diet of Convocation, of its close, and
how in the senate the stove had fallen down beneath the in-
quisitive arbiters to the great amusement of everybody. At
last after dinner he went away with his eyes and heart full of
Basia.
CHAPTER VIII.
The same day the little knight presented himself at the
Hetman's quarters; the latter gave orders to admit him at
once, and said to him:
"I must send Rushchyts to the Crimea to see what is going
on there, and induce the Khan to observe the treaties. Do
you want to take service again and take Ruehchyts' command?
You, Vilchkovski, Silnitski, and Pivo will keep an eye on
Dorosh, and the Tartars whom it is never possible to trust
entirely.
Pan Michael became, sad. He had devoted the flower of
his life to military service. For whole decades he had known
no rest; his life had been passed in fire, smoke, toil, sleep-
lessness, and hunger, without a roof to cover him, or a hand-
ful of straw to lie on. His sabre had shed rivers of blood.
He had neither settled down, nor married. Men not one-
hundredth part as worthy were enjoying the sweets of re-
ward, and had risen to honors, position, and government. He
was poorer now than when he first began to serve. And now
they wanted to use him again like an old broom. His heart
was sore because, just as he has f6und kind and tender hands
to dress his wounds, he receives the order to tear himself away
and betake himself to the wilderness, to the distant borders of
the Commonwealth, without consideration for his heart-wear-
inese. Had it not been for interruptions and delays and all
kinds of service he might have had at least a couple of years
of happiness with Anusia.
As he thought of all this his heart was filled with a prent
bitterness; but, as he did not think it befitting for a knight
to extol his own services, he simply answered:
"I will go."
Upon this the Hetma.n said:
"You are out of service, you can refuse. You know best
whether it is too soon for you."
To which Pan Michael replied:
"It is not too soon for me to die."
(63)
64 PAK MICHAEL.
Pan Sobieski strode up and down the' chamber several times
and at last halted before the little knight and laid his hand
confidentially on his shoulder.
"If your tears are not yet dried, the wind of the steppes
will dry them for you. All your life you have toiled, dear
soldier, toil on still! And should you ever reflect that your
services are not remembered nor rewarded, that you are not
permitted to rest, 'for buttered toast you have received a crust,
for a governorship wounds and for rest suffering, set your
teeth and say to yourself, 'For thee, my country!' Other con-
solation have I none; but, though no priest, I can assure that
by so doing you will go farther on a worn saddle than others
in a coach and six, and that gates will be opened to you tha*
are closed to them."
"For thee, my country!" said Pan Michael in his heart,
while marvelling that the Hetman had so readily divined his
thoughts.
Pan Sobieski took a seat before him and continued:
"I want to speak to you now not as a subordinate, but as
a friend, nay, as a father to his son. When we were undetr
fire at Podhayets and earlier, in the Ukraine, when we wert
scarcely able to hold our own against the foe, here at home
behind our backs wicked men were wrangling over their own
selfish ends in safety. Even in those days, more than once I
came to the conclusion that this Commonwealth must perish.
Excess overbears order and the public good is too often sacri-
ficed for self-interest. . - . This has never happened any-
where else to such an extent. . . These thoughts consumed
me by day in the field and by night in the tent, for I said to
myself: 'No, it is true that we soldiers are in an evil case, but
it is our duty and our portion. If only we were sure that sal-
vation also accompanies the blood that flows from our
wounds!' But we had not even that consolation. Ah! I
passed many a heavy day in Podhayets, though I exhibited a
cheerful countenance to you officers lest you should think that
I despaired of victory in ihe field. I thought, 'There are no
men that really love the country, none!' And it hurt me as
though a knife had been plunged into my heart. One day,
however, the last at Podhayets, when I sent you with two
thousand against twenty-six thousand of the horde, and you
all sprang to apparent death, to certain slaughter, with such
shouting and gladness as though you were going to a wed-
ding, suddenly the thought struck me, 'Ah, these warriors
PAN MICHAEL. 65
are mine!' and in an instant God rolled away the stone from
11 iv 1 1 part and everything was clear to my eyes. I said to my-
self, 'These are facing death out of pure love for their mother
country; they will not join themselves to confederacies or
traitors. Of these I will form a sacred brotherhood, a school
in which the younger generation shall learn. Their example
will have influence and by their means this ill-fated people
shall be regenerated and shall put away selfishness and forget
excess and be as a lion that feels a marvellous strength in his
limbs and astonish the world! 7 ''
Here Sobieski's f'ace flamed and he raised his head, which
was like that of a Koman Caesar, and extending his hands, he
cried: "0 Lord! write not 'Mene, Menfe, Tekel, Peres!' on
our wall and permit me to regenerate my country!"
A moment's silence followed.
Pan Michael sat with bowed head and felt his whole body
quivering.
The Hetman strode rapidly up and down the room for some
time, and at last halted before the little knight.
"\Ve need examples," he cried, "examples every day to
strike the attention. Michael! I have counted you in the first
rank of the brotherhood. Do you desire to belong to it?"
The little knight arose and clasped the Hctman's knees.
"See," he cried in tones of emotion, "when I heard that I
must march again I felt myself wronged and that I was en-
titled to some leisure for the indulgence of my sorrow; but
now I see that I sinned, and, . . . and, ... I repent of my
thoughts and can find no words, for I am ashamed. . . .
The Hetman pressed Pan Michael to his heart in silence.
"There is only a handful of us," he said, "bu-t others will
follow our example."
"Where am I to go?" asked the little knight. "I could even
go 1o the Crimea, for I have already been there."
"No," the Hetman answered, "I will send Pan RushchyU
to the Crimea. He has relations there and even namesakes,
cousins who were captured by the horde when young and have
l)opmu o 1 Mussulmans and risen to office among the Infidels.
They will give him aid of all kinds. Besides I need you in
the field; there is not your equal in handling the Tartars."
"When shall I go?'"
"In two weeks at farthest. I have .yet to confer with the
Vice-Chancellor and Sul)-Tro:i?nror of the kingdom and get
*.ho li'ttcrs and in^i rue! inns roudy for Rushchyts. But be pre-
'. for I shall be urgent."
5
66 PAX MICHAEL.
"To-morrow I shall be ready."
"God reward you for the willingness, but so soon is need-
less. Moreover you will not be away long, for if peace only
lasts, I shall need you in Warsaw during the election. You
have heard of the various candidates. What is said of them
among the nobles ?"
"I have not long been out of the cloister and there worldly
matters are not discussed. I only know what I have heard
from Pan Zagloba."
"True: I can get information from him; he has an etxtensive
acquaintance among the nobles: but whom are you thinking
of voting for?"
"I do not know myself; but I think that we need a war-
rior king."
"Yes, yes! I also have such a man in mind: one whose
name alone would strike terror into our neighbors. We need
a warrior-king such as Stefan Batory was. But farewell, little
soldier! . . . We need a warrior-king. . . Repeat that to
everybody. . . Farewell. God reward you for your readi-
ness! . . .
Pan Michael took his leave and departed.
He meditated along the road. He was glad that he had a
week or two before him, for Krysia's friendship and consola-
tion had become dear to him. He was also glad to think that
he would return for the election and he went home contented
on the whole. The steppes moreover had a certain charm for
him; without being conscious of it he was yearning for them.
He was so accustomed to those limitless stretches on which the
horseman has more the feeling of a bird than a man.
"No, I will go to those limitless tracts, to those stanitsas
and dunes to taste the old life once more, to campaign again
with the soldiers, to stand sentinel over the border like a
crane and sport among the grass in the Spring. . . No. . .
*E will go, I will go!"
And he urged his horse into a gallop, as he felt the want
of rapid motion and the whistle of the wind in his ears. It
was a clear and dry and frosty day. The ground was covered
with frozen snow which crunched under the horse and was
thrown off in balls by his flying hoofs. Pan Michael went so
fast that his attendant on an inferior mount was left far
behind.
It was sunset; the last light was in the sky casting violet re-
flections on the snowy expanse. Through the glow the first
PAX MICHAEL. 67
twinkling stars were coming into view and the moon hung
like a silver sickle. The road was deserted; now and then the
knight passed an occasional carriage and galloped on without
pause. Not till Ketling's house came into sight did he draw
rein and allow his attendant to overtake him.
Suddenly he saw a. slender form approaching.
It was Krysia.
On recognizing her Pan Michael at once dismounted, hand-
ed the rein to his attendant and hastened towards her in con-
siderable surprise, but greater pleasure at seeing her.
"Soldiers say," he said, "that at twilight supernatural be-
ings are to be met with who are sometimes of good omen and
sometimes bad; but there can be no better omen for me than"
meeting you."
"Pan Adam has come," said Krysia, "and is with Bashka
and Pani Makovyetska. I slipped out on purpose to meet you
as I was anxious to hear what the Hetman had to say."
Pan Michael's heart was touched by the sincerity of the
words. He gazed into her eyes and asked, "Are you really so
concerned about me?"
"I am," Krysia answered in a low tone.
Pan Michael could not take his eyes off her; she had never
looked so beautiful to him before. She had a satin hood on
her head and white swan's-down surrounded her small delicate
face on which the moonlight was falling, shining softly on her
noble brows, downcast eyes, long lashes, and the dark, almost
invisible down on her lip. There was an expression about it
of calmness and extreme purity. Pan Michael felt how friend-
ly and dear it was to him, and said:
"If it were not for the attendant behind, I should fall at
your feet on the snow in gratitude."
And she answered :
"Sir, do not say such things, for I am unworthy of them,
but reward me by saying that you will stay with us and that
I may comfort you longer/'*
"I shall not stay," he replied.
Krysia suddenly halted.
"That cannot be."
"Military service, as usual! I go to Russia and the Steppes."
"Military service!" Krysia repeated.
And silently pho hastened toward? the house. Pan Michael,
somewhat disturbed, marched quickly at her side. He had a
dull and oppressed sensation in his mind. He wanted to say
68 PA* MICHAEL.
something; he wanted to renew the conversation and did not
know how to begin. He felt that tlu.ru were a thousand
things he wanted to say to Krysia and now was the time, while
they were alone, and no one in the way.
"If I begin," he reflected, "I shall go farther/' so he sud-
denly asked:
i'Has Pan Adam been here long?"
"Not long."
And again the conversation ceased.
"That's not the way," thought Pan Michael, "I shall never
say anything so long as I commence in that manner. It is
evident that sorrow has consumed my few remaining wits."
And he marched on in silence, his lips working nervously.
As they reached the door he stopped and said: "Think! if I
deferred my happiness for so many years, it was to serve my
country, so how can I now refuse to neglect my own comfort ?"
Pan Michael thought that such a plain argument would at
once convince Krysia, and indeed after a pause she answered
sadly and sweetly:
"The better one knows Pan Michael the more one learns
to respect and honor him."
She then entered the house. Bashka's cries of "Allah,
Allah!" reached them in the hall, and when they entered the
salon they saw Pan Adam in the middle of the room blind-
folded and bending forward with outstretched arms trying to
catch Bashka, who was hiding in the corners and revealing
her whereabouts with her cries of "'Allah !" Pani Makovyetska
was near the window engaged in conversation with Zagloba.
The entrance of Krysia with the little knight interrupted
the game. Pan Adam took off the handkerchief and ran to
greet Pan Michael. Immediately after came Pani Stolnikova,
Zagloba, and the breathless Bashka.
"What is it? What is it? W T hat did the Hetman say?"
they all asked in chorus.
"Sister," replied Pan Michael, "if you want to send a letter
to your husband, you have an opportunity, as I am going to
Russia."
"Is he sending you? By the living God, do not take service
yet, do not go!" cried his sister in piteous tones. "Will they
not allow you even a moment's rest?"
"Is your command already appointed?" asked Zagloba,
gloomily. "The lady-stolnik is right in saying that they are
threshing you as with flails!"
PAX Mll'UAEL. 6 9
"Rushchyts is going to the Crimea and I take his squadron;
for, as Pan Novovyeyski has already said, the roads will cer-
tainly be black with foes in the Spring."
"Are we to be the only ones to protect this Commonwealth
from thieves, as a dog guards a house?" cried Zagloba. "Other
men don't know which end of a musket to fire off, but there's
no rest for us." ,
"No matter! I've nothing to say," replied Pan Michael.
"Duty is duty! I have given my word to the Hetman that I
will go, and a little sooner or later makes little difference." . . .
Here Pan Michael repeated the argument he had used with
Krysia :
"You see, ladies, I have deferred my own happiness for so
many years to serve the Commonwealth, that how can I con-
sistently refuse to resign the pleasure I find in your com-
pany?"
Nobody made any answer to this, but Bashka approached
him with her lips pouting like a fretful child and said:
"I am sorry for Pan Michael."
Volodiyovski laughed merrily.
"God grant you good fortune! Only yesterday you said that
von could endure me no more than a wild Tartar."
"A Tartar! What! a Tartar? You will be fighting out
there against the Tartars and here we shall be lonely without
you."
"Oh, little haiduk, console yourself (forgive my calling you
by that name, but it suits you wonderfully well). The Het-
man said that my command would not last long. I shall de-
part in a week or so and must be back in Warsaw for the elec-
tion. The Hetman himself desires it, and I shall be here even
though Rushchyts does not return from the Crimea in May."
"Oh, that is delightful!"
"I will accompany the colonel, I most certainly will," cried
Pan Novovyeyski, with a swift glance at Bashka; and she re-
plied:
"There will be many like you. It must be a pleasure to
serve under such a commander. Go, go! It will make it pleas-
anter for Pan Michael."
The young man only sighed and passed his hand across his
brow; at last, stretching out his arms as if playing hoodman
blind, he said:
"But I must first catch Panna Barbara! I certainly must
catch her."
70 PAN MICHAEL.
"Allah! Allah!" cried Bashka, retreating.
Meanwhile Krysia approached Pan Michael with a radiant
and joyous face."
"But you are not kind to me, Pan Michael; you are kinder
to Bashka than to me."
"I, not kind! I, kinder to Bashka!" asked the astonished
knight.
"You told Bashka that you were coming back for the elec-
tion; if I had known that I should not have taken your de-
parture so greatly to heart."
"My golden " cried Pan Michael.
But immediately he checked himself and said:
"My dear friend, I told you little because I had lost my
head."
CHAPTEE IX.
Pan Michael gradually began to make preparations for his
departure; however he did not cease giving lessons to Basia
whom he liked more and more, nor taking solitary walks with
Krysia, seeking solace in her society. Moreover he seemed
to find it, for he daily recovered good spirits and in the even-
ings he would even join Basia and Pan Adam in their games.
The latter became a welcome guest. He came in the morn-
ing or at noon and stayed till night; as everybody liked him
they were glad to see him, and very soon began to regard him
as one of the family. He accompanied the ladies to Warsaw,
left their orders at the mercers', and in the evening played
with them at hoodman-blind and patience, repeating that
he must certainly catch the unattainable Basia before his de-
parture.
But she laughed and always escaped him, though Zagloba
said to her: "If he does not finally catch you, someone else
will."
It became more and more evident that he himself had de-
termined to catch her. This must have occurred even to the
haiduk herself, for she sometimes fell into such deep thought
that her locks fell into her eyes. Pan Zagloba however, had
reasons of his own for thinking Pan Adam unsuitable. One
night when they had all retired he knocked at the little
knight's door.
"I am sorry that we must part," he began, "so I came to
take a good look at you: God only knows when we shall see
each other again."
"I shall certainly come to the election," said Pan Michael,
embracing his old friend, "and I will tell you the reason. The
Hetman wants to have present as many men as possible who
are beloved of the Little Knights so that they may win over
the nobles for his candidate; and because God be thanked
my name has some weight in the brotherhood, he wants me to
come without fail. He reckons on you also."
"Indeed! he is trying to catch me with a big net; but I am
(70
MICHAEL.
not blind and though I am rather large I can crawl through
any mesh in it. I will not vote for a Frenchman."
"Why not?"
"Because he would want absolute dominion."
"Conde would have to swear to the pact like anyone else;
and he is a great leader, he is famous for warlike deeds."
"With God's help we shall not have to go to France in
search of a leader. Pan Sobieski himself is surely not
Conde's inferior. Think Michael! the French wear stockings
like the Swedes and so of course like them they keep no oaths.
Charles Gustavus was willing to take an oath every hour. To
them taking an oath or cracking a nut is all one. What is
the value of a pact when a man is not honest?"
"But the Commonwealth is in need of defence. Oh, if
Prince Yercmy were only alive! We would elect him king
unanimously."
"His son is alive, and the same blood."
"But not the same courage. It is pitiful to look at him,
for he is more like a lackey than a prince of such noble blood.
If only the times were different! But now our first consider-
ation must be the good of the country. Pan Yan says the
same thing. I will do as the Hetman does, for I believe in
his devotion to the Commonwealth as I do in the Gospels.''
"There is time to think about it. It is too bad that you
have to go now."
"What will you do?"
""I shall go to Pan Yan. The young fellows worry me at
times, but when I stay away for long I feel lonely without
them."
"If war follows the election Pan Yan also will take the
field. Who knows? you may do so yourself: we may yet
campaign in company in Eussia! What a lot of good and evil
you and I have passed through in those regions!"
"True indeed! our best years were spent there. Sometimes
the desire comes over me to visit again all the scenes of our
triumphs."
"Then accompany me now. We shall be jolly together. In
five months we will return to Ketling. He and Pan Yan will
be here then."
"N"o Michael! this is not the time for me; but I promise
that if you will marry some landed lady in Russia I will come
and see you settle down,"
PAN MICHAEL. 73
Pan Michael looked somewhat confused, but immediately
answered:
"How should I be thinking of marriage? The best proof
to the contrary is that I am returning to active service!"
"That is what troubles me: I used to think that if not one
it would be another woman. Michael, trust in God; stay
here; where will you find a better chance than this one. Re-
member that the day will come when you will say: 'Every-
body else has 'a wife and children, but I am alone, like
Machek's pear-tree, standing in the field/ And grief and sad
longings will take possession of you. If you had married that
dear dead one, if she had left children, I should not worry
you, I should have something on which to spend my affections
and certain hope of solace, but as things are now the time
must come when you will look around for a close companion
in vain and ask yourself, 'Am I in a strange land?' ''
Pan Michael was silently meditating; so Zagloba resumed
his discourse while sharply scanning his features:
"In my own heart at first I chose yonder rosy haiduk for
you: in the first place she is gold, and not a mere girl; and in
the second there have never yet been such fierce fighters as
you would give to the world."
"She is a whirlwind; besides, Pan Adam wants to strike fire
with her."
"That's just it! To ? day she would certainly give you the
preference, for she is in love with your fame; but when you
go and he stays, I know he will stay, the rascal! because war
has not broken out yet, who can say what may happen?"
Basia is a whirlwind! Let Pan Adam take her. I wish
him well, for he is a brave fellow."
"Michael!" cried Zagloba, bringing his hands together,
"think what an offspring you would have!"
To this the knight simply replied:
"I knew two brothers Bal whose mother was also a Drohoy-
ovski and they were splendid soldiers!"
"Ah' I was expecting that. Is that the way the wind
blows?" cried Zagloba.
Pan Michael was greatly confused; at length he exclaimed,
"What's that you say? There is no special direction; but
when I was thinking of Basia's courage, which is really quite
cavalier-like, the thought of Krysia naturally arose; she is
more womanly. When one is mentioned the other naturally
occurs as they are together."
74 PAN MICHAEL.
"Well, Well! God give you luck with Krysia, though as he
is dear to me, if I were young i should fall desperately in
love with Basia. In war time you would have no need to
leave her at home. You could take her to the field and keep
her by your side. Such a woman would be good to have in
the tent and even when it came to fighting she could use a
musket with one hand. And she is good and upright. Oh,
my haiduk, my darling little haiduk, they have not under-
stood you here and have treated you ungratefully; but if I
were some three score years younger I know what sort of
Pani Zagloba I would have in my house."
"I have no fault to find with Basia."
"It is not a question of finding fault with her, but of find-
ing her a husband. But you prefer Krysia."
"Krysia is my friend."
"Your friend, not your beloved? That must be because
she has a moustache. I am your friend, so is Pan Yan, and
so is Ketling. You have no need of a man for a friend, but a
woman. Acknowledge it frankly to yourself and do not
hoodwink yourself. Michael, guard against a friend of the
fair sex, even though that friend has a moustache, for either
you will betray her or you yourself will be betrayed. The
Devil never sleeps and he is happy to sit between such friends;
as witness Adam and Eve, who were friends till that friend-
ship became a bone in Adam's throat."
"Don't do anything to offend Krysia, I won't allow that!"
"God guard Krysia! My little haiduk has no superior, but
Krysia is a good girl too. I have nothing at all to say against
her, but I say this to you: When you sit beside her your cheeks
are as red as though they had been pinched, you twirl your
moustache, your hair crisps and you move your feet and stamp
like a ring-dove; all of which are signs of desire. Talk to
somebody else of friendship; I am too old a bird for that kind
of talk."
"So old that you see things that don't exist."
"Would that I were mistaken! Would that it were a
question of my haiduk! Good-night Michael! Take the
haiduk; the haiduk is the handsomer. Take the haiduk; take
the haiduk!"
Zagloba arose and departed.
Pan Michael tossed about the whole night; he could not
sleep for disturbing thoughts kept running in his head.
Krysia's face was constantly before him with her long-lashed
PAN MICHAEL. 75
eyes and downy lip. Now and then he would fall into a
light slumber but the vision remained. When he woke Zag-
loba's words recurred to his mind and he reflected how rarely
that man's judgment was at fault. Sometimes between sleep-
ing and waking Basia's rosy face glowed before his eyes and
the image tranquillized him; but Krysia soon supplanted her.
The poor knight now turns to the wall and sees her eyes; then
stares into the darkness and still sees them and in them a
look of languor and allurement. At such moments those
eyes seem to be closing as if saying 'Thy will be done'/ Pan
Michael sat up in bed and crossed himself. Towards morn-
ing the dream entirely took flight and left oppression and a
bitter taste behind. He was overcome with shame, and bit-
terly began to reproach himself because the image of the be-
loved dead was not before him; that his eyes, heart and soul
were full not of her but of the living. He felt that that he
had sinned against the memory of Anusia, therefore he shook
himself a couple of times, and springing out of bed, though it
was still dark, he began to say his morning Paternoster.
When he had finished he put his hand on his brow and
said:
"I must go away as soon as possible and at once curtail this
friendship, for it may be that Zagloba is right."
He then went down to breakfast with more calm and cheer-
fulness. After breakfast he fenced with Basia and noticed
for the first time how undeniably attractive she was, her di-
lating nostrils and panting breast made her very alluring. He
avoided Krysia who noticed it and gazed at him in surprise,
but he would not meet her glance. It cut him to the heart
to do it but he persisted.
After dinner he went out with Basia to the storehouse where
Ketling kept another collection of arms. He showed her the
various weapons and explained their use. Then they shot at
a tnrgct with Astrachan bows.
The sport delighted Basia who grew wilder than ever, till
Pani Makovyetska. had to reprove her. Thus passed 'the day.
On the next Pan Michael accompanied Zagloba to the Danil-
ovich Palace in Warsaw to learn the date of his departure.
In the evening he informed the ladies that he would certainly
leave in a week's time.
As he said it he tried to use a careless and joyous tone. He
did not even glance at Krysia.
The troubled girl asked various questions, to which he
7 6 PAN MICHAEL.
made polite and friendly replies, but addressed most of hip
conversation to Basia.
Thinking that this was the result of his advice, Zagloba
rubbed his hands with delight; but as. nothing could escape
his eye he observed Krysia's sadness.
"She has changed," he thought, "she has visibly changed.
Well, that's nothing, the usual way with fair faces! But
Michael has altered his course sooner than 1 had dared to
hope. He is one in a hundred: he always was a tempest in
love and a tempest he will remain!"
In reality Zagloba had a kind heart and was sorry for
Krysia.
"I will not say anything to her directly," he thought, "but
I will think of some way of consoling her."
So taking advantage of the privilege of age and white hairs,
he went to her after supper and began stroking her black,
silky hair. She sat quite still, merely raising her gentle eyes
to his face in surprise at his tenderness, but feeling grateful.
That night at Pan Michael's door Zagloba poked him in
the ribs and said:
"Well! No one can beat the little haiduk?"
"A delightful kid," answered Pan Michael. She will make
as much noise in the house as four drummers, a regular
drummer!"
"A drummer! God grant that she may accompany your
drum as soon as possible!"
"Good-night!"
"Good-night! Wonderful creatures, those fair faces. Have
you noticed the change in Krysia since you have paid a little
attention to Basia."
"No . . . I have not!" said the little knight.
"As if she had had a fall."
"Good-night!" repeated the little knight and hastily en-
tered his room.
Zagloba had somewhat overreached himself in his confidence
in Pan Michael's fickleness and had generally been maladroit
in commenting on the alteration in Krysia, for the little
knight suddenly felt as though somebody had seized him by
the throat.
"And this is the way I requite her kindness for comforting
me like a sister in my sorrow," he said to himself. "Well!
what wrong have I done her?" he exclaimed after a moment's
reflection, "What have I done? I have neglected her for
PAN MICHAEL. 77
three days, which was rude, to say the least. I have slighted
the sweet girl, the darling. Because she tried to heal my
wounds I have repaid her with ingratitude . . . If I only
knew," he continued, "how to keep this dangerous friendship
within bounds and manage to avoid giving offence at the
same time! but evidently my wits are too dull for such
strategy."
Pan Michael was angry with himself and at the same time
he was seized with a great pity, unconsciously he began to
regard Krysia in the light of a beloved and injured being.
His anger with himself increased every moment.
"I am a barbarian, a regular barbarian!" he exclaimed.
And Krysia entirely supplanted Basia in his heart. "Let
him who will take that kid, that windmill, thaf rattletrap!" he
exclaimed, "Pan Adam or the Devil, it's all the same to me!"
His anger also rose against Basia, who owed her nature to
God; but he never reflected that he might be wronging her
by his anger more than Krysia by his studied indifference.
With a woman's instinct Krysia at once detected a change
in Pan Michael. It was sad and bitter for her when the little
knight seemed to avoid her, but she saw at once that some-
thing must be settled between them and that their friendship
could not continue on its present basis, but must become
something far deeper or come entirely to an end.
She was therefore assailed by an alarm that increased at
the thought of Pan Michael's approaching departure. So far
she was not in love with him. She had no knowledge of love
as yet, but her heart and blood were rife for it.
Perhaps also her head was slightly turned. The little
knight was encircled with the glory of the first soldier
of the Commonwealth. Every knight uttered his name
with respect. His sister praised him to the skies; the
charm of misfortune was about him; and moreover the
maiden, dwelling under the same roof with him, had become
accustomed to his graces.
It was the nature of Krysia to crave for loVe, and so, when
for the last few days Pan Michael had treated her with indif-
ference, her self-love was deeply wounded; but as she had a
good heart she determined not to make any sign of anger or
annoyance, but to win him with kindness.
This was the more easy for her, as the next day Pan
Michael's manner was penitent and not only did he not at-
tempt to avoid her glance, but gazed into her eyes as though
78 PAX MICHAEL.
desirous of saying, "Yesterday I sinned against you; to-day I
beg your forgiveness." His eyes were so eloquent that under
their influence her face flushed and she became more disturbed
with a presentiment 'that something of importance was about
to occur. In fact it did occur. In the afternoon Pani Mako-
vyetska went with Basia to visit a relative of the latter, the
wife of the vice-chamberlain of Lemburg who was staying in
Warsaw; Krysia feigned a headache because she was curious
to know what would happen between herself and Pan Michael
if left alone.
It is true that Zagloba did not go to visit the vice-chamber-
lain's wife, but he was in the habit of sleeping for a couple of
hours after dinner, as he 'said that it prevented corpulency
and cleared his brain for the evening; so, after chatting for a
time he got up to retire. Krysia's heart immediately began
to beat with disquiet, but what was her surprise and disap-
pointment to see Pan Michael get up and go out with Zagloba.
"He will soon return," thought Krysia. And taking a
small drum, she commenced to embroider on it the crown of
a gold cap for Pan Michael to take away with him. Every
two or three moments, however, she raised her eyes to the
Dantzig clock in the corner, which was ticking rhythmically.
But an hour passed, and another, and still Pan Michael had
not returned. Krysia laid the drum on her lap and mur-
mured, crossing her hands upon" it, "Before he makes up his
mind they may return and we shall not have had any conver-
sation, or Pan Zagloba may wake."
At that moment she felt that they had really something of
importance to discuss that might be deferred through Pan
Michael's fault.
However at last she heard his step in the next room. "He
is wandering about," she said, and again busied herself with
her embroidery.
Pan Michael in fact was wandering about: he was walking
up and down and did not dare to go in. Meanwhile the sun
was reddening and nearing its setting.
"Pan Michael!" Krysia suddenly cried.
He came in and found her busy with her needle. "Did
you call?"
"I wanted to know if some stranger was walking about the
house. I have been here alone for two hours."
The little knight drew up a chair and sat on the edge.
Some time passed in silence; he moved his feet noisily
PAN MICHAEL. jg
under the table and his lips worked nervously. Krysia sus-
pended her work and raised her eyes to his face; their glances
met and both dropped their eyes quickly.
When the little knight again looked up the last rays of the
sun were falling on Krysia's face and glorifying it; her hair
glittered like gold in the glow.
"You are going in a couple of days?" she asked in scarcely
audible tones.
"It must be."
There was another moment's silence and then Krysia said:
"I have thought for the last day or two that you were angry
with me."
"On my life," cries Pan Michael, "I should not merit your
regard if I had been, but it was not so."
"What was the matter?" asked Krysia raising her eyes to
his.
"I want to speak frankly, for I think that frankness is
always preferable to dissimulation; but I can never tell you
how much comfort you have poured into my heart and how
grateful I am."
"God grant that it may always be so!" said Krysia, folding
her hands over the drum.
To this Pan Michael answered very sadly:
"God grant it! God grant it! . . . But Pan Zagloba said to
me I am confessing to you as to a priest Pan Zagloba said
that friendship with fair faces is a dangerous thing for it may
cover a warmer sentiment, as ashes conceal fire. I thought
that perhaps Pan Zagloba might be right. Forgive a simple
soldier, another would have solved the question more ably,
but my heart bleeds for having grieved you these last few
days and life is bitter to me."
As he said this Pan Michael's moustache began to work like
a beetle's feelers. Krysia bowed her head and presently two
tears rolled down her cheeks.
"If it will make it easier for you I will hide my sisterly
affection."
Two more tears appeared upon her cheeks and then two
more.
At the sight of them Pan Michael's heart was completely
rent; he sprang to Krysia's side and seized her hands. The
drum rolled from her lap to the middle of the room, but the
knight paid no attention to it; he only pressed those warm,
soft, velvety hands to his lips, crving:
g PAN MICHAEL.
"Do not weep. For God's sake, do not weep!"
Pan Michael did not leave off kissing her hands even when
Krysia covered her face with them, as people generally do
when in trouble, but kissed them the more ardently till his
senses became intoxicated with the warmth of her hair and
brow as with wine and he lost control of himself.
Then suddenly, without knowing how it happened, his lips
were on her brow, kissing it more eagerly still, and then de-
scended to her weeping eyes and the whole world seemed to be
going round. The next moment he felt the tender down on
her lip and then their mouths pressed strongly together in a
long kiss. The silence of the room was only broken by the
loud ticking of the clock.
Basia's step was suddenly heard in the hall with her child-
like voice crying:
"Frost! frost! frost !"
The little knight sprang away from Krysia like a scared
panther from his prey and at the same instant Basia rushed
in like a whirlwind, still repeating her cry of "Frost! frost!
frost!"
Suddenly she stumbled against the drum lying in the mid-
dle of the floor. She then stopped and looked from the drum
at Krysia and the little knight in turn, saying:
"What is this? You both look as if pierced with a dart?"
"Where is Auntie? 7 ' Krysia asked striving to speak in
quiet, natural tones from her heaving breast.
"Auntie is getting out of the sleigh by degrees," answered
Basia in an equally altered tone.
Her nostrils dilated several times. Once again she stared
at Krysia and Pan Michael, who by this time had picked up
the drum, and then she suddenly left the salon.
At that moment Pani Makovyetska waddled in; Pan Zag-
loba came down and they began talking about the wife of the
vice-chamberlain of Lemburg.
"I did not know that she was Pan Adam's godmother,"
said Pani Makovyetska; "he must have confided in her, for
she tormented Basia with him dreadfully."
"But what did Basia say?" asked Zagloba.
"Basia said to the vice-chamberlain's wife: 'A halter for a
dog! He has no moustache and I have no sense and no one
can tell which will first get what is wanting/ "'
"I knew that her tongue would not fail her, but who knows
what she really thinks? Oh, female cunning!"
PAN MICHAEL. 8 1
"Baeia always speaks her heart. Besides I have already
told you that she has not met with her fate yet. Krysia has
to some extent."
"Auntie!" Krysia suddenly cried.
Further conversation was here interrupted hy the servant
who announced that supper was on the tahle. They all pro-
ceeded to the dining-room, but Basia was not there.
"Where is the young lady?" Pani Makovyetska asked the
servant.
"The young lady is in the stable. I told her that supper
was ready; she said 'All right!' and went to the stable."
"Has anything disagreeable happened to her? She was so
gay!" said Pani Makovyetska, turning to Zagloba.
The little knight, whose conscience was uneasy, said:
"I will go and fetch her!"
And he hastened out.
He found her just inside the stable door, sitting on a bundle
of hay. She was so deep in thought that she did not notice
him as he entered.
"Panna Barbara!" said the little knight, bending over her.
She started as if suddenly roused from sleep and lifted her
eyes in which, to his astonishment, Pan Michael saw two tear
drops as big as pearls.
"For Heaven's sake! what is the matter? You are weep-
ing."
"I haven't the least idea of doing so," cried Basia springing
to her feet, "I haven't the least idea of it! It's from the
frost."
She laughed gaily, but it sounded like forced merriment.
Then, to distract attention from herself, she pointed to the
stall containing the horse given to Pan Michael by the Het-
man and cried with animation:
"You say it is impossible to ride that horse? We will see
about that!"
And before Pan Michael could stop her she had darted into
the stall The vicious animal began to plunge and rear and
set its ears back.
"For Heaven's sake, he will kill you!" cried Pan Michael
springing after her.
But Basia had already begun to stroke the horse on the
shoulder, saying: "Let him kill ... let him kill ... let
him kill ..."
But the horse turned his steaming nostrils towards her and
whinnied as if he delighted ifl Her fondling.
T "~"
CHAPTER X.
All the nights that Pan Michael had ever spent were as
nothing compared with the one that followed that jar with.
Krysia. For behold, he had betrayed the memory of hii
dead betrothed and he loved that memory. He had deceived
the confidence of the living, abused friendship, contracted
certain obligations, and behaved like a man without a con-
science. An ordinary soldier would have thought nothing
of a kiss like that, or rather, would have twisted his mous-
tache at the remembrance, but Pan Michael, particularly
since Anusia's death was as scrupulous as are all men with
sorrowful hearts and lacerated souls. What was he to do
then? How should he act?
There were only a few days left now before his departure
and that would put an end to everything. But was it right
to go away without saying a word to Krysia and leave her
as he would the first chambermaid from whom he might
steal a kiss? Pan Michael's noble heart trembled at the
thought. Even now in his mental struggle the thought of
Krysia filled him with delight and the memory of that kiss
thrilled him with ecstasy. He was enraged with himself, but
yet he could not help that delicious feeling. And he blamed
himself exclusively.
"I brought Krysia to that/' he said b'itterly; "I brought
her to it and so it would not be right of me to depart with-
out saying a word. And what then? Shall I propose and
go away engaged to her?"
Here he saw the form of Anusia standing before him in
white robes and white as wax, exactly as she had been laid
in her coffin.
The form said: "It is at least my due that you mourn
and bewail me. At first you wanted to become a monk, to
sorrow for me your whole life long, but now you are taking
another before my poor soul had time to reach the gates of
Heaven on its flight. Ah! wait, first let me reach Heaven;
let me cease locking backwards to the earth. . , "
(82)
PAN MICHAEL. 83
And the knight felt that he was forsworn before that ra-
diant spirit whose memory he -sought to honor and hold
sacred. He was overwhelmed with grief and boundless shame
and self-contempt and he longed for death.
"Anusia," he cried as he knelt, "I shall never cease mourn-
ing for thee till death; but what must I do now?'
The white form made no reply as it faded away like a
white mist; and in its place his imagination conjured up
Krysia's bright eyes and downy lip and with them returned
the temptations which the poor soldier wanted to shake off
like the darts of a Tartar.
Thus his heart was drawn in opposite directions by grief,
anguish, and uncertainty. Sometimes he was prompted to
go and tell Zagloba everything and take council with that
man whose wis-dom could smooth all difficulties. Moreover
he had foreseen it all, and predicted the consequences of
forming a "friendship" with a fair face.
But that very consideration hindered him. He remem-
bered how sternly he had said to Pan Zagloba "I will not
have Panna Krysia offended!" And now who had offended
her? Who was the one to think "Is it not best to leave her
like a chambermaid and go away?"
"Were it not for that dear one above I should not hesitate
for a moment," he thought, "I should not be at all troubled:
on the contrary my heart would rejoice that I had tasted such
delight."
Presently he murmured:
"I would accept it a hundred times over."
Finding however that temptations were thronging in on
him he sternly shook them off and began to reason as fol-
lows: "That's the end of it. Since I have behaved like a
man who does not want friendship but the pleasure of Cupid,
I must continue along that road and tell Krysia to-morrow
that I wish to marry her."
Here 'he ceased for a few moments, and then proceeded
to argue thus: "By that declaration, what happened to-day
will be entirely justified, and to-morrow I can allow my-
self" But here he suddenly struck his mouth with his hand.
"Whew!" he cried, "It seems that a whole chambul of
devils are sitting at my back!"
But still he did not resign his project of declaring him-
self, but merely thought "If I sin against my dead love I
can make reparation with masses and prayers; and this will
84 P&X MICHAEL.
also prove that she is always in my memory and that my
devotion will never end. 11' people marvel and laugh at me
because two weeks ago in my griel 1 wanted to take the
cowl and now I have declared my love for another, the
shame will be mine alone. If I do not declare myself the
innocent Krysia will be made to share my shame and guilt."
"I will propose to her to-morrow; it must be so!" he said
at last.
His mind then became much more tranquil and after a
Pater and an earnest prayer for Anusia he fell asleep.
When he awoke in the morning he again said to himself:
"1 will propose to-day."
But it was not such a simple matter, for Pan Michael
did not want the others to know, but to have a talk with
Krysia first and then act accordingly.
In the meantime Pan Adam arrived early and monopolized
the whole house.
Krysia moved about as if she had been poisoned; the whole
morning she looked pale and troubled, from time to time
she would lower her eyes, and her face and neck would
crimson, and then again her lips would quiver as if she
were ready to burst into tears and then she would have a
dreamy expression, or look as if she were going to faint.
The knight found it difficult to approach her, and par-
ticularly to stay long by her side. It is true that he might
have taken her out for a walk, as it was beautiful weather,
and some days earlier he would not have hesitated to do
so, but now he did not dare, for he imagined that everybody
would immediately suspect his intention, they would all
think that he was about to propose.
Pan Adam came to the rescue. He took Panni Makovy-
etska aside and had a long talk with her on some subject and
then both returned to the room where the little knight was
sitting with Pan Zagloba and the two girls and she said:
"You young people might go for a drive two and two in
sleighs, for the snow is crisp and bright."
At this Pan Michael quickly bent down his 'head to Kry-
sia's ear and said: "I beg you to sit with me: I have many
things to say to you."
"Very well," answered Krysia.
The two men hastened to the stables, followed by Bashka,
and in the space of a couple of Paters the sleighs were driven
up to the door. Pan Michael and Krysia took their seats
PAN MICHAEL, $ 5
in one and Pan Adam and the little haiduk in the other, and
they started without other drivers.
When they were out of sight Pani Makovyetska turned
to Zagloba and said, "Pan Adam has proposed for Bashka."
"What is that?' 7 cried Zagloba in alarm.
"His godmother, the wife of the vice-chamberlain of Lem-
burg, is coming here to-morrow to have a talk with me; Pan
Adam has asked my permission to have a preliminary under-
standing with Bashka, for he quite understands that unleSvS
Bashka is favorable to his suit her visit will be labor in
vain."
"That was why you sent them sleighing?"
"Precisely. My husband is very conscientious. More than
once he has said to me, 'I will be the guardian of their prop-
erty, but let them choose their own husbands, if they choose
worthy men I will make no opposition even in the face of
unequal fortune. Moreover they are of age and capable of
forming their own opinions/ r '
"But what answer .are you thinking of giving to Pan
Adam's godmother?' 3
"My husband will be here in May. I will turn the matter
over to him; but this is what I think, it will be as Bashka
wishes."
"Pan Adam is only a boy!"
"But Michael himself says that he is a famous soldier
already celebrated for his valorous deeds. He possesses a
fair fortune and his godmother has enumerated to me all
his connections. You see it is this way: his great-grand-
father was the son of Princess Senyut; he was first married
to. ...
"What do I care about his relations!" cried Zagloba giving
vent to his ill-humor; "he is neither kith nor kin to me and
I tell you that I have intended the little haiduk for Michael;
for if among all the maidens who walk the world on two
feet there is a better or more honest one than she, I will
henceforth go on all fours like a bear."
"Michael is not thinking of anything of the kind as yet;
and even if he were, he is more attracted by Krysia. Well,
God, whose decrees are inscrutable, will decide that."
"But if that smooth-faced boy is sent away with the water-
melon, I shall be intoxicated with delight," added Zagloba.
In the meantime the fate of both knights hung in the
balance. For some time Pan Michael could not find a word
to say; at length he turned to Krysia and said:
86 PAN MICHAEL.
"Don't think me a light-minded man, 01 anything iri. the
nature of a fop, for that would not agree with, my years."
Krysia made no reply.
"Forgive my conduct of yesterday: my foealt was so full
of grateful tenderness that I was quite unablu io control my
feelings. My sweet lady, my adored Krysia, romember what
I am; I am a simple soldier whose whole life has been spent
in war. Another man would have begun with a ceremonious
speech and then passed on to intimate confidences; but I
commenced with familiarity. Kemember also that if a fully
trained horse will occasionally take the bit in his teeth and
run away with a man, 'how much more will love, whose im-
petuosity is far greater! Love carried me away simply be-
cause you are so dear to me. My darling Krysia, you. are
worthy of Castellans and Senators; but if you do not despise
a soldier, who, though of humble rant, has served his coun-
try not ingloriously, I fall at your feet and kiss them, and
ask, Will you accept me? Can you think of me without
disdain?"
"Pan Michael! . . . " answered Krysia, 'and her hand
withdrew from her muff and slid into the knight's.
"Do you agree?" asked Pan Michael.
"Yes!" Krysia answered; "and I know that I could not
find a more honorable man in all Poland."
"God bless you! God bless you, Krysia, darling!" cried the
knight smothering her hand with kisses. "No greater hap-
piness could befall me. Only say that you are not offended
at yesterday's familiarity so that my mind may be at rest."
"I am not offended/' she said.
"Oh that I could kiss your feet in this sleigh!" cried Pan
Michael.
They then kept silence for some moments; the runners
hummed over the snow and lumps of it flew from the feet
of the horses. At length Pan Michael said, "I wonder that
you love me."
"It is more wonderful how you came to love me so
quickly," Krysia replied.
At that Pan Michael's face became very grave and he said :
"It may appear strange to you, Krysia, that I should fall
in love with one before getting over my grief for another,
I acknowledge to you, as my father confessor, that I have
been wild in my day; but all that has changed now. I have
not forgotten that dear one and I never shall; I love her
PAN MICHAEL. 87
still, and if you knew how my heart grieves within me for
her you would weep for me also. . . .
Here the littlle knight was so affected that his voice failed
him and perhaps that was why he did not notice that Krysia
did not seem to be very deely impressed with his words.
Silence again fell and was this time broken by the lady.
"I will endeavor to comfort you to the utmost of my
power."
"I came to love you so soon," said the little knight, ''be-
cause you began to heal my wounds from the very first day.
What was I to you? Nothing at all! But you began imme-
diately because your heart had compassion on an unfortunate
man. Ah, I am very grateful to you, very. Those who do
not know this perhaps will reproach me for wanting to be-
come a monk in November and then preparing fpr marriage
in December. Pan Zagloba will be the first to make sport
of me, as he is glad of any opportunity for that, and particu-
larly as the blame is mine and not yours."
Krysia gazed thoughtfully at the sky and at last said:
"Is it absolutely necessary to tell people of our betrothal?"
"What do you mean?"
"It seems that you are going away in a day or two!"
"However much against my will, I must go."
"I am in mourning for my father. Why should we expose
ourselves to inquiring eyes? Let us keep it to ourselves
and no one need know of it till Pan Michael returns from
Eussia. Do you agree?"
"Then I must not say anything to my sister?"
"I will tell her myself after Pan Michael has departed.
"And Pan Zagloba?"
"Pan Zagloba would whet his wit upon me. Better say
nothing! Bashka would also tease me, and lately she is
so capricious and her moods have never before been so
changeable. Better be silent!"
Here Krysia raised her dark-blue eyes to the sky:
"God above is our witness; let others remain in ignorance."
"I see that your wisdom is equal to your beauty. I agree.
Then God is our witness: so be it! Now lean against me;
for modesty permits it now that our compact is made. Fear
not! Even if I wanted to repeat yesterday's behavior I could
not as I have to pay attention to the horse."
Krysia did as the knight desired and he continued, "When
we are alone call me by my name."
88 PAN MICHAEL.
"It sounds so strange/' she said, smiling, "I shall never
have the courage."
"But I have dared to use yours."
"Because Pan Michael is a knight. Pan Michael is bold.
Pan Michael is a soldier!"
"Krysia, thou art my beloved!"
"Mich."
But she had not the courage to finish, and buried her face
in her muff.
Presently they returned home; they did not talk much on
the way, but at the gate the little knight again asked:
"But after yesterday's . . . you know . . . were
you very sad?"
"Oh, I was ashamed and miserable, but ... I had such
a wonderful feeling," she added in lower tones.
They assumed an air of indifference so that nobody should
guess what had passed between them.
But this precaution was unnecessary because no one paid
any attention to them.
It is true that Zagloba and Michael's sister ran out to re-
ceive them, but they had eyes only for Bashka and Pan
Adam.
Bashka was crimson, but it was impossible to decide
whether from cold or emotion, and Pan Adam looked as if
poisoned. Moreover he took his leave immediately after-
wards. In vain did the lady of the house endeavor to de-
tain him; in vain also did Pan Michael, who was in high
spirits, try to induce him to stay to supper: he pleaded duty
as an excuse and departed. Pan Michael's sister immediately
kissed Basia on the brow without uttering a word; and the
maiden fled to her own room and did not come down to
supper.
The following day Zagloba advanced to the attack and
I asked:
' "Well, little haiduk, it seerns that Pan Adam was struck
with a thunderbolt?"
"Well!" she nodded with twinkling eyes.
"Tell me what you said to him."
"The question was direct, for he is a bold man, and so
was the answer, for I also am resolute. No!"
"You behaved beautifully! Let me embrace you! What
did he say? Did he accept his defeat easily?"
"He wanted to know whether time would noj: do some-
thing for him, but no, no! nothing would be gained by it!"
PAX MICHAEL. g 9
Here Bashk&'s nostrils dilated and she began to shake her
locks sadly as if meditating.
"Give me your reasons," said Zagloba.
''lie also wanted to know them, but in vain; I would not
tell them to him nor to any man."
"Perhaps," said Zagloba gazing keenly into her eyes, "you
have some concealed love in your heart. Eh?"
"A fig! No love!" she cried. Springing to her feet as if
in an attempt to conceal her confusion she began to repeat
rapidly:
"I don't want Pan Adam! I don't want Pan Adam! I don't
want anybody? Why do you all torment me?"
And suddenly she burst out weeping.
Zagloba did his best to comfort her, but she was touchy
and low-spirited all day. "Michael!" said he at dinner, "you
are going away and Ketling will soon arrive; he is a perfect
Adonis. I don't know how these young ladies will be able to
resist him, and I expect that when you return you will find
them both hopelessly in love."
"All the better for us!" cried Pan Michael, "we'll throw
Panna Bashka in his way."
Bashka looked at him like a wild-cat and said: "Why are
you less solicitous about Krysia?"
The little knight was greatly confused at her question and
said: "You don't know Ketling's power, but you will find it
out."
"But why not Krysia? Besides I am not the one to sing:"
" How shall a fair maid,
Love's raiders evade?
Whom turn to for aid ?"
It was now Krysia's turn to be confused, but the little
w;isp proceeded: "In an extremity I can ask Pan Adam to
lend me his shield; but when you are gone I don't know how
Krysia will dofond herself in the hour of danger."
Pnn Miphael had now recovered himself and replied some-
what harshly: "Perhaps she will succeed better than you."
"How so?"
"She is not such a madcap and is more sedate and dio--
nified."
Pan Zagloba and the little knight's sister thought that
this would rouse the sharp little haiduk to battle at once;
but to their great surprise she bowed her head towards her
plate and after a pause, snid in low tone?: "If I have
offended you I beg your pardon ? and Krysia's,"
CHAPTER XL
As Pan Michael had permission to start whenever he liked,
he went to Chenstohovo, to Anusia's grave. After shedding
there his last tears he continued his journey, and the more
he thought ahout it the more convinced he was that his secret
engagement to Krysia was somewhat precipitate. He felt that
in grief and tears there is something sacred that should be
left undisturbed and allowed to rise heavenwards like a vapor
and fade into limitless space. It is true that other men had
married within a month or two of losing their wives; but they
had not commenced with the Camedolian monastery, nor had
calamity met them on the threshold of bliss after many years
of waiting. But even though men of common clay pay no re-
gard to the sacredness of sorrow, is that any reason for follow-
ing their example?
Pan Michael then took his way to Russia and self-reproach
accompanied him. But he was just enough to shoulder all
the blame and not to visit any of it upon Krysia; and to his
other anxieties was added the question whether Krysia would
not in the depths of her soul think ill of him on account of
his precipitation-
"Surely she would not act so were she in my place," he
said to himself, "being of an exalted nature herself, she doubt-
less expects the same from others."
The little knight was afraid lest he should look small in
her eyes.
But his fears were groundless. Krysia had no real sym-
pathy with Pan Michael's mourning, and when he dwelt on it
too much, instead of feeling with him it only roused her
jealousy. "Was she, the living woman, not of equal import-
ance with the dead one? Or was she of i\o more value than to
have the dead Anusia as a rival ? If Zagloba had known their
secret he would have consoled Pan Michael by saying that
women are not too charitable to one another."
After Pan Michael had gone Panna Krysia was somewhat
dismayed on thinking over what had happened and especially
(90)
PAN MICHAEL. g l
that she was bolird in. AY ben she en me from tlie Ukraine to
Warsaw, where she had never been before, she had imagined
that things would be very different. The retinues of bishops
and other dignitaries would be gathered at the Diet of Con-
vocation; and a brilliant body of nobles would be assembled
from every corner of the Commonwealth. What revels and re-
views there would be! what life! and amid the whirl, in the
noble throng, would appear some unknown lover, some knight
such as exists only in maidens' dreams. This knight would
burn with love and haunt her window with a cithera; he would .
organize gay cavalcades, love, and sigh interminably, wear
his lady's colors on his armor, and suffer and overcome great
obstacles before finally falling at her feet and gaining re-
sponsive love.
But nothing of all this had happened. The rainbow-hued
haze of fancy faded away; a knight appeared, it is true, a
knight out of the common run and celebrated as the first sol-
dier in the Commonwealth, a famous warrior, but very little,
in fact not at all resembling the knight of her dreams.
Neither were there any cavalcades, nor serenades, nor jousts,
nor parades, nor colors worn on the armor, nor stirring life,
nor revels, nor anything of all that allures like a May dream,
or a marvellous tale in the twilight that intoxicates the senses
like the perfume of flowers, and attracts as a bait does a bird,
making the face flush, the heart beat faster, and the body
tremble. There was nothing but a modest mansion outside
the city; in it Pan Michael; then came growing intimacy, and
the last vestiges of the dream vanished like the moon when
clouds obscure it. If only Pan Michael had appeared last in-
stead of first he would have been the one looked for. Fre-
quently when she dwe/lt on the thought of his fame, his
worthiness-, and his valor, which made him the glory of the
Commonwealth and the terror of its foes, Krysia felt that
after all she did love him dearly; only it seemed to her that
she had missed something, that a certain injustice had been
done to her and through his instrumentality, or rather
through his precipitancy. . . .
This precipitancy had lodged in the heart of each like a
grain of sand; and as greater and greater distance was placed
between them this grain began to irritate.
It often happens that people's feelings are wounded with a
matter as insignificant as a tiny thorn, which hurt, with the
lapse of time, is either healed or aggravated, bringing pain
9 2 PAN U\
and bitterness to the deepest love. But in this instance it
was still a long way to pain and bitterness. To Pan Michael
the thought of Krysia brought pleasure and solace, and the
memory of her followed him as closely as his shadow, lie also
felt that the farther he went the dearer she would grow to his
heart and the more he would sigh and long for her presence.-.
For her the time passed more heavily; for after the little
knight's departure, there were no visitors at Ketling's, and
day succeeded day in dullness and monotony.
Pani Stolnikova counted the days till the election, awaiting
her husband's arrival; she talked only of him; Basia was
scheming. Zagloba reproached her, saying that she had first
rejected Pan Adam and was now wishing him back. She
would in fact have been glad to see even him; but he told
himself "There is nothing there for me," . . and he soon
followed Pan Michael. Pan Zagloba also was making prepa-
rations to return to Pan Yan's, saying that he was yearning
to see his boys again. Still, being lazy, he deferred his de-
parture from day to day, explaining to Bashka that she was
the cause of his lingering, that he was in love with her and in-
tended to seek her hand.
Meanwhile he kept Krysia. company when Basia and Pan
Michael's sister went to visit the wife of the vice-chamberlain
of Lemburg. Krysia never accompanied them on those visits,
for in spite of that lady's estimable qualities she could not
endure Krysia. Frequently also Zagloba himself went to War-
saw, passed his time in pleasant company, and more than
once returned intoxicated on the following day; at such times
Krysia was entirely alone and spent the lagging minutes in
thoughts partly of Pan Michael, and partly of what might
have happened if the latch had not fallen once for all, and
frequently speculating as to what that unknown rival of Pan
Michael's, the fairy Prince, would have been like.
One day Krysia was sitting by the window and thought-
fully gazing at the door of the room, which was illumined by
a bright ray of the setting sun, when suddenly a sleigh-bell
was heard outside. Krysia thought that Pani Makovyetska
and Basia must have returned and did not interrupt her
musings, nor even turn her eyes from the door. Tn a moment
it opened, and beyond its frame in the shadow her eyes fell
upon a stranger.
For the first few moments it seemed to Krysia that she was
gazing at a picture, or that she had fallen asleep and was
dreaming, so wonderful was the vision before her. . . .
PAK MIC0AEL 93
The stranger was youthful, dressed in some black foreign
costume with a white lace collar falling over his shoulders.
Once in her childhood Krysia had seen Fan Artsishevski,
general of the royal artillery, dressed in a similar costume;
he had remained in her memory on account of the costume
as well as his unusual beauty. Now the youth before her was
similarly costumed; but in beauty he far surpassed Pan Art-
sishevski and every other man who walked the earth. II
hair, cut straight across his forehead, fell in wonderful shi
ning curls on each side of his face. His brows were dark ami
strongly marked on a forehead as white as marble; he had
mild and melancholy eyes; a tawny moustache and a pointed
beard of the same hue. . It was a matchless head, in which
nobility and manliness were united, the head of an angel and
a knight at the same time. Krysia suddenly held her breath
as she looked, for she could scarcely believe her own eyes, nor
could she make up her mind whether she was gazing on an il-
lusion or a real man. For a moment he stood motionless in
astonishment, or politely pretending to be astonished at the
sight of Krysia's loveliness; at length he entered the door and
bewail to sweep the floor with the plumes of his hat. Krysia
arose with trembling limbs, and flushing and paling alter-
nately, she closed her eyes.
Meanwhile his soft and velvety tones were heard:
"I am Ketling of Elgin, the friend and companion-in-arms
of Pan Volodiyovski. The servant has already informed me
that I have the unspeakable happiness and honor to receive
under my roof as guests the sister and relatives of my Pallas;
but, noble lady, pardon my confusion, for he told me nothing
of what my eyes behold and they cannot endure the bright-
ness of your presence."
Such was the compliment with which the knightly Ketling
greeted Krysia; but she did not repay him in kind, for she
could not find a word to say. She only thought when he had
ended that he was making another bow because through the
silence she heard his plumes again sweeping the floor. She
also realized that it was exceedingly necessary for her to make
some reply and give back compliment for compliment or she
might be put down for a rustic; but her breath failed her, her
temples throbbed, and her bosom rose and fell as though she
were in great distress. She opened her eyes and saw him
standing before her with head slightly bowed and his won-
derful face full of admiration and respect. With trembling
MICHAEL.
hands Krysia took hold of her robe to make a courtesy before
the cavalier, when at that moment luckily, shouts of "Ketling!
Ketling!" were heard in the hall and the panting Zagloba
rushed into the room with outstretched arms.
The two then embraced and meanwhile the young lady
tried to recover her self-possession and take a glance or two
at the knight. He embraced Zagloba warmly, but with that
rare grace in every movement which he had either inherited
from his ancestors, or acquired in the brilliant courts of
kings and rulers.
"How are you?" cried Zagloba. "I am as delighted to see
you in your house as in my own. Let me have a look at you!
Why, how thin you have grown! Is it from some love-affair?
By God! you have grown thin. Do you know Michael has
joined his squadron? Oh, you have done well to come!
Michael has no longer any thought of a cloister. His sister
is staying here with two young ladies, maidens like peaches!
One is Panna Yezyorkovska and the other Panna Droho-
yovska. Oh, for Heaven's sake, Panna Krysia is here! I beg
pardon, but may the man lose his eyes who would deny that
either of you is beautiful; this cavalier has already seen it for
himself in your case."
Ketling bowed a third time and said smiling:
"I left the house a barracks and I find it an Olympus, for
I meet a goddess on the threshold."
"Ketling! how are you?" again cried Zagloba, for whom one
greeting did not suffice, and he again embraced him.
"No matter, you haven't seen the little haiduk yet. One is
a beauty, but the other is indeed honey! How are you Ket-
ling? God give you good health! I must talk to you. It is
you! That delights this old fellow. You are glad of your
guests. . . Pani Makovyetska came here because it was so
hard to find lodgings while the diet was being held; but now
it is easier and of course she will go, for it is not well for
maidens to lodge under a bachelor's roof lest people look
askance and begin to chatter." . . .
"For God's sake! I will never allow that! To Pan Michael,
I am a brother rather than a friend; and I may surely receive
Pani Makovyetska as a sister under my roof. To you, young
lady, I shall turn for assistance, and if necessary will implore
it here on my knees."
Thereupon Ketling fell upon his knees before Krysia and,
seizing her hand, pressed it to his lips and gazed into her eyes
PAN MICHAEL. 95
with a beseeching, joyous, and at the same time, mournful
expression. She began to blush again, especially as Zagloba
immediately cried:
"He has hardly arrived before he is on his knees to her.
By God! I'll tell Pani Makovyetska that I found you so. Sly
Ketling! .... Krysia, note court customs!"
"I am ignorant of court customs," the lady murmured in
confusion.
"May I count on your aid ?" asked Ketling.
"Rise, sir."
"May I count on your aid? I am Pan Michael's brother.
To abandon this house will be doing an injury to him."
"My wishes do not count here," replied Krysia more com-
posedly, "but I cannot help being grateful for yours."
"I thank you!" cried Ketling, pressing her hand to his lips.
"Ah! there is frost outside and Cupid is naked, but if he
stayed here he would not freeze," cried Zagloba, _ "and I see
there will be a thaw from sighs alone, from sighs" alone!"
"Give us peace!" cried Krysia.
"Thank God you have not lost your jovial spirits," said
Ketling, "for jollity is a sure sign of health."
"And a clear conscience," added Zagloba, "and a clear con-
science! 'The sinner showeth a sad countenance,' says the
Man of God. I have nothing to trouble me, and so I am
joyous. Oh, a hundred Turks! What do I behold! I saw
you last in a Polish costume and sabre and leopard-skin cap,
and now you have become some kind of an Englishman and
are going about on slender legs like a stork."
"Because I have been for some time in Courland where
Polish costume is not worn and have just spent two days with
the English Minister at Warsaw."
"Then you have just come from Courland?"
"Yes! The relative who adopted me is dead and has left
me another estate there."
"Eternal rest to his soul! He was a good Catholic of
course?"
"Yes!"
"You have that consolation at least. But you will not cast
us off for this estate in Courland?"
"I shall live and die here," Ketling replied with a glance at
Krysia which made her immediately lower her long lashes.
"It was quite dark when Pan Makovyetska arrived, and
Ketling went out to the gate to receive her. He conducted
9 6 PAN MICHAEL.
the lady into the house with so much ceremony that she might
have been a sovereign princess. She wanted to seek other
quarters the next day within the city; but she was overruled.
The } r oimg knight begged, and insisted on his brotherly af-
fection for Pan Michael, and knelt to her until she consented
to stay on. She merely stipulated that Pan Zagloba should
also remain for some time so that his dignity and years might
be a protection to the ladies against scandalmongers. He
willingly consented, for he had become fondly attached to the
little haiduk and moreover he had begun to form certain
plans, for the success of which his presence was absolutely
necessary. The young ladies were both glad, and Bada
openly took Ketling's part.
"We can't move out to-day anyhow," she said to Pan
Michael's sister; "and if not, whether we stay one day or
twenty makes no difference."
She, as well as Krysia, was pleased with Ketling, for he
pleased all women, and besides, Basia had never seen a for-
eign cavalier except officers of foreign infantry, men of low
rank and common enough. Therefore she hovered about him,
shaking her locks, dilating her nostrils and gazing at him with
childlike curiosity; so noticeable was it that at last Pani
Makovyetska reproved her. But notwithstanding that she
did not cease scrutinizing him as if trying to assess his mili-
tary worth, and at last she asked Pan Zagloba in a whisper:
*Ts he a great soldier?"
"Yes! It would be impossible to be more famous. You
see, he has had great experience, for, holding fast to the true
faith, he served against the English rebels from his fourteenth
year. He is also of noble birth as you can easily see from his
manners."
"Have you ever seen him under fire?"
"A thousand times! In the thick of the fight he would halt
for you without a tremor, pat his horse on the shoulder, and
be ready to talk of love."
"Is it customary to talk of love at such a time? Eh?"
"It is usual to do everything by which a contempt for bul-
lets may be shown."
"But is he equally great hand to hand in a duel?"
"Yes, ye?! a regular wasp; there's no denying it."
"But could he withstand Pan Michael?"
"Not Pan Michael!"
"Ah!" Basia cried proudly and joyously, "I knew he
PAN MICHAEL. 97
couldn't. I thought at once he couldn't." And she began to
clap her hands.
"So then, you take Pan Michael's part?" asked Zagloba.
Basia tossed her head and was silent; after a moment a
little sigh heaved her breast:
"Well! what of that? I am glad because he is one of us."
"But remember this and lay it carefully to heart, little
haiduck," continued Zagloba, "if it is hard to find a better
man on the field of battle than Ketling, he is still more dan-
gerous where women are concerned, who fall madly in love
with his graces. He is a past-master in love-making, too!"
"Tell that to Krysia, for my head does not run on love,"
Basia replied, and turning towards her, she began to call
"Krysia, Krysia! Come here for only one word."
"I am here," said Panna Drohoyovska.
"Pan Zagloba says that no lady ever looks on Ketling with-
out immediately falling in love with him. I have examined
him from every aide and somehow nothing has happened; are
you touched?"
"Bashka, Bashka!" cried Krysia imploringly.
"Has he pleased you, eh?"
"Spare us! be a good child. Basia, dear, don't talk non-
sense, for Ketling is coming."
In fact Krysia had scarcely sat down when Ketling ap-
proached them and asked:
"Is it permitted to join the company?"
"We beg you most earnestly to do so," Krysia answered.
"Then may I venture to ask what you were talking about?"
"Love!" cried Basia without hesitation.
"Kotiing took a seat beside Krysia. There was a few mo-
ments' silence, for Krysia, who was generally so self-pos-
sessed, had become strangely timid in the presence of the
cavalier; therefore he was the first co a=>.
"Is it true that the subject oi c*iuiersation was such r
pleasant an?"
"It is," replied Knrsia in a low tone.
"I shall be most delighted to hear your ideas."
"Excuse IK, i aave neither the courage nor the wit, so I
would rather get some new light from you."
"Krysia is right," exclaimed Zn^loba, "let us listen."
"Ask me a question," said Ketlimr.
And, gazing upwards, he meditated for a little while and
tlv*n, although no one had questioned him, said, as if to
tniself:
7
MICHAEL.
"To love is a terrible misfortune; for through love, a free
man becomes a captive. Just as a bird,, pierced by an arrow,
falls at the sportsman's feet, so the man transpierced by love
has no power to escape from the feet of his adored.
"To love is an affliction; for a man is blinded by it and can
see nothing beyond his love. To love is to mourn; for do not
the tears flow and deep sighs fill the breast? When a man is
in love he thinks neither of dress nor of sport; he prefers to
sit with his hands on his knees, sighing mournfully as if he
had lost a beloved friend. Love is a disease; for in love the
face likewise grows pale, the eyes are sunken, the hands
tremble, the fingers become transparent, and the mind dwells
on death or goes about like one distracted, with unkempt
hair, talks to the moon and takes delight in writing his be-
loved's name on the sand, and if the wind blows it away, he
cries 'miser/ . . . and begins to sob."
Here Ketling became silent; he seemed lost in thought.
Krysia listened to his words with her whole soul, as if to a
song. Her lips were parted, and her glance never left the
knight's pale face. Basia's hair fell over her eyes and veiled
them so that her thoughts could not be read; but she also sat
silent.
Then Zagloba yawned aloud, drew a long breath, stretched
out his legs, and said: "Have boots made for dogs out of
such love."
"But yet/' continued the knight, "if it is sad to love, it is
sadder still not to love; for who would take delight in pleasure,
glory, riches, perfumes, or jewels without love ? . . Who
would not say to the beloved one, 'I choose thee above a king-
dom, a sceptre, health, or long life? . . . And since every-
body would willingly give life in exchange for love, love is of
more value than life."
Ketling ended.
The young ladies nestled closely to each other, wondering at
his tender speech and these conceptions of love uncommon
in Polish cavaliers, till Zagloba, who was napping, woke, and
began to blink, glancing first at one and then at another, until
having recovered full consciousness, he asked loudly:
"What did you say?"
"We bid you good-night," said Basia.
"Ah, now I know, we were talking about love. What con-
clusion did we come to?"
"That the lining was better than the cloak."
"There is no use in denying that I was sleepy; but
JUICE AJffE. 99
loving, weeping, sighing Ah, I have still another rhyme for
it nappiifg and at present the most appropriate, for the
hour is late. (Jood-night to everybody, and stop talking about
your love. 0, my God, my God, while the cat is mewing she
will not eat cheese; but her mouth waters until she gets it.
In my time I resembled Ketling as one cup resembles another;
and I was eo madly in love that a ram might have butted my
back for an hour before I should have noticed it. But in old
age I prefer to rest well, especially when a kind host not only
conducts me to bed, but gives me a night-cap to drink."
"1 am at your lordship's service," said Ketling.
"Let us retire; let us retire! See how high the moon is
already. To-morrow will "be fine; it is as bright and clear as
daylight. Ketling would talk with you all night about love;
but remember, kids, that he is worn with travel."
"Not travel- worn, for I rested two days in the city. I am
only afraid that the ladies are not accustomed to staying up
at night."
"The night would pass quickly if we listened to you," said
Krysia.
"There is no night where the sun shines," Ketling replied.
Then they separated, for it was very late. The young ladies
slept in the same room and usually talked long before going
to .sleep; but this evening Basia could not understand Kry-
sia, for the one was just as anxious to be silent as the other
was to talk, and would only reply in monosyllables. Fre-
quently, too, when Basia, while speaking of Ketling, mim-
icked and laughed at him a little, Krysia embraced her very
affectionately and begged her to stop her jesting.
" He is our host, Basia," she said, "we are living under his
roof; and I noticed that he fell in love with you at first sight."
"How do you know that?" asked Basia.
"Who does not love you? Everybody loves you, and I
very much." . - . .
She then put her beautiful face against Basia's, nestled
close to her, and kissed her on the eyes.
At length they sought their beds, but Krysia could not
^Icep for a long time. She was very much disturbed. At
times her heart beat so violently that she put both her hands
against her soft breast to suppress the throbbing. At times,
too, especially when she closed her eyes, she fancied that a
face beautiful as a dream, bent over her's and a low voice whis-
pered to her:
"I would rather possess tliee than a kingdom, or a sceptre,
or health, or long years, or life itself."
CHAPTEE XII.
A few days later Zagloba wrote a letter to Pan Yan which
ended thus:
"If I do not return before the election, do not be sur-
prised. It will not be because of any lack of interest in
you; but as the Devil never sleeps, I might be left with
something useless in my hand instead of a bird which I do
not wish. It would be disastrous if when Michael returns,
I should not be able to say to him, 'She is engaged, and the
haiduk is free/ Everything is in God's hand; but I think
it will not be necessary to persuade Michael, nor to make
extensive preparations, and you will come when the engage-
ment is made. In the meantime, bearing Ulysses in mind,
it will be necessary for me to be diplomatic and give color
to it more than once, which is not easy for me, since all
my life I have preferred truth to everything else and been
glad to feed upon it. However, for the sake of Michael and
the little haiduk I will take this upon myself, for they are
pure gold. I embrace you and the boys, pressing you to my
heart and commending you to the Most High God/'
Having finished writing, Zagloba sprinkled sand upon the
paper; struck it with his hand, read it through again, hold-
ing it at arm's length; then, he folded it, took the signet from
his finger, moistened it, and just as he was beginning to seal
his letter, Ketling entered.
"Good-morning to your lordship!"
"Good-morning, good-morning!" said Zagloba. "Thanks
to God, it is beautiful weather, and I am just about to send
a messenger to Pan Yan."
"Send a greeting from me."
"I have already done so. I said to myself, 'I oiiffht to
send a greeting from Ketling. They will both be delighted
to receive good news/ It is certain that I have sent a mess-
age from you since I have written a whole letter about you
and the voung ladies."
"How is that?" asked Ketling.
(100)
PAN MICHAEL. IOI
Zagloba placed his hands on his knees, and tapped
with his fingers; then lie lowered ,1ns li.-;'<i, ;-nd g#2irtg'' i'roni
under his brows at Ketling, said: "Kc tling it is iib{ neces-
sary to be a prophet to know 'tli^t lliut -arid _-s*< '!; .dways
produce sparks sooner or later. You- are* ' a f brilliant "-spark,
and even you could not find fault with the young ladies."
Ketling was decidedly confused.
"I should have to be blind or a barbarian," he said, "if I
did not recognize their beauty, and bow down before it."
"But," contiued Zagloba, smiling at the sight of Ketling's
blushes, "as long as you are not a barbarian, you ought not
to have both of them in your mind; only Turks act in that
way."
"Do you suppose ?"
"I suppose nothing. I only say this to myself. Ah,
traitor! you have talked so much to them about love that
Krysia's lips are as pale this third day as if she had taken
drugs. It is not astonishing; you are young. When I was
young myself, I used to stand out in the cold under the
window of a certain black-browed beauty; she was like Kry-
sia, and I remember how I used to sing.
"The day's work is ended, fair lady, you sleep
As playing the pipes here my vigil I keep,
Fa, la ! "
If you wish, I will loan you this song, or compose a new
one for you, for I have genius to spare. Have you noticed
that Panna Krysia reminds one slightly of Panna Bellevich,
except that Panna Bellevich has hair like hemp and no
down upon her lip? But there are some men who find
superiority in that and think it a rarity. She looks at you
with delight. I have just said so to Pan Yan. Don't you
think she is like Panna Bellevich before her marriage?' 1 *
"At the first moment I did not notice the resemblance,
but it may be so. In figure and height she suggests her."
"Now hear what I say. I am telling you family secrets;
but, as you are a friend, you ought to know them. Be on
your guard not to be ungrateful to Pan Michael, for Pani
Makovyetska and I have destined one of those maidens for
him."
Here Zagloba glanced quickly and senrchingly into Ket-
ling's eyes, while the latter turned pale and asked:
"Which one?"
102 PAN MICHAEL
"Pa D ne Krysia/' replied Zagloba, deliberately, and, protru-
ding his lower ,li^, lie began to blink with his sound eye from
under his frowning brow. Ketling was silent for such a
long while that finally Zsagloba asked "What do you say to
that?" '
Then Ketling answered in altered tones, but emphatically
"You may be sure that I will not indulge my feeling to
Michael's detriment,"
"Are you sure?"
"I have suffered greatly in my life; I give my knightly
word that I will not indulge any sentiment to Michael'i
hurt."
At this Zagloba held out his arms: "Ketling, indulge any
sentiment you like, indulge it, poor fellow, to your heart's
content, for I only wanted to try you. It is not Panna
Krysia but the little haiduk whom we intend for Michael."
Ketling's face grew radiant with great and deep joy, and,
clasping Zagloba in his arms, he held him in a long embrace,
and at length asked :
"Is it already certain that they love one another?'
"Who would not love my little haiduk, who indeed?" cried
Zagloba.
"Then they are already .betrothed?"
"There has been no betrothal, for Michael has hardly got
over his mourning yet; but there will be, on my head be
it! The maiden, though she is as hard to catch as a weasel,
is very fond of him, for with her the sabre is the foundation
of everything."
"I have remarked it!" interrupted the beaming Ketling.
"Ah! you have remarked it! Michael is still mourning
for the other; but if anyone can please him it is certainly the
little haiduk, for she most resembles his dead love, though
she is not so striking on account of her youth. Everything
is going well. I will go bail that these two weddings will
take place at the time of the election."
Ketling again embraced Zagloba without saying a word
and laid his handsome face against his red cheeks till the
old man gasped and cried:
"Has Panna Krysia already wormed herself into your
heart like that?"
"I know not, I know not!" Ketling replied, "hut this I
know: scarcely had 'her heavenly sight enchanted my eyes
when I told myself that here was the one woman whom my
PAN MICHAEL. IO3
lacerated heart might yet love; and that same night I ban-
ished sleep with my sighs and gave myself up to delicious
longings. Thenceforth she absorbed rny entire being as a
queen dominates a loyal and obedient land. I know not
whether this be love or something else."
"But you do know that it is not a cap, nor three yards of
cloth for a pair of trunk-hose, nor a saddle-girth, nor leg-
gings, nor an omelette, nor a pitcher of gorzalka. If you
are sure of this then ask Krysia about the rest; or, if you
like, I will ask her myself."
"Don't do that," said Ketling with a smile. "If I am to
drown, at least let me think I am swimming, if only for a
couple of days more."
"I see that in war the Scots are fine fellows, but they are
of no use in love. Boldness and impetuosity are needed
with women as with foes. 'Veni, vidi, vici' was my motto."
"If my ardent desires are to be fulfilled the time may
come when I may request your friendly offices: although I am
naturalized and have noble blood in my veins, yet my name
is unknown here and I am not confident that Pani Makovy-
eteka
"Pani Makovyetska?" interrupted Zagloba. "Have no
fear there. Pani Makovyetska is a regular musical snuff-
box; as it is wound up so it plays. I will get at her at once;
I must prepare her you know, so that she may not frown on
your advances to the lady. As your Scotch method is differ-
ent to ours I will not of course make an immediate proposal
in your name; I will merely say that you are attracted by
the lady and it would be well if that flour should be con-
verted into dough. On my word, I will go at once; have
no fear, for in any case I have a right to say what I please."
And although Ketling tried to detain him, Zagloba got up
and went out.
On the way he met Basia flying along as usual, and said:
"Are you aware that Krysia has entirely captivated Ket-
ling?"
"He's not the first."
"Aren't you displeased about it?"
"Ketling is a doll! a gay companion, but still a doll! I
have knocked my knee against the shaft of the carriage and
that's what troubles me."
And Basia bent down and began to rub her knee, still
keeping her eyes on Zagloba, who said;
I0 4 PAN MICHAEL.
"For Heaven's sake be careful! Where are you off to
now?"
"To Krysia."
"What is she doing?"
"She? For some time now she has kept kissing me and
rubbing against me like a cat."
"Don't tell that she has made a conquest of Ketling."
"Ah, but how can I help it?"
Zagloba was perfectly well aware that Basia would not be
able to help it and forbade her for that reason.
He therefore continued his way in high glee at his own
cunning, and Basia burst into Krysia's room like a bomb.
"I have hurt my knee; and Ketling is hopelessly in love
with you!" she cried before she had fairly entered. I did
not see the shaft sticking out of the coach-house and got
such a knock. It made me see stars, but never mind that!
Pan Zagloba told me not to say anything to you about Ket-
ling. Did I not tell you at once that it would turn out so?
And you talked of giving him to me! Never fear; I know
you My knee is still rather painful. I have not ceded Pan
Michael to you but Ketling, oho! Now he is wandering all
over the place mooning. Well done, Krysia, well done!
Scot, Scot, scat, cat!"
Here Basia began to point her finger at her companion.
"Basia!" cried Krysia.
"Scot, Scot, cot, cot! (puss, puss!)"
"How miserable I am!" suddenly exclaimed Krysia burst-
ing into tears.
Then Basia tried to comfort her, but in vain, for she
sobbed as she never had before in all her life.
In fact not one in the house knew how unhappy she
really was. She had been feverish for some days now; her
cheeks had lost their color, her eyes had become sunken, and
her breast heaved with short sighs. Some wonderful change
had come over her; she seemed to have failed altogether,
and that not by degrees but quite suddenly. It had fallen
upon her like a cyclone and carried her away; it had fired
her blood like a flame and flashed through her imagination
like lightning. She was utterly powerless to resist this feel-
ing that had mastered her so suddenly. Tranquility had
deserted her. Her will was like a bird with a broken wing.
Krysia herself did not know whether she loved or hated
Ketling, and the question filled her with infinite dread. But
PAN MICHAEL. IO5
she felt that her heart beat more quickly only through him;
on his account she was lost in thought; she was completely
absorbed by him, and did not attempt to steel herself
against the influence. It would have been easier for her not
to love him than not to think of him; for her eyes were glad-
dened by his sight, his voice made her deaf to all else, her
whole soul was engrossed by him. Even sleep could not
banish his haunting presence, for whenever she closed her
eyes, his head bent over hers and she heard the whisper
"I would rather possess thee than a kingdom, a sceptre, fame,
or wealth." And the head seemed to come so near to her
that, although it was dark, her face was suffused with deep
blushes. She was a hot-blooded Russian; strong fires flamed
in her breast, such as she had never dreamed of before and
which filled her with fear >and shame, and a weakness ap-
proaching faintness, at once painful and agreeable. Night
brought her no peace. A constantly increasing weariness
took possession of her, as if produced by incessant toil.
"Krysial Krysia! what is the matter with you?" she said
to herself.
But she seemed to be dazed and in constant agitation.
Nothing had happened yet, nothing at all. Up to this
time she had not exchanged two words with Ketling alone;
but the thought of him had taken entire possession of her;
and an instinctive warning voice seemed to be incessantly
whispering: "Take care of yourself! Avoid him" . . .
And she avoided him. . . .
Krysia had not given any thought to her engagement with
Pan Michael, which was fortunate; she had not paid atten-
tion to it because as yet nothing had taken place, and be-
cause she took no thought of herself or anyone else except
Ketling.
This also she concealed deep in her heart; and the belief
that no one suspected what she was experiencing, that no
one thought of her in connection with Ketling, brought her
no slight comfort. Suddenly Basia's words revealed to her
that it was not so, that people were observing them, as-
sociating them and guessing the state of affairs. And this
was the cause of her disquietude, her shame and distress
which broke down her will, and made her weep like a little
child.
But Basia's words were only the prelude to further in-
sinuations, significant glumes, \\ -inks, and nods, to say noth-
I0 6 PAX MICHAEL,
ing of those phrases of double-meaning, which she had to
bear. These began at dinner.
Pan Michael's sister looked from Krysia to Ketling and
from Ketling to Krysia, a thing she had never done before.
Pan Zagloba coughed significantly. Sometimes there was
a pause in the conversation nobody knew why, and a deep
silence followed, and in one of these lulls Basia, whose hair
was in wild disorder, cried out in the hearing of everyone
"I know something that I won't tell!"
Krysia blushed furiously and then suddenly turned pale,
as if in great alarm; Ketling was also embarrassed. Each
felt that this remark had reference to them, and, although
they studiously avoided talking to each other so as to escape
scrutiny, they knew that a sentiment was springing up be-
tween them and that an undefined sympathy was gradually
being formed. This consciousness at once united and kept
them apart, for it destroyed their free intercourse and they
could be no longer ordinary friends to each other. Happily
no one took any notice of Basia's words. All were inter-
ested in Pan Zagloba's preparations to go to the city and re-
turn with a large company of knights.
Ketling's cottage was brightly lighted that evening; about
a dozen officers were present, and the hospitable host pro-
vided music for the especial entertainment of the ladies. Of
course, there was no dancing, for it was Lent, and, besides,
Ketling was in mourning; but they all heard the music and
enjoyed conversation. The ladies were beautifully dressed.
Michael's sister appeared in Oriental silk. The little haiduk
was attired in various colors, and charmed the eyes of the
officers with her rosy cheeks and shining hair which would
occasionally fall across her eyes; her blunt words aroused
laughter and her manners, a combination of Cossack daring
and artlessness, created astonishment.
Krysia, who was now out of mourning for her father,
wore a white robe trimmed with silver. Some of the knights
compared her to Juno, others to Diana; but no one twisted
his moustache, jingled his spurs, or ogled her; no one looked
upon her with sparkling eyes or talked to her about love.
Soon, however, she began to notice that those who looked
at her with admiration and reverence immediately glanced
at Ketling; while others on approaching him seized his hand
as if to congratulate him and give him their good wishes;
and that he shrugged his shoulders and spread Ms hands
PAN MICHAEL. IO7
as if in deprecation. Krysia, who was naturally observant
and penetrating, felt sure that they were speaking to him
about her, and that they looked upon her as his betrothed;
and, as she did not know that Pan Zagloba had whispered
something into every man's ear, she was at a loss to under-
stand whence these suppositions arose.
- "Is there anything written on my brow?' 7 she asked herself
anxiously. She was distressed and ashamed.
And just then words came floating to- her on the air as if
meant for her but still audible: "Lucky Ketling! . . .
He was born with a caul. ... No wonder, for he is a
handsome fellow! . . ." and similar words.
Other courteous cavaliers in an attempt to please her and
say something acceptable, talked about Ketling, praising
him to the skies, extolling his courage, his kindness, his re-
fined manners, and ancient lineage. And Krysia had to listen
whether she would or not, and her eyes involuntarily wan-
dered to that man of whom people were telling her, and
sometimes their eyes met. Then she fell more powerfully
under the spell and took an unconscious delight in gazing
at him; for what a contrast Ketling was to all these rough
soldiers! "A king's son amid his retinue/' thought Krysia
as she looked at that noble, aristocratic head, and those am-
bitious eyes clouded with a certain inherent sadness, and
that brow shaded with exuberant golden curls. She felt her
heart sink and yearn as if that was the dearest head on earth
to her. Ketling noticed it, and, anxious not to add to her
confusion, did not appr ach while another was at her side.
He could not have paid her greater homage or attention if
she had been a queen. When he addressed her he bowed his
head and drew back one foot as if about to kneel before
her; he spoke to her with dignity and never in jest, as he
did to Basia for example. In his dealings with Krysia there
was always a tinge of tender melancholy as well as the ut-
most respect. The consequence was that no other man in-
dulged in too free speech, or jesting too bold, as if they were
all satisfied that her birth and dignity were far above that
of ordinary women and that she was a lady who could never
be treated with too much deference.
Krysia felt excessively grateful for that. On the whole
the evening was a pleasant though anxious one for her. When
it was nearly midnight the music ceased, the ladies took
leave of the guests and cups began to circulate among the
2o g PAN MICHAEL.
knights and a more riotous scene ensued in which Pan Za-
globa occupied the place of Hetman. Basia went upstairs
happy as a bird, for she had greatly enjoyed herself. Be-
fore saying her prayers she jested and mimicked various
guests: at last she clapped her hands and said:
"How delightful it is that your Ketling came! There will
be no lack of soldiers now. Only let us get through Lent and
I'll have dancing enough. What fun we'll have! And if I
don't turn the house upside down at your betrothal and
wedding may the Tartars catch me! What if they really
were to! In the first place there would be. ... Ah,
the good Ketling! He will get the musicians for you but
I shall get the benefit of them with you. He will bring
you marvel after marvel till at last he does this. . . .
Here Basia suddenly fell on her knees before Krysia and
putting her arm round her waist began to speak, imitating
Ketling's low tones:
"My lady! I love you so that I cannot breathe. . . .
I love you on foot and on horseback. I love you fasting and
after meals. I love you for eternity, and as the Scotch love.
. . . Will you be mine ?"
"Basia, I shall be angry!" cried Krysia.
But instead of getting angry she caught Basia in her arms
and kissed her on the eyes as she made a feeble attempt to
raise hr.
CHAPTER XIII.
Pan Zagloba was perfectly well aware that Pan Michael pre-
ferred Krysia to Basia, and for that very reason he deter-
mined to get Krysia out of the way. Knowing Pan Michael
thoroughly as he did, he was satisfied that, if there was no
choice left, he would undoubtedly turn to Basia, with whom
the old noble was himself so infatuated that he could not con-
ceive how anyone could prefer anybody else. He also thought
that it was impossible to render Pan Michael a greater service
than to gain his little haiduk for him, and the thought of that
union delighted his heart. He was provoked with Pan
Michael and Krysia: certainly he would rather have Pan
Michael marry Krysia than no one, but he resolved to do all
in his power to induce him to marry the little haiduk.
It was just on account of his knowledge of the little knight's
affection for Panna Drohoyovska that he was bent on making
her Pani Ketling as soon as possible.
Nevertheless the answer he received from Pan Yan some
days later somewhat weakened his resolution. Pan Yan coun-
selled him not to meddle at all in the matter, for he feared
that if he did it might easily result in trouble between the old
friends. Zagloba was far from desiring that, and so he had
certain secret misgivings which he quieted by the following
reasoning:
"If Michael and Krysia had been betrothed and I had
thrust Ketling in between them like a wedge it would be an-
other matter. Solomon says: 'Don't poke your nose into
other people's business/ and he is^fluite right. But every man
has the right to wish. Besides, after all, what have I done? I
should like any one to tell me that!"
Here Zagloba rested his hands on his hips, pouted his lips,
and glared defiantly round his room as if expecting the walls
to answer his challenge; but as they kept silence he continued:
"I told Ketling that I intended the little haiduk for Michael.
Isn't that permissible? Isn't that quite true? If I want
Michael to have any other woman may the gout afflict me!"
IIO PAN MICHAEL.
The walls by their silence acknowledged the justice of Zag-
loba's words, so he proceeded: "I told the little haiduk that
Ketling had fallen a victim to Krysia; perhaps that is not true
either! Has he not confessed it: has he not sat beside the
hearth and sighed till the ashes smothered the room? And I
only told others what I saw. Pan Yan is a sharp fellow, but
my wit is not something to be thrown to the dogs either! I
can decide for myself what may be said and what had better
be left unsaid. . . H'm! he writes that I had better not in-
terfere in anything. "Well, I can do that too. Hereafter I
won't interfere in anything. When I am the third party in
company with Krysia and Ketling I will go out and leave
them alone together. Let them manage without me! Bah! I
think they can do it. They need no assistance whatever, for
now they are so drawn to each other that they have eyes for
nothing else and besides Spring is coming when not only the
sun, but desire grows warmer. Well! I will let them alone,
and we will see what will be the result."
And in fact it was not long before the result was to be
seen. For Holy Week all the guests at Ketling's went to
Warsaw and lodged at the hotel on Dluga street, so as to be
near the churches to perform thair devotions at their ease,
and at the same time to feast their eyes on the holiday life and
stir of the city.
There Ketling did the honors as host, for, though a for-
eigner by birth, he knew the capital thoroughly and had many
acquaintances everywhere who helped him to make everything
pleasant. He outdid himself in politeness and seemed to an-
ticipate every thought of his fair charges, Krysia especially.
Besides they had all come to be very fond of him. Pani
Makovyetska, as Zagloba had prophesied, regarded him and
Krysia with more favor from day to day, and if, so far, she
had said nothing about the matter to Krysia, it was only be-
cause he had not yet spoken. The worthy aunt considered it
quite natural and right that the cavalier should win the lady,
particularly as he was so -distinguished and received such
proofs of esteem and friendship, not only from ordinary peo-
ple, but from those of high rank; and won over everybody
with his marvellous grace, deportment, dignity, and gentle-
ness in times of peace, as well as valor in war.
"What God wills and my husband decides will happen," said
Pan Michael's sister <to herself; "but I will not cross this
couple/'
PAN MICHAEL. in
Thanks to this determination Ketling found himself in
Krysia's company more frequently and longer than in his own
house. Moreover the whole party always went out together.
Zagloba usually gave his arm to Pan Michael's sister, Ket-
ling took Krysia, and Basia, as the youngest, walked alone,
sometimes hastening on far in advance and then again halting
in front of shops to gape at merchandise and treasures from
beyond, the sea that she now saw for the first time. Krysia
gradually grew more accustomed to being with Ketling, and
now, as she leaned on his arm and listened to his conversa-
tion, or gazed at his noble face, her heart no longer beat with
alarm, she did not lose her presence of mind, nor was her heart
filled with confusion, but with a deep and intoxicated delight.
They were constantly alone; they knelt beside each other in
church and their voices joined in prayer and praise.
Ketling was fully aware of the state of his own heart.
Krysia, either from uncertainty or because she wanted to de-
ceive herself, did not confess even to herself, "I love him;"
but they were deeply in love with one another. But in addi-
tion to love they had a great friendship for each other. They
had not spoken of love as yet; the time passed like a dream
and brightness was above them.
Gloomy clouds of self-reproach were soon to darken the
horizon for Krysia, but for the present all was peace. By her
intimacy with Ketling and growing accustomed to him, and
by the love and friendship that had sprung up between them,
Krysia's compunctions had been silenced, she no longer in-
dulged disturbing thoughts and the struggle between her
blood and will had ceased. They were beside each other;
they were happy in each other's society; and Krysia entirely
abandoned herself to the blissful present and was reluctant
to think that it could ever end or that the illusion was likely
to be broken by the one word "Love" from Ketling.
That word was soon spoken. One day when Pan Michael's
sister and Basia were visiting a sick relative, Ketling per-
suaded Krysia and Pan Zagloba to go and see the king's
castle, which she had not yet seen, and which was widely
famed for its marvels. So they all three went together. All
doors had been opened by Ketling's liberality, and Krysia
was greeted by the keepers with as profound respect as though
she were a queen entering her own residence. Ketling was
perfectly familiar with the castle, and himself conducted her
through the magnificent halls and chambers. They examined
II2 PAN MICHAflt.
the theatre and royal baths; they stopped before pictures of
the battles and victories gained by Sigismund and Vladislav
over the barbarism of the East; they went on the terraces
whence an extensive view was to be had. Krysia was amazed
with all she saw; he explained everything to her, but now and
then he would become silent, and gazing into her dark-blue
eyes his glance seemed to say, "What are all these marvels in
comparison with thee? What are all these treasures beside
thee?"
She comprehended that silent eloquence. He led her to
one of the royal apartments and halted before a door con-
cealed in the wall.
"The cathedral may be reached by this door," he said.
"There is a long corridor ending in a little gallery near the
high altar. From that gallery the king and queen generally
hear Mass."
"I know that way very well," exclaimed Zagloba, "for I was
intimate with John Casimir. Maria Ludovika was very fond
of me, so that they both often invited me to Mass to have the
pleasure of my company added 'to the edification of piety."
"Would you like to go in?" asked Ketling, calling the
porter.
"Let us go," Krysia answered.
"Go alone," said Zagloba, "you are young and have good
legs; I have already had enough trotting about. Go on; go
on; I will stay here with the porter. And even if you say a
couple of Paters I shan't mind the loss of time, as meanwhile
I shall be resting."
They went in.
Ketling took her by the hand and led her through a long
corridor. He did not press her hand to his heart, but walked
calmly and composedly. At intervals the side windows illum-
ined their figures and then they were again plunged in dark-
ness. His heart beat quicker, for this was the first time they
bad ever been alone, but his 'tranquility quieted her too. At
last they emerged in the little gallery on the right side of the
church near the high altar. They knelt down and began to
pray. The church was silent and empty. Two candles were
burning before the high altar, but all the lower part of the
nave was shrouded in impressive dusk. Only from the rain-
bow-colored glass of the windows rays fell upon the two beau-
tiful faces absorbed in prayer, and as calm as the faces of
cherubim,
PAN MICHAEL. 1 13
Ketling was the first to rise, and not daring to raise his
voice above a whisper in the church, he said:
"Look at this velvet-covered rail; it retains the marks
where the royal pair rested their heads. The queen sat on
that side nearest the altar. Eest where she did!" .
"Is it true that her whole life was unhappy?" whispered
Krysia as she took the seat.
"I heard her story when still a child, for they tell it in
every baronial castle. Perhaps she was unhappy because she
could not marry him to whom her heart was given."
Krysia rested her head in the hollow made by that of
Maria Ludovika and closed her eyes. A strange feeling of
pain took possession of her breast and a kind of chill sud-
denly struck her from the deserted nave and disturbed the
calm in which her spirit had been steeped but a moment ago.
Ketling gazed silently at Krysia and a stillness that was ac-
tually of the temple succeeded.
Then he slowly bowed at her feet and in quiet tones that
were yet full of emotion, said:
"It is no sin to kneel to you in this sacred place; for where
should true love seek a henison if not in a church? I love
you more than my life; more than any earthly good; I love
you with my whole soul and heart, and I confess it to you
here before this altar."
Krysia's face became as white as a sheet. Leaning her head
against the velvet back of the seat, the unhappy girl did not
stir as he continued:
"I kiss your feet and await your reply. Am I to leave this
place in a state of heavenly bliss, or unendurable grief that
I shall not be able to survive?"
He waited some moments for an answer, but as none came
he bowed his head till it almost touched Krysia' s feet, and
his emotion increased and manifested itself in his trembling
and breathless voice:
"In your hands I place my life and happiness. I crave your
mercy, for my burden is great."
"Let us pray for the mercy of God!" cried Krysia, suddenly
falling upon her knees.
Ketling did not understand her, but did not venture to
make any opposition, and therefore knelt beside her in min-
gled hope and fear. They again began to pray.
At intervals their voices were audible in the empty church,
and were echoed back strangely and mournfully.
I
H4 PAN MICHAEL.
"God be merciful!" cried Krysia.
"God be merciful!" Ketling repeated.
"Have mercy upon us!"
"Have mercy upon us!"
She continued her prayer in silence; but Ketling saw that
her whole body was shaken with weeping. It was long before
she could calm herself, and at last, quieting down, she con-
tinued kneeling motionlessly. At length she got up and said:
"Let us go!"
They again entered the long corridor. Ketling hoped that
he would receive some answer on the way, and tried to meet
her glance, but in vain. She walked in haste as though anx-
ious to get back as soon as possible to the hall where Zagloba
was awaiting them.
But when they were near the door the knight took hold of
her skirt.
"Panna Krystina," he cried, "by all that is sacred-
Then Krysia turned, and seizing his hand so quickly that
he had no time to make any resistance, she raised it in an
instant to her lips.
"I love you with my whole soul; but I can never be yours!"
and before the astonished Ketling could utter a word she
added:
"Forget everything that has happened."
In another moment they were both in the hall. The porter
was dozing in one armchair and Zagloba in another. Their
entrance aroused them. Zagloba opened his one eye and
began to blink in half consciousness, but gradually he re-
covered memory of the time and people.
"Ah, there you are!" he said, pulling himself together. "I
was dreaming that the new king was elected and that he was
a Pole. Did you go to the little gallery?"
"We did."
"Did the spirit of Maria Ludovika appear to you by any
chance?"
"It did!" Krysia replied sombrely.
CHAPTER XIY.
When they left tfie castle, Ketling felt the need of collect-
ing his thoughts and recovering from his amazement at
Krysia's conduct. He bade her and Zagloba farewell at the
gate, and they returned to their lodgings. Basia and Pani
Stolnikova had already come back from the invalid lady; and
Pani Stolnikova greeted Zagloba as follows:
"I have just received a letter from my husband, who is still
with Michael at the stanitsa. They are both well and expect
to come here very soon. There is a letter for you from
Michael, but only a postcript from him to me in my hus-
band's letter. My husband also tells me that the quarrel
about one of Basia's estates with the Jubris has ended hap-
pily. It is nearly time for the provincial diets to meet.
They say that in that part of the country Pan Sobieski's name
carries weight, and that the local diet will yield to his wishes.
Every single man is getting ready for the election; but our
people will all be with the Crown-Marshal. It is now quite
warm there and the rains have begun. Our out-buildings in
Verkhutka have been burned. One of the servants dropped
a light, and as there was a wind
"What have you done with Michael's letter to me?" asked
Zagloba, interrupting the volume of news which the esti-
mable lady was pouring forth in a single breath.
"Here it is," she answered, handing him the letter. "There
was such a wind, and everybody had gone to the fair
"How did the letters get here?" asked Zagloba.
"They were taken to Ketling's and brought on by a servant.
I said there was such a wind '
"Would you like to hear this, Madam?"
"Of course, I entreat you."
Breaking the seal, Zagloba .began to read to himself in an
undertone and presently aloud:
"You shall have this first letter; but God grant that there
be none to follow it, for posts are unreliable in this part of the
world, and besides I hope to be with you soon. It is pleasant
("5)
n 6 PAN MICHAEL.
enough here in the field, but I long to come to you and
thoughts and memories are always haunting me, in conse-
quence of which I prefer solitude to company. Our duty is
fulfilled, for the hordes are now quiet, with the exception of
a few small bands rioting in the fields; but we fell upon them
twice with such effect that not one was left to tell of their
calamity."
"Oh, they made it hot for them," exclaimed Basia, joyfully.
"No calling is better than a soldier's."
Zagloba read on: "Doroshenko's rabble would like to have
a smack at us, but they are powerless without the horde. The
prisoners admit that a larger chambul will not move from any
place, and I believe this because it would have started already,
for the grass has now been green a week, which would give
pasture for their horses. Patches of snow are still lying in
the ravines; but the open steppes are green and there are
balmy breezes which make the horses shed their hair, and
this is the surest of all signs of spring. I have asked for leave
of absence, which may arrive at any moment, and I will start
the instant it comes. Pan Adam will take my place in keep-
ing guard, and there is so little to do that Makovyetska and I
have been fox-hunting for days at a time, simply for out
own amusement, for the fur is only good up to Spring . . .
There are a good many bustards here, and my servant shot a
pelican among the reeds. I embrace you with all my heart;
I kiss the hands of my sister ana Panna Krysia, to whose
good graces I commend myself, beseeching God that I may
find her unchanged and her consolation as before. Greet
Panna Basia for me. Pan Adam has vented the anger ex-
cited by his rejection at Mokotov upon the backs of ruffians,
but it is very certain that some of it still remains. He has
not quite recovered yet. I commit you to God and to His
holy favor.
p. g. I have just bought some fine ermine from some
travelling Armenians, which I intend to bring as a present to
Panna Krysia, and I have some Turkish sweets for our little
haiduk."
"Pan Michael may eat them himself; I'm not a child," said
Basia, whose face flamed red, as if with a sudden unpleasant-
ness.
"Then you won't be glad to see him? Are you angry with
him?" Zagloba asked.
Basia mumbled a reply in a low voice, for she was really
PAN MICHAEL. II7
angry, and began to think how lightly Pan Michael regarded
her and also about the bustard and the pelican, which particu-
larly aroused her curiosity.
It was fortunate that Krysia sat with her back to the light
and with closed eyes, while the letter was being read, because
no one could see her face, which revealed the fact that some-
thing unusual had occurred. The scene in the church and
Pan Volodiyovskfs letter were two terrible shocks for her.
Her marvellous dream had vanished; and now she was com-
pelled to face a stern reality as overwhelming as misfortune.
She had no command over her thoughts, and undefined, vague
feelings were at war in her heart. Pan Michael, together
with his letter, his promise of soon coming, and his package
of ermine seemed so tiresome that he was almost repellant.
Ketling, on the other hand, had never seemed so dear to her.
Dear was his face, dear his words, dear his melancholy, dear
the very thought of him, and now she must leave this love
and devotion, leave him for whom her heart is longing and
her arms outstretched, for the endless pain and sorrow of giv-
ing her soul and body to another, who only because he is
another has almost become odious to her.
"I cannot do it, I cannot do it!" cried Krysia in her heart.
She began to feel as if she were being bound in irons; yet
she had placed the fetters on her own wrists, for she had had
the chance of telling Pan Michael that she would be a sister
to him and nothing more.
The memory of the kiss haunted her the kiss received and
returned, and a wave of shame and scorn for herself swept
over her. Was she in love with Pan Michael that day? No!
There was really no love in her heart then, nothing but a
little sympathy, curiosity, and idle fancy, hidden under the
mask of sisterly affection. She now knows for the first time
the difference between the kiss of love and the kiss of warm
impulse which are as far removed as an angel is from a devil.
Along witfr contempt Krysia's anger was rising; finally
her pride asserted itself and attacked Pan Michael. He was
also in the wrong; why should she have to bear all the punish-
ment, contrition, and disappointment? Why should he not
also taste the bitter cup? Has she not the right to say to
him when he returns:
"I was mistaken I mistook pity for love. You were also
deceived; now give it up as I do!"
Suddenly her blood runs cold with fear, fear of that ter-
H8 PAN MICHAEL.
rible man's vengeance; she is not afraid for herself, but for
her beloved upon whom revenge will inevitably fall. In her
imagination she sees Ketling arrayed against that king of
swordsmen, and then swept down as a flower is cut by a
scythe; she sees his blood, his white face, his eyes closed for-
ever, and her mental suffering becomes unendurable. She
rises quickly and goes to her room to escape the eyes of every-
one and to avoid the conversation regarding Pan Michael and
his approaching visit. More and more animosity rises in her
heart towards the little knight.
But Eemorse and Regret assailed, her and would not even
leave her during her prayers; they hovered around her bed,
when she lay down spent with weariness, and seemed to speak
to her.
"Where is he?" asked Kegret. "He has not come in yet;
he is wandering about in the dark in great despair. Thou
wouldst bow down the heavens for him, thou wouldst give
him thy life's blood ; but thou hast given him a poisoned cup,
thou hast stabbed him to the heart."
"Had it not been for thy frivolity," said Remorse, "had it
not been for thy desire to bring every man to thy feet, every-
thing might be different; but now despair is all that remains
for thee. It is thy sin, thy great sin. No help can come to
thee; nothing will rescue thee now, nothing remains but
shame, and sorrow, and tears."
"How he knelt before thee in the church!" said Regret
again. "It is a wonder that thy heart did not break when he
looked in thine eyes and begged for pity. How just it was in
thee to have mercy upon a stranger, but for the beloved one,
the adored one, what? God comfort him! God bless him!"
"Were it not for thy frivolity that adored one might depart
joyous," said Remorse, "thou mightest journey through life
arm-in-arm with him, his chosen one, his wife "
"And remain with him forever,'' added Regret.
"It is thy fault," said Remorse.
"0 Krysia, weep," said Regret.
"That sin cannot be redeemed," said Remorse.
"Act as thou wilt, but try to console him," said Regret.
"Volodiyovski will kill him," immediately said Remorse.
Krysia broke out in a cold perspiration, and sat up in bed.
The room, flooded with the white rays of moonlight, looked
weird, and terrified her.
"'Wliat is that?" thought Krysia. "Oh, it is Basia sleeping.
MICIIAEL. ng
I see her now, for the moon is shining on her face; but I don't
know when she came in, or when she undressed and went to
bed. And yet I have not slept a single minute it is certain
my poor brain is wandering/ 7
So meditating, she again lay down; but Eegret and Ke-
morse remained at her bedside, like two goddesses, who in
turn became visible and invisible in the silvery moonbeams.
"I shall not sleep at all to-night," said Krysia.
Then she began to think of Ketling and to suffer more and
more.
All at once Basia's pathetic voice broke the stillness of the
night.
"Krysia!"
"Aren't you asleep?"
"No, I have just had a dream that a Turk shot Pam Michael
with an arrow. Christ! a false dream! But I am shaking
with fear. Let us say the Litany, so that God may turn away
evil fortune."
"God grant that some one may shoot him!" was the wish
that flashed through Krysia's brain like lightning. Then she
was instantly appalled by her own wickedness, and though she
had to exert almost superhuman strength just at that moment
to pray for Volodiyovski's return, yet she answered:
"Certainly, Basia."
They both got out of bed, and, kneeling on their bare
knees on the moonlit floor, began to repeat the Litany. Their
voices rose and fell in response and one would have thought
this room the cell of a cloister, in which two little white nuns
were repeating their nocturnal prayers.
CHAPTER XV.
The next morning Krysia was more tranquil; for in a
tangled maze, though very difficult, the path she had selected
was the right one. Following this at least she could see
whither it led. But first she intended to have an interview
with Ketling and talk with him for the last time, so that
there should be no misunderstanding. This was a difficult
matter, for Ketling did not put in an appearance for some
days and stayed away at night.
Krysia therefore began to rise before dawn and go to the
neighboring church of the Dominicans hoping to meet him
some morning and have an interview without witnesses.
A few days later in fact she met him at the very door.
On seeing her he took off his cap and bowed his head in
silence. He stood motionless; his face was drawn with suf-
fering and loss of sleep and his eyes were sunken; his temples
were tinged with yellow and his complexion was waxen; he
looked like a beautiful fading flower. Krysia' s heart was torn
at his appearance; and though it always cost her a great deal
to take any decided step, being timid by nature, she was the
first to extend her hand and say:
"May God console and grant you forgetfulness!"
Ketling took her hand and carried it to his brow, and then
to his lips, pressing it long and fervently; then in accents
of the utmost sadness and resignation, he said:
"Thou hast neither consolation nor forgetfulness for me
t. . . "
For a moment it required all Krysia's self-control to pre-
vent her from casting her arms about his neck and crying,
"I love thee more than anything on earth, take me!" She
felt that if she once began to weep she must do so, and so
for some moments she stood before him without saying a
word and struggling with her tears. At length she conquered
them and began to speak calmly though rapidly, her breath
coming quickly:
"Perhaps it may be some relief for you to hear that I shall
(no)
PAN MICHAEL. I2l
never belong to anyone. . . . I am going behind the grille.
. . . Never judge harshly of me, for I am wretched enough
as it is. Promise me, Sir, that you will never speak of your
love for me to anybody . . . that you will never acknowl-
edge it ... that neither to friend nor relative you will
ever reveal what has occurred. This is my last prayer. The
day will come when you will know why I ask this and then
you will understand. I will say no more now, for my grief
is so great that it is impossible . . . promise me, it will
comfort me; if you refuse, it may kill me."
"I promise, I give you my word," Ketling replied.
"God reward you, and I thank you from the bottom of
my heart! Moreover, exhibit a tranquil countenance in the
presence of others, so that nobody may have any suspicions.
It is time for me to go. I canont find words to express my
sense of your kindness. Henceforward we shall not see each
other alone, but only before people. Say also that you are
not angry with me, for it is bad enough to suffer without
that in addition. You resign me to God and to no one else;
remember that."
Ketling wanted to make some reply; but his grief was so
extreme that only inarticulate sounds were Jieard; then he
laid his hand on K^sia's brow and held it there for a mo-
ment in sign of pardon and blessing.
Then they separated; she entered the church and he went
down the street so as to avoid any acquaintance at the inn.
Krysia did not return till afternoon and on her arrival she
found a distinguished guest, Prince-bishop Olshovski, the
Vice-Chancellor. He was paying an unexpected visit to Pan
Zagloba, being desirous, as he explained, of making the ac-
quaintance of such a famous noble, "whose military greatness
was an example and whose wisdom was the guide of the
knights of the entire Commonwealth."
Zagloba was in reality greatly surprised, but none the loss
gratified, at having such a great honor done him in the pre-
sence of the ladies; he assumed an air of great importance
and puffed and perspired, at the same time trying to show
Pani Makovyetska that he was quite accustomed to similar
visits from the highest dignitaries of the land and held them
very cheap. Krysia was presented to the prelate and after
respectfully kissing his hand took a seat beside Basia, re-
lieved to find that nobody noticed the marks of recent emo-
tion on her face.
122 PAX MICHAEL.
Meanwhile the Vice-Chaneellor loaded Zagloba with such
facile and bountiful eulogies that he seemed to be constantly
drawing fresh supplies of them from his sleeves of violet em-
broidered with lace.
"Do not think, your lordship," he said, "that it was mere
curiosity that brought me here to make the acquaintance of
the first man among the knights; for though admiration is
the just due of heroes, yet their own profit also leads men
to make pilgrimages to the spot where wisdom and experience
dwell together with might."
"Experience," Zagloba modestly replied, "in the art of
war above all, can only come with years; and it was per-
haps on that account that my advice was frequently sought
by the late Pan Konyespolski, father of the banneret, and
subsequently also Pan Nikolai Pototski, Prince Yeremy
Vishnyovyetski, Pan Sapyeha, and Pan Charnyetski; but I
have always protested against the title 'Ulysses' for modesty's
sake."
"It is however so inseparably connected with your lord-
ship that men seldom speak your real name but say 'Our
Ulysses' and everybody immediately knows to whom the
speaker refers. Therefore in these fateful and eventful days,
when more than one man is bewildered in his mind and
knows not whither to turn or whom to support, I said to
myself, 'I will go and listen to solid convictions and have
my doubts resolved and my mind illumined with sound ad-
vice/ Your lordship will understand that I desire to speak
of the approaching election, in anticipation of which every
criticism of the various candidates may be of some benefit,
and how much more when it proceeds from the lips of your
lordship! I have heard it repeated with acclamation among
the knighthood that you are opposed to those foreigners who
are attempting to force themselves on our exalted throne.
In the veins of the Vasas as you rightly sated Yagellon
blood flowed, so that they could not be regarded as for-
eigners; but, as you insisted neither are they familiar
with our ancient Polish customs, nor will they respect our
liberties, and therefore absolute rule might easity result. I
confess to your lordship that these are weighty words; but
pardon my inquiring if your lordship really uttered them,
or is it merely public rumor, which, in this instance as ever,
attributed every important speech to your lordship first of
all?"
PAX MWBAEL
123
"These ladies are witnesses/' answered Zagloba; "and
though this matter is too high for their judgment, let them
speak for me, since the inscrutable decrees of Providence
have endowed them with the power of speech equally with
ourselves/'
The Vice-Chancellor turned to Panna Makovyetska and
the two young ladies in turn who were nestling together.
A moment's silence followed.
Suddenly Basia's silvery tones were heard:
"I heard nothing at all."
Then she became greatly confused and blushed up to her
ears, more especially as Zagloba imemdiately said:
"Pardon her, Your Highness. She is young and conse-
quently giddy. But with regard to the candidates, I have
more than once declared that our Polish liberties will have
cause to weep on account of these foreigners."
"I also fear it," said the Vice-Chancellor; %ut even if we
desired some Pole, blood of our blood and bone of our bone,
in what direction could our hearts turn? Your lordship's
idea of a Pole is great and is running through the land like
a flame; for I hear that in every diet which is not in the
bonds of corruption the sole cry to be heard is 'A Pole, a
Pole!" '
"Quite right, quite right!' exclaimed Zagloba.
"Still," proceeded the Vice-Chancellor, "it is easier to
shout for a Pole than to find a suitable person; and therefore
let not your lordship be surprised at my asking who was in
your lordship's mind."
"Who was in my mind?" repeated Zagloba somewhat
puzzled.
And, pursing his lips, he frowned. It was hard for him
to answer on the spur of the moment, for so far not only had
he no one in particular in his mind, but the Vice-Chancellor
was crediting him with opinions to which he had not the
least claim. Moreover he was quite aware of this and saw
that the Vice-Chancellor was endeavoring to incline him to
some particular side, for which he was quite willing, as it
greatly flattered his pride.
"It was only in principle that I insisted that we ought to
have a Pole," he answered at last. "But the fact is I have
not mentioned any name till now."
"I have heard of the ambitious plans of Prince Boguslav
Radzivill" murmured the Vice-Chancellor as if to himself.
MICHAEL.
"While there is any breath left in my nostrils, or the last
drop of blood in my body," cried Zagloba with fierce con-
viction, "nothing can come of that! I should hate to live
with a people so vile as to give to a traitor, a Judas, dominion
as his recompense."
"There speaks not only reason, but civic virtue also/' again
murmured the Vice-Chancellor.
"Aha!" mused Zagloba, "if you are trying to draw me I will
draw you."
The Vice-Chancellor then resumed: "0 dismantled ship
of my country, when wilt thou reach a haven? What tern-
pests, what rocks await thee? Evil indeed will it be if a
foreigner takes the tiller, but that is certain to happen unless
a better be found among thine own sons."
Here he extended his white hands loaded with sparkling
rings, bowed his head, and said resignedly:
"Therefore Conde, or Lorraine, or the Prince of Neuberg!
. . . There is no other issue!"
"Impossible! A Pole!" answered Zagloba.
"But who?" asked the other.
Silence followed. Then the Vice-Chancellor again began
to speak: "If only there were one on whom all could
agree! Where can we find one who would immediately arouse
the enthusiasm of the knighthood so that there would be
none to oppose his election! There was such a man, the
greatest of all, of the most illustrious services, your own
glorious friend, knight, who walked in glory as in sun-
light. . . There was such. . . .
"Prince Yeremy Vishnyovyetski!" interrupted Zagloba.
"Exactly. But he is in the grave. . . . fi
"His son lives/' answered Zagloba.
The Vice-Chancellor half closed his. eyes and for some
moments sat silent; suddenly he raised his head and, gazing
at Zagloba, began to say slowly: "I thank the Lord for having
inspired me with the idea of seeking your lordship. That is
it! the son of the ilustrious Yeremy lives, -a prince young
and full of promise, to whom the Commonwealth has a debt
to pay. Of his immense fortune nothing is left but glory,
that is his only patrimony. Therefore in these days of cor-
ruption when the eyes of every man are turned only to
gold, who will speak his name, who* will be brave enough
to propose him as a candidate? You? True! But will many
follow yonr lead? It is not surprising that he who has spent
PAN MICHAEL. 125
his life in heroic fight on every field will bravely honor merit
with his vote on the election field . . . but will others
follow his example?"
Here the Vice-chancellor sank into momentary meditation
and then raised his eyes and continued:
"God is more powerful than all. Who can tell his decrees,
who? When I remember how all the knighthood believe and
trust in you, my heart is filled with a marvellous hope. Tell
me frankly, have you ever regarded anything as impossible?"
"Never!" cried Zagloba with confidence.
"However, it would not be well to put forward that candi-
dature too prominently at first. Let the name be in people's
ears, but not so as to sound too dangerous to opponents; let
them rather mock and jeer at it, so that they may not place
too great obstacles in the path. . . . Perhaps also, God
may grant success when the exertions of the various factions
have resulted in their mutual destruction. Let your lord-
ship gradually smooth the way for it and continue in your
efforts, for this is your candidate, worthy of such wisdom
and experience as yours. God prosper your designs."
"Am I to conclude" inquired Zagloba, "that Your High-
ness has also been thinking of Prince Michael?"
The Vice-Chancellor took from his pocket, a little book
with the title "Censura Candidatorum" in large black letters,
and said,
"Read, your lordship, let this letter be my answer."
The Vice-Chancellor then began to depart, but Zagloba
detained him, saying, "Allow me, Your Highness, to say
something more. In the first place, I thank God that the
minor seal is in hands that can knead men like wax."
"How so?" asked the Vice-Chancellor in surprise.
"In the second place I will acknowledge in advance to
Your Highness that the candidacy of Prince Michael is greatly
to my liking, for I knew his father well, and loved and fought
under him with my friends; who also will be greatly pleased
with the thought of showing the son, the love they bore to
the father. Therefore, I heartily embrace this candidature
and this very day will speak with the Vice-Chamberlain, Pan
Kshytski, a man of high rank and a friend of mine, who
has great weight with the nobles, for it is difficult not to love
him. We will both do all that we can; and God grant that
we shall be able to effect something."
"May the angels watch over you," said the Vice-Chancellor;
"If you manage that, we can expect nothing more."
126 PAX MICHAEL.
"With Your Highness's permission, I will say one thing
more, namely, that Your Highness should not think thus:
'I have put my own desires into his mind; I have succeeded
in making him imagine that the candidature of Prince
Michael was his own initiative. In a word, I have moulded
the blockhead like wax/ Your Highness I will forward the
cause of Prince Michael, because I desire it. What then?
Because I see it is also Your Highness's desire. I will for-
ward it for the sake of the Dowager Princess, his mother,
for the sake of my own friend. I will forward it on acount
of my confidence in the head (here Zagloha bowed) from
which this Minerva sprang forth, but not because I allowed
myself to be persuaded like a child that the initiative is my
own; and lastly not because I am an idiot, but because when
a wise man says a wise thing to me, I say, precisely."
Here the old noble bowed again. At first the Vice-Chan-
cellor was considerably discomposed, but seeing the good
humor of the old noble and recognizing that the affair was
taking the turn he wanted, he laughed heartily, and putting
his hands up to his head he cried:
"Ulysses, as I love God, a regular Ulysses! Brother the
man who wants to do a good thing must deal differently
with different men, but I see that with you it is necessary
to go straight to the point. I am delighted with you."
"As I am with Prince Michael."
"God give you good health! Aha! I am vanquished, but
I am glad of it. You must have eaten many a starling in
your youth. . . . And this signet ring if it will serve
as a memento of our conversation
"Let that remain where it is," said Zagloba.
"You will do this for me?
"By no means. . . . Another time perhaps .. . later
. . . After the election. ...
The Vice-Chancellor comprehended, and insisted no fur-
ther; he departed however with a radiant countenance.
Zagloba accompanied him to the gate and muttered as he
re-entered:
"Aha! I taught him a lesson. One rogue met another.
But it no great honor. Important people will fall over each
other in their haste to enter these doors. I am anxious to
know what the ladies think of this."
The ladies were in fact enchanted, and Zagloba rose enor-
mously, particularly in the eyes of Pan Michael's sister, so
that he had scarcely appeared when she rapturously cried:
PAN MICHAEL. I2 *j
"You have surpassed Solomon himself in wisdom."
Zagloba was highly gratified.
"Whom have I surpassed, did you say? Wait until you see
Hetmen, bishops, and senators here, I shall have to keep out
of their way, or hide behind the curtain."
Further conversation was interrupted by the appearance
of Ketling.
"Ketling, are you anxious for advancement?" cried Za-
globa, still enchanted with his own importance.
"No," replied the fcnight sadly, "for I must again leave
you, and for a long time."
Zagloba gazed at him with a scrutinizing glance.
"How is it that you are so pulled down?"
"Simply because I have to go away."
"Where to?"
"I have received despatches from Scotland, from old
friends of my father and myself. I am absolutely needed
there on business affairs, perhaps for a long time. . . .
It grieves me to part with you all, but I must go!"
Zagloba advanced to the middle of the room, gating first
at Pan Michael's sister and then at the others and asked:
"Did you hear? In the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, Amen."
CHAPTER XVI.
While Zagloba was astonished to learn of Ketling's in-
tended departure, his suspicions were not aroused; it would
be natural enough for Charles II to remember the service
which the Ketling family had given to the throne in troublous
times, and to wish to show some gratitude to their only de-
scendant. Indeed it would be strange if he were indifferent.
Moreover, Zagloba had been thoroughly convinced of this by
some letters from over the sea, which Ketling had shown him.
In some respects the old noble's plans were jeopardized by
this journey, and he was very much alarmed about the future.
From what he said in his letter Pan Michael might return at
any moment.
"The winds of the steppes have blown away the last remains
of his grief," Zagloba said to himself. "He will return more
resolved than when he left, and because the deuce is attract-
ing him more forcibly than ever to Krysia, he will be sure
to propose to her at once. And then! then Krysia will con-
sent, for how could she refuse such a cavalier, and who is,
moreover, Pani Makovyetska's brother? And now my dear-
est little haiduk will be left out in the cold."
With the obstinacy usual to old people, Zagloba had deter-
mined to unite Basia to the little knight at all costs.
Neither the persuasions of Pan Yan, nor those which he
occasionally tried upon himself were of any avail. Sometimes
he would vow never to interfere again; but, involuntarily, his
thoughts would return with more insistence than ever to the
union of this couple. For whole days he pondered upon
means of accomplishing it; he schemed; he invented strata-
gems. And he became so absorbed in the idea, that when he
fancied he saw the means, he would suddenly exclaim as
though everything were settled:
"May God bless you!"
But now Zagloba thought his hopes were shattered. There
was nothing to do but give up his purpose and leave the future
to God; for the glimmer of hope, that, before goingj, Ketling
(!28)
PAN MICHAEL.
I2 9
might take some decided measure with regard to Krysia, soon
faded away. Therefore, it was only in sadness and curiosity
that he decided to ask the young knight when he intended
to take his departure from the Commonwealth, and what he
was going to do before leaving.
Having opened the conversation with Ketling, Zagloba
said, with a grieved expression:
"An awkward position! Each man knows his own business
best, and I will not beg you to stay here; but, at least, I may
ask something about your r.eturn?" . . .
"How do I know what awaits me in the country to which
I am going?" answered Ketling, "what transactions, and
what adventures. ... I will return some day, if I can. I
will remain there permanently, if I must."
"You will discover that your heart will bring you back to
us."
"God grant that my grave will be in no other land but this
one, which had given me all that there is to give."
"Ah, you understand! In all other countries a foreigner
is only a step-son, but our mother-country opens her arms to
you and cherishes you as if you were her own."
"True, perfectly true! Ah! if I only could . . . In the
old country everything else may come to me, but happiness,
never."
"Ah! I told you, 'Get married; settle down.' You would
not listen to me. Now if you were married, even if you did
go away, you would be obliged to return, unless you took your
wife with you through the raging waves; and 1 do not suppose
you would do that. I gave you my advice, but vou wouldn't
take it."
Here Zagloba looked searchingly into Ketling's face, as if
to draw forth some explanation, but Ketling was silent; he
only lowered his head and looked down with a fixed glance.
"What do you say to that?" asked Zagloba, presently.
"T had no opportunity to follow it," replied the young
knipfht, deliberately.
Zagloba walked up and down the room, and stopping in
front of Ketling, clasped his hands behind his back, and said:
""But I say you had. If you had not, may I never again
gird myself with this belt! Krysia is attached to you!"
"God grant she remains so! though the sea rolls between
us."
"Wriat do you mean by that?"
9
MICHAEL.
"Oh, nothing, nothing!"
"Have you spoken to her?"
"Give me peace. I am even now terribly sad because I am
obliged to go."
"Ketling, would you like me to question her while there is
still time?"
Ketling began to think that if Krysia was so anxious to
keep their love secret, she might possibly be glad to have an
opportunity of disavowing it openly, and he therefore replied:
"I assure you that it would be useless; and I am quite posi-
tive that I have got over my own feeling; but if you would
like a miracle, then ask her."
"Oh, if you have driven her out of "your mind," said Zag-
loba, somewhat bitterly, "in that case there is nothing more
to be said. Only, allow me to tell you that I looked on you
as a man of the greatest constancy."
Ketling rose and extended his arms excitedly, saying, with
a vehemence quite foreign to him:
"What would it avail for me to wish for one of those stars?
I cannot fly up and get it and it cannot drop down to me.
Alas, for those who sigh for the silver moon!"
Zagloba grew so angry that he began to snort. For a mo-
ment he could not speak, and it was only after he had swal-
lowed a little of his anger that he exclaimed in a broken voice:
"My dear Ketling, don't consider me a fool; if you have
your reasons, tell them to me, not as to a madman, but as to
a man who lives on bread and meat. Suppose I invent a story
and tell you that this cap of mine is the moon, and that as I
cannot reach it with my hand, I must go about the city with
my bald head bare, letting the frost nip my ears like a dog.
I will not contend with such reasoning. But this I do know:
the maiden lives three rooms away from here; she eats and
she drinks; when she walks, she moves on, her nose turns red
in the cold, and she becomes warm in the heat; if a mosquito
bites her, she feels it; and, with regard to the moon, she may
resemble it in the fact that neither has a beard. But, ac-
cording to your peculiar reasoning, a turnip is an astrologer.
As for Krysia, if you have not tried to get her, if you have
not spoken to her, it is your own fault; but, if you have ceased
to love the girl and are going away calling her the 'moon/
then I hope your honesty and wit may cherish any weed you
happen to find, and that is all I have to say."
Ketling^s reply to this was:
PAN MICHAEL. l ^i
"The food you arc giving me is very bitter, and not at all
sweet. I go because 1 must; 1 do not speak to her, because
I have nothing to say to her. You misjudge me cruelly . . .
God knows how unjustly!"
"Of course, Ketling, I know that you are an honorable man;
but I cannot understand your ways. When I was young, a
man would go to a maiden, and, gazing into her eyes, would
repeat this rhyme:
'If you love me, together we will live;
If not, for you, no stiver will I give.'
Each one knew what was required of him; and whoever was
diffident a.nd not bold of address sent a man of more assur-
ance to speak for him. I offered you my services and I still
offer them. I will go to her for you; I will speak for you; I
will bring you her answer, and your going, or staying, will
depend upon what she says."
"I must go! It must and will be so!"
"But you will return."
"No! Please have the kindness to say nothing more about
this. ... If you want to question her for your own satis-
faction, all well and good, but not in my name."
"For GocPs sake! Have you already spoken to her?"
"Let us talk no more of this. Do me the favor."
"Very well, then let us discuss the weather. . . May a
thunderbolt strike you and your ways! So then, you must
go and I must swear."
"I bid you farewell."
"Stay, stay! My anger will leave me in a moment. Wait,
Ketling, I have something io say to you. When are you
going?"
"Just as soon as I can arrange my affairs. I should like
to stay in Courland until the quarter's rent; and if any one
will buy it, I will willing sell the house in which we have
all been living."
"Let Makovyetska or Michael buy it. In God's name, I
hope you are not going away without seeing Michael."
"I should be glad to bid him adieu, from the bottom of my
heart."
"He may come at any moment. He may influence you to-
ward Krysia."
Zagloba paused suddenly, for a certain fear came into his
mind.
MICHAEL.
"I have been serving Michael with good intentions/' he
said to himself, "but horribly against his will, if trouble is to
come between him and Ketling, I had better let Ketling go."
Here Zagloba rubbed his hand over his bald head; then he
continued aloud:
"All that I have said was in pure good will. I am so much
in love with you that I would like to keep you here at all
hazards, and that is the reason I have tempted you with
Krysia, as if she were a bit of bacon. But that was only out
of good will. . . . What does it matter to an old man like
me? . . . Indeed, it was only out of good will . . .
nothing more. I am not a match-maker; if I were, I should
have made a match for myself. Kiss me, Ketling, and don't
get angry."
Ketling embraced Zagloba, who had become very affection-
ate. The latter ordered a flask of wine, saying:
"We will drink every day to your journey."
Then they drank. After a time, Ketling bade him good-
bye, and took his leave. The wine had stimulated Zagloba's
fancy; he began to think about Basia, Krysia, Pan Michael,
and Ketling; in fancy he married them and blessed them;
and finally he wanted to be with the young ladies so much
that he exclaimed:
"Well, I will go and see those kids." . . .
The young ladies were sitting in the room across the hall,
sewing. After greeting them, Zagloba walked up and down
the room dragging one foot after the other somewhat heavily,
for wine always made him a little unsteady. Every now and
then he glanced at the girls' who were sitting so close to
each other that Basia's bright head almost touched Krysia's
dark one. Basia's eyes followed him, but Krysia, was sewing
so industriously that it was almost impossible to follow her
flashing needle.
"H'm!" ejaculated Zagloba.
"H'm!" Basia echoed.
"Don't mock me; for I am very angry."
"Oh dear, he'll certainly cut 'off my head," cried Basia,
pretending to be frightened.
"Knock! Knock! I'll cut off your tongue, that's what
I'll do!"
So saying, Zagloba approached the young ladies, and, pla-
cing his hands upon his hips, demanded suddenly:
"Do you want Ketliug for your husband?"
PAN MJC1IAEL. j 33
!8, five like him," replied Basia, quickly.
"lie quiet, midge, I'm not speaking to you. I am talking
to you, Krysia. Do you want Ketling for your husband?"
Krysia had become somewhat pale, though at first she
thought that Zagloba was not addressing her, but Basia;
then she raised her beautiful dark blue eyes to the old Noble's
face.
"No," she calmly answered.
"Well, no! pray no! short, at least, pray! pray! And why
does not your ladyship want him?"
"I don't want anybody."
"Krysia, dear, tell some one else that," cried Basia.
"What has brought the married state into such disfavor
with you?" Zagloba questioned further.
"Not dfsfavor; I have a vocation for the religious life,"
Krysia replied.
Her voice was so full of sadness and seriousness, that
Basia and Zagloba did not for a moment imagine that she
was jesting; but they were both so amazed that they gazed
at each other, and Krysia.
"Eh?" Zagloba was the first to exclaim.
"I want to take the veil," repeated Krysia gently.
Basia looked at her once and again, then she only threw
her arms around her neck, pressed her rosy lips to her cheeks,
and exclaimed, "Krysia! I shall weep. Tell me quickly that
your words are only empty air; I shall weep, as there is a
God in Heaven, I shall."
CHAPTER XVII.
After leaving Zagloba, Ketling went to Pan Michael's sister
and informed her that he must stay in the city on account of
important business, and perhaps also before finally departing,
he would go to Couiiand for some weeks, and therefore he
would be unable to play the host in person any longer in his
suburban home. But he begged her to regard that home as
her own still and to occupy it with her husband and Pan
Michael during the approaching election.
Pani Makovyetska accepted, for otherwise the house would
be empty and of no use to any one.
After this conversation, Ketling disappeared, and was not
to be seen any more either at the inn or anywhere about
Mokotov, when Pani Makovyetska and the young ladies re-
turned to the suburbs. Krysia alone felt his absence, Zagloba
was absorbed with the approaching election, while Basia
and Pan Michael's sister had taken Krysia's sudden resolve
so much to heart, that they could think of nothing else.
Nevertheless, Pani Makovyetska did not even attempt to
dissuade Krysia from the step and doubted whether her hus-
band would oppose it, for at that period, people regarded op-
position to such a determination in the light of an injury
and offence against the Almighty. Only Zagloba, notwith-
standing his piety, would have ventured to protest had it been
his affair, but as it was not, he sat quietly by, and was secretly
satisfied that matters had so arranged themselves to remove
Krysia from the path of Pan Michael, and the little haiduk.
Zagloba was now assured of the eventful fulfillment of Jiis
secret wishes, and was free to devote himself entirely to the
affairs of the election; he visited the Nobles who had arrived
at the capital, or held long conversations with the Vice-
chancellor, whom he came to like very much, and became his
confidant.
After every additional conversation, he returned home more
zealously devoted to the Pole, and more hostile than ever to
foreigners. In accordance with the advice of the Vice-Chan-
(134)
PAN MICHAEL. ! 35
cellor, he had so far concealed this aversion, that not a day
passed without his winning over another supporter for the
secret candidate, and what often happens in such cases, hap-
pened here also. He became so interested that this candi-
dature became the greatest object of his life after the union
of Basia and Pan Michael.
Meanwhile the election was rapidly approaching.
Spring had already freed the rivers from ice; the breezes
had begun to blow soft and warm; under their breath the
trees were covered with buds, and flocks of swallows were
forming a chain with their wings to dart at any moment, ac-
cording to Folklore, from the cold depths of the ocean into
the sunny world. People were beginning to arrive for the
election, in company with the swallows and other birds of
passage.
First came the merchants, who had prospects of a rich har-
vest of gain in a spot where more than half a million people
were about to congregate, including dignitaries with their
retinues, nobles, servants, and military. English, Dutch, Ger-
mans, Russians, in addition to Tartars, Turks, Armenians,
and even Persians, also came, bringing cloth, linen, damask,
brocades, furs, jewels, perfumes and sweet meats. Tents arose
in the streets and beyond the city, containing every kind of
merchandise. Some bazaars were even erected in the suburbs;
for it was well known that the inns of the capital could not
accommodate one-tenth of the attendants at the election, and
that an enormous overplus would encamp beyond the walls,
as always happened during the election.
Lastly so many nobles began to arrive that if they had pro-
ceeded in such numbers to the border of the Commonwealth
no enemy would ever have been able to put his foot across it.
It was rumored that the election would be a stormy one,
for the whole country was split up between three principal
candidates Conde, and the Princes of Neuberg, and Lor-
raine. It was said that each faction would use every endeavor
to elect its own candidate even by force if necessary.
Everybody became alarmed; factional bitterness inflamed
every heart; civil war was prophesied by some, and these
forebodings met with credence, on account of the tremendous
following with which the great men had surrounded them-
selves. These arrived early, so as to allow themselves time for
all kinds of machinations. At the times when the Common-
wealth was in danger, when the foe was holding a knife to
! 3 6 PAN MICHAEL.
its throat, neither king nor Hetman could bring more than
a miserly handful of men against him; but now, notwith-
standing the laws and decrees, the Radzivills alone came with
a following of more than twenty thousand troops. The Patsovs
had almost as many; the powerful Pototskis were corning
with an equal force; other princelings of Poland, Lithuania,
and Eussia were coming with scarcely inferior forces.
"When wilt thou find a haven, dismantled ship of my
county?" frequently exclaimed the Vice-Chancellor, Olshov-
ski; but his heart also -harbored selfish aims. The aristocracy,
corrupt to tne marrow of their bones, with very few excep-
tions, had only thought for themselves and for the power of
their own houses, and were willing to rouse the whirlwind of
civil war at any moment.
The crowd of nobles daily increased; and it was manifest
that when the Diet should be over and the election commence,
they would outnumber even the greatest force of the digni-
taries. But their numbers were unable to bring the ship of
the commonwealth successfully into quiet waters, for their
minds were steeped in darkness and ignorance and, for the
most part, their hearts were corrupt.
The election therefore, gave every sign of being exciting,
no one imagined that it would end tamely, for with the
exception of Zagloba, even those who were working for the
Pole, had no idea to what a 'tremendous extent they would
be aided by the stupidity of the nobles, and the intrigues of
the dignitaries; very few had any hope of electing such a can-
didate as Prince Michael. But Zagloba was as much at home
in that sea as a fish in the water. From the opening of the
Diet, he made his home in the city, and was only at Ketling's
house when he longed for his little haiduk; but as Basia's
joyousness had been dashed by Krysia's resolution, Zagloba
occasionally took her with him to the city, so that she might
amuse herself and get some pleasure out of looking at the
shops.
Usually, they started in the morning, and it would be
frequently late in the evening when Zagloba brought her
back. Along the road, and in the city itself, her heart was
rejoiced at the sight of the merchandise, the unaccustomed
people, the variegated crowds, and the gorgeous soldiery. At
such times, her eyes would glow like live coals, and her head
turned as if on a swivel; she could not get enough of gazing
at it all, and deluged the old man with questions. He was
PAN MICHAEL.
137
glad enough to satisfy her, for by that means, he exhibited
his knowledge and experience. More than once a gallant com-
pany of soldiers surrounded the little carriage in which they
were driving; the cavaliers greatly admired Basia' s ready wit
and determination., and Zagloba never failed to tell them the
story of the Tartar she had killed with duck shot, greatly to
their surprise and entertainment.
One day they were coming home very late, for they had
spent the whole day at the review of the troops of Pan Felix
Pototski. It was a bright and warm night and the fields
were shrouded in white mist. 'Zagloba, though always watch-
ful, since in such a gathering of servants and soldiers, high-
waymen had to be guarded against, had fallen sound asleep,
and the driver was half asleep also; Basia alone was wide
awake, for many things were revolving in her brain.
Suddenly she heard the tramp of horses. Plucking Zag-
loba's sleeve, she said:
"Some mounted men are overtaking us."
"What, how, who?" cried the sleepy Zagloba.
"Some mounted men are coming."
"Oh, they will soon catch us up."
"I can hear the tramp of horses; perhaps it is some one
going in the same direction as we are."
"I am sure they are robbers."
The reason Basia was sure, was that she was longing for
an adventure of some kind, outlaws, and the chance to show
her courage so that when Zagloba, muttering to himself,
began to reach for his pistols from the seat, which he always
carried with him for an emergency, she asked for one too.
"If a robber approaches, I wont miss him. Auntie is a
splendid shot with a musket, but she can't see at night time.
I could swear that these are robbers, oh, if they would only
attack us! Be quick and give me a pistol."
"Very well!" replied Zagloba, "but you must promise not
to fire before I do, or till I tell you. If I give you a pistol, you
will be likely to shoot the first noble you see without first
asking "Who goes there?" and then you will get into trouble
with the law."
"I will first ask who is there."
"But if some half-drunken fellows should be passing, and
make rude remarks on hearing a woman's voice?"
"I will let fly with my pistol. Isn't that right?"
"Think of taking such a fireeater to the city! I tell you,,
are not to shoot without orders."
138 PAN MICHAEL.
"I will ask 'who goes there? 7 in such a rough voice that
they won't recognize a woman."
"All right then. Ha, I hear them already approaching.
You may make up your mind that they are honest people,
otherwise, they would attack us stealthily from the ditch."
However, since the roads really were infested with outlaws
and unpleasant experiences were not rare, Zagloba ordered
the driver to keep away from the dark trees at the turn of the
road, and halt in a place where it was light.
In the meantime, four horsemen had come quite close.
Then Basia cried menacingly in a deep voice, that she
thought would have done honor to a dragoon:
"Who goes there?"
"Why have you come to a standstill?" asked one of the
horsemen, who evidently thought that some accident must
have happened to the carriage or harness.
On hearing the voice, Basia dropped her pistol and said
hurriedly to Zagloba, "For Heaven's sake! that must be
uncle."
"What uncle?"
"Makovyetska!"
"Hallo there!" cried Zagloba. "Isn't that Pan Makhovy-
etska and Pan Volodiyovski?"
"Pan Zagloba!" cried the little knight.
"Michael!"
Here Zagloba hurriedly began to alight, but before he
could put one foot to the ground, Pan Michael had jumped
from his horse and reached the side of the carriage. Recog-
nizing Basia in the moonlight, he grasped her by both
hands and cried:
"I greet you with all my heart. And where is Panna Kry-
sia, and sister. Are they all well?"
"Quite well, thank God." So you have arrived at last, said
Basia, with 'her heart beating violently. "Is uncle there
too? Our uncle?"
Then she threw her arms around the neck of Pan Makov-
yetska, who had reached the carriage, and Zagloba embraced
Pan Michael. After many words of greeting, Pan Makovyet-
ska was introduced to Zagloba, and the two travellers handed
the reins to their attendants and took their seats in the car-
riage. Makovyetska and Zagloba occupied the seat of honor
and Basia and Pan Michael sat facing them.
Then followed short questions and answers, as is usually
PAN MICHAEL. I39
the case when people meet after having been long apart. Pan
Makovyetska asked after his wife.
Pan Michael repeated his inquiries about Panna Krysia's
health; next he expressed his surprise at Ketling's approach-
ing departure, but he was not allowed to dwell on it long, for
he was deluged at once with questions as to his doings in the
border Stanitsa; his attacks on the raiders from the Horde,
his home-sickness and his pleasure in returning to the old life.
"It seemed as if the Lubni times had come again," said the
little knight, "and that we were still with Pan Yan and
Kushel and Vyershul; it was only when they brought me a
pail of water to wash with and I saw my gray head reflected
in it, that I remembered that times had changed, though I
said to myself, that as long as the spirit was the same, the
man had not changed."
"You have hit on the sensible way of looking at it," cried
Zagloba. "It is evident that your wits have recuperated on
fresh grass, for lately you have not been so quick. The will
is the great thing and there is no better remedy for melan-
choly."
"Quite true, quite true," added Pan Makovyetska. There
is a legion of well-sweeps in Michael's Stanitsa, for there is a
dearth of spring water there. I tell you, sir, that when the
soldiers at dawn begin to work them, they make such a noise
that your lordship would wake up, and immediately give
thanks to God for the mere fact of being alive."
"Oh if I could only be there for one day," cried Basia.
"There is one way to get there," cried Zagloba, "marry the
captain of the company."
"Sooner or later Pan Adam will be a captain of horse, "sug-
gested the little knight.
"Indeed," cried Basia angrily, "I did not ask you to bring
me Pan Adam for a present."
"I brought you something else, some fine sweetmeats, they
will be sweet for Panna Basia, while out there, it is bitter for
that poor fellow.
"Then you ought to have given the sweets to him. Let him
eat them while his moustache is- growing."
"Just imagine," said Zagloba to Pan Makovyetska, "that's
the way those two always are. Happily, the proverb says,
'Those that quarrel, end with loving/ ''
Basia made no reply, but Pan Michael, as if awaiting an
answer, gazed upon her little face that was illumined by the
1 40 PAN MICHAEL.
bright moonlight. It looked to him so bewitching, that in
spite of himself he thought:
"That little rogue is pretty enough to blind a man."
But some other thought must immediately have occurred
to him, for he turned to the driver and cried:
"Whip up the horses, and drive faster?"
They progressed more quickly in consequence, and sat in
silence for some time, and only when they were driving more
quietly over the sand, was Pan Michael's voice again heard.
"How astonished I am at Ketling's departure! And to
think that it should happen before I returned, and before the
election !"
"The English care as much about our election as they do
about your return," replied Zagloba. "Ketling himself is
quite knocked over, because he has to go and leave us."
"Especially Krysia," was on the tip of Basia's tongue, but
something prompted her to say nothing about the matter, nor
about Krysia's recent determination. With a woman's in-
stinct she understood that both questions would be painful
to Pan Michael; she felt a sudden pang, so, notwithstanding
her usual impulsiveness, she held her tongue. He will know
of Krysia's resolution in any case, she thought, but it would
be better not to say a word about it now, since Pan Zagloba
has not alluded to the subject.
The little knight again turned to the driver.
"Drive faster."
"We left our horses and baggage at Praga," said Makovyet-
ska to Zagloba, "and hastened on with two attendants, al-
though it was evening, for Michael and I were in a hurry to
get here."
"I can believe it," answered Zagloba. "Do you see what
crowds have arrived at the capital? Beyond the gates the
camps and booths are so thick that it is difficult to get
through. There are all sorts of marvelous rumors about the
approaching election, which I will tell you at home at the
proper time."
Then they began to talk politics. Zagloba was maneuvering
to get an idea of Makovyetska's opinions: finally he turned to
Pan Michael and bluntly asked:
"Whom are you going to vote for, Michael?"
But instead of answering, Pan Michael started as if sud-
denly awakened, and said:
"I wonder if they are asleep, and whether we shall see them
to-night?' ?
PAN MICHAEL. I4I
"They are certainly asleep," answered Basia, in tones that
Bounded gentle and sleepy, "but they will certainly wake and
come down to welcome you and ipicle."
''Do you think so?" asked the little knight joyfully.
He looked at Basia again, and again the thought involun-
tarily arose:
"That little rogue looks bewitching in the moonlight."
They were now close to Ketling's, and soon arrived.
Pani Makovyetska and Krysia were asleep. A few of the
servants were still up with supper ready for Basia and Pan
Zagloba. The house was immediately in great commotion;
Zagloba gave orders to wake up more servants, to have a hot
meal prepared for the guests.
Pan Makovyetska wanted to go direct to his wife, but she
had heard the unusual noise and, guessing who had arrived,
hurried down in a few moments with something thrown over
her, with joyful tears in her eyes, and her face full of smiles;
then followed greetings, embraces, and broken talk.
Pan Michael kept his eyes on the door through which
Basia had disappeared, and at which at any moment he was
hoping to see Krysia, his beloved, beaming with joy, and
radiant, with sparkling eyes and hair hurriedly coiled up; how-
ever, the Dantzig clock in the dining-room ticked on and on,
and an hour passed; supper came in, without the appearance
of her who was so dear to Pan Michael.
Finally Basia entered alone, looking somewhat serious
and troubled; she went to the table, took a light, and turned
to Pan Makovyetska:
"Krysia is not very well, and won't come down; but she
begs uncle to come to her door, so that she may call out her
welcome to him."
Pan Makovyetska immediately arose and went out, followed
by Basia.
The little knight was greatly crestfallen and said:
"I surely thought I should have seen Panna Krysia to-
night. Is she really ill?"
"Oh, she's well enough," his sister replied, "but she doesn't
take any interest in people now."
"What do you say?"
"Then Pan Zagloba did not remember to tell you her reso-
lution?"
"What resolution? Good Heavens!"
"She is going to take the veil."
142
PAN MICHAEL.
Pan Michael's eyes began to blink in a dazed manner and a
great change came over his face; he sprang to his feet and
then sat down again. Great drops of sweat broke out on his
face and he wiped them away with his hand. A deep silence
fell on the room.
"Michael!* 5 cried his sister. But he gazed in a dazed man-
ner at her and Zagloba in turn, and at last cried out in a
dreadful voice:
"Is some curse hanging over me?"
"Put your trust in God," said Zagloba.
CHAPTER XVIII.
That exclamation revealed the little knight's secret to Zag-
loba and Pani Makovyetska, and when he suddenly jumped
up and went out of the room, they gazed at each other with a
troubled and vacant air till at length the lady cried:
"For Heaven's sake! go after him, reason with him, and
comfort him or perhaps I had better go myself."
"Don't do that, madam," said Zagloba. "He has no need
of any of us, but Krysia, and if he cannot see her, it is better
to leave him alone, for unless comfort is timely, it only leads
to greater despair."
It is as plain as day to me now, that he was in love with
Krysia. I knew that he was very fond of her, and sought her
society, but it never came into my head that he was so far
gone."
"He must have come back with the intention of proposing,
his happiness depending upon it, when he was struck, as it
were, by a thunderbolt."
"Why didn't he say a word about it to anyone, either me,
or you, or even Krysia herself. It might be that then she
would not have taken her resolution."
"It's very strange," said Zagloba, "besides, he usually con-
fides in me and relies on my judgment more than his own;
and here he has not only not confessed this attachment to me,
but once he even assured me that it was nothing but friend-
ship."
"He always was secretive."
"Then you don't know him, even if you are his sister. His
heart is on the surface, like the eyes of a flounder. I never
knew a franker man, but in this case, I admit that he has
acted differently. Are you sure that he hasn't said anything
to Krysia?"
"Almighty God! Krysia is her own mistress, for my hus-
band in the capacity of guardian has often said to her, "So
long as the man is worthy and of good birth, you need not
care about what he possesses." If Michael had spoken to her
(143)
MICHAEL.
before lie went away, she would have given him an answer
one way or the other, and he would have known how he
stood."
"That's true, for this has come upon him unexpectedly.
Now put your woman's wits to work in the matter."
"What will wits avail here. Council is needed here."
"Let him take Basia."
"But if he prefers the other, as he evidently does, Oh, if
I had only had an inkling of it!"
"It's a pity that you didn't."
"How could I, when it didn't even occur to such a Solomon
as yourself."
"How do you know that?"
"You advised Ketling."
"I, God is my witness that I advised no one. I said that
he was attracted to her, and that was true; I said that Ket-
ling was a worthy knight, and that was true; but I leave
matchmaking for the fair sex. Madame, at the present time,
half the Commonwealth is resting on my shoulders. Have I
the time to think of anything else but public affairs? Fre-
quently I haven't even time to take a mouthful."
"For God's sake advise us now. On every hand, I hear
nothing but that there is no head like yours, sir."
"People are everlastingly talking about this head of mine,
they might leave it alone for a time. As for advice there are
two alternatives. Either let Michael take Basia, or let Krysia
alter her resolve; a resolve is not a marriage." At this point,
Pan Makovyetska entered and his wife immediately told him
everything. He was greatly troubled, for he was very fond
of Pan Michael and greatly valued him. But he couldn't
think of any help for the time being.
"If Krysia is obstinate," he said, thoughtfully stroking his
brow, "what good will arguments do in the matter?"
"Krysia will be obstinate," said Pani Makovyetska. "She
always has been."
"What was Pan Michael thinking about, not to make cer-
tain before going away?" asked Pan Makovyetska." Some-
thing even worse might have happened by leaving matters in
that condition. Her heart might have been won by another
in his absence."
"In that case, she would not immediately have made up her
mind to take the veil," answered Pani Makovyetska. "She is
free, however."
tf MICHAEL.
"True," her husband replied.
But lid it was already breaking in on Zagloba. If he had
known of the secret bet-ween Krysia and Pan Michael, every-
thing would have been clear at once, but not knowing it,
everything was confused. Still, his sharp wits began to pene-
trate the clouds and comprehend Krysia's real reasons and in-
tentions, and Pan Michael's despair.
lie soon came to feel certain that Ketling was concerned in
the affair. His suspicions only lacked certainty, and he there-
fore determined to approach Michael and question him more
closely.
As he was going, he was greatly troubled, for he reflected:
"I am responsible for much of this business. I wanted to
drink mead at the wedding of Basia and Michael, but I am
by no means certain that I haven't supplied sour beer instead
of mead, for now, Michael will go back to his former in-
tention and take the cowl in imitation of Krysia."
Here Zagloba's blood ran cold, so he hurried on and in
another moment was in Pan Michael's room.
The little knight was walking up and down like a wild
beast in a cage. There were great wrinkles in his forehead
and his eyes were glaring; he was in terrible suffering. When
he saw Zagloba he suddenly stopped in front of him and
placed his hands on his breast crying:
f *'Tcll me, what does it mean?"
"Michael," cried Zagloba; "think how many maidens go into
a convent every year; it's quite a common thing. Some do it
against their parents' wishes, hoping that the Lord Jesus will
approve of them but in this case what matter of surprise is
there, when her will is entirely free."
"I won't keep it secret any longer," cried Pan Michael.
"She is not free, because she promised me her love and her
hand, before I went away."
"I did not know that."
"It is so."
"Perhaps she will listen to reason."
"She does not care for me any longer, she would not see
me," cried Pan Michael with great grief. "I traveled day
and night to get here, and she won't even see me. What have
I done? What sins are weighing me down for God's anger to
pursue me, for the wind to blow me about like a withered
leaf. One is dead and another is going into a convent. God
himself has deprived me of both; it is evident I am under a
curse. There is mercy and love for every man, except me."
10
I4 6 PAN MICHAEL.
Pan Zagloba's heart quaked for fear that the little knight
in his desperate grief might again blaspheme as he had before,
after the death of Anusia, so to turn his thoughts in another
direction he cried:
"Michael, don't doubt that there is mercy for you as well,
and besides how do you know what the future has in store
for you? Perhaps this very same Krysia will remember your
desolation and alter her mind and keep her promise to you.
And then, listen to me Michael, is there no consolation in the
thought that God, our Merciful Father, Himself, is the one
to deprive you of these doves instead of a man who walks the
earth, don't you think yourself that that is better."
For answer, the little knight's lips began to quiver and the
grinding of his teeth could be heard, as he cried, in a choked
and broken voice:
"If it were a living man, ah, if I could find him, I would
there would still be vengeance."
"But as it is, you still have prayer/ 7 said Zagloba. "Listen
to me, old friend, no one will ever give you better advice.
Perhaps God will yet order everything for the best. . . .
For myself, as you know, I desired another for you, but at the
sight of your pain, I also suffer, and will join you in praying
God to console you and soften the hard heart of this lady to-
wards you again."
Then Zagloba began to wipe away his tears which were
flowing in true grief and friendship. Could he possibly have
done so at that moment, he would have undone all he had
already done to get Krysia out of the way, and he would have
been the first to give her to Volodiyovski.
"Listen," he said after a pause, "have another conversation
with Krysia, lay before her your complaint and overwhelming
grief, and may God prosper you. She must have a heart of
stone if she does not take pity on you, but I have hopes that
she will. The veil is worthy of all praise, but not when
woven out of injustice to others, say that to her. You will
see ah, Michael, to-day you are in tears and perhaps to-
morrow we shall all be drinking at the betrothal. I am cer-
tain that is what it will be. The maiden got lonely, and that
is how she came to think of the veil. She will go to a cloister
sure enough, but one where you will be ringing the bell for a
christening. . . It may be also that she is feigning sickness,
and is only talking about the veil for a blind. In nny case
you have not heard of it by her own word of mouth, and please
PAN MICHAEL. ! 47
God, you won't, Ha, ha! I have it! You agreed to keep it
secret, and as she did not want to reveal it, she is doing it for
a blind. As I live, it is nothing but womanly cunning."
Pan Zagloba's words soothed Pan Michael's lacerated heart
like a healing balm. Hope returned to him. His eyes filled
with tears. For a long while he was speechless, but when
lie had overcome his tears, he cast himself into his friend's
arms and said:
"Would to God, such" friends were not so scarce."
"I would bow down the heavens for you. It will be as I
say. Did you ever know me make a false prophecy? Have
you no confidence in my experience and wit?"
"You cannot even conceive how dearly I love her. Not
that I have forgotten the beloved dead, for I pray for her
every day, but my heart has grown as close to this one as a
fungus to a tree; she is my love. How my thoughts have
been with her, far away there among the grasses, morning,
noon, and night! At last, as I had no one to confide in, I
began to talk to myself. As I love God, even when pursuing
the Horde among the reeds, when galloping at full speed, my
thoughts were still with her."
"I believe it. In my young days I wept one of my own
eyes out over a certain maiden, and what was left of it became
covered with a cataract."
"Do not be surprised! I arrived here quite out of breath
and the first word I hear, is 'the cloister/ but I still have faith
in persuading her, and in her heart, and her word. What
was that you said? 'The veil is a good thing' . . . but made
of what?"
"But not when woven out of man's injustice."
"Finely said! Why am I never able to make those maxims?
Out there in the Stanitsa it would have been a good diversion.
I am in a terrible state of dread, but you have comforted me.
I certainly agreed with her to keep the matter secret and
therefore it is possible that she talked about the veil only for
the sake of keeping up appearances. Y r ou advanced another
very fine argument, but I can't remember it; you have com-
forted me greatly."
"Then come with me, or order a flask to be brought here,
it will do you good after the journey."
They went and sat drinking until late in the night.
The next day Pan Volodiyovski clothed his body in fine
raiment and his countenance in gravity, equipped himself
I4 g PAN MICHAEL.
with all the arguments that occurred to his own mind as well
as those which he had got from Pan Zagloba and went into
the dining-room where they all had their meals. Krysia was
the only one absent, but she was not long in appearing; the
little knight had scarcely swallowed two spoonfuls of soup
when the rustle of a dress was heard through the open door-
way and she entered.
She came so quickly that she almost rushed in. Her cheeks
were flaming, her eye-lids lowered, and her face expressed
anxiety and alarm. She approached Pan Michael and held
out both hands, without raising her eyes, and when he began
eagerly to kiss them she became very pale, and did not utter a
single word of welcome.
But his heart was filled with love and fear and delight at
the sight of her face, which was as delicate and noble as a
miraculous image, and at the sight of her graceful and beauti-
ful figure, warmed and refreshed by recent sleep; he was even
touched by the alarm and confusion depicted in her coun-
tenance.
"Most precious floweret," he thought to himself, "why are
you afraid? I would give my very life and blood for you."
But he did not say it aloud, he only pressed his pointed
little moustache so long to her hands, that he left red marks.
Basia, who was observing it all, purposely shook her golden
locks over her brow, so that her emotion should not be
noticed, but no one was paying any attention to her then,
they were all watching the other pair, and an embarrassing
silence followed.
Pan Michael was the first to break it.
"The night was sorrowful and restless for me," he said,
"because I saw everybody but you yesterday, and they told
me such dreadful things about you, that tears were closer to
me than sleep."
Krysia became still paler at such plain speech and, for a
moment, Pan Michael thought she was going to faint, and
quickly added:
"We must have a talk over the matter, but I won't say any
more just now, in order that you may recover your composure.
I am not a savage nor a wolf, and God knows how I wish you
well."
"I thank you!" whispered Krysia.
Pan Zagloba, Pan Makovyetsk* and his wife began to
glance at each other as a signal to commence talking as usual,
PAN MICHAEL.
149
but it was sometime before anyone succeeded in finding a
word to say; finally Zagloba began:
"It is necessary/' he said, turning to those present, "to go
to the city to-day. The coming election is making it like
boiling water, for every man is working for his own candi-
date. Along the way I will tell you who ought to receive
our votes, according to my opinion."
No one made any reply and so Zagloba looked around him
like an owl and at last turned to Basia and said:
"And you, little midge, will you go with us?"
"I will go even to Kussia," cried Basia sharply.
And silence again followed. The whole meal was occupied
with similar futile efforts to start a conversation; at last they
all rose. Pan Michael immediately approached Krysia and
said:
"I must speak with you in private."
He gave her his arm and led her into the next room; the
same room that had witnessed their first kiss. Seating
Krysia on the divan, he took his place beside her and began
to stroke her hair as he would have done with a little child.
"Krysia," at last he said gently, "have you recovered from
your confusion? Can you now answer me with tran quality
and composure?"
She had got over her confusion and was moreover touched
with his kindness, so she raised her eyes to his for a moment,
for the first time since he had returned.
"I can," she replied in a low voice.
"Is it true, that you have vowed to take the veil?"
Krysia clasped her hands and said in a beseeching voice:
"Do not take it ill of me, do not curse me, it is true."
"Krysia," said the knight, "is it right for you to trample on
the happiness of others, as you are doing; where is your
promise? Where is our engagement? I cannot fight against
God, but in the first place, I will repeat what Zagloba said to
me yesterday, 'that the veil should not be made out of in-
justice to others/ You will not further God's glory by my
loss. God rules over the whole world; all nations arc his.
His are the sea and the rivers, the birds of the air and the
beasts of the field, the sun and the stars. Everything is His,
whatever enters the mind of man, and more also, but I only
have you, precious and dear, you are my happiness, my all.
And can you say that the Lord God has need of that treasure.
He with such possessions to deprive a poor soldier of his only
150
PAN MICHAEL.
treasure! Can you imagine that he will be pleased and not
angered. . . Look what you are giving him yourself. But
you belong to me, for you promised yourself to me and are
therefore giving Him what belongs to another and what is not
your own; you are giving him my tears, my suffering, perhaps
my death. Have you any right to do this. Ponder this in
your heart and mind, and ask your own conscience. If I
had sinned against you; if I had done amiss in love, if I had
forgotten you, if I had been guilty of any crime or sin oh, I
will say no more, I will say no more. But I went against the
horde to keep watch to fight against raiders, to serve my
country with my blood, my health, and my days, and I loved
you, day and night I thought about you, and as a hart pants
for the water-brooks, as a bird for the air, as a child for its
mother, as a parent for its infant, I was pining for you. . . .
And for all this, what is my reception, what is my reward I
find prepared for me? Krysia, dearest, my friend, my own
love, tell me the reason of all this. Explain it as frankly and
truthfully as I have laid before you my reasons and my rights.
Keep faith with me, leave me not alone with misery. You
yourself gave me the rights, do not banish me."
The miserable Pan Michael did not understand that there
is a right greater and more lasting than any other human
right, in accordance with which the heart must and does obey
love alone; that the heart which ceases to love, breaks faith,
though often as innocently as the lamp goes out of itself when
the flame is exhausted. Not comprehending this, Pan
Michael put his arms about Krysia's knees and begged and
besought, but her only answer was a flood of tears, because
her heart could not respond to his.
"Krysia," at last said the knight, rising to his feet, "my
happiness may drown in your tears. That is not what I ask,
but help."
"Do not ask for reasons," cried Krysia between her sobs.
"Do not demand the cause, for it must be so, it cannot be
otherwise. I am not worthy of such a man as you, and I
never have been. I know that I am doing you an injury, and
it grieves me so dreadfully that I do not know what to do. I
know it is an injury, oh, Great God, my heart is rent, forgive
me and do not leave me in anger. Give me your pardon and
not your curses." Krysia cast herself on her knees before
Pan Michael. "I know that I am wronging you, but I be-
seech you to pity and forgive me.
PAN MICHAEL. I5I
Here Krysia's dark head bowed to the floor. Pan Michael
quickly raised the poor weeping girl and again placed her on
the divan while he began to stride up and down the room in
great agitation. Now and then he would stop and press his
hands to his temples, and then again resume his walking. At
last he came to a standstill before Krysia.
"Give yourself time, and me hope," he said, "remember
that I also am not made of stone. Why pitilessly sear me
with hot irons. Though I know my fortitude, yet when the
skin hisses, I feel the pain. . . Words cannot express how I
suffer. . . . God knows they can't. ... I am a plain man,
you know my years have been spent in warfare. . . . Great
God, oh dear Jesus, our love began when in this very house.
Kshykna! Kshykna! I thought you would be mine forever,
and now there is nothing, nothing! What has happened to
you, who has changed your heart, Krysu? I have not
changed. . . . And are you not aware that this is a harder
blow for me than it would be for another, for I have already
lost one love? Oh, Jesus, what can I say to her, to touch the
heart! ... A man only suffers, but leave me some hope at
least, do not take away everything at once."
Krysia made no reply, but sobs shook her more and more
violently; the little knight stood before her, at first repressing
his regret and fierce anger. And when he had overcome it,
he cried:
"At least, leave me some hope, do you hear me."
"I cannot, I cannot," Krysia replied.
And Pan Michael went to the window and pressed his head
against the cold pane. For a long time, he stood motionless;
at last he turned and made a couple of steps towards Krysia,
saying in very low tones:
"Farewell, there is nothing for me here. May you get as
much happiness from it, as I grief. Let me say this: I for-
give you with my lips, and as God will help me, I will also
forgive you with my heart. But take some pity upon the
suffering of others, and do not make a second promise. No
one can say that I carry away happiness with me from this
place. Farewell."
Then his lips quivered, he bowed, and went out. In the
next room, were Makovyetska with his wife and Zagloba; they
immediately arose inquiringly, but he waved them away.
"Nothing is of any use," he cried. "Leave me in peace."
A narrow corridor led out from there to his own room. In
152
PAN MICHAEL.
it, by the staircase, leading up to the ladies' apartments, Basia
stood in the little knight's way. "May God comfort you and
alter Krysia's heart/' she exclaimed in a voice choked with
tears.
He passed her without even a glance, or a word. Suddenly
fierce anger took possession of him, and bitterness seized his
heart: he therefore turned and faced the unoffending Basia
with a countenance full of savage mockery: "Promise your
hand to Ketling," he cried in hoarse tones, "and then cease to
love him, trample on his heart, rend it, and then take the
veil/'
"Pan Michael," cried Basia in amazement.
"Take your pleasure and your fill of kisses, and then turn
to repentance. Would to God you were both dead."
This was more than Basia could bear. God alone knew
what this wish that she had offered Pan Michael had cost her
the wish that God might alter Krysia's heart; and her re-
ward had been mockery and insult at the very moment when
she would have given her heart's blood to comfort the un-
grateful man. Consequently her spirit flamed up tempes-
tuously; her cheeks burned, her nostrils dilated, and without a
moment's reflection, as she shook her golden locks, she cried:
"Understand, sir, that it is not I who am going to take the
veil for Ketling."
Then she sprang up the stairs and disappeared.
The knight stood still as if petrified: presently, he began
to rub his eyes like a man just waking.
Then he thirsted for blood; he grasped his sabre and cried,
with a dreadful voice, "Woe to the traitor."
A few minutes later, Pan Michael was galloping towards
Warsaw so rapidly that the wind screamed in his ears, and
clods of earth were flying in showers from the hoof of his
horse.
CHAPTER XIX.
Pan Makovyetska, with his wife and Zagloba saw Michael
ride away, and every heart was anxious; their eyes asked each
other, "What has happened? where is he going?"
"Great God," cried Pani Makovyetska, "he will go to the
steppes, and I shall never again see him alive."
"Or else to the cloister, like that mad woman," cried Za-
globa in despair.
"We must take council here," said Makovyetska. At that
moment the door opened and Basia broke into the room
like a whirlwind, pale and agitated, with her hands up to
both her eyes, and stamping on the floor like a child, she
cried:
"Help, help! He has gone to kill K'etling. Let him who
believes in God, hasten to stop him, help, help!"
"What is the matter child," cried Zagloba, seizing her
hands.
"Help, he will kill Ketling. Blood will be shed by my
instrumentality, and Krysia will die, all through me."
"Speak," cried Zagloba shaking her, "How do you know?
why, through you?"
"Because, in my anger, I told 'him that they are in love
with each other, that Krysia is taking the veil for Ketling's
sake. Let whoever believes in G-od stop them, hasten all
of you. Let us all go."
Zagloba was not accustomed to waste time on such occa-
sions, he therefore hastened to the yard and ordered out a
carriage immediately.
Pani Makovyetska wanted to question Basia about the
exciting intelligence, for, till that moment, she had no sus-
picion of the love of Krysia and Ketling; but Basia hurried
after Zagloba to see to the horses being harnessed, she helped
to lead them out and harness them up, and finally, although
she had nothing on her head she mounted to the drivers* box
before ill* 1 entrance where tin 1 two men were already waiting
read) for the road,
(-53)
I54 PAN MICHAEL.
"Come down," cried Zagloba.
"I will not come down."
"Step down, I tell you."
"Take your seats, take your seats, if you don't I will go
alone/ 7 then she seized the reins, and they, seeing that they
might be considerably delayed by her obstinacy, stopped
telling her to come down.
Meanwhile the driver came up with a whip, and Pani
Makovyetska managed to bring out a hat and shawl to
Basia, for it was a cold day. Then they started. Basia
stayed on the driver's box. Zagloba wanted to talk to her,
and asked her to sit on the front seat, but she was even un-
willing to do this, perhaps for fear of a scolding. Zagloba
therefore had to address her from a distance and she an-
swered him without turning her head.
"How do you know what you told Michael about those
two," he asked.
"I know everything."
"Did Krysia tell you?"
"Krysia did not tell me anything.'
"Then perhaps the Scot did."
"No, but I know, and that's the reason he is going to
England. He fooled everybody but me."
"It's very strange," said Zagloba.
"It is your doing," said Basia. "You should not have
thrown them in each other's way."
"Keep quiet there, and don't meddle in what is not your
business,' 'answered Zagloba, who was cut to the quick be-
cause he received this reproach in the presence of Mako-
vyetska.
"Therefore," he presently added, "I throw people together!
I give advice! Listen to that. I like that idea!"
"Well, do you mean to say you did not?" she retorted.
They proceeded in silence. Nevertheless Zagloba could
not get away from the thought that Basia was right, and
that to a great extent he was responsible for all that had
occurred. This thought greatly disturbed him, and as the
carriage jolted horribly, the old gentleman got into an evil
mood and gave way to self-reproach.
"It would serve me right," he thought, "for Michael and
Ketling to join in cutting off my ears. To induce .a man to
marry against his will is as bad as making him ride with his
face to the horse's tail. That midge is right. If there is a
PAN MICHAEL. 155
duel between those two, Ketling's blood will be on my bead.
A fine business for me to get mixed up in in my old age!
To the devil with it, besides, they almost deceived me, for I
had scarcely an inkling why Ketling was going across the
sea and Krysia to a nunnery, while the little haiduk had
discovered everything long ago it seems . . ."
Then Zagloba meditated in silence for a time, and pre-
sently muttered:
"A rogue and not a mere maiden. Michael must have bor-
rowed eyes from a crawfish, to choose a doll instead of such
a one."
Meanwhile they arrived in the city, and there their troubles
really commenced. Not one of them knew where Ketling
was staying, nor where Pan Michael was likely to go, to
hunt for either was like hunting for one grain in a bushel
of poppy seed. They first went to the Grand Hetman's
mansion. There they learned that Ketling was to start that
morning on a journey across the sea. Pan Michael had been
there and made inquiries about the Scot, but where he had
afterwards gone, nobody knew. Some imagined that he
might have gone to the squadron, encamped in the field out-
side the city.
Zagloba gave orders to proceed to the camp, but they could
not get any information there. They visited every inn on
Dluga street, they went to Praga, but it was all in vain.
Meanwhile night came on, and since an inn was not to
be thought of, they were obliged to turn home. They went
back greatly troubled. Basia wept a little, and the pious
Makovyetska said a prayer. Zagloba was very anxious.
However, he did his best to keep up his own spirits and those
of the others.
"Ah," he said, "we are fretting and most likely Michael
is already at home."
"Or slain," cried Basia.
And wailingly she repeated, "God cut my tongue out, it
was all my fault, my fault, oh God, I shall go mad."
"Silence, there, child, it is not your fault," cried Zagloba,
"and be sure of this, if any man is slain, it is not Michael."
"But I am so sorry for Ketling. We have given him a
fine repayment for his hospitality, I must say, Oh God! oh
God!"
"That is true," added Pan Makovyetska.
"Leave that alone, for God's sake. Ketling is certainly
15 6 PAX MICHAEL.
nearer Prussia than Warsaw, by now. You heard thorn say
he was going away. 1 also put my hope's in (Joel, that if he
and Pan Michael met, they will remember their ancient
friendship and the service they have gone through together.
They rode stirrup to stirrup; they slept on the same saddle,
they scouted in company, the same blood stained the hands
of both. Throughout the army their friendship was so no-
torious that on account of Ketling's beauty he was known
-s Pan Michael's wife. It is impossible that they should not
remember all this, when they meet."
"Still it sometimes happens/' said the prudent Makovy-
etska, "that it is precisely the warmest friendship that turns
to the fiercest hatred. It was so in our neighborhood, when
Pan Deyma killed Pan Ubysh, with whom he had lived for
twenty years on terms of the greatest harmony. I can give
you the details of that unhappy affair."
"If my mind were less disturbed, I would listen to you as
gladly as I do to her ladyship, your lordship's wife, who is
also in the habit of entering into details, in addition to
genealogies, but what you have just said about friendship and
hatred has impressed my mind; God forbid that it should
be so in this case!"
"One was Pan Deyma and the other Pan Ubysh, both
worthy men and mess-fellows.
"Oh, oh, 'oh," cried Zagloba sadly, "we will trust in the
mercy of God that it will not be so in this case, but if it
should, Ketling will be the one to die."
"A great calamity," exclaimed Makovyetska after a pause
"Yes, yes, Deyma and Ubysh, I remember it as well as if it
happened to-day, and there was a woman in the case too."
"Everlastingly those women! The first daw that comes
will brew such beer that no one who drinks it will be able to
digest it," muttered Zagloba.
"Don't say anything against Krysia, sir," cried Basia
sharply.
"Oh, if Pan Michael had only fallen in love with you none
of this would have happened," said Zagloba.
In this kind of talk they reached the house. The sight
of lights in the windows made their hearts beat faster, for
they thought Pan Michael perhaps had returned.
But Pani Makovyetska was the only one to receive them,
and she was deeply distressed and alarmed. When she heard
that their search had not been of any effect, she wept bitterly
and began to lament that she would never see her brother
Pl.V MICHAEL. 157
again. Basia immediately joined her in her grief. Za-
globa also was unable to repress his sorrow.
"I will go again to-moro\v before dawn by myself/' he
said. "I may succeed in getting some news."
"We can make a better search together/ 7 suggested Mak-
ovyetska.
"No, let your lordship stay with the ladies. If Ketling
is alive, I will bring you word."
"For Heaven's sake! we are living in that man's house/'
cried Makovyetska. "To-morrow we must find an inn by
some means of other, or even pitch tents in the open. Any-
thing rather than live longer here.' 7
"Wait for word from me, or we shall miss each other. If
Ketling is slain . . ."
"Don't speak so loud, for Heaven's sake/' said Pani Mak-
ovyetska, "or the servants will hear, and. tell Krysia, and she
is almost dead as it is."
"I will go to her," said Basia.
And she darted up stairs. Those who were left below
were anxious and alarmed. Not a soul in the whole house
slept. The thought that Ketling might already be a corpse
filled them with horror. Moreover, the night became dark
and stifling; thunder began to mutter in the sky, and pre-
sently the darkness began to be pierced by the lightning every
instant. About midnight, the first spring tempest burst.
It woke even the servants.
Krysia and Basia left their chambers and went to the
dining-room. There they all sat in silent prayer, or re-
peated in chorus at each clap of thunder, "And the Word
was made Flesh," according to custom.
Amid the roar of the tempest was sometimes heard a sound,
like the tramp of a horse, and on such occasions, the hair
would stand upright in fright on the heads of Basia and
Pani Makovyetska and the two old men, for at any moment
they expected the door to open and Pan Michael come in,
bathed with Ketling's blood.
For the first time in his life, the usually agreeable Michael
lay as heavy as a stone on people's hearts and filled them with
terror at the very thought of him.
Nevertheless, the night passed without bringing any news
of the little knight. At dawn, when the tempest had some-
what lessened Zagloba again took his departure for the city.
The day passed and brought constantly increasing: fear.
Ha-n'a ei all day till the evening in the window facing the
gat? watching the road along which Zagloba would return,
MICHAEL.
In the meanwhile, the servants at the orders of Pan Mak-
ovyetska, were slowly packing the trunks for moving. Krysia
was engaged in looking after this, as in that way she could
keep apart from the Makovyetskas and Pan Zagioba.
For, although Pani Makovyetska did not say a single word
in her presence, or mention his name, yet, that very silence
assured Krysia that Pan Michael's love for her, their secret
engagement, and her late retraction had been found out, and
therefore, it was difficult to- admit that these, who were
closest to Pan Michael, were not angry and hurt. Poor
Krysia felt that it must be so, that it certainly was so, that
these hearts, hitherto so affectionate, had turned away from
her, and so she wanted to suffer alone.
Towards evening the trunks were all packed, so that it
would be possible to move that day, but Pani Makovyetska
was still awaiting news from Zagioba. Supper was brought
in, but no one wanted any, and the evening crawled on,
heavily and unendurably, and as silently as if they were all
engaged in listening to the ticking of the clock.
"Let us go into the salon/ at last said Pani Makovyetska,
"it's impossible to stay here any longer/'
They went in and sat down, but before anyone had time to
speak a word the dogs were heard under the window.
"Some one is coming," cried Basia.
"The dogs are barking as if the people belong to the
house," observed Pani Makovyetska.
"Silence," cried her husband; "there is a rumble of
wheels."
"Silence," repeated Basia, "yes, it is coming nearer every
moment. It is Pan Zagioba."
Basia and Pani Makovyetska jumped up and ran out.
Pani Makovyetska's heart began to beat loudly, but she
stayed with Krysia, so that her haste might not indicate that
Pan Zagioba was bringing exceedingly important news.
In the meantime wheels were heard immediately under
the window, and then they suddenly stopped. Voices were
heard in the hall, and in a few moments, Basia rushed into
the room like a whirlwind, with a face as white as if she had
eeen a ghost.
"Basia, what is it? who is it?" cried Pani Makovyetska
in amazement.
But before Basia could get her breath to reply, the door
opened and gave entrance first to Pan Makovyetska, and then
Pan Michael, and lastly* Ketling.
CHAPTER XX.
Ketling was so altered that he was scarcely able to m*k''
a low bow to the ladies. He then stood motionless, holding
his hat to his breast with his eyes closed like a miracle-work-
ing image. Pan Michael first embraced his sister and then
approached Krysia.
Her face was as white as a sheet, which made the faint
down on her lip look darker than usual; her breast rose and
fell quickly. But Pan Michael gently took her hand and
pressed it to his lips, then his lips worked as if he were medi-
tating, and at last he spoke with great sadness, but tran-
quility:
"My gracious lady, or rather, my dearest Krysia, do not be
afraid to listen to me, because I am not a Scythian, or a
Tartar, or a wild man, but a friend, who, though himself not
very happy, is yet desirous of your happiness. I have dis-
covered that you and Ketling are in love with each other;
Panna Basia in righteous anger, cast it in my teeth. I do
not deny that I flew out of this house in anger, and went tc
take vengeance on Ketling. . . He who loses his all, is
easily carried away by revenge, and I, as God is dear to me,
loved you to desperation, and not merely as an unmarried man
loves a maiden. . . . For, if I had been married, and the
Almighty had given me an only son or daughter, and had
afterwards taken them away, I think I should not then have
mourned so much over their loss as I have mourned over you."
At this point Pan Michael's voice failed for a moment, but
he quickly recovered himself, and after his lips had quivered
for a moment, he proceeded:
"Grief is grief, but it can't be helped. It is no wonder
that Ketling should have fallen in love with you. Who would
not. And it is my lot that you should have fallen in love
with him. That is no wonder either, for how can I compare
with Ketling. On the field of battle, he himself will acknowl-
edge that I am not his inferior, that is quite different. The
Almighty has beautified one and deprived the other of come-
(159)
MICHAEL.
liness, but has made it up to him with reasonableness. So
that when along the road the winds were blowing round my
ears, and the first heat of my anger had passed, conscience
immediately cried out, "Why punish them, why shed the
blood of a friend? It was by God's will that they fell in love."
Old people say that the command of a Hetman avails nothing
where the heart is in question. It was the will of God by
which they fell in love, but that they were not traitors in
the result of their own honest natures. If Ketling had been
aware of your promise to me, I should most likely have called
out to him for satisfaction, but he did not know it. What was
his fault? Nothing. And your fault? Nothing. He wanted
to go away, you wanted to take refuge in God. My fate is
to be blamed, and mine alone, for the hand of God is visible
in all this, as I am left alone. But I have vanquished myself;
I have overcome."
Pan Michael again stopped and began to breathe rapidly
as a man does when he emerges into the air after a long dive;
then he took Krysia's hand.
"To love so as to desire everything for oneself," he said,
"does not require much exertion. I thought to myself, the
hearts of all three of us are breaking. It would be better if
one could suffer and relieve the other two. Krysia, God grant
you happiness with Ketling. Amen. God grant you happi-
ness with Ketling, Krysia." . . .
"It hurts a little, but that does not matter God grant you
God grant It's nothing I have conquered myself."
The soldier said, "It's nothing!" but he clenched his teeth
and his breath came hissing through them. Basia's sobs
were heard at the other end of the room.
"Ketling, my brother, come here!" cried Pan Michael.
Ketling approached, knelt down, extended his arms and
silently, with the utmost respect and affection, embraced Kry-
sia's knees.
But Pan Michael proceeded in broken tones.
"Lay your hand on his head. Poor fellow, he has suffered
too. . . God bless you both. You will not go to the con-
vent. . . I would rather you should bless me, than have
cause to curse me. The Almighty is above me, though now it
is hard for me ..."
Basia was not able to bear any longer, and darted out of
the room, whereupon Pan Michael turned to Makovyetska
and his sister and said, "Come to the other room, and leave
PAN MICHAEL. !6i
them together; I also will go somewhere, and fall on my
knees and commend myself to the Lord Jesus." And he
departed.
Half way down the passage, he met Basia by the stairs,
on the very spot where, in her anger, she had betrayed the
secret of Krysia and Ketling's love. But this time Basia
was leaning against the wall convulsively sobbing.
On seeing her, Pan Michael was affected at the thought of
his own lot; till that moment he had restrained himself to
the best of his ability, but now, the bonds of grief broke, and
a torrent of tears sprang from his eyes.
"Why are you weeping?" he cried.
Basia raised her head, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles
in turn like a child, and choking and grasping with her mouth
open and replied between her sobs:
"I am so sorry, oh for God's sake ! . . . oh Jesus! . . .
Pan Michael is so good and noble. Oh for God's sake! . . . "
Pan Michael grasped her hands and began to kiss them in
gratitude and emotion. "God reward you, God reward you
for your tender heart," he said, "be quiet and cease weeping."
Nevertheless Basia kept on sobbing almost to suffocation.
Her every vein was throbbing with grief and she gasped for
breath, till at last, stamping her foot in her agitation she cried
out so loudly that her voice echoed through the hall:
"Krysia is an idiot, I would rather have one Pan Michael
than ten Ketlings." I love Pan Michael with all my heart,
better than aunt, or uncle, or Krysia either."
"For Heaven's sake, Basia," cried the little knight, and
wanting to calm her sorrow he siezed her in his arms and she
nestled closely against his breast till he felt her heart throb-
bing like a tired bird, then he held her more closely to him
and kept her there.
There was silence.
"Basia, do you want me?" asked the little knight.
"I do, I do, I do," answered Basia.
At this reply, he was transported in his turn; he pressed
his lips to her rosy lips in a long kiss.
In the meantime, a carriage rumbled up to the house and
Zagloba came running into the hall, and thence to the dining-
room, where Pan Makovyetska was sitting with his wife. "I
can find no trace of Michael," he cried in a breath, "and I
havo hunted everywhere. Pan Krytski told me that he saw
him and Ketling together; -most certainly they have fought."
11
!6 2 PAX MICHAEL.
"Michael is here," answered Pani Makovyetska, "he brought
Ketling with him, and resigned Krysia to him."
The pillar of salt into which Lot's wife was changed muet
certainly have had a less astonished face than Zagloba's at
that moment. For some moments there was silence, and then
the old noble rubbed his eyes and inquired, "Eh?"'
"Krysia and Ketling are sitting together in the next room
and Michael has gone away to pray/' said Makovyetska.
Without a moment's delay, Zagloba entered the next room,
and though he was acquainted with everything, he was again
amazed to see Ketling and Krysia sitting with their heads
together. They sprang to their feet in great confusion, and
remained speechless, more especially as the Makovyetskas fol-
lowed Zagloba.
"A whole lifetime would not be enough for giving Michael
thanks," at last said Ketling. "To him, we owe our happi-
ness."
"God grant you happiness," said Makovyetska. "We will
not oppose Michael."
Krysia cast herself into the arms of Pani Makovyetska and
they mingled their tears. Zagloba was like one stunned.
Ketling prostrated himself before Makovyetska like a son
before a father, and either from the confusion of his ideas or
because his thoughts were running on another subject, Makov-
yetska said:
"But Pan Deyma killed Pan Ubysh. Give thanks to
Michael and not to me!"
After a little while he asked:
"Wife, what was the lady's name?"
But she had no time to answer, for at that moment Basia
came running in, out of breath even more than usual and
rosier than usual, and with her hair in more than usual dis-
order; she darted toward Ketling and Krysia, and pointing
her finger at both in turn she ci-ied: "Aha, sigh, love, marry!
You think that Pan Michael will be alone in the world? Far
from it; I shall battle for him, for I love him and have told
him so. I told him first and he asked if I wanted to have him,
and I told him that I would rather have him than any other
ten, for I love him and I'll make him the foest wife in the
world and will never leave his side. I have loved him for a
long while, though I never told him, for he is the best,
noblest, and dearest . . . And now you can go and marry
yourselves, and I will take Pan Michael . , . to-morrow ?
if necessary, . . . for . . , ):
PAN MICHAEL. T 6 3
Here Basia's breath failed her.
Everybody stared at her, wondering whether she had gone
mad, or was telling the truth, then they looked at each other
and just at that moment Pan Michael appeared behind Basia
in the doorway.
"Michael/' asked the Stolnik when he had recovered his
wits, "is this true that we hear?"
"God has wrought a miracle," replied the liftle knight
gravely, "and this is my solace, my love, and my most precious
treasure."
At these words Basia sprang to his side like a deer.
At the same time Zagloba's face lost its look of amazement
and his lips began to quiver; he opened his arms wide and
exclaimed, "By God! I must weep . . . Little haiduk,
Michael, come here!"
BOOK II.
CHAPTER I.
They loved each other dearly. They were very happy with
each other, but they had no children, though they had now
lived together four years. They managed their estates witli
great care. With his own and Basia's money Volodiyovski
bought several villages near Kamenets, not paying much for
them because people were fearful of invasion by the Turks
and therefore glad to sell land in that district. He intro-
duced order and military discipline into his possessions; he set
about quieting the restless inhabitants, rebuilt the houses
that had been burned, set up 'fortalices' or little forts, for-
tified manor-houses which he temporarily garrisoned and,
just as of old he had successfully defended the country, so
now he managed his land with profit, though never laying
down the sword.
His property's best protection was the fame of his own
name. He poured water on his blade and concluded brother-
hood with some of the Murzas and he crushed others. Raid-
ing bodies of Cossacks, scattered bands of the horde, marau-
ders of the steppes, bandits from the plains of Bessarabia,
all trembled at the name of the "Little Falcon" and so his
herds of horses and flocks of sheep and his buffaloes and
camels were safe on the steppes. Even his neighbors were
respected. His possessions multiplied by the help of his
able wife. The respect and affection of others surrounded
him. His own country had honored him with office and he
was loved by the Hetman; the Pasha of Khotsim smacked
his lips in wonder at him; far away in the Crimea, in
Bakhche Serai his name was uttered with respect.
The three important things in his life were husbandry,
war, and love.
The sultry summer of 1671 found Pan Volodiyovski in
Sokola, a village of Basia's patrimony. That village, Sokola,
formed the pearl of their possessions. Here they hospitably
and sumptuously entertained Pan Zagloba who disregarded
the hardships of a journey unfit for one of his years and
(167)
X MICHAEL.
came to visit them in fulfilment of a solemn promise made
at the wedding of Volo-diyovski. But the revels and delight
of his hosts at having this beloved guest was soon disturbed
by an order from the Hetman calling Pan Michael to the
command of Khreptyov, so that he might keep his eyes on
the Moldavian boundary, listen for voices from the desert,
defend the spot, rout the chambuls, and clear the neighbor-
hood from outlaws.
Like a soldier ever loyal to the Commonwealth's service,
the little knight immediately ordered his servants to driva
the herds out of the pasture, to break in the camels, and to
arm themselves.
But his heart was torn by the thought of leaving his wife,
for he loved her like husband and father in one and could
hardly breathe without her; yet he had no desire to have her
go with him to the savage and solitary deserts of Ushytsa,
exposed to many perils.
But she insisted on accompanying him
"Think/" she said, "it will be less dangerous if I am with
you and protected by the troops, than if I stay here? Your
tent is all the roof I want, for I took you to share your
fatigue, toil, and danger. If I remain here, I shall die with
anxiety; but there with such a soldier as you, I shall feel safer
than the queen at Warsaw. Even if I have to go into the
field with you, I will go gladly. Without you I shall not be
able to sleep; I shall not be able to eat a mouthful; indeed, I
shall not be able to stand it, but I will fly to Khreptyov; and,
if you wont admit me, I will stay at the gate all night, and
weep and plead until you take compassion on me."
At this display of affection Yolodiyovski fondly folded
his wife in his arms and showered kisses upon her rosy cheeks,
and she returned kiss for kiss.
"I should not hesitate/ he finally said, "if it were merely
a matter of being stationed on guard and atacking relays
of the horde. There would be sufficient men because I shall
have one of the squadrons from the General of Podolia, and
oife from the Under Chamberlain; and in addition to them,
Montovidlo will be there with his Semenov Cossacks and
Linkhaus' Dragoons. Altogether there will be six hundred
soldiers, making a thousand with the camp followers. But I
dread something, which the boasters of the Diet in War-
saw won't credit, but which we on the borders look for at
any hour, and that is a terrible war with the whole Turkish
PAN MICHAEL. ^9
force. Pan Myslishevski has affirmed it, and the Pasha of
Khotsim talks of it every day; the Hetman is of the opinion
that the Sultan will aid Doroshenko and will declare war
upon the Commonwealth; and, in that case, what could I do
with you, my most beloved little flower, my gift from God?"
"Your lot shall be mine. I want no other fate than
yours."
Pan Zagloba now broke the silence saying to Basia:
"No matter whether you wish it or not, your fate will be
quite different from Michael's, if the Turks capture you. Ha!
After the Cossacks, the Swedes, the Northerners, and the
Brandenburg dog-kennel, comes the Turk! I said to the
priest Olshovski, 'Never drive Doroshenko to despair, for he
only favors the Turk from necessity/ What then? Nobody
listened to me. They sent Hanenko against Dorosh, and
now Dorosh, 1 whether he wants to or not, must walk down
the Turk's throat, and, moreover, lead him against us.
Michael, you remember that I warned the priest Olshovski
in your presence."
"You must have warned him on some occasion when I was
not present for I remember nothing of it," replied the little
knight. "Yet what you say about Doroshenko is holy truth,
for the Hetmaii is of the same opinion; it is even said that
he has letters from Doroshenko to that effect. But things
are as they are; it is too late to negotiate now. You have
a keen understanding, however, and I should like to know
what you think. Shall I take Bashka to Khreptyov, or had
I better let her stay here ? I ought to tell you that the place
is a fearful desert. It always was a miserable hamlet, but
so many Cossacks and chambuls have passed through it
during the last twenty years that I am not sure if I shall find
as much as two beams fastened together. There are num-
erous ravines there overgrown with woods, hiding-places, deep
caverns, and all kinds of dens, where the murderers hide by
the hundred, to say nothing of the Wallachians."
"Murderes in the presence of so many troops are a trifle,"
said Zagloba. "Chambuls, too, are a trifle; for if strong ones
attack you, you will have warning; and if they are weak you
will wipe them out of existence."
"What then!" cried Basia, "isn't everything a trifle?
Outlaws are a trifle; chambuls are a trifle. With so many
troops Michael can protect me against the entire Crimea.' 7
1 Dorogb, game a Doroshenko.
MICHAEL.
"Don't disturb me while 1 am deliberating," said Zagloba,
"if you do, I'll pronounce against you/ 7
Basia quickly covered her mouth with both hands and
leaned her little head towards her shoulder, pretending to
be dreadfully afraid of Zagloba, who, although aware that
the little woman was only playing, took pleasure in her be-
havior; he placed his old hand upon her shining head, and
said:
"Well! Fear not! I will make you happy about this."
Basia forthwith kissed his hand, for indeed much de-
pended upon his infallible judgment, which never led people
astray; he thrust his hands under his belt, and rapidly
glancing with his sound eye from one to the other, said
abruptly:
"You have no children; none; So!"
And then he protruded his lower lip.
"God's will, that's all," said Volodiyovski, lowering his
eyes.
"God's will, that's all," said Basia, lowering her eyes.
"And do you wish to have?" asked Zagloba.
The little knight replied:
"I will tell you honestly I don't know what I wouldn't
give for children; but sometimes I think it a vain desire. The
Lord Jesus has granted me happiness in giving me this
kitten, or this little haiduk, as you call her, and has,
moreover, blessed me with fame and wealth. I don't dare
to worry him for more blessings. You see I have come to
the conclusion, more than once, that if everybody got all he
desired there would be no difference between this earthly
Commonwealth and the heavenly one, where perfect happi-
ness is alone to be found. Therefore, I think if I do not
have one or two sons here, they will not fail to come to me
above, and they will do service and become famous under
that heavenly Hetman, the holy Archangel Michael, battling
i with the vileness of Hell and attaining high rank."
Moved by his own thoughts and words, the devout Chris-
tian knight lifted his eyes to Heaven; but Zagloba heard
him with indifference and kept blinking 'his eye severely.
Finally he said:
"Take care that you don't blaspheme. The boast you
make, that you know the intention of God so well, may prove
to be a sin for which you will hop about like peas on a hot
griddle. The Lord God has wider sleeves than the Bishop
PAN MICHAEL. l ^ l
of Cracow, and He is not fond of having small people peep
to see what he has planned for them r and He does what he
pleases; but you attend to your own affairs, and if you wish
for heirs you must keep together and not separate."
On hearing this, Basia jumped for joy into the middle
of the room, clapped her hands, and said:
"Well then, we'll keep together. I felt sure that your
lordship would take my part; I felt sure of it! We'll both
go to Khreptyov, Michael, dear, and you'll take me once
just once my dear, my golden one, against the Tartars!"
"There you are! Now she's longing to go into the field!"
exclaimed the little knight.
"With you I should not be afraid of the whole horde."
"Silentium!" said Zagloba, gazing with benignant eyes,
or rather his benignant eye upon Basia, to whom he was
perfectly devoted. "By the way, Khreptyov is not far from
here. I hope it is not the last post before you reach the
wild fields."
"No, there will be other posts in Mohillov and Yampol,
and, finally, in Rashkov," answered the little knight.
"In Rashkov? I know Rashkov. We brought Pan Yan's
wife, Halshka 1 from there you remember that ravine in
Valadynka, Michael. You recollect how I cut down that
devil or monster, named Cheremis, who guarded her? But
as long as the last garrison is to be in Rashkov they will
get the news quickly if the Crimea should pise, or all the
Turkish strength, and will give us warning in Khreptyov;
there will be no great danger, for you see we cannot be sud-
denly taken at Khreptyov. I say this advisedly; for you know
well enough that I would rather lay down my old head than
expose her to any danger. Take her. It will be better for
the health of both of you. But Basia must promise that
in case a great war breaks out she will let herself be taken
to Warsaw, for there would be some terrible marches and hot
fighting, sieges, and, perhaps, some starving, as we had at
Zbaraj; at such times it is hard for a man to save his head,
but what would happen to a woman?"
"I should not mind falling at Michael's side," said Basia;
"but still I am reasonable, and know that when a thing is
impossible, it is impossible. After all, it is Michael's will;
not mine. This year he went on Pan Sobieskfs expedition.
1 Diminutive of Helena.
X MICHAEL.
Did I insist on going, too? No. Well then, if you let me go
to Khreptyov with Michael, you can send me anywhere you
please if war breaks out.'
"His grace, Pan Zagloba, will escort you to Podlasia to the
Skshetuskis," said the little knight, "the Turks will never get
there."
"Pan Zagioba! Pan Zagloba!'' mocked the old nobleman.
"Am I a soldier? Don't trust your wives to Pan Zagloba,
imagining that he is senile, he may be somethhing quite dif-
ferent. I repeat, do you think if war with the Turk breaks
out, I will go into the kitchen at Podlasia and keep the roast
meat from burning? I'm not yet a menial. Perhaps I shall
be good for something better than that. I admit that I
mount from the horse block, but when once in the saddle
I will charge the enemy as fast as any youth. Glory to God!
neither sand nor saw-dust is falling from me yet. I won't
spy in the wilderness, as I'm not a scout, and I won't take
part in a raid against the Tartars; but if you stay near me in
a general action, you will see some great doings."
"Do you want to go into the field again?"
"Don't you think that after so many years of service I want
to seal my fame with a glorious death, and what better could
happen? Were you acquainted with Pan Dzyevyonkyevich ?
It is true he did not. look more than a hundred and forty
but he was really a hundred and forty-two, and still serving."
"He wasn't as old as that."
"Indeed he was! May I never move from this seat if he
wasn't! I am going to take part in this great war, and then
quit. I am in love with Basia, and I'm going with you to
Khreptyov."
The radiant Basia jumped up and hugged Zagloba, who
raised his head, saying:
"Closer, closer!"
For quite a little while Pan Michael thought over matters,
and finally he said:
"As the place is a perfect desert, it is impossible for us all
to go at once, for we should not be able to find even a
piece of a roof. I will go first, select a spot, and construct
a square with quarters for the soldiers and sheds for the
officers' fine horses so that they will not be exposed and
suffer from the change of climate; I will have some wells
dug, the roads opened, and the ravines cleared of murder-
jug outlaws. When all this is accomplished, I will send
PAN MICHAEL. I73
you a good escort, and you may come to me. You may have
to stay here for about three weeks."
Basia was going to protest, but Zagloba, who recognized
Michael's wisdom, said:
"Wisdom is wisdom! We'll stay here Basia, and keep
house together, and we shall not be so badly off. We shall
have to make some preparations, too, and lay in supplies,
for you don't know it, but nowhere do mead and wine keep
so well as in caves."
CHAPTER IL
Pan Michael kept his word; the buildings were finished in
three weeks and he sent a goodly escort, a hundred Lipkov
Tartars from Pan Lantskoronski's squadron, and a hundred
of Linkhauz's dragoons, led by Pan Snitko of the Hidden
Moon coat of arms. Setnik Azya Mellekhovich, a young man
a little over twenty and a Lithuanian Tartar himself, led the
Lipkovs. He carried the following letter from the little
knight to his wife:
"Bashka; my heart's beloved. You may come to me now,
for without you I am as though without bread; and, if I do
not waste away before you arrive, I will kiss your rosy little
mouth away. I have not stinted you with regard to your
escort of men and experienced officers; but give precedence in
everything to Pan Snitko, and count him as one of us, for he
is well-born, has estates, and is an officer. Mellekhovich is a
good soldier, but God only knows what is his origin. He
could not have become an officer in any but the Lipkov
militia, for all the others would have taunted him with his
obscure origin. I embrace you with all my strength. I kiss
your little hands and nose. I have built a fortalice with a
hundred loop-holes. It has enormous chimneys. You and I
will have some rooms in a separate building. The odor of
resin is over everything, and we have so many crickets that
in the evening when they begin to chirp they wake up the
dogs. If we had some pea-straw we could easily get rid of
them. Perhaps you will remember to have a little packed in
the wagons. We could get no glass here and so we had to
stuff the windows up with moss, but Pan Byaloglovski has a
glazier among his dragoons. You can buy glass from the
Armenians at Kamenets; but, for Heaven's sake! see that it
is handled with care so that it is not broken. I have fur-
nished your room with nigs, and it looks fairly well. I have
had nineteen of the outlaws, that we captured in the ravines,
PAN MICHAEL. I75
hanged, and the number will have reached thirty before you
arrive. Pan Snitko will tell you how we live here. I give
you into the care of God and the Most Holy Virgin, my own
beloved soul."
After reading this letter Basia handed it to Zagloba, who
began to pay more attention to Pan Snitko, as soon as he
had read it not so marked, however, as to allow the latter
to forget he was talking to a renowned soldier and an import-
ant individual who was familiar with him only by favor. Pan
Snitko had spent his entire life in the army, and was extremely
good-natured, jovial, and, moreover, a very efficient soldier.
He had a high respect for Pan Michael, and before Zagloba's
fame he felt quite insignificant, and had no idea of asserting
himself.
Mellekhovich did not wait for the letter to be read, but
after delivering it he immediately left the room, as if to
superintend his soldiers, but his real motive was to escape
being ordered to the servants' quarters.
However, Zagloba had had time to scrutinize him, and with
Pan Michael's words still fresh in his mind, he remarked to
Snitko:
"We are delighted to welcome you."
"I pray . . . Pan Snitko . . . the shield Hidden Moon
is a gem, I know it very well. . . But what is the name of
this Tartar?"
"Mellekhovich."
"Well, but this Mellekhovich reminds me somewhat of a
wolf. Michael writes he is of mysterious origin, which seems
strange, for, although they are Mohammedans, all of our
Tartars are noblemen. I have seen entire villages of them
in Lithuania. They are called there Lipkovs, but those here
are called Cheremis. They have served the Commonwealth
faithfully for a long time in return for their living; but dur-
ing the peasant incursion a good many of them joined .
Khmyelnitski, and I understand that they are beginning to
hold relations with the horde. . . . That Mellekhovich
certainly looks like a wolf. . . . How long has Pan Voldi-
yovski known him?"
"Since the last campaign," replied Pan Snitko, stretching
his legs under the table, "when we were out against Doro-
shenko and the horde with Pan Sobieski; they went together
through the Ukraine."
"Since the last campaign! I was not able to share that,
1 76 PAN MICHAEL.
for Sobieski gave me other duties, but after a time he missed
me. ... Your gem is the Hidden Moon. . . . Where
does this Mellekhovich come from?"
"He calls himself a Lithuanian Tartar; but I don't under-
stand why it is that none of the Lithuanian Tartars in his
own squadron know anything of his antecedents. This ex-
plains the stories of his mysterious origin, which even his
high and mighty manner has not succeeded in stopping. Al-
though he is badly spoen of, he is a good soldier. He did
such good service at Bkatslav and Kalnik that notwithstand-
ing he was the youngest man in the squadron, the Hetman
made him captain. He is much beloved by the Lipkovs, but
he gets no affection from us, and what is the reason? Because
he^is so dogged and, just as you say, reminds one of a wolf."
"I think if he is a famous soldier and has shed blood," said
Basia, "we ought to receive him among us, which my hus-
band did not forbid in his letter."
Turning to Pan Snitko, Basia said:
; T)oes your lordship allow it?"
"I am the servant of my beneficent lady-colonel," replied
Snitko.
Basia left the room and Zagloba drew a long breath and
asked Pan Snitko:
"Well, how do you like the colonel's wife?"
Instead of replying, the veteran soldier gave a military
salute, and, leaning over, repeated:
"Ai! ai! ai!"
Then he stared and laid his large hand upon his mouth,
and said nothing, as if ashamed of his enthusiasm.
"Isn't she March-pane?" said Zagloba.
At this moment the "March-pane" returned, bringing Mel-
lekhovich, who seemed as frightened as a captured wild bird;
and said to him as they entered:
"We have heard of your brave exploits from my husband's
letter and from Pan Snitko, and we are pleased to make your
acquaintance. We invite you to join us, for dinner will soon
be served."
"Come nearer, I beg of you," said Zagloba.
^ The young Tartar's dogged, yet handsome, face did not
light up with pleasure, but he was evidently grateful for his
welcome and his escape from the servants' quarters.
With a woman's instinct Basia had readily divined that
he was proud and sensitive, and that he often suffered acutely
PA.N MICHAEL.
177
from his treatment on account of his mysterious origin, and
she had determined to show him kindness. Not making any
distinction between him and Pan Snijtko, except that which
the latter's age demanded, she began to question the young
captain about the services for which he had been promoted at
Kalnik. Pan Zagloba guessed Basia's wishes,, and talked to
him sufficiently; but Mellekhovich was very reserved in his
manner at first, although he replied to everything properly
and surprised them with his elegance of manner.
"His bearing shows that he cannot come of peasant blood,"
said Zagloba to himself. Therefore he asked aloud:
"Where does your father live?"
"In Lithuania," answered Mellekhovich, turning red.
"Lithuania is a large place; you might as well have said
in the Commonwealth."
"It does not belong to the Commonwealth any longer; it
has seceded. My father has an estate near Smolensk."
"I also used to have considerable lands there, which I in-
herited from childless relatives; but I abandoned them for the
sake of the Commonwealth."
"I have done the same thing," answered Mellekhovich.
"That's very honorable," Basia interrupted.
But Snitko, who was listening attentively, shrugged his
shoulders as if to say: "God only knows who you are and
where you came from."
Pan Zagloba noticed this, and, turning to Mellekhovich,
asked:
"Do you confess Christ, or do you live I mean no offence
in wickedness?"
"I profess Christianity, and in consequence of this I was
obliged to leave my father."
"If that is the true reason, the Lord God will not forsake
you; the first thing he grants you is the privilege of drinking
wine, which you could not have if you had remained in sin."
Snitko smiled at this; but Mellekhovich instantly became
again reserved, for he shrank from all personal questions.
Pan Zagloba took little notice of him, principally because he
was not attracted by the young Tartar, who somehow re-
minded him in his movements and glance, although not in his
features, of Bohun, the famous Cossack chief.
Presently dinner was served.
Preparations for the road took up all the rest of the day.
They started at dawn, or rather, while it was still dark, so as
to make the journey to Khreptyov in one day.
I7 8 PAN MICHAEL.
Basia intended to take plenty of supplies to Khreptyov,
and so they had about a dozen wagons; camels and horses
staggering under their -heavy loads of dried meat and meal
followed them; and several dozen oxen of the steppe, and
chambuls (flocks) of sheep brought up the rear of the caravan.
Mellekhovich and his Lipkovs rode at the head; and Basia
and Zagloba sat in a covered wagon guarded by dragoons, who
rode beside it. Basia wanted to ride her own horse; but
the old nobleman dissuaded her from it during the first and
last part of the journey.
"If you would sit your horse quietly," he said, "I should
make no objections, but you would immediately want to show
off your horsemanship and make your horse prance, which
would not be becoming in the wife of a commander."
Basia was as gay and happy as a bird. Ever since her
marriage she had been possessed of two ambitions: the first
to give a son to the little knight; the second, to pass, if only
a year, with her husband at a stanitsa near the Wild Fields, to
live a soldier's life on the borders of the wilderness, taking
part in battles and adventures, seeing the steppes, and ex-
periencing the perils of which she had heard from infancy.
This had been one of her girlish dreams; and now it was to
be realized, with the additional delight of being with the man
she loved, the most celebrated warrior in the Commonwealth,
from whom, it was said, no enemy could escape.
The young commandress felt as though she had wings on
her shoulders and was so full of joy that she often wanted
to shout and jump; but the thought of dignity refrained her
from doing so, for she promised to be sedate so as to gain the
intense affection of the soldiers. She spoke of this intention
to Zagloba, who smilingly commended her, remarking:
"You will be the light of his eyes, and a great curiosity.
Women in a stanitsa are rare."
"If necessary I will be an example to the soldiers."
"In what?"
"Bravery. I am only afraid of one thing, and that is there
will be other stations in Mohilov and Rashkov and Yahorlik,
so far away from Khreptyov that we shall never get a dose of
the Tartars."
"And I am only afraid of this, not for myself, naturally,
but for you, that we shall have too much of the Tartars. Do
you imagine that the Chambuls always have to pass through
Bashkov and Mohilov? They can come into the Common-
PAN MICHAEL. ! 79
wealth any way fhey like, from the East, from the Steppes,
from the Moldavian borders of the Dniester, even by the
hills of Khreptyov, unless they know I have come to Khrept-
yoT; in that ease they'll stay away, for they'll remember me
well enough."
"Don't they know Michael? Will they not avoid him too?"
"They will avoid him unless they have overpowering num-
bers, which might be the case at any time. But he will go
for them."
"Oh, Fm sure of it. Is Khreptyov a real desert ? It is not
so far away."
"Nothing could be more of a desert. Even in my youth
it was never thickly settled around Khreptyov. I used to go
everywhere from farm to farm, village to village, town to
town, knew everything, was everywhere, and recollect the time
when the place called Ushytsa was a fortified town. I was
made chief there by Pan Konyetspolski, but it went to rack
and ruin after the mob attacked it. It was a perfect desert
when we went for Halshka Skshetuska, but since then Cham-
buls have twenty times travelled through it. ... Now
Pan Sobieski has snatched it from the Cossacks and Tartars
like a bone from a dog's mouth. . . . Only a few inhabi-
tants are there now, for the ravines are full of outlaws." . . .
Zagloba looked around him at the landscape, and, as mem-
ories flocked to his mind, he nodded his head.
"My God!" he exclaimed, "when we went for Halshka 1 I
thought that my belt encompassed old age; that happened
nearly twenty-four years ago, and now it seems to me as if I
was young in those days. Michael was only a beardless young-
ster, he had as many hairs on his lip as I have on my palm.
I remember this neighborhood just as if I had seen it yes-
terday. The only change is in these growths and pine forests,
which have grown up in the places where agriculture
thrived. . . . ' :
After passing Kitaygrod they entered the dense pine forests I
of that region. Occasionally they passed through fields, which
became more frequent especially near Studzyennitsa; and,
after that the border of the Dniester burst upon their vision
and the open country lay before them for a great distance,
from the river to the hills, with Moldavia on the horizon line.
1 Princess Helena the betrothed of^Sksheluski. (See " Fire and Sword," r.
iii, by the same author.)
X MICHAEL.
The road was broken by deep gullies, tKe haunts of wild
beasts and men; some of these were narrow chasms, and some
of them were larger, the sides slightly sloping, and covered
with dense brushwood. Mellekhovich's Tartars picked their
way cautiously, and when the rear of the escort was still along
the high brink of the ravines, the caravan had already de-
scended, as it were underground. Basia and Zagloba fre-
quently had to get out of their wagon; for, although Pan
Michael had had the road put in a certain order, some of the
passes were unsafe. In the valleys below there were many
springs and murmuring stony brooks, which were fed in the
spring by the melting snows of the steppes. Although the
sun was warm upon the pine-woods and steppes, severe cold
still lurked in these rocky gorges, and the travellers were
seized unexpectedly. Pine-forests covered the rocky sides of
the ravines, the trees were especially tall and thick at the
edge of the precipices, as if they wanted to prevent the cold
valley from sharing the sun's golden rays; but in some of the
gorges, the trees had been felled and thrown upon each other
in wild disordered piles, with broken or twisted branches,
and covered with red leaves and pine needles.
"What became of the forest?" Basia asked Zagloba.
"Some of these trees may have been felled by the old in-
habitants, for protection against the horde, or they may have
been made by the outlaws against our men; the terrible Mol-
davian whirlwinds may be responsible for some places; there
is an old saying that vampires and even devils fight battles
in these whirlwinds."
"Have you ever seen devils fighting, sir?"
"No, I have never seen them, but I have heard them cry
'U-kha! U-kha!' to each other in play. Ask Michael about it,
he has heard them, too."
With all her courage, Basia was afraid of evil spirits, and
she made the sign of the cross.
"A horrible place!" she said.
Truly, it was horrible in some of these dark and awe-in-
spiring gorges. There was no wind to make the branches and
leaves rustle; the silence was broken only by the tramping
and snorting of the horses, the creaking wagons, and the
cries of the drivers when they came to dangerous places.
Sometimes the Tartars and Dragoons would begin to sing;
but the wilderness itself was not cheered by the voice of man
or beast.
PAN MICHAEL. !8i
While these gorgos had been so gloomy, the highland, not-
withstanding its pine-forests, brought delight to everybody.
It was a beautiful, tranquil, autumnal day. From the cloud-
less expanse of heaven, the sun lavishly poured his beams on
forest, field, and rock. The pine-trees were reddish gold, and
the spider-webs on the branches of the trees, the reeds, and
grasses seemed woven out of the sunlight. As it was the
middle of October, many birds were beginning to migrate to
the Black Sea, and, therefore, storks, geese, and teal-ducks
were flying across the sky.
Far above in the blue sky, eagles, so dreaded by all fowls
of the air sailed with wide-spread wings, and hawks were
slowly circling on the watch for prey. Nor were there want-
ing among the tall grasses of the meadows many game-birds.
Every now and then a covey of partridges would rise in
front of the Tartar's horses; and Basia often saw bustards
standing like sentinels in the distance, the sight of which
made her cheeks flush and eyes sparkle.
Clapping her hands, she exclaimed: "I will go coursing
with Michael!"
"If your husband were a stay-at-home, you would soon turn
his beard gray," Zagloba remarked. "But I knew the man to
whom I married you. Some women would be grateful to me,
Eh?"
Basia kissed Zagloba first on one cheek and then on the
other, which greatly touched him:
"Loving heaiis are as dear to an old man as a chimney
corner."
Then he fell into a reverie, and added:
"It is strange that I have always been so fond of women;
I'm sure I couldn't tell why if I were forced to explain it, for
they are often wicked, false, and silly. . . . But because
they are helpless as children a man's heart goes out to them
when they are ill-treated. Will you embrace me attain, or
what?"
Basia gratified the old man's desire, for she was happy
enough to embrace the entire world, and they continued their
journey in good spirits. The progress was slow, for the oxen
in the rear could not walk very fast and it was unsafe to go
ahead and leave them with a small guard of men in this forest.
The land became more broken, the desert lonelier and the
gorges deeper as they approached ITshytsa. There were sev-
eral delays on the road on account of balking horses or break-
1 82 PAX MICHAEL.
downs. Sometimes, too, they lost the way, because, instead
of taking the road which once led to Mohilov, but which had
been closed for twenty years with forest growths, they had
to follow the recent trails made by the soldiers. This also
entailed an accident.
As Mellekhovich, who was in front of the Lipkovs, entered
one of the deep gorges, his horse stumbled on the slope and
fell on the rocky bottom, injuring the rider, whose head was
so badly cut that he was unconscious for quite a while. Ba-
sia ordered the Tartars to lay him in the wagon and to drive
carefully; she and Zagloba mo.unted horses which were led
by the guards. Whenever they came to a spring she made
them halt while she herself bound his head with cloths dipped
in the cold spring water. For a long time he lay still with
his eyes shut, but, finally, he opened them; and when Basia
leaned over him to inquire if he were feeling any better, he
made no reply, but took hold of her hand and pressed it to
his white lips.
After a minute he recovered consciousness and said in Little
Russian:
"Oh, well! I have not been so well for a long time."
The march occupied the entire day. At last the sun grew
large and red, and began to set behind the Moldavian border;
the Dnieper shone like a ribbon of fire, and from the wilder-
ness on the east darkness crept stealthily.
They were now not very far from Khreptyov, but they
halted for some time to give the horses a rest.
One by one the Dragoons began to intone their prayer;
and 'the Lipkov Tartars, having dismounted, spread their
sheep-skins on the ground, knelt upon them, turned their
faces to the east, and began to pray also. "Allah! Allah!" was
heard in all the ranks; then there was silence; and raising
their hands towards their faces with palms turned outwards
they continued their devout prayer in which the phrase
"Lohichmen ah lohichmen" was heard every now and then
like a sigh. The red glow of the sunset illuminated them;
a breeze sprang up from the west; and the trees began to rustle
as if they, too, wished to murmur a prayer to God who show-
ers his glittering stars in thousands upon the dark firmament.
Basia witnessed the Tartars at prayer with great interest;
but her heart was sad at the thought that these men who
seemed to live good and useful lives must go to the flames
of Hell, and although they came in daily contact with Chris-
tians, chose to harden their hearts to the true faith.
PAN MICHAEL. X g 3
But Pan Zagloba, who was accustomed to this, shrugged
his shoulders at Basia's concern, and said:
"The reason that these billy goats can't enter Heaven is
that they might not introduce vermin there."
Zagloba's servant helped him to put on a coat lined with
worsted, which is a good protection against the chill of the
evening, and the order to move on was given, but the march
had barely started when five horsemen appeared in the dis-
tance.
The Lipkovs immediately made way.
"Michael!'. 7 screamed Basia, as the first horseman galloped
up.
8 ure enough it was Volodiyovski who had come to meet his
wife with a small escort.
They dashed forward towards each other with joyous greet-
ings, after which they began to relate their adventures.
Basia described her journey and especially the accident
by which Pan Mellekhovich injured his head on the rocks.
The little knight described his work at Khreptyov, where he
said he had employed five hundred men for three weeks to
prepare dwellings in readiness for her.
Every few minutes as they talked Pan Michael leaned over
from his saddle to put his arm around his young wife; she
did not seem to be in the least annoyed at this, for she rode
so near him that the horses flanks almost touched.
They had nearly come to the end of the journey; and in
the meantime the beautiful night had fallen, and a large
golden moon rose from the steppes. As it ascended the sky,
however, it became paler and, after a while was nearly ob-
scure, on account of flames which were blazing up in the dis-
tance ahead of the caravan.
"What is that?" said Basia.
"You will find out," said Pan Volodiyovski, twisting his
moustache, "just as soon as we shall have passed through the
grove which separates us from Khreptyov."
"Have we got to Kreptyov already?"
"If it were not for the trees you would see it as plainly
as on your palm."
They had not gone half way through the grove before a
swarm of lights were seen at the further borders, like a
swarm of glow-worms or shining stars. But the lights came
nearer and nearer very rapidly; and in a few moments the
forest rang with shouts:
* MICHAEL.
"Vivat our lady! Vivat her highness! Yivat our lady-com-
mander! Yivat, vivat!''
Hundreds of soldiers had come to welcome Basia. In a
few moments they joined the Lipkovs. Each held a long pole
with a candle in the cleft end. Some had iron torch-holders
on pikes, from which the resin fell in blazing drops.
In a short time Basia was surrounded by a crowd of
moustached faces, which, although wild and strange, seemed
aglow with delight. Basia was unknown to most of them,
and, as they had expected to see a rather mature lady, they
were overjoyed at the -sight of the young girl on her white
palfrey; with her beautiful high color and her joyous smiles,
bowing her thanks on all sides for this unexpected reception.
"Gentlemen, I thank you," she began, "I know that this
is not in my honor, . . . "
But her silvery tones were drowned by the soldiers' vivats,
and again the forest trembled with shouts.
The officers of the General of Podolia, and of the under-
chamberlain of Pshemysl, the Cossacks of Motovidlo, the
Lipkov, and Cheremi Tartars pressed forward in a mass.
Everybody wanted to have a good look at the lady-colonel,
and to get near her; some of the most enthusiastic among
them kissed the hem of her skirt, or her foot in the stirrup.
The sight of a lady so novel to these half wild raiders, inured
to bloodshed, carnage, and man-trapping that their hard
hearts were touched and a new and strange feeling was kin-
dled in their breasts. Out of affection to Volodiyovski they
had come to give her welcome, hoping to please and natter
him; but all of a sudden their hearts were melted. Her sweet,
smiling, innocent face, aglow with excitement, and her shi-
ning eyes, they loved at first sight. "She is our dear child!"
cried the old Cossacks, those true wolves of the steppes. "Pan
Colonel, she is a cherub!" "She is the dawn!" "She is a
lovely little flower!" the officers shouted. "We will all die
for her!" . . . The Cheremis smacked their lips, placed
their hands on their broad breasts and called "Allah! Allah!"
Volodiyovski was both deeply moved and delighted; he
looked .happy and proud of his Basia,
The shouting never ceased. Finally the caravan issued
from the forest and the new-comers saw on the high ground
before them a circle of substantial wooden buildings. The
stanitsa of Khreptyov was seen just as well as if it had been
daylight, for enormous bon-fires of great logs were burning
PAX MICHAEL. I( S 5
within the stockade. Others, too small to st fire to the
buildings, wort 1 dotted about the square.
The soldiers extinguished their torches; and then they all
drew forth a musket, gun, or pistol, and fired a salute in
honor of the lady.
The musicians now approached: the hand with its crooked
horns, the Cossacks with their trumpets, drums, and many
stringed-instruments, and finally the Lipkovs with their cus-
tomary Tartar instruments. The lowing of the frightened
cattle and the barking of the dogs added still more to the
noise.
The convoy had now retired to the rear while Basia rode
in front, with her husband on one side and Zagloba on the
other. Above the gate, which was gracefully decorated with
boughs of fir, bladders were hung, lighted from within and
bearing the inscription in black letters:
"May Cupid lavish on you many happy moments!
Dear guests, crescite, multiplicamini !"
"Vivant floreant!"
The soldiers shouted as the little knight and Basia stopped
to read these words of greeting.
"For God's sake!" Zagloba cried, "Fm also a guest, but
if you refer to me in that wish for multiplication, may the
crows peck me if I know what to reply. 77
But there was a separate lantern for Fan Zagloba himself
and he read it with no small amount of pleasure:
"Long live our great and famous Onufry Zagloba,
The greatest ornament of the Polish knighthood."
Fan Michael was radiantly happy; he invited the officers
and companions to take supper with him, and gave orders
that many kegs of liquor should be given to the soldiers.
Several bullocks fell, which were immediately roasted at the
bon-fires. Everybody was lavishly provided for; and far into
the night the stanitsa resounded with shouts and gun-shots,
which greatly alarmed the outlaws who lay hiding in the
gorges of Ushytsa,
CHAPTER III.
Volodiyovski wasted no time in his stanitsa and kept his
men constantly at work. A hundred, or sometimes fewer,
were kept to garrison Khreptyov and the rest were continu-
ally employed on expeditions. The larger bodies were sent
to clear the ravines of Ushysta, and their days were spent in
almost perpetual warfare, for bands of robbers,, often very
numerous, offered a stubborn resistance, and on more than
one occasion it was necessary to fight a pitched battle with
them. These expeditions lasted for days and sometimes for
weeks. Pan Michael sent scouting-parties as far as Bratslav
for intelligence of the horde and Doroshenko. Their duty
was to return with men who could give information, and
these they had to capture on the steppes. Some descended
the Dniester to Mohilov and Yampol, to keep in touch with
the commander of those places; some kept watch on the Mol-
davian border, and others built bridges and repaired the old
road.
The country, in which such active measures were taken,
was not long in becoming pacified. The more peaceful and
less predatory portion of the inhabitants gradually returned
to their deserted dwellings, at first in stealth, and then more
boldly. A few Jewish traders came to Khreptyov; sometimes
a richer Armenian merchant arrived, and shop-keepers began
to pay more frequent visits. Pan Michael therefore had well-
! founded hopes that, if God and the Hetman would allow him
to stay longer in his command, the country which had be-
come desolate would soon assume another garb. The work
had scarcely begun yet; there was still a great deal to be done;
the roads were not yet safe; the demoralized inhabitants fra-
ternized more willingly with robbers than with the soldiers,
and at the least provocation, hid themselves in the rocky
ravines; the fords of the Dniester were often stealthily cros-
sed by bands composed of Wallachians, Cossacks, Hungarians,
Tartars, and God knows who. These bands raided the
(186)
PAN MICHAEL. iSj
country, attacking towns and villages in the Tartar way, seiz-
ing everything they could lay their hands on; for some time
yet it would not be possible to lay aside the sword in that
district, or to hang up the musket; but a beginning had been
made and the future looked very promising.
It was necessary to keep sharp watch towards the East.
For from Doroshenko's following and his allied chambuK
larger or smaller bodies were detached from time to time, and
attacking the Polish forces they laid waste the surrounding
districts with fire and sword. But since these were independ-
ent marauders, or at least appeared so, the little knight broke
them up without fear of bringing down a greater tempest on
the land; and without ceasing his attempts to make head
against them, he hunted them in the steppes with such effect,
that before long he made the most audacious unwilling to
attack him.
In the meantime, Basia was the manager at Khreptyov.
She was greatly pleased with this military life, which never
before had she seen so closely the stir, the marches and
counter-marches, the expeditions, and the sight of prisoners.
She told Part Michael that she must share in at least one ex-
pedition, but for the present, she had to satisfy herself with
occasionally mounting her horse and visiting the neighbor-
hood of Khreptyov in company with her husband and Pan
Zagloba. On these occasions she hunted foxes and bustards;
occasionally a fox would spring out of the grass and dart along
the valley. Then they would hunt him, Basia doing her best
to keep ahead, immediately behind the hounds, so as to be the
first to spring on the jaded animal and discharge her pistol
between his fiery eyes.
Pan Zagloba much preferred to hunt with falcons, several
very good ones of which were possessed by the officers.
Basia also accompanied him, but Pan Michael, unknown to
her, had her followed by a few dozen men to render aid in
case of need. For though in Khreptyov they were always
well posted as to the movements in the wilderness for twenty
miles around, still Pan Michael preferred to be cautious. The
soldiers daily became fonder of Basia, for she was attentive in
the matter of their rations and nursed the sick and wounded.
Even the sullen Mellekhovich, who suffered from continuous
headache and whose heart was more savage and rugged than
the others, brightened up at her sight. Old soldiers went
into raptures over her knightly daring and familiarity with
military matters.
jgg fAX MICHAEL.
"If the Little Falcon were away," they exclaimed, "She
might assume command and it would not be hard to fall undei
such a leader."
Sometimes, moreover, it happened when some disturbances
arose among the men during the absence of Volodiyovski,
Basia would grumble at them, and obtained immediate sub-
mission; veterans cared more for a reproof from her lips than
for any punishment which the strict Pan Michael relentlessly
imposed for any breach of duty.
Strict discipline always reigned, for Pan Michael, trained
in the school of Prince Yeremy, knew how to rule soldiers
with an iron hand; and besides this, Basia's presence some-
what softened their wild ways. They all tried to please her
and cared for her peace and comfort, avoiding everything
that might worry her.
In the light cavalry of Pan Mikolay Pototski, there were
many courtly and experienced officers who, although they
had become rough through constant warfare and expeditions,
were still a pleasant set of fellows. In company with officers
of other squadrons they often spent a pleasant evening with
the Colonel, relating their past exploits and battles in which
they had taken part. First among these was Pan Zagloba.
He was older than any; he had seen more and shown more;
but when after one or two goblets he dozed comfortably in a
padded chair, purposely .brought for him, others would begin.
They also had experiences to relate, for some among them
had visited Sweden and Moscow; some had spent their early
years at the Sich, in the time of Khmyelnitski; some had
herded sheep in the Crimea in captivity; others as slaves, had
dug wells in Bakhche Serai; or had visited Asia Minor, or
rowed Turkish galleys through the Archipelago, or had pros-
trated themselves before Christ's sepulchre, undergoing every
adventure and hardship, and yet again appearing beneath the
flag to defend these borders soaked with blood to their last
day and with their last breath.
In November, as the evenings lengthened and peace reigned
on the edge of the wide steppes, for the grass had now
withered, they would assemble every day at the Colonel's
quarters. Hither came Pan Motovidlo, the leader of the
Semenov Cossacks, a Russian by birth, with a figure as thin
as a pair of tongs and as tall as a lance. His youth was be-
hind him, for he had kept the field for more than twenty
years, Hither too came Pan Deyma ? the brother of him who
PAN MICHAEL. jgg
had alain Pan Ubysh; and Pan Mushalski, who had once been
wealthy, but being captured in youth, had pulled an oar in a
Turkish galley, and escaping from captivity had turned his
property over to others, and sword in hand, was avenging his
injuries on the followers of Mohammed. He was a matchless
archer, and at will, could transfix a heron with an arrow on its
lofty flight. Thither also came the two Chiefs Pan Vilga
and Pan Nyenashinyets, mighty warrriors, and Pan Hromyka
and Pan Bavdynovich, and many others. When they began
to tell tales, and warm up in their talk, the whole of the East
was pictured in their narratives Bakhche Serai and
Stambul, the minarets and mosques of the false Prophet, the
blue waters of the Bosphorus, the fountains and the Sultan's
palace, the throngs of people in the City of Stone, the soldiers,
the janissaries, the dervishes and the whole of that terrible
swarm of locusts, many-hued as a rain-bow, against which the
Commonwealth with bleeding breast was defending the Rus-
sian Cross, and consequently all the crosses and churches of
Europe.
The old warriors sat around the large room in a circle, like
a flock of storks who, wearied with flight, had alighted on
some bank in the steppes and were making a noisy clucking.
Pine logs were burning on the hearth, casting bright re-
flections throughout the room. By Basia's orders, attend-
ants warmed Moldavian wine at the fire and ladled it out to
the knights. The cries of the sentries were heard outside;
the crickets, of which Pan Michael had complained, were
chirping in the room, and in the cracks that were stuffed with
moss the November wind from the North blew more and
more coldly. When it was so cold, it was delightful to sit in
a comfortable., well-lighted room, and hear the experiences of
the knights.
One evening, Pan Mushalski began as follows:
"May the Most High have the whole sacred Commonwealth
in his keeping, and all of us, and more especially the lady hero
present, the gracious wife of our commander, on whose loveli-
ness our blind eyes are unworthy to rest. I have no desire to
rival Pan Zagloba, whose adventures would have been marvel-
lous, even in the eyes of Dido herself and her charming
maidens, but if you gentlemen can spare the time to hear my
adventures, I will not be long-winded, for fear of boring this
honorable company."
"In my young days, I inherited a considerable estate near
I go TAN MICHAEL.
Tarashch, in the Ukraine. My mother left me two villages
in a quiet district near Yaslo, but I preferred to live on my
father's estate, as it was nearer the Horde and more exposed
to adventure. I was attracted towards the Sich by the
cavalier spirit, but there was nothing for us there then; in
company with other restless spirits, therefore, I went to the
Steppes and enjoyed myself immensely. It was pleasant
enough on my own estates; there was only one thing that
greatly troubled me, a disagreeable neighbor. He was a com-
mon peasant and came from Byalotserkov, having been at
the Sich in his early years, where he rose to the rank of
Kurzen Ataman, and acted as an envoy from the Cossacks to
Warsaw, where he was ennobled. Didyuk was his name.
You must know, gentlemen, that we derived our origin from
a certain chief of the Samnites, called Musca, which in our
language means a fly. This Musca after various futile at-
tempts against the Romans came to the court of Zyemyovit,
the son of Piast, who, for the sake of greater convenience,
called him Muscalski, which his descendants afterwards
changed to Mushalski. Knowing that I came of such noble
blood, I regarded that Didyuk with great abomination. If
the low fellow had known how to respect his honor and to
recognize the exalted rank of a noble, I should have had no-
thing to say. But he who held lands as a noble, made a mock
of the dignity, and often said, 'Is my shadow any greater than
it used to be? A Cossack I was and a Cossack I will remain;
but, as for nobility and all you Poles . . . that's the way I
regard you.' Gentlemen, I cannot describe to you here with
what a vile gesture he accompanied his words, since the pres-
ence of her ladyship forbids it; but it enraged me and I began
to antagonize him. It did not frighten him, for he was a dar-
ing character and paid me smart-money. I would have at-
tacked him with a sword, but did not like to, on account of his
low blood. I hated him like a pestilence, and he venomously
hunted me. Once in the market-place of Tarashch, he fired
and only missed me by a hair, and in return I split his head
open with a hatchet. Twice I attacked his place with my
followers, and twice he assaulted mine with his bandits.
Neither of us could get the better of the other. I wanted to
set the law in motion against him, but bah! what law is there
in the Ukraine, when the smoking ruins of towns are still to
be seen. He who can gather together a band of villains in
the Ukraine may scorn the whole Commonwealth. That's
PAN MICHAEL. I9 !
what he did, and blasphemed the name of our common
mother, not considering for a moment, that by ennobling
him, she had taken him to her breast and endowed him with
privileges, by virtue of which he owned estates, and with that
perfect liberty which he could not have enjoyed under any
other dominion. If we could have met as neighbors, I could
have argued with him, but we only saw each other with a gun
in one hand and a fire-brand in the other. My hatred for
him increased daily till my face became yellow. One sole
thought possessed me, that was, to get possession of him.
However, I realized that hatred was a sin and, to requite all
his insults to our nobility, my only desire was to lacerate his
skin with rods, and then, forgiving all his sins, as became a
true Christian, merely to order him to be shot "
"But the Almighty ordained otherwise."
"Outside the village I owned a fine bee-farm, and one day I
went to look at it. Evening was coming on. I remained
there for the space of almost ten 'paters," when I heard a
noise. I looked around; smoke hung above the village like
a cloud. In another minute people came running towards
me, crying, "The Horde, the Horde'/ And right behind
the people a multitude was advancing. Arrows were falling
as thick as rain-drops, and in every direction sheepskin coats
and the devilish snouts of the Horde were to be seen. I, to
my horse. But before I could get my foot in the stirrup, five
or six lassos were about me. I struggled, for I was powerful
at that time .... Nee Hercules!. . . Three months later,
in company with other captives, I found myself in a Tartar
village called Suhaydzig beyond Bakhche-Serai."
"My master's name was Salma Bey. He was a wealthy
Tartar, but a savage man and cruel to captives. With whips
we were driven to work in the fields and to dig wells. I
wanted to ransom myself, for I was able to do so. By the
medium of a certain Armenian, I sent letters to the holders of
my estate, near Yaslo. Whether the letters were delivered,
or the ransom intercepted, I know not, it is sufficient that it
did not arrive. . . . They carried me to Tsarogrod and sold
me to the galleys.
"There is much to say about that city, for I doubt if in all
the world there is one finer or larger. There, people are as
numerous as grass on the steppes or stones in the Dniester. . .
The walls are grim and embattled, tower on tower. Dogs
wander about the city mingling with the people in the parks;
jg 2 PAX
they are not interfered with by the Turks, and it i.5 therefore
obvious that they feel themselves rebiled to them, being dog-
brothers themselves. Among them there are no ranks but
nobles and slaves, and nothing more dreadful can be imagined
than captivity among the Infidels. Heaven only knows
whether it is true, but in the galleys I heard that those waters
including the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn which flows to
the heart of the City, have been produced by the tears of cap-
tives. Not a few of my own fell there.
"Awful is the Turkish Dominion, and no potentate has so
many subject kings as the Sultan. The Turks themselves
say if it had not been for Lekhistan (the name they give our
mother-country) they would long since have been masters of
the whole world. 'Behind the Polish shoulders/ they say,
'the rest of the world dwells under injustice;' for the Pole lies
in front of the cross like a dog and bites our hands/ And
they are right, for so it was and so it is. . . Here in Khreptyov
and the more distant posts of Mohilov, Yampol, and Rashkov,
what else are we doing? There is an enormous amount of
wickedness in our Commonwealth, but some day I think that
God will take into account these, our deeds, and perhaps men
will also.
"But to return to what occurred to me. The captives who
are kept on shore in towns and villages groan under less suf-
fering than those at the oars in galleys. For when once the
galley-slaves have been riveted to the bench beside the oars
they are never released neither night nor day, nor on feast-
days; there they must live in chains till they die; and if the
galley sinks in a battle, they too must sink with it. They are
all 'naked, they are frozen with cold and soaked with rain,
they are pinched with hunger, and for all this there is no
remedy, but tears and dreadful labor, for the oars are so large
and heavy that it takes two men to work one of them. . . .
"They took me there at night and riveted my chains in
front of some companion in misfortune, whom I could not re-
cognize in the darkness. When I heard the blows of the ham-
mer, and the sound of the shackles, Great God! it sounded
to me as if they were driving nails into my coffin, and even
that, I should rather have preferred. I prayed, but in my
heart hope was as though it had been blown away by the wind.
Akavadji silenced my moans with blows and I sat all night,
till dawn. . . Then I glanced at the man who bad to help me
work the oar. Dear Jesus Christ! Guess who was in front of
me? It was Didyuk!
PAN MICHAEL. jg-j
"I recognized him immediately, although he was naked
and emaciated and his beard reached to his belt, for it
was long since he had been sold to the galleys. . . We gazed
at each other, and he recognized me. . . We did not address
a word to each other. . . Think what had happened to us. . .
And yet, so great was our mutual rancour that not only did
we not greet each other, but hatred flamed up anew in our
hearts, and each gloated over the thought that his foe had to
suffer the same as himself. . . The galley started on its voy-
age that same day. It was strange to pull the same oar with
your greatest foe; to eat from the same dish with him food
which even the dogs would not touch at home, to bear the
same tyranny, to breathe the same air, to suffer and weep side
by side. . . We rowed through the Hellespont and then the
Archipelago. . . There are islands upon islands, and all
under Turkish dominion. . . Both shores likewise, . . . the
whole world. It was very hard. By day the heat was inde-
scribable. The sun burned with sufti power that the water
seemed to be aflame with it, and when that fire begun to
tremble and leap on the waves, you would have said that a
fiery rain was coming down. We were drowned in perspir-
ation and our tongues clove to the roofs of our mouths. . . .
At night the cold bit us like a dog. . . There was no relief
anywhere nothing, but suffering, grief for lost happiness,
pangs, and torments. Words cannot express it. . . In one
place in the land of Greece, from the vessel, we caught sight
of the celebrated ruins of a temple erected by the Greeks in
ancient days. Column stands beside column looking like
gold, the marble is so yellow with age. It stood out sharply,
as it was on a steep height, and there the sky is as blue as
turquoise. . . After that we sailed around the Peloponesus.
Day after day and week after week passed on without Didyuk
and myself exchanging a single word, for our hearts were still
full of pride and hostility. . . But under the hand of God
we slowly began to break down. With excessive labor and
changes of temperature the sinful flesh begun to fall from our
bones; the wounds caused by the lash festered in the sun.
All night we prayed for death. When I fell into a light doze,
I could hear Didyuk cry, 'Christ, have mercy! Most pure and
holy, have mercy! let me die! 7 He also could hear and see
me stretch forth my hands to the Mother of God and her
Child. . . And this is how it cnme to pass that the sea wind
seemed to have blown the hatred out of our hearts, , . It
13
I94 PAN MICHAEL.
constantly grew less and less. . . At last, after weeping over
myself, I came to weep over him. We then came to regard
each other with changed eyes. Bah ! we began to assist each
other. When I would be overcome with sweat and mortal
weariness, he would row alone. When he fell into the same
condition I did the same for him. . . When they brought us
a mess, each one wanted the other to have it; but, gentlemen,
see how strange is man's nature! Speaking plainly we already
loved one another and yet neither wanted to be the first to say
the word. . . The rascal, the old Ukraine spirit. The change
only came when matters were becoming dreadfully hard for
us, and they said, 'to-morrow we shall come across the Vene-
tian fleet/ Moreover, provisions were scarce and we were
deprived of almost everything except the lash. Night came,
we were faintly moaning, and in our different ways were pray-
ing more earnestly than ever. By the light of the moon I
could see the tears running down his beard in streams. My
heart smote me. I saM: 'Didyuk, we come from the same
locality; let us forgive each other!' When he heard this,
great God! How he did sob and strain at his chains till they
clanked! We fell into one another's arms across the oar and
kissed and wept over each other. I can't tell you how long
we were clasped in each other's arms, for we had forgotten
ourselves, and shook with sobs."
At this point, Pan Mushalski stopped and passed his hand
across his eyes. A moment's silence ensued and the cold
north wind was heard whistling between the cracks of the
beams, while the fire crackled and the crickets chirped in the
room. Then Pan Mushalski gasped, drew a long breath and
proceeded:
"As you will see, the Lord God blessed us and showed his
favor to us in the end, but we paid dearly for our brotherly
affection at the time. As we were embracing, we tangled up
the chains, so that we could not disentangle them. The over-
seers came, first they separated us, then the lash was laid
across our backs for more than an hour. They struck us
without caring where, the blood flowed both from me and
Didyuk and mingled in one stream as it trickled to the sea.
But that is nothing, it's all over now, Glory be to God! . . .
"From that moment it never again came into my head that
I was a descendant of the Samnites and he a recently-ennobled
peasant from Byalotserkov. I could not have loved my own
brother more than I loved him. I should not have cared
PAN MICHAEL. I95
even if he had not been ennobled, though of course, I would
rather that he should be one; and to the same degree that he
had formerly requited my hatred he now returned me love
and with interest. That was his nature. . . .
"The next day there was a battle. The Venetians dispersed
our fleet to the four winds. Our galley was terribly injured
by a culverin, and sought refuge at a little desert island,
which was nothing more than a rock protruding from the K&\.
We had io make repairs; and, because all the soldiers had
perished and we were short of hands, the officers had to un-
chain us and give us axes. Immediately upon landing I
looked at Didyuk, but the same thought had occurred to him.
'Immediately?' he asked me. 'Immediately/ I said, and
without any further thought I struck the chubach across the
head and Didyuk served the captain in the same way. Then
the others rose with us like a flame. In an hour we had made
Ian end of the Turks. Then we made some kind of repairs to
the galley, took our seats in it, unshackled, and the God of
Mercy commanded the breezes to waft us to Venice.
"We gained the Commonwealth by begging our way. I
shared my estate at Yaslo with Didyuk, and together we
again sought the field to make reprisals for our tears and our
blood. In the days of Podhayets, Did}Oik traversed the Sich
to join Sirka and accompanied him to the Crimea. Their
deeds and exploits there are well known to you gentlemen!
"On his way back, Didyuk, glutted with vengeance, was
slain by an arrow. Then I only was left, and every time I
bend a bow, I do it for him, and among the present worthy
company there are witnesses who can testify that on more
than one occasion I have gladdened his spirit in that manner."
Here Pan Mushalski ended. Again all was silence, but for
the howling of the north wind and the crackling of the flames.
The old warrior fixed his eyes on the blazing logs and after a
protracted silence concluded as follows :
"We have had Nalevayko and Loboda; we have had
Khmyelnitski and now we have Dorosh; the earth has not
drunk up all the blood. We are in the midst of strife and
struggle and yet God has sown some seeds of love in our
hearts and they lie in barren ground, so to speak, till under
the tyranny and lash of the pagan, or under Tartar captivity,
they unexpectedly bring forth fruit."
"Stuff and nonsense," suddenly cried Zagloba, as he awoke.
CHAPTER IV.
1
Mellekhovich was slowly recovering but, as he did not join
in any expeditions, and was confined to his own room, no
one paid any attention to him. But suddenly something oc-
curred that attracted everybody's attention to him.
Pan Motovidlo's Cossacks captured a Tartar who wa.s
hanging about the Stanitsa in a suspicious manner, and
brought him to Khreptyov. After a searching examination
of the captive, he turned out to be a Lipkov Tartar, but one
of those who had broken their fealty and deserted the Com-
monwealth to reside in the Sultan's dominions. He came
from the other side of the Dniester and had a letter for
Mellekhovich from Krychinski.
This greatly troubled Pan Volodiyovski, who immediately
called a council of his chiefs.
"Gentlemen," he said, "you are all aware of how many
Lipkov Tartars, even of those who have lived for time out
of mind in Lithuania and here in Russia, have now joined
the Horde, requiting the kindness of the Commonwealth
with treason. We therefore ought not to put too much trust
in any one of them, and should keep a watchful eye upon all
their doings. There is also a small squadron of Lipkov Tar-
tars, numbering one hundred and fifty good cavalry, led by
Mellekhovich. I have not long been acquainted with Mellek-
hovich; I only know that the Hetman made him a captain
for his great services, and sent him here with his men. It
was, moreover, surprising to me, that not one of you had
known or heard of him before he took service. . . The
j fact that he is greatly loved and blindly obeyed by our Tar-
tars I have accounted for by his courage and great exploits;
but even they do not know who he is or whence he came.
Trusting in the Hetman's recommendations, I have not
hitherto been suspicious of him, nor have I watched him,
though he surrounds himself with a certain amount of mys-
tery. Some people have strange fancies, and as for me, it
is not my business so long as every man performs his duty.
(196)
PAN MICHAEL. I 97
But you see, Pan Motovidle's men have captured the Tartar
who is the bearer of the letter to Mellckovich from Kry-
chinski, and gentlemen, 1 am not aware whether you know
who Krychinski is."
Pan Nyenashinyets exclaimed, "I am personally acquainted
with Krychinski, and of course his evil notoriety has made
his name familiar to us all."
"We went to school together . . . " Pan Zagloba was
beginning; but recollecting that, in that case, Krychinski
must be ninety years of age, and that men did not usually
fight at that age, he stopped short.
"In a word," the little knight continued, "Krychinski is a
Polish Tartar. He was colonel in one of our Tartar regi-
ments, but 'he betrayed his country, and went over to the
Dobnidja Horde, where I hear he has gained great influence,
for there they are evidently in hopes that he will be able to
induce the rest of the Lipkovs to join the Pagans. It is
will i this kind of man that Mellekhovich has entered into
communication, the best proof of which is this letter, the
substance of which is as follows:"
The little knight opened the letter, struck it with his hand,
and commenced reading:
"Dearly Beloved Brother of my soul: Your messenger
came to us and delivered a letter. . . ,
"He writes in Polish/ 'interrupted Zagloba.
"Like the rest of our Tartars, Krychinski is only ac-
quainted with Russian and Polish," said the little knight,
"and Mellekhovich also will certainly not gnaw in Tartar.
Listen, gentlemen, and don't interrupt:"
"God grant that all may be well, and that you may succeed
in all your desires. We often consult here with Moravski,
Alexsandrovich, Tarasovski and Grokholski and communi-
cate with other brethren to obtain their advice also as to the
means by which all that thou, beloved, desirest may be
brought about with least delay. We received news of how
you have 'suffered in health, and so I send a man ; to see
for himself how you are, and bring us good news. Be care-
ful to keep the matter secret, for God forbid that it should
prematurely come to light! May God multiply your descend-
ants like the stars in the sky!" Krychinski."
Pan Michael concluded, and gazed at those present, and, as
they kept silent, evidently meditating on the contents of the
letter, he said:
I9 g l'A\ MICHAEL.
"Tarasovski, Moravski, (Irokliolski, and Alekeaudrovich,
were all formerly Tartar captains and iniitors."'
"So arc Poturzynski, Tvorovski and Adurovich," added
Pan Snitko.
"What have yon to say to this letter?"
"Manifest .treason, there's no doubt about that/' said Pan
Mushalski. "He is merely plotting with Mellekhovich to
bring over our Lipkov Tartars to their side."
"By God, what danger this command is in!" cried several
voices. "The Lipkovs would give their very souls for Mel-
lekhovich, and, if he bids it, they will attack us at night."
"The blackest treason under the sun !" cried Pan Deyma.
"And it was the Hetman himself who made a captain of
this Mellekhovich!" cried Pan Mushalski.
"Pan Snitko," said Zagloba, "what did I say when I first
saw Mellekhovich? Did not I say that he had the eyes of
a renegade and a traitor? Oh, a single glance was enough for
me. Anyone else he might deceive, but not me. Pan Snitko,
repeat what I said, but do not alter my words. Did not
I proclaim him a traitor?"
Pan Snitko drew his legs under the bench and thrust out
his head:
"In truth your lordship's farsightedness is to. be marvelled
at; truth is truth. I do not recollect your lordship calling
him a traitor. Your lordship only said that he glared with
the eyes of a wolf."
"Ha, ha! then, you hold that a dog is a traitor, and a wolf
is not; that a wolf is not in the habit of biting the hand that
caresses and feeds him! Then a dog is a traitor! Perhaps
you will still stand up for Mellekhovich and make out that
all the rest of us are traitors!"
Thus confounded, Pan Snitko opened his eyes and mouth
wide and was too surprised to say another word for many
minutes.
Meantime, Pan Mushalski, who was quick at coming to a
decision, said, "We should first thank the Almighty for re-
vealing such damnable plots and then send for six dragoons
to put a bullet through Mellekhovich's head."
"And appoint another setnik," added Nyenashinyets.
"The treason of that is so manifest that one can not be
silent about it."
"First," continued Pan Michael, " we must examine Mel-
lekhovich and then advise the Hetman of these plots, for,
as Pan Bogush from Zienbiis informed me, the Lipkovs are
great favorites with the Crown Muivhal.' 1
"But, sir!" said Pan Molovkllo, turning to the little knight,
"a general court-marl ial will he more than Mcllekhovich is
entitled to, as he has never been an officer before."
"I know what my powers arc," said Pan Michael, "and
do not need to be reminded of them."
Then the others began to exclaim:
"Let the son ... be brought before us, the traitor!"
The loud 'cries aroused Zagloba., who had been taking a
little doze, as he was always doing now. He was not long
in recalling the subject of conversation, and said:
"No, Pan Snitko, the moon is obscured in your gem, but
your wit is obscured still more, for no one could discover
it with a candle. The idea of saying that a dog, a faithful
dog, is a traitor, and a wolf not one! Allow me to say you
are speaking out of your boots."
Pan Snitko lifted his eyes to the heavens to show how
he suffered innocently, but he did not want to offend the
old gentleman by contradicting him, moreover, Pan Michael
ordered him to fetch Mellekhovich, and so he hastily de-
parted, glad of the excuse to escape.
He soon returned with the young Tartar, who as yet was
evidently ignorant of the capture of the Lipka. Hia
swarthy and handsome countenance had become very pale,
but he had recovered his health, and not even a handker-
chief bound his head; it was simply covered with a velvet
Crimean cap.
Everybody's eyes were fixed on him as intently as on a
rainbow. He made a rather low bow to the little knight
and then a rather haughty one to the rest of the company.
"Mellekhovich," said Pan Michael, sharply, glancing at
the Tartar, "are you acquainted with Colonel Krychinski?"
A sudden and menacing glance flitted across the coun-
tenance of Mellekhovich.
"I know him."
'KYud that," said the little knight, handing him the letter
found on the Lipka.
Mellekhovich began to read it, but before he had come to
the end, his face had recovered its tranquility.
"1 await your commands," he said as he returned the
letter.
'lfi % .w long have you been hutching treason, and who are
your confederates in Klneptyov?"
200 PAN MICHAEL.
"Then am I accused of treason?' 7
"Answer! Ask no questions!" cried the little knight,
threateningly.
"Then this is my answer. I have not been hatching
treason, nor have I any confederates, or if I have, they are
not within your jurisdiction."
As they heard this the officers ground their teeth and im-
mediately threatening voices were heard:
'More humbly, you son of a dog, more humbly! Remember
you are in the .presence of your superiors."
At that, Mellekhovich cast upon them a cold glance of
hatred.
"I know what is due to my commander as my superior,"
he replied bowing repeatedly to Pan Michael. "I know that
you gentlemen regard me as your inferior, and your society
I do not want. Your grace," he continued (turning again to
the little knight), "asked me of confederates. I have two in
this business, one is Pan Bogush, Pod-Stollik 1 of Novgorod,
and the other is the Grand Hetman of the Commonwealth."
On hearing these words they were greatly amazed, and
silence fell on them all for a time; finally Pan Michael
asked:
"How is that?"
"In this way,," Mellekhovich replied, "Krychinski, Mor-
avski, Tvorovski, Aleksandrovich and the others joined the
Horde and greatly injured the fatherland, but they did not
find much fortune in the new service they had taken. Per-
haps too, their conscience pricked them, anyhow, the name
traitor is bitter to them. The Hetman knows this well and
has entrusted Pan Bogush and Pan Myslishevski with the
task of bringing them back beneath the banner of the Com-
monwealth. Pan Bogush has employed me on this mission
and ordered me to come to an understanding with Kry-
chinski. In my quarters there are letters from Pan Bogush
which will convince your grace more than any words of
mine.'
"Accompany Pan Snitko to fetch those letters here at
once."
Mellekhovich departed.
. "Gentlemen," hastily cried the little knight, "we have
greatly offended this soldier by our precipitate judgment;
1 Pod Stollik under carver an honorary title of former Polish nobility.
PAN MICHAEL. 2O i
for if those letters are in his possession, and I begin to think
that they are, he is telling the truth. Moreover, not only
is he a cavalier, celebrated for his military exploits, but one
who is anxious for the welfare of the country, and on that
account he should meet with recompense and not unjust
judgment. For God's sake, this must be remedied quickly."
The others all held their peace, not knowing what to say,
and Pan Zagloba shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
In the meantime, Mellekhovich returned and handed Bo-
gush's letter to the little knight.
The little knight read as follows:
"On every side I hear that no man is more fitted for such
a service than you, on account of the marvellous affection
in which you are held by these men. The Hetman is ready
to forgive them and promises the pardon of the Common-
wealth. Communicate with Krychinski as often as possible
by means of trustworthy agents and promise to reward him.
Keep it strictly secret or otherwise, as God lives, you will
ruin them all. You may disclose the matter to Pan Volo-
diyovski, for your commander may be of great ^service to
you. Spare no labors or efforts in view of the end crowning
the work, and be sure that our Mother will requite your
good-will with equal love."
"And this is my reward!" darkly muttered the young Tar-
tar.
"By the Great God! why did you not tell us of this?"
cried Pan Michael.
"I wanted to tell your lordship everything, but I had no
opportunity, as I was ill after the accident. Before these
gentlemen (here Mellekhovich turned to the officers) I had
a secret that I was forbidden to tell. Your lordship will
surely enjoin that secrecy on them now, so as not to ruin
those other men!'
"The proofs of your honesty are so clear that a blind
man could not deny them," replied the little knight. "Carry
on the business with Krychinski. In this you will have no
hindrance, but help, in proof of which, I give you my hand
as an honorable knight. Come and join me at supper this
evening."
Mellekhovich clasped the hand held out to him and bowefl
the third time. From every corner of the room the other
officers advanced towards him, saying:
"We did not know you, but every lover of virtue will not
withhold his hand from you to-day."
202 PAX MICHAEL.
But the young Tartar suddenly straightened himself and
held back his head, like a bird of prey "about to peck, and
exclaimed:
"I am standing in the presence of my superiors."
He then left the room.
After he had gone, the clamor broke out. The officers said
to each other, "It is no wonder that his heart is still indig-
nant at the injustice, but that will disappear in time. \\ V
must treat him differently. He is of the true knightly metal.
The Hetman knew what he was about. Miracles are taking
place; well, well!"
Pan Snitko was triumphing in silence till he could con-
tain himself no longer, but, approaching Pan Zagloba, he
bent over, and said:
"Allow me, sir, but that wolf was no traitor. . .
"No traitor!" retorted Zagloba, "he was a traitor, though
a virtuous one, since he betrayed not us, but the Horde.
. . . Fear not, Pan Snitko; to-day I will offer up prayers
for your wit and perchance the Holy Ghost may take com-
passion on you."
Basia was greatly relieved when Zagloba told her all
about the business, for she had a great liking and pity for
Mellekhovich.
"It is necessary," she said, "that Michael and I should in-
tentionally accompany him on his first expedition of danger,
for by that means we shall best be able to show our confidence
in him/*
But the little knight .stroked Basia's rosy cheeks and
replied:
"Oh distressed fly, I know you, you don't care so much
about Mellekhovich; what you want is to buzz off into the
steppes and take part in a battle. But that can never be."
Then he began to kiss her mouth again and again.
"Mulier insidiosa est" (woman is wily), said Zagloba, sen-
ten tiously.
Meanwhile Mellekhovich was sitting in his own room
whispering to the Lipka. The pair were sitting so close
together that their heads almost touched. A lamp of sheep's
tallow was burning on the table, casting a yellow glow on
the face of Mellekhovich which, notwithstanding its beauty,
was simply terrible: and in it was depicted rancor, cruelty,
and wild joy.
"Halim, listen!" Mellekhovich whispered.
PAN MICHAEL.
203
"Effendi!" responded the messenger.
"Tell Krychinski that he was wise, for there was nothing
to hurt me in the letter; tell him that he was wise. Let
him never write more openly. . . . Now they will trust
me even more fully. . . . Every one of them! The very
iletman, Bogush, Myslishevski and this whole post, all! Do
you hear? May the pestilence choke them."
"I hear, Effendi!"
"But I must first go to Rashkov, and then I will return
here."
"Effendi, young Novovyeyski will recognize you."
"No he won't. He saw me at Kalnik and Bratslav and did
not know me. He will look at me and pucker his brow, but
he will not recognize me. He was fifteen years of age when
I ran away. Since then, the winter has whitened the steppes
eight times. I have altered. The old man would know me,
but not the young one. ... I will let you know from
Rashkov. Let Krychinski hold himself in readiness in the
vicinity. You must keep in touch with the Perkulabs. More-
over our regiment is in Yampol. I will induce Bogush to
get an order for me from the Hetman saying that I can
more easily deal with Krychinski from there. But I must
return here. ... I must. ... I don't know what
will happen, or how I shall manage. ... I am consumed
with a raging fire. Sleep is banished from my eyes
If not for her, I might as well be dead."
"Her hands be blessed."
Mellekhovic'h's lips began to quiver, and again leaning
towards the messenger, he whispered feverishly:
"Halim! blessings on her hands, blessings on her head,
blessings on the earth she treads on. Do you hear, Halim?
Tell them that because of her, I am well/'
CHATTER V.
In his youth Father Kaminski had been a soldier and a
cavalier of a lively disposition; at present he was stationed at
Ushytsa attempting to restore a parish. But as the church
was in ruins and in want of parishioners, this flockless pastor
went to Khreptyov and remained there for several weeks, be-
stowing his pious instruction to edify the knights.
A few evenings after Pan Mushalski's story, to which he
listened attentively, he said to the assembly:
"I always enjoy hearing stories in which misfortunes end
happily, for they teach us that Grod's guiding hand can bring
rescue from the enemy and can lead from the Crimea to the
peaceful roof.
"Therefore, once for all, let each one of you remember this:
With the Lord nothing is impossible, therefore let none of
you, even in the utmost extremity, fail to put your trust in
His mercy."
"This is tfie fact!"
"It was commendable in Pan Mushalski to love a common
man with fraternal affection. The example has been set by
the Saviour Himself, when he, though of royal blood, loved
common people, chose his apostles from them, and gave them
his divine patronage, elevating them so highly that now they
have seats in the heavenly senate."
"Yet personal love is different from universal love that
of one nation to another. Our Lord and Redeemer observed
both with equal faithfulness. Where do we find this love?
If you look through the world you find such universal hatred
in all hearts that it seems as though mankind followed the
commandments of the Devil and not those of the Lord."
"It will be difficult, your grace," remarked Pan Zagloba,
"to convince us that we have to love Turks, Tartars, and
other barbarians whom even the Lord God must Himself
despise."
"I am not begging you to do that, but I do insist upon
this; that children of the same mother should love each other j
(204)
PAN MICHAEL. 205
but how is it? Since the time of Khmyelnitski, or for thirty
years, these regions have been drenched with blood."
"Whose fault is that?"
"Whoso will first confess his fault, him God will pardon."
"Your grace is in priest's vestments to-day; but in your
youth, as we have heard, you slew rebels with no better con-
science than the others."
"I slew them, for, as a soldier, it was my duty. In that
there was no sin, but my sin consisted in hating them like the
plague. I had private reasons for this, which I will not speak
of, for the time has long since passed and the wound is now
dried up. I am sorry 'that I overstepped my duty. I had a
hundred men from the squadron of Pan Nyevodovski under
my command; and, acting independently with my force, I
often burned, massacred, and hanged. , . . Gentlemen, you
know what times those were. Called in by Khmyelnitski, the
Tartars burned and slaughtered; and we did the same. We
burned and slaughtered; the Cossacks, committing worse
atrocities than ours or the Tartar's, left nothing in their
trail save land and water. Nothing is more terrible than
civil war. . . Such times they were, no one can gainsay it;
enough that we and they fought more like mad dogs than
human beings. . . Once news came to our quarters that
the rabble had laid siege to Pan Busyetski in his fortalice. I
was despatched with my command to the rescue. I arrived
too late; the fortalice was razed to the ground. I instantly
fell upon the drunken peasants and mowed them down; only
a few escaped by hiding in the wheat. I commanded that
these be taken alive and hanged as an example. But where?
This was easier said than done; there was not a single tree
left standing in the village; even the pear trees that bordered
the fields were destroyed. There was not time to erect
gibbets; and as this land was among the steppes there was
not a single forest. What was to be done? I marched on
with my prisoners. Perhaps, sooner or later I shall come
across a forked young oak, I thought. I went one mile, two
miles, steppe after steppe; you could have rolled a ball over
them. Presently, towards evening, we found traces of a vil-
lage. I looked about me, here and there were piles of cinders
and grey ashes, and that was all! On the side of a small hill
there stood a great oaken cross, which seamed to be new,
for the wood had not turned dark, and it therefore shone in
the twilight like a fire. Upon it there was a tin Christ, cut
20 5 PAX MICHAEL.
and painted in such a life-like manner that you would have
thought it a real statue until you viewed it from the side and
saw r the sheet of tin; the face was as if still alive, and pale
with agony; on the head was a crown of thorns; the eyes were
raised upwards with a wonderful expression of terrible sorrow
and sadness. When I saw that cross, the thought flashed
through my mind: 'There is your tree; you will find none
other;' but instantly I became frightened. In the name of
the Father, and of the Son! I will not hang them on the
cross. But, thinking to bring comfort to the eyes of Christ
if I gave command in His presence to kill those who had
spilled so much guiltless blood, I said: '0 dear Lord, let it
seem to Thee that these murderers are the Jews who nailed
Thee to the cross, for these are no better than those. I then
ordered my men to drag the captives, one by one, to the
mound beneath the cross and cut them down. There were
among them old gray-haired peasants and youths. The first
one who was brought said: 'By the Passion of our Lord, by
that Christ, have mercy upon me, sir!' and my answer was:
'Off with his head!' A dragoon cut and slashed. . . . An-
other was brought; the same thing occurred: 'By that merci-
ful Christ have pity upon me!' And my answer was again:
'Off with his head !' The same thing happened with the third,
the fourth, and the fifth; there were fourteen altogether, and
every one of them implored me, by Christ. . . Twilight
had faded when we ended. I ordered them to be placed in
a circle around the foot of the cross. . . Fool that I was in
thinking to please the only Son with this spectacle! They
moved for some time, one with his hands, another with his
feet, while at times another threw himself up like a fish just
pulled out of water; but this did not last long; their bodies
soon lost all power and silently they lay surrounding the cross
like a chaplet. . . ''
As the darkness had now fallen, I decided to remain, in
this spot all night, notwithstanding the fact that there were
no materials for a fire. God granted us a warm day, and my
soldiers lay down on their horse-blankets; but I went to the
cross to repeat the usual 'Pater' at the feet of Christ and
commit myself to His mercy. I thought my prayer would be
more graciously accepted because I had spent the day in labor
and such deeds, which I counted to myself as a service.
"Sometimes a weary soldier will fall asleep at his evening
prayers. This happened to me, The dragoons, who saw me
PAN MICHAEL.
207
kneeling with my head resting on the cross, believed that I
was deep in pious meditation, and would not disturb me; my
eyes closed instantly; and that cross inspired a marvellous
dream. I will not say that I had a vision for I was not, and
am not, worthy of that; but, although I was fast asleep, i saw
the whole Passion of our Lord as plainly as if I had been
awake. . . While witnessing the sufferings of the innocent
Lamb, my heart broke, tears fell from my eyes, and 1 was
filled with boundless pity. '0 Lord/ I said, 'I have a hand-
ful of good men. Wilt Thou see what our cavalry can do?
Only nod thy head and in one moment my sabres shall de-
spatch such sons, Thy executioners!' Just as I said this,
everything vanished; there remained only the cross and Christ
on it weeping tears of blood. . . Then, sobbing, I embraced
the foot of the holy cross. How long I wept I know not; but,
after I had become calmer, I again exclaimed: '0 Lord,
Lord! why didst thou give Thy holy teaching to hardened
Jews? Hadst Thou come from Palestine to our Common-
wealth, surely we would not have nailed Thee to the cross,
but have received Thee royally, given Thee precious gifts,
and ennobled Thee for the aggrandisement Thy divine glory.
Why dids't Thou not do this, Lord?' "
"Then I lifted my eyes, (you remember, gentlemen, this
was all a dream,) and what do I behold? Our Lord looks
sternly upon me; He frowns, and then says suddenly and
loudly: 'Your nobility is cheap; any mean fellow may buy it
during war, but no more of this! You and the rabble are
worthy of each other; and each of you is worse than the Jews,
for you nail me here on the cross every day. . . Have I not
commanded love, even for enemies, and forgiveness of sins?
But you tear out each other's entrails like wild beasts. I,
witnessing this, suffer unendurable agony. And you, who
would release me from it and bring me to the Commonwealth,
what have you done? See, you have bespattered the foot of
my cross with blood and placed corpses around it; and among
these some are innocent youths, or blinded men who have
no discernment whatever, followed the others like silly sheep.
Did you show mercy to them; did you judge them before
slaughter? No! You ordered them to be slain for my sake,
and thought you would bring comfort to me. In truth, it is
one thing to reprove and punish, as a father punishes his son,
or as an elder brother a younger brother, and another thing
to show vengeance and cruelty without judgment or measure.
2 o8 P&X MICHAEL.
It has come to that, that this land is so terrible that wolves
are more merciful than men; the grass sweats bloody dew; the
storms howl, and do not blow; the rivers flow with tears; and
people imploringly hold out their hands to death, crying, 'Our
refuge!' . . "
" '0 Lord/ I cried, 'are these men better than we? Which
of us has committed the greatest cruelty? Who brought the
Pagan here?'
" 'Love them while you chastise them/ said the Lord, 'and
then the cataract will fall from their eyes, hardness will leave
their hearts, and my mercy will be upon you. If you act
otherwise, the Tartars will come and bind you and them, and
compel you to serve the enemy in suffering, in tears, and in
contempt, until the time comes when you do love each other.
But if 3^ou persist in boundless hatred, neither of you will
receive mercy, and for ages upon ages will the Pagan possess
this land.'
"On hearing such commandments, I became terrified, and
for a long time I was unable to speak, finally, falling on my
face, I asked:
" '0 Lord, what must I do to wash away my sins? 7
"The Lord answered:
" 'Go, repeat my commandment; proclaim love.'
"After this reply, my dream ended.
"As the summer night is short, I woke up at dawn all wet
with the dew. I looked around me; the heads were lying as
a garland around the cross, but they had already became blue;
a miracle had happened, yesterday I had gloated over that
sight, and to-day I was seized with horror, especially at the
aspect of one youth about seventeen years of age, of exceeding
beauty. I ordered the soldiers to give the bodies decent burial
under that cross, and from that day forth, I was a different
man.
"At first I said to myself, that the dream was an illusion;
but still it haunted my mind and seemed to take possession
of my whole being. I did not dare to imagine that the Lord
himself had spoken to me, for, as I have already said, I did
not feel myself worthy of that; but perhaps conscience, silent
in 'times of war, lurking like a Tartar in the grass, suddenly
spoke forth and proclaimed the will of God. I wont to con-
fession and the priest confirmed this idea. He said, '.It is the
manifest will and premonition of the Lord, listen to it, or it
will not be well with thec.'
PAN MICHAEL. 209
"Thenceforth, I began to preach love.
"But the companions and officers laughed in my face.
'What?' they cried, 'is this a priest come to teach us? Is it
a small outrage that these dog brothers have wrought against
God, are the churches they have burned few, are the crosses
that they have desecrated insignificant in number? Are we
to love them for all this?' In a word nobody would listen
to me."
"After Berestechka, I assumed this religious garb so as to
proclaim the word and will of God with greater dignity. I
have done this without ceasing for more than twenty years.
Already my hair has grown wjiite. . . God is merciful; He
will not punish me because, so far, my voice is merely a voice
crying in the wilderness."
"Gentlemen, love your enemies, punish them like a father
and reprove them like an elder brother, otherwise, woe to them
and woe to you, and woe to the whole Commonwealth."
"Look about you; what is the result of this war and hatred
of brother for brother? This country has become a desert:
in Ushytsa I have graves instead of parishioners; churches,
towns, and villages are all in ruins; the power of the infidel is
rising and overwhelming us like a sea which is about to swal-
low up even thee, Rock of Kamenets."
Pan Nyenashinyets listened to the words of the priest with
great emotion, till his forehead was beaded with sweat, then
amid universal silence, he spoke as follows:
"That the Cossacks have worthy men among them is proved
by the presence among us of Pan Motovidlo, whom we all
love and respect. But as for that universal love, of which
priest Kaminski has spoken so eloquently, I confess that so
far I have lived in great sin, for that love has not been in me,
nor have I striven to gain it. Now, however, his Reverence
has somewhat opened my eyes. Without God's special grace,
such love will never dwell in my heart, for there I harbor the
memory of a cruel wrong of which I will tell you in a few
words."
"Let us have something warm to drink," cried Zagloba.
"Put more fire to the yoke-elm," said Basia to the ser-
vants.
And in a few moments the large room again glowed with
the blaze, and a flagon of heated beer was placed before each
knight by an attendant. They all gladly moistened their
moustaches in it, and when they had taken a couple of
14
2It PAN MICHAEL.
draughts, Pan Nyenashinyets again began in tones that sound-
ed like the rumbling of a wagon:
"On her dying bed, my mother committed my sister to my
care; her name was Halshka. 1 I had neither wife nor child,
and so I loved her as the apple of my eye. She was twenty
years younger than I, and I carried her about in my arms. I
regarded her exactly as if she were my own child. Some vears
afterwards, I took the field and the horde captured her. When
I returned, I beat my head against the wall. All my posses-
sions had disappeared during the incursion; but I sold all I
had left, strapped my last saddle on a horse, and went away
with some Armenians to ransom my sister. I discovered her
in Bakhche-Serai. She was attached to the harem, but not in
it, for as yet she was only twelve years old. I shall never
forget the hour when I found tbee, Halshka! How she did
cling about my neck; how she did kiss me on the eyes. But
what then! The money that I had brought with me proved
to be insufficient. She was a beautiful girl. Yehu Aga, who
had carried her off, wanted three times as much for her. I
offered to throw myself in, but it would not do. She was
bought in the open market before my very eyes by Tukhay
Bey, that notorious foe of ours, who wanted to keep her in
his harem three years, and then marry her. I returned home
tearing my hair. On the way I discovered that, in a Tartar
village by the sea, one of Tukhay Bey's wives was living with
his favorite son, Azya. Tukhay Bey had wives in every town
and in many villages, so that wherever he went, he would
have a roof of his own, under which he might rest. Hearing
of this son, I thought that God had provided me with a last
means of saving Halshka. I immediately determined to carry
off that son and exchange him for my sister, but I could not
do this without help. It was necessary to gather together a
company in the Ukraine, or in the Wild Fields, which was
far from easy; in the first place because Tukhay Bey's name
was dreaded throughout Kussia. and in the second place, be-
cause he was in alliance with the Cossacks against us. But
more than one brave Cossack was wandering about the steppes,
men who were out for their own profit and were willing to
go anywhere for booty. I gathered a. famous band of these
together. No words can express what we endured before our
boats arrived at the coast, for we had to hide from the Cos-
i Helena.
PA\ MH'l'IAKL. 211
sack leaders. But God helped us. I captured Azya and a
Magnificent booty with him. We got back safely to the Wild
Fields. From there, I wanted to go to Kamenets and enter
into negotiations with merchants of that place.
"I shared out the whole plunder among the Cossacks, only
reserving Tukhay Bey's pup for myself; and, because I had
been so liberal with them, shared so many dangers, endured
hunger, and risked my life with them, I thought that every
one of them would go through the fire for me, and that 1 had
won their hearts for all time."
"I had reason to repent bitterly of my confidence, and that
soon.
"It had never entered my head that they would turn and
tear to pieces their own Ataman and then share his booty
among themselves. I forgot that among those men there is
neither faith, nor virtue, nor gratitude, nor conscience. . .
Not far from Kamenets the hope of a great ransom for Azya
tempted my followers. They fell on me in the night like
wolves, strangled me with a rope, stabbed me with knives, and
finally, thinking me dead, cast me aside in the wilderness and
fled with the boy.
"(jjod sent me rescue and restored me to health; but my
Halshka was lost forever. Perhaps she is still living there
somewhere; perhaps on Tukhay Bey's death, she was taken
by another Infidel; 'perhaps she has accepted the faith of Mo-
hammed; perhaps she has forgotten her brother; perhaps even
some day her son may shed my blood. . . That is my tale."
Here Pan Nyenashinyets ceased and gazed gloomily on the
ground.
"What rivers of our blood and tears have flowed for this
land!" cried Mushalski.
"Thou shalt love thine enemies," ejaculated Father Kamin-
ski.
"And when you were restored to health, didn't you hunt
for that pup?" asked Zagloba.
"I afterwards learned that another band fell on those who
robbed me," answered Pan Nyenashinyets, "and cut them
to pieces, and the child must have been captured with the
other spoil. I hunted everywhere, but he had disappeared like
a stone cast into the water."
"Perhaps you met him afterwards and could not recognize
him!" Basia suggested.
"I don't know if the child was even three years of age. I
2I2 PI AT MICHAEL.
knew nothing except that his name was Azya. But I could
have identified him, because on each side of his breast he had
a fish tattooed in blue."
Suddenly Mellekhovich, who had hitherto been sitting in
silence, cried in peculiar accents from his corner of the room:
"You could not have told him by the fish, because many
Tartars have the same sign, particularly those who dwell near
the water."
"That's not true," cried the rugged Pan Hromyka, for after
Berestechka I examined the corpse of Tukhay Bey, for it was
left on the field, and I know that he had a fish on his breast,
and the other dead Tartars all had different marks."
"But I tell you, sir, that many bear fish."
"True, but they are all of the Tukhay Bey breed."
Further conversation was interrupted by the entrance of
Pan Lelchyts, whom Pan Michael had sent out on a scouting
expedition that morning, and who had just returned.
"Colonel," he said, as he entered, "there is some kind of a
detachment advancing- in this direction from Sirotski Brod
on the Moldavian side."
"What sort of people are they?" asked Pan Michael.
"Bandits. A few of them are Wallachians, and a, few Hun-
garians, most of them are stragglers from the Horde, and there
are about two hundred in all."
"They must be the same of whom I have heard making a
raid on the- Moldavian side," said Pan Michael. The Perkulab
must have made it warm for them there, so they are escaping
in this direction; but there are about two hundred of the
Horde alone. They will cross at night, and we will intercept
them at dawn. Motovidlo and Mellekhovich will be ready at
midnight. Drive a, small herd of cattle to attract them and
now to your quarters."
The soldie* then separated, but they had not all left the
room before Basia ran up to her husband, threw her arms
about his neck and began to whisper in his ear. He laughed
and shook his head repeatedly, but evidently she was insisting,
as she encircled his neck more coaxingly. When Zagloba saw
this, he cried:
"Let her have this pleasure for once; if you will. I, the
old man, will jog along with you,"
CHAPTER VI.
Detached bands who occupied themselves with robbery
on both sides of the Dniester included men of all nation-
alities from the border countries. Fugitive Tartars from
the Dobrudja and Byalogrod Hordes, still more savage and
courageous than their brethern of the Crimea, always formed
the majority; neither were there wanting Wallachians, Cos-
sacks, Hungarians, and Polish servants, who had escaped
from military posts near the banks of the Dniester. They
alternately ravaged the Polish and the Wallachian side, con-
stantly crossing the boundary river, according to whether
they were hunted by the forces of the Perkulav or by the
Commonwealth commanders. They had almost inaccessible
lurking places in the ravines, forests, and caves. The spoil
they chiefly sought was the herds of horses and cattle, belong-
ing to the military posts; these herds remained on the steppes
even through the winter, finding their sustenance under the
snow. But in addition the robbers attacked villages, farms,
hamlets, and small military detachments, Polish and even
Turkish merchants and agents who were going to the Crimea
with ransom. These bands had their own leaders and or-
ganization, and seldom combined their forces.
Indeed it frequently happened that the larger bands de-
stroyed the smaller ones. They had greatly multiplied all
through the Russian dominions, especially sinee the Cos-
sack wars, when all kinds of order and safety disappeared.
The bands on the Dniester joined by stragglers from the
Horde, were particularly formidable. Some of them even
numbered as many as five hundred. Their chiefs assumed
the title of Bey. They ravaged the country in the charac-
teristic manner of the Tartar, and more than once the com-
manders themselves could not tell whether they were dealing
with bandits or with advanced chambuls of the entire Horde.
These bodies could not make a stand in the open field against
mounted troops, especially the cavalry of the Commonwealth,
but, when they were caught in a trap, they fought with des-
(213)
214 PAN
peration, being perfectly well aware that if they were cap-
tured, the gibbet and cord was their lot. They were vari-
ously armed. They were short of bows and muskets, but
these were of little use in their night assaults. The ma-
jority were armed with daggers and Turkish yataghans,
loaded sticks, Tartar swords, and horse- jaws fastened to oak
limbs with, thongs. The latter weapon, in a skilful hand, did
terrible execution, for it could shatter any sword. Some had
long pitchforks with sharp iron points, and some had spears,
which on emergency they employed against the cavalry.
The band at Sirotski Brod must have been in extremes
on the Moldavian side, since it had dared to approach the
Khreptyov post, notwithstanding the terror inspired by the
very name of Pan Michael among the bandits on both sides
of the border. In fact, another scout brought the news that
it comprised more than four hundred men, led by Azba Bey,
a celebrated raider, who, for many years had terrorized the
Polish and Moldavian sides of the river.
Pan Michael was deligted when he heard with whom he had
to deal, and at once issued the necessary orders. In addi-
tion to Mellekhovich and Pan Motovidlo, the squadron *of
the General of Podolia was employed, as well as that of the
sub-governor of Pshemysl. They started in the night, la-
king different routes, for, like fishers who cast their nets in
winter over a considerable expanse, so as to come together
afterwards at one outlet in the ice, so these detachments,
taking a wide circuit, were to meet at Sirotski Brod about
daybreak.
With a beating heart, Basia assisted at the departure of
the troops, as this was her first experience of war, and her
spirits rose at the sight of these old wolves of the steppes.
They set out so noiselessly, that, in the fortalice itself, they
could scarcely be heard. The bits did not jingle, nor did
stirrup strike against stirrup, nor sabre against sabre, nor
rHd a horse neigh. It was 'a calm and unusually luminous
night. The full moon brightly illuminated the hills of the
post and the steppes, which were rolling ground; and yet,
scarcely had a company passed the stockade, the sabres glint-
ing silverly in the moonlight, when it disappeared like a
covey of partridges among waving grass. There was some-
thing mysterious in this march. To Basia they looked like
sportsmen going out to the same hunt, which was to begin
at dawn, and for that reason were moving with care and quiet,
PAN MICHAEL. 315
so as not to start the game too soon. She was therefore ex-
ceedingly anxious to share in the sport.
Pan Michael made no opposition, because Zagloba had
induced him to give his consent. Moreover, he knew he
would have to gratify Basia's desire some day or other, and
so he preferred to do it at once, particularly as these raiders
were not accustomed to bows and guns.
However, they did not start for three hours after the first
squadron had gone, because Pan Michael had made the fol-
lowing arrangements. Pan Mushalski, with twenty of
Linkhauz's dragoons and a sargeant, all Mazovians and picked
men, accompanied them, and behind these swords the col-
onel's charming wife was as safe as in her own room at home.
As she had to stride a man's saddle she was dressed ac-
cordingly; she wore a pair of pearl velvet trousers, very
baggy and looking like a petticoat, stuffed into little yellow
saffian boots; a little gray overcoat lined with white Crimean
sheep-skin, and ornamented with embroidery down the seams;
she carried a beautifully-worked silver ammunition pouch
and a light Turkish sabre in a silken belt, with pistols in her
holsters. On her head was a cap covered with Venetian
velvet, ornamented with a heron's plume and bordered with
lynx-skin; under the cap peeped out a bright, rosy, almost
infantile face, and two inquisitive eyes that glowed like
coals.
Thus armed, and bestriding a chestnut pony, gontle and
swift as a deer, she looked like a Hetman's child, who under
the care of seasoned warriors, was about to take a first lesson.
Moreover, the figure she cut surprised them all. Pan Za-
globa and Pan Mushalski nudged each other with their el-
bows and kept on kissing their hands as a mark of extreme
homage to Basia; they both joined Pan Michael in allaying
her anxiety about their late departure.
"You have no knowledge of war," said the little knight.
"and you reproach us with wanting to let you arrive on the
field only when the battle is over. Some of the troops go
straight there, others have to make a detour, so as 1^ sur-
round them, and then they will silently join the others, catch-
ing the enemy in a trap. We shall get there in plenty of time
and nothing will happen until we arrive, for the time has
been carefully calculated."
"Suppose the foe takes alarm and escapes between the
various squadrons?"
2i6 PAN MICHAEL.
"He is wary and watchful, but his kind of warfare is noth-
ing new to us."
"Trust to Michael/' exclaimed Zagloba, "no one has had
more experience than he. Their evil destiny sent those bul-
lock-drivers in our direction."
"I was quite young at Lubni," said Pan Michael, "and even
then they entrusted me with this kind of work. On this oc-
casion, to let you see the affair, I have been unusually care-
ful in my dispositions. The various bodies will unite at
the same moment in the presence of the foe. They will raise
a shout in unison, and together they will charge the ban-
dits, as if at the crack of the same whip."
"Oh, oh!" piped Basia delightedly; and, standing up
in her stirrups, she threw her arm around the little knight's
neck. "And may I charge too? Eh, Michael, dear, eh?"
she cried, her eyes sparkling.
"I will not allow you to go into the melee, for an acci-
dent might easily happen in the press, not to speak of the
fact that your horse might stumble; but I have given orders
to loosen the reins immediately they have scattered the
band that is driven against us, and then you may cut down
a man or two, only you must always attack on the left, be-
cause then it will not be easy for the fugitive to strike at
you across his horse, while you will have him in your power."
"Ho, ho!" cried Basia, "never fear, you, yourself, said that
I can use the sabre far better than Uncle Makovyetski; don't
try to teach me!"
"Remember to keep a firm hold on the bridle," said Za-
globa. "They have tricks of their own, and when you are
pursuing, perhaps the fugitive may suddenly wheel his horse
and halt, and strike you as you pass by. An experienced sol-
dier never lets out his horse too much, but always keeps him
under control."
"And never raise your sabre too high, for fear of ex-
' posing yourself to a thrust," said Pan Mushalski.
"I shall be near to guard against any accident," said the
little knight. "You see, in a battle, the whole trouble is
that you have everything to remember at once; the horse,
the foe, the rein, the sabre, the stroke, and the thrust, all
at once. To the veteran, it comes naturally, but at first the
very best fencers often make a mess of it, and any ordinary
soldier, simply by being used to it, can unhorse a beginner
who has much more skill than himself. ... So I will
stay beside you,"
PAN MICHAEL. 217
"But do not help me, and order all the men not to help me,
except at need."
"Well, well! we will see what your courage is when put
to the test/' laughed the little knight.
"And whether you won't seize one of us by the coat-tails/'
concluded Zagloba.
"We shall see/' cried Basia indignantly.
In this kind of conversation they arrived at a place covered
with thickets. It was now near dawn, but it had grown
darker, as the moon had set. A light mist had begun to
rise from the earth, obscuring distant objects. In the mist
and darkness the distant indistinct clumps assumed the
shape of living beings and excited Basra's imagination. More
than once she thought that she clearly distinguished men
and horses.
"What is that, Michael?' 'she whispered, as she pointed
with her finger.
"Nothing! growths!"
"I thought it was horsemen. Shall we soon be there
now?"
"The business will begin in about an hour and a half."
"Ah!"
"Are you afraid?"
"No, but my heart beats with anticipation, I, afraid ? Not
a bit of it. ... Look what a heavy hoar-frost! It is visible
although it's dark."
In truth, they were riding across a stretch of country
where the long steppe-grasses were heavy with rime. Pan
Michael looked and exclaimed:
"Motovidlo came this way. He must be hiding only two
miles away. The day is already breaking."
Indeed it was dawn. It was getting lighter. The heavens
and the earth were growing gray and the atmosphere was
paling; the tops of the trees and bushes looked as if turning
to silver. Distant clumps gradually became visible as if in-
tervening curtains were being lifted one by one. Suddenly
a horseman issued from a neighboring coppice.
"From Pan Motovidlo?" asked Pan Michael, as the Cossack
halted immediately in front of them.
"Yes, your lordship."
"What is the news?"
'"They crossed Sirotski Brod, then turned to where the
cattle were lowing, and then went towards Kalusik. They
took the cattle and are now at Yurgove Polye."
2I g PAN MICHAEL.
"And where is Pan Motovidlo?"
"He has halted near the hill, and Pan Mellekhovich near
Kalusik. I don't know where the other squadrons are."
"Good," exclaimed Pan Michael, "I know. Hasten to Pan
Motovidlo and order him to close in and station men singly
half-way towards Pan Mellekhovich. Be quick!"
The Cossack bowed on his saddle and darted forward, so
that his horse's flanks immediately began to heave, and he
was quickly out of sight. They rode on, still more quietly
and cautiously. Meanwhile it had become broad daylight.
The mist, which at dawn had risen from the ground, was
now dissipated, and in the eastern heavens, a long streak
of rosy light appeared, which cast its colored reflection upon
the higher points of ground, the edges of the ravines, and the
heights.
Then, a confused sound of croaking fell on their ears, from
the direction of the Dniester, and, high above them in the
air, appeared a great flock of ravens, flying towards the east.
At every moment a single bird would leave the others, and
instead of flying straight on, would describe a circle as kites
and falcons do, when on the watch for prey.
Pan Zagloba raised his sabre, and pointing it at the ravens,
said to Basia:
"Admire the instinct of those birds, just as soon as there
is a battle anywhere, they will come from every direction,
as if some one had shaken them out of a bag. But only let
an army march alone or advance to meet allies, and not one
of them appears, therefore, these creatures are able to divine
man's intentions, without any assistance. Their sense of
smell cannot -assist them in such a case, and, therefore, you
have cause for marvel."
In the meantime, the birds had come very close, croaking
louder and louder; Pan Mushalski, therefore, turned to the
little knight and said, as he slapped his bow:
"Colonel, is it forbidden to bring down one, to please the
lady. It won't make any noise."
"Bring down two, if you like," Pan Michael replied, see-
ing that the old soldier was anxious to show off his un-
erring archery.
On this, the matchless archer reached back and took a.
feathered arrow out of his quiver, fitted it on the string,
raised the bow, and waited.
The flock was coming nearer and nearer. They all reined
PAN MICHAEL. 2 ig
in their horses and looked curiously into the sky. Suddenly
the plaintive twang of the string was heard, like the twitter
of a sparrow, and the arrow darted away and disappeared
among t]ie flock.
For a few moments it seemed as if Mushalski had missed,
but suddenly a bird reeled over and came swooping towards
the earth, above their heads, and, falling over and over,
finally came down with extended wings exactly like a leaf
floating on the air.
It dropped a few steps in front of Basia's pony. The
arrow had pierced the raven, so that the head was shining
above the bird's back.
"A fortunate omen," said Mushalki, bowing to Basia.
"I will keep an eye from a distance upon the lady-Colonel,
and, if there is any sudden emergency, God grant that again
I may despatch a lucky arrow. Though it may whizz close
to you, I promise it shall not hurt you/'
"I shouldn't like to be the Tartar that is your mark,"
Basia answered.
Here Pan Michael interrupted them, as he pointed to a
high mound, some furlongs off, and said:
"There we will halt."
Then they went forward at a trot. Half-way up, the little
knight ordered them to slacken their speed, and, at last, near
the top, he reined up.
"We will not go to the summit," he said, "because on such
a clear morning, we might catch the eye from a long distance,
but we will dismount and cautiously approach the summit,
so that a few of us may peep over."
Then he sprang from his horse, and was followed by
Basia, Pan Mushalski, and several others. The dragoons
staid below the ridge in charge of the horses, but the others
advanced to the point where the ground fell almost perpen-
dicularly like a wall, into a valley below. .
At the foot of this wall, which was some tens of yards high,
there was a narrow, dense belt of brush-wood, and then came
a low level plain; from the eminence where they were posted,
they could see a great distance along the plain.
This plain, which was intersected by a little stream flow-
ing towards Kalusik, was dotted with thickets similar to the
ground by the cliff. Among these clumps thin wreaths of
smoke were risincr into the nir.
"Ton gee/' rnn Michael cried to Basia, "that's where the
foe ia in hidinir."
220 p AX MICHAEL.
"I can see smoke, but no men nor horses/ 7 she answered,
her heart beating quickly.
"They are hidden in the thickets, but they are visible to
a trained eye. Look there, two, three, four, a whole troop
of horses are visible. One mottled, and another all white, and
it looks blue from this distance."
"Shall we soon advance against them?"
"They will be driven towards us, but there is plenty of
time, for they are a mile and a quarter away."
"Where are ours?"
"Do you see the skirt of the wood, yonder. The Under-
Chamberlain's company must have reached that point by
now. Mellekhovich will penetrate on the other edge in a
minute.- His squadron will attack the bandits from that
cliff. When they see them, the bandits will come in our
direction, because on this side it is possible to reach the
river under the bluff, but on the other side, there is a pre-
cipitous ravine which is impassable."
"Then they are caught in a trap?"
"As you see."
"For Heaven's sake! I can scarcely keep still!" cried
Basia.
But presently she asked:
"Michael, what would they do, if they were wise?"
"They would spring as if through smoke at the men of
the Under-Chamberlain's squadron, and pass over their
bodies. Then they would be safe. But they won't do that,
for, in the first place, they do not like to face regular horse;
and in the second, they will be afraid that other troops a/e
in reserve in the forest, 'and so they will flee towards us."
"Oh, but we cannot resist them, there are only twenty of
us."
"What about Motovidlo?"
"That's true? Where is he?"
For answer, Pan Michael suddenly imitated the cry of a
hawk or falcon.
Immediately he was answered from the foot of the cliff
by many similar calls. These were Motovidlo's Cossacks,
who were so well concealed among the bushes that Basia,
although stationed immediately above them, had not caught
a glimpse of them.
She looked in amazement from the little knight to the
bushes below, and suddenly her eyes gleamed and she threw
her arms around her husband's neck.
PAN MICHAEL. 221
"Michael, dear, you are the best leader in the world."
"I have had a little experience, that is all" he smiled.
'"'But restrain your ecstasies here, and remember that a good
soldier must be calm."
The warning was useless, however. Basia was in a fever
of excitement. She wanted to mount her horse immediately,
and descend from the height to join Motovidlo's party. But
Pan Michael restained her, for he wanted her to get a clear
view of the start.
In the meantime, the morning sun had risen above the
plain and bathed it in a cold, pale, golden light. The
nearer thickets were glowing, while those more distant and
hazy became more sharply outlined; the rime, lying in patches
on the low grounds, was momentarily vanishing; the atmos-
phere had become quite clear, and the eye could see for an
immense distance.
The Under-Chamberlain's squadron is issuing from the
wood," said Pan Michael. "I see horses and men."
In fact, horses and men began to issue from the shadow
of the trees and formed a long black line across the plain,
which along the edge of the wood was thickly covered with
hoar-frost. Gradually the white strip between them and
the trees began to broaden. It was plain that they were not
making too much haste, but were giving plenty of time to
the other squadrons. Pan Michael then turned towards the
left.
"Mellekovich has also arrived/ 'he said.
And presently he added:
"And the followers of the sub-governor of Pshemyl are
coming. Not one of them is two Paters late." His lips
worked with excitement. "We must not go on foot. Now let
us mount."
They quickly returned to the dragoons, and, vaulting into
the saddles, rode down the side of the eminence to the wood
below, where were Motovidlo's Semenovs.
Then they moved in a body to the skirt of the trees, where
they stopped, and looked ahead.
It was plain that the enemy had discovered the Tinder-
Chamberlain's squadron, for at that very moment, a crowd
of horsemen sprang out of the clump of trees in the middle
of the plain, like a hunted herd of deer. More appeared at
each instant. Forming a line, they first rode across the
plain, skirting the thicket; the riders were crouching along
MICHAEL.
the backs of the horses, in ordrr (hat. from a distance, they
might look like a herd of riderJoss horsos advancing. It
was evident that, so far, they were uncertain whether the
troop was advancing against them, or even whether they
were observed, or whether it was simply a scouting party.
If it was the later, they might hope to escape observation by
means of the trees.
From the spot where Pan Michael was stationed at the
head of Motovidlo's followers, the vacillating and doubtful
movements of the chambul could be clearly observed, and
they looked exactly like the actions of wild animals when
they scent danger. When they had got half-way along the
clump, they broke into a moderate gallop. When the first
of them reached the open plain, they suddenly reined up,
and those behind imitated them.
On that side, they had seen Mellekhovich's detachment
coming up.
They then made a half-circle in the opposite direction,
and came in view of the whole Pshemysl squadron, advancing
at a trot.
It was now made clear to the bandits that all the various
troops were aware of their presence and were advancing to
the attack. They broke into wild cries and fell into disorder.
The cavalry, also shouting, came on at a gallop, till the
plain thundered under the tramp of the horses. When they
saw this, the outlaw chambul swiftly extended into a long
line and urged their horses to their utmost speed in the di-
rection of the bluff, at the foot of which, the little knight
was stationed with Motovidlo and his men.
The space dividing the parties was being lessened with
marvellous rapidity.
At first, Basia grew rather pale with, excitement, and
her heart beat violently; but, remembering that the eyes of
others were upon her, and seeing that the others were not
in the least disturbed, she quickly recovered herself. More-
over, the band that was coming on like a whirlwind, en-
grossed her attention. She tightened her rein, took a firmer
hold on her little sabre, and the blood again rushed violently
from her heart into her face.
"Well? good!" said the little knight.
She fixed her eyes on him, her nostrils dilated, and she
whispered:
"Shall we soon charge?"
PAX MICHAEL. 223
"There's plenty of time yet."
But the others were fleeing, fleeing like a gray wolf from
the hounds. They were within half a furlong of the bushes;
the extended heads of the horses could be seen, with their
ears laid back, and Tartar faces above them, as if part of
the mane. . . . They came nearer and nearer. Basia
heard the snorting of the horses, as their drawn lips and
protruding eyes showed that they were going at breathless
speed. . . . Pan Michael made a sign, and the hedge of
Semenov guns were leveled at the galloping outlaws.
"Fire!"
There was a roar and a cloud of smoke: It was like chaff
struck by a whirlwind. In a second, the band, howling and
yelling was scattered in every direction. The little knight
immediately issued from the bushes, and, at the same instant
the Lipkovs and the Under-Chamberlain's men completed the
circle and drove back the scattered foe into one group. In
vain the horde tried to escape separately, in vain they
circled about, darting to the right, left, front, and rear; they
were completely surrounded, and, therefore, in spite of them-
selves, they were huddled together. In the meantime, the
various squadrons galloped up and a terrible slaughter com-
menced.
The raiders saw that the only one who could escape with
his life woud have to cut his way through, and so, they
began to defend themselves with rage and desperation,
though without any combined order; each for himself. So
furious was the onset that at the very first shot, the field
was strewn with the slain. The military, bracing and spur-
ring on their horses in spite of the crowd, cut and slashed
with that pitiless and terrible skill which belongs only to
the professional soldier. The sound of the blows was audible
above the ring of men, like the strokes of flails, when
wielded rapidly by a l^and of men on a threshing-floor. The
horde was pierced and sabred through head, shoulder, and
neck; and through the hands with which they tried to shield
their heads; on all sides the swords fell like hail without
quarter or mercy. They also struck with what weapons they
had, daggers, sabres, loaded sticks or horse-skulls. Their
horses, driven back, reared up, or fell backward entirely.
Others screamed and bit and kicked at the press and caus#
dreadful confusion. After a short, silent, struggle, the bandits
gave vent to a terrible cry. They were being borne down with
224
PAN MICHAEL.
superior numbers, better weapons, and greater skill. They
realized that there was no help for them, that no man could
escape with his spoil, nor even with his life. The soldiers
gradually warmed to the work and pressed them more
strongly. Some of the bandits dismounted and made an at-
tempt to glide away between the legs of the horses. These
were trampled to death by the horses' hoofs, and sometimes
the soldiers w r ould desist from fighting to stab them from
above; some lay on the ground in the hope that, as the
soldiers pressed to the centre, they would be left outside the
circle, and so find safety in flight.
In fact, the band was momentarily decreasing in num-
bers, as horse and man fell. When Azba Bey saw this, to the
best of his ability he formed his horses and men in a wedge,
and cast himself with all his force against Motovidlo's Se-
menovs in an attempt to break the ring, cost what it might.
But he was repulsed, and then a dreadful slaughter began.
At the same moment Mellekhovich, raging like a fire, pierced
the band midway, and, leaving one-half to the other squad-
rons, fell on the rear of those who were attacking the Cos-
sacks.
It is true that some of the bandits escaped through the
circle over the plain by this movement, and scattered like a
cloud of leaves; but those soldiers in the rear who could not
get the enemy, because of the closeness of the fight, imme-
diately pursued them in twos, or threes, or singly. Those who
did not succeed in breaking through notwithstanding their
stubborn resistance, fell side by side beneath the sabre, like
grain reaped by two lines of harvesters.
Basia advanced with the Cossacks, piping with a shrill
voice, to keep up her courage, for, at first, a cloud came
across her eyes, caused by the rapidity of the motion and
intense excitement. As she charged up to the enemy, she
was only conscious at first of a dar^:, struggling, surging
mass. She had an almost irresistible impulse to shut her
eyes entirely. It is true that she overcame it, but, neverthe-
less, her sabre struck somewhat blindly. Soon her courage
got the upper hand, and she immediately saw clearly. Before
her she saw horses' heads, with flushed and savage faces be-
hind them; one of them was glaring immediately in front
f her; Basia slashed at it, 'and it vanished like a phantom.
At that moment she heard her husband's tranquil voice,
"Good!"
/'JLY MICHAEL.
225
She was delighted to hear it, shouted again, and began
to deal destruction with perfect coolness and self-possession.
Again she saw a horrible face with a flat nose and prominent
cheek-bones gnashing its teeth in front of her. Another
hand raised a sling-shot. Basia struck at that. She saw
a shoulder in a sheep-skin coat and slashed at that. Then
she struck right, left, and in front of her, and, whenever she
made a. pass, a man crashed to the earth, wrenching the
bridle from his horse. Basia was surprised that it was all
so easy, but the reason was that the little knight was riding
at one side, stirrup beside stirrup, and Pan Montovidlo at
the other. The former carefully watched over his beloved
and that extinguished a man like a candle; then, with his
sharp sword, he lopped off an arm together with its weapon;
again, he thrust his sword between Basia and the foe, and
the hostile sabre flew up as suddenly as if it were a winged
bird.
Pan Montovidlo, a seasoned warrior, guarded the cour-
ageous lady on the other side; and, as a busy gardener prunes
the dry boughs from the trees, so time and again, he felled
foes to the blood-soaked earth, and fought with as much
sangfroid, as if he were thinking of something else. They
both knew when to allow Basia to advance alone, and when
to be beforehand and restrain her. A third man was watching
over her from the distance; the matchless archer, who, pur-
posely keeping apart, every now and then fitted an arrow to
the string and sent an unerring messenger of death into the
thick of the press.
But the melee became so fierce that Pan Michael ordered
Basia to retire from the fight, with a few attendants, par-
ticularly since the half wild horses of the horde were be-
ginning to bite and kick. Basia immediately obeyed, for,
although she was being carried away by excitement and her
bold heart prompted her to continue the fight, her feminine
nature was overcoming her martial spirit, and amid that
bloodshed and slaughter, amid the howls, groans, and agonies
of the dying, amid an atmosphere heavy with the odor of
sweat and raw flesh, she began to flinch.
Slowly reining back her horse, she was soon outside the
ring of combatants, so that Pan Michael and Montovidlo,
relieved from the task of watching over her, were, at last, able
to give free rein to their fighting spirit.
Pnn Muslialski, who had hitherto kept at a distance, now
approached Basia, and said:
15
22 6 PA * MICHAEL.
"Your ladyship fought like a true knight. Any man, not
knowing that it was you, would have imagined that Michael
the Archangel had descended to the aid of our Semenovs,
and was smiting those dog brothers. It is an honor for them
to fall by such a little hand, which, on this occasion, I pray
not to be barred from kissing."
Then he seized her hands and pressed them to his mous-
staches.
"Did you see it, Sir? Did I really do well?' 7 asked Basia
inhaling long breaths of the pure air.
"A cat could do no better against rats. As I love God,
it made my heart beat faster to see you. But you were quite
right to withdraw from the fight, for there is more risk of
an accident towards the end.''
"My husband ordered it, and when I left home I promised
implicit obedience."
"Can I leave my bow? It is no longer of any use, and I
want to advance with the sabre. I see three men coming,
who, of course, are sent by the Colonel to guard your lady-
ship's person. Otherwise I would send for a guard; but now
I will go down to the foot of the cliff, for it will soon be all
over, 'and I must make haste."
In fact, three dragoons were coming up to guard Basia,
and seeing this, Pan Mushalski put spurs to his horse and
galloped off. For a moment, Basia was in doubt, whether
to remain where she was, or ride around the bluff, and go to
the spot whence they had looked down the ravine before the
battle commenced. But she determined to stay where she
was, as she felt very tired.
Her woman's nature was asserting itself more and more
strongly. About two hundred yards away, they were merci-
lessly cutting down the last of the marauders, and a black
mass of combatants was struggling more and more fiercely
on the blood-stained battlefield. Cries of despair rent the
air, and Basia, who, a few moments before had been so
full of ardor, for some reason or other, now felt faint and
weak. She was seized with a great fear and nearly fainted,
only maintaining her seat in the saddle out of shame in
the presence of the dragoons; she turned her face away from
them to hide its pallor. The fresh air gradually restored her
strength and courage, but not to the extent of making her
anxious to renew the iwht. * If she had gone, it would have
been to beg fov mercy for those of the horde who were left.
PAN MICHAEL. 22 y
But, knowing that would be futile, she anxiously awaited the
termination of the struggle.
But there they were still cutting and slashing. There was
not a moment's cessation of the sounds of the cries and blows.
About half an hour had now passed and the troops were
pressing in more closely. Suddenly about twenty of the
raiders broke through the deadly ring and swept like a
tempest towards the bluff.
By fleeing along the cliff, they might, indeed, reach a spot
where it gradually descended into the plain, and find their
escape on the higher ground; but Basia and the dragoons
were immediately in their path. The presence of danger
brought fresh courage to Basia's heart at that moment
and restored her self-control. She saw at once that it was
certain death to stay where she was, for the mere shock
of the bandits would overthrow and trample her and her
guards under foot, without taking account of the certainty
of being sabred. The old sergeant of dragoons was evidently
of this opinion, for he grasped the bridle of Basia's pony,
turned it round, and cried almost in tones of despair:
"Gallop! gracious lady!"
Basia, alone, darted away like a whirlwind, but the
three faithful soldiers stood on the spot, like a rock, to hinder
the foe, if only for a moment, and give their beloved mis-
tress time to get away.
Meantime, other soldiers were closely pursuing the party,
but the ring, that had hitherto closely enclosed the raiders,
was broken by the movement, and the latter began to escape,
first by twos and threes, and then in greater numbers. . . .
By far the majority of them were lying on the earth, but a
few dozens, including Azba Bey, managed to flee. In a con-
fused mass they all made for the bluff as fast as their horses
could gallop.
Three dragoons were not enough to stop all the fugitives,
in fact, after a brief contest, they fell from their saddles, and
the throng, following Basia, mounted the slope of the bluff '
and reached the higher ground. The front rank of the Polish
squadrons and the Lithuanian Tartars, who were nearest,
were galloping at full speed some dozen paces behind them.
On the upland, which was numerously intersected by
treacherous holes and ravines, the whole cavalcade formed
a gigantic serpent, the head of which was Basia; the neck,
the raiders; and the rest of the body, Mellekhovich and the
228 PAN MICHAEL.
Lipkov Tartars and dragoons, headed by Pan Michael, who
was burying his spurs in the flanks of his horse, while his
heart was overwhelmed with terror.
At the moment when the little band of marauders had
broken through the circle, Pan Michael had been on the
other side, and so Mellekhovich was before him in the pur-
suit. His hair stood up on the head of the little knight, at
the thought that Basia might be captured by the fugitives,
or lose her presence of mind and make straight for the
Dniester, or that any of the robbers might reach her with a
sabre, dagger, or loaded stick, and his heart sank within him
in fear for her life. Bending down almost to his horse's
neck, his face was white, his teeth set, and a tempest of
horrible thoughts surged in his brain; he dug his sharp spurs
into his horse, beat him with the flat of his sword, and flew
along like a bustard before soaring.
In front of him fled the Tartars.
"God grant that Mellekliovich may catch them! He is on
a good horse. God grant it/' he repeated in his despair.
But his fears were exaggerated and the danger was not
so serious as it appeared to the devoted little knight. The
outlaws were thinking too much of the safety of their own
skins, and they felt the Tartars too close behind them to
trouble about pursuing a single rider, even if she were the
most beautiful houri in the Mohammedan paradise, fleeing in
a robe covered with jewels. Basia had only to turn towards
Khreptyov to avoid pursuit, for most certainly the fugitives
would not have turned back into the lion's jaws after her,
when before them was a river, with reeds among which they
could hide. The Lipkovs had better horses also, and Basia
was mounted on a steed that was vastly swifter than the usual
shaggy brutes of the horde, which had great stamina in
flight, but were slower than high-bred horses. Moreover,
not only did she preserve her presence of mind, but her
daring nature asserted itself with full force, and the cavalier
spirit again burned in her veins.
The pony was extended like a deer, and the wind was
whistling in Basia's ears, but her feeling was one of exul-
tation rather than terror.
"They might chase me for a whole year and never catch
me," she thought. "I will gallop on for a time and then turn
aside, and either let them go by, or, if they are still fallowing
me, I will put them to the sabre,"
PAN MICHAEL. 2 2$
It occurred to her that in ease the raiders behind her
were much scattered over the plain, she might meet one of
them in single combat if she were to turn back.
-Well, what of that!" she said valiantly to herself.
"Michael has taught me, so that I may boldly risk it; if I
don't they will think that 1 am running away in fear, and
will never take me on another expedition, and besides Pan
Zagloba will make fun of me. . . .
She therefore looked backwards at the raiders, but they
were all escaping in a bunch. There was no chance of a
single combat, but Basia wanted to prove, in the sight of
all, that she was not running away in terror and at haphazard.
To this end, she recollected that in her holster she had
two excellent pistols, which Michael himself had carefully
loaded before they started, she reined in her charger, or
rather, turned its head in the direction of Khreptyov.
But, to her amazement, on seeing this, the whole band
of raiders slightly altered their own course, turning more
to the left towards the edge of the bluff. Basia allowed
them to approach within a dozen paces and fired a couple
of shots at the horses that were nearest; then turning she
again broke into a gallop in the direction of Khreptyov.
But the charger had only gone a few yards as fleet as a
swallow when suddenly, in front of them, yawned a dark
hollow in the steppe. Basia thoughtlessly spurred her
steed, and the noble animal did not refuse but sprang for-
ward; however, only his forefeet landed on the opposite tank.
For a moment he made violent efforts to get a holding with
his hind feet on the steep bank; but the earth was not yet
frozen hard enough, and slipped from under his feet, and
the horse fell into the chasm with Basia.
Luckily it did not fall upon her; she managed to free her
feet from the stirrups and throwing her whole weight to one
side she fell on a thick bed of moss which covered the bottom
of the hollow like a lining; but she swooned from the force
of the concussion.
Pan Michael did not see her fall, for the Lipkov Tartars
concealed it from his sight; but Mellekhovich cried in a
terrible voice, to his men to continue the pursuit of the
raiders, and hastening to the chasm, went headlong into it.
In an instant he had dismounted and seized Basia in his
arms. His falcon eyes scrutinized her all over in an instant
to see if there was any sign of blood; then he saw the moss,
230 PAN MICHAEL.
and understood at once that it had preserved her and her
pony from death.
A stifled cry of joy escaped the lips of the young Tartar.
Basia was lying in his arms and he pressed her to his
breast with all his might, and then, with his pale lips-, he
kissed her eyes again and again as though he wished to ab-
sorb them. The whole world seemed to turn round him in
a mad whirl, and he was carried away like a tempest by the
passion which he had hitherto concealed deep in his heart,
like a Dragon in a cave.
At that moment, however,, the tramp of many horsea
echoed on the steppe above, and sounded every moment
nearer. Many voices were crying: "Here! this is the chasm,
here!" Mellekhovich laid Basia down upon the moss, and
called out to those who were approaching:
"This way, here, this way!"
In another minute Pan Michael was at the bottom of the
chasm, and was followed by Pan Zagloba, Mushalski, and
several other officers.
"There is nothing the matter with her," cried the Tartar,
"the moss saved her."
Pan Michael grasped the hands of his fainting wife, while
others ran for water which was some distance away. Za-
globa laying his hand on her head, began to cry,
"Bashka! dearest Bashka! Bashka!"
"She's all right," said Mellekhovich, as white as a corpse.
Meanwhile Zagloba put his hand to his side, took out a
flask, poured some gorzalka into his hand, and began to rub
her temples. Then he put the flask to her lips; this evi-
dently was effectual, for, before the men came back with the
water, she opened her eyes, and began to gasp and cough, for
the gorzalka had burned the roof of her mouth and throat.
In a few minutes she had entirely recovered.
Pan Michael, without thinking about the presence of the
officers and soldiers, pressed her to his heart and smothered
her hands with kisses, crying:
"Oh my love, I was nearly losing my senses. Are you not
hurt? Have you no pain?"
"There's nothing the matter," said Basia. "Ah, I re-
member now, it suddenly grew dark, for the horse slipped.
... But is the battle over?"
"Already Azba Bey is slain. We will go home immediately,
for I am afraid you will be overcome by the fatigue."
"I am not in the least tired," said Basia.
PAN MICHAEL. 23!
Then sharply glancing at those present her nostrils diluted
as she exclaimed:
"Gentlemen, don't think that I ran away out of fear. 0!
I did not even dream of it. As I love Michael, I only gal-
loped ahead of them in spo^rt, and then I fired my pistols.''
"One horse was shot, and we captured the robber alive,"
said Mellekhovich.
"Besides," continued Basia, "an accident of that kind
might happen to anyone when galloping, mightn't it? No
experience can guard against that, and a horse will sometimes
slip. Ah! it's lucky that you kept your eye on me, gentle-
men, for I might have lain here for a long time."
"Pan Mellekhovich was the first to see you and save you,
for he was ahead of us," said Pan Michael.
When Basia heard this, she turned to the young Tartar,
and held out her hand.
"I thank yon for your kind assistance."
He did not answer, but merely pressed her hand to his
lips, and then submissively embraced her feet, like a pea-
sant.
Meanwhile others of the squadron collected at the edge of
the chasm; Pan MichaeJ merely ordered Mellekhovich to sur-
round the few robbers who had hidden from pursuit, and then
started for Khreptyov. On the way, Basia again saw the
field of battle from the bluff.
Many bodies of men and horses lay about, some in heaps,
and some by themselves; through the blue sky flocks of
crows were coming in greater and greater numbers, cawing
loudly and settling some distance oft', awaiting the moment
when the soldiers, who were still moving about the plain,
should have departed.
"Those are the soldiers' grave-diggers," said Zagloba, point-
ing his sabre at the birds, "just as soon as we are gone, the
wolves also will come with their band, and, with their tedh,
will toll the bell over these corpses. This is a great victory,
though gained over such an infamous enemy, for that Azba
has ravaged this district for many years. Commanders have
hunted him like a wolf, but always in vain, till finally, he met
Michael, and his black hour came."
"Is Azba Bey slain?"
"Mellekhovicli was the first to overtake him, and, if "he
didn't give him a cut, above the ear! He was cloven to the
teeth."
23*
PAS' MICHAEL.
"Mellekhovich is a good soldier/' cried Basia.
Then she turned to Zagloha:
"Did you do much?"
"I didn't chirp like a cricket, nor jump like a flea, because
I leave such games for insects. But if I didn't, people didn't
have to hunt for me among the moss, like mushrooms; no
one pulled my nose> nor poured anything into my mouth."
"I don't love you," cried Basia, pouting, as she put her
hand instinctively up to her little red nose.
And he looked at her and smiled and muttered, still jest-
ing:
"You fought valiantly, you ran away valiantly, you fell
valiantly head-over-heels, and now, because of the aches in
your bones, you will stow away grits so valiantly, that we
shall have to take care so that the sparrows don't peck you
and your valor up for they are very fond of grits.
"You are trying to stop Michael from taking me on another
expedition. I know you well!"
"That's so, that is so! I will beg him always to take you
nutting because you are very clever and do not break the
branches. My God, My God, what gratitude! Who induced
Michael to let you go? I! Now I am reproaching myself
for it, especially as this is the way I get paid for my kindness.
Wait, at Khreptyov, you shall cut stalks now with a wooden
sword. There's an expedition for you! Any other woman
would hug the old man. But this scolding devil first fright-
ens me to death and then goes for me."
Basia immediately threw her arms around Zagloba's neck.
He was enraptured, and cried, "Well, well! I must confess
that you helped to gain the victory to-day, because the sol-
diers fought with double fury, for each one wanted to show
his valor."
"On my life," cried Pan Mushalski, "a man does not mind
dying with such eyes watching him."
"Long live our lady," cried Pan Nyenashinyets.
"Long life to her!" cried a hundred voices.
"God grant her health!"
Here Za^loba leaned towards her and murmured:
"After delicate health!"
And they rode forward in great joy, shouting aloud in
anticipation of a great feast that evening. It was beautiful
weather. The music of the drums and trumpets struck up
among the troops and they all entered Khreptyov in tumul-
tuous confusion.
CHAPTER VII.
To their great surprise Ilie Volodiyovskis found guests at
Khreptyov. Pan Bogush had arrived with the intention of
taking up his abode there for some months in order to enter
into communications through Mellekhovich with the Tartar
leaders Aleksandrovich, Moravski, Tvorovski, Krychinski,
and others of the Lipkov and Cheremi Tartars who had taken
service under the Sultan. Pan Bogush was also accompanied
by old Pan Novovyeyski and his daughter Eva, and Pani
Boska, a sedate lady, with her daughter Panna Zosia, who was
in her early youth very beautiful. The delight of the
soldiers was almost as great as their astonishment at the sight
of the ladies in the wild region of Khreptyov. The guests
too were considerably astonished when they first saw the
colonel and his wife, for from his face they had imagined him
to be some kind of a giant whose very look was terrifying,
and his wife a giantess with frowning brow and a harsh voice.
Instead of which they beheld a little soldier with a kind and
gentle face and a diminutive woman, a rosy little bird, who
looked more like a little boy than an adult, with her wide
trousers and sabre. The hosts welcomed their guests with
open arms. Basia immediately kissed the three women before
being introduced to them and when she heard who they were
and whence they had come, she said:
"It would give me pleasure if I could bow down the
heavens for you, ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to see
you! It is fortunate that that you have met with no disagree-
able experiences on the road, for in this wilderness it is not
an unusual thing; but we have cut the marauders to pieces
this very day."
Noticing Pani Boska's look of amazement, she slapped her
sabre, and said very boastfully:
"I also was present at the battle! Of course I was! That
is usual with us! For Heaven's sake! I must ask you ladies
kindly to excuse me while I retire and resume 'the garb of my
own sex and wash a little of the blood of! my hands; for I
(233)
234 PAN MICHAEL.
have been in a terrible fight. Oh, if we hadn't slain Azba
to-day, perhaps you might not have reached Khreptyov with-
out accident. I will return in an instant, and meanwhile,
Michael will entertain you/'
She disappeared and the little knight, who had already
welcomed Pan Novovyeyski advanced to Pani Boska, and
said:
"God has given me such a treasure of a wife that not only
is she a loving domestic companion but a brave comrade in
the field. At her behest I submit myself to your ladyship's
commands."
Pani Boska replied:
"May God bless her in everything as He has in beauty; I
have not come to ask for hospitality from your lordship, but
on my knees to implore your assistance in my misfortune.
Zosia, accompany me also on your knees before the knight,
for if he cannot help us no one can."
Pani Boska then knelt down and the lovely Zosia followed
her example, both weeping bitterly and crying:
"Save us knights! Have compassion on orphans!"
A throng of officers, whose curiosity was aroused by the
sight of the kneeling women, and especially by- the lovely
Zosia, approached; the little knight was greatly troubled and
raised Pani Boska, and led her to a seat.
"For God's sake, what are you doing?" he cried. "It is
rather for me to kneel before a noble woman. Tell me, lady,
how I can help you and, as God is in Heaven, I will not hesi-
tate."
"He will do it; for my part I offer my own services. I am
Zagloba, and that's enough !" cried the old warrior touched by
the distress of the two women.
Pani Boska then signed to Zosia who hastily took a letter
from her bosom and handed it to the little knight.
He looked at it and said:
"From the Hetman!"
He then broke the seal and began to read:
"Most dear and beloved Volodiyovski ! By the hand of
Pan Bogush I send you my true affection and recommend-
ations which he will confide to you in person. I have
scarcely had time to rest from my fatigues at Yavorov when
another matter immediately arises. It is very near my heart
because of my aifection for all soldiers, whom if I forget may
the Lord forget me! Pan Boska, a very worthy knight and a
PAN MICHAEL.
235
dear companion was captured by the horde some years ago
near Kamenets. I have afforded shelter to his wife and
daughter in Yavorov; but their hearts grieve for a husband
and a father respectively. I wrote, by means of Pyotrovich,
to Pan Zlotnitski, our resident in the Crimea, to search every-
where for Pan Boska, It seems that he was found, but after-
wards he was hidden by the Tartars; so that he could not be
released with the rest of the prisoners and he is now doubt-
less rowing in a galley. The women are hopeless and in
despair and have ceased to trouble me with their entreaties,
but when I returned lately and saw that their sorrow was as
sharp as ever I could not help making some attempt to aid
them. You are in the district and I know have formed
brotherhood with several Tartar chiefs. I therefore send the
ladies to you and pray you to help them. Pyotrovich will
soon be going to the Crimea. Supply him with letters to all
your brotherhood. I cannot write either to the vizir or Khan,
as we are not friendly, and moreover I am afraid that if I did
they would think that Boska was a very important person-
age, and raise the ransom beyond all reason in consequence
Impress upon Pyotrovich the importance of the matter and
order him not to return without Boska. Communicate also
with your brothers, as, although they are Infidels, they always
keep their sworn faith and must hold you in great respect.
Lastly, do what you think best; go to Rashkov and offer to
exchange three of the most important Tartars for Boska if
sent back alive. Nobody knows their ways better than you
do, for I understand that you have already managed the ran-
som of relatives. God bless you, and I will love you more
than ever, for my heart will cease to bleed over this business.
I have heard that all is quiet in your command in Khreptyov.
I anticipated that. Only keep a sharp eye on Azba. Pan
Bogueh will give you all the news about public affairs. For
God's sake, keep an attentive ear towards Moldavia, for a
great invasion is certainly coming. Committing Pani Boska
to your kindness and best efforts, I subscribe myself, etc." ,
During the reading of this letter Pani Boska's tears never
ceased to flow and she was joined by Zosia who lifted her blue
eyes to Heaven.
Before Pan Michael had ended Basia came running in in
female attire and at the sight of the tears of the ladies began
to ask anxiously what was the matter. So Pan Michael read
the letter again to her, and after listening to it attentively
236 /^A T MICHAEL.
she immediately and eagerly added her prayers io those of the
Hetman and Paul Boska.
"The Hetman has a heart of gold/' Basia cried as she em-
braced her husband, "and we must not be behindhand with
him, dear Michael. Pani Boska shall stay with us until her
husband's return.
And in three months you will bring him back from' th2
Crimea; in three or even two; eh?"
"Or to-morrow, or in an hour/ 7 said Pan Michael jestingly.
Then he turned to Pani Boska:
"Resolutions are sudden with my wife, you see!"
"God bless her for it," said Pani Boska. "Zosia, kiss the
hand of the lady-commander."
But the lady-commander had no intention of giving her
hands to be kissed; she again embraced Zosia, for they had
taken a liking to each other from the very first.
"Help us, noble gentlemen," she cried, "help, help! and
quickly too."
"Quickly, for her head is on fire," Zagloba muttered.
But Basia, shaking her golden locks, cried:
"It is not my head, but the hearts of these ladies, are burn-
ing with grief."
"No one will oppose you in your kind intentions," said
Pan Michael, "but we must first hear all the circumstances of
Pani Boska's story."
"Zosia, relate everything as it happened, for my tears pre-
vent me," said the matron.
Zosia lowered her eyes to the ground, till the lids entirely
hid them, then she flushed as red as a cherry, not knowing
how to commence, and was very confused at having to talk in
the presence of so many people.
But Basia came to her aid.
"Zoska, when was Pan Boska captured?"
"Five years ago, in '67," Zosia replied in a faint voice, with-
out lifting her long lashes.
And, without stopping to take breath, she began to tell the
stoVy.
"At that time, forays were not heard of, and dear papa's
squadron was near Panyovtsi. Papa with Pan Bulayovski
was looking after men who were guarding cattle in the fields
when the Tartars came along the Wallachian road and cap-
tured papa with Pan Bulayovski; but Pan Bulayovski returned
two years ago and papa is not yet with us."
PAN MICHAEL.
237
Here two tiny tears began to trickle down Zosia's red
cheeks, at the sight of which Zagloba was greatly moved and
exclaimed:
"Poor little bird! . . . Never fear child, papa will yet ce-
turn and dance at your wedding."
''But, did the lietman write to Pan Zlotnitski, by Pyotro
vich?" asked Pan Michael.
"The Hetman wrpte about -papa to the Sword-Bearer oj
Posen by Pan Pyotrovich," continued Zozia and the Sword-
Bearer and Pan Pyotrovich discovered papa with Aga Murza
Bey."
"For Heaven's sake! I know that Murza Bey. I was in
^brotherhood' with his brother," said Pan Michael. Wouldn't
he release Pan Boska?"
"The Khan issued orders for papa's release, but Murza Bey
is harsh and cruel; he concealed papa and told Pan Pyotrovich
that he had sold him into Asia long before. But other cap-
tives told Pan Pyotrovich that it wasn't true, and that the
Murza Bey said that for an excuse, so that he might ill-treat
papa all the longer, for of all the Tartars, there is none so
cruel to captives as he. It may be that at that time papa was
not in the Crimea, because the Murza has galleys of his own,
and needs rowers. But papa certainly had not been sold, for
all the captives said that the Murza would rather kill a
prisoner than sell him."
"God's truth," cried Pan Mushalski, "that Murza Aga Bey
is notorious throughout the Crimea. He is a very wealthy
Tartar, but extremely bitter against our people, because four
of his brothers fell in battle against us."
"But has he never been of our brotherhood?" Pan Michael
inquired.
"It is doubtful," cried one officer after another.
"Explain once for all to me, what that brotherhood is,"
said Basia.
"You must know," said Zagloba, "that when treaties are
made on the conclusion of a war, members of both armies
pay each other visits and become friends. It then happens
that an officer will become attached to a Murza, and a Murza
to an officer; then they vow a life friendship to each other,
which they term Brotherhood. The more famous a man is,
such as Michael, or I, or Pan Rushchyts, who is now in com-
mand in Raslikov,the more eagerly hisbrotherhood is sought:
It is evident that such a man will not form brotherhood with
238 J^V MICHAEL.
a common man, but will only seek for it among the most
celebrated Murzas. The ceremony is as follows: They pour
water over their sabres and swear mutual friendship. Do
you comprehend?''
"And what if war ensues?"
"They can fight in a general Avar, but if they meet face to
face, or come across each other in skirmishing, they greet one
another and part amicably. Moreover, if one of them be-
comes a captive, the other is forced to do all he can to allevi-
ate his lot, and if it comes to the worst, to ransom him; in-
deed there have been some cases in which these brothers have
shared their property with each other. When it is a matter
of friends or acquaintances, or of discovering someone, one
brother goes to another; and in justice we must confess that
no race keeps its oaths more exactly than the Tartars. Their
word is everything, and you can surely count on such a
friend."
"But lias Michael many of these?"
"I have three powerful Murzas," replied Pan Michael; "one
of them dates from Lubni days. I begged him from Prince
Yeremy on one occasion. His name is Aga Bey and even
now, if it were necessary, he would lay down his life for my
sake. The other two are equally trustworthy."
"Ah!" Basia cried, "I should like to form brotherhood with
the Khan in person and free the whole of the prisoners."
"He would not mind that," said Zakloba, "but who can tell
what he would demand in return."
"AlloAV me, gentlemen," said Pan Michael, "let us consider
what is to be done. Listen now, we have intelligence from
Kamcnets that in two weeks at the latest Pyotrovich, will
arrive with a large following. He will go to the Crimea to
ransom several Armenian merchants from Kamenets, who
were plundered and captured when another Khan came into
power. Seferovich, the brother of Pretor, was one of the
sufferers. They are all very rich and money is no object, so
that Pyotrovich will go well provided. He is not in any
danger, for in the first place, winter is approaching and this
is not the season for chambuls, and in the second, he will be
accompanied by Naviragh, the envoy of the Patriarch of
TTzmiadzin, and the two Anardrats of Kaffa, who are sup?
plied with safe-conducts by the young Khan. I will give let?
ters to Pyotrovich for the natives of the Commonwealth and
for my ^brothers/ Besides, gentlemen, you are awarg that
PAN MICHAEL. 239
Pan Rushchyts, the commander at Kashkov, has relations
among the Horde, who were captured in early youth, and
have become thoroughly Tartar, and have risen to office.
These will all move heaven and earth, and will attempt to
negotiate; in case the Murza proves stubborn they will stir up
against him the Khan himself, or perhaps they will find some
means of privately wringing his neck; consequently, I hope
that if, by God's grace, Pan Boska is still alive, I shall get
possession of him in a month or two, in accordance with the
commands of the Hetman and my immediate superior, here
present." (Here Pan Michael bowed to his wife).
His commander sprang to embrace the little knight again.
Pani and Panna Boska clasped their hands and returned
thanks to God for having permitted them to meet with such
kind people. They both become very cheerful.
"If only the old Khan were alive," said Pan Nyenashinyets,
"it would be much easier, for he was greatly attached to us,
and they tell the contrary about the young one. In fact,
those very Armenian merchants who are the objects of Pan
Zakhar Pyrotrovich's journey, were taken prisoners in
Bakhche-Serai under the young Khan, and most likely by his
orders."
"The young Khan will alter as the old one did, who was the
most inveterate foe of the Poles before he came to be con-
vinced of our honesty," said Zagloba, "I know this better than
any one, for I was his captive for seven years."
Then he took a seat beside Pani Boska.
"Let the sight of me comfort your ladyship. Seven years
is no joke, and yet, I came back and destroyed so many of
those dog-brothers, that I despatched at least two of them to
hell for every single day of my captivity, and who can say
that there are not three or four for each Sunday and holiday,
eh?"
"Seven years!" repeated Pani Boska with a sigh.
"May I die, if I exaggerated it by a day. Seven years in
the very palace of the Khan," asserted Zagloba, winking
n\ysteriously. "And you must know that the young Kahn is
my . . ."
Here he whispered something into Pani Boska's ear and
burst into a loud "Ha! ha! ha!" and began to rub his knees.
At last he slapped Pani Boska on the knees, and cried:
"Those were good days, weren't they? In youth, every
man you met was a foe ; and every day saw a fresh frolic, eh?"
240 PAN MICHAEL.
The sedate lady was greatly confused and drew oack some-
what from the jovial knight; the younger ladies lowered their
eyes, readily imagining that the frolics to which Pan Zagloba
was referring were subversive of their natural modesty, more
especially since the soldiers burst out laughing.
"It will be necessary to send Pan Eushchyts immediately,"
Baid Basia, "so that Pan Pyrotrovich may find the letters
ready for him in Rashkov."
"Make haste with the whole business, gentlemen," added
Pan Bogush, "while it is still winter, for in the first place,
there are no chambuls about, and the roads are safe; and in
the second, God only knows what may happen in the Spring."
"Has the Hetman any news from Tsarograd?" asked Pan
Michael.
"He has. But we must talk of that in private. Haste is
needed in bringing to an end the business regarding those
chiefs. When will Mellekhovich return? because a great
deal depends on him."
"All he has to do is to kill the remainder of the marauders
and then bury the dead. He ought to be back to-night or
to-morrow morning. I ordered him to bury only our men,
not Azba's, for winter is close at hand and there is no danger
of infection; besides the wolves will get rid of them."
"It is the Hetman's desire," said Pan Bogush, "that no ob-
stacles should be placed in the way of Mellekhovich's work.
He is to go to Rashkov as often as he desires. The Hetman
also requests that he should be trusted completely, for his
devotion is sure. He is a great warrior, and may be very
useful to us."
"Let him go to Rashkov and wherever he likes," the little
knight replied. "Now that we have destroyed Azba, I have
no great need of him. Till the first grass springs no large
body will appear now."
"Is Azba destroyed, then?" asked Pan Novovyeyski.
"So terribly cut up, that I doubt if twenty-five men es-
caped, and even they will be captured one by one, even if
Mellekhovich has not already caught them."
"I am delighted to hear that," said Novovyeyski, "for it
will now be possible to travel to Rashkov in safety."
Then he turned to Basia:
"We shall be able to take the letters, which her ladyship
here has spoken of, to Pan Rushchyts."
"Thank you," Basia replied, "here there are frequent op-
portunities, for we send couriers express."
PAN MICHAEL. 241
"Communication must be kept up between all the com-
mands," explained Pan Michael. "But are you really going
to Rashkov with this lovely maiden?"
"Oh, she is no beauty, but only a common puss, noble bene-
factor," said Novovyeyski, "and I am going to Rashkov be-
cause my rascal of a son is serving there under the banner of
Pan Rushchyts. It is nearly ten years since he ran away
from home, and he knocks at my paternal forgiveness with
letters only."
Pan Michael almost clapped his hands.
"I guessed immediately that you were the father of Pan
Adam, and I was going to ask you, but we were so absorbed
with grief for Pani Boska. . I guessed it immediately because
your features resemble one another. So he is your son. ?"
"So his departed mother stated, and as she was a virtuous
woman, I have no reason to doubt it."
"I am doubly glad to have you for my guest. But for
Heaven's sake don't call your son a rascal, because he is a
famous soldier, and a worthy cavalier, who reflects the highest
honor on your lordship. Don't you know that he is the best
fighter in the company, next to Pan Rushchyts. Don't you
know that the Hetman regards him as the eye of his head.
He is entrusted with independent commands and has carried
them all out with the greatest credit."
Pan Novovyeyski blushed with pleasure.
"Noble Colonel," he said, "many a time a father only finds
fault with his child for the sake of hearing somebody contra-
dict him, and I think that a parent's heart cannot be more
greatly pleased than by such contradiction. I have already
heard reports of Adam's good service, but this is the first time
on which I am really satisfied, hearing as I do, the confirm-
ation of these reports from such celebrated lips. They say
that not only is he a valiant warrior, but a steady character,
which is a great surprise to me, as he was always a tempest.
The little rascal always had a taste for war from his earliest
years, and the proof is that he was only a boy when he ran
away from home. If I could have caught him then, I would
not have let him off. But I must now, otherwise he would
hide from me for another ten years, and I am an old man, and
lonely without him."
"And hasn't he been home for so many years?"
"I forbade him. But I have had enough of that, and now,
since he is in service and cannot come to me, I am going to
16
242
PAN MICHAEL.
him. I had intended to ask both of your graces to afford a
shelter to this maiden while I proceeded by myself to
.Rashkov, but since you say that everything is safe, I will
take her with me; she is curious to see the world, the magpie.
And so she shall."
"And let people look at her," Zagloba interrupted.
"Ah, there wouldn't be anything to look at," said the
maiden, whose dark eyes and lips pouting as if to be kissed
seemed to assert the contrary.
"An ugly puss, nothing but a puss," cried Pan Novovy-
eyski. "But if she were to see a handsome officer, something
might occur, and so I rather chose to bring her along than to
leave her behind, particularly as it is dangerous for a girl to
be alone at home. But if I go alone to Rashkov I advise her
ladyship to order her to be tied up with a cord, or else she
will get skittish."
"I was just the same," said Basia.
"They gave her a distaff to spin with," said Zagloba, "she
took it for a partner to dance with, as she hadn't anyone
better. But you're a jovial fellow, Pan Novovyeyski. Basia,
I should like to have a passage or two with Pan Novovyeyski,
for sometimes I am also fond of a jest. . . . ''
In the meanwhile, before they had served supper, the door
opened and Mellekhovich came in. At first Pan Novovyeyski
did not notice him, as he was talking to Zagloba, but Eva saw
him and suddenly her cheeks flamed and then she grew pale.
"Commandant," said Mellekhovich to Michael, "those men
were captured according to your orders."
"Well, where are they?"
"I had them hanged according to orders."
"Well done, and have your men returned?"
"Some of them stayed to bury the bodies, the others are
with me."
At this moment, Pan Novovyeyski lifted his head and his
face betrayed intense surprise.
"For God's sake, w r hat do I see?" he cried.
Then he arose and advanced towards Mellekhovich and
cried:
"Azya, what are you doing here, you villain?"
He raised his hand to seize the Tartar by the throat. But
suddenly a change came over Mellekhovich just as if a hand-
full of powder were cast into the flames; he grew as pallid as
a corpse, and seizing Novovyeyski's hands in a grasp of iron,
Jie exclaimed:
PAX MICHAEL.
243
"I don't know you; who are you?"
And he pushed him so violently that Novovyeyski stag-
gered into the middle of the room.
For some moments his rage prevented him from uttering
a word; hut, recovering his breath, he cried:
"Noble Colonel, this is my man, and moreover, a runaway.
He was in my house from his infancy. The villain denies it!
He is my man. Eva, who is he? Speak!"
"Azya!" cried Panna Eva, trembling all over.
Mellekhovich did not even glance at her; with his eyes fast-
enedTon Novovyeyski, and with quivering nostrils, he glared
at the old nohle with unspeakable hate, grasping the handle
of his knife.
At the same time his moustaches began to quiver and be-
neath them gleamed white teeth like those of an enraged
wild beast.
The officers stood round in a circle: Basia darted in be-
tween Mellekhovich and Novovyeyski.
"What does this mean ?" she asked with frowning brow.
Her presence somewhat quieted the disturbance.
"Commandant, this is my man," said Novovyeyski, "by
name, Azya, and a runaway. In my youth I was serving in
the Ukraine, I found him half dead in the steppe and took
him. He is a low Tartar. Twenty years he lived in my house
and was educated with my son. When my son ran away this
man helped me in managing my land, till he wanted to make
love to Eva, when I had him flogged and he ran away. What
name does he bear here?"
"Mellekhovich."
"That's an assumed name; he is called Azya, and nothing
else. He says he does not know me; but I know him, and so
does Evukha." 1
"For God's sake! your lordship's son has often seen him,"
eaid Basia, "why didn't he recognize him?"
"Perhaps my son might not, for they were both fifteen years
of age when he ran away from home, and this man stayed six
years longer with me, during which he altered considerably,
growing up and getting a moustache. But Evukha knew
him immediately. Noble sirs, you will more readily believe a
citizen than this waif from the Crimea!"
"Pan Mellekhovich is one of the Hetman's officers," said
Basia. "We can't interfere with him."
l Evka, Evukha ; diminutives of Eva.
244
PAN MICHAEL.
"Allow me, let me question him. Let us also hear th
other side," said the little knight."
But Pan Novovyeyski was burning with rage.
"Pan Mellekhovich! what sort of a Pan is he? My servant
boy, who has concealed himself under a strange name. To-
morrow, I'll make my dog the keeper of that Pan, and the
day after, I'll give orders for that Pan to be beaten with
clubs. And the Hetman himself cannot prevent me, for I
am a Noble, and know my rights."
To this, Pan Michael replied, sharply, as his lips quivered:
"I am not only a noble, but a Colonel, and I also know my
rights. You can make the demand for your man by legal
process, and appeal to the Hetman's jurisdiction, but I com-
mand here and no one else."
Pan Novovyeyski immediately moderated his tone, remem-
bering that he was talking not only to a military commander,
but his own son's superior officer, and moreover, to the most
celebrated knight in the Commonwealth.
"Pan Colonel," he said more mildly, "I will not seize him
against your will, but I assert my rights, and I ask you to be-
lieve me."
"Mellekhovich, what have you to say to this?" asked Pan
Michael.
The Tartar fixed his eyes on the floor, and was silent.
"We all know that your name is Azya," continued Pan
Michael,
"There are other proofs to be looked for," said Novov-
yeyski "if he is my man, there are two fish tatooed in blue on
his -breast."
When he heard this, Pan Nyenashinyets opened his eyes
and mouth to their full extent; and then he clutched at his
hair and cried:
"Azya, son of Tukhay Bey!"
All eyes were turned upon him; he trembled all over, as if
all his wounds had re-opened, and he repeated:
"That is my captive; that is the son of Tukhay Bey. As
God lives, it is he."
But the young Tartar proudly raised his head and cast a
glance like that of a wild-cat on those present and, suddenly
tearing apart the dress that covered his broad breast, he cried:
"Here are the blue tatooed fish. I am the son of Tukhay
Bey/'
CHAPTER YIIL
Everybody was silent, so great was the impression made by
the name of that terrible warrior. Tukhay Bey was that man,
who, together with the dreaded Khmyelnitski, had shaken the
Commonwealth to its foundations; he had shed a whole ocean
of Polish blood; he had trampled under the hoofs of his horses
the Ukraine, Volhynia., Podolia,. and the lands of Galicia; he
had destroyed towns and fortresses, he had wasted villages
with fire, and taken captive tens of thousands of people. The
son of that man was now standing in the presence of the gar-
rison of Khreptyov, saying to their faces, "On my breast are
blue fish; I am Azya, bone of the bone of Tukhay Bey!" But
at that time people held great blood in such high respect, that
notwithstanding the terror which must have been roused in
each soldier's heart by the name of the celebrated Murza,
Mellekhovich now grew before their eyes as if he had assumed
the whole of his father's greatness.
They all looked at him in amazement, particularly the
women, who are always greatly charmed by a sense of mystery;
moreover, as though his confession had raised him in his own
eyes, he became more haughty and did not lower his head in
the least, but finally said:
"That noble," pointing at Novovyeyski, says that I am his
man, that is true, but I reply, 'My father set on horseback
better men than he is/ He also says truly that I was with
him, for it was so, and beneath his rods my back streamed
with blood, which, as God lives, I shall not forget. To escape
his pursuit I assumed the name of Mellekhovich. But now,
although I might have gone to the Crimea, I am serving this
country with my blood and health, and no one is ovor me but
the Hetman. My father was related to the Khan, nml luxury
and riches awaited me in the Crimea, but I despised them and
stayed here, for I love this country, and the Hetman, and all
who have never treated me with contempt."
As he ended he bowed to Pan Michael and then bowed so
low to Basia, that his head almost touched his knees, and
(943)
24 6 PAN MICHAEL.
then without another glance at any one he put his sabre
under his arm and left.
For some moments the silence was unbroken. Zagloba was
the first to speak.
"Aha! where is Pan Snitko? Didn't I say that a wolf
looked out of the eyes of that Azya, and isn't he the son of a
wolf?"
"The son of a lion," said Pan Michael, "and who knows
that he doesn't take after his father?"
"By the living God, gentlemen, did you see how his teeth
gleamed, just like old Tukhay's used to when he was in a
rage," said Pan Mushalski. "That alone would have made
me recognize him, for I often saw old Tukhay."
"Not so often as I did," answered Zagloba.
"I understand now," said Bogush, "why the Lipkovs and
Cheremis are so devoted to him. They regard the name of
Tukhay as sacred. By the living God! If that man wanted
to do so, he could carry over every Tartar to the service of the
Sultan, and give us much trouble."
"He won't do that," replied Pan Michael, "for it is true, as
he has said, that he loves the country and the Hetman; or he
would not be serving with us when he is able to go to the
Crimea and swim in luxury there. This he has not enjoyed
with us."
"He wont do it," answered Pan Bogush, "for, if he had
wanted to, he could have done so already, there was nothing to
hinder him."
"On the contrary," added Nyenashinyets, "it is my opinion
that he will lure back to the Gommonwealth the traitorous
captains who deserted it.
"Pan Novovyeyski," suddenly cried Zagloba, "if you had
known that he was the son of Tukhay Bey, perhaps then
perhaps eh ' . . . ' J
"Instead of, three hundred I should have ordered him to
receive a thousand and three hundred blows. May the light-
ning strike me if I wouldn't do it. Gentlemen, it's a wonder
to me that, as he was Tukhay Bey's cub, he didn't run away
10 the Crimea. It must be that he did not discover it long
before, for he knew nothing about it while he was with me.
I f 's a great surprise to me, I assure you, but for Heaven's
seke, don't trust him. Gentlemen, I have known him longer
taaa you heve^ and I will only say this; the devil i& not so
PAN MICHAEL. 247
cunning, a mad dog is not so dangerous, nor a wolf so savage
and cruel as that man. He will make fools of you all yet." 1
"You don't know what you are talking about, said Mushal-
ski, "we have all seen him under fire at Kalnik, Uman,
Bratslav, and on a hundred other occasions."
"He will not forget his own people, he will have revenge,"
"But he slew Azba's marauders to-day. How do you ac-
count for that?"
Meanwhile Basia was all aflame, for the history of Melle-
khovich strongly interested her, but she wanted such a begin-
ning to have an appropriate conclusion and so, nudging Evka
Xovovyeyski, she whispered in her .ear:
"But you were in love with, him, Evka, confess now, don't
deny it, you were in love with him! You are still, aren't you?
I'm sure you are; be frank with me, whom can you confide
in, if not me, a woman, too? His blood is almost royal. The
Hetman will procure for him not one, but ten nobilities. Pan
Novovyeyski will not make any opposition. Of course Azya
is still in love with you! I am sure of it; I know, I know!
Fear not! he has confidence in me. I will question him im-
mediately, he will confess to me without .being put to the
torture. You were desperately in love with him, and you still
love him, don't you?"
Evka was half dazed. When Azya had first made love to
her she was almost a child, and afterwards she had not seen
him for several years, and had ceased to think of him. She
only remembered him as a. passionate youth who was half-
companion to her brother and half-servant. But now, she
saw him again; he now appeared handsome, and wild as a
falcon, a great warrior and, moreover, the son of a princely
though foreign line, consequently young Azya looked alto-
gether different; and she was stunned, though at the same
time charmed and dazzled at his appearance. Memories of
him came back to her as in a dream. She could not fall in
love with him at a moment's notice, but in an instant she
felt her heart quite ready to love him.
Basin being unable to question her closely in company,
took her and Zosia Boska into an alcove and again began to
insist:
"Evka, quick, tell me instantly, do you love him?"
The blood flamed in Evka's face. She was a hot-blooded
* Literally, He will pear tallow under your skin.
24 g PAX MICHAEL.
brunette with dark hair and eyes, and at the least mention
of love, the blood would flush her cheeks.
'fEvkfr!" reiterated Basia for the tenth time, "do you love
him?"
"I don't know," Panna JSTovovyeyski answered, after paus-
ing a moment.
"But you don't deny it: ah! I know! Don't hesitate, I was
the first to tell Michael that I loved him; there was no harm
in it, and it was a good thing. You must have been desper-
ately in love with each other long ago. Ah! I comprehend
it all now. It is pining for you that has always made him
so gloomy, he has gone about like a wolf. The poor soldier
has almost wasted away; what happened between you? Tell
me!"
"He told me in the storehouse that he loved me," whispered
Evka.
"In the storehouse! . . . And what then?"
"Then he caught me in his arms and began to kiss me,"
she continued in a still lower tone.
"Haven't I found him out, that Mellekhovich! and what
did you do?"
"I was afraid to scream."
"Afraid to scream! Zoska! Do you hear that? . . . When
were your amours discovered?"
"Father came in and he immediately struck at him with an
axe; then he whipped me and ordered him such a beating
that he wasn't able to get out of his bed for a fortnight."
Here Panna Novovyeyski began to cry, partly with grief
and partly with shame. On seeing it, the tender-hearted
Zosia Boska's dark blue eyes filled with tears and Ba^ia
immediately tried to console Evka.
"It will all come right, I'll stake my head on it. And I'll
make Michael and Pan Zagloba help us in the matter. I'll
persuade them, don't fear. Pan Zagloba's wits can overcome
everything, you don't know him, don't cry, Evka dear, supper
is ready." . . .
Mellekhovich did not appear at supper. He was sitting
before the fire in his own room, warming gorzalka and mead,
pouring it into a smaller cup and drinking it while he
munched some dry biscuits. Later, during the evening, Pan
Bogrush came to talk over the news.
The Tartar immediately gave him a chair lined with sheep-
skin, and asked, as he placed before him a hot pitcher of
liquor;
7M.V MICHAEL.
249
''Does Pan Novovyeyski still want to make me his slave?"
"There is no longer any talk of that," replied the Lieuten-
ant-Governor of iNovgorod. "Pan Nyenashinyets has the
first claim to you, but he doesn't care anything about it, be-
cause either his sister must be dead by this time, or else has
no desire to change her lot. Pan Novovyeyski had no idea
who you were when he had you punished for making love to
his daughter. ISTow he seems halt'-stunned, for although your
father wrought infinite evil on this land, still he was a famous
warrior, and blood is blood. As God is in heaven, no one will
raise a finger against you as long as you serve the country
faithfully, particularly as you have friends in all directions/'
"Why shouldn't I serve it faithfully?" replied Azya. "My
father fought against you, but he was an Infidel, while I am a
professed Christian."
"That's just it, just it! You can't return to the Crimea
without giving up your faith, which entails giving up your
salvation, and so, no earthly riches, dignities, nor rank could
compensate you. The truth is that you ought to be grateful
both to Pan Nyenashinyets and Pan Novovyeyski: the former
for bringing you away from the Infidels, and the latter for
bringing you up in the true faith."
"I know/' said Azya, "that I ought to be grateful to them,
and I will do my best to repay them. You have truly re-
marked that here I have found a great many benefactors."
"You say that as if you had a bitter taste in your mouth,
but reckon up your friends" to yourself."
"First of all come his Highness the Hetman, and yourself,
I will repeat that until I die. I know not what others there
may be." . . .
"How about the commander of this post? Do you think
that he would give you up to anyone, even if yon were not
the son of Tukhay Bey? And then, Pani Yolodiyovski, I
heard what she said about you at supper. . . . Even
before that she took your part when Novovyeyski recognized
you. Pan Michael would do anything in the world for her,
why he can't see anything beside her, and no sister couFd feel
more affectionately towards a brother than she does towards
you. Nothing but your name was on her lips all through
supper." . . .
The young Tartar suddenly lowered his head and began to
blow into his cup of hot liquor, and as he protruded his bluish
lips to blow, his face became so characteristically Tartar, that
Pan Bogush cried:
250 PAN MICHAEL.
"By Heavens! you have no idea how exactly you resembled
the old Tukhay Bey a moment ago. It surpasses imagination.
I knew him very well. I saw him in the Khan's palace, and
in the field, and was in his camp twenty times at the very
least."
"May God bless the just and may the pestilence rot the
unjust!" cried Azya. "The Hetman's health!"
Pan Bogush drank the toast and said:
"Health and long life! It is true that we who are with
him are only a handful, but we are true soldiers. God grant
that we shall not be mastered by those scoundrels whose only
ability is to intrigue at the primary diets and accuse the
Hetman of treason to the King. The villains! Night and
day we stand with our faces to the foe and they gather around
the kneading-tubs that are filled with chopped meat and cab-
bage and millet and beat on them with their spoons. That's
all they do. The Hetman sends messenger after messenger
praying for reinforcements for Kamenets. Like Cassandra,
he foretells the destruction of Ilium and Priam's subjects;
but they pay no attention to it and only try to discover
offences against the King."
"What is your lordship speaking about?"
"Nothing. I was comparing Kamenets with Troy, but of
course you haven't heard of Troy. Wait a little, the Hetman,
I vouch, will gain you your nobility. Public affairs are such
that the opportunity will not be wanting if you really want
to cover yourself with glory."
"I shall either cover myself with glory or the earth will
cover me. As there is a God in Heaven, you will hear of
me!"
"But those men? What is Krychinski doing? Will they
return to us or not? What are they doing now?"
"They are camping, some at the Urzyisk steppes^ and others
further away. It is difficult to come to an agreement just
now, as they are far away. They have orders |o move to
Adrianople, and take all the provisions they can^carry with
them."
"For God's sake! that's important news, for if there, is to be
a great gathering of men at Adrianople, war with us is certain
to follow. The Hetman must be told of this immediately.
He is also of the opinion that war is approaching, but this
would leave no doubt.
"Halim told me that it is rumored there that the Sultan
himself would be at Adrianople."
PAN MICHAEL.
251
"Blessed be the name of the Lord! And here we have
scarcely a handful of men. Our only hope is in the rock of
Kamenets. Does Krychinski make any new stipulations?"
"He writes complaints rather than stipulations. A general
amnesty, restoration of the rights and privileges of nobles
which they formerly possessed, and commands for the chiefs,
that's what they want, but they are hesitating, as the Sultan
has offered them still more/'
"What's that you say? How can the Sultan offer them
more than the Commonwealth. The rule is absolute in
Turkey and all rights and privileges are entirely dependent
on the mere whim of the Sultan. Even if the present ruler
were to observe all his undertakings, his successor might
break or trample upon them at will; while among us privileges
are inviolable, and whoever becomes a noble cannot be de-
prived of anything even by the King."
"They say that they were nobles, but that they were treated
just as if they had been dragoons; that the Governors more
than once ordered them to perform various duties from which
not merely a noble but even his follower is exempt."
"But if the Hetman promises?" . . .
"No one doubts the noble nature of the Hetman and they
are all fond of him in their own hearts, but this is how they
argue: the throng of nobles will cry down the Hetman for a
traitor, he is hated at court, and a cabal threatens to impeach
him. What can he do?"
"Pan Bogush began to scratch his head.
"Well, what?"
"They themselves are uncertain what to do."
"And will they stay with the Sultan?"
"No."
"Bah, who will order them to come back to the Common-
wealth?"
"I!"
"How so?"
"I am the son of Tukhay Bey."
"My Azya," said Pan Bogush after a pause, "I don't deny
that they may be devoted to your race, and to Tukhay Bey's
glory, though they are our Tartars and Tukhay Bey was our
foe. I can understand that, for even among us^ some nobles
take pride in saying that Khmelnitski was a noble and not a
descendant from the Cossacks, but from our people the
Mazovians. . . Well, though there is no greater scoundrel
252 MICHAEL.
in hell than he, they are glad to recognize him because he
was a famous warrior. Such is man's nature! But I see no
sufficient reason why your descent from Tukhay should give
you the right to command over all the Tartars/'
For a while Azya did not speak, then he put his hands on
his hips and said:
"Then I will tell you Sir, Undercarver, I am obeyed by
Krychinski and others, for, in addition to the fact that they
are common Tartars, and I a Prince, I have other strength
and resources. . . Which neither you nor the Hetman have
any knowledge of." . . .
"What resources? What strength?"
"I can scarcely tell you," Azya replied in the Russian
tongue. "But how is it that I am ready to undertake what
another would not dare ? Why have I thought of what others
would not have thought?"
"What's that you say? ; Of what have you thought?"
"I thought of this: that if Pan Hetman would be willing
and give me permission to do so, I would bring back not only
the captain, but I would also bring half the Horde into the
service of the Hetman. Is unoccupied land so scarce in the
Ukraine a.nd in the wilderness? Let the Hetman only pro-
claim that the Tartar who comes over to the Commonwealth
will be ennobled, will not suffer religious persecution, and will
serve in a company of his own people, that they all will have
their own Hetman, as the Cossacks have,, and I will stake my
head that the entire Ukraine will quickly be swarming with
men. The Lipkov and Cheremis Tartars will come; they will
come from Dobrudja and Byalogrod; they will come from the
Crimea, driving their flocks, and with their wives and children
in wagons. Your lordship, don't shake your head, come they
will as long since came those who for generations were faith-
ful servants of ^he Commonwealth. In the Crimea and every-
where else the people are oppressed by the Khan and the
Murzas, but here they will be ennobled, they would have
their own sabres and take the field under their own Hetman.
I will take my oath Sir, that they will come, for where they
are, they often suffer hunger. Now if it is proclaimed through
the villages that by the Hetman 's authority I call them that
Tukhay Bey's son calls, they will come by the thousand."
Pan Bogush put his head in his hands.
"By God's wounds! Azya. where did you get such thoughts?
What would be the remit?
MICHAEL. 253
"In the Ukraine there would be a Tartar nation as there
now is a Cossack. You have granted privileges and a Hetman
to the Cossacks. Why not to us. You ask what will be the
result. Not what there is now, another Khmyelnitski, for
we should have immediately put our foot on the neck of the
Cossack; there would be no uprising of the peasants with
carnage and destruction, there would be no Doroshenko, for
once let him rise and I should be the first to drag him to the
Hetman's feet with a halter. And if the Turkish Power took
it into its head to attack us, we could beat the Sultan; if the
Khan threatened us with raids, we should beat the Khan.
Is it so long since that the Lipkov and Cheremis Tartars
did the very same thing, though still holding the Moham-
medan faith? Why should it be different with us? We
belong to the Commonwealth and we are noble! . . . Now
think of it. The Ukraine pacified, the Cossacks kept in shape,
protection from Turkey, thousands and thousands of addi-
tional troops, that's my idea, that's what I had in mind, that's
why Krychinski, Adurovich, Moravski and Tvorkovski obey
me. That's why one-half of the Crimea will throng to the
Steppes at my call."
Pan Bogush was as much astonished and overwhelmed by
Azya's words as if the walls of the room in which they were
sitting had suddenly opened and revealed new and strange
vistas to his eyes. For some time he did not utter a word, and
simply stared at the young Tartar, but Azya began to take
long strides up and down the room, and at length he said:
"Without me nothing can be done, for I am the son of
Tukhay Bey, and there is no greater name among the Tartars
from the Dnieper to the Danube."
Presently, he added:
"What do I care about Krychinski, Tvorkovski, and the
rest. It is not only a question of them, or of a few thousands
of Lipkov and Cheremis Tartars, but of the whole Common-
wealth. It is said that there will be a great war in the Spring
against the power of the Sultan, but only give me the
authority and I will make it so hot among the Tartars that
even the" Sultan will burn his fingers."
"In God's name who are you, Azya?" Pan Bogush cried.
He raised his head.
"The future Hetman of the Tartars."
At that moment a gleam of the fire illuminated Azya's
face which was both cruel and beautiful. And Pan Boguah
PAN MICHAEL.
felt that lie was iii the presence of a new man, so great and
proud was the bearing of the young Tartar. Pan Bogush also
felt that Azya was speaking the truth. If the iletman were
to issue such a proclamation, the whole of the Lipkov and
Cheremis Tartars would inevitably return, and their example
would be followed by a great number of the wilder Tartars.
The old Noble was quite familiar with the Crimea, where he
had been twice in captivity and, after being ransomed by the
Hetman, he had acted there as an envoy. He knew the court
of Bakhche-Serai ; he knew all the Hordes from the Don to
the Dobrudja; he knew that many villages were wiped out
by hunger in the winter; that the oppression and exactions
of the Khan's Baskaks was bitter to the Muraas; that often
there was rebellion in the Crimea itself; and therefore he im-
mediately recognized that fertile lands and privileges would
not fail to tempt all whose lot was hard or perilous in their
old abode.
If the son of Tukhay Bey sent out the call they would
most certainly be attracted. Only he could do it, no one
else. By means of his father's fame, he might stir up the
villagers and set one-half of the Crimea against the other; he
could bring over the wild Horde of Byalogrod and undermine
the whole power of the Khan, yea, and even of the Sultan.
If the Hetman cared to make use of such an opportunity,
he might regard the son of Tukhay Bey as a man expressly
sent by Providence.
Consequently Pan Bogush began to regard Azya in a differ-
ent light and to marvel more and more how such thoughts
came to be hatched in his brain. The perspiration broke out
on his brow in big drops in amazement at those ideas. How-
ever, his mind was not yet entirely free from doubt, so after
a pause, he said:
"And do you know that such a business would involve war
with Turkey."
"There will be war in any case. Why did the Horde re-
ceive orders to march to Adrianople? Unless dissensions
break out in the Sultan's own domains there must be war,
and when it comes to the point half the Horde will be found
on our side."
"The rascal has a ready reply for every point!"' reflected
Pan Bogush. "It makes my head swim."
"You see, Azya, it's not an easy matter any way you look
at it. What would the King say, and the Chancellors, and
PAN MICHAEL.
255
the estates of the realm, and all the nobles, the majority of
whom are hostile to the Hetman?"
"All I need is the Hetman's written permission, and when
we once get there, let them drive us out if they can! Who
will do that and how? You would he glad enough to get the
Zaparojians out of the Sieh, hut you can't succeed for the
life of you."
"Pan Hetman would fear to take the responsibility."
"With the Hetman there would be fifty thousand sabres of
the Horde in addition to the troops he has already."
"And the Cossacks! Do you forget the Cossacks? They
will immediately rise in rebellion!"
"We are required here expressly to keep a sword hanging
above the Cossack neck. Where does Dorosh get his support.
From the Tartars! Let me take charge of the Tartars and
Dorosh must bow his head to the earth before the Hetman."
At this point Azya extended his hand and stretched out
his fingers like an eagle's claw and then grasped the hilt of
his sabre.
"So, this is how he will teach law to the Cossacks. We
will make serfs of them and hold the Ukraine. Hear, Pan
Bogush. You think that I am a little man, but I am not
so insignificant as I appear in the eyes of Novovyeyski, the
commander of this post, and yourself. Look at me, I have
pondered over this night and day till I have grown thin and
my face is falling away. Look at it, Sir, it has greatly dark-
ened. But what I have thought out I have thought out thor-
oughly, and so I tell you that I possess strength and counsel.
You yourself see that these are weighty matters. Go to the
Hetman and don't delay. Lay the affair before him and get
him to give me a letter concerning it, and I don't care about
the other authorities. The Hetman has a mighty mind and
he will know what strength and counsel there is in this. Tell
the Hetman that I am the son of Tukhay Bey, and that I
only can accomplish it. Lay it before him and gain his
consent, but for God's sake let it be done quickly while the
snow is still on the Steppes, before Spring comes, for in the
Spring there will be war; go at once and return immediately,
so that I may quickly know what to do."
Pan Bogush did not notice that Azya spoke in commanding
tones like the Hetman issuing his orders to his officers.
"I will rest to-morrow, and start the day after," he said.
"God grant that I may find the Hetman in Yavorov. He is
quick in deciding and you will soon have an answer."
X MICHAEL.
"What does your lordship think about it? Will the TTet-
man consent?"
"Perhaps he will order you to come to see him, so do not
go to Eashkov at present. You can reach Yavorov more
quickly from here. 1 cannot tell whether he will consent,
but he will promptly take the affair under full consideration,
for your reasons are very weighty. By the living God, I did
not expect this of you, but I now see that you are no common
man and that the Almighty has predestined you to greatness.
Well, Azya, Azya! only a lieutenant in a Tartar company,
and yet he has such things in his mind as to terrify a man!
Now I shall not be surprised to see even a* heron feather in
your cap and a horse's tail above you. . . I believe even in
that what you say, that these thoughts have fired your heart
during the night hours. . . I will take a little rest and
start the day after to-morrow. Now I will leave you, as it is
late and my head is buzzing like a mill. God be with you
Azya. . . My head aches as if I had been drunk. . . God
be with you Azya, son of Tukhay Bey!"
Then Pan Bogush grasped the lean hand of the Tartar
and turned to go, but, at the door, he again halted and cried:
"What is that? . . . Fresh armies for the Common-
wealth. . . A sword suspended above the head of the Cos-
sack. . . Dorosh subdued . . . rebellion in the Crimea,
. . . the Turkish power weakened . . . and an end to the
raids into Russia, . . . for Heaven's sake!"
Then he left, and Azya looked after him for a few moments
and then murmured :
"But for me, a horse's tail, a baton, and . . . with or
without her consent, herself. If not woe to you all!"
Then he finished his gorzalka and cast himself upon the
couch covered with skins. The fire had died down on the
hearth, but through the window fell the bright rays of the
moon which had mounted high in the cold wintry sky. For
some time Azya lay quietly, but could not sleep. Finally he
arose, approached the window and gazed at the moon that
was sailing through the infinite seas of the heavens like a
ship.
The young Tartar watched it for a long time, and at last
he laid his hands on his breast with his thumbs pointing
upward, and from the lips of him who scarcely an hour ago
had professed himself a Christian came out a cry in a melan-
choly half chant, half drone:
"La Allah ilia Allah! IT Mahomet Rassul Allals!'" (There
is no God but Allah, and Mahomet is his messenger.)
CHAPTER IX
Since the early morning Basia had been taking counsel
with her husband and Pan Zagloba on the question of how to
unite two loving hearts. The two men laughed at her earn-
estness, and continued to tease her; however, as they always
allowed her to have her own way, like a spoiled child, they
finally promised to help her.
"We had best persuade old Novovyeyski not to take the
girl with him to Rashkov," said Zagloba; "tell him that the
frosts have come and the roads are not quite safe. The two
young people will be constantly thrown together here, and
must fall desperately in love." *
"That's a capital thought/' cried Basia.
"Capital or not," replied Zagloba, "don't let them get oufc
of your sight. You are a grandmother, and, consequently, I
am sure that you will bind them at last, for a woman always
has her own way; but take care that the Devil doesn't have
his way in the meantime. That would bring disgrace upon
you, for you are responsible for this affair."
Basia spat like a kitten, at Pan Zagloba, and then said:
"You are always boasting that in your youth you were a
Turk, and you seem to think that everybody is a Turk! . . .
Azya is not such a one."
"Not a Turk, but a Tartar! Pretty one! So you would
vouch for Tartar love?"
"They are both thinking more about their tears caused by
terrible sorrow. . . Besides, Evka is a very honest girl."
"Yet she has such a tell-tale face that the words 'Here
are lips for you!' might just as well be written on her brow.
Ho! She is a jackdaw! I discovered yesterday, that when-
ever she sits opposite an attractive fellow, she sighs so deeply
for him that she blows her plate so far away from her that
she has to draw it back again. A real jackdaw, I say."
"Do you want me to leave the room?" asked Basia.
"You won't go when we are talking of match-making. You
won't go I know you! But anyhow it's too soon for you to
17 (257)
258
PAN MICHAEL.
try your hand at matchmaking: that belongs to professional
women. You have no dignity; it was only yesterday that
Pani Boska told me that when she saw you coming back from
the battle in your trousers, she thought itwasPaniVolodiyov-
ski's little son, who had gone on an expedition to the woods.
Dignity doesn't love you, either, which is seen at once in
your slender figure. As I love God, you look just like a stu-
dent! Another style of women are in fashion now. In my
day, when a woman sat in a chair, it would squeak just as if
you had stepped on the tail of a dog; but, as for you, you
could ride on a tom-cat's back without least fatiguing the
beast at all. They say that match-making women never have
any children."
"Do they really say that?" asked the little knight, in alarm.
But Pan Zagloba began to laugh; and Bask laying her
rosy cheek against her husband's, whispered:
"Ah, Michael, some time we will make a pilgrimage to
Chenstohovo; then, perhaps, the Most Holy Lady will grant
our pfayer."
"Indeed, that is the wisest thing to do," said Zagloba.
Then they embraced each other, and Basia said:
"Now let us talk about Azya and poor Evka; and how we
can best help them. We are happy; let us make them happy."
"It will be easier for them after Novovyeyski has gone,"
said the little knight, "for in his presence they cannot see
each other, because Azya hates the old man. But if the old
man were to give him Evka, perhaps they might forget the
past and love each other as son-in-law and father-in-law. I
think it is not a question of throwing the young people to-
gether, for they are already in love, but of winning over the
old man."
"He is a boor!" exclaimed Basia.
"Basia," said Zagloba, "imagine that you had a daughter,
and that you were asked to give her to some Tartar."
"Azya is a prince," answered Basia,
"I do not deny that Tukhay Bey is of blue blood. Hasling
was a nobleman; but Krysia Drohoyovska. would never have
married him if he had not been naturalized."
"Then try to get Azya naturalized."
"Do you think that an easy matter? Even if some one
would grant him an escutcheon, he would have to be con-
firmed by the Diet; and that takes time and protection."
"That time is needed, I do not like, but protection can be
PAN MICHAEL.
259
found. Certainly the Hetman will not refuse this to Azya,
for he loves soldiers. Michael, write at once to the Hetman.
Do you need paper, ink, or pen? Write instantly! I'll get
you everything, and a candle, and the seal; sit down, do not
delay, and write at once."
Pan Michael began to laugh:
"0 Almighty God!" he cried, "I asked for a sedate and
gentle wife, and Thou hast given me a whirlwind."
''Say that, say, and I shall die!"
"Ah, you are impatient!" cried the little knight, excitedly,
"you are impatient. Tfu! tfu! a charm for a dog!"
Turning to Zagloba, he said: "Do you know the words of
any charm?"
"I know some, and I've just repeated them," replied Zag-
loba.
"Write!" commanded Basia, "or I will jump out of my
skin."
"I would write twenty letters to please you, though I don't
know if they could do any good, for in this case the Hetman
himself can do nothing; even if he should have protection
Azya can only appear at the proper time. My dear Basia,
Fauna Novovyeyski has told you her secret, very well. But
you have not said a word to Azya, and you dont know now
whether he is burning up yith love for Evka or not."
"Not burning with love for her? Why not, when he kissed
her in the storehouse. Aha!"
"Golden Soul!" said Zagloba, smiling. "You talk like an
infant, only you have a fluent tongue. My love*, if Michael
and I had to marry all the women we happen to kiss, we
should have to become Mohammedans at once, and I should
be Padishah of Turkey and he Khan of Crimea. How's that,
Michael, eh?"
"I suspected Michael before we were married," said Basia.
And, holding up her finger at him, she began to tease him:
"Twist your moustache; twist it. Don't deny it. I know,
I know, and you know, too ... at Ketling's!" ....
The little knight really began to twist his moustache to
give himself an air, and also to cover his confusion; and wish-
ing to change the conversation, he said:
"And so you don't know whether Azya is in love with
Panna Novovyeyski?"
"Wait; I will talk to him alone, and ask him. If he is in
love; he must be in love! If he isn't, I don't want to know
him!"
2 6o PAX MICHAEL.
"In God's name! She will talk him into it," exclaimed
Zagloba.
"And I will persuade him, even if I have "to see him every
day."
"Ask him first," said the little knight. "Perhaps he will
not admit it at once, because he is different; but that's noth-
ing. You will gain his confidence by degrees; you'll get to
know him better; you will know what to do when you under-
stand him/'
The little knight turned to Pan Zagloba:
"She seems dull, but she is sharp."
"Goats are sharp/' replied Zagloba seriously.
The conversation was interrupted by Pan Bogush, who
burst in like a bomb-shell,, and after kissing Basia's hand^.
exclaimed :
"May bullets hit that Azya! I never closed my eyes all
night. May the woods cover him!''
"How has Pan Azya offended your grace?" asked Basia.
"Do you know what we were doing yesterday?"
And Pan Bogush stared at each of them.
"What?"
"'Making history! As I love God, I am not lying, history!"
"What history?"
"The history of the Commonwealth. He is really a great
man. Pan Sobieski himself will be astonished when I submit
Azya's ideas to him. I repeat, he is a great man; and I am
sorry I can't tell you more, for I am sure you would all be as
much amazed as I am. I can only tell you that if he succeeds
in accomplishing his purpose, God only knows what he will
become."
"For instance, do you think he will become Hetman?"
asked Zagloba.
Pan Bogush placed his hands on his hips: "That's it he
will be Hetman. I'm sorry I can't tell you more. . . He
will be Hetman, and that's enough."
"Perhaps a Hetman of dogs, or he will have to join the
bullocks. Herders have Hetmen also. Tfu! what has your
grace been saying, Pan TJndercarver? It is true that he is
the son of TukhayBey; but, if he is to be Hetman, what shall
I, and Pan Michael, and your grace become? Are we to wait
for the abduction of Casper, Melchior, and Baltazar, and be-
come the three kings at the birth of Christ? The noblemen
created me, at least, commander; and I resigned the post out
JVLV MICHAEL. 261
of friendship for Pavel, 1 but, as <k>d is above, I dou't under-
stand your prediction. 1 '
"But I say Azya is a great man."
"I said so/' "said Basia, looking towards the door, for
some other guests at the stanitsa were now coming in.
First, Pani Boska entered with the blue-eyed Zosia, and
Pan Novovyeyski with Evka, who, notwithstanding a, bad
night, looked more charming than ever. Strange dreams had
disturbed her sleep; dreams of Azya, who appeared handsomer
and more commanding than ever. She blushed deeply as she
thought of these dreams, for she fancied that everybody
would read her thoughts.
She was unnoticed, however, for everybody began to say
"good-morning" to the Lady Commandress. Then Pan Bo-
gush again told his story of Azya's greatness and future; and
Basia was delighted that Evka and Pan Novovyeyski had to
hear it. Since his first meeting with the Tartar, the old man's
anger had cooled considerably, and he was now much calmer.
He no longer called him his man. Indeed, he was impressed
beyond measure by the discovery that he was a Tartar prince
and a son of Tukhay Bey. He listened with amazement to
the story of Azya's wonderful bravery and the Hetman's im-
portant charge to him of bringing back all the Lipkov and
Cheremis Tartars to the Commonwealth. So important had
Azya become in his opinion that at times it seemed even to
Pan Novovyeyski that they were talking not of Azya, but of
another person.
Every other moment Pan Bogush repeated very myster-
iously:
"This is nothing in comparison with what is awaiting him;
but I am not at liberty to speak of it."
And when the others shook their heads dubiously, he ex-
claimed:
"There are two great men in the Commonwealth Pan
Sobieski and the son of the Tukhay Bey."
"For the love of God," said Pan Novovyeyski, roused at
last, "prince or no prince, what can he have in the Common-
wealth unless he is a nobleman. He is not even naturalized."
"The Hot man will naturalize him ten times!" exclaimed
Basia.
Panna Evka heard all this praise with closed eyes and a
1 Referring to Pavel Sapyeha, Voevode of Vilna, and Hetman of Lithuania.
262 PAN At
beating heart. It is hard to say if it would have beaten so
quickly for Azya, poor mid obscure. n.< Tor Azya, the knight
with a great future. This glitter dazzled her; and the memory
of past kisses and new dreams seized now with a tremor of
delight the young lady's body.
"So great and so famous/' thought Evka. "No wonder
that he is as quick as firef '
CHAPTER X.
That very day Basia, following her husband's advice,
made the Tartar pass "an examination;", and as she was afraid
of Azya's shyness, she decided not to insist too much.
Nevertheless, however, he had hardly come into her pres-
ence before she said, speaking directly to the point:
"Pan Bogush says you are a great man; but I believe that
no great man avoids love."
Azya closed his eyes and bent his head, saying:
"Your grace is right."
"I see you have a heart." ....
After this remark, Basia shook her golden locks and
winked, as if to say she understood the affairs of the heart
very well, and hoped she was speaking to a man of similar
experience. Raising his head, Azya let his glance wander over
her. Never had she seemed so lovely as now, when her lovely
eyes were bright with curiosity and their own fire and her
child-like face, wreathed in smiles and blushes, looked upon
his. But her very innocence charmed Azya more and more;
desire rose in his soul; love seized him powerfully and intoxi-
cated him like wine, driving out all other ambitions but this
to steal her from her husband, to carry her off, to clasp her
forever to his breast, to press his lips to hers, and to feel her
arms around his neck: to love her continually, even forget-
ting all else, or perish with or without her.
Everything whirled about him with this thought; from the
depths of his soul fresh desires came creeping like serpents
from the hidden places of a cliff. Yet he was a man of great
self-control, and holding his wild heart in check as he held
a furious horse while throwing the lariat, he said to himself,
"It is impossible yet!"
In apparent coldness he stood before her, though he was
on fire, and his eyes with their dilated pupils revealed all
that his compressed lips concealed.
But Basia, whose soul was as pure as the waters of a
spring and whose mind was occupied with other things, did
(263)
264 PAN MICHAEL.
not understand his meaning: for the moment she was thinking
what more to say to the Tartar; at length she raised her hand
and said:
"Many a man has a secret love in his heart and does not
dare to mention it to anyone, but if he were frankly to con-
fess it, perhaps he might receive some comfort."
Azya's face darkened for a moment as a wild hope flashed
through his brain like lightning, but he immediately recov-
ered himself and asked:
"What is your ladyship's meaning?"
"Any other woman," replied Basia, "would lose patience
with you; for deliberation is not a woman's nature, but I am
not like that. As for assistance, I would willingly help you,
but I do not ask you to confide in me all in a moment. I only
say,' 'Do not shut yourself up alone, come to me every day/
I have already discussed the affair with my husband, and in
time you will realize my good will, and know that mine is not
merely thoughtless inquisitiveness, but sympathy and, more-
over, if I give you my aid, I must first be sure that you are
in love; moreover, it is only proper that you should acknowl-
edge it first; when you have done that, I too may be able to
tell you something."
Azya immediately realized what a vain hope he had har-
bored a moment since; he saw at once that it concerned Evka
Novovyeyski; and all the maledictions of the entire family
which had gathered with the lapse of time in his revengeful
heart rose to his lips. Hatred flamed up in his soul and all
the more fiercely in consequence of what he had felt a mo-
ment ago. But he recovered himself. He was not only self-
controlled, but he possessed all the Oriental cunning. He
saw immediately that if he were to indulge his venom against
the Novovyeyskis he would forfeit Basia's favor and the
chance of seeing her daily;- but nevertheless, he felt that he
could not overcome his feelings, at least for the moment, to
the extent of lying to the woman he desired as to the state
of his own heart or professing to love another.
Therefore, he suddenly cast himself at Basia's feet in
real distress and genuine suffering and, kissing her feet, he
cried: "I resign my heart into your ladyship's hands and to
your ladyship's hands I confide my faith, I will do nothing
but what you order. I desire to submit to no will but your
own. Do what you will with me. My life is pain and an-
guish, I am very miserable. __Pity me or I shall be lost!"
PAN MICHAEL. 365
And he began to moan in his intense suffering and the re-
pressed longings that were burning him like a fire. But
Basia thought that his words were merely the outpouring of
his love for Evka, hidden so long and with such suffering, and
so she felt an immense compassion for the young man and
two little tears sparkled in her eyes.
"Kise, Azya," she said to the kneeling Tartar, "I have ever
wished you well and have a sincere desire to serve you. You
are of noble blood, and the authorities will certainly requite
ycmr services with a nobility. Pan Novovyeyski will submit
to be pacified since he now regards you with different eyes,
and Evka . . . '
At this point Basia rose and, lifting her rosy smiling face,
put her hand to her mouth and whispered in Azya's ear:
"Evka lovea you/'
His face became drawn as if with terrible anger, he put his
hands on his hips and, without regarding the effect of his
words, he hoarsely cried, several times:
"Allah, Allah, Allah!"
He then darted from the room.
Basia looked after him for a moment or two. She was
not much surprised at the exclamation, because it was often
used by the Polish soldiers, but, at the sight of the young
Tartar's excitement, she said to herself:
"Beal fire! he is mad after her."
Then she dashed out like a tempest to carry the news to
her husband, Pan Zagloba and Evka. She found Pan Michael
in the office, deep in the accounts of the dragoons stationed
at Khreptyov. He was sitting writing, and she sprang to his
side and cried:
"Do you know I spoke to him; he fell at my feet and is
mad after her."
The little knight laid down his pen and looked up at his
wife. She was so pretty in her excitement that his eyes
sparkled and he smiled and held out his arms to her. She
kept him away and repeated:
"Azya is mad after Evka."
"As I am after you!" cried the little knight as he embraced
her.
The same day Zagloba and Evka had a detailed report of
her talk with Azya. The maiden's heart now entirely sur-
rendered itself to the sweet sentiment, and beat like a hammer
at the anticipation of their first interview, and still more at
266
the thought of what would happen when they were alone.
She already saw Azya's face at her knees and felt his ki
on her hands and her own languor at that moment when the
head of a maiden leans towards the arms of a lover, and her
lips whisper "I love you." In the meantime, she ardently
kissed Basia's hands in her emotion, and every moment kept
looking at the door in the hope of seeing the dark but grace-
ful figure of young Azya appear.
But Azya did not appear, because Halim had arrived;
Halim, his father's old servant and now quite an important
Murza in the Dobrudja. He had come without any conceal-
ment, because at Khreptyov every body knew that he was the
intermediary between Azya and the leaders who had gone over
to the Sultan's service. They immediately closeted themselves
in Azya's quarters where, after paying due obedience to the
son of Tukhay Bey, Halim crossed his hands on his breast
and with bowed head waited to be questioned.
"Have you any letters?"
"None, Effendi, they ordered me to convey it all by word of
mouth." '
"Speak then."
"War is certain. We must all go to Adrianople in the
Spring. The Bulgarians have orders to take hav and barley
there."
"And where will the Khan be?"
"He will go direct by the Steppes through the Ukraine to
Doroshenko."
"What is the news from the Cossack encampments?"
"They are happy at the thought of war and are longing
for the Spring; there is much suffering among them, though it
is only the beginning of Winter."
"Is the suffering very great?"
"A great number of horses have died. Men have sold them-
selves into slavery in Byalogrod just to live till the Spring.
Great numbers of horses have died, Effendi, because there
was so little grass on the Steppes in the Autumn. ... It
had all been burnt up by the sun."
"But have they heard "of the son of Tukhay Bey?"
"I told as much as you would allow. The rumor was spread
by the Lipkov and Cheremis Tartars, but no one know r s the
exact truth. There is also considerable talk of the report that
the Commonwealth wants to give them lands and freedom,
and call them to serve under the son of Tukhay Bey. At the
PAN MICHAEL. 267
very hint of it all the poorer villages were in a ferment. They
are quite willing, Effendi, quite willing, but others tell them
that it is not true, and the Commonwealth will attack them,
and that a son of Tukhay Bey does not exist at all. There
were some of our merchants in the Crimea and they say that
reports were also there that "A son of Tukhay Bey exists/ 7
and the people were excited, but others said, "He does not
exist," and they quieted down again. But if the word should
once go forth that your grace summons them to freedom,
lands, and war, they would come in swarms. . . . Only give
me authority to speak. . . . ''
Azya's face became radiant with pleasure, and he began
to take long strides up and down the room, finally he said:
"Make yourself comfortable under my roof, Halim; sit down
and eat."
"I am your slave and dog, Effendi," cried the old Tartar.
Azya clapped his hands and a Tartar servant came in and,
at his orders, quickly returned with refreshments, gorzalka,
dried meat, bread, sweetmeats, and some handfuls of dried
watermelon-seeds which, as well as the seeds of the sunflower,
are held a great delicacy among the Tartars.
"You're not a servant, but a friend," said Azya, when the
servant had departed. "Be welcome! for you are a bringer of
good news; sit down and eat."
Halim began to eat and nothing was said till he had fin-
ished. He had soon refreshed himself, and then sat looking
at Azya, waiting for him to speak.
"Here they know who I am now," at last Azya said.
"What then, Effendi?"
"Nothing. Their respect for me is the greater. When it
came to business, I should have had to tell them anyway. But
I put it off till I had received news from the Horde, and I
wanted to tell the Hetman first; but Novovyeyski arrived and
recognized me."
"The young one!" cried Halim in alarm.
"No, the old one, Allah, has delivered them all into my
hands here, for the girl is with them. The devil must have
possessed them. Only let me become Hetman and I will
have a game with them. They are giving the girl to me; all
right! we always need slaves in the Harem."
"Is the old man the matchmaker?"
"No ... She! ... She believes that I love the
other, and not her."
"Effendi!" said Halim with deep reverence, "I am the slave
of your house arid have no right to speak in your presence;
but I recognized you among the Lipkov Tartars; I informed
you who you were at Bratslav, and from that moment I have
faithfully served you. I tell others that they are to regard you
as their master, but although they love you, no one can love
you as I do; am I allowed to speak?"
"Speak on."
"Guard against the little knight. He is celebrated through-
out the Crimea and the Dobrudja."
"And Halim, have you heard of Khmyelnitski?"
"I have heard, and I served under Tukhay Bey who fought
with Khmyelnitski against the Poles, and destroyed castles
and captured spoil."
"And are you aware that Khmyelnitski deprived Chap-
Hnski of his wife, and married her himself, and had children
by her? What followed. War. And all the armies of the
Hetmans and the King and the Commonwealth together could
not take her from Khmyelnitski. He defeated the Hetmans
and the King and the Commonwealth and became the Het-
man of the Cossacks. And what shall I be? Hetman of the
Tartars. They will have to give me lots of land and some
town for my capital; in the neighborhood of the town villages
will arise on fertile land and the villages will contain good
fighting men with plenty of bows and sabres. And when I
carry her off to my town, and make her my wife, the beauty,
whose will be the power. Mine. Who will think of her? The
little knight! . . . If he will yet be alive! . . . Even
if he should be, and should howl like a wolf and beat his head
on the earth before the king in complaint, do you think that
they will go to war with me for one tress of golden hair?
They have already had one such war, and half the Common-
wealth was in flames. Who will take her away from me? Will
the Hetman? In that case, I will go over to the Cossacks,
form brotherhood with Doroshenko, and deliver over the
country to the Sultan. I am another Khmyelnitski: I am
better than Khmyelnitski, for a lion dwells in me. Let them
allow me to take her and I will serve him and defeat the Cos-
sacks, the Khan, and the Sultan. If not, I will trample all
Poland under my horse's feet, capture -the Hetmans, scatter
armies, burn towns, and slay the inhabitants. I am the son
of Tukhay Bey: I am a lion!"
Here a red light blazed in Azya's eyes and his white teeth
PAN MICHAEL. 269
gleamed like old Tukhay's; he raised his hand and shook his
iist threateningly towards the North and he looked mighty,
and dreadful, and splendid, so that Halim bowed again and
again before him and said in low tones:
''Allah Kerim, Allah Kerim! (God is merciful.)
A protracted silence followed. Azya gradually grew more
calm and at last said:
"Bogush was here, I showed him my power and resources,
namely, to set up in the Ukraine beside the Cossack nation a
Tartar one with a Tartar Hetman in addition to the Cos-
sack Iletman. . . " .
"Did he approve of it?"
"He put his head in his hands and almost beat it on the
earth, and the next day went off with the great news to the
Hetman at full gallop."
"Effendi," cried Halim, respectfully, "suppose the Great
Lion should not approve of it?"
"Sobieski?"
"Yes."
Azya's eyes again began to glare with a red light, but it
lasted only for a second. His face immediately grew calm
again, and he sat down on the bench, supported his head in
his hands, and began to think deeply.
At last he said: "I have carefully weighed the Grand Het-
man's reply to Bogush's great news. The Hetman is wise
and will agree. He knows that there must be war with the
Sultan in the Spring, for this the Commonwealth possesses
neither the money nor men, and when Doroshenko and the
Cossacks side with the Sultan, Poland will be finally destroyed.
The more so, because neither the king nor the estates of the
realm believe that war will come, and are making no haste for
preparation. I am carefully listening to everything here. I
am aware of all that goes on and Bogush makes no secret of
what is said at the headquarters of the Hetman. Pan So-
bieski is a great man; he will agree, for he knows that if the
Tartars seek lands and freedom here, it may result in civil war
in the Crimea and on the Steppes of the Dobrudja, and that
*he Horde will be weakened, and the Sultan himself must take
jue^sures to still those storms. ... In the meantime, the
Hetman will gain time to be better prepared, and the Cos-
sacks and Doroshenko will swerve from their fealty to the
Sultan. This is the only hope for the Commonwealth, which
is 00 weak thai it will gain strength by the return even of a
PAN MICHAEL.
few thousand Lipkov Tartars. The Hetman is perfectly well
aware of this; he is a wise man and will agree." . . .
"1 bow low before your wisdom/ 7 replied Halim, "but what
will happen if Allah deprives the Great Lion of his light, or if
Satan blinds him with his pride, so that he rejects your de-
signs/'
Azya put his savage face close to Halim's ear and whispered:
"You must stay here until the Hetman's answer arrives,
and I will not go to Eashkov till then. If they will not fall
in with my plans., I will send you to Ivrychinski and the
others. You will order them to advance along this side of the
river, almost as far as Khreptyov, and be prepared, while I
with my Lipkovs will fall upon this post on the first favorable
night, and treat them like this:
Here Azya drew his finger across his throat and presently
added:
"Kensim! kensim! kensim!" . . .
Halim crouched down and on his face, which resembled a
wild animal, there was a significant smile.
"Allah! And the Little Falcon, too?" . . .
"Yes! Him first of all."
"And then into the Sultan's domainn?"
"Precisely! . . , with her I" , , ,
CHAPTER XI.
A severe winter had covered the forests with a heavy
mantle of snow and icicles, and filled the ravines to their
brink with snow-drifts till the whole land looked like one
white level plain. Tremendous storms came suddenly, bury-
ing men and cattle under the pall of snow. Roads became
dangerous and misleading; but Pan Bogush made the greatest
haste to Yavorov to inform the Hetman of Azya's mighty
designs as early as possible. A horder noble, brought up in
constant danger from Cossack and Tartar, and engrossed with
the thought of the dangers by which the country was men-
aced by rebellion and forays and the whole power of the
Turks, he regarded these plans as almost constituting the
country's sole salvation; in his heart he religiously believed
that the Hetman, who was reverenced by himself in common
with all the men on the border, would not hesitate for an
instant when the might of the Commonwealth was concerned:
he therefore rode on with a joyful heart, notwithstanding
heavy drifts, obliterated roads, and storms.
At last, one Sunday, he arrived covered with snow at
Yavorov and had the good fortune to find Pan Sobieski at
home, and immediately had his arrival announced, although
the attendants told him that the Hetman was engaged night
and day on expeditions and sending off despatches, and had
scarcely time even for his meals. But to their surprise, the
Hetman at once ordered him to be admitted. So, after a
very short wait, the old soldier bowed at the knees of the
commander.
He found Pan Sobieski greatly changed, and his face
lined with care, for these were almost the most unhappy
years of his life. His name had not yet resounded in every
corner of Christendom, although already in the Common-
wealth, he was surrounded with the fame of a mighty leader
and terrible destroyer of the Mussulmans. On that account,
the grand baton and the defence of the eastern border was
confided to him in time, but the dignity of Hetman was ac-
(7O
X MICHAEL.
companied by neither men nor money. Nevertheless, hith-
erto, victory had followed his steps, as surely as a man's
shadow follows him. With a very small force he had gained
a victory at Podhaytse; with a very small force he had passed
through the length and breadth of the Ukraine like a de-
vouring flame, grinding chambuls of many thousands into
dust, capturing rebellious cities and spreading terror with the
name of the Pole. But now the Commonwealth was threat-
ened with a war against the most terrible of all the powers of
that day, for it was a struggle with the whole Mussulman
world. It was no secret to Sobieski now that Doroshenko
had delivered over the Ukraine and the Cossacks to the Sul-
tan; the latter had promised to make Turkey, Asia Minor,
Arabia, and Egypt down to the heart of Africa, proclaim a
sacred war and go personally to the Commonwealth to de-
mand a new Pashalik. Desolation like a bird of prey was
hovering over the whole of Southern Eussia and in the mean-
time, in .the Commonwealth itself there was disorder; the no-
bles were riotously supporting their weak king, and taking up
arms so as to be ready for a possible civil war. The country
was exhausted with recent struggles and military confedera-
tions and was impoverished. Bitter envy was rife, and mu-
tual distrust was poisoning men's minds. Nobody wanted to
believe that there was any immediate danger of war with the
Mussulmans, and they condemned the great leader for an-
nouncing it with the intention of distracting attention from
internal affairs. They also brought against him the more
serious accusation that he himself was quite ready to call
in the aid of the Turks for the sake of assuring victory to
his own followers. They made him out to be a common
traitor and if it had not been for the army they would most
certainly have brought him before the court.
To carry on the approaching war, to which thousands of
savage hordes would flock from the East, he had not what
could be called an army, but merely a handful, so small that
the Sultan's court had more servants; he had no money, no
means to repair the ruined fortresses, nor any hope of vic-
tory, nor power of defence, nor even the assurance that his
death, like that of Jolkyevski of old, would awake the coun-
try from its torpor, and give birth to an avenger. This was
why his brow was lined with care, and the noble face, like
that of a Roman conqueror with laurels on his brow, showed
traces of secret suffering and sleepless nights.
PAN MICHAEL. 2 73
But at the sight of Bogush, a pleasant smile lighted up the
Hetman's face; he laid his hand on the shoulder of the
man who was bowing before him, and said:
"I gieet you, soldier, I greet, you; 1 had not hoped to see
you so soon, but you are all the more welcome to me here
in Yavorov. Where have you come from? From Kamen-
ets?"
"No, most serene and Mighty Lord Hetman, I have not
even called at Kamenets, I have come direct from Khrep-
tyov."
"What is my little soldier doing there., is he well, has he
at all succeeded in clearing the wilderness of Ushytsa?'
"It is so quiet there that a child might go through it
safely. The robbers have been hanged, and within the last
few days, Azba Bey and his whole following have been cut
to pieces so that there was not even a man left to tell the
tale. ... I arrived there on the very day of the slaughter.-'
"I recognize Pan Michael's work there; the only man to
be compared with him is Rushchyts in Rashkov. What is the
news in the steppes? Is there anything fresh from the
Danube?"
"Only evil news. At the end of the winter there is to be
a mighty gathering of troops at Adrianople."
"I have heard of that. There's never any news now but ill
news, whether from the Commonwealth, the Crimea, or
Stambul."
"Not exclusively, for I myself bring such good news that
if I were a Turk or a Tartar, I should hint at a gift."
"In that case, you have fallen from Heaven. Now, speak
quickly and remove my anxiety."
"But I am so frozen Your Highness, that my understand-
ing has congealed in my head."
The Hetman clapped his hands and ordered the servant
to bring soone mead. Presently they brought in a dusty
flask and lights, for although it was still early, thick snow
clouds had so obscured the atmosphere, that it was as dark
as twilight outside as well as in.
The Hetman poured out and drank to his guest, who bowed
low and drained his goblet and said:
"The first piece of news is that that Azya, who was com-
missioned to bring back into our service the chiefs of the
Lipkov and Cheremis Tartars, is not properly named Mellek-
hovich, but the son of Tukhay Bey."
274
PAN MICHAEL.
"Of Tukhay Bey/' cried the astonished Pan Sobieski.
"It is this way, Your Highness, it appears that Pan Ny-
enashinyets carried him off from the Crimea in his infancy,
but lost him on his way back, and Azya, who fell into the
possession of the Novovyeyskis, was brought up with them
without any knowledge of his parentage."
"I wondered how that he who was so young was so highly
esteemed by the Tartars. But I understand now, for the
Cossacks also, even those who have remained faithful to Our
Mother, regard Khymyelnitski as a sort of saint and rever-
ence him."
"That's it exactly! exactly! I told Azya the very same
thing/' cried Pan Bogush."
"Wonderful are the decrees of the Almighty!" exclaimed
the Hetman, after a pause, "old Tukhay shed oceans of blood
in our land and his son is now serving it, at least he has
served it faithfully till now, but now it is doubtful whether
he won't want to enjoy power in the Crimea."
"Now? Now he is more faithful than ever, and this is
the beginning of the second part of my news, in which per-
haps may be found the help and salvation for the distressed
Commonwealth. As God lives the news made me forget
weariness and peril in my eagerness to impart it as quickly
as possible to relieve your afflicted heart."
"I am all attention!" cried Pan Sobieski.
Bogush began to unfold Azva's plans and presented them
so enthusiastically as to become quite eloquent; now and then
his hand, trembling with excitement, would pour out a glass
of mead, spilling the generous liquor over the edge as he
proceeded. Vivid pictures of the future passed in procession
before the amazed eyes of the Grand Hetman; thousands
and myriads arrived for lands and liberty, accompanied by
their wives, children, and herds: The Cossacks, in amaze-
ment at the new power of the Commonwealth, bowed down
before it in obedience and did obeisance to the King and
his Hetman. Rebellion ceased in the Ukraine, no longer did
raids, as wasting as fire or flood, come along the old roads
against Eussia; but, side by side with the Polish and Cossack
troops, moved across the illimitable steppes, with blare of
trumpets and beat of drums, the chambuls of Ukraine noble
Tartars.
And, year after year, wagon after wagon arrived notwith-
standing the orders of Khan and Sultan, bringing mighty
PAN MICHAEL. 275
throngs who preferred bread and the black soil of the Ukraine
to the old famished settlements. . . . And all this force,
hitherto hostile, was coming into the service of the Com-
monwealth. The Crimea was drained of its inhabitants, the
Khan and the Sultan lost their ancient power and the fear
of them died out, for, from the steppes and the Ukraine, the
new Hetman of the new Tartar nobility faced them threaten-
ingly! A guardian and a faithful defender of the Common-
wealth, the famous son of <a terrible father, young Tukhay
Bey.
A deep flush spread over Bogush's face; it seemed as if
he was carried away by his own eloquence, for at last, he
lifted both hands and cried:
"This is what I bring! This is what that Dragon's cub
has hatched out in the wild forests of Khreptyov. Nothing
more is needed now than to give him a letter and Your High-
ness's authorization to spread the news in the Crimea and
on the Danube. Your Highness, if the son of Tukhay Bey
were to do nothing more than stir up trouble, in the Crimea
and on the Danube, to cause dissensions, and excite the
hydra of internecine strife among the Tartars, to set camp
against camp, and this on the eve of the struggle, I repeat,
he would be rendering an enormous and deathless service to
the Commonwealth."
But Pan Sobieski strode back and forth through the room
in silence. His noble face was dark and almost terrible; he
strode on and it could be seen that his heart was taking secret
counsel, whether with himself or with God, who could say?"
Finally thou didst tear some leaf out of thy soul, Grand
Hetman, for the answer thou gavest to the orator was as fal-
lows:
"Bogush, had I even the right to give such a letter and
such authorization, I would not give them while I had life."
These words fell on the ears of Bogush as heavily as if
they had been drops of molten lead or iron, so that for a sea-
son he was speechless and hung his head, and only after a
long pause did he groan:
"But why, Your Highness, why? .. . .
"Tn the first place, I will tell you as a statesman, that
the name of the son of Tukhay Bey might bring over a cer-
tain number of Tartars, it is true, if lands, freedom, and the
privileges of nobles were offered them, but there would be
fewer than you and he have supposed. Moreover, it would
276 -P-Atf MICHAEL.
be the act of a madman to summon Tartars to the Ukraine
and settle new tribes there when we cannot even manage
the Cossacks alone. You assert that the immediate result
would be mutual strife and dissensions and that a sword
would be suspended above the Cossack neck; but what as-
surance is there that that sword would not also be stained
with Polish blood. Hitherto, 1 have not been acquainted
with this Azya, but now I see that the dragon of pride and
ambition dwells in his heart,, and so I again demand who
will be surety against his turning out a second Khrnyelnitski.
He will overcome the Cossacks, but if the Commonwealth fails
to satisf}^ some demand or other, or threatens to execute jus-
tice and punishment, for any act of violence, he will join
hands with the Cossacks, call fresh hordes from the East, as
Tukhay Bey was called by Khymelnitski, sell himself to the
Sultan like Doroshenko, and instead of an increase in power,
we shall suffer additional carnage and defeat."
"Your Mightiness, when the Tartars have become nobles,
they will cling faithfully to^he Commonwealth."
"Were the renegade Lipkov and Cheremis Tartars so few?
They were nobles for a long. time, and yet deserted to the
Sultan."
"The Lipkovs were deprived of their privileges!"
"But what will be the result, if, at the outset, as is certain
to happen, the nobles of Poland oppose such an extension of
their privileges to aliens? With what show of right, with
what conscience, will you give to savage marauders, who
have been incessantly desolating our fatherland, the power
and privilege of determining the fate of that land, electing
Kings and sending members to the diets? Why bestow
such a reward upon them? What madness has entered the
brain of this Lipkov, and what evil spirit has possessed you,
my old warrior, to allow yourself to be persuaded and fooled
1 in such fashion as to give credit to such infamy ard such
impossibility?"
Bogush lowered his eyes and replied in a faltering voice:
"Your Mightiness, I knew in advance that there would be
opposition from the Estates of the Realm, but Azya asserted
that if the Tartars established themselves with the authority
of Your Mightiness they would not allow themselves to be
ejected."
"Man, why it was a menace! he shook his sword over the
Commonwealth and vou did not see it!"
PAN MICHAEL. 277
"Your Mightiness!" cried Bogush in desperation, "it might
be managed so that all the Tartars should not be ennobled,
but only the most important of them, and the rest be pro-
claimed free. Even in that case they would answer the call
of the son of Tukhay Bey."
"But why isn't it preferable to proclaim freedom for all the
Cossacks. Peace! old soldier, I tell you that an evil spirit
has taken possession of you/'
"Your Mightiness. . . .
"And further," (here Pan Sobieski's lion-like brow became
wrinkled and his eyes flashed) "even if it were to happen
as you say, even if by this means our power were increased;
even if war with Turkey were avoided; even if the nobles
themselves were to shout for it, yet, while this hand of mine
can wield the sabre and make the sign of the Cross, I will
never, never, consent to such a thing. So help me God!"
"Why, Your Mightiness?" reiterated Pan Bogush wring-
ing his hands.
"Because not only am I a Polish, but a Christian Hetman,
for I stand to guard the Cross. And even if these Cossacks
lacerate the entrails of the Commonwealth more brutally
than ever, I will not use the swords of the Infidels to sever
the necks of a blind, but still Christian community; for by
such action, I should be saying 'Raca' to our fathers and
grandfathers, to my own ancestors and their ashes, and to
the tears and blood of the entire Commonwealth in the past.
As God is true! if destruction is to be our lot, if our name
must be that of a dead, instead of a living nation, at least
let our glory remain and some memory of that duty which
was pointed out to us by God. Let people who come after
us say as they look at those crosses and tombs: 'Here was true
Christianity, here they defended the Cross against the vile-
ness of Mohammedanism so long as they had breath in their
bodies and blood in their veins; and they died for other na-
tions/ That is our duty, Bogush. Look, we are the strong-
hold on which Christ has set his crucifix and you tell me,
a soldier of the Lord, nay, the commander of the fortress, to
be the first to throw open the gates and admit the Infidels
like wolves to a sheepfold and deliver over the sheep, the
flock of Jesus to the slaughter. Rather let us suffer from
chambuls; rather let us bear rebellion; rather let us meet this
dreadful war; rather let us too fall, and the whole Common-
wealth perish than disgrace our name, lose our renown, and
betray this guardianship and service of the Lord/'
278 PAX MICHAEL.
As he concluded Pan Sobieski towered in his full grandeur,
and his face shone like the dawn as must have shone that
of Godfrey de Bouillon when, on the walls of Jerusalem, he
cried: "God wills it!" Before those words Pan Bogush
seemed a dust in his own eyes and Azya seemed to him as
dust beside Pan Sobieski; and the young Tartar's brilliant
schemes suddenly grew dark and became in Bogush's eyes
altogether vile and infamous. For what reply could he make
to the Hetman's words "that it was better to die than to
betray the service of the Lord/ What argument could he
advance? and so the poor knight did not know whether to
fall at the Hetman's feet or to beat his own breast and cry,
"Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa." ("My sin, my great sin/')
But at that moment the sound of bells was heard from the
neighboring Dominican monastery.
As he heard it Pan Sobieski cried:
"They are ringing to vespers, Bogush, let us go and sub-
mit ourselves to God!"
CHAPTER XII.
To the same degree that Pan Bogush hurried on his wa}
from Khreptyov to the Hetman, so he loitered on his way
back. In each town of any size he halted for a week or two,
spending the feast in Lemburg, and remaining there till the
New Year. It is true that he was taking the Hetman's in-
structions to Tukhay Bey's son, but these merely amounted to
orders to bring the business of the Lipkov leaders to a prompt
conclusion, and a sharp and even menacing order to relin-
quish his great designs. Pan Bogush had therefore no reason
for haste, since Azya could take no steps with the Tartars
without a letter from the Hetman.
He therefore lingered and visited churches along the way,
performing penance because he had fallen in with Azya's
schemes. Meanwhile, directly after the new year, many
guests had arrived at Khreptyov. From Kamenets came
Naviragh, an envoy from the Patriarch of Uzmiadzin, accom-
panied by two Anardrats, learned divines from Kaffa, with
many attendants. The soldiers were greatly interested in
the strange garb of these people, at the violet and crimson
Crimean caps, with long shawls of velvet and silk above their
dark *f aces and their intense gravity, as they walked like cranes
and bustards about the Khreptyov post. Pan Zaharyash Pyo-
trovich, famous for his constant travels to the Crimea and
even to Tsarograd itself, and yet more for his diligence in
seeking and ransoming captives in the slave markets of the
East, came with Naviragh and the Anardrats as interpreter.
Pan Michael at once handed him the sum that was necessary
for the ransom of Pan Boski, and, as the wife of the latter
had not enough money, he made it up from his own pocket;
Basia contributed her pearl ear-rings to help the distressed
lady and her charming daughter. Pan Seferovich, Pretor of
Kamenets, was also there a wealthy Armenian, whose
brother was groaning in captivity among the Tartars and
two women who were still young and far from plain, though
rather swarthy, named Pani Neresevich and Pan! Kyernovich.
Both had husbands in captivity.
(279)
280 PAX MICHAEL.
The majority of the guests were in great distress, but there
was no lack of happy ones also. Father Kaminski had sent
his neice, Panna Kaminska, to be present at Shrovetide in
Ivhreptyov and under Basia's care, and one day the younger
Pan Novovyeyski Pan Adam broke in upon them like a
thunderbolt. Having heard of his father's arrival from
Khreptyov, he at once obtained furlough from Pan Rush-
chyts, and hastened to receive him.
Young Pan Adam had greatly altered during the last year
or two; in the first place, his upper lip was thickly shaded
by a dark short moustache which did not conceal his teeth,
that were white as those of a wolf, but was curled and shapely.
In the second place, the youth, who was always well built, had
now grown to be almost a giant. It seemed that only that
great head could carry such thick and bushy hair, and only
such a mighty neck could support that head. His face, which
was always dark, had become tanned with the winds; his eyes
glowed like coals and his features expressed defiance. A large
apple could be concealed so easily in his mighty grasp that he
could play "Which one will you have?" with it, and he could
grind a handful of nuts on his knee to snuff. His whole body
made for strength, otherwise he was lean and slim in the
waist, but his chest above was as big as a chapel.
He could snap horse-shoes with the greatest ease and tie
iron rods in a bow around the soldiers necks, he looked even
bigger than he really was; the boards creaked under him as he
walked, and when he stumbled against a bench, it was splin-
tered.
In a word, he was one man in a humdred, in whom life,
power, and boldness seethed like water in a pan; it seemed as
if his powers could not find room even in his mighty body,
and that there was a flame in his breast and head and one half-
expected to see his hair smoking. Sometimes indeed vapor
did arise from it, for he was famous at the cups. He went
into battle with laughter like the neighing of a steed, and he
used his sword in such a way that when the fight was over
the soldiers would go to examine his victims and marvel at
his astonishing strokes. Moreover, as he had been used to
the Steppes and battle and vigils from early life, he was
cautious and farsighted, notwithstanding his boisterousness;
he was acquainted with every Tartar trick, and next to Pan
Michael and Rushchyts he was considered the best border
leader, Notwithstanding his assurances and threats, old
PAN MICHAEL. 281
Novovyeyski did not give his son a very harsh reception, fear-
ing that if he offended him he would go away again and not
come back for another eleven years. But in reality, the mean
old noble was secretly pierced with this son who had not
taken any money away with him, and who had taken good
care of himself in the world and gained glory among his own
companions, besides the good will of the Hetman and the
rank of an officer, which very few could have managed to do
without interest. The father thought that the youth who had
run wild in the Steppes, was not likely to bow to his father's
authority, and therefore, it would be better not to put it to
the test. So the son fell at his feet as was right, but he
looked him straight in the eyes and, at the first reproach, he
unceremoniously replied:
"Father, your lips speak complaint, but in your heart, you
are glad, as you should be. I got into no disgrace. I ran away
to the army because I am a noble."
"But you may be a Mussulman/' answered the father, "as
you haven't appeared at home for eleven years."
"I did not show my face, for fear of being punished, which
would be an outrage to my rank and dignity <as an officer.
I waited for a letter of forgiveness; the letter didn't come,
nor did you get tidings of me."
"But aren't you afraid now?"
The young man smiled and showed his white teeth.
"This post is under military government and that is above
even a father's authority. My benefactor, why don't you em-
brace me, as you are longing to do."
With these words, he extended his arms and Pan Novov-
yeyski scarcely knew what to do. It was certain that he could
not quarrel with his son who had left his home when a boy
and now came back a grown man and a celebrated military
officer. Moreover, Pan No vovyey ski's paternal pride was
greatly fed by one thing and another, and so he would gladly
have pressed him to his breast but, . . . what about his
own dignity?
But the son clasped him in his embrace and made the
bones of the old noble crack, which completely vanquished
him.
"What can I do?" he gasped. "The rascal feels that he is
mounted on his own horse, and has no fear. On my word if
I were in my own home, I shouldn't be so gentle, but what
can I do here. Well then, embrace me again!"
282 PAN MICHAEL.
And after the second embrace, the youth hastened to in-
quire after his sister.
"I ordered her to be kept out of the way till I called her,"
answered his father; "the girl will be ready to jump out of
her skin."
"For Heaven's sake! where is she?" cried his son, and he
opened the door and began to shout till the whole place
echoed: "Evka, Evka!"
Evka was waiting in the next room, and rushed in, but had
scarcely time to cry "Adam !" when she was clasped in mighty
arms and lifted from the floor. Her brother had always been
very fond of her; in the old days, to shield her from their
father's tyranny, he would very often take the credit of her
faults on himself, and more than once received the floggings
which should have been hers. Pan Novovyeyski was an old
tyrant at home and very harsh, and consequently she now wel-
comed that strong brother, not simply as a brother, but as a
future shelter and protection. He kissed her on the brow
and eyes and hands, now and then holding her away from him,
gazing at her and crying delightedly:
"A lovely girl, as I love God!" and again:
"Just look how she has grown, a regular stove, not merely
a maiden!"
She smiled at him with her eyes. Then they began to talk
very quickly of their long separation, and of home, and the
wars. Old Pan Novovyeyski hovered round them muttering.
He was greatly impressed with his son, but now and then he
seemed to be considerably disturbed about his future au-
thority. That period was one of great parental rule which
afterwards increased beyond all limits; but this son was that
warrior, from the wild border posts who was riding his own
horse. Pan Novovyeyski was very jealous of his parental
authority. Still, he was sure that his son would always pay
him respect and give him his due, but the question was, would
he always yield like wax? Would he put up with everything
as he had when a boy? "Bah!" reflected the old noble, "if I
want to do it, I'll treat him like a boy. He is a spunky sub-
lieutenant and impresses me, as God is dear to me!" The
end of it was that Pan Novovyeyski felt his parental love in-
creasing every moment, and that he would end by developing
a great weakness for this gigantic son.
In the meantime Evka was twittering like a bird and del-
uging her brother with questions. When was he coming
PAN MICHAEL. 283
home, and wouldn't he settle down and marry? She is not
quite clear about it, and can't be sure, but, as she loves her
father, she has heard it said that soldiers are prone to fall in
love. "Bah!" she remembers now, it was Pani Volodiyovski
who told her so. How kind and lovely that Pani Volodiyovski
is. You couldn't, with a candle, find a lovelier or better
woman in all Poland. Perhaps the only one who can be men-
tioned in the same breath with her, is Zosia Boska."
"And who is Zosia Boska?" asks Pan Adam?
"A young lady who is staying here with her sister, and
whose father was captured by the Horde. When you see her,
you will fall in love with her."
"Let's have Zosia Boska!" cried the young officer.
His father and Evka laughed at his readiness.
"Love is like death/' said the son; "it passes no one by.
I hadn't a hair on my face, and Pani Volodiyovski was quite
a girl, when I fell desperately in love with her. Ah, good
God! how I did love that Bashka! And what then? Some-
time I will tell her, I thought. I did tell her, and the answer
came like a blow in the face. Shoo ! cat, leave the milk alone!
It seemed that she was already in love with Pan Michael, and
what's the use of talking? she was right."
"Why?" asked old Pan ISTovovyeyski.
"Why? for this reason! because without boasting I can say
that I could hold my own with the sabre against any one else,
but he wouldn't need to play with me while you could repeat
two Paters. Moreover, he is a matchless fighter, to whom even
Rushchyts would take off his cap. Pan Rushchyts, even!
Even the Tartars love him. There is no greater soldier in the
Commonwealth."
"And how he and his wife do love each other! why, it's
enough to make your eyes ache to look at them," cried Evka.
"Ah, ha! so your mouth is watering; your mouth is water-
ing, for your time has come too!" exclaimed Pan Adam. And,
putting his hands on his hips, he began to nod his head at
his sister like a horse, and smile, but she answered in con-
fusion:
"I haven't a thought of it."
"Well, there's no scarcity of officers and pleasant fellows
here."
"But I don't know whether father has told you that Azya
is here," paid Evka.
"AzvR Mellekhovieh the Lipkov! I know him, he's a fine
soldier."
284 PAN MICHAEL.
"But you are not aware that he is not Mellekhovich, but
that same Azya who grew up beside you/' said old Pan Novov-
yeyski.
"For Heaven's sake! what's that you say? Only think of it!
that idea sometimes occurred to me too, but they told me
that his name was Mellekhovich and so I thought he could
not be .the same man. Azya is ri common name among them.
It was so many years since I had seen him that I couldn't be
sure. Ours was rather short and ugly, but this one is very
handsome."
"He is ours^" cried old Novovyeyski, "or rather not ours,
for do you know whose son he turns out to be?"
"How should I?"
"He is the son of the great Tukhay Bey."
The young man struck his strong hands on his knees till
the sound echoed through the house.
"I can't believe my ears! the great Tukhay Bey. If that's
true, he is a prince, and related to the Khan. There's no
better blood in the Crimea than that of Tukhay Bey."
"It is the blood of a foe."
"It was so in the father, but the son serves us. I have
myself seen him under fire twenty times. Ah, I now under-
stand where he gets that devilish daring. Pan Sobieski hon-
ored him in the presence of the whole army, and made him a
setnik. I am glad to meet him from the bottom of my soul;
a tough soldier! I will welcome him with my whole heart."
"But don't be too familiar with him!"
"Why not? Is he a servant of mine or yours? I am a
soldier and so is he; I am an officer and so is he. Bah! if he
were some infantry fellow who directs his men with a reed,
I shouldn'^ have a word to say, but if he is a son of Tukhay
Bey, then he has no common blood in his veins. He is a
prince, and there is nothing more to be said. The Hetman
himself will have him ennobled. How should I turn up my
nose at him, when I am in brotherhood with Kulak Murza,
Bakhchyaga,, and Sukyman? not one of these would think
himself demeaned by herding sheep for Tukhay Bey."
Evka was suddenly tempted to kiss her brother again, and
then she sat down close to him and began to stroke his shaggy
hair with her beautiful hand.
These caresses were interrupted by the entrance of Pan
Michael.
Pan Adam sprang up to welcome his superior officer, and
PAN MICHAEL. 285
immediately began to explain that he had not paid his respects
to the commander in the first place, because he had not come
on duty, but only in his private capacity. Pan Michael cor-
dially embraced him and answered:
"And who would find fault with you, dear comrade, if you
should first go and fall at your father's feet after so many
years of separation. If it had been a matter of duty, it would
have been otherwise, but have you no messages from Pan
Rushchyts?"
"Only respectful greetings. Pan Rushchyts went to Yahor-
lik, because he was informed that there were a great many
horse-tracks in the snow. My colonel received your letter
and sent it on to the Horde to his parents and relations with
instructions to search and make inquiries there, but he did
not write himself. He said: "My hand is too heavy, and I
have no experience in that art!"
"I know he does not like to write," said Pan Michael.
"With him the sabre is everything."
Here the little knight twisted his moustache and added,
with a touch of boasting:
"And yet you vainly hunted Azya Bey for two months!"
"But your lordship has swallowed him down as a pike does
a blackfish!" enthusiastically cried Pan Adam. "Well, God
must have confused his mind so that when he evaded Pan
Rushchyts, he ran into your arms. He got it."
These words greatly pleased the little knight and, to pay
courtesy with courtesy, he turned to Pan Novovyeyski and
said:
"So far, the Lord Jesus has denied me a son, but if he ever
gives me one, I should like him to be just such another one
as this."
"There is nothing in him," the little noble replied, "noth-
ing at all, and that 7 s the end of it."
But notwithstanding his words, his breast heaved with
gratification.
"This is another delicacy for me. . . !"
In the meantime the little knight stroked Evka's face, and
said to her:
"You see that I am no child, but my Bashka is almost the
same age as you, and so I sometimes think that she ought to
have some pleasure more appropriate for her years. . . It is
true that everybody here loves her dearly, and I hope you see
some justification for it."
286
"Dear God!" cried Evka, "in all the world, there is not
such another woman. I said so only a moment ago."
The little knight was perfectly delighted, and his face
grew radiant as he asked:
"Ah, so! did you indeed?"
"As I live, she did/' cried father and son, in chorus.
"Very well! put on your smartest clothes, for, unknown to
:>ashka, I have fetched a band from Kamenets to-day. I told
(hem to cover the instruments with straw and I explained
to her that they were Gypsies coming to shoe the horses.
To-night we'll have great dancing; she loves it, although she
likes to play the dignified matron."
Then Pan Michael began to rub his hands and was highly
delighted with himself.
CHAPTER XIII.
The snow fell so heavily that it filled the moat of tin
military post to the brink, and drifted against the stockacK.
like a bank. It was a stormy night outside, but the great
hall of Khreptyov was blazing with light. There were two
violins, a bass viol, a flageolet, a French horn, and two bugles.
The fiddlers worked away with all their might. The cheeks
of the players of the flageolets and bugles were distended
till their eyes became bloodshot. The old officers sat on
benches round the walls near each other, like gray doves
sitting on the roof in front of their cotes and watched the
dances as they drank their wine and mead. Basia and
Pan Mushalski were the first pair, the latter, notwithstand-
ing his years, being as famous a dancer as an archer. Basia
wore a silver brocade dress edged with ermine, and looked
like a half-blown rose in new-fallen snow. Everybody mar-
velled at her beauty and from the breasts of many of them
arose the involutary exclamation, "Save us!" for although
Panna Evka and Panna Zosia were not quite so old and more
than usually beautiful, yet Basia surpassed them all. Pleas-
ure and happiness were dancing in her eyes. As she flew past
the little knight, she thanked him with a smile for the
entertainment. Between her parted rosy lips gleamed her
white teeth and she flashed in her silver robe shining like
the rays of the sun or stars and bewitched heart and eye with
the combined beauty of a child, a woman, and a flower.
The slashed sleeves of her robe fluttered behind her like
the wings of a giant butterfly, and, when she lifted her
skirts and made a courtesy to her partner, one would have
thought that she was floating on the earth like a vision, or
like one of those fairies which skim along the brinks of the
ravines on bright summer nights. Outside the hall the sol-
diers pressed their wild hairy faces against the lighted panes
and looked into the room as they flattened their noses against
the glass. They were greatly delighted to see how their
beloved lady excelled everybody in beauty, for they were
(287)
2 88 PAX MICHAEL.
fierce partisans of hers, and so I hoy wore not sparing in justs
and remarks on Panna Evka or Panna Zosia and every time
Basia came near the wondow, they cheered her loudly.
Volodiyovski swelled like dough under the influence of yeast
and kept time with Basia's movements by nodding his
head; Pan Zagloba stood near holding a goblet in his hand,
and kept time with his foot, and spilt his liquor on the floor,
and now and then he and the little knight would turn and
gaze at each other in an ecstacy of delight.
Basia gleamed and sparkled all over the room, more
joyous and bewithching every moment. Such was the life
of the wilderness for her! First a battle, then a hunt, then
entertainment, dancing and music and a crowd of soldiers,
the greatest of them all being her husband and he, both
tender and beloved; she knew that she was loved and ad-
mired and received the homage of everybody and that this
made the little knight happy; consequently, she herself was
as happy as the birds at the advent of Spring when they sing
and rejoice in the sweet May weather.
The second couple consisted of Azya and Xoveska, who
wore a crimson jacket. The young Tartar, who was com-
pletely intoxicated with the white vision gleaming in front
of him, did not address a word to Evka; but she, under the
impression that he was silent with emotion, tried to encour-
age him by pressing his hand, first lightly, and then more
strongly. Azya also pressed her hand so strongly that she
could scarcely restrain a cry of pain, but he did so involun-
tarily, for he was thinking only of Basia and, in his heart,
he was swearing a terrible oath that she should be his, even
if he had to waste half Russia with fire. Sometimes, when
he recollected himself, a desire seized him to clutch Evka
by the throat and throttle her, and gloat over her, because
she was pressing his hand and stood between him and Basia.
Sometimes his cruel falcon glance transfixed the poor girl,
and her heart began to beat more strongly with the thought
that it was love that made him gaze at her so fiercely.
Pan Adam Xovovyeyski and Zosia Boska formed the third
couple. She looked like a forget-me-not, and danced along
beside him with lowered eyes, while he looked like a wild
horse and pranced like one. Splinters were flying from under
his iron heels and his hair was standing upright: his face
was as red as a beet; his nostrils dilated like a Turkish war-
horse and he swept Zosia around and carried her through
PAX MICHAEL. 289
Ihc air like a leaf in a whirlwind. His spirits rose every
moment, because he often lived on the edge of the steppes
for months without even the sight of a woman. The very
first glance at Zosia had so delighted him that lie was des-
perately in love with her in another instant. Now and then
he would look at her downcast eyes and flushed cheeks, and
it almost made him snort with pleasure, and then his heels
would strike fire more vigorously, and he would hold her,
as they turned in the dance, more strongly to his broad
breast and burst into a loud fit of happy laughter; his love
and joyousness seethed up higher in him each instant, but
Zosia's poor litle heart was fearful; but it was not altogether
a disagreeable fear, because she was pleased with this tempest
of a man, who whirled her along and took her with him,
a regular dragon! She had seen many different knights in
Yavorov, but, till -now, she had never come across such a
iicry one, not one that danced as he did, nor one that carried
her along in that way. A regular dragon indeed! What
could she do with him as it was bevond her power to resist.
?
The next couple consisted of Panna Kaminska dancing
with a courteous knight, and she was followed by Pani Kyer-
emovich and Pani Neresevich, who, although the wives of
merchants, were invited to the party, because they were both
of courtly breeding and very rich. The dignified Naviragh
and the two Anardrats watched the Polish dancers with
growing astonishment; the old men were becoming more
noisy over their cups of mead, sounding like grasshoppers
among the stubble. But all the voices were drowned by the
music and in the middle of the hall general delight was in-
creasing.
Presently,* Baeia left her partner and ran panting to her
husband and clasped her hands to him.
"Michael," she prayed, "outside it is so cold for the soldiers,
order a barrel of gorzalka to be given to them."
He was more than usually happy and so he kissed her hands
and exclaimed:
"If it would please you, you would have my very blood."
Then he hastened out himself to inform the soldiers to
whom they owed the barrel, because he wanted them to thank
Basin and love her all the more.
For answer they raised such a shout as to shake the snow
from the roof, whereupon the little knight cried:
19
290 PAN MICHAEL.
"Fire off your muskets as a salute to the mistress. 7 '
On his return he found Basia dancing with Azya. When
the Tartar encircled that lovely form with his arm, and felt
the warmth of her contact and her breath on his cheek, his
eyes turned upwards and the whole world seemed to be swim-
ming before him; in his heart he relinquished Paradise and
eternity, for of all the Houris, this was the sole one he de-
sired. Then Basia, as she saw the passing gleam of Evka's
crimson jacket, and was anxious to know if Asya had yet
proposed, asked:
"Have you told her?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"The time has not yet come," he said, with a strange ex-
pression.
"But are you not deeply in love?"
"To the death, to the death!" replied Tukhayovich, in low
and hoarse tones, like the croak of a raven.
And they danced on directly behind Pan Adam, who had
gone to the front. The others had changed partners, but
Pan Adam would not release Zosia, only now and then he
would find a seat for her on a bench to rest and recover her
breath, and then he would start afresh.
At last, he stopped in front of the musicians and cried to
them, as he held Zosia with one arm:
"Play the Krakoviak, go on."
And obediently to his orders, they imemdiately started.
Pan Adam beat time with his foot and sang with a mighty
voice,
" Bright torrents run
In the Dniester river
Afterwards they are lost ; ^
So is lost in thee, oh, maiden,
Lost in thee, my heart,
U-ha."
And he roared out that U-ha in such a Cossack way, that
Zosienka nearly died with fright. The dignified Xaviragh,
who was standing near, was scared and so were the two
learned Anardrats, but Pan Adam led the dance on again.
Twice he circled the room and halting in front of the band,
again sang of his heart:
" Lost, but not perished,
In spite of the Dneister
In the depths it will fish out
A little golden ring.
U ha."
PAN MICHAEL. 2 $I
"Very pretty verses," cried Pan Zagloba, "I am very clever
at that kind of thing, and have made many of them. Bark,
bark away, knight, bark away, and when you find the ring,
I'll continue like this:
" Every maiden is flint
Every swain is steel
There will be no end of sparks
If you strike strongly,
U-ha."
"Vivat, vivat, Pan Zagloba, "shouted all the officers ii.
mighty tones till the dignified Naviragh and the two learned
Anardrats were greatly alarmed and gazed at each other in
great astonishment.
Pan Adam made the circuit twice again and at last seated
his partner on the bench, panting and amazed at the daring
of her cavalier. She was very much taken with him, he was
so honest, and brave, though a regular thunderstorm, but she
was greatly confused, because she had never met a man like
this before, and so She cast down her eyes more than ever
and sat silent as a shy child.
"Why are you so silent, is anything grieving you," asked
Pan Adam.
"Because my father is in captivity," Zosia replied, in faint
tones.
"Don't think of that," said the young man, "the proper
thing is to dance. Look at this room, here are some dozens of
officers, and in all probability not one will die a natural death,
but from the arows of the Infiidels or in captivity. One to-
day and another to-morrow."
"Every man on the border has lost some one, and we take
our pleasure so that God may not think that we murmur at
our duty. That's the way. Dancing is the proper thing.
Smile, little maiden, raise your eyes, for I think that you care
for me."
Zosia did not lift her eyes to be sure, but she raised the
corners of her mouth and two dimples appeared in her rosy
cheeks.
"Do you love me a little?" he asked.
And Zosia, in still lower tones answered, "And . . .
yes. . . . ' J
On hearing this Pan Adam sprang to his feet and caught
Zosia's hands and began to smother them with kisses, saying!
"Lost! there's no use talking, I love you to death, I don't
2 9 2
PAN A//C7/.1/;/,.
want anyone but you, my beautiful darling. Go<l save mo,
how dearly I love you. In the morning, I will fall at yoi-r
mothers' feet. What's that? In the morning! I'll do it to-
night, so as to make sure of you."
A deafening roar of musketry outside the window drowiud
Zosia's reply. The delighted soldiers were firing a vivat for
Basia; the window panes rattled and the walls shook. The
dignified Naviragh and the tw'o learned Anardrats were scan"!
for the third time, but Zagloba, who stood by, tried to quiet
them saying,
"Apud Polonos nunquam sine clamore et strepitu gaud i a
fiunt."
As it turned out, they had only been waiting for that
salvo of musketry to revel to the utmost. The usual cere-
monious manner of the nobles now began to give place to
the wildness of the steppes. Music again blared out and dan-
cing broke out again like a tempest. Eyes flashed and glit-
tered and steam rose from the hair. Even the oldest joined
in the dance, and every moment loud shouts were heard, and
they drank and sported and drank toasts out of Basia's
shoe and fired with pistols at Evka's boot heels. Khrcptvov
roared and reveled and saoig till the dawn, till the beasts
in the neighboring wilderness concealed themselves in the
thickest woods from fear.
As this was happening almost on the brink of a dreadful war
with the power of the Turk, and terror and ruin were hover-
ing above all these people, the dignified Naviragh was amazed
beyond measure at these Polish soldiers, and the two learned
Anardrats were no less astonished.
CHAPTER XIV.
Everybody slept late the next morning, except the guard
and the little knight, who never let pleasure interfere with
duty. Pan Adam was up early, for Panna Zosia Boska
ahvjiv? seemed to him, even more charming in the morning.
Donning his gayest clothes, he went into the hall, where they
had danced the night before, to ascertain if he could hear any
movement in the adjoining rooms which were occupied by
the ladies.
lit- heard a noise in the room occupied by Zosia Boska but
the youth was so impatient to get sight of Zosia that he drew
bis dagger and began to pick out the moss and clay from be-
IwH-n the boards, so that, please God, with one eye he might
have a glimpse of Zosia through the hole.
7a.u'loba, who at that moment, was passing with his beads in
his hand?, found him thus employed, and seeing at once, what
he. was up to, he stole up to him on the tips of his toes, and
began to beat him across the shoulders with his sandal- wood
heads.
Pan Adam jumped aside and seemed to shake with
laughter, but in reality, he was greatly disconcerted, and the
Id man followed him, and kept on striking at him.
"Oh you Turk, oh you Tartar, there you have it, there I
exorcise you, where are your morals, you want to get a look at
u woman, there you have it, there."
"Sir," exclaimed Pan Adam, "'tis not right to use holy
hi -ads as a whip. Let me go, I didn't mean anything wrong."
"You say it's not right to beat a man with a rosary. That's
not true. The Palm is sacred on Palm Sunday, and yet,
people use it for striking, besides, once these were infidel
hr ;! ds and belonged to Snban Kazi, but I snatched them from
him at Zbaraj, and, subsequently, they were blest by the
-tolic Xuncio. Look! they're genuine sandal-wood."
"!!' they are true sandal-wood, they are scented."
"Beads are scented to me, and a maiden to you, I must give
(293)
294 PAN
your shoulders a good dressing yet, for there's nothing like
a rosary for driving out the devil."
"I didn't mean anything wrong. . . On my life, I didn't/'
"Were you only trying to bore a hole through piety?"
"Not piety, but love, which is so extraordinary, that I'm
not certain that it won't make me burst like a grenade.
What's the use of deception when it's true. Gadflies don't
worry a horse in the autumn as much as this disease worries
me."
"Take care that this is not sinful desire, for when I came in
you couldn't stand still, but were striking your heels together,
as if you were standing on a burning log."
"As true as I love God, I didn't see anything, for I had
only just begun to pick at the crack."
"Ah, youth, . . . blood isn't water, even I sometimes have
to restrain myself still, for in me, there is a lion seeking
whom he may devour. If your intentions are pure, you are
thinking of marriage."
"Pure thoughts of marriage, Almighty God, what should I
be thinking of. I am not only thinking of it, but I feel as if
someone were pricking me with an awl. Does not your lord-
ship know that I proposed to Panna Boska last night, and
have received my father's consent?"
"The boy is made of sulphur and powder. The hangman
take thee! If that is so, it's quite another matter, but tell me
how it happened."
"Last night, Pani Boska went to her room to fetch her
handkerchief for Zosia and I followed her. She turned
round, crying:
"Who's there, and I fell at her feet, crying, 'Mother, beat
me if you will, but give me Zosia, my bliss, my love.' But
Pani Boska recovering herself, said, 'Everybody praises you
and regards you as a noble knight, but I will not give you an
answer to-day, nor to-morrow, but later, and you must get
your father's permission.' Then she went out thinking that
I was overcome by wine. The fact is, I had a little in my
head."
"That's nothing. It was in everybody's head. Didn't you
see the pointed caps askew on the heads of Naviragh and the
Anardrats towards the last?"
"I didn't notice, for I was trying to think of the easiest way
to get my father's consent."
"Well, was it a difficult matter?"
PAN MICHAEL. 295
"Towards morning, we both retired to our room, and as it's
well to strike the iron while it is hot, I said to myself, it was
necessary to get at least an inkling of the view my father
would take of the business. 'Father/ I said, 'listen to me,
I want Zosia dreadfully, and I want your consent, and if you
won't give it, as God lives, I'll go and take service under the
Venetians, and that's the last you'll hear of me. Wasn't he
in a rage with me then! He cried, 'Oh, what a son I've got,
you can shift without the permission. Go to the Venetians,
or take the girl, but all I have to say is that you won't get a
cent either of my own or your mother's money, for it all be-
longs to me."
Zagloba protruded his lower lip.
"Ah, that's bad."
"Wait a moment, when I heard that, I said: But am I ask-
ing that, or do I need it? I want nothing but your blessing,
for the possessions of the Infidels that have fallen to my sabre
are enough to rent a good estate or even to purchase a village.
That what belonged to mother be Evka's do-wry; I will add
two handfulls of turquoise and some silk and brocade, and if
a bad year comes, I can help my father with cash."
"That greatly excited my father's curiosity, and he asked:
'Are you so rich, for God's sake, whence did it come? Was it
plunder, for when you left us, you were as poor as a
dervish?'"
"Fear God, father, I replied, it is eleven years since I began
to wield a sabre, and, as they say, it's not the worst in the
world, and shouldn't I gather something together, I was
present at the pillage of rebel towns in which marauders and
Tartars had collected the richest booty; I fought against
Murza's and robbers, and spoil kept on coming. I took only
what belonged to me, without injustice to anybody, but it
kept increasing, and if a fellow didn't have some sport some-
times, my property would now be twice as much as what your
father left you."
"What did the old man say to that?" asked Zagloba, joy-
fully.
"My father was astonished, for he hadn't expected that and
immediately began to complain of my spendthrift habits. He
said there would be an increase if it were not that this thrower
to the birds, this struting fellow, who only cares to plume
himself and play the great lord, squanders everything and
eaves nothing. Then his curiosity got the better of him, and
296 PA * MICHAEL.
he began to try and find out in detail wlial. I own, and, seeing
that I could make best progress by swearing with that tar, I
not only concealed nothing, but overstated it, though gener-
ally, I don't exaggerate, for I say to myself, 'Truth is oats,
and lies chaff/ My father rested his head on his hands and
fell to thinking and planning: This or that estate might
have been purchased/ he said, 'this or that lordship might
have been maintained. We might have lived on both sides
of the border and in your absence, I might have looked after
everything,' and my worthy father began to shed tears. . . .
'Adam/ he said, 'I am very pleased with that girl for she is
under the Hetman's protection, then there may be some profit
in that, too?' 'Adam/ he said, 'mind you respect this, my
second daughter, and don't squander her property, or I
should never forgive you to my dying day, and I, my gracious
benefactor, cried out indignantly at the mere suspicion of any
injustice to Zosia. So father and 1 fell into each others arms
and mingled our tears until the first cock crowed."
"The old rascal!" murmured Zagloba, and then he added
aloud:
"So there may be a wedding soon, and fresh merry-makings
at Khreptyov, particularly as it is Shrovetide.",
"If he depended on me, there would be one to-morrow,"
hastily cried Pan Adam, "but what of it sir; my leave will
soon be up, and duty is duty, so that I must return to Rash-
kov. I can't tell when Pan Eushchyts will grant me another
leave of absence. But I'm not so sure that the ladies will not
raise obstacles. For when I refer to the old mother, she says,
'My husband is in captivity.' What's that to do with me, I'm
not keeping the father in prison, am I? I'm very much
afraid of such hindrances, if it weren't for that, I would grasp
father Kaminski's soutane and wouldn't release him till he
had joined Zoska and me. But when women once get a thing
into their heads, you can't get it out with pinchers. I'd give
my last cent I have for papa, myself, but there's no way to do
so. Moreover, nobody knows where he is, perhaps he is dead,
and then there's a fine business. If they want me to wait for
him, I might have to wait till the last judgment day."
"Pyotrovich, Naviragh, and the Anardrats will set off to-
morrow, and we shall soon have news."
"Jesus save us! Have I got to wait for news? There
can't be anything before Spring. In the meantime, I shall
waste away, as God is dear to me, my kind benefactor, every-
PAN MICHAEL.
297
one has confidence in your wisdom and experience; won't you
beat this waiting out of the heads of these women. Kind sir,
there'll be war in the Spring. God knows what may happen,
besides, I want to marry Zoska and not papa. Why must I
go and sigh to him?"
"Induce the women to go and dwell at Rashkov. It will
be easier to get news there, and if Pyotrovich discovers Boska,
he won't be far from you. I repeat, I will do what I .can,
but you ask Pani Basia to help you. I won't fail to do so, I
won't fail, for the devil. . . .
Then the door creaked and Pani Boska came in. But be-
fore Zagloba could turn round, young Novovyeyski had already
dropped down at full length at her feet, and, taking up an
immense extent of the floor with his gigantic body, began to
cry:
"I possess my father's consent, give me Zoska, mother.
Give me Zoska, give me Zoska, mother."
"Give him Zosia, mother," added Zagloba in his deep bass
voice. The noise attracted people in the adjacent rooms.
Basia entered, and then, Pan Michael from his office, and
presently, Zosia herself. The girl never thought what was
the matter, but her face immediately grew crimson, and,
clasping her hands, she dropped them in front of her, pressed
her lips, and stood by the wall with downcast eyes. Pan
Michael ran for old Novovyeyski. When he arrived, he was
greatly incensed that his son had not entrusted the affair to
him, and left it to his eloquence, but nevertheless, he sup-
ported the request.
Pani Boska, who indeed was without support of any kind,
at last burst into tears and acceded to Pan Adam's request, as
well as to proceed to Rashkov and there await her husband.
Then still weeping, she turned to her daughter.
"Zosia," she asked, "are you willing to fall in with Pan
Adam's plans?"
All eyes were turned upon Zosia. She stood against the
wall with downcast eyes, as usual, and only after some mo-
ments' silence, did she answer in scarcely audible tones:
"I will go to Rashkov."
"My darling," shouted Pan Adam, as he sprang to her sifle,
and threw his arms round her.
Then he shouted till the walls shook:
"Zosia, is mine, mine, mine."
) CHAPTER XV.
Young Pan Novovyeyski set out for Rashkov immediate! j
after his betrothal to procure and furnish lodgings for Pan)
and Panna Boska, and two weeks afterwards a whole convoy
of guests left Khreptyov. It included Naviragh, the new An-
ardrats, the Armenians, Kyeremovich, and Neresevich, Se-
ferevich, the Boska ladies, the two Pyotroviches, and Old
Pan Novovyeyski, and numerous attendants, as well as armed
followers for the protection of wagons, draft-horses and beasts
of burden. The Pyotroviches and the delegates of the Pa-
triarch of Uzmiadzin were merely to rest at Rashkov to re-
ceive tidings about their route, and then proceed to the
Crimea. The rest of the party intended to settle at Rashkov
for a time and wait at any rate till the first thaws for the
return of the prisoners namely, Boska, the younger Sefer-
evich, and the two merchants who had long been waiting in
grief.
The way was very hard as it lay through dreary stretches
of wilderness and precipitous ravines, luckily, there was
plenty of crisped snow to furnish excellent sleighing, and the
presence of the commands in Mohilov, Yampol, and Rashkov
assured their safety. Azba Bey was slain, and the robbers
either scattered or hanged, and in the winter, the Tartars
did not go out on customary trails for want of grass.
Moreover, Pan Adam had promised to meet them with a
few dozen cavalry, if Pan Rushchyts would grant permission.
They therefore set out in high spirits; Zosia was ready to go
( to the world's end for the sake of Pan Adam. Pani Boska
and the two Armenian ladies had hopes of speedily recovering
their husbands. Rashkov, it- is true, was situated on the con-
fines of Christendom in -a terrible wilderness, but they were
not going there for a lifetime, however, nor to stay very
long. War would break out in the Spring, there was talk
of war everywhere along the border. It was necessary that
their loved ones when found, should return with the first
warm breeze if they wished to save their heads,
(298)
PAN MICHAEL. 299
Evka stayed behind at Khreptyov with Basia. Pan ISTovo-
vyeyski did not insist on taking his daughter along with
him, particularly as he was leaving her in a house of such
worthy people.
"I will send her in the utmost safety," said Basia, "or
rather, I will take her myself, because, for once in my life,
1 should like to see the whole of that terrible border, of
which I have heard so much since my childhood. In the
Spring, when the trails were black with chambuls my hus-
band would not allow me to go, but now, if Evka stays with
me, I shall have a good excuse. I shall begin to insist in
two weeks, and by the third, I shall certainly obtain per-
mission/'
"I hope your husband will not let you go in the winter,
unless well attended."
"If he can, he will go with me, if not, Azya will accom-
pany us with a couple hundred or more of cavalry, for I hear
that in any case he is to go to Rashkov."
Here the discussion ended, and Eva remained at Khrep-
tyov. Basia, however, had other schemes besides the rea-
sons she had given Pan Novovyeyski. She wanted to facili-
tate Asya's advances to Eva, because she was beginning to
get uneasy about the young Tartar. It is true that when-
ever he was questioned by Basia, he said, that he loved
Evka and that his old feeling had not died out, but when-
ever he was with Eva, he did not say a word. In the
meantime, the girl had fallen wildly in love with him in
the wilderness of Khreptyov. His savage but magnificent
beauty, his infancy spent under the strong hand of Novo-
vyeyeski, his wild but princely birth, the mystery with which
he had been surrounded, and, lastly, his military renown
had completely dazzled her. She was only waiting for the
moment to reveal to him her heart, burning like a flame, and
to cry, "Azya, I have loved thee from childhood, and to cast
herself into his arms and vow to love him till death." In
the meantime he clenched his teeth and kept silence.
At first Evka thought that the presence of her brother
and father acted as a restraint upon Azya, and kept him from
confessing. Later on, she also began to be disturbed, for
while such unavoidable obstacles as her father and brother
stood in the way, especially, before Azya had been ennobled,
he might open his heart to her; and the more obstacles that
were coming between them, the more quickly and frankly
should he do so,
300 jP^A T MICHAEL.
But he kept silence.
At last doubt crept into the heart of the maiden, and she
began to bewail her misfortune to Basia, who comforted
her by sajdng:
"I can't deny that he is a strange fellow, and extremely
reticent, but I am sure that he is in love with you, because
he has often told me so, and moreover he does not look at
you as he looks at others."
To this, Evka gloomily replied, as she shook her head,
"Differently, it is certain; but whether that gaze is full of
love or hatred, I cannot decide."
"Eva, dear, don't talk so foolishly, what reason has he
to hate you."
"But what reason has he to love me?"
Here Basia would stroke Eva's face, "But why does
Michael love me, and why did your brother fall in love with
Zosia, almost before he had seen her?"
"Adam was always precipitate."
"Azya is proud, and dreads a refusal, especially from your
father; as your brother has been in love himself, he would
more quickly comprehend the agony of that feeling. That's
how it is. Don't be foolish Evka, and have no fear. I will
prompt Azya, and you will see with what resolution he will
come forward." In fact, Basia had a talk with Azya, that
very day and immediately afterwards she hurried in to Eva.
"It's all settled," she cried, as she entered.
"What is?" cried Eva, blushing.
"I said to him, what are you thinking of, to treat me so
ungratefully. I have kept Eva here on purpose that you
might take advantage of the opportunity, but if you don't,
you must know that in two weeks, or in three at the furthest,
I shall send her Eashkov. I may go with her myself, and
then you will be out of it. His face altered, when he heard
of the journey to Rashkov, and he began to bow his head
to the ground before me. I then asked him what he in-
tended to do, and he answered 'I will confess what is in my
heart on the way. Along the way,' he said, 'will be the best
opportunity, along the way what is to hapepn, will happen,
and what is foreordained. I will confess everything, I will
reveal everything, for I cannot live any longer in this tor-
ment/ His lips began to quiver in his anguish because he
has received some troublesome letters from Kamenets. He
told me that, in any case he must go to Rashkov, that my
PAN MICHAEL. 301
husband has already had instructions from the Hetman re-
garding that affair; but the order did not mention any date,
as it depends on some negotiations in which he is engaged
with the leaders. 'But now/ he said, 'the time approaches,
and I must go to them on the other side of Rashkov, and
therefore I can escort your ladyship and Panna Eva at the
same time.' In reply, I told him that it was uncertain
whether I should go or not, as it depended on Michael's con-
sent. He was greatly disturbed when he heard that. Oh,
you are a fool, Evka, you say that he doesn't love you, but
he fell at my feet and when he besought me to go also, I
assure you, he absolutely wailed, so that I almost shed tears
over him. Do you know why that was? He told me once
'I will confess what is in my heart, but unless I have the
pi dyers of your ladyship, I shall not be able to do anything
with the Novovyeyskis. I shall only excite rage and enmity
in them and in myself. My lot, my suffering, and my salva-
tion are in your ladyship's hands, for if your ladyship will
not go, then it were better for me that the earth would
swallow me or burning flames consume me/ That's how
he loves you. It's awful to think about. And if you only
could have seen how he looked at that moment, you would
have been terrified."
"No, I do not fear him," Evka replied, as she kissed
Basia's hands.
"Go along with us, go along with us," she repeated, with
emotion, "do go, only you can save us, only you, will not be
afraid to tell my father, only you can do anything, go with
us, I will fall at Pan Michael's feet and obtain permission
for you. Without you, my father and Azya will spring at
each other with their knives. Go with us, do go/ '
Then she fell down again before Basia and began to em-
brace her knees, watering them with her tears.
"God grant that I may go," Basia answered. a l will lay
everything before Michael, and will not cease to tease him.
It's quite safe now to go alone even. How much more with
such a large escort. Perhaps Michael will go himself, and if
not, he is not heartless, and will give me permission; he
will object at first, but only let me become miserable, and
he will imemdiately begin to hover about me, and look into
my eyes, and give in. I would rather have him go, more-
over,, because I should be dreadfully lonely without him. But
what is to be done. I will go with you, anyhow, and give
3 02 MICHAEL.
you some comfort. In this case, there is no question of my
own wishes, but of the fate of both of you. Michael loves
you and Azya. . . he will agree."
After that talk with Basia, Azya flew to his own room,
as full of pleasure and exhultation as if he had recovered
sudden health after a dangerous illness.
A moment before his soul had been torn with wild despair;
at that moment he received a short and dry letter from Pan
Bogush, which ran as follows:
"My dear Azya: I have stopped at Kamenets and will
not go to Khreptyov now; in the first place, because I am
wearied out, and in tihe second, because there is no reason why
I should. I have been to Yavorov. The Hetman not only
refuses to give you the written authority to throw his dignity
over your wild plans, but he strictly ordered you on pain }f
forfeiting his favor to desist immediately. I also have re-
flected on what you said to me, and find it worthless. It
would be a sin for an educated Christian people to enter into
such schemes with Infidels, and we should be dishonored
in the face of the whole world if we granted the privileges
of nobility to criminals, marauders, and shedders of inno-
cent blood. Curb yourself in this affair, and do not think
of the rank of hetman as it is not for you, even though you
are the son of Tughay Bey. But if you want to quickly re-
cover the Hetman's good will, be satisfied with your present
position, and, more particularly, hasten the matter with Kry-
chinski, Tarasovski, Adurovich, and the others, for in this
way, you will be rendering the greatest service.
"I enclose the Hetman's instructions for your future move-
ments and an official order for Pan Volodiyovski, so that
there may be no obstacles to your going out and coming in
with your men. Of course, you wouldn't have to go sud-
denly; you will hold a meeting with those leaders; only be
quick and send me a full report to Kamenets of what you
have learned on the opposite bank. Commending you to
God's favor, I remain, ever with good wishes,
MAETISAN" BOGUSH, of Zyemblyts,
Podstolik of Novgorod."
On receipt of this letter, the young Tartar broke out into
awful rage. First he tore it up into little pieces, and then
stabbed the table with his knife again and again; then he
threatened to take his own life and that of the devoted
PAN MICHAEL.
Ilalun, who fell on his knees and prayed him to take no
?M'ious step until his fury and despair had somewhat abated.
Tliis letter was a cruel blow to him. The castles raised by his
pride and ambition were all blown up as if by powder, and
his plans were destroyed. He might have become the third
Iletman of the Commonwealth, and held its destinies in the
hollow of his hand; but now, he learns that he is to remain
an insignificant officer, the height of whose ambition is a
patent of nobility. In his glowing visions, he had seen
crowds bowing down before him daily, and now he will
have to bow down before others. There is no advantage
for him either in being the son of Tukhay Bey, or having
the blood of warrior rulers running in his veins, or having
great thoughts in his mind it is nothing, all for nothing.
He will live without recognition and die forgotten in some
petty distant military post. His wing is broken by one
word. One "no" has determined that henceforth he shall
not be free to soar to the skies like an eagle, but that he
must crawl on the earth like a worm.
But all this even is as nothing compared with the happi-
ness which he has lost. She, for whose possession he would
gladly have resigned life and eternity; she, for whom his
heart was burning like flame, she, whom he loved with eyes,
heart, soul, and blood, will never be his. This letter has de-
prived him of her, in addition to a Hetman's baton. Kmy-
elnitski might carry off the wife of Chaplinski; Azya as a
Iletman, might carry off the wife of another man, and defend
himself against the whole Commonwealth even, but how
could Azya take her, when he was only a lieutenant of Lip-
kov Tartars, serving under her husband's command.
As he thought of all this, the world grew dark before his
eyes, and empty, and full of gloom, and the son of Tukhay
Bey thought that it would be better for him to die than
to live on without any object in life, without happiness, or
hope of having the woman he loved. This bore the more
heavily upon him, because he had not expected such a blow,
indeed, considering the Commonwealth's extremity, he had
satisfied himself, more surely day by day that the Hetman
would authorize his intentions. Now he saw his hopes blown
away like mist before the wind. What was left for him?
To give up all thought of glory and greatness and happiness;
but he was not the man to do that. In the first few moments,
he was swept away by the madness of rage and despair. He
304
PAN MICHAEL.
was consumed with fire and burning with anguish, and he
howled and gnashed his teeth and fierce and revengeful
thoughts engrossed his mind. He panted for revenge on the
Commonwealth, the Hetman, Pan Michael, and, even, Ba-
sia. He wanted to call together his Lipkov Tartars and
slaughter the garrison, and the officers, and Khreptyov entire,
slay Pan Michael, and abduct Bashka, carrying her across the
Moldavian border, down to the Dobrudja, and to Tsarograd
itself, and even to the Asian deserts.
But the faithful Halim attended him, and when he had
got over his first rage and despair, he himself recognized the
futility of all those designs. In this also Azya was like
Khmyelnitski, for, as in the latter, in him also the lion and
the serpent had their abode side by side. What would be the
result; if he were to attack Khreptyov with his faithful Lip-
kovs? Would Pan Michael, who was as vigilant as a crane,
allow himself to be taken by surprise; and even if so, would
that celebrated warrior allow himself to be slain, more es-
pecially as the soldiers who were with him were more nu-
merous and better fighters? Finally, even if Azya were to
put an end to Pan Michael, what could he do then? If he
were to go along the river towards Yahorlik, he would have
to wipe out the posts at Mohilov, Yampol and Rashkov; if
lie were to cross to the Moldavian bank, there were the per-
kulabs, Pan Michael's friends, and Habareskul of Khotsim
himself, his sworn brother. If he were to go to Doroshenko,
there were Polish posts at Bratslav; and even in the winter,
the steppes were full of scouting parties. Considering all
this, Tukhay Bey's son felt his powerlessness, and his malig-
nant heart first spurted forth flames and then hid itself in
the deepest despair, just as a wounded wild animal creeps
into a dark open cave and keeps still.
And as excessive pain is its own destruction and at last
sinks into torpor, so at length, torpor finally took possession
i of him.
It was just at that moment that they told him that the
Colonel's wife wanted to speak to him.
When Azya returned from the interview, Halim scarcely
recognized him. The Tartar's face had lost its expression
of callous despair: his eyes glittered like a wild cat, his face
was radiant and his white teeth gleamed under his mous-
tache; in his savage beauty he resembled the terrible Tukhay
Bey.
PAN MICHAEL.
305
"Master," asked Halim, "what comfort has God granted
thy spirit?"
Azya answered:
"Halim, God creates the bright day after the dark night
and commands the sun to rise out of the sea" (here he
grasped the old Tartar by the shoulders). "In a month she
will be mine forever."
And such light spread over his dark face as made it ab-
solutely beautiful, and Halim bowed before him.
"Oh, son of Tukhay Bey, thou art great and mighty, and
the hatred of the unbelievers cannot harm thee."
"Listen," cried Azya.
"I am listening, son of Tukhay Bey."
"I will go beyond the blue sea, where the snows only lie
on the tops of the mountains, and, if I return to this land,
it will be at head of chambuls in number like the sands
of the sea and the leaves in these wildernesses, and I will
bring fire and sword with me. But thou, Halim, the son of
Kurbluk, will set out to-day and find Krychinski, and tell
him to come quickly with his men to the bank opposite to
Eashkov. And tell Adurovich, Moravski, Aleksandrovich,
Grokholski, Tvorkovski with every living man of the Lipkov
and Cheremis Tartars to warn the troops. Let them give
orders to the chambuls in winter quarters with Doroshenko
to create disturbances on the Uman side, in order that the
Polish forces may be lured deep into the steppes from Mo-
hilov, Yampol, and Rashkov. Let no forces be left along
the way by which I pass so that when at last I leave Rashkov
behind me, there will be nothing but ashes and smoking
ruins."
"God help thee, my master," replied Halim.
And he bowed again and again, and the son of Tukhay
Bey leaned over him and repeated many times.
"Hasten the messengers, hasten the messengers, for there
is only a month left."
Then he dismissed Halim, and when he was alone, he
began to pray, for his heart was full of happiness and grati-
tude to God.
And as he was praying, he glanced involuntarily through
the window at his Lipkovs who were just leading their horses
to the wells for water and the square was black with the
throng. The Lipkovs, singing their monotonous songs in low
tones, began to draw up the buckets and fill the troughs with
20
PAN MICHAEL.
water. Two columns of steam were issuing from the nos-
trils of each, horse and obscuring its head. Suddenly Pan
Michael issued from the main building in sheepskin coat and
cow hide boots,, and approaching his men, began to speak
to them. They listened to him, holding themselves erect and
removing their caps which was against the custom of Ori-
entals. When he saw him, Azya supended his prayer and
muttered,
"You are a falcon, but you won't fly where I shall, you
will remain behind at Khreptyov in sorrow and pain/'
After speaking to the soldiers, Pan Michael re-entered the
building, and the songs of the Lipkovs, the snorting of the
horses, and the shrill plaintive creaking of the wells were
heard again in the square.
CHAPTER XVI.
As Basia had foreseen, the little knight immediately op-
posed her plans when he became acquainted with them, and
said he would never consent because he could not go himself
and would not let her go without him; but from every quarter
he was then besieged with persistent entreaties, which soon
bent his will.
Basia did not insist as much as he expected, because she
was very anxious to be with her husband, and the journey lost
half its charm without him; but Evka knelt down before the
little knight, and kissed his hands and besought him, by the
love he bore for Basia, to allow her to go.
"No one else would dare to approach my father on such a
matter, nor I, nor Azya, nor even my brother. Only Basia
can do that, for he cannot refuse her anything."
Pan Michael replied:
"Basia does not occupy herself with matchmaking, and
besides, you have to come back here, so let her do it on your
return."
"God only knows what may happen, before we return,"
Evka replied with tears, "the only thing certain is, that I
shall die of grief, though for an orphan like me whom no one
pities, death is the best thing."
The little knight had an excessively tender heart, and so
he began to strand up and down the room. Above everything,
he did not want to part with his Basia, even for a day,
much less for two weeks. However, it was evident that he
was greatly moved at these prayers, for a night or two after-
wards, he said:
"If I could only accompany you! But that is impossible,
for duty prevents."
Basia sprang to his side, and putting her rosy mouth
against his cheek, began to beg:
"Go Michael, dear, do go, do go."
"It is absolutely impossible," Pan Michael answered de-
cisively.
(307)
MICHAEL.
Two more days went by. In the interval, the little knight
asked Zagloba's advice as to what he ought to do, but Zagloba
refused to counsel him.
"If the only obstacles are your own feelings/' he said, "I
have nothing to say. Decide for yourself. The place will be
lonely here without the little haiduk. . If it weren't for my
years and the trying road, I would go myself, for there is no
living without her/'
"But you see there really are no obstacles, it is rather
frosty weather, but that is all; as for the rest, everything is
quiet and all along the road there are military posts/'
"In that case, decide for yourself."
After this conversation, Pan Michael began to waver and
ponder over two things. He w r as sorry for Evka. He also
hesitated whether it was wise to send the girl alone with Azya
on such a long journey, and also whether it was right to
refuse to help people who are devoted to you when it is so
easy to do so. After all, what was the real objection. Only
Basia's being away for two or three weeks. Even if it were
only for the sake of pleasing Basia by letting her see
Mohilov, Yampol, and Rashkov, why shouldn't she be in-
dulged? In any case, Azya would have to go with his com-
pany to Rashkov, and this would provide an escort more than
sufficient considering the late destruction of the marauders
and the quietness of the Horde during the winter.
The little knight grew more and more yielding, and when
they saw it, the ladies renewed their importunities, one de-
claring that it was -a matter of kindness and duty, and the
other, uttering cries and lamentations. At last Azya came
and bowed before the crowd. He said that he was quite aware
of his unworthiness of such a favor, but that he had exhibited
so much affection and devotion to the Volodiyovskis, that he
ventured to make this petition. He owed a debt of gratitude
to both, because they had not allowed him to be insulted,
even before he was known to be the son of Tukhay Bey.
He could never forget that the colonel's wife had dressed
his wounds and had not only behaved to him like a gracious
mistress, but like a mother. He had lately proved his grati-
tude in the fight with Azba Bey, and, if God willed, in the
future, he would lay down his life, and shed his last drop of
blood for the life of a lady if it were necessary.
He then began to speak of his ancient and ill-starred love
for Evka. He could not live without her, he had continued to
PAN MICHAEL. 309
love her through long years of absence, though he was without
hope, and it would never cease. But there was an old ani-
mosity between him and Pan Novovyeyski, and their former
relations as master and servant formed, as it were, a wide
chasm between them. Only the lady could reconcile them,
and if she did not succeed in that, at least, she could protect
the dear girl from the tyranny, and confinement, and blows
of her father.
Yolodiyovski, who would, doubtless, have rather had
Basia not interfere in the matter, but, as he himself was
fond of doing kindnesses for people, he was not surprised at
his wife's good heart. However, he did not yet give Azya an
affirmative reply, and even steeled himself against Evka's
incessant tears. But he shut himself up in his office and
began to meditate.
Finally one evening, he came in to supper with a pleasant
face, and when it was ended, he suddenly said to Azya:
"Azya, when must you start?"
"In a week, your lordship," replied the Tartar, with secret
anxiety. "By that time, Halim will surely have brought the
negotiations with Krychinski to a conclusion."
"Order the big sleigh to be repaired, because we will have
to take two ladies to Rashkov."
On hearing this, Basia clapped her hands and darted to
her husband's side. Evka quickly followed her, and then
Azya bowed himself ait the little knight's knees in such rap-
ture that the little knight had to disengage himself.
"Let me alone," he said, "but what's the matter? When
it's possible, to help anybody, it's difficult not to do so unless
the man is entirely hardened. And I am not a tyrant. But
Basia, my beloved, you must come back soon, and Azya,
you must guard her faithfully, for, in that manner, you will
best show your gratitude. Come, come, leave me alone."
Here his lips began to quiver, and then he said more
jovially, to keep up his spirits:
"Women's tears are the worst things to endure. I am quite
overcome at the sight of them. But Azya, you have not only
me and my wife, but this lady who has followed you about
like a shadow, constantly keeping her grief before my eyes.
You must repay her for such devotion."
"I will repay her, T will repay her," cried Azya in peculiar
tones, and, grasping Kvka's hands, he kissed them so wildly,
that it looked rather as if he wanted to bite them.
3IO PAti MICHAEL.
"Michael," suddenly cried Zagloba, pointing to Basia,
"what shall we do here without this kitten?"
"It will be dreadful, said the little knight, "by God it will
indeed be dreadful."
Then he added with more composure:
"But the Lord God may bless this good action later. . . ,
Do you understand?"
In the meantime, the little kitten poked her little in j
quisitive shining head in between them.
"What are you saying?"
"Nothing," replied Zagloba, "we were only saying that the
storks would certainly come in the Spring."
Basia began to rub her face against her husband, as if she
were a cat indeed.
"Michael, dear, I shall not stay away long," she said in a
low tone.
After this talk they held counsel about the journey for
several days. Pan Michael saw to everything himself, and
ordered the sleigh to be got ready in his presence and lined
with skins of foxes killed in the autumn. Zagloba brought his
own fur robe to cover her feet on the way. There were to be
sleighs with a bed and provisions, and Basra's pony was to
go along, too, so that she might leave the sleigh at dangerous
spots, because Pan Michael was particularly nervous about the
approach of Mohilov, which was indeed a precipitous descent.
Though there was not the least danger of an attack, the little
knight ordered Azya to take every precaution, to have men
always a quarter of a mile in advance, and never spend a night
on the road, except at places where soldiers were posted, and
to start ait dawn and not linger on the way."
The little knight thought of everything to the smallest
detail, so that with his own hand, he loaded Basia's pistols
for the holsters in her saddle.
At last came the moment of departure. It was not yet
light, when two hundred of the Lipkov Tartar cavalry was
standing ready in the square. There was bustle in the chief
room of the commander's house. Bright flames were leaping
from the pine logs on the hearths. The little knight. Pan
Zagloba, Mushalski, Nyenashinyets, Khromyka, and Motov-
idlo, accompanied by the officers of the Light Companies, had
come to take leave. Basia and Evka, still warm and flushed
with sleep, were sipping hot wine before starting. Pan
Michael was sitting by his wife, with his arms around her
PAN MICHAEL. 311
waist, while Zagloba was pouring out for her, crying every
time he did so, "Have some more, for its frosty weather."
Bashka and Evka were wearing male garments, for that was
the way women travel on the frontier. Basia had a sabre,
a shuba of wild-catskin edged with weasel, and an ermine cap
with earlaps, very wide trousers which looked like a skirt, and
soft lined boots as high as her knees. In addition to this,
they had warm cloaks and shubas with hoods to cover their
faces. Basia's face was not covered as yet, and its beauty
astonished the soldiers as always. Some of them, neverthe-
less, looked with approval at Evka, whose mouth seemed made
for kisses, and others scarcely knew which to choose, so
charming did they both appear to the soldiers, who whispered
to each other:
"It's hard for a man to live in such a desert. Happy Colo-
nel! happy Azya! ah!"
The flames crackled joyously on the hearths and the cocks
began to crow. Day was gradually dawning, clear and frosty.
The roofs of the shed and the soldiers' quarters, thickly coated
with snow, assumed a bright rose tint.
Outside in the square could be heard the snorting of the
horses and the crunching footsteps of the soldiers and dra-
goons who had gathered together from their various quarters
to say good bye to Basia and the Tartars.
At last Pan Michael said, "It is time."
As she heard it, Basia sprang up and cast herself into the
arms of her husband. He pressed his lips to hers and held
her to his heart with all his might, kissing her eyes and brow
and lips again. *It was a long minute, for 'they dearly loved
each other.
After the little knight it was Zagloba's turn, and then,
the other officers came to kiss her hand, and she cried in her
childish silver ringing tones:
"Good health to you all, gentlemen, good health to you all."
Then she and Eva put on their mantles with slits for
sleeves, and then their hooded shubas till they both entirely
disappeared under the robes. The wide door was thrown
open, and a frosty vapor blew in, and immediately the whole
company found itself in the square. Outside, everything was
momentarily becoming more distinct from the increasing light
on the snow. The horses' ma.nes and the men's sheep-skin
coats were covered with hoar-frost; it looked as if the entire
squadron were dressed in white and mounted on white horses.
312
PAN MICHAEL.
Bashka and Evka took their seats in the fur lined sleigh.
The dragoons and postilions oi' the companies shouted good
wishes for a pleasant journey for the travellers.
At the noise a great flock of crows and ravens which had
been driven to the vicinity of human habitation by the severe
winter flew up from the roofs and began to croak as they
circled in the rosy dawn.
The little knight leaned over the sleigh and hid his face
in the hood that covered his wife's face.
That moment seemed eternal. Finally he tore himself away
from Basia, and exclaimed, as he made the sign of the cross:
"In the name of God."
Azya then rose in his stirrups with his wild face shining
with exultation and the light of dawn. He waved his staff
till his burka rose like the wings oi a bird of prey, and cried
in shrill tones:
"Forward!"
The hoofs crunched hi the snow and clouds of steam issued
from the horses' nostrils. The first rank of the Lipkovs
slowly advanced; and then came the second, third, and fourth;
and, next, the sleigh; then the ranks of a whole company
began to move across the sloping square to the gate.
The little knight blessed them with the Holy Cross, and,
at last, when the sleigh had passed through the gate, he raised
his hands to his lips and shouted, "Farewell, Basia!*'
But Iris only answer came from the firing of the muskets,
and the loud cawing of blackbirds.
BOOK III.
CHAPTER I.
About a dozen Cheremis marched some miles in advance
to examine the road and inform commanders of the approach
of Pani Volodiyovski so as to have quarters ready for her
everywhere. Then came the main body of the Lipkovs with
Basia and Evka in one sleigh and their maids in the other,
and a smaller body brought up the rear. Snowdrifts made
the road heavy. Pine forests which retain their needles even
in winter do not allow much snow to fall on the ground, but
that trackless forest along the banks of the Dniester, which
was composed principally of oaks and other deciduous trees,
now stripped of their natural covering, was heaped half-way
up the trunks with snow. The hollows were also filled -with
snow; in some places it had been heaped into waves of the sea
whose curling crests looked as if about to fall and break on
the white plain. On crossing difficult ravines and slopes the
Lipkovs steadied the sleighs with ropes and only on the high
plains where the wind had levelled the crust of the snow did
they drive fast in the track of the caravan which had started
earlier from Khreptyov with Naviragh and the two learned
Anardrats.
It was hard travelling, though not so hard as it is some-
times in those trackless wilds, full of chasms, rivers, streams,
and ravines. They were consequently glad that before night-
fall they would be able to reach the precipitoiis valley at the
bottom of which Mohilov was situated and moreover that
tftere was a prospect of fine weather. After a rosy dawn the
sun rose and the plains, ravines, and wilderness were sud-
denly illumined brightly; sparks seemed to cover the branches
of the trees and the snow sparkled till its dazzle made the eyes
ache. Through openings on high places views could be
gained as through windows in the wilds and the eye could see
as far as Moldavia till it was lost on the white and blue
horizon flooded with light.
The air was dry and keen. In that atmosphere men feel
health and strength as well as animals; in the ranks the
(3i5)
31 6 PAN MICHAEL.
horsos were constantly snorting and columns of steam issued
from their nostrils; and the Lipkovs were singing jovial songs,
although the frost was nipping their legs so that they kept
drawing them up under the skirts of their coats.
At last the sun reached its meridian and gave a little
warmth to the world. It became too hot for Basia and Evka
among the furs in the sleigh. They untied their head-cover-
ings, threw back their hoods, exposed their rosy faces to the
light, and began to look about them, Basia at her surround-
ings, and Evka seeking Azya who was not near the sleigh but
riding in front with the Cheremis who were reconnoitering
the way and clearing away the snow when it was needed.
Evka's face clouded at this, but Basia who was thoroughly
posted on military matters said, to comfort her:
"They are all like that: duty is duty. My little Michael
will not even look at me when he has any military matters to
attend to; and it would be ill if it were not so because if you
must love a soldier let him be a good one."
"But will he be with us at the baiting-place?" asked Evka.
"Take care that you don't get too much of him! Didn't
you see how happy he was when we started? His face
seemed to be flaming."
"I saw that he was very glad."
"But what will he be when he obtains your father's con-
sent?"
"Ah! what is in store for me? God's will be done! But
my heart dies in me when I think of father. If he should
rage, or become obstinate and refuse his consent, my life will
be a troubled one when I get home."
"Evka, do you know what I think?"
"What?"
"Azya is not to be played with. Your brother might op-
pose with force, but your father has no power. I think that
if your father opposes Azya will take you anyhow."
"How?"
"Why, by running away with you. They say he is not to
be trifled with. . . Tukhay Bey's blood! Elsewhere banns,
certificates and licenses would be requivsite, but this is a wild
region and matters are carried on somewhat after the Tartar
fashion."
Evka's face lighted up.
"That is what I fear. Azya is capable of anything; that is
what I fear!"
PAN MICHAEL.
317
But Basia turned her head and gave her a swift glance and
suddenly burst into her girlish ringing laugh.
"You fear it just as a mouse fears bacon. Oh, I know you!"
Kvka, already rosy with the sharp air now flushed a deeper
red, and answered:
"I should dread my father's curse, and I know that Azya is
capable of disregarding everything."
"Keep up your courage, you will have your brother as well
as me to help you. True love always comes by its own. Pan
Zagloba said that to me before Michael even thought of me."
Having once begun to chatter they now vied with each
flther in talking, one about Azya and the other about Michael.
AL couple of hours passed in this way till the caravan halted
for the first bait at Yaryshov. Of this little town, which had
always been miserable, the peasant incursion had left only
one inn, which had been restored immediately that the pass-
ing of the military gave assurance of profit. Here Basia and
Evka found a passing Armenian merchant, a native of Mo-
hilov who was taking saffian to Kamenets.
Azya wanted to throw him out into the yard with the Wal-
lachians and Tartars who accompanied him, but the ladies
allowed him to stay and his guard only had to go. When the
merchant discovered that the traveller was Pani Volodiyovski
he began to bow his head to the earth and praise her husband
to the skies, and she listened to him with great pleasure.
Presently he went to his bales and on his return offered her
a package of choice sweetmeats and a little box filled with
sweet-scented Turkish herbs, good for various complaints.
"I bring this in gratitude," he said. "Hitherto we have
not dared to show our faces outside Mohilov because of Azba
Bey's terrible raids and because so many robbers infested the
ravines on this side and the fields on the other side; but now
the roads are safe again and so is trade. Now we can again
travel. May God multiply the days of the commander at
Khreptyov and make every day long enough for a journey
from Mohilov to Kamenets and may every hour be length-
ened to seem like a day! Our commander, the Field-Secretary,
prefers to dwell in Warsaw; but the commander kept watch
and swept out the robbers so that now they would rather face
death than the Dniester.
"Then isn't Pan Jeruski in Mohilov?" asked Basia.
"He merely brought the soldiers and I doubt if he stayed
three days. Allow me, your ladyship, there are raisins in
^i8 PAN MICHAEL.
this package and in this corner of it snc-li fruit, as is not to IK;
found in Turkey, it comes from far Asia and grows there on
palms. . . The Secretary is not in the town and now there is
no cavalry at all, for yesterday they went suddenly in the di-
rection of Bratslav. . . But here are dates; may fhey do you?
ladyship good! . . . Only Pan Gorzenski is left with the in-
fantry and the cavalry are all gone. . . "
''I am surprised to hear that all the cavalry are gone!" said
Basia with an inquiring glance at Azya.
"They went to keep the horses in condition," the son of
Tukhay Bey answered calmly.
"In the town it is reported that Dorosh unexpectedly ad-
vanced," said the merchant.
Azya laughed.
"But how will he feed his horses, with snow?" he asked
Basia.
"Pan Gorzenski can best tell your ladyship about it," added
the merchant.
"I don't believe there's anything in it," said Basia. after a
moment's thought, "for in that case my husband would be
the first to know."
"Doubtless the news would reach Khreptyov first," said
Azya, "let not your ladyship be afraid."
Basia lifted her bright face to the Tartar and her nostrils
dilated.
"I, afraid! That's an excellent idea of yours! Do you hear
that Evka? I, afraid!"
Evka could not reply, for being very fond of dainties and
having an inordinate love of sweets, her mouth was full of
dates, but that did not prevent her from gazing expressively
at Azya and when she had swallowed the fruit she said :
"Even I am not afraid, with such an officer!"
Then she gazed meaningly into the eyes of the young Tuk-
hay Bey; but from the moment when she had become a
stumbling-block in his path he had felt for her nothing but
hidden aversion and rage. He therefore stood motionless
without raising his eyes:
"In Rashkov it will appear whether I am worthy of confi-
dence or no."
And there was something in his tones that was almost ter-
rible but, as the two girls were accustomed to the young Li-
pek's words and ways being different to those of all other men,
it did not attract their atteiatkm, Azva then insisted that
PAN MICHAEL.
they should proceed immediately, because the mountains
around Mohilov were difficult to cross and the passage ought
to be made during daylight.
They started at once.
They travelled quickly till they reached the mountains.
Basia wanted to mount her horse, but at the persuasion of the
eon of Tukhay Bey she remained in the sleigh with Evka
while it was steadied with ropes and carefully lowered from
the heights. Azya walked beside the sleigh the whole time
but scarcely spoke a word either to Basia or Evka, but oc-
cupied himself with their safety and with giving orders.
However the sun set before they had succeeded in crossing
the mountains, but the advanced party of Cheremis made
fires of dry branches. Then they descended among the glow-
ing fires and the wild figures standing about them. Be-
yond these figures were visible in the gloom of the evening
and the half-light produced by the flames, the frowning rocks
in vague, terrible outlines. All this was new and strange and
it all seemed like some perilous and mysterious expedition
and therefore Basia's spirits were in the seventh heaven and
her heart was full of gratitude to her husband for permitting
her to take this journey to unknown parts, and to Azya for
managing the journey with such ability. Now for the first
time Basia understood the meaning of those military marches
and hardships of which she had so often heard the soldiers
speak, and what steep and winding roads really were. She
was seized with a mad joyousness. She would certainly have
mounted her pony had it not been that by sitting beside Evka
she could talk to and frighten her. So while going along a
narrow, sharp turn the advanced guard went out of sight and
began to shout with wild voices whose muffled echoes re-
sounded among the beetling crags, Basia turned to Evka and
cried as she grasped her hands:
"Oh! Robbers from the plains or the horde!"
But Evka was not at all alarmed when she remembered
Azya, the son of Tukhay Bey.
"The robbers and the horde honor and fear him/' she
answered.
And then she said as she leaned to Basia's ear:
"Even to Byalogrod, even to the Crimea, if only with him!''
The moon had risen high in the sky when they issued from
the mountains. Then far below them as if at the foot of a
precipice they saw a clump of lights.
MICHAL'L.
"Mohilov is at our feet!" said a voice behind Basia and
Evka.
They looked around; it was Azya standing behind the
sleigh.
But does the town lie like that at the bottom of the valley?"
Basia asked.
"It does. The mountains entirely protect it from winter
winds/' Azya answered, putting his head between theirs.
"Observe, your ladyship, that the climate is quite different
here; it is more still and warm. Spring arrives here ten days
earlier than on the other side of the mountains and the woods
put out their leaves sooner. That grey on the slope is a vine-
yard; but the ground is still covered with snow/'
Snow was lying everywhere but the air was really warmer
and calmer. As they slowly descended to the valley lights
appeared one by one and every moment became more nu-
merous.
"A respectable place, and quite large!" exclaimed Evka.
"That's on account of its not having been burned at the
peasant incursion. The Cossack troops had their winter
quarters here, and Lakhs have hardly ever visited the place."
"Who dwell here?"
"Tartars, who have their own wooden minaret; for in the
Commonwealth everyone is at liberty to profess his own faith.
Wallachians dwell here, and Armenians, and Greeks, also."
"I saw some Greeks once at Kamenets," rejoined Basia,
"for though they live so far away they go everywhere for
trade.
"This town is different from all others," said Azya, "many
people of various nations come here to traffic. That settle-
ment over there to one side is called Serby."
"We are already entering it," said Basia.
In fact they had arrived. They immediately noticed a
strange sour odor of skins. This was the odor of saffian in
the manufacture of which all the inhabitants were more or
less engaged, but the Armenians in particular. As Azya had
said it was quite different from ordinary places. The houses
were built in the Asiatic style and had windows covered with
thick wooden lattice; many of the houses had no windows to
the street and the glow of fires was visible only in the yards.
The streets were unpaved though there was plenty of stone in
the neighborhood. Here and there were buildings of strange
form with open walls of lattice-work; these were drying-
PA2V MICHAEL. 32I
houses in which fresh grapes were transformed into raisins.
The odor of saffian pervaded the entire town.
Pan Gorzenski who commanded the infantry, was notified
by the Cheremis of the approach of the wife of the com-
mander of Khreptyov and rode out on horseback to meet her.
He was not young and he stammered; he also lisped because
his cheeks had been pierced by a bullet from a janissary gun;
and so when he began to speak (stammering each instant), of
the star "that had risen in the skies of Mohilov," Basia
nearly burst out laughing. But he received her as hospitably
as he knew how. In the citadel a supper was awaiting her,
and an exceedingly comfortable bed of fresh and clean down,
which he had requisitioned from the richest Armenians.
Although Pan Gorzenski stammered,, yet at supper in the
evening, he told of strange matters that were worth attention.
According to him a disturbing breeze suddenly and un-
expectedly had begun to blow from the steppes.
Intelligence arrived that a strong chambul.of the Crimean
horde in camp with Ddrosh had suddenly advanced towards
Haysyn and the district above and the chambul was ac-
companied by several thousand Cossacks. Moreover many
other disturbing rumors had come from various sources. To
these, however, Pan- Gorzenski did not give much credence.
"For it is winter," he said, "and since the Lord created this
round world the Tartars only move in the Spring; then they
form no camp and carry no baggage, nor any food for their
horses. We all know that war with the power of the Turk is
held in check by the frost alone, and that visitors will appear
with the first grass; but I shall never believe that there is
anything just now."
Basia waited long and patiently for Pan Gorzenski to
finish. In the meantime he stammered on and his lips
worked as if he were eating.
"What is your own opinion of the movement of the horde
towards Haysyn?" she asked aMast.
"I think that their horses have scraped all the grass out
from under the snow and that they are just moving camp.
Moreover it may be that the horde living by Dorosh's follow-
ers are at odds with them; that has always happened.
Although they are allies and are fighting side by side, just as
soon as they have adjoining encampments they immediately
fall out with one another in the pastures and bazaars."
"That is perfectly true," said Azya.
"And there is another tiling," proc-mlrd Pan Gorzeiiski,
"the reports did not come dim-tly I'mm our own men but
were brought by peasants; the Tartars here were the first to
begin to talk about it. Three days ago Pan Yakubovich
brought in from the steppes the first tongues that confirmed
the rumors and all the cavalry immediately marched out."
"Then you have now only infantry with you?'' Azya asked.
"God have pity upon us! forty men! There is scarcely
anyone left to defend the citadel and if the Tartars who dwell
here in Mohilov were to rise I don't know how I should de-
fend myself."
"But why don't they rise against you?" asked Basia.
"They don't because they can't. Many of them have their
permanent abode in the Commonwealth with their wives and
children and are on our side. As for the rest they are here
for trade and not war; they are quiet people."
"I will leave your lordship fifty of my Lipkov horse," said
Azya.
"God reward you! You will be doing me a great service
for then I shall have some cavalry scouts. But can you leave
them?"
"I can. In Rashkov we shall have the forces of those
leaders who formerly went over to the Sultan and now want
to return to the service of the Commonwealth, Krychinski
will certainly come with three hundred horse and perhaps
Adurovich also will come; others will arrive later. I am to
assume the supreme command by the Hetman's orders, and
before the Spring there will be a whole division.*'
Pan Gorzenski bowed before Azya. He had known him
for a considerable time but had somewhat looked down upon
him as a man of dubious origin. But knowing now that he
was tbe son of Tukhay Bey, as this news had been brought by
the first caravan in which Naviragh was travelling, Gorzenski
honored in the young Lipkov Tartar, the blood of a great
though hostile warrior, and moreover he also paid him honor
as an officer who was entrusted with such important functions
by the Hetman.
Azya. departed to issue orders and calling the setnik, Da-
vid, he said:
"David, son of Skander, thou wilt remain in Mohilov with
fifty horse. Thou wilt see with thine eyes and hear with
thine ears what is happen ins: around thee. If the Little Fal-
con at Khreptyov sends letters to me thou wilt stop his raei-
PAN MICHAEL.
323
senger, take the letters from him, and send them by thine
own man. Thou wilt stay here until I send an order to re-
turn. If my messenger says, 'It is night/ thou wilt go out in
peace; but if he says, 'Day is near/ thou wilt burn the place,
pass over to the Moldavian side and go whither I command
thee." . . .
"Master, thou hast spoken," David replied; "I will see with
my eyes and hear with my ears, I will stop messengers from
the Little Falcon and when I have taken their letters I will
send them to thee by our own man. I will stay here till
orders arrive; and if thy messenger says to me 'It is night/ I
will go out in peace; if he says 'Day is near/ I will burn the
place and pass over to the Moldavian side and go whither the
order directs."
Early next morning the caravan diminished by fifty horse
continued the journey. Pan Gorzenski escorted Basia be-
yond the valley of Mohilov. Thence, after stammering forth
a farewell oration, he returned to Mohilov, and they hastened
on towards Yampol. Azya was in unusually high spirits and
Basia was surprised at the way in which he urged on his
men.
"Why are you so pressing?" she asked.
"Everyone hastens to happiness, and mine will commence
at Rashkov."
Eva taking this speech to herself, plucked up heart and
answered:
"But my father?"
"Pan Novovyeyski will not oppose me in anything," replied
the Tartar.
And sinister lightning flashed across his face.
They found hardly any troops at Yampol. There had
never been any infantry there and almost all the cavalry had
gone; barely a dozen were left in the little fort, or rather in
its ruins. . . . lodgings were prepared for Basia but she
slept badly for she had begun to get uneasy about these ru-
mors. She particularly dwelt on the thought of how dis-
turbed the little knight would be if it should prove that one
of Doroshenko's chambuls had really advanced; but she forti-
fied herself with the thought that it might not be true. She
wondered whether it would not be better to return taking a
body of Azya's soldiers for protection but various objections
immediately orcurrecl. In the first place Azya could only
spare a small guard as ho luul to increase the garrison of Rash-
324 MICHAEL.
kov and in case of real peril that guard might not be suffici-
ent; and in the second they had already passed two-thirds of
the journey; in Rashkov there was an officer she knew, and
a strong garrison which, increased by the detachment of the
son of Tukhay Bey's son and by the following of the revolted
leaders would make quite a formidable force. Taking every-
thing into consideration Basia concluded to go on.
But she could not sleep. For the first time during the
journey she was seized with alarm as if some unknown danger
was hanging above her head. Perhaps this fear was partly
caused by lodging in Yampol for it was a terrible and sanguin-
ary spot; Basia knew that from the tales of her husband and
Pan Zagloba, In Khmyelnitski's time the main body of the
Podolian cut-throats under Burlay had been stationed here;
and captives had been brought and sold into the markets of
the East, or had suffered a cruel death; and here finally, in
the Spring of 1651 during a crowded fair, Pan Stanislav
Lantskoronski, Yoevoda of Bratslav, had burst in and done
frightful slaughter the memory of which was still fresh all
along the Dniester.
Therefore bloody memories hung everywhere over the en-
tire place and here and there were blackened ruins and from
the walls of the half-ruined little fort the pallid faces of
slaughtered Poles and Cossacks seemed to gaze.
Basia was bold but she was afraid of ghosts; it was said that
in Yampol itself, at the mouth of the Shumilovka and in the
adjacent rapids of the Dniester mighty groans and wails were
heard at midnight and that the water became red in the moon-
light as if tinged with blood. This thought filled Basia's
soul with painful dread. In spite of herself in the quiet night
she listened for groans and wailing amid the noises of the
rapids. She only heard the prolonged call "Czuwa-ay" of the
sentinels. Then she thought of the quiet room at Khreptyov,
her husband, Pan Zagloba, the friendly faces of Pan Nyena-
shinyets, Mushalski, Motovidlo, Snitko,and the others and for
the first time she felt that she was seized with such home-
sickness for Khreptyov that she felt inclined to weep.
She did not fall asleep till near morning and then she had
strange dreams. Burlay, the cut-throats, the Tartars, and
sanguinary scenes of massacre passed through her head in
procession and Azya's face was always present in these scenes,
not the Azya she knew, but a Cossack, a wild Tartar, or
Tukhay Bey himself in turn.
PAN MICHAEL.
325
She rose early, relieved that the night and the disagreeable
visions were at an end. She had determined to make the rest
of the journey on horseback, in the first place to enjoy the
exercise and in the second to afford an opportunity for Azya
and Evka to converse freely as the proximity of Rashkov of
course made it necessary for them to arrange some plan of
informing old Pan Novovyeyski of the state of affairs and re-
ceiving his consent. Azya held her stirrup with his own
hand but he did not take his seat in the sleigh with Evka, but
immediately went to the head of his followers and kept near
Basia.
She immediately noticed that again the cavalry's numbers
were reduced from what they had been when they arrived at
Yampol, so she turned to the young Tartar and said:
"I see that you have left some men behind at Yampol?"
"Fifty horse, just as at Mohilov," Azya replied.
"What was that for?"
He laughed strangely; his lips parted like those of a vicious
dog when he shows his teeth, and he paused before answer-
ing:
"I wanted to have those places in my power and to make
the homeward road for your ladyship safe."
"There will be enough troops there when they come back
from the steppes."
"They will not return so soon."
"How do you know that?"
"They cannot, because they must first learn with certainty
what Dorosh is about, and that will take three or four weeks."
"In that case you did well to leave the men."
They rode on for a time in silence. Azya from time to
time glanced at Basia.'s rosy face half hidden by the raised
collar of her mantle and cap and after each glance he closed
his eyes as though trying to fix the charming picture more
firmly in his mind.
"You ought to go and have a talk with Evka," she con-
tinued, "you talk to her entirely too little and she doesn't
know what to think. You will soon be in Pan Novovyeyski's
presence; . . Even I am fearful. . . You and she ought to
consult and arrange how to begin."
"I should first like to have a talk with your ladyship," said
Azya in strange tones.
"Thou why not immediately?"
"T am awaiting a messenger from IJaslikov. . . I expected
to find him at Yampol. I look for him every moment."
326
PAN MICHAEL.
"But what has a messenger to do with our conversation ?'"
"I think he is coming now!" said the young Tartar avoid-
ing a direct reply.
And he galloped forward hut presently returned and suid:
"No! it is not he."
There was something so restless in his actions, and speech
and voice and whole appearance that his restlessness com-
municated itself to Basia and still she had not yet the le*st
suspicion of anything wrong. Azya's agitation could be
satisfactorily accounted for by the proximity of Rashkov and
Evka's terrible father; and yet Basia had a feeling of oppres-
sion as if her own lot were at stake.
She approached the sleigh and for some hours rode by its
side near Evka talking to her about Rashkov and the old and
young Novovyeyski and Zosia Boski, and lastly of the country
they were passing through which was becoming wilder and
more terrible. Indeed in the immediate vicinity of Khrept-
yov it was a wilderness but at least there an occasional column
of smoke rose on the horizon some huts or some human dwell-
ing. Here there was no indication of man and if Basia had
not known that she going to Rashkov where people dwelt and
there was a Polish garrison the might have imagined that she
was being taken away into some unknown desert or into
strange lands at the edge of the world.
Gazing about her at the country she involuntarily checked
her horse and was soon left in the rear of the sleighs and
soldiers. Presently Azya joined her and as he was well
acquainted with the district he began to point out the various
places by name.
This did not last long however as the earth began to be
obscured as with smoke; evidently the winter Avas not so
severe in this southern district as in the woody Khreptyov.
It is true that some snow was lying in the hollows, on the cliffs
and the ledges of the rocks, as well as on the northern sides
of the hills; but for the most part the earth was not covered
and looked dark with woods or glistened with the long
withered grass. From this grass rose a light grey fog which,
spreading along the ground, filled the valleys and extended
across the plains; next it rose higher and higher till at length
it blotted out the sunshine and turned a bright day into a dark
and foggy one.
"It will rain to-morrow," said Azya.
"If not to-day. How far is it to' Rashkov?"/
PAN MICHAEL. 3 2 7
The son of Tukhay Bey looked at the nearest landmark
that was scarcely visible through the fog and said:
'"'From that point it is nearer to Rashkov than back to
Yampol."
And he drew a long breath as if his breast was just relieved
of a great weight.
At that moment the tramp of a horse was heard in front of
them and a rider became indistinctly visible through the fog.
"Halim! I recognize him/' exclaimed Azya.
In fact it was Halim who when he had galloped up to
Azya and Basia, sprang from his horse and began to bow his
head at the stirrup of the young Tartar:
"From Rashkov?" inquired Azya.
"From Rashkov, my lord!"
"What is the news?"
The old man raised his ugly face, emaciated with ceaseless
toils towards Basia as though asking if he was to speak before
her but Tukhay Bey's son at once cried:
"Speak out! Have the troops left?"
"Yes! Only a handful are left."
"Who led them?"
"Pan Novovyeyski."
"Have the Pyotroviches gone to the Crimea?"
"Long since. Two women alone remained with old Pan
Novovyeyski."
"Where is Krychinski?"
"Waiting on the other side of the river."
"Who is with him?"
"Adurovich with his company; both bow their heads at thy
stirrup, son of Tukhay Bey and give themselves into thy
hand, they and all those who have not yet arrived."
"Good!" cried Azya with flashing eyes. Fly at once to
Krychinski and order him to occupy Rashkov."
Halim sprang into the saddle in an instant and vanished
like a phantom in the fog. . . Azya's face assumed a terrible
ominous expression. The decisive moment had arrived, the
moment awaited, the moment of his greatest happiness; but
his heart was beating fast and his breath came short. . . For
some time he rode beside Basia in silence and not till he felt
that his voice would not fail him did he gaze at her with in-
scrutable but flashing eyes and say:
"Now I will speak to your ladyship frankly."
"I am listening," answered Basia looking at him search-
ingly as if trying to read his altered countenance.
CHAPTER II.
Azya urged his horse close to Basia's pony till their stir-
rups almost touched. He rode on a few paces in silence
while he made a final effort to control himself, and wondered
why it was such an effort to gain calmness since Basia was
in his hands and no human power could deprive him of her.
But he did not know that contrary to all likelihood, and
every evidence, a faint spark of hope was glimmering in his
soul that the woman he desired might reciprocate his own
feelings. If this hope was faint the desire was at the same
time so strong that he trembled with it as with a fever. The
woman would not at once open her arms, nor cast herself into
his arms, not utter those words over which he had dreamed
for whole nights: "Azya, I am thine," nor would she hang
with her lips on his, that he knew. . . . But how would
she receive his words? Would she lose all feeling like a dove
in the talons of a bird of prey and let him snatch her as the
hapless dove yields itself up to the hawk? Would she beg
for mercy with tears, or would the wilderness resound with
her cries of terror? Would all this be something more or Jess
than the reality? Such were the questions that were whirling
in the brain of the youig Tartar. But in any case the moment
had arrived to cast away all- pretence and deceit and to show
truthful and terrible looks. . . This was the cause of his
restlessness and fearfulness. This; yet a moment, and some
decided step should be taken.
At last that fear in the soul of the Tartar became what
fear most often becomes in a wild beast, rage; and with that
rage he began to lash himself. "Whatever is the result," he
thought, "she is mine, she is mine entirely, she will be mine
this very day, and then she will not return to her husband,
but will follow me." . . .
At this he was seized by a wild delight, and suddenly, in
tones that sounded strange even to himself, he said:
"Your ladyship has never known me till now!"
"Your voice has so altered in this fog," Basia replied in
(328)
7M.V MIC HA EL.
329
some alarm, "indeed it seems to me as if some one else were
f-peaking."
"There arc no troops in Mohilov, nor in Yampol, nor in
JJashkov. I alone am lord here. . . Krychinski, Aduro-
vich, and the rest are my slaves; for I am a prince, I am the
son of a ruler. I am their vizir, I am their greatest Murza;
I am their chief as was Tukhay Bey; I am their Khan; I
alone am in authority, everything here is in my power." . .
"Why do you say this to me?"
''Hitherto your ladyship has not known me. Rashkov is
not far oil'. 1 wanted to become the Hetman of the Tartars
and serve the Commonwealth; but Sobieski would not allow it.
I am not going to be a Lipkov Tartar any longer; I am not
going to serve under the command of any man; I myself am
going to lead great chambuls against Dorosh, or against the
Commonwealth as your ladyship wishes, as your ladyship
orders."
"How, as I order? Azya, what is the matter with you?"
"This, that all here are my slaves, and I am thine. What is
the Hetman to me? I care not whether he has given permis-
sion or not. Your ladyship, speak the word and I will lay
Akkerman at your ladyship's feet; and the Dobrudja and the
hordes that have villages there and those that wander in the
wilderness and all those in every winter quarters shall be thy
slaves, as I am thy slave. . . Command . . . and I will
not obey the Khan of the Crimea, I will not obey the Sultan;
1 will draw the sword against them and help the Common-
wealth. I will gather new hordes in these regions and be
Khan over them as thou wilt be over me; to thee alone will I
how down and sue for thy favor and love."
Then he bent in his saddle and, seizing the woman, who
was half stunned and terrified by his words, around the waist,
continued to speak in hoarse rapid accents:
''Hast thou not seen that I love thee alone? . . . Ah! I
have had my share of suffering! I will take thee now! . . .
Thou art mine and mine thou shalt be! Nobody will tear
thee from my grasp here, thou art mine! mine! mine!"
''Jesu Maria!" cried Basia. /
But he squeezed her in his arms as if trying to stifle her. . .
His breath came in short gasps and his eyes grew dim; at last
lie dragged her out of the stirrups and off her saddle, set her
before him, pressed her to his breast, and his bluish lips,
gaping like the mouth of a tish, sought her own.
PAN MICHAEL.
She did not utter a cry, but began to resist with almost
superhuman power and a silent struggle commenced but for
their loud panting. His violent actions and the closeness of
his face brought back her presence of mind. In an instant
Basia gained that clear vision that comes to drowning men;
everything stood out with the greatest vividness. Thus she
.first felt that the earth was being snatched away from under
her feet and leaving an abyss into which he was dragging her;
she saw his passion,, his treason, her own horrible fate, her
weakness and dire extremity; she felt terrified and was con-
scious of a terrible pain and grief, and at the same time she
flamed up with intense exasperation, frenzy, and revenge.
Such was the valiant spirit of this daughter of a knight, this
chosen wife of the brevet-knight of the Commonwealth, that
in that terrible moment her" first thought was to revenge her-
self, and then to save herself. All the faculties of her mind
were at a tension as the hair stands upright on the head with
terror and the clear vision of drowning men became almost
miraculous in her. As she fought her hands began to grope
for weapons and at last found the ivory butt of an Oriental
pistol; but at the same time she had the presence of mind to
reflect that even if it were loaded and she managed to cock it,
before she could level it at his head he would certainly seize
her hand and deprive her of her last means of salvation. So
she determined to strike in another way.
All this only took an instant. He indeed saw her intentiop
and thrust his hand forward as quick as lightning, but did
not succeed in timing her movement. The hands crossed and
Basia with all the strength of despair in her young ano
vigorous fist struck him like lightning between the eyes with
the ivory butt of the pistol.
It was such a terrible blow that Azya was not even able to
utter a cry, but fell backwards, dragging her with him in his
fall.
Basia rose in an instant and, springing upon her horse
she started like a whirlwind away from the Dnieper towards
the wide steppes.
{The curtain of fog closed behind her. The horse laid his
ears back and dashed on wildly among the rocks, clefts, gul-
lies, and trunks. He was likely to run into some cleft or
other at any moment, or crush himself and his rider against
some jutting rock; but Basia took no thought of anything,
the most dreadful peril to her was the Lipkovs and Azya. . . .
PAN MICHAEL. 331
It was most strange that now when she had delivered her-
self from the hands of the robber and he was lying to all
appearances dead among the rocks, she was overcome with
dread. Lying along the horse's back with her face on his
mane, dashing on through the fog, like a deer hunted by the
wolves, she now began to be more afraid of Azya than she
had been in his arms and she felt that terror and helplessness
that a weak child feels .which, when wandering aimlessly
astray, is left to God's protection. Wailing voices began to
make themselves heard in her heart and to cry out for pro-
tection with dread, complaint, and piteousness:
"Save, Michael! . ; . Save, Michael! . . . "
The horse kept rushing on, guided by a marvellous instinct
he cleared hollows and swerved quickly to avoid rocky cor-
ners, till at last his hoofs ceased to clatter on rocky ground,
and he had evidently reached one of the open fields that were
scattered among the ravines.
The horse was covered with foam and the breath was rat-
tling in his nostrils, but still he galloped on.
"Where shall I go?" thought Basia,
And immediately the answer came:
"To Khreptyov!"
But her heart was seized with fresh terror at the thought
of the long distance to traverse in that terrible wilderness.
The memory also came like a flash that Azya had left de-
tachments of his Lipkovs at Mohilov and Yampol. Undoubt-
edly the Lipkovs were all in the plot; they were all devoted
to Azya and would certainly seize her and carry her to Rash-
kov, and so she ought to ride far out into the steppes and
then turn towards the north and thus avoid the posts on the
Dniester.
There was all the more reason for this course because if
she was pursued the men would certainly keep close to the
river and in the meantime it might be possible to come across
some of the Polish troops in the wide steppes on their return
to the forts.
Gradually her horse's speed began to decrease. Basia was
an experienced rider and at once understood that she must
give him time to recover his wind or he would fall; she also
recognized that if she should be left without a horse in those
wild regions she would be lost.
She therefore checked him, and for some time proceeded at
a walk. The fog was growing thinner, but a cloud of hot
eteam was rising from the noor animal.
332 . MICUAKL.
Basia began -to pray.
Suddenly she heard a horse neighing in the fog a few hun-
dred yards behind her.
The hair stood upright on her head.
"My horse will fall dead, but that one will too!" she cried
as she again galloped forward.
For some time her horse sped on with the speed of a dove
pursued by a falcon, and he ran on almost to the limit of
forces; but the neighing was constantly audible behind them.
That neigh that reached them through the fog had a sound at
once pining and threatening, and when she had got over her
first terror it occurred to Basia that if that horse had a rider
he would not neigh, as the rider would stop it so as not to re-
veal his presence.
"Can it be that it is only Azya's horse following me?"
thought Basia.
For precaution she took both pistols out of her holsters,
but it was unnecessary. In a few moments a dark object ap-
peared through the lightening fog and Azya's horse galloped
up with flowing mane and wide nostrils. On seeing the pony
he approached him with short, sharp neighs, to which the
other immediately responded.
"Horsey, horsey!" cried Basia.
The animal, used to human handling, approached and al-
lowed himself to be seized by the bridle. Basia raised her
eyes to Heaven and ejaculated:
"The protection of God!"
In truth this seizure of Azya's horse was an extremely for-
tunate circumstance for her. In the first place she now pos-
sessed the two best horses in the whole party; in the second
she could change horses; and thirdly and lastly, the presence
of the animal assured her that there would be no immediate
pursuit. If it had joined the rest of the party the Lipkovs
would have taken the alarm and would immediately have
turned back to seek their leader without fail; now it will not
occur to them that anything has happened to him and they
will not go back to search for him till his prolonged absence
has made them anxious.
"I shall be far away by that time!" was the conclusion of
Basia's reflections.
Then again she remembered that Azya's detachments were
posted at Yampol and Mohilov.
"I must make a detour through the wide steppes and not
PAN MICHAEL.
333
approach the Dniester till in the neighborhood of Khreptyov.
That terrible man has made a cunning disposition of his
forces, but God will save me from them."
Then she summoned up her spirits and prepared to con-
tinue her flight. At the pommel of Azya's saddle she found a
musket, a powder-horn, a bullet-pouch, a box of hemp-seed,
which the Tartar was in the habit of chewing continually.
Basia shortened Azya's stirrups to her own feet and thought
to herself that all along the way she would live on those seeds
like a bird, and she kept them carefully by her.
She made up her mind to avoid all people and farms; for in
those wild regions more evil than good was to be expected
from every man. Her heart was seized with dread as she
thought: "How shall I feed the horses?" They could scrape
out grass from under the snow and crop moss from the crev-
ices of the rocks; but were they not likely to succumb from
bad fodder and prolonged travelling? She could not do
without them, however. . . .
She had another dread: "Would she go astray in the wilder-
ness?" That might be readily avoided by following the course
of the Dniester, but she could not take that way. What
might happen if she entered the great, dark, and pathless
forests? How would she know whether she was steering
northwards or in any other direction, if she were to have foggy
days, sunless days and starless nights? The wilderness was
swarming with wild beasts; but she did not care so much about
that as she was stout-hearted and armed. Wolves hunting
in packs might be dangerous, it is true, but on the whole she
dreaded men more than beasts, and most of all she dreaded to
go astray.
"Ah, God will guide me, and let me get back to Michael,"
she said aloud.
Then she crossed herself, wiped away with her sleeve the
moisture that chilled her pale cheeks, reconnoiterd the coun-
try with sharp eyes, and urged her horse into a gallop.
CHAPTEE III.
Nobody -thought of looking for the son of Tukhay Bey.
and so he lay on the ground until he recovered consciousness.
When he did so so he sat up, and began to look about him,
wanting to know what had happened.
But everything looked dark to him and then he discovered
that he could only see out of one eye, and that badly. The
other was either destroyed or filled with blood.
Azya raised his hands to his face. His fingers found icicles
of coagulated blood of his moustache; his mouth was also
full of blood that was choking him so that he had to keep
coughing and spitting it out; this spitting caused excrucia-
ting pain to his face; he raised his hand above his moustache
but immediately dropped it with a moan of agony.
Basia's blow had smashed the bridge of his nose and
damaged his cheek-bone. For some time he sat motionless,
and then comemnced to gaze about him with the eye that
still preserved some sight, and seeing a patch of snow in a
crevice he crawled up to it, grasped a handful and applied
it to his crushed face.
This immediately afforded great relief, and while the melt-
ing snow was flowing down over his moustache in red streaks,
he gathered another handful and again applied it. He also
began to swallow the snow gredily and this gave him relief.
Presently the great weight that seemed to be pressing on his
brain seemed to be lightened so that he was able to recall all
that had occurred. At first however he felt no fury, anger,
nor despair; all other feelings were deadened by physical
pain and only one desire remained, to save himself quickly.
After eating several more handfuls of snow Azya began
to look for his horse; it wasn't there; then he saw that unless
he wanted to wait till his Lipkovs came to search for him he
must go on foot.
Supporting himself with his hands he tried to rise from
the earth, but howled with pain and sat down again.
He sat there for about an hour and then made another
(334) - -
PAN MICHAEL. 335
effort. This time he so far succeeded that he got up and
leaning his back against a cliff,, managed to keep his feet;
but when he remembered that he had to leave this support
and take one step after another in the open space he was
so overcome with a feeling of dread and weariness that he sat
down again.
However he mastered his weakness; he drew his sabre and
tried to advance leaning upon it; he succeeded. After a
fow paces he felt that his body and feet were strong and
under control, but his head did not seem to belong to him
jind like a tremendous weight swayed now to*the right, now
to the left, now to the rear, now to the front. He also had
a feeling as though he were carrying that shaking and over-
heavy head with extreme caution and was extremely afraid
of dropping it on the stones and breaking it. It sometimes
also turned him around as if trying to make him go in a
circle. Sometimes darkness came over his sole eye, and then
he leaned on his sabre with both hands.
The dizziness in his head gradually passed away; but the
pain constantly increased and seemed to be boring into his
brow, and eyes, and entire head, till groans forced themselves
from Azya's breast.
His groans were echoed back from the rocks and he ad-
vanced through that wilderness bleeding and horrible, re-
sembling a vampire more than a man.
It was already growing dark when he heard the tramp of
a horse before him.
It was the Lipkov corporal coming for orders.
That evening Azya had sufficient strength to give orders
for the pursuit, but immediately afterwards he lay down
on some skins and could see no one for three days but the
(ireek barber-surgeons who dressed his wounds, and Halim
who assisted him. Not till the fourth day did he recover
his speech and with it the remembrance of what had hap-
pened.
His fevered thoughts immediately flew to Basia. He
saw her fleeing among rocks and through desolate places;
she seemed like a bird ever flying from him; he saw her ap-
proaching Khreptyov and then in the arms of her husband,
and at that vision he was seized with anguish more, poignant
oven Hum his wound, and with it was mingled sorrow and
shame for the calamity which had overtaken him.
"She has fled, she has fled!" he repeated again and again;
33 6 PAN MICHAEL.
and at times his rage so overwhelmed him that he was again
in danger of losing his senses. "Woe!" he cried to Halim's
efforts to calm him, assuring him that Basia could not
escape the pursuit; and he kicked off the skins with which
the old Tartar had covered him and threatened both him
and the Greek with his knife. He howled like a wild beast
and attempted to spring to his feet to fly himself, and come
up with her and capture her, and then in his fury and wild
passion throttle her with his own hands.
At moments he would wander in delirium and call to
Halim to bring the little knight's head as quickly as pos-
sible and imprison his wife there bound in the room.
Sometimes he talked to her, imploring and threatening and
then extending his arms to draw her to his side. Finally
he fell into a deep sleep which lasted for twenty-four hours;
when he woke the fever had entirely left him and he was
able to see Krychinski, an'd Adurovich.
They were anxious, not knowing what to begin. It was
true that the forces that had departed under young Novovy-
eyski would not return for two weeks; but some unexpected
event might hasten their coming and in that case it was ne-
cessary to know what measures to take. It is true that Kry-
chinski and Adurovich were only pretending to return to the
service of the Commonwealth; but Azya was arranging every-
thing; only he could direct them what to do in case of need;
only he ^could point out what course promised the greatest
profit: to return at once to the Sultan's dominions, or to
keep up the sham, and how long, that they were serving the
Comonwealth; but they expected him to order them to wait
for the war before disclosing their treason so as to render
it more effective.
They would regard his suggestions as commands, for he
had imposed his will upon them as leader and the head of
the whole business, the most cunning and influential as
well as being celebrated with all the hordes as the son of
Tukhay Bey.
Therefore they hastened to his bedside and bowed down
before him. He greeted them. He was still feeble with his
bandaged fdce and only one eye, but was convalescent.
"I am ill," he said at once. "The woman whom I desired
to take unto myself tore herself out of my hands after
wounding me with the butt of a pistol. She was the wife of
Volodiyovski, the commandant; may pestilence seize him
and all his race!"
PAN MICHAEL.
337
"May it be as thou hast spoken!" answered the two chiefs.
"May God grant you, faithful men, fortune and success !"
"And to thee -also, oh Master!"
Then they began to talk as to what should be done.
Azya said: "It is imposible to delay or put off serving the
Sultan till the war is begun: after what has occurred with this
woman they will not trust us, but will attack us with sabres.
But before that happens, we will fall upon this place and
burn it to the glory of God. We will capture the handful
of soldiers that are left, and also the townspeople who are
the subjects of the Commonwealth, we will share the prop-
erty of the Wallachians, Armenians, and Greeks, and pass
over the Dniester to the land of the Sultan.
Krychinski and Adurovich had long lived as nomads
among the wild hordes and savages and ravaged with them
and become altogether savage; so their eyes sparkled.
"Thanks to you," cried Krychinski, "we are admitted to
this place which God now gives into our hands. . . . "
"Did not Novovyeyski make any objection?" asked Azya.
"Novovyeyski knew that we were coming over to the Com-
monwealth and that you were coming to meet us; he con-
siders us his men just as he does you."
"We stayed on the Moldavian bank," added Adurovich,
"but Krychinski and I visited him as guests. He received
us as nobles, saying, 'By your present conduct you blot out
former offenses; and since the Hetman pardons you on Azya's
security it would not be right for me to regard you with sus-
picion. He even wanted me to enter the town, but we said:
'We will not do so till Azya, the son of Tukhay Bey comes
with the Hetman's permission. . . . But when he was
leaving he gave us another feast and begged us to watch
over the town."
"At that feast," added Krychinski, "we saw his father
and the old woman who is seeking her captive husband and
the young lady whom Novovyeyski wants to marry."
"Ah!" said Azya, "I did not think that they were .all here,
and I have brought Panna Novovyeyski."
He clapped his hands; Halim immediately appeared and
Azya said to him: "When my Lipkovs see the place in flames,
let them fall on the soldiers in the fort and cut their throats,
and bind the women, and the old noble, and keep them under
guard till they receive further orders from me."
Then he turned to Krychinski and Adurovich:
22
PAN MICHAEL.
not take part in it myself because I am weak; but
I wil mount iny horse and look on. But, dear comrades,
begin, begin!"
Krychinski and Adurovich immediately rushed out. Azya
followed and ordered a horse to be brought; then he rode to
the stockade to watch from the gate of the high fort what
should happen in the town.
Many of his men had begun to climb the wall to gaze
through the piles and gloat over the slaughter. Those of
Novovyeyski's men who had not gone to the steppes seeing
the Lipkovs gathered together and supposing that there
was something to be seen in the town, mingled with them
without the least fear or suspicion. Moreover, there were
scarcely twenty of these; the rest were scattered in the drink-
ing places.
In the meantime the forces of Krychinski and Adurovich
did not take an instant to scatter through the town. They
were composed almost exclusively of Lipkovs and" Cheremis,
and were therefore former dwellers in the Commonwealth
and the majority of them nobles; but as they had long since
left its dominions they had grown much like wild Tartars
during they years of wandering. Their original clothes had
fallen to pieces and they now wore sheepskin coats with the
wool outside. They wore them next to their skin which was
tanned with the winds of the steppes and the smoke of fires;
but they had better weapons than the wild Tartars; they
all had sabres and bows seasoned with fire, and many had mus-
kets. Their faces were as cruel and blood-thirsty as those
of their brethern of the Dobrudja, Byalogrod,or the Crimea.
They now scattered through the town and began to run
about in every direction uttering shrill cries, as if to en-
courage and excite each other to murder and pillage. But
although many of them had put their knives between their
teeth in the Tartar fashion, the townspeople who, as in Yam-
pol, consisted of Wallachians, Armenians, Greeks, and some
Tartar merchants, did not regard them with any suspicion.
The shops were open; the merchants, sitting in front of
them in Turkish fashion on benches, were passing the beads
of their rosaries through their fingers. The cries of the
Lipkovs only attracted the curiosity of people who thought
they were playing some game.
But suddenly smoke arose from the corners of the market-
square aj\d from the lips of all the Tartars rose such terrible
PAN MICHAEL.
339
bowlings that terror seized the Wallachians, Armenians, and
Greeks, and their wives and children. A shower of arrows
immediately rained on the harmless inhabitants. Their cries
and the noise of door and windows hurriedly shutting mingled
with the tramp of horses and the howls of the pillagers.
The market was full of smoke. Cries were raised of
"Fire! fire!" At the same instant the Tartars began to break
open shops and windows and drag out the terrified women
by the hair, and cast into the street furniture, saffian, mer-
chandise, and beds giving forth clouds of feathers. Then
were heard the groans of slaughtered men, lamentations, the
howling of dogs, the bellowing of cattle caught by fire in rear
buildings; and red tongues of flame visible even in daylight
amid the black wreaths of smoke, shot higher and higher
to the heavens.
At the very beginning of the tumult Azya's troopers hurled
themselves on the infantry in the fort; the majority of them
were unarmed.
There was not the slightest struggle; many knives were
buried in each Polish breast without a word of warning and
then the heads of the unfortunates were cut off and taken
and laid at the feet of Azya's horse.
The son of Tukhay Bey allowed most of his men to join
their brethren in the work of blood while he stood and looked
on.
The work of Krychinski and Adurovich was concealed by
smoke; the odor of burned flesh ascended to the fort. The
town was burning like a great pyre and smoke hid everything
from view; only amid the smoke the occasional report of a
musket was heard, like thunder in a cloud, or a fugitive was
risible, or a throng of pursuing Lipkovs.
Azya stood motionless and looked on with ferocious joy
in his heart; his lips parted in a savage smile and revealed
his white gleaming teeth: that smile was so much the more
savage from being mingled with the pain of his healing
wounds. The heart of the Lipkov was full of pride as well
as joy.
He had cast away the burden 'of pretence and for the first
time he now gave rein to his hatred, hidden for so many
years; he now felt that he was himself, the real Azya, the
son of Tukhay Bey.
But at the same time his heart was filled with fierce regret
that Basia did not witness that conflagration and carnage
MICHAEL.
"Traitor!" he cried, "you shall answer before a judge for
your deeds. . . . Serpent! ... I have yet a son!"
"You also have a daughter 001 whose account you ordered
me to be flogged to death; and that daughter I will now pre-
sent to the meanest of the horde for his service and pleasure."
"Master, give her to me!" suddenly cried Adurovich.
Eva cast herself at his feet and cried, "Azya! Azya! I have
always "
But he spurned her with his foot and Adurovich seized
her by the arms and began to drag her along the floor. Pan
Novovyeyski's face turned from -purple to blue; the cords
cracked on his writhing arms and unintelligible words es-
caped his lips. Azya rose from the skins and approached
him, slowly at first, and then more quickly, like a wild
animal preparing to spring upon its prey. He reached him
and clenched his fingers in old Novovyeyski's moustache and
with the other hand began to beat him mercilessly about
the head and face.
He bellowed hoarsely as the old noble fell to the floor
Azya then knelt on Novovyeyski's breast and then the bright
flash of a knife was seen.
"Mercy! help!" screamed Eva. But Adurovich struck
her on the head and put his broad hand over her mouth;
meanwhile Azya was slaying Pan Novovyeyski.
It was such a ghastly sight that even the blood of the
Tartar officers ran cold, for Azya with deliberate ferocity
slowly drew his knife across the neck of the ill-fated noble
whose gaspings and chokings were frightful. From his
severed veins the blood spurted more and more violently and
streamed across the floor. Then the rattling and gurgling
gradually ceased till the last gasps were audible in the severed
throat and the dying man's feet convulsively dug the floor.
Azya rose.
His eyes fell on the pale and sweet face of Zosia Boska who
appeared to be dead as she hung senseless on the arm of a
Tartar who held her, and said:
"I will keep this girl for myself, till I give her away or sell
her."
Then he turned to the Tartars: "We will now only await
the return of the pursuit and then go to the lands of the Sul-
tan."
The pursuit returned two days later with empty hands.
Therefore the son of Tukhay Bey set out for the land of the
Sultan with a heart full of rage and despair, leaving behind
a heap erf grey and bluiih nuns,
CHAPTER IV,
From ten to twelve Ukraine miles separated the towns
through which Basia had travelled from Khreptyov to Rash-
kov, or the whole route along the Dniester amounted to
thirty. It is true that they had started each morning while
it was still dark and not halted till late at night; but still
they made the whole journey, including refreshments, and in
spite of difficult passages and crossings, in three days. At
that day people did not make such quick journeys as a rule;
bat whoever had the will or the need could do so. Taking
this into consideration. Basia calculated that the journey
back to Khreptyov ought not to take so long, especially as
she was making it on horseback, and this was a flight in which
her safety depended on celerity.
However, she discovered her mistake on the first day, for,
unable to escape by the road along the Dniester, she made
a detour through the steppes and this considerably lengthened
the road. Moreover she might lose herself and she was likely
to do so; she might come across thawed rivers; or dense im-
passable forests; or marshes that were not frozen over even in
Winter; she might suffer injury from men or wild beasts;
therefore, though she decided to keep on without stopping/
yet she told herself that even if all went well God knew when
she would reach Khreptyov.
She had succeeded in tearing herself out of Azya's arms;
but what would happen farther on? Undoubtedly anything
was preferable to those vile arms; and yet her blood ran cold
at the thought of what might be in store for her.
It immediately occurred to her that if she spared the
horses she might be overtaken by the Lipkovs, who were thor-
oughly familiar with that wilderness; and to hide from discov-
ery and pursuit was almost impossible. They hunted Tartars
even in the Spring and Summer when there was no snow or
soft earth to retain the tracks of horses; they could read the
steppe like an open book; they scrutinized those plains like
eagles; they could follow a scent in them like hounds; their
(343)
2^2 PAN MICHAEL.
"Traitor!" he cried, "you shall answer before a judge for
your deeds. . . . Serpent! ... I have yet a son!"
"You also have a daughter on whose account you ordered
me to be flogged to death; and that daughter I will now pre-
sent to the meanest of the horde for his service and pleasure."
"Master, give her to me!" suddenly cried Adurovich.
Eva cast herself at his feet and cried, "Azya! Azya! I have
always "
But he spurned her with his foot and Adurovich seized
her by the arms and began to drag her along the floor. Pan
Novovyeyski's face turned from -purple to blue; the cords
cracked on his writhing arms and unintelligible words es-
caped his lips. Azya rose from the skins and approached
him, slowly at first, and then more quickly, like a wild
animal preparing to spring upon its prey. He reached him
and clenched his fingers in old Novovyeyski's moustache and
with the other hand began to beat him mercilessly about
the head and face.
He bellowed hoarsely as the old noble fell to the floor
Azya then knelt on Novovyeyski's breast and then the bright
flash of a knife was seen.
"Mercy! help!" screamed Eva. But Adurovich struck
her on the head and put his broad hand over her mouth;
meanwhile Azya was slaying Pan Novovyeyski.
It was such a ghastly sight that even the blood of the
Tartar officers ran cold, for Azya with deliberate ferocity
slowly drew his knife across the neck of the ill-fated noble
whose gaspings and chokings were frightful. From his
severed veins the blood spurted more and more violently and
streamed across the floor. Then the rattling and gurgling
gradually ceased till the last gasps were audible in the severed
throat and the dying man's feet convulsively dug the floor.
Azya rose.
His eyes fell on the pale and sweet face of Zosia Boska who
appeared to be dead as she hung senseless on the arm of a
Tartar who held her, and said:
"I will keep this girl for myself, till I give her away or sell
her."
Then he turned to the Tartars: "We will now only await
the return of the pursuit and then go to the lands of the Sul-
tan."
The pursuit returned two days later with empty hands.
Therefore the son of Tukhay Bey set out for the land of the
Sultan with a heart full of rage and despair, leaving behind
feim a heap of grey and bluish ruins,
CHAPTER IV.
From ten to twelve Ukraine miles separated the towns
through which Basia had travelled from Khreptyov to Rash-
kov, or the whole route along the Dniester amounted to
thirty. It is true that they had started each morning while
it was still dark and not halted till late at night; but still
they made the whole journey, including refreshments, and in
spite of difficult passages and crossings, in three days. At
that day people did not make such quick journeys as a rule;
but whoever had the will or the need could do so. Taking
this into consideration. Basia calculated that the journey
back to Khreptyov ought not to take so long, especially as
she was making it on horseback, and this was a flight in which
her safety depended on celerity.
However, she discovered her mistake on the first day, for,
unable to escape by the road along the Dniester, she made
a detour through the steppes and this considerably lengthened
the road. Moreover she might lose herself and she was likely
to do so; she might come across thawed rivers; or dense im-
passable forests; or marshes that were not frozen over even in
Winter; she might suffer injury from men or wild beasts;
therefore, though she decided to keep on without stopping/
yet she told herself that even if all went well God knew when
she would reach Khreptyov.
She had succeeded in tearing herself out of Azya's arms;
but what would happen farther on? Undoubtedly anything
was preferable to those vile arms; and yet her blood ran cold
at the thought of what might be in store for her.
It immediately occurred to her that if she spared the
horses she might be overtaken by the Lipkovs, who were thor-
oughly familiar with that wilderness; and to hide from discov-
ery and pursuit was almost impossible. They hunted Tartars
even in the Spring and Summer when there was no snow or
soft earth to retain the tracks of horses; they could read the
steppe like an open book; they scrutinized those plains like
eagles; they could follow a scent in them like hounds; their
(343)
344 P&N MICHAEL.
whole life was spent in hunting. Vainly, again and again,
had Tartars marched in the si reams so as to leave no trail;
Cossacks, Lipkovs, and Clieremis, as well as the Polish war-
riors of the steppes knew how to iind them and to meet their
tricks with counter- tricks and deliver an attack as suddenly
as if they had sprung up from the earth. llo\v was she to
escape from such men except by leaving them so far behind
that the very distance made capture impossible? But in that
case her horses would give out.
"They will inevitably fall dead if they keep on as they
have gone hitherto," thought Basia, looking in terror at
their wet steaming flanks and the foam falling to the earth
in flakes.
So from time to time she slowed up and listened; but she
heard pursuing voices in every breath of the wind, the rustling
of the leaves on the edges of the ravines, in the noise made by
the dry reeds of the steppe as they rubbed against one another,
in the flapping of the wings of a passing bird, and even in the
silence of the wilderness which seemed to hum in her ears.
In terror she again urged her horses into a wild gallop till
warned by their snorting that the speed could not be main-
tained.
The weight of her loneliness and helplessness became more
and more crushing. Ah! what an orphan she felt! What bit-
terness, as great as unjust, filled her heart towards everybody,
the nearest and dearest, who had thus forsaken her!
Then she reflected that certainly God must be punishing
her for her passion for adventure and her eagerness for all
kinds of hunts and expeditions, often against her husband's
wish; and for her frivolity and want of sedateness. As she
thought of all this she wept bitterly, and raising her little
head she sobbed:
"Chastise, but do not forsake me! Do not punish Michael!
Michael is innocent."
In the meantime night was coming on, accompanied by
cold, darkness, uncertainty of the road, and disquiet. Objects
were becoming obscure, dim, and losing their forms, besides
seeming to acquire a mysterious life and to be crouching.
The peaks of lofty rocks resembled heads in pointed and
round caps, heads that were peering from behind some kind
of gigantic wall, watching to see who wius passing below with a
silent and malignant glance. Branches of trees, moved by the
wind, seemed 'to be gesticulating like people: some of them
PAN MICHAEL. 345
beckoned to Basia. as if trying to> call her and tell her some
awful secret; and others seemed to utter the warning: "Don't
come near!"
The trunks of overturned trees looked like monstrous
beings crouching to spring at her. Basia was very bold
and daring, but, like all the people of that time, she was super-
stitious. When darkness fell entirely, her hair stood upright
on her head as she shivered all over, and thought of the un-
clean powers that might inhabit those regions. She especially
dreaded vampires; the belief in these beings was rife all along
the Dniester, especially on account of-the vicinity of Moldavia,
and especially the places immediately about Yampol and
Rashkov had an evil reputation in thai matter. What num-
bers of people there daily met with a sudden death, without
either confession or absolution! All the stories told by the
cavaliers at Khreptyov in the evenings by the fireside came
into Basia's mind; tales of deep chasms in which, when the
wind blew, moans of "Jesus! Jesus!" were suddenly heard,
and pale lights, accompanied by pantings; of rocky cliffs that
were heard to laugh; of pallid children, sucklings, with green
eyes and monstrous heads, infants who entreated to be taken
up on horseback and when there they began to suck blood;
lastly, bodiless heads walking on soldier-legs; and most hor-
rible of all, those ghastly abominations, full-sized vampires, or
Brukolaki, as they were called in Wallachia, who immediately
sprang upon people.
Then she began to cross herself and did not stop till her
hand was tired, and even then, she repeated the Litany, as
these were the only effective workings against unclean powers.
She got some comfort out of the horses who did not ex-
hibit any fear, but snorted lustily. Now and then she would
pat her pony on the neck, as if trying by that means to assure
herself that she was in a world of reality.
The night which at first was extremely dark, gradually be-
came clearer, and at length the stars began to shimmer
through the light mist. This was a very lucky thing for
Basia, because in the first place it calmed her fear? and, in
the second, by keeping her eye on the Great Wain, ehe could
direct herself northwards, towards Khreptyov. Looking
a.bout her, she calculated that she had progressed a distance
from the Dniester, for the rocks were more scarce, the country
more open, there were more hills covered with oak woods, and
wide plains often appeared.
PAN MICHAEL.
Nevertheless, again and again she was obliged to cross ra-
vines, and she descended into them with a heart quaking with
fear, for down in those depths, it was always pitch dark, with
sharp, biting cold. Some of them were so precipitous that
she had to make a detour, and consequently, she lost much
time and made the journey longer.
However, it was still worse with streams and rivers, a whole
system of which flowed into the Dniester from the east. They
Avere all thawed, and the horses snorted with terror as in the
night they plunged into waters of unknown depths. Basia
only attempted to cross in those places where the shelving
bank presupposed that the river, which was wide there, was
also shallow. This indeed was generally the case, although,
at some of the fords, the water reached nearly up to the
horses' bellies; in, such cases, Basia followed the example of
soldiers and knelt on the saddle, holding on to the pommel,
trying not to wet her feet. However, she was not always suc-
cessful in this, and soon her legs up to the knees were numb
with cold.
"God send the day! and then I will ride faster," she cried
from time to time.
At length, she came to a broad plain with a straggling
forest, and seeing that the horses could scarcely drag one foot
after the other, she halted to rest. They both stretched out
their necks to the ground in unison, and stretching out one
fore-foot, eagerly began to crop the moss and withered grass.
The deep silence of the forest was only broken by the short
breath of the horses and the munching of the grass by their
strong jaws.
When they had satisfied, or rather deceived their first
hunger, both horses evidently wanted to roll, but Basia
could not allow them to do that. She did not care to loosen
the girths and dismount, as she wanted to be ready at any
moment to resume her flight.
However, she mounted Azya's horse, because her own had
carried her from the last halting-place, and although he was
strong, and had noble blood in his veins, yet, he was the
more delicate of the two.
After this arrangement, she felt hungry after the thirst
which she had frequently quenched as she crossed the rivers,
so she began to eat the seeds she had found in the bag at
Azya's saddle-bow. She found them very good, though rather
bitter, and eat and thanked God for the unexpected refresh-
ment.
P.LY MICHAEL.
347
She eat sparingly, however, so that they might last her to
Khreptyov. Sleep soon began to weigh down her eyelids with
irresistible force, and when she ceased to gain warmth from
the motions of the horse, she wae pierced with bitter cold.
Her feet became perfectly stiff, and throughout her body she
experienced extreme lassitude, particularly in her arms and
loins, which were strained in the struggle with Azya. She was
attacked by an overwhelming weakness and her eyes closed.
However, in a few moments, she made a great effort and
opened them again.
"No!" she thought, "I will sleep during the day in the
hours of travel, for if I sleep now, I shall be frozen." . . .
But her ideas became more confused and disordered and
produced a fantastic mixture, in which half dream-like, half
clear, were jumbled the forest, flight and pursuit, Azya, the
little knight, Evka, and all late occurences. All these images
seemed to be going like head waves impelled by the wind, and
Basia seemed to be keeping pace with them, without either
fear or pleasure, as if she were travelling for hire. It seemed
as if Azya were pursuing her and speaking to her at the same
time, and in anxiety about his horse; Pan Zagloba was scold-
ing because supper was getting cold, Michael was showing
the way, and Evka was coming on with them in a sleigh, eat-
ing dates.
Then all these people became more and more illusory as
though a curtain of mist or gloom had been let down in front
of them, and gradually they faded away, and there only re-
mained a peculiar kind of darkness, which although impene-
trable to the eye, was felt to be entirely void and of illimitable
extent. . . This darkness pervaded everything, even Basia.' s
mind, and in it blotted out all visions and ideas, as a
blast of wind extinguishes a torch in the open air at night.
Basia had fallen asleep, but luckily for her, before the
cold was able to congeal the blood in her veins, she was
roused by a strange noise. Suddenly the horse started, and it ,
was evident that there was some unusual occurence in the
forest.
Basia recovered consciousness in an instant, she seized
Azya's musket and leaning down along the horse with strained
attention, and dilated nostrils, she listened intently. Her
nature was such that danger made her vigilant in a second,
and bold and alert for defence.
But this time after listening long enough she at once be-
34 8 7MY
came calm. She had been aroused by the grunt of wild
\Vliet1ier I lie youii pigs were being stalked by beasts of
prey, or old boars were preparing to light, she did not know,
hut in a moment the whole wilderness was in an uproar. It
was plain that the tumult was some distance away, but in the
stillness of the night and the universal drowsiness, it sounded
so near, that Basia. not only heard squeals and grunts, but
violent breathing through the snouts. Suddenly, there was
trampling and crashing and the snapping of broken boughs,
and the whole herd rushed close past Basia, though she could
not see, and was lost in the depths of the thickets.
But the irrepressible Basia, in spite of her dreadful situa-
tion, immediately felt the hunter-spirit spring up in her
heart, and she was sorry at not having seen the herd rush
past.
"One ought to have 'seen it," she reflected, "but never mind.
Eiding through the forest like this, I shall be sure to see
something yet." . . .
And not till then did she hurry forward again, recollecting
that it was better not to be able to see anything, but to flee
at her utmost speed.
It was impossible to make any longer halt, because the cold
was attacking her more sharply, and moreover, the horse's
movement kept her comparatively warm, while it was not
very fatiguing. But, the horses, who had only had time to
nibble a little moss and frozen grass, flagged a good deal, and
their heads dropped. When they had halted, they had be-
come covered with hoar-frost, and they seemed scarcely able
to drag their legs. Moreover, they had kept going ever since
the afternoon rest with scarcely a moment to breathe. After
crossing the plain, keeping her eyes on the Great Wain in the
sky, Basia plunged into the forest, which was not very
thick, but hilly and crossed by winding gullies. Here too, it
was darker, but only on account of the shade of the over-
arching trees, and because the mist was rising from the
ground and hiding the stars. She was obliged to take her
chance. She only knew that she was going in the right direc-
tion by the course of the gullies, for she knew that they all
ran westwards towards the Dniester, and by continually cross-
ing fresh ones, she must be going northwards. But notwith-
standing this help, she thought: "I am constantly in danger
of getting too close to the Dniester, or too far away from it.
It is dangerous to do either. In the first place, I should be
PAN MICHAEL.
349
taking a tremendous journey, and in the second, I might find
myself at Yampol and fall into the hands of my enemy.
She had not the slightest idea whether she had yet arrived
opposite Yampol, or was on the high ground above it, or had
already passed it.
"It will be easy to tell when I pass Mohilov," she mur-
mured, "because it lies in a deep hollow which is very ex-
tensive, and so I am likely to recognize it.'
Then she gazed at the Heavens, and thought:
"God only grant that I may reach the other side of Mohilov,
for that is the beginning of Michael's authority, and I shall
not be afraid of anything there. 7 ' . . .
The night now grew darker. Luckily the forest was car-
peted with snow, and she could distinguish the dark trunks
of the trees against the white ground, and see the lower
branches and avoid them. But Basia was forced to ride more
slowly and consequently her heart was again seized with the
dread of the unclean powers: which, early in the night, had
seemed to turn her blood into ice.
"If I see fiery eyes near the ground," she said to her terri-
fied soul, "that isn't anything; it will be a wolf, but if it is at
the height of a man, " ,
At that moment she cried out:
"In the name of the Father, Son "
Could it have been a wild-cat sitting on a branch? It is
enough that Basia plainly distinguished a pair of flashing
eyes at the height of a man's head.
A cloud came over her eyes in her terror, but as she looked
again, she could neither see nor hear anything but the rustle
among the boughs, though her heart beat so loudly that it
seemed about to break out of her breast.
And she rode on hour after hour sighing for the dawn, but
the night seemed interminable. Presently her path was again
barred by a river. Basia was already considerably beyond
Yampol, on the bank of the Rosava; but not knowing where
she was, she merely thought that if she continued, advancing
northwards, she would soon come across a fresh river. She
also thought that the night must be nearly passed, because
it was sensibly getting colder, and the fog began to be dissi-
pated, and the stars to appear, although shining with an un-
certain light.
Finally the gloom began gradually to lighten. The tree-
inmks, branches and twigs were becoming visible. The for-
est was wrapped in profound silence, and dawn had arrived.
350
PAN MICHAEL.
Presently Basia was able to distinguish the color of the
horses. At last, through the branches of the trees in the east
a bright streak appeared. Day had broken; a bright day.
Basia's weariness knew no bounds. Her mouth constantly
gaped with yawning, and very soon her eyes closed; she did
not sleep for long, oecause her head came in contact with a
branch and this awoke her. Fortunately, the horses were
moving very slowly, cropping the moss as they went, and so
it was such a slight blow that it did not hurt her. The sun
had now risen, and its pale, beautiful rays were shining
through the bare branches. When she saw this, Basia's heart
felt comforted. Between her and pursuit she had placed so
many steppes, mountains, and ravines; and an entire night.
"If I am not captured by men from Yampol, or Mohilov,"
she murmured, "the others will not come up with me."
Moreover, there was another circumstance on which she
counted, and that was that when she had first taken flight she
had gone over rocky ground where hoofs leave no tracks.
But again doubts began to assail her. The Lipkovs can find
tracks even on stone, and will doggedly keep up the pursuit
till their horses fall dead.
This last seemed a most likely supposition. It was enough
for Basia to look at her own animals; their flanks had fallen
in, their heads were drooping, and their eyes were glazed. .
As they moved on, they stretched their necks to the ground
again and again, to crop the moss as they passed, to snatch
at the red leaves which hung withered here and there on the
low oak shrubs. Fever also must be attacking Basia, because
at every ford, she drank thirstily.
Nevertheless, when she emerged into an open plain be-
tween two forests she urged the tired horses into a gallop and
kept it up till they reached the next forest.
After passing through that she came to another plain still
more extensive and hilly; beyond some hills a mile or so
away smoke was rising towards the sky as straight as a pine-
tree. This was the first inhabited place that Basia had come
across as yet, for that region, with the exception of the bank
of the river was a desert, or rather it had been turned into a
desert not only by Tartar incursions, but by the perpetual
Polish-Cossack wars. Since the last campaign of Pan Char-
nyetski, before whom Busha fell, the small towns had become
shabby settlements and the villages were overgrown with
young forests. And since Charnyetski, there had been in-
MICHAEL. 251
numerable expeditions, battles, and massacres, down to the
last in which the great Sobieski had wrested that region from
the foe. Signs of habitation were beginning to multiply, only
the district through which Basia was fleeing was particularly
deserted and only robbers had taken refuge there, though
even these had been almost exterminated by the commands
stationed at Itashkov > Yampol, and Khreptyov.
On seeing the smoke, Basia' s first impulse was to ride to-
wards it to find a house, or a hut even, or at least, a hearth
to warm herself by, and revive. But she quickly reflected that
in those parts it was safer to encounter a pack of wolves than
man: man there was more savage and pitiless than the wild
beasts. Nay, rather was it necessary for her to hasten her
horses and pass that forest abode of man as quickly as pos-
sible, for there only death could await her.
On the very edge of the forest opposite, Basia saw a small
stack of hay; so at all costs she halted at it to bait her horses.
They ate ravenously, thrusting their heads into the hay up to
the ears and dragging out big bunches of it. Unfortunately
they were greatly hindered by their bits; but Basia did not
want to unbridle them, properly reasoning as follows:
"Where there is smoke there must be a shanty, as there is
a stack there must be horses on which they could follow me,
so I must be prepared."
However, she stayed about an hour at the stack so that the
horses had a considerable feed, and she ate some seeds herself.
Then she moved on and after a few furlongs she suddenly saw
in front of her two persons with faggots on their backs.
One was a middle-aged man with a face pitted with small-
pox and cross-eyes, hideous and repellant, with a cruel, bestial
face; the other was an idiot youth as was instantly apparent
from his silly smile and foolish glance.
At the sight of an armed cavalier they both cast down their
faggots and seemed to be greatly alarmed. But the encounter
was so sudden and close that they could not run away.
"Praise God!" said Basia.
"For ever and ever."
"What is the name of this farm?"
"What should it be? There's the hut."
"Is it far to Mohilov?"
"We do not know."
Here the man began closely to scrutinize Basia's features.
On account of her male costume he took her for a youth, and
35 2 . ?M.V MK'HM-IL
his face instantly assumed an expression of insolence and
cruelty in place of his late alarm.
"How is it that you are so young, Pan Cavalier?"
"What business is that of yours?"
"And are you travelling alone?" the peasant inquired, ad-
vancing a step.
"Troops accompany me."
He paused and looked over the extensive plain and replied:
"Untrue. There's nobody."
Then he took two steps forward; his cross eyes glittered
with a sinister light and he pursed his lips and began to
imitate the cry of a quail, evidently as a summons to some-
body.
All this looked very hostile to Basia and she unhesitatingly
levelled a pistol at his heart:
"Silence ! or thou shalt perish."
The man ceased and moreover cast himself on the ground.
The idiot followed his example and began to howl like a wolf
with terror; perhaps he had originally lost his reason from a
similar feeling for his howls spoke most awful terror.
Basia pulled up her horses arid sprang forward like an
arrow. Luckily there was no underwood in that forest and
the trees were wide apart. They soon came to another plain
that was narrow but very long. The horses had gained new
strength from their meal at the stack and rushed on like the
tempest.
"They will run home, mount, and chase me!" thought
Basia.
Her only comfort was that the horses were going well and
that the spot where she had met the man was a good way
from the house.
"Before they can reach it and get the horses out at this
rate I shall be several miles ahead."
This was the case, but after some hours, when she was satis-
fied that she was not being followed, Basia slackened her
pace, her heart was assailed with great fear and depression
and she could not restrain her tears.
The encounter taught her what the people of those parts
were and what was to be expected from them. It is true that
this was no surprise. From her own experience and the tales
she had heard at Khreptyov she knew that the former peace-
ful dwellers had left these wilds, or had been swallowed up in
the war; those who were left lived in perpetual dread amidst
PAX MTriJAEL. 353
civil strife and Tartar assault, under conditions where one
man to another is like a wolf; they were living without
churches or religion, without any principle but fire and
slaughter, without recognizing any right but that of the fist;
they had lost all feelings of humanity and grown wild like
the beasts of the field. Basia was well aware of -this; and yet
a human being, lost in the wilderness, famished with hunger
and cold involuntarily turns for assistance to kindred beings
first of all. Basia did so at the sight of 'the smoke that re-
vealed a human habitation; following the first natural impulse
of her heart she wanted to hasten to it, greet the tenants in
the name of God, and rest her wearied head beneath their
roof. But grim reality quickly bared its teeth at her like a
savage dog. So her heart was full of bitterness and her eyes
of sorrow and disappointment.
"No help but from God/' she thought. "I pray that no
person meet me again."
Then she began to wonder why the peasant had imitated a
quail. "There must certainly be others there and he wanted
to call them." She remembered that robbers dwelt in that
_ district, having been driven out of the fastnesses near the
river and taking to the wilds deeper in the country where the
neighborhood of the wide steppes insured greater safety and
easier escape at need.
"But what will happen?" Basia asked herself, if I encounter
a number of men, or more than a dozen? The musket,
that's one; two pistols, two; a sabre, say two more; but if
if there are more than that I shall die a horrible death."
And as during the terrors of the previous night she had
longed for day to come as quickly as possible, so now she
longed for darkness to hide her more effectually from evil
eyes.
Twice again as she rode on ceaselessly she seemed to be in
the vicinity of people. Once she caught sight of a number of
huts on the edge of the plateau. Perhaps professional robbers
did not dwell there., but she preferred to pass by at a gallop,
knowing that even peasants are not much better than robbers;
on another occasion she heard the sound of axes cutting
wood.
The longed-for night at last shrouded the earth. Basia was
so worn out that when she came to a bare steppe free from
woods she said to herself:
; 'I shan't be crushed against a tree here. I will get some
sleep at once, even if 1
S3
354
As .she closed her eyes she fancied iluil in the distance on
the white snow she saw a number of black dots moving about
in various directions. For a little longer .she mastered her
drowsiness. "Surely those must be wolves!" she murmured.
Before she had gone many paces the dots disappeared and
then she fell asleep so soundly that she did not awake till
Azya's horse, on which she was mounted, neighed under her.
She gazed around; s'he was on the edge of a forest; if she
had not woke in time she might have been crushed against
a tree.
Suddenly she noticed that the other horse was not by her
side.
"What has happened?" she cried in great alarm.
What had happened was very simple. It is true that Basia
had tied the reins of her pony to the pommel of the saddle
on which -she was sitting; but her numbed hands had not
served her well and she had not been able to tie them firmly;
they had slipped off and the tired horse had stopped to st-ek
food beneath the snow, or to lie down.
Fortunately Basia's pistol was in her girdle instead of her
holster, she had also with her the powder-horn and the bag
with the rest of the seeds. And lastly the calamity was not
overwhelming because though Azya's horse was not so speedy
as her own, yet he was undoubtedly superior in the matter
of enduring cold and labor. But Basia was grieved about her
favorite horse and her first impulse was to search for him.
When she looked around the steppe, however, and could
see nothing of him, though the night was unusually bright,
she was greatly surprised.
He has surely stayed behind," she thought,, "and not gone
ahead; but he must have lain down in some hollow and that
is the reason that I cannot see him."
Her horse neighed again, shaking himself, and laying his
ears back; but no answer came from the silent steppe.
"I will go and find him," said Basia.
But as she turned she was seized with sudden alarm, and
it sounded as if a human voice exclaimed:
"Basia, do not return !"
At that instant the silence was broken by other and ill-
omened voices close by and seeming to come from beneath the
earth, howling, snorting, whining and groaning, and at last
a horrible squeal, short and interrupted. . . . Tt was all
the more terrifying because nothing was visible on the steppe.
PAN MICHAEL. 355
Basia broke out into cold sweat from head to foot, and from
her pale lips escaped the cry:
"What is that ? What has happened ?"
Of course she guessed at once that wolves had killed her
horse, but she could not understand why she did not see him
since, to judge by the sounds, he was only five hundred yards
behind.
There was no 'time to spring to his rescue, for the horse
must be already torn to pieces, and besides she had to think
of her own safety. Basia fired her pistol to scare the wolves
and went on.
As she went she meditated on what had happened, and
presently the thought struck her that perhaps it was not the
wolves who had taken her horse, because those voices seemed
to come from beneath the earth. At this thought a cold
shiver ran down her back, but weighing the affair more care-
fully she remembered that while asleep she had seemed to be
descending and then rising again.
"That must be it," she exclaimed, "in my sleep I must have
crossed some not very precipitous ravine. My horse stayed
there and there the wolves fell upon him."
The rest of the night passed without further adventure.
Having had the hay to eat in the morning the horse kept on
with wonderful endurance till Basia herself was amazed at
his power. He was a Tartar horse, a wolf-hunter of noble
blood and quite unlimited endurance. During the brief halts
that Basia allowed him he nibbled everything, moss and leaves
without distinction, and even gnawed the bark of trees and
then went on and on. Basia pressed him into a gallop on
the plains. After a time he began to groan occasionally and
his labored breathing could be plainly heard when he was
reined in; he panted and trembled and hung his head low
with weariness, but he did not fall. Even if her own. horse
had not died under the teeth of the wolves he could not have
stood such a journey.
After saying her prayers the next morning Basia began to
count the time.
"I broke away from Azya on Tuesday afternoon," she re-
flected. "I galloped till night; then the night was spent on
the road and then a whole day, then another whole night, and
this is the commencement of the third day. Even if there was
a pursuit it must already have turned back and Khreptyov
should be near, for I have not spared the horses."
Presently she added:
356
PAN MICHAEL.
"It is time; it is time! God have merc'y upon me!"
Now and then she felt a desire to approach 'the Dniester,
for on the bank it would be easier to tell where she was, but
when she remembered that fifty of Azya's Lipkovs had re-
mained at Mohilov with Pan Gorzenski, she feared to do so.
She thought that as she had made such a detour perhaps she
had not yet passed Mohilov. On the way so long as sleep had
not weighed down her eyelids it is true that she had tried care-
fully to notice if she came across a very broad valley like the
one in which Mohilov was situated, but she had not seen
such a place. However, the valley might grow narrower and
quite different to what it was at Mohiloy and might come to
an end farther in, or considerably narrowed at some furlongs
beyond the town; in short, Basia had not the slightest idea
where she was.
Only she ceaselessly prayed to God that Khreptyov might
not be far away, for she felt that she could not much longer
endure toil, hunger, cold, and loss of sleep. For three days
she had lived on seeds alone, and though she had husbanded
them most carefully, yet she had eaten the last grain that
morning and there was nothing left in the bag.
Now she could only feed and warm herself with the hope
that Khreptyov was near. Besides hope, fever was keeping
her warm. Basia was sure that she had a fever because,
although the air was becoming colder and was even freezing,
her feet and hands were now as hot as she had been cold at
the commencement of her flight; she was also greatly tor-
mented with thirst.
"Only let me not lose my presence of mind," she said to
herself; "let me reach Khreptyov even with my last breath
and see Michael, and then God's will be done." . . .
She was again forced to cross several streams and rivers,
but they were either shallow or frozen; on some waters was
flowing above the surface of firm and strong ice. These she
dreaded more than any because, though the horse was brave,
he evidently feared them. When he went into the water or
upon the ice he would snort and prick his ears forward and
sometimes balk, and when urged he moved warily, slowly
putting one foot before the other and snorting with wide nos-
trils.
It was late in the afternoon when Basia issued from a dense
pine wood and halted before a river considerably larger and
wider than usual. According to her reckoning this must be
PAN MICHAEL. 357
the Lodova or the Kalusik. Her heart beat joyfully at the
sight of it. In either case Khreptyov must be near; once
having passed it she might consider herself safe, because that
district was more populated and the people less to be dreaded.
The banks of the river were precipitous as far as the eye could
see; it shelved only in one place where the water, damned up
by the ice, had flooded the bank, looking like water in a broad,
shallow vessel. The margin was quite frozen, but a wide
stream of water was flowing in the centre, though Basia hoped
to find the usual ice beneath it.
The horse entered with some unwillingness as at other
crossings, with lowered head and snuffing at the snow in front
of him. When she reached the running water Basia knelt on
the saddle as usual, and held on to the pommel with both
hands.
The water splashed under his hoofs. The ice was quite
flrm and like stone under him. But evidently the shoes had
lost their sharpness on the long road parts of which had been
rocky, as the horse began to slip and his feet to spread as if
flying from under him. Suddenly he stumbled and his nos-
trils entered the water; then he rose and fell on his haunches;
he rose again, but was now frightened and began to kick and
plunge. Basia pulled at the reins and at the same moment a
dull crack was heard and the horse's hind legs sank through
the ice up to his haunches.
"Jesus, Jesus!" cried Basia.
The animal with his fore legs still on firm ice was making
desperate efforts, but evidently the fragment on which he
was resting began to move from under his feet, for he sank
deeper and began to emit hoarse sounds.
Basia still had the time and presence of mind to grasp his
mane and gain the solid ice in front of him. She fell, and
was soaked by the water, but gained and felt it firm under
her feet and knew that she was saved. She wanted to save
the horse, so leaned forward and caught the reins and pulled
with all her power towards the bank.
But the horse sank deeper and could not even free his fore
feet to reach the stationary ice. The more she dragged at
the reins the deeper he sank. He began to utter sounds that
were almost human while baring his teeth; he gazed at Basia
with indescribable sadness in his eyes as if trying to say io
her: "There is no rescue for me; drop the reins before I drag
thee in too!"
35 g PAN MICHAEL.
In truth there was no rescue for him, and at last Basia had
to let go the reins.
At last he was so deep in the water that only his neck and
mouth remained above the ice.
When the horse had disappeared beneath the ice she went
to the bank and sat down under a leafless bush and iobbed
like a child.
For the moment her spirit was entirely broken. Moreover
the pain and bitterness she had experienced after meeting with
people now filled her heart with still greater intensity. Every-
thing was against her; unknown roads, darkness, the ele-
ments, men, and beasts. The hand of God alone had seemed
to protect her. In that loving paternal care she had put all
her childlike trust; but now even that had failed her. Basia
had not expressed this feeling in such plain words, but never-
theless in her heart she felt it strongly.
"What was left for her?" Tears and complaint! And yet
she had exhibited all the valor, and courage, and fortitude
that it was possible for such a poor weak creature to show.
Now behold, her horse, her last hope of salvation, her last
chance of rescue, the sole living creature with her, wa.s
drowned! Deprived of that horse she felt helpless in face of
the unknown distance between her and Khreptyov; and in
face of the pine woods, ravines, and steppes; not merely with-
out defence against the pursuit of man, but more lonely and
deserted than ever.
She wept till her tears were exhausted. Then followed ex-
haustion, weariness, and such an utter sense of helplessness
that it was almost akin to rest.
She sighed deeply once and again and cried:
"I am powerless against the will of God. I will die where
I am!"
And she closed those eyes that were once so bright and joj-
ous, but now so hollow and sunken.
Although she was growing more physically helpless every
moment, yet thought throbbed in her brain like a frightened
bird, and her heart also. If nobody in the world loved her she
could die with less regret, but everybody loved her so much.
And she pictured to herself what would happen when
Azya's treachery and treason were known; how they would
search for her and at last find her, blue, frozen, and sleeping
her eternal sleep under a bush by the river. Suddenly she
cried out:
MICHAEL. *~g
"Ah, \yhat will be poor Michael's despair! Ah! ah!"
Then she prayed to him, saying that it was not her fault.
"Michael, dear," she said, as she put her arms around his
neck in fancy, "I did everything in my power, but it was
hard, dear. It was not the will of the Lord God."
And at that moment she felt such an overwhelming rush
of love for Michael and such a desire even to die near her be-
loved that she summoned the last of her forces and rose from
the bank and struggled onwards.
It was extremely difficult at first. During the long ride hei-
feet had become unused to walking and she felt as if she were
walking on, stilts. Fortunately she was not cold; indeed she
was quite warm enough, as the fever had never left for a
moment. .
Plunging into the forest she kept on resolutely remember-
ing to keep the sun on her left. In fact it had now gone
round to the Moldavian side, for it was afternoon, perhaps
four o'clock. Basia now did not so much mind approaching
the Dniester, for she was satisfied that she was beyond
Mohilov.
"If I were only certain of it; if I knew it!" she exclaimed,
raising her bine and inflamed face towards the sky. "If only
some animal or tree would speak and say, It is a mile to
Khreptyov, or two miles,' I might perhaps reach there."
But the trees were silent; indeed they seemed hostile and
to be obstructing the road with their roots. Basia frequently
stumbled against these gnarled, knotted and snow-covered
roots. Presently she felt unendurably burdened, so she cast
the warm mantle from her shoulders and was left with her
single jacket. Thus relieved she walked on and on with in-
creasing haste, sometimes stumbling and falling in the deep
snow. Her fur-lined, saffian boots, excellent for the sleigh or
horseback, were very little protection to her feet against the
stonea or stumps, and having been repeatedly soaked in ford-
ing and kept damp by the feverish heat of her feet, they easily
got torn in the forest.
"I will go barefoot to Khreptyov, or to death!" Basia
thought.
And a sad smile illumined her tiny face, for it was some
solace to her to keep on with such endurance so that if she
should be frozen on the way Michael would have nothing to
reproach her memory with. So now she kept continually
talking to her husband and once she said:
360 ? AN MICHAEL.
"Ah, Michael, dear! another would not have done so much:
Evka, for example." . . .
More than once she had thought of Eva during her flight,
and more than once she had prayed for her. It was clear to
her now, knowing 'that Azya did not love the maiden, her fate,
in common with all the other prisoners in Rashkov, would be
a dreadful one.
"It is worse for them than for me," she kept telling herself,
and the thought gave her fresh courage.
But when three hours had passed her strength began to
fail more with every step. The sun gradually sank behind the
Dniester and disappeared in a rosy glow, leaving violet reflec-
tions on the snow. Then the twilight abyss of gold and purple
began to darken and contract momentarily; from a sea that
covered half the heavens it narrowed to a lake, from a lake to
a river, from a river to a brook, and at last gleaming like a
thread of light across the west it gave place to darkness.
Night fell. .
Another hour passed. The pine wood became black and
mysterious; but, not stirred by the least 'breath, it seemed to
be pondering what it should do with that poor, strayed creat-
ure. There was nothing good in that stillness and torpor, but
rather heartlessness and insensibility.
Basia kept on without ceasing, panting through her parched
lips more rapidly as she went; she also fell more often now
that darkness had come, and she was weaker.
She kept her face 'turned upwards, but not 'to look for the
Great Wain, for she had lost all idea of her position. She
gazed where she wanted to go; because bright and sweet
visions of death were beginning to hover about her.
For example, the four sides of the wood seemed to approach
one another quickly and form a room, 'the room at Khrept-
yov. Basia is there and sees everything clearly. A great fire
is burning on the hearth and officers are sitting on the
benches as usual: Pan Zagloba is jesting with Pan Snitko;
Pan Motovidlo is silently gazing into the flames, and when
anything hisses in the fire he exclaims in his drawling tones,
"Oh, soul in purgatory, what wilt thou?" Pan Mushalski and
Pan Khromyka are casting dice with Michael. Basia ap-
proaches them and says: "Michael dear, I will sit on the bench
and nestle up beside you a little, for I am not myself." Michael
passes his arm around her. "What is the matter, kitten? Is
it? . And he bends his head down to her ear and
PAN MICHAEL. 36 r
whispers something. But she answers, "Ah, how unlike my-
self I feel!" What a bright and peaceful room that is and
how dear that Michael is! But somehow Basia is not herself
at all and fear takes hold of her.
Basia is so far from being herself that the fever has sud-
denly left her, for the weakness that comes before death has
vanquished it. The visions vanish; presence of mind returns
and memory with it.
"I am fleeing from Azya," said Basia to herself; "I am in
the forest at night. I cannot reach Khreptyov. I am dying."
After the fever has departed cold quickly seizes upon her
and pierces her body to the bone. Her legs bend under her,
and at last she kneels in the snow before a tree.
Her mind is not obscured by the least cloud now. She is
bitterly grieved at losing her life, but she is perfectly well
aware that she is dying, and, -to commend her soul to God,
she is beginning to say in broken tones:
"In the name of the Fa.ther, and the Son, "
Further prayer is suddenly interrupted by certain strange,
sharp, shrill, squeaking sounds; they are grating and piercing
in the silence of the night.
Basia opens her mouth. The question, "What is that?" dies
on her lips. For an instant she covers her face with her
trembling hands as if unwilling to believe her ears, and a sud-
den shriek escapes her lips:
"0 Jesus, Jesus! Those are the well-sweeps; that is
Khreptyov! Jesus!
Then this creature who was dying a moment ago now
springs up panting and trembling, with eyes full of tears and
with heaving bosom runs through the forest, falling, and ris-
ing again as she repeats:
"They are watering the horses there! That is Khreptyov!
Those are our well-sweeps! To the gate, to the gate!
Jesus! Khreptyov. . . Khreptyov!" . . .
But here the trees grow wider apart, the fields of snow open
to the view and the slope with them, from which many gleam-
ing eyes are gazing at the running Basia.
But these were not the eyes of wolves; they were the win-
dows of Khrep-tyov shining with sweet, bright, saving light!
There on the mound is the fort where its eastern side faces the
forest.
There was some distance to go, but Basia was unconscious
of accomplishing it. The soldiers at the gate on the side of
362 ^i-V MICHAEL.
the village did not recognize her in the darkness, but ad-
mitted her, thinking her some hoy sent (-11 an errand and re-
turning to the commander. She clashed in the midst with her
last remaining breath, ran across the square past the wells,
where the dragoons who had just before returned from a re-
connaissance had watered their horses, and stopped at the
door of the main building.
Just then the little knight and Zagloba were sitting on a
bench before the fire and drinking krupnik. They were talk-
ing about Basia, thinking her over there in Rashkov arranging
matters. They were both sad, for it was dreadfully dreary
without her and every day they talked about when she would
be back.
"God prevent sudden rains, thaws, and freshets. If any
of them come He alone knows when she will be back," said
Zagloba gloomily.
"The winter will last some time yet," said the little knight;
"and in eight or ten days I shall be looking every hour in
the direction of Mohilov for her."
"I wish she hadn't gone. There is nothing for me here in
Khreptyov without her."
"But why did you advise it?"
"Don't fabricate, Michael! It occurred with your con-
sent." . . .
"If she only returns in good health."
Here the little knight sighed and added:
"In good health and very soon!"
At that the door creaked and a tiny, pitiful, tattered creat-
ure, covered with snow, began to cry plaintively on the thresh-
old:
"Michael dear! Michael dear!"
The little knight sprang to his feet, but for a moment was
so amazed that he stood still as though turned to stone; he
stretched out his arms and blinked and stood still.
' Michael! Azya, was treacherous, he wanted to carry me
off; but I lied, and help!"
As she ended she tottered and fell on the floor as if dead;
Pan Michael sprang forward and lifted her in his arms as if
she had been a feather, and cried in a shrill voice:
"Merciful Christ!"
But her poor little head hung lifeless on his shoulder.
Thinking that it was only a corpse that he held in his .arms
he began to cry in a horrible voice:
"Basia is dead! dead! Help!"
CHAPTER V.
The news of Basia's arrrival flashed through Kreptyov like
lightning, but no one saw her that evening, or for several
evenings, except the little knight, Pan Zagloba, and tne fe-
male attendants. After fainting on the threshold, she re-
covered her senses, to tell him in a few words what had hap-
pened, and how; but a fresh fainting-fit quickly followed,
and though they used every means to revive her, warming her,
giving her wine, and trying to give her nourishment, by an
hour later she did not even recognize her husband, and there
was no doubt that she was in for a long and dangerous illness.
Meanwhile there was great excitement in Khreptyov.
When the soldiers heard that the mistress had come back
half-dead, they rushed out into the square like a swarm of
bees. All the officers gathered together in the lighted hall
and with low whispering impatiently awaited news from
Basia's room. However, it was impossible to learn anything
for a long time. It is true that occasionally a maid would
hurry past to the kitchen for hot water, or to the dispensary
for plasters, ointments, and herbs, but they would not let
anyone stop them. Anxiety weighed over every heart like
lead. Crowds even from the village collected in increasing
numbers upon the square and questions passed from lip to
lip. Azya's treason was discussed and it was said that the
mistress had saved herself by flight, which had lasted a
whole week without either food or sleep. The assembled sol-
diers were last seized with terrible fury, but they suppressed
their indignation, fearing lest the health of the patient might
suffer.
At length, after a long wait, Pan Zagloba went out to the
officers with his eyes red, and his few remaining hairs stand-
ing upright on his head; they thronged around him and at
once besieged him with urgent questions in low tones.
"Is she alive? Is she alive?"
"She is alive/' said the old mam, "but God knows whether
for an hour longer,"
(3*3)
364 rAN MICHAEL.
Here his voice was choked and his lips quivered. Putting
his head in his hands, he sank heavily on the bench and his
breast heaved with suppressed sobs.
When he saw this, Pan Mushalski caught Pan Nyenashin-
yets in his embrace, though usually he did not care much for
him, and began to utter low moans, in which he was imme-
diately joined by Pan Nyenashinyets. Pan Motovidlo looked
as if he was trying to swallow something and could not; Pan
Snitko began to unbutton his coat with trembling fingers;
Pan Khromyka began to walk up and down the room wring-
ing his 'hands.
The soldiers seeing these signs of despair through <the
windows and supposing that the lady was 'already dead, were
greatly agitated and began to utter lamentations. When he
heard this, Zagloba became furious and darted out into the
square like a stane from a sling.
"Silence, you rogues, may the thunderbolt strike you/' he
cried in suppressed tones.
They were silent immediately, comprehending that it was
not yet time to lament, but they stayed in the square. Za-
globa returned to the room and somewhat quieted down and
again took a seat on the bench.
At that moment one o* he maids again appeared at the
door of the room.
Zagloba sprang toward her,
"How is it in there?"
"She is asleep."
"Is she asleep? God be praised."
"Perhaps the Lord will grant. . . . **
"What is the Pan Commandant doing P
"He is at her bedside."
"That is well. Now go after what you were sort or."
Zagloba turned to the officers and repeated vhat she had
said, crying:
"May the Most High God have mercy! she is asleep: I am
begining to be hopeful. . . . Phew!"
And they also all drew a long breath. Then they collected
about Zagloba in a ring and began to ask:
"For God's sake how did it happen? What happened 5
How did she escape on foot?"
"She did not escape on foot, at first," whispered Zagloba^
"but with two horses, for she threw that dog may the plagu
slay him! from his saddle,"
PAN MICHAEL. 365
"I can't believe my ears! . .
"She struck him between the eyes with the butt of a pistol,
and as they were some distance behind the others, there was
no one to see and pursue. One horse was eaten by wolves,
and the other was drowned under the ice. Merciful Christ!
the poor thing went through the forests alone, without food
or drink."
Here Pan Zagloba again burst into tears and interrupted
his tale. The officers also sat down on the benches in wonder
and horror and pity for the woman they all loved.
"When she arrived in the neighborhood of Khreptyov,"
Zagloba presently continued, "she did not recognize the place
and was making ready to die when she heard the creaking
of the well-sweeps, and knew that she was close to us and
dragged herself home with her last breath."
"God guarded her in her extremity," said Motovidlo, as he
wiped his wet moustache. "He will still guard her."
"It will be so, you have hit the mark," whispered many
voices.
At that moment, a louder noise reached them from the
square. Zagloba again sprang up in fury and rushed out of
the door.
In the square, the soldiers all had their heads together,
but when they saw Zagloba and two other officers, they fell
back into a semi-circle.
"Be quiet, you souls of dogs, began Zagloba, or I'll
order"
But from the semicircle advanced Zydor Lusnia, a sar-
geant of dragroons, a real Mazovian, 'one of Pan Michael's
favorite troopers. He took a couple of steps forward, straight-
ened himself, and said in determined tones:
"I beg of your lordship, since such a son has injured our
lady, that we may seek him and take vengeance; it cannot be
otherwise. What I say, all ask, and if the Colonel cannot go,
we will go under other leadership, even to the Crimea itself,
to capture him, we will not spare him, because of the wrong
done to our lady."
The cold, determined menace of a peasant sounded in the
sargeant's voice; other dragoons and servants of the accom-
panying squadrons began to grind their teeth, rattle their
sabres, and mutter. That deep muttering, like the growling
of a bear at night, had something terrible in it.
The officer stood erect, awaiting an answer, and whole
366 PAN MICHAEL.
ranks of dragoons and fellow-officers with him, and they ex-
hibited such evidences of fury and determination as entirely
to suspend ordinary discipline for the time being.
For a time there was silence, suddenly a voice in one of the
rear ranks was heard.
"That man's blood is the best medicine for the mistress."
Zagloba's anger evaporated, for he was touched by the
soldiers' affection for Basia, and, at the mention of medicine,
another idea struck him, namely, to send for a doctor for
Basia. In the first few moments no one had thought of a
doctor in that wild Khreptyov, although there were several
in Kamenets, among others, a certain Greek, a celebrated
man, who was rich, and owned several stone houses, and
was so learned that everybody regarded him as being skillful
in the black art. But there was some doubt whether he,
being so rich, would be willing to come to such a desert at
any price, being a man whom even high dignitaries honored.
Zagloba reflected for a few moments and then said:
"Fitting vengeance shall not fail that arch-dog, that I
promise you, and it would be better for him for the king to
vow vengeance on him than Zagloba. But we do not yet
know whether he is still alive, for when the lady wrenched
herself out of his hands, she struck him right in the brain
with the butt of her pistol. But this is no time to think
of him, we must first save the lady."
"We would be glad to do that, even with our own lives,"
Lusnia replied.
And a muttering again arose from the crowd in support
of his words.
"Listen to me, Lusnia," said Zagloba. "In Kamenets lives
a doctor, named Eodopol. You shall go to him and tell him
that the starosta of Podolia has sprained his leg here and
is waiting for aid. If he is outside the walls, seize him, put
him upon a horse, or into a sack, and bring him to Khreptyov
without stopping. I will order horses to be stationed at short
distances apart, and you will go at a gallop. Only be careful
to bring him alive, for we have no use for the dead."
A murmur of satisfaction was heard on all sides. Lusnia's
grim moustache moved, as he said:
"I will surely bring him and will not let him go till we get
to Khreptyov."
"Forward."
"I beg your lordship "
PAN MICHAEL.
"What more?"
"But if he should die?"
"Let him drop, but he must get here alive. Take six men
and set out/ 5
Lusnia started off. The others were glad to do anything
for the lady and ran to saddle the horses, and in a few Paters,
six men were galloping to Kamenets. After them some of
the others took spare horses, to station along the road.
Zagloba returned to the house with great self-satisfaction.
Presently, Volodiyovski came out of the bed-room, greatly
altered, scarcely conscious and heedless of words of sympathy
and consolation. After telling Zagloba that Basia was still
sleeping, he sank down on the bench and gazed vacantly at
the door beyond which she was lying. To the officers he
looked as if he was listening, so they all held their breath and
a dead silence fell on the rocm.
Presenly, Zagloba approached the little knight on tip-toe.
"Michael, I have sent to Kamenets for a doctor, but per-
haps it would be well to send for someone else."
Pan Michael seemed to be trying to collect his thoughts
and apparently did not understand.
"For a priest!" said Zagloba, "Father Kaminski might get
here by the morning."
The little knight closed his eyes and turned his face, which
was as white as a sheet, towards the fire, and said, in hurried
accents:
"Jesus, Jesus!"
Zagloba said no more, but went out and gave orders. When
he returned, Pan Michael was gone. The officers told Za-
globa that the sick woman had called her husband, whether
in .consciousness or delirium, they could not tell.
The old noble, by personal inspection, soon satisfied him-
self that it was in delirium.
Basia's cheeks were scarlet, her eyes, though glittering,
were sightless, as if the pupils had run into the white. Her
pale hands seemed to be trying to find something in front
of her on the coverlet with vague movements. Pan Michael,
only half-alive, was lying at her feet.
From time to time the sick woman muttered in low tones,
or uttered disjointed phrases more loudly, among which
Khreptyov was most frequently heard; it was evident that
she thought she was still on the road. The ceaseless move-
ments of her hands on the coverlet was the most disturbing
3 6fc PAN MICHAEL.
thing to Zagloba, for in its unconscious repetition he recog-
nized the signs of approaching death. He had had great
experience and many people had died in his presence, but his
heart had never been torn with such grief as at the sight of
this litle blossom withering so early.
Eealizing that only God could save tha ebbing life, he knelt
beside the bed, and began to pray fervently.
Meanwhile, Basia's breathing grew more labored and grad-
ually changed to a rattle. Pan Michael sprang up from
her feet and Zagloba rose from his knees. Neither uttered
a word to the other, but simply gazed into each other's eyes,
and there was terror in that gaze. They thought that it was
her death agony, but only for a few moments, her breathing
soon became easier and more measured.
From that moment they lived between fear and hope. The
night slowly dragged along. The officers did not go to rest
either but sat in the hall, alternately gazing at the bed-
room door, whispering among themselves, and dozing. From
time to time a boy came in to put wood oil the hearth and
at every movement of the latch they sprang from the bench,
thinking that Michael or Zagloba was coming in, and that
they would hear the dreadful words:
"She no longer lives."
At last the cocks began to crow, and she was still wrestling
with the fever. Towards morning, a fierce rain-storm broke,
roaring among the rafters and howling round the roof. Some-
times it beat on to the hearth, driving the names with smoke
and sparks into the room. About dawn, Pan Motovidlo
went out, for he had to make a reconaissance. At last day
broke, pale and cloudy, and illumined worn faces.
On the place-of-arms, the usual movement commenced.
In the whistling of the storm were heard the stir of horses
on the stable planks, the creaking of the well-sweeps and the
voices of the soldiers, but soon a bell was heard: Father
Kaminski had arrived.
As he entered in his white surplice the officers fell on
their knees. It seemed to them all that the solemn moment
had arrived which would surely be followed by death. The
sick woman had not regained consciousness, so that the priest
could not hear her confession He only administered Ex-
treme Unction, and then began to reason with and comfort
the little knight, urging him to yield to the will of God. But
his consolations had no effect, for no words could assuage
his suffering.
PAX MICHAEL.
Death hovered over Basia for a whole day. Like a spider,
secreted in some dark corner of the ceiling, which sometimes
creeps into the light, and lowers itself on an invisible thread,
so at times, death seemed to come almost down to Basia's
head and more than once the watchers thought that his
shadow was falling on her brow, and that that bright spirit
was just spreading its wings to fly away out of Khreptyov,
somewhere into the limitless expanse on the other side of
life. Then, like a spider, death again hid away under the
ceiling and hope filled their hearts.
But this was merely an insufficient and passing hope, for
no one ventured to believe that Basda could survive the
sickness. Volodiyovski, himself, had lost all hope of her
recovery and his suffering became so great that Pan Zagloba,
though in extreme anguish himself, became alarmed and
gave him to the care of the officers.
"For God's sake watch him!" said the old man, "he may
plunge a knife into his body."
This idea did not occur to Pan Michael, although in his
extreme grief and suffering he incessantly asked himself:
"How am I to remain when she goes? How can I let my
beloved go alone? what will she say when she looks round
and does not find me near her?"
At these reflections, he longed with his whole soul to die
with her, for as he could not imagine life on earth for him-
self without her, so also he could not imagine that she could
be happy without him in the other life, and not long for him.
In the afternoon, the evil-boding spider again hid in the
ceiling. The flush on Basia's cheeks died out, and the fever
decreased so greatly that the patient recovered consciousness
somewhat.
For some time she lay still with closed eyes, and then
opened them, and gazed into the little knight's face and
asksd:
"Michael, am I at Khreptyov?"
"Yes, my darling," he answered, clenching his teeth.
"And are you really standing beside me?"
"Yes! how are you feeling?"
"Oh, well."
"It was evident that she was not certain herself that the
fever was not producing illusory visions, but from that mo-
ment she regained consciousness more and more.
In the evening, Lusnia and his men returned and shook
34
PAN MICHAEL.
out of a sack in front of the fort, the doctor of Kanienets,
together with his medicines; he was scarcely alive. But
when he learned that he was not in the hands of robbers, as
he had imagined, but was brought in that fashion to a
patient, after a passing faintness he immmediately went to
the rescue, especially as Zagloba held in front of him a purse
full of coin in one hand, and a loaded pistol in the other, and
cried:
"This is your fee for life, and that for death."
That same night, about dawn, the evil-boding spider con-
cealed itself somewhere finally, whereupon the doctor's as-
surance: "She will be ill for a long time, but she will re-
cover," joyfully echoed through Khreptyov. When Pan
Michael first heard it, he fell to the floor and burst out sob-
bing so violently that it seemed as if his breast would hurst.
Zagloba became quite faint with joy, and his face broke out
into a perspiration, and he was scarcely able to cry, "A
drink." The officers also embraced one another.
On the square the dragoons again gathered with the escort
and Pan Motovidlo's Cossacks; they could scarcely be re-
strained from shouting. They were anxious to manifest their
delight in some way and began to beg for some of the robbers
that were imprisoned in the cellars of Khreptyov, so that they
might hang them for the lady's benefit.
But the little knight refused,
CHAPTER VI.
Basia was so violently ill for another week that but for the
doctor's assurance, both the little knight and Zagloba would
have admitted that the flame of her life might be extingu-
ished at any moment. Not till after that lapse of time did
she show any manifest improvement; she fully recovered con-
sciousness and, although the doctor predicted that she would
have to keep her bed for a month or six weeks, still she was
sure of recovering her former perfect health and strength.
During her illness the little knight scarcely stirred from
her pillow; if possible he loved her more ardently after the
perils she had passed through, and could see nothing in the
world beyond her. Sometimes when he sat at her side and
gazed on that little loving face, still thin and pinched, though
joyous, and those eyes that regained more of their old fire
with each day, he felt inclined to laugh, cry, and shout with
joy-
"My only Bashka is getting better; she is getting better!"
And he threw himself on her hands and sometimes kissed
those poor little feet that had so bravely waded through the
deep snow to Khreptyov; in a word, he loved and honored her
to excess. He felt deeply all that he owed to Providence
and on one occasion he said in the presence of Zagloba and
the officers:
"I am a poor fellow, "but even if I had to work my arms off
to the elbows, I would get money for a little church, though
only wooden. And as often as the bells are rung in it, I will
remember God's mercy, and my soul will melt within me with
gratitude."
"May God grant first that we successfully go through this
Turkish war," said Zagloba. ,
Then the little knight twisted his moustache and answered:
"God best knows what is most pleasing to him, if he wants a
church, he will preserve me, and if he prefers my blood, I will
not spare it, as I love God."
With returning health Basia recovered her spirits.
V37O
372 PAN MICHAEL.
weeks later, one evening, she ordered her chamber door to be
opened a little, and when the officers had gathered in the
large hall, she called out in her silvery tones:
"Good evening, gentlemen, I'm not going to die this time,
eh?"
"Thanks to Jhe Most High God!" the soldiers replied in
chorus.
"Glory be to Gdfl, beloved child," cried Pan Motovidlo, who
especially watched over Basia with paternal affection, and who
always spoke in Russian in moments of emotion.
Basia continued, "Gentlemen, see what has happened, who
could have hoped for this? It was fortunate to end thus."
"God kept watch over innocence," came the chorus through
the door again.
"But Pan Zagloba more than once has laughed at me, for
having more love for the sabre than the distaff. Well a dis-
taff or a needle would have been a fine help for me, but didn't
I behave like a cavalier, didn't I?"
"An angel could not have done better."
Zagloba interrupted the conversation by shutting the
chamber door, as he feared too much excitement for Basia.
But she was as angry as a cat with the old man, as she wanted
to talk longer, and especially to receive more praises for her
courage and valor. When the danger had passed and become
merely a memory she was very proud of her behavior with
Azya, and was very greedy of praise. More than once she
turned to the little knight and pressing his breast with her
finger, cried like a spoiled child:
"Praise my courage."
And he obediently praised and caressed her, kissing her
eyes and hands, till Zagloba, although really greatly moved
himself, feigned to be shocked and muttered:
"Ah, everything will be as indulgent as a grandfather's
whip."
The general rejoicing at Khreptyov over Basia's recovery
was only marred by the memory of the injury done to the
Commonwealth by Azya's treason, and the terrible fate of the
elder Pan Novovyeyski and the Boskas and Evka. It greatly
troubled Basia as well as everybody else, for what had hap-
pened in Rashkov was known in detail, not only at Khrept-
yov, but at Kamenets and still further. A few days before,
Pan Myslishevski had called at Khreptyov, he had not lost all
hope of winning the other captains over to the Polish side, in
PAN MICHAEL. 373
spite of the treachery of Azya, Krychinski, and Adurovich.
Pan Bogush followed Pan Myslishevski and later on, direct
news came from Mohilov, Yampol and Rashkov itself.
At Mohilov, Pan Gorzenski, who was evidently abler as a
soldier than an orator, had not allowed himself to be tricked.
He had intercepted the instructions from Azya to the Tartars
left behind, and fallen upon them with a handful of Ma-
zovian infantry and slaughtered or taken them all prisoners.
Moreover, he had sent warning to Yampol, by which means
that place was saved. Soon afterwards the cavalry returned.
Rashkov, therefore, was the sole sufferer. Pan Michael re-
ceived a letter from Pan Byaloglovski himself, giving a report
of what had happened there and other matters regarding the
whole Commonwealth.
"Tis well that I returned," wrote Pan Byaloglovski, among
other things, "for Novovyeyski, my subordinate, is now in no
condition for duty. He is more like a skeleton than a man,
and we are sure to lose a great cavalier, for he is weighed
down by suffering beyond his powers of endurance. His
father is slain, his sister in the extremity of shame, handed
over to Adurovich by Azya, who took Panna Boska for him-
self. Nothing can be done for them, even if they should be
successfully rescued from captivity. We know this from a
Lipkov who sprained his shoulder while crossing the river,
and, being captured by our men, he was put on the coals and
confessed everything. Azya, son of Tukhay Bey, Krychinski,
and Adurovich, have gone to Adrianople. Novovyeyski is
making every effort to follow them, declaring that even from
the heart of the Sultan's camp he must take. Azya and have
vengeance. He always was stubborn and resolute, and now
it cannot be wondered at, since it concerns Panna Boska,
whose sad fate we all mourn, for she was a sweet girl and I
don't know whose heart she did not win. But I restrain
Novovyeyski, telling him that Azya himself will come to him,
for war is certain, and moreover, the Hordes will form the
vanguard. We have news from Moldavia, from the Perku-
labs, as well as from Turkish merchants, that forces are
already gathering near Adrianople large numbers of the
Horde. The Turkish cavalry, which they call Spahis, are
also mustering, and the Sultan is himself coming with the
Janissaries. Sir, there will be countless swarms of them, for
the whole of the East is in motion, and we have only a hand-
ful of troops. Our whole hope is in the rock of Kamenets,
7M.Y MICHAEL.
which, God grant, is properly provisioned. It is Spring at
Adrianople, and almost Spring with us, for heavy rains are
falling and the grass is sprouting. 1 am going to Yampol, for
Rashkov is a mere heap of ashes, and there is no place to rest
one's head, nor anything to put into one's mouth. Besides,
I think that we shall be withdrawn from all the commands."
The little knight had intelligence equally positive, and
even more so, since it came from Khotsim. Shortly before
he had forwarded it to the Hetman. Nevertheless, Byalog-
lovski's letter, coming from the extreme border, profoundly
impressed him, because it confirmed that intelligence. But
the little knight had no fears about the war; only for Basia.
The Hetman's order to withdraw the garrisons may arrive
any day/' he said to Zagloba, "and duty is duty. It will be
necessary to move without delay, but Bashka is still in bed,
and it's a bad time."
"If ten orders arrived," said Zagloba, "Bashka is the basis
of everything; we will stay here till she has quite recovered.
Besides, the war will not commence till the thaws are over,
much less before winter is passed, more especially as they will
bring heavy artillery against Kamenets."
"The old volunteer always dwells in you," the little knight
impatiently answered; "you think an order may be delayed by
private matters."
"Well, if an order is dearer to you than Basia, pack her into
a wagon and march. I know, I know; at an order, you are
ready to pitch-fork her into a wagon if she's unable to get in
with her own strength. The deuce take you and such disci-
pline! In the old days a man did what he could; and what
he couldn't, he left. Kindness is on your lips, but only let
them cry, 'Haida, on the Turk!' and you spit out your kind-
ness like a kernel, and take that unfortunate woman on
horseback with a rope."
"I, no pity for Bashka! fear the wounds of the Crucified!"
cried the little knight.
For some time Pan Zagloba puffed with anger, and then,
looking at Pan Michael's troubled face, he said:
"Michael, dear, you know that what I say is out of my true
fatherly love for Bashka, otherwise, should I be sitting here
under the Turkish axe instead of enjoying my ease in a safe
place, which no man could take ill of me at my years. But
who got Bashka for you? If it was I, then make me drink a
tun of water without anything to flavor it."
PAN MICHAEL. 275
"I could not repay you for Bashka in a whole lifetime," re-
plied the little knight.
Then they embraced each other and perfect harmony again
reigned between them.
The little knight said, "I have planned that you shall take
Bashka to Skshetuski's, to Lukov, when war breaks out.
Chambuls do not go so far as that."
"I will do that for you, though I should be delighted to go
against the Turk, for nothing so disgusts me as that swinish
people that does not drink wine."
"I only dread one thing, Bashka will want to be at Kame-
nets so as to be near me. My flesh creeps at the thought of
it, but as God is God, she will try."
"Do not allow her. Is it a little evil that has already re-
sulted from your indulging her in everything, and letting her
take that expedition to Eashkov, though I was the first to cry
out against it?"
"That's not true, you said you wouldn't give any advice."
"When I say I won't advise a thing it's worse than if I had
opposed it."
"Bashka ought to have got a lesson now, but she hasn't.
When she sees the sword hanging above my head she will re-
sist."
"Don't let her resist, I repeat; for God's sake! what kind of
a straw husband are you?"
"I acknowledge that when she puts her knuckles to her
eyes, and pretends to cry, my heart is like butter in a frying-
pan. She must have administered something to me. As for
sending her away, I will do so, because her safety is dearer to
me than my own life, but when I think that I must pain her,
my breath catches with pity."
"Dear Michael, have God in your heart! don't be led by the
nose."
"Bah! don't be led! If it wasn't you that said I had no
pity for her, who was it?"
"Eh?" exclaimed Zagloba.
"You are not wanting in ingenuity, but now you're scratch-
ing your ear yourself."
"Because I am trying to think what better persuasions to
use."
"But if she immediately puts her little knuckles to her
eyes?"
"She will, as I love God!" exclaimed Zagloba in evident
alarm.
PAN MICHAEL.
And they were both perplexed, for to tell the truth, Basia
had taken the exact measure of both. During her illness
they had terribly spoilt her, and they loved her so much that
the necessity of opposing her wishes filled them with dread.
That Basia would not make any opposition, but submissively
yield to the decree, they both knew, but without mentioning
Pan Michael, Zagloba would far rather have made the third
of a trio in charging a whole regiment of Janissaries, than tc
see her putting her little knuckles up to her eyee.
CHAPTER VII.
That very day they received what they considered sure
assistance in the guise of beloved and unexpected guests.
Towards evening the Ketlings arrived, without any warning.
There was indescribable delight and surprise at Khreptyov
on their arrival, and they were equally relieved after their first
inquiries to learn of Basia's convalescence. Krysia imme-
diately rushed to the bed-chamber, where Basia's cries and
exclamations immediately assured the little knight of her
happiness.
Ketling and Volodiyovski exchanged many embraces; now
holding each other at arm's length and then hugging again.
"For God's sake!" cried the little knight. "I am more
pleased to see you than if I 'had received a baton; but what
are you doing in this region?"
"The Hetman has appointed me to the command of the
artillery at Kamenets," Ketling replied: "and so I went there
with my wife. Hearing of your troubles I set out for Khrep-
tyov without delay. God be praised, my dear Michael, that
everything has ended well! We travelled in great anxiety
and uncertainty, for we did not know whether we were
coming here to rejoice or to grieve."
"To rejoice, to rejoice!" cried Zagloba.
"How did it happen?" asked Ketling.
The little knight and Zagloba vied with each other in
telling about it; and Ketling listened, lifting up his eyes and
hands to Heaven, as he marvelled at dear Basia's courage.
After they had talked to their heart's content the little
knight began to ask Ketling about himself, and he replied
in detail. After their mariage they had lived on the border
of Oourland, and were so happy in each other that Heaven
could be no better. When Ketling took Krysia he was sure
that she was a 'more than earthly' being and he had not
altered his opinion as yet.
Pan Zajrlo'ba and Pan Michael, by this expression recog-
nizing the old Ketling, who always expressed himself in such
(377)
MICHAEL.
a refined and courtly manner, again began to embrace him,
and when all three had sufficiently indulged their affection
the old noble asked:
"Has there come to that 'more than earthly' being any
earthly trifle that kicks with its feet and tries to find the
teeth in its mouth with its finger?"
"God gave us a son," said Ketling; "and now again "
"I noticed," Zagloba interrupted. "But everything here
is unchanged."
He then fixed his sound eye on the little knight whose
lips quivered repeatedly.
Further conversation was interrupted by Krysia's arrival;
she pointed to the door and said:
"Bashka invites you."
They all went in together and fresh greetings commenced.
Ketling kissed Basia's hand and Pan Michael again kissed
Krysia's and then they all looked at one another with curi-
osity, as people do after a long separation.
Ketling had scarcely changed at all, except that his hair
was cropped close, which made him appear younger; but
Krysia had greatly altered. She was not so slim 'as of old
and her face was paler, which made the down on her lip look
darker; but she still had the beautiful eyes of old with their
unusually long lashes, and the old tranquil expression. But
her features had lost their former marvellous delicacy. It
was true that the deterioration might only be temporary, but
as Pan Michael looked at her and compared her with his
Bashka he could not help thinking:
"For Heaven's sake! How could I fall in love with her
when the two were together? Where were my eyes?"
On the other hand Basia looked beautiful to Ketling; for
she really was beautiful with her golden locks straying over
her brow and her complexion, which had lost some of its
glow during her illness, and had become like the leaf of a
white rose. But now her little face was lit up with pleasure
and her delicate nostrils were very mobile. She looked so
youthful that she scarcely seemed to have reached maturity
yet; and at the first glance she might have been taken for
some ten years younger than Ketling^s wife.
But the only effect of her beauty on the sensitive Ketling
was to make him think more tenderly .of his wife, for he felt
some self -reproach on her account.
Both women told each other all that could be crowded
PAN MICHAEL.
37*
into a few moments and the whole party sat around Basia's
bed and began to recall old times. But somehow the conver-
sation halted, for in those old times there were delicate sub-
jects, confidential passages bet ween Pan Michael and Krysia;
and the indifference of the little knight for the now beloved
Bashka; and certain promises and desperations. The old life
at Ketling's house had a charm for all, and had left pleasant
memories behind; but it was inconvenient to talk about it.
Ketling soon began to speak of other matters.
"I have not yet told you that on the way we stopped with
Pan Yan, who would not let us go for two weeks and gave
us such entertainment that it could not be better in Heaven."
"By the love of God! How are the Skshetuskis?" cried
Zagloba. "Then you found them at home!"
"We did; for he had returned from the Hetman's for a
time with his three elder sons who are in the cavalry."
"I have not seen Pan Yan nor his family since your mar-
riage," said the little knight. "He was here in the Wilder-
ness with his three sons; but I did not chance to meet him."
"They are all very anxious to see you," said Ketling, turn-
ing to Zagloba.
"Bah! And I to see them," replied the old noble. "But
it's like this: when I <am here I am sad without them and
if I go there I shall be sad without this weasel. . . . Such
is human life; when the wind doesn't blow into one ear it
does into the other. . . . But it is worst for the orphaned
man, for if I had something I should not be loving a stran-
ger."
"You would not love your own children more than us,"
said Basia.
Zagloba was greatly pleased to hear that and cast aside his
sad thoughts and resumed his jovial mood; presently he said:
"Ah, I was an idiot there at Ketling's: I matched Kryshka
and Bashka with you two, and did not think of myself. Then
there was still time. . . . "
"Confess, both of you, that you would have fallen in love
>with me, and that either of you would have preferred me
to Michael or Ketling."
"Of course we should," cried Basia.
"Halshka Skshetuska, also in her day would have preferred
me. Ah! it might have been. Then I should have had a
sedate woman, none of your vixens, knocking Tartar's teeth
out. But is she well, there?"
3 8o PAN MICHAEL.
"She is well, but rather worried, for their two middle boys
ran away from school at Lukov to the army/' answered Ket-
ling. "Pan Yan himself is glad that the boys have sueh
mettle; but a mother is a mother almost always."
"Have they many children?" asked Basia with a sigh.
"Twelve boys, and now the fair sex ha's begun," answered
Ketling.
Thereupon Zagloba cried, "Ha! God's special blessing is
upon that house. I have reared them all at my own breast
like a pelican. ... I must pull those middle boys' ears,
for if they must run away why didn't they come to Michael?
But wait, it must have been -Michael and Yashek that ran
away. There was such a flock of them that their own father
got their names mixed up; and there was not a crow to be
seen for three miles round about; the rascals had killed them
all with their muskets. Bah! bah! you would have to hunt
all the world over for another" such woman. 'Halshka!' I
used to say to her, 'the lads are getting too big for me, I
must have another to sport with/ Then she would pretend
to frown at me; but the time ^;ime as if it had been written
down. Just think! it got to such a pitch that when the de-
sires of any woman in the neighborhood were not blessed she
borrowed a dress from Halshka and it helped her; it did, as
God is dear to me. . . .
They all greatly marvelled, and a moment's silence en-
sued; then suddenly the little knight's voice was heard:
"Bashka, do you hear that?"
"Michael, will you be quiet?" she replied.
But Michael would not be quiet, for cunning schemes came
into his head. It occurerd to him that the accomplishment
of an equally important matter might be combined with that
one; -and so he began to talk as if to himself, carelessly, and
as if it were of no special importance:
"By Heavens! It would be a good thing to pay a visit to
Skshetuski and his wife; but now he won't be at home, as
he is going to the Hetman; but she is sensible and is not
in the habit of tempting the Lord God, and so she will remain*
at home. . . .
Here he turned to Krysia.
"Spring is approaching and it will be fine weather. It is
too early for Bashka now, but I might not mind a little
later, as it is an obligation of friendship. Pan Zagloba would
take you both there, and when all was quiet in the Autumn
I would follow you. . . .
PAN MICHAEL. 381
"That is a magnificent idea," exclaimed Zagloba; "I must
go anyway, for I have been ungrateful to them. Indeed, I
have forgotten their existence, till I am ashamed."
"What do you say to it?" asked Pan Michael looking search-
ingly into Krysia's eyes.
But to his amazement she answered with her habitual calm-
ness:
"I should be glad but I cannot, because I am going to stay
with my husband at Kamenets and will not leave him under
any consideration."
"For God's sake! what do I hear?" cried Pan Michael.
"You will stay in the fortress, which will certainly be in-
vested and by a foe that knows no respect ? I should say not a
'word if the war were against some civilized foe, 'but this
affair is with barbarians. Do you know what a captured city
means, or what Turkish or Tartar captivity is ? I can't be-
lieve my ears!"
"Still, it must be so," replied Krysia.
"Ketling," cried the little knight in desperation, "is ihis
the way you allow yourself to be mastered? man, have
God in your heart!"
"We deliberated long," answered Ketling, "and this was
the end of it."
"And our son is in Kamenets under the care of a lady rela-
tive of mine. Is it certain that Kamenets must be captured ?"
Here Krysia raised her tranquil eyes:
"God is mightier than the Turk, He will not betray our
trust, and, since I have sworn not to leave my husband till
death, my place is by his side."
The little knight was terribly confused, for he had expected
something quite different from Krysia.
Basia, who had seen what Michael was driving at from the
very first, now laughed knowingly. She fixed her sharp little
eyes on him and said:
"Michael, do you hear?"
"Bashka, be quiet!" exclaimed the little knight in the
greatest confusion.
Then he began to look despairingly at Zagloba as if ex-
pecting him to come to the rescue; but that traitor suddenly
rose "find said:
"We must think of refreshment since man cannot live by
words alone."
And he left the r<n-m.
Pan Michael quickly followed and stopped hrm.
332
PAN MICHAEL.
"Well, what now?" asked Zagloba.
"Well, what?"
"May the bullets strike that Ketling woman! For Heav-
en's sake, how can this Commonwealth help perishing when
it is being run by women?"
"Can't you think out anything?"
"What can I think out for you, since you are afraid of
your wife? Gto to the blacksmith's and get shod; that's
what."
CHAPTER VHI.
The KetlingB stayed for about three weeks. At the expira-
tion of that period Basia tried to get up, but she was not yet
able to stand upon her feet. She had recovered her health
sooner than her strength, and the doctor ordered her to keep
her bed till her full vigor had returned. Meanwhile Spring
began. First a strong warm wind coming from the Wild
Lands and the Black Sea tore apart and dissipated the veil of
clouds like a garment tattered with age, and then began to
collect and drive them through the sky as a shepherd-dog
collects and drives a flock of sheep. The clouds, fleeing be-
fore it, frequently drenched the earth with heavy rain that
fell in drops 34 big as berries. The thawing remains of ice
and snow formed lakes on the level steppes; ribbons of water
were falling from the cliffs; streams rose in the bottoms of
the ravines; and all these waters were running with noise, and
riot, and uproar to the Dniester as children run joyfully to
their mother.
Every now and then the sun shone through the breaks in
the clouds, gleaming and rejuvenated as though wet with
bathing in that universal abyss.
Then vivid green blades of grass began to rise through the
softened ground; the slender twigs of the trees burst into
abundant buds, and the sun grew hotter. Flocks of birds
appeared in the sky, strings of cranes, wild geese, and
storks; then the wind began to bring clouds of swallows; the
frogs croaked in a mighty chorus in the warmed water; the
little birds were in riotous song, and throughout pine-woods,
forests, steppes, and ravines sounded one great cry, as if all
Nature were shouting with exultation and happiness:
"Spring! U-ha! Spring!"
But for that unfortunate region Spring brought mourning
instead of rejoicing; death instead of life. A few days after
the Ketlings had left the little knight received the following
communication from Pan Myslishevski:
"On the plain of Kauchunkaury the hordes gather daily in
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384 PAN MICHAEL.
increasing numbers. The Sultan has scut considerable sums
to the Crimea. The Khan with a horde of fifty thousand is
going to aid Doroshenko. As soon as the floods have dried
up the multitude will advance by the Black Trail and the
Kuchman Trail. God have mercy on the Commonwealth !"
Pan Michael sent Pyentka, his attendant, at once to the
II t'd nan with the news.
But he himself did not hurry away from Khreptyov. In
the first place, as a soldier he could not leave his post without
the orders of the Hetman; and in the second, he had been
engaged with the Tartars for too many years not to know that
chambuls would not move so soon. The waters had not yet
fallen; the grass was not long enough, and the Cossacks were
still in winter-quarters. The little knight did not expect the
Turks before summer; for, though they were already gather-
ing at Adrianople, yet such immense numbers of troops and
camp-followers, baggage, horses, camels, and buffaloes could
only advance very slowly. The Tartars might be expected
earlier, at the end of April, or beginning of May. . . It was
true that in advance of the main body, which numbered tens
of thousands of warriors, detached chambuls of varying -force
always fell on the land, as single drops of rain precede the
great torrent; 'but these the little knight did not fear. K"ot
even a picked Tartar komunik could stand against the cavalry
of the Commonwealth in the open field; and what could be
done by bands which scattered like dust before the whirlwind
at the mere report that troops were approaching?
There was time enough in every event; and even if there
had not been, Pan Michael would not have greatly objected
to a brush with a few chambuls in a way that would have been
equally painful and memorable to them.
He was a soldier, blood and bone; a soldier by profession,
and so the approach of a war roused his thirst for the blood
of the foe at the same time that it calmed him.
Pan Zagloba, although in the course of a long life inured
to great peril more than most men, was not so calm. . . His
courage rose in sudden emergencies, and moreover he had
developed it by long practice which was often involuntary,
and in his day he had gained famous victories; and yet the
first tidings of approaching war always excited him greatly.
But now when the little knight stated his own views Zagloba
was somewhat comforted and even began to challenge and
threaten the whole of the East.
PAN MICHAEL. 385
"When Christian nations fight with each other," he said,
"the Lord Jesus himself is grieved and all the Saints scratch
their heads, as it often happens that when the master is
anxious so is the entire household; but he who beats the Turk
cannot give Heaven sorrow. I have it from a certain spiritual
personage that the Saints simply grow sick at the sight of
those dogs; and therefore they get no good from their spiritual
food and drink, and even their eternal happiness is ruined."
"That really must be so," replied the little knight. "But
the power of the Turk is tremendous, and our troops might
be contained in the palm of your hand."
"But they will not conquer the entire Commonwealth. Was
the power of Carolus Gustavus small? In those days we were
at war with the Northeners, and the Cossacks, and Kakotsi,
and the Elector; but where are they to-day? Besides, we car-
ried fire and sword to their own hearths."
"That is true. Personally I should have no fear of this
war, because, as I have said, I must perform something note-
worthy to repay the Lord Jesus and the Most Holy Virgin for
their mercy to Baska; God only grant me the opportunity!. . .
But the question for me is this country, which may easily fall
into Infidel hands if only for a time. Imagine what a dese-
cration of God's churches there would be and what oppres-
sion of Christian folk!"
"Don't talk to me of the Cossacks! The villains! They
raised their hands against the Mother and now let them get
what they wanted. The most important thing is that Kam-
enets should make a successful resistance. What do you
think, Michael, will it do so?"
"I think that the General of Podolia has not properly pro-
visioned it, and also that the inhabitants, secure in their
position, have not done all they ought. Ketling said that the
regiments of Bishop Trebitski came in very small numbers.
But, by God, we held out at Zbraj behind a mere miseral)]' 1
trench against as great a force, and so W T C ought to hold out
this time, for that Kamenets is an eagle's nest. . . JJ
"An eagle's nest in truth; but we don't know whether an
eagle like Prince Vishnyovetski is in it or merely a crow. Do
you know the General of Podolia ?"
"He is an able man and a good soldier, but somewhat care-
less."
"I know, I am acquainted with him! More than once I
have reproached him with it; at one time the Pototskis wanted
26
PI A" MICHAEL.
me to accompany him abroad for his education, so that he
might learn good manners from me. But I replied: '1 won't
go because of his carelessness, for he never has two tags to
his boot; he was presented at Court in my boots, and saffian is
dear/ Afterwards, in the days of Maria Ludovika, he wore
the French costume; but his stockings were always down show-
ing his bare calves. He will never reach the height of Prince
Yeremy's belt."
"Then again, the shopkeepers greatly dread a siege, for
then trade is suspended. They would even prefer to belong
to the Turks if only they could keep their shops open."
"The villians!" cried Zagloba.
And he and the little knight were greatly troubled about
the approaching fate of Kamenets; it was a matter that per-
sonally affected Basia, who, in case of capitulation, would
have to share the fate of the rest of the inhabitants.
Presently Zagloba struck his forehead:
"For God's sake, why are we fretting? Why should we go
to that mangy Kamenets and shut ourselves up there? Isn't
it better for you to remain by the Herman's side and serve
against the enemy in the field ? And in that case Basia would
not accompany you to the squadron and would have to go to
some other place than Kamenets, somewhere a long way off,
to Skshetuski's house, for example. Michael, God looks into
my heart and sees how I long to go against the Infidels; but
I will do this for you and Basia, I will take her away."
"I thank you. This is how the case stands: If I were not
forced to be in Kamenets, Basia would not insist; but what
is to be done when the Hetman's orders arrive ?"
"What is to be done when the orders arrive? May the
devil tear up all orders! What is to be done? Wait! I have a
sudden idea. Here it is: we must anticipate the orders."
"How is that?'
"Write at once to Pan Sobieski as if sending intelligence,
and end by saying that at the prospect of the approaching war
you want to be beside him and fight in the open on account
of the love you bear him. By God's wounds, that's a splendid
idea! For, in the first place, they cannot possibly shut up
such a warrior as you behind a wall instead of making use of
you; and in the second, the Hetman will love you the more
for the letter and will want to have you near him. He will
need trusty soldiers also. . . Only listen: if Kamenets holds
out the General of Podolia will get the glory; but what you
PAN MICHAEL. 387
accomplish in the field will redound to the fame of the Het-
man. Never fear! the Hetman will not give you up to the
General. He would rather let him have some one else; but he
will not give up either you or me. Write the letter and recall
yourself to his memory. Aha! my wits are still worth some-
thing: too good yet to let hens peck them on the dust-heap!
Michael, let's have something to drink on it, or rather, write
the letter first."
Pan Michael was indeed overjoyed; he embraced Zagloba,
and, after a few moments' reflection said:
"And by this I shall not deceive the Hetman, nor the Lord
God, nor the country; for I shall certainly accomplish a great
deal in the field. I thank you with all my heart! I also think
that the Hetman will want to have me at hand, especially
after the letter. But do you know what I will do so as not
to desert Kamenets? I'll fit out a few infantry at my own
charge and send them to Kamenets; I'll write to the Hetman
about it at once."
"Better still! But, Michael, where will you find the men?"
"I have about forty marauders and prisoners in the cellars
and I'll take them. Whenever I ordered any of them to be
hanged Basia importuned me to let them off; and more than
once she has advised me to make soldiers of these marauders.
I was not willing because an example was needed, but now
war is on our necks, and everything is admissible. They are
terrible fellows, as they have smelt powder. I will also issue
a proclamation that whoever will join the regiment from the
woods and ravines shall receive pardon for former robberies.
There will be about a hundred men. . . Basia also will be
pleased. You have lifted a great weight from my heart."
The same day the little knight despatched a fresh messen-
ger to the Hetman and issued a proclamation of life and par-
don to whatever robbers should join the infantry. They
gladly joined and promised to bring in others. Basia was
highly delighted. Tailors were brought from Ushytsa and
Kamenets and wherever they could be procured to make uni-
forms. Pan Michael was happy at the thought of serving
against the foe in the field and not exposing his wife to the
perils of a siege, in addition to rendering considerable service
to Kamenets and the country.
This work had been proceeding for some weeks when one
evening the messenger returned with a letter from Pan Het-
man Sobieski.
388
PAN MICHAEL.
The Hetman wrote as follows:
"Greatly beloved Volodiyovski: I am grateful to you and
the fatherland owes you thanks for sending tidings so dili-
gently. War is certain. I have news also from another quar-
ter that there is an immense force in Kauchunkaury; there
will he three hundred thousand including the Horde. The
Horde may march at any moment. The Sultan sets more
store on Kamenets than anything else. The Lipkovs will
show the Turks every road and give them all information re-
garding Kamenets. I hope that God will give that serpent,
the son of Tukhay Bey, into your hands, or into those of
Novovyeyski, for whose wrongs I sincerely grieve. As to your
being by my side, God knows how glad I should be, but it is
impossible. The General has shown me many kindnesses since
the election and I therefore wish to send him the best soldiers,
for the rock of Kamenets is to me as the pupil of my eye.
Many will be there who have seen war once or twice in their
lives and are therefore like men who have once or twice eaten
of some strange dish and remember it all their lives after-
wards; but there will be lacking a man who has had it for
his daily bread and whose experienced Advice will be useful,
or if there is such a man he will not have sufficient weight. I
will therefore send you. Although Ketling is a good soldier
he is not so well known; the inhabitants will have their eyes
fixed on you, and though another will have the command I
think that men will readily obey you. This duty at Kamenets
may prove dangerous, but we are accustomed to be drenched
with the rain from which others hide. Glory and grateful
remembrance is a sufficient reward for us, but the principal
consideration is the country, to the rescue of which I need not
excite you."
This letter, read to the assembled officers, made a great
impression; for they all wanted to serve in the field rather
than in a fortress. Pan Michael bowed his head.
"What do you think now, Michael ?" asked Zagloba.
He raised his face that was composed already, and answered
in accents as calm as if his hopes had not met with any dis-
appointment:
"I will go to Kamenets. What should I think?"
And it might have been supposed that he had never had
an idea of doing anything else.
Presently his lips quivered and he said:
"Ah, dear comrades, we will go to Kamenets, but we will
die before we give it up."
PAN MICHAEL.
"We will fall there first," repeated the officers. "Death
comes only once to a man."
For some time Zagloba was silent; then glancing around
on the company and seeing that everybody was waiting for
him to say something, he suddenly drew a long breath and
cried:
"I will go with you. The Devil take it!"
CHAPTEE IX.
When the earth had dried and the grass was growing, the
Khan in person with fifty thousand of the Crimean and As-
trachan hordes advanced to the aid of Dorosh and the rebel
Cossacks. The Khan himself, the petty sultans, his relatives,
and all the more considerable murzas and beys wore kaftans
presented to them by the Pacfcshah and went to fight the
Commonwealth, not as they usually did for spoil and captives,
but for a holy war ordered by fate for the Destruction of
Poland and Christianity.
A second and still greater tempest was gathering at Adri-
anople, and against this deluge the rock of Kamenets only
held its head erect, for the remainder of the Commonwealth
lay like an open steppe, or a sick man powerless to help him-
self or even stand up on his feet. The previous Swedish,
Prussian, Muscovan, Cossack, and Hungarian wars, though
in the end victorious, had exhausted the Commonwealth.
The military confederations and the rebellion of Lubomirski
of infamous memory, had exhausted it, and now it was utterly
weakened by Court quarrels, the king's incapacity, the feuds
of the rich, the blindness of a worthless nobility, and the
peril of civil strife. In vain were the great Sobieski's warn-
ings of approaching ruin, nobody would believe in war. They
neglected all measures of defence; the treasury was empty
and the Hetman had no troops. He could barely oppose a
few thousand troops to a power against which an alliance of
all the nations of Christendom could scarcely stand.
Meanwhile it was entirely different in the Orient. There
everything was done according to the will of the Padishah
and various nations were like a sword in the hand of one
man. From the moment when the great banner of the
Prophet was unfurled and the horse-tail standard set up on
the gate of the seraglio and tower of the seraskierat, and the
ulemas began to preach a holy war, half of Asia and the
whole of Northern Africa was in a ferment. In the Spring
the Padishah himself had taken his station on the plain of
(390)
PAN MICHAEL.
391
Kauchunkaury and was collecting greater forces than had been
seen on earth for a long time. A hundred thousand spahis
and janissaries, the flower of the Turkish army were near
his sacred person, and then forces began to gather from all
his most distant lands and posessessions. The first to arrive
were those Who dwelt in Europe. The legions of the mounted
Beys of Bosnia came hued like the dawn and furious as light-
ning; the wild infantry of Albania came with their daggers;
there came also Serbs who had turned Turk, and people who
dwelt on the banks of the Danube, and lower beyond the
Balkans, and farther still among the mountains of Greece.
Each pasha led a whole army which was alone sufficient to
overrun 4he defenceless Commonwealth. There were Mol-
davians, and Wallachiaais, and Tartars in force from the
Dobrudja and Byalogrod, and some thousands of Lipkova
and Oheremis, led by the terrible Azya, son of Tukhay Bey,
and these were to act as guides through the unfortunate
country with which they were well acquainted.
Next the general levies from Asia began to arrive. The
pashas of Sivas, Broussa, Aleppo, Damascus, and Bagdad, in
addition to their regular troops, led armed mobs beginning
with the wild men from the cedar-covered moutains of Asia
Minor and ending with the swarthy dwellers on the banks of
the Euphrates and Tigris. At the call of the Oaliph, Ara-
bians also rose; their burnooses covered the plains of Kau-
chunkaury like snow; among them also were nomads from
the sandy deserts and people of the cities from Medina to
Mecca. The tributary power of Egypt did not remain at
home. Those who lived in populous Cairo, or in the even-
ing gazed on the pyramids in the blaze of the sunset, or
wandered among the ruins of Thebes, or dwelt in the gloomy
region where the sacred Nile has its source, men, burned
to the hue of soot by the sun, all these planted their arms
in the soil of Adrian ople praying every evening for victory
to Islam and destruction to that land which single-handed
for ages had protected the rest of the world from the followers
of the Prophet.
There were multitudes of armed men, hundreds of thous-
ands of horses were neighing on the plain; hundreds of thous-
ands of buffaloes, sheep and camels were feeding beside the
herds of horses. It might have been imagined that by God's
command an angel had turned mankind out of Asia as he
had once turned Adam out of Paradise and ordered them to
392 PAX MICHAEL.
seek lands where the sun was not so bright and in winter
the steppes were covered with snow. They went therefore
with their herds, a countless swarm of white, swarthy, and
black warriors. What numbers of tongues were heard there,
what a number of various costumes glittered in the Spring
sun! Nation marvelled at nation; to some the customs of
others were entirely foreign, their weapons unknown, their
ways of warfare different, and a common faith was the sole
bond between these nomads; only when the muezzins called
to prayer did these many-tongued hosts turn their faces
towards the East and call upon Allah with one voice.
The Sultan's court had more servants than the Common-
wealth had troops. Behind the army and armed bodies of
volunteers came crowds of traders selling all kinds of mer-
chandise; their wagons, together with those of the host,
flowed along like a mighty river.
Two pashas of three tails commanding two armies had
to supply these swarms of people with food as their sole task;
and there was plenty of everything. The sandjak Sangrytan
looked after the entire supply of powder. Two hundred can-
non accompanied the army, and ten of these were siege-guns
of such size that no Christian king possesed the like. The
Beglerbeys of Asia occupied the right wing and the Euro-
peans the left. The tents took up so much ground that
Adrianople seemed a small city in comparison. The Sultan's
tents, brilliant with purple, silken cords, satin, and gold em-
broidery formed a kind of city by itself. In their midst
thronged armed guards; black Abyssinian eunuchs in yellow
and blue kaftans; gigantic porters from the tribes of Kur-
distan to carry burdens; Uzbek youths, with faces of exceed-
ing beauty shaded by silken fringes; and many other ser-
vants with colors as mottled and variegated as the flowers
on the steppes. Some acted as equerries, some served at
table, some carried lamps, and others occupied thejnost im-
portant offices at court.
On the great square around the Sultan's court, which in
its luxury and splendor reminded the faithful of the pro-
mised Paradise, were other courts, not so sumptuous but
still equal to those of kings, the courts of the vizier, the
ulemas, the pasha of Anatolia, and of the young kaimakan
Black Mustafa, upon whom the eyes of the Sultan and all
were turned as the coming "Sun of War."
In front of the pavillions of the Padishah were to be seen
PAN MICHAEL. 393
the sacred infantry guard with such high turbans that they
made their wearers look like giants. They were armed with
javelins attached to long stall's, and with short crooked
swords. Their linen tents adjoined the abode of the Sultan.
Further away were the camps of the formidable janissaries,
armed with muskets and lances, and forming the kernel of
the Turkish army. Neither the Emperor of Germany nor
the King of France could boast of infantry of such numbers
and military dexterity In wars against the Commonwealth
the Sultan's people were generally weaker and could not
measure their strength with an equal force of cavalry and
only crushed and conquered with their immense superiority
of numbers. But the janissaries even dared to stand against
regular squadrons. They excited terror throughout Christ-
endom, even in Tsarogrod itself. Often the Sultan himself
trembled before such pretorians, and the chief aga of these
'lambs' was one of the most important dignitaries in the
Divan.
Next to the janissaries came the spahis, and then the
regular troops of the pashas, and lastly the common crowd.
For some months this whole camp had lain near Constanti-
nople waiting till its force should be completed by legions
from the remotest parts of the Turkish dominions and till
the Spring sun should facilitate the march to Poland by
sucking up the moisture from the earth.
The sun had shone brightly as though subject to the Sul-
tan's will. From the beginning of April until May scarcely
even a few warm showers had moistened the fields of Kau-
chunkaury; for the rest, God's blue pavilion hung cloudless
above the Sultan's tent. The brightness of day shone on
the white linen and turbans and many-colored caps and on
the points of the helmets and standards and javelins, on the
camp and tents and people and herds, flooding all.
In a clear sky in the evening the moon shone unclouded
by mist and quietly watching over the thousands who were
marching to conquer more and new lands under its emblem;
then it rose higher in the sky and paled before the light
of the fires. But when the fires blazed throughout the great
plain, and the Arab infantry from Damascus and Aleppo,
called 'massala djilari,' lit the green, red, yellow, and blue
lamps at the tents of the Sultan and Vizir, it looked as
though a portion of the sky had fallen t the earth and that
they were stars sparkling and twinkling on the plain.
394 PAN MICHAEL.
The most perfect order and discipline reigned among those
hosts. The pashas bowed to the will of the Sultan like a
reed to the storm, and the army bowed before them. There
was no lack of food for man and 'beast. Everything was
served in the utmost plenty at the proper season. In the
most perfect order also were spent the hours of military prac-
, tice, pastime, and devotion. When the muezzins summoned
f to prayer from the hastily-built wooden structures, the whole
army turned their faces to the East, every man spread a skin
or mat before him, and the entire host fell upon its knees
like one man. At the sight of that order and restaint their
hearts rose in triumph and their souls were filled with the
sure hope of triumph.
The Sultan arived at the camp at the end of April, but
did not begin the march immediately. He waited more than
a month to allow the waters to dry up and employed the
interval in training the host to camp life, in organization
and exercises and receiving ambassadors and dispensing jus-
tice under a purple 'baldaquin. His principal wife, the
kasseka, accompanied him on this expedition, and with her
also went a court as marvellous as a dream of Paradise.
The lady was borne in a gilded chariot with a canopy
of purple taffeta and it was followed by other cars and
white Syrian camels carrying packs and also covered with
purple. Houris and bayaderas sang songs along the way.
When she was weary from travel and closed her silken lashes,
immediately the sweet strains of soft music arose and lulled
her to sleep. During the heat of the day fans of peacock
and ostrich feathers waved above her, and before her tent
priceless perfumes of the East were burned in Indian bowls.
She was surrounded by all the treasures, luxuries, and riches
that could be supplied by the Orient and the Sultan's power;
houris, bayaderes, black eunuchs, pages beautiful as angels,
Syrian camels, horses from the Arabian desert; in short her
I whole train glittered with brocade and sumptuous stuffs and
; gleamed like a rainbow with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and
sapphires. Nations fell upon their faces before it, not daring
to gaze upon that countenance which the Padishah alone
had the right to see; and that train seemed to be either a
supernatural vision or else a reality transferred from the
realm of visions and illusive dreams by Allah himself.
But the sun warmed the earth more and more till at length
the hot days arrived. Therefore one evening the banner
PAN MICHAEL.
395
was raised on a tall pole in front of the Sultan's tent and
a cannon-shot announced the march to Poland to the army
and people. The great sacred benben sounded and then all
the others were beaten; the shrill tones of the pipes were
heard, the pious, half-nude dervishes began to howl, and
the stream of people moved forward in the night to escape
the sun's heat during the day. But the army itself was
not to start till some hours after the first notice. First of
all went the vanguard, and then the pashas who supplied
the troops with food, and then whole legions of laborers to
pitch tents; then came herds of pack-animals, and then the
herds to be slaughtered. The march was to be one of six
hours on that .and all following nights, and was to keep such
order that when the soldiers halted they should always be
assured of food and a resting-place made ready.
At last, when the moment arrived for the soldiers to ad-
vance, the Sultan rode out to an eminence to view his whole
force and delight in the sight. With him were his vizir, the
ulemas, the young kaimakan, Black Mustafa, the Eising
Sun of War, and a guard of his infantry. It was a tranquil
and bright night, clear with bright moonlight, so that the
Sultan might have seen all his legions had it not been that
no single human vision could have grasped them all at once,
for when they were marching, though closely arrayed, they
extended several miles.
Yet his heart rejoiced and, runnning his sandal-wood
scented beads through his fingers, he raised his eyes to
Heaven and gave thanks to Allah who had made him lord
over so many armies and so many lands. Suddenly when the
head of the vanguard had almost disappeared he suspended
his prayer and turned to the young kaimakan, Black Mus-
tafa, saying:
"I have forgotten, who form the vanguard?"
"Light of Paradise!" replied Black Mustafa, "in the van-
guard are the Lipkovs and the Cheremis; and the dog Azya,
the son of Tukhay Bey, is leading them/'
CHAPTEE X.
Azya, the son of Tukhay Bey, was indeed marching with
his men at the head of the whole Turkish force towards the
border of the Commonwealth after the long wait on the plain
of Kauchunkaury.
After the terrible blow that he had received in his plans
and person from Basia's dexterous hand, a happy star now
seemed to shine on him afresh. In the first place he had re-
covered his health. His comeliness it is true was for ever
destroyed; one eye had entirely flowed away, his nose was
mashed and his face, which was once like that of a falcon, had
become monstrous and horrible. But that very terror with
which it inspired people gained greater consideration for him
among the Dobrudja Tartars. His presence made a great stir
in the whole camp; his deeds grew in the tales people told of
him and assumed gigantic proportions. It was said that he
had brought all the Lipkov and Cheremi Tartars into the
service of the Sultan; that he had got the best of the Poles as
nobody else had ever done; that he had burned all the towns
along the Dniester and slaughtered their garrisons and taken
important booty. Those who were now marching to Poland
for the first time, those who had come from far regions of the
East and had not yet tried the Polish arms, those whose
hearts quaked at the thought of soon standing face to face
with the terrible cavalry of the unbelievers, saw in the young
Azya a warrior who had already shown his brow to the Poles
and was not afraid of them and above all had made a fortunate
beginning of war. The sight of the 'bagadir* immediately
filled their souls with comfort; moreover Azya was the son of
that terrible Tukhay Bey whose name had reverberated
through the whole of the East; and so all eyes turned on him
the more.
"The Poles brought him up," they said, "but he is the son
of a lion; he bit them, and returned to the service of the
Padishah "
.The vizir himself wanted to see him, and the "Bising Sun
(396)
PAN MICHAEL. 397
of War," the young kaimakan, Black Mustafa, who delighted
in military glory and wild warriors, loved him. Both of
them made close inquiry regarding the Commonwealth, the
Hetman, the armies, and Kamenets, and were happy at his
answers, for they saw that the war would be easy: victory to
the Sultan, defeat to the Poles and the title of Ghazi (con-
queror) to both. Therefore Azya would have frequently op-
portunities to fall on his face before the vizir and to sit at
the entrance of the kaimakan's tent and receive from both
many gifts of camels, horses, and weapons.
The grand vizir presented him with a kaftan of silver bro-
cade, the possession of which elevated him in the eyes of the
Lipkov and Cheremi Tartars. Krychinski, Adurovich, Mo-
ravski, Grokholski, Tarasovski, Aleksandrovich, in short all
the leaders who had once lived in the Commonwealth and
served it, but had now gone over to the Sultan, unquestion-
ingly placed themselves under the command of the son of
Tukhay Bey, honoring him both as a prince by birth and a
warrior who had received a kaftan. He therefore became a
powerful murza and more than two thousand warriors, who
were far superior to the average Tartars, obeyed his nod.
The coming war, in which it would be easier for the young
murza than anyone else to distinguish himself, might carry
him high: in it he might find high dignity, glory, and power.
But yet there was poison in Azya's soul. In the first place,
his pride was hurt that the Tartars in the presence of the
Turks, and especially of the janissaries and spahis, were of
little more importance than dogs in comparison with hunters.
He himself was of importance, but the Tartars generally were
regarded as worthless horsemen. The Turk made use of
them and sometimes he feared them; but in the camp he de-
spised them. When Azya saw this he kept his men apart
from the general mass of Tartars as if they were a distinct
and better kind of army, but by so doing he immediately ex-
cited the resentment of the Dobrudja and Byalogrod murzas,
and did not succeed in convincing the Turkish officers that the
Lipkovs were in reality any better than the chambuls of the
Horde. On the other hand, as he had been brought up in a
Christian land among nobles and knights, he could not
readily accustom himself to Oriental customs. In the Com-
monwealth he had only been an ordinary officer in the lowest
arm of the service; but yet, when he had come in contact with
his superiors, and even the Hetman, he had not been forced
398 PAN MICHAKL.
to humble himself as here where he was a irmrza and the
leader of all the bodies of Lipkov Tartars. Here he had to
prostrate himself before the vizir; he had to bow his forehead
to the earth in the friendly tent of the kaimakan; he had to
bow down before the pashas, the ulemas, the chief Aga of the
janissaries. Azya was not accustomed to this. He remeni-
I bered -that he was the son of a hero; he had a wild and
haughty spirit, aiming high as eagles aim, and therefore he
suffered grievously.
But the memory of Basia burned him with the fiercest fire.
He did not care that one feeble hand should have dashed
from his horse him, who, at Bratslav, at Kalnik, and a hun-
dred other places, had challenged to the combat and extended
in death the most terrible raiders of the Zaporoj; and he
cared less for the shame and humiliation. But he loved that
woman beyond all bounds; he wanted her in his tent, to gaze
upon her, to beat her and to kiss her. If he had the choice-
between being the Padishah and ruling half the world, or
taking her in his arms and feeling the heat of her blood on
his heart, her breath on his face, and her lips on his, he would
rather have her than Tsarogrod, the Bosphorus, or the title of
Khalif. He wanted her because he both loved and hated her.
The farther removed she was from him, the more he wanted
her; the more pure, faithful, and unspotted she was, the more
he wanted her. On more than one occasion in his tent when
he remembered how that once in his life he had kissed those
eyes in the gulley after the fight with Azba Bey, and that he
had felt her breast against his at Rashkov, he was carried
away by the madness of desire. He knew not what had be-
come of her, nor if she had perished on the road. Sometimes
he was comforted by the thought that she had died and some-
times deep grief took hold of him. There were moments
when he thought: "It would have been better not to have
' carried her off, burned Rashkov, and come here; but to have
stayed at Khreptyov with the Lipkovs, if only to look at her."
But the unfortunate Zosia Boska was in his tent. Her
days were passed in slavery, in shame, and in constant terror;
for there was not a grain of pity -for her in Azya's heart. He
tortured her simply because she was not Basia. Nevertheless
she possessed the charm and sweetness of a wild-flower; she
possessed youth and beauty and therefore he sated himself
with that beauty, but he kicked her on the slightest provo-
cation and flogged her white body with rods. She could not
TAN MICHAEL. 399
live in a worse hell, for she lived without hope. Life had
begun to blossom for her in Kashkov, to blossom like
Spring, with the flower of love for Novovyeyski. She loved
him with her whole soul; with every faculty she lov^d that
knightly, noble and honest nature; and now she was the play-
thing and captive of this one-eyed monster. She had to
crawl to his feet and cower like a beaten dog, gaze into his
face, and watch his hands to see if they were about to seize
a rod or whip: she had to repress her sighs and tears.
She well knew that there was and could be no mercy for
her; for even if a miracle were to wrest her from those ter-
rible hands, she was no longer the old Zosia, white as the first
snows, and able to give love for love with an unsullied heart.
All that had gone never to return. But because the horrible
degradation of her present life was not the consequence of the
slightest fault of her own; far from it; she had hitherto
been a maiden stainless as a lamb, innocent as a dove, and
trusting as a child, simple and loving, therefore she could
not understand why such awful injustice should be visited
upon her, an injustice for which no recompence could be
made; or why God's inexorable wrath lay so heavy upon her;
and this distraction of her soul increased her agony and
despair.
Thus passed days, weeks, and months. It was winter when
Azya came to the plain of Kauchunkaury, and the march to
the borders of the Commonwealth did not begin till June.
The whole of this time for Zosia was one of shame, toil, and
anguish. For notwithstanding all her beauty and sweetness,
and although he kept her in his tent, Az} r a not only did not
love her, but on the contrary he hated her because she was
not Basia. He regarded her as a common captive and made
her work like one. She watered his horses and camels at
the river, carried water for his ablutions and wood for the
fire; she spread the skins for his bed and cooked his food. In
other divisions of the Turkish army women did not leave the
tents for fear of the janissaries and from custom; but the
camp of the Lipkov Tartars stood apart by itself and the cus-
tom of keeping their women in concealment was not common
with them, as they had become used to other ways while living
in the Commonwealth. What captives belonged to the com-
mon soldiers did not even cover their faces with yashmaks.
It is true that the women were not allowed to go outside the
Lipkov square, for beyond the bounds they would have cer-
PAN MICHAEL.
tainly been carried off; hut they could go everywhere in the
square itself about their domestic occupations in safety.
Notwithstanding the heavy labor, Zosia found a certain re-
lief in going for wood, or down to the river to water the
horses and camels; for she was afraid to weep in the tent, and
she could give free course to her tears with impunity along
the way. On one occasion while carrying an armful of wood
she met her mother, whom Azya had given to Halim. They
fell into each other's arms and it was necessary to tear them
apart; and though Azya afterwards flogged Zosia with rods,
not even sparing her head, still the meeting was sweet to her.
On another occasion, while washing linen for Azya at the
ford, Zosia saw Evka in the distance carrying pails of water.
Evka was groaning under their weight; her figure had greatly
altered and become heavier, but her features, although shaded
by the yaskmak, reminded Zosia of Adam, and her heart was
seized with such anguish that she felt a passing faintness.
However, they were afraid to speak to each other.
This fear gradually numbed and overcame every other
feeling in Zosia, till at last it supplanted all her desires, hopes,
and memories. Not to be beaten had become her chief aim.
In her place Basia would have slain Azya with his own knife
on the first day without any thought of the consequences; but
the timid Zosia who was still half a child and did not possess
Basia' s courage. At last she even came to regard it as tender-
ness if the terrible Azya under the impulse of momentary de-
sire approached her lips with his deformed face. Sitting in
the tent she kept her eyes fixed on her master in the effort to
divine whether or not he was angry, following his movements,
and trying to anticipate his wishes.
When she foresaw trouble and when his teeth began to
gleam beneath his moustache like the old Tukhay Bey, she
crawled to his feet half dead with terror and pressed her pale
lips to his boots, and embraced his knees convulsively, crying
like a child in distress:
"Don't beat me, Azya! don't beat me!"
He scarcely ever spared her; he gloated over her, not only
because she was not Basia, but also because she had been
Novovyeyski's betrothed. Azya had a fearless spirit, but so
awful were the accounts to be settled between him and Pan
Adam that at the thought of that giant with hellish venge-
ance hardened in his heart, the young Lipkov was seized with
a certain uneasiness. There was to be war; they might meet;
PAN MICHAEL. 4OI
indeed, it was probable that they would. Azya could not
help thinking of this, and because the sight of Zosia prompted
the thoughts, he revenged himself upon her as if trying to
banish his own dread with the strokes of rods.
At length came the time when the Sultan gave the order to
march. Azya's Lipkovs were to form the vanguard followed
by the whole swarm of Dobrudja and Novogorod Tartars.
That had been arranged between the Sultan, the vizir, and
the kaimakan. But at first all went to the Balkans together.
The march was pleasant, for, on account of the increasing
heat, they marched only at night, with six hours between the
halts. Tar-barrels were lighted along the way and the
massaldjirals illuminated the road for the Sultan with colored
lights. The swarms of people flowed on like waves over limit-
less plains, filled the hollows of the valleys like locusts, and
covered the mountains. The armed men were followed by
the camp-followers with the harems and then came innumer-
able herds.
But in the marshes at the foot of the Balkans the gilded
and purple car of the kasseka was so deeply bogged that
twenty buffaloes were unable to extricate it from the mud.
"That is an evil omen for thee and the whole army, Lord,"
said the chief mufti to the Sultan. "An evil omen!" repeated
the half-crazed dervishes in the camp. The Sultan was
alarmed and decided to send away all the women with the
wondrous kasseka.
The order was announced to the hosts. Those soldiers
who had nowhere to send their slaves, and loved them too
well to sell them to strangers, preferred to kill them. Thou-
sands of others were bought by the merchants of the cara-
vanserai to be afterwards sold in the markets of Stambul and
all the towns of Hither Asia. A sort of great fair lasted for
three successive days. Azya unhesitatingly offered Zosia for
sale: a wealthy old merchant of Stambul bought her for a
great price for his son.
He was a good-natured man, for at Zosia's tears and en-
treaties he purchased her mother from Halim; it is true that
he got her dirt-cheap. The following day they both set out
for Stambul in line with the other women. In Stambul
Zosia's lot was improved, though her degradation still en-
dured. Her new owner loved her and in a few months raised
her to the dignity of a wife. Thenceforth her mother was
not separated from her.
26
402
PAN MfCHAEL.
Many people among whom were many women returned to
their native land after a long captivity. Moreover somebody,
by every possible means, by the medium of Armenian and
Greek merchants and the servants of the ambassadors of the
Commonwealth, had search made for Zosia, but without re-
sult. Then this search suddenly ceased and Zosia never
again saw her country, nor the faces of her dear ones.
She lived till her death in a harem.
CHAPTER XI.
Even before the Turks had moved from Adrianople there
was a beginning of great commotion in all the stanitsas 1
along the Dniester. Especially to Khreptyov, the nearest
stanitsa to Kamenets, the Hetman 7 s couriers were continually
hurrying with various orders; if they concerned him, the lit-
tle knight executed them himself, andif ^o:heforwardedthem
by trusty agents. The result of these orders vas considerably
to weaken the garrison of Khreptyov. Pan M'otovidlo with
his Semenovs went to Uman to aid Hanenkc who, with a
handful of Cossacks faithful to the Commonwealth, was doing
his beet against Doroshenko and the Crimean horde which
had joined him. Pan Mushalski the matchless archer, Pan
Snitko of the Hidden Moon escutcheon, Pan Nyenashinyets,
and Pan Hromyka led a squadron, together Linkhaus's dra-
goons, to Batch of unhappy memory, where Pan Lujetski was
posted to watch Doroshenko's movements with the assistance
of Hanenko; Pan Bogush was commanded to stay at Mohilov
till chambuls were visible with the naked eye. The Hetman's
instructions were eagerly seeking the famous Pan Rushchyts,
who as a warrior was alone surpassed by Volodiyovski; but
Pan Eushchyts had gone to the steppes at the head of a few
dozen men and disappeared as a drop fallen in water. They
did not hear of him till later, when strange rumors spread
that around Doroshenko's camp and about the detachments
of the horde a sort of evil spirit was hovering, daily cutting
off single warriors and small bodies. It was suspected that
this must be Pan Rushchyts who ventured so near the enemy,
for no other would strike in that way except the little knight.
In fact it was Pan Rushchyts.
As already decided, Volodiyovski had to go to Kamenets;
the Hetman needed him there, for he knew him to be a soldier
the sight of whom would pour comfort into all hearts, while
it would give an impetus to the inhabitants and the garrison.
The Hetman was convinced that Kamenets could not hold
1 Stanitsa means military post.
(403)
4 4 PAN MICHAEL.
out; his only object was that it should do so as long as pos-
sible, so as to enable the Commonwealth to collect forces for
its defence. With this conviction he sent his beloved soldiers
and the most famous cavalier of the Commonwealth to what
seemed certain death.
He sent the most famous warrior to death without com-
punction. The Hetman always thought what he said later
in Vienna that Paul Woynina might give birth to people, but
that Woyna only killed them. 1 He himself was ready to die.
He believed that to die in battle was the chief duty of a sol-
dier and that, when a soldier could render great service by
dying, death was a great favor and reward to him. The Het-
man also knew that the little knight agreed with him.
Moreover he had no time to think of sparing single soldiers
when destruction was approaching churches, towns, the coun-
try, and the entire Commonwealth; when in unheard of multi-
tudes the Orient was rising against Europe to conquer the
whole of Christendom, which, shielded by the breast of the
Commonwealth, had no thought of rendering assistance to it.
The Hetman' s sole object was that Kamenets should protect
the Commonwealth, and then the Commonwealth the rest of
Christendom.
This might have been if the Commonwealth had been
strong and not destro} r ed by disorder. But the Hetman had
not even sufficient forces for reconnaissances, much less for
war. If he hurried some dozens of soldiers to one spot it left
another without any, where an invading wave might pour
through without hindrance. The night-sentries posted by the
Sultan in his camp were more numerous than all the Hetman's
squadrons. The invasion was advancing in two directions,
from the Dnieper and Danube. The chief squadrons had gone
against Doroshenko because he was the nearer with the whole
Crimean horde and had already overrun the country with fire
and sword; in the other direction even simple scouts were
lacking.
In such dire extremity the Hetman wrote the few following
words to Pan Michael:
"I have already considered whether or no to send you to
face the foe at Eashkov, but I feared lest the horde should
cross by seven fords from the Moldavian bank and occupy the
country and you would not be able to reach Kamenets, where
1 A pun on the word 'Woyna/ war. Woynina is the feminine of woynaj
thu$ what lady Woynina produces Woyna destroys,
PAN MICHAEL. 405
you are absolutely needed. Only yesterday I remembered
Novovyeyski, who is an experienced and daring soldier, and
I think he will render me effective service, because a despair-
ing man will undertake anything. Send him whatever light
cavalry you can spare; let him advance as far as possible and
show himself everywhere and spread reports of our great army
when he comes in presence of the enemy; let him suddenly
appear in various places and avoid being captured. We know
how they will come; but if he observes anything fresh he is to
send you word at once and you will despatch a messenger
without delay to me and to Kamenets. Let Novovyeyski move
quickly and you yourself be ready to go to Kamenets, but
stay where you are until you receive tidings from Novovyeyski
in Moldavia."
As Pan Adam was then at Mohilov, and as it was said that
he was coming to Khreptyov in any case, the little knight
merely sent word to him to hasten because a commission from
the Hetman was awaiting him in Khreptyov.
Pan Adam arrived three days later. His acquaintances
scarcely recognized him and they thought that Pan Byalo-
glovski had good reason to call him a skeleton. He was no
longer that fine fellow, joyous and high-spirited, who of old
used to dash at the foe with bursts of laughter like the neigh-
ing of a horse, striking with the sweep of the sails of a wind-
mill. He had grown thin, yellow and black, but his thinness
made him look still more of a giant. When he looked at
people he blinked as if he did not recognize his most intimate
acquaintances; moreover, the same thing had to be repeated
twice or thrice to him, as at first he did not understand. It
seemed as if grief was flowing in his veins instead of blood;
he was evidently trying not to think of certain matters, pre-
ferring to forget them in order not to lose his reason.
It is true that in those parts there was not a man, nor a
family, nor a single army-officer who was not grieving for
some acquaintance, or friend, or near and dear one, or who
had not suffered some injury from Infidel hands; but simply
a whole cloud of calamity had burst upon Novovyeyski. In
one day he had lost father, sister, as well as his betrothed,
whom he loved with all the might of his exuberant soul. He
would far rather that his sister and that beloved sweet girl
had both died, or that they had perished by the knife or
flames. But such was their fate that the greatest torments
were nothing in comparison when Novovyeyski thought of
406 P&X MICHAEL.
them. He tried not to dwell upon their fate, as he felt that
the thought of it bordered on madness; but without success.
His calmness was only assumed. Jn his soul there was not
the slightest resignation,, and at the first glance everybody
could tell that beneath his torpor was something ominous and
dreadful, and if it broke out this giant would do some awful
deed, like a destroying element. This seemed to be plainly
written on his brow, so that even his friends approached with
some timidity, and when they talked with him they did not
refer to past happenings.
The sight of Basia at Khreptyov reopened his closed
wounds, for as he kissed her hands in greeting he began to
groan like an aurochs when mortally wounded, his eyes grew
bloodshot, and the veins in his neck swelled like cords. When
the tearful Basia pressed his head with her little hands with
the affection of a mother he fell at her feet and was not able to
rise for some time. But when he learned what sort of duty
the Hetman had given him he livened up greatly; a gleam of
ominous joy illumined his face and he said:
"I will do that; I will do more!"
"And if you meet that mad dog, flay him/' cried Zagloba.
Novovyeyski made no immediate reply, but only looked at
Zagloba; his eyes flashed with sudden madness, he rose and
sprang towards the old noble as if he wanted to fall upon him.
"Do you believe," he cried, "that I have never done ill to
that man, and that I have always been kind to him?"
"I believe it, I believe it!" said Zagloba as he hastily got
behind the little knight. "I would accompanj you myself,
but the gout gnaws my feet."
"Novovyeyski," asked the little knight, "when lo you want
to start?"
"To-night."
"I will give you a hundred dragoons. I will remain here
I with another hundred and the infantry. Go to the square!"
They went out to issue orders. Zydor Lusnia was waiting
on the threshold as straight as a string. The news of the ex-
pedition had already spread through the square and the ser-
geant in the name of himself and his company had come to
beg the little colonel to let him accompany Pan Adam.
"How is this? Do you want to leave me?" asked the as-
tonished Pan Michael.
"Pan Commandant, we have made a vow against that son
pf a burned father, and perhaps he may fall into otir hands."
PAN MICHAEL. 407
"True! Pan Zagloba told me about it," answered the little
knight.
Lusnia turned to Novovyayski:
"Pan Commandant!"
"What do you want?"
"If we catch him may I take care of him?"
"Such ferocious animal venom was painted on the features
of the Mazure that Novovyeyski immediately bent down to
Pan Michael and entreated:
"Your lordship, let me have this man!"
Volodiyovski did not think of refusing, and the same even-
ing about dusk a hundred horsemen set out on the journey
with Novovyeyski at their head.
They took the usual road through Mohilov and Yampol.
In Yampol they met the former garrison of Kashkov, two
hundred men of which joined Novovyeyski by the Hetman's
orders; the remainder, under the command of Pan Byalog-
lovski, were to proceed to Mohilov where Pan Bogush was
stationed.
Pan Adam moved down towards Rashkov.
The neighborhood of Rashkov was a complete waste: the
town itself had been reduced to a heap of ashes, which the
winds had been able to blow to the four points of the compass;
its few remaining inhabitants had fled before the expected
storm. It was already the beginning of May and the Dob-
rudja horde might appear at any moment, so that it was dan-
gerous to stay in that region. In fact the hordes were with
the Turks on the plain of Kauchunkaury, but at Rashkov
they did not know that, and so every one of the inhabitants
who had escaped the late massacre carried his head away in
good season whithersoever it appeared best to him.
Along the way Lusnia was forming plans and strategems
that he thought Novovyeyski ought to adopt if he really
wanted to succeed in outwitting the foe. He graciously un-
folded these ideas to the ranks.
"You horse-skulls -don't know anything about the matter,"
he said to them, "you are not acquainted with it, but I am
old myself, and I know. We shall go to Rashkov and hide
there and wait. The horde will come to the ford and small
bodies will cross first as their custom is, because the chambul
halts and waits till they report whether it is safe or not; then
we shall steal out and drive them before us to Kamenets."
"But we may not catch that dog-brother that way," re-
marked one of the troopers.
408 PAN MICHAEL.
"Shut your mouth!" cried Lusnia. "Who will inarch io
the vanguard if not the Lipkov Tartars?"
In fact the foresight of the sergeant seemed to be justified.
When Novovyeyski reached Kashkov he let his men rest.
They all felt sure that they would go next to the caves, many
of which were in the vicinity, and hide there till the first
bodies of the raiders appeared.
But on the second day the commander roused his squadron
and led it beyond Eashkov.
"Are we going to Yahorlik, or what?" the sergeant asked
himself.
Meanwhile they neared the river just beyond Rashkov, and
a few Paters later they halted at the so-called Bloody Ford.
Without uttering a word Pan Adam_ spurred his horse into
the water and began to cross to the opposite bank. The sol-
diers began to gaze at one another in astonishment.
"How is this, are we going to the Turks?" But there were
not 'fine gentlemen' of the general militia, ready to call a
meeting and protest; they were simply soldiers used to the
iron discipline of the military posts, and so the men in the
first rank urged their horses into the water after their leader
and those of the second and third followed them. There was
not the slightest hesitation. They were astonished that with
three hundred horses they were marching against the power
of the Turk which the whole world could not conquer; but
they went. The water was soon splashing about the horses'
flanks, and then the men ceased wondering and only exercised
their minds to keep the sacks of food for themselves and the
horses from getting wet.
They only began to look at each other again on the oppo-
site bank.
"For God's sake! We are in Moldavia already!" they
whispered.
And some of them looked behind them across the Dniester,
which gleamed in the setting sun like a ribbon of red and gold,
The bright glow also flooded the cliffs of the river that were
full of caves. They rose like a wall at that moment separa-
ting that handful of men from their own land. It was in fact
the final parting for many of them.
The thought flashed through Lusnia's head that perhaps
the Commandant had <rone mad; but it was for the officer to
command and him to obey.
Meanwhile the horses, issuing from the water, began to
PAN MICHAEL.
snort loudly in the ranks. "Zdrow! Zdrow!" (Good health)
was heard from the soldiers. They regarded the snorting as a
good omen and their hearts were somewhat comforted.
"Move on!" ordered Novovyeyski.
The ranks advanced towards the setting sun and towards
those thousands, those swarms of men, and those nations en-
camped at Kauchunkaury.
CHAPTER XL1
Pan Novovyeyski's passage of the Digester, and his march,
with three hundred sabres against the power of the Sultan
numbering myriads of warriors, were actions that might be
regarded as sheer madness by anybody unacquainted with
war; but they were only bold warlike procedures that had
certain chances of success.
In the first place, the raiders of that time often went
against chambuls a hundred times more numerous; they came
within sight of the enemy and then disappeared and made
a bloody slaughter of their scattered pursuers. Just as a
wolf sometimes lures the dogs after him so as to turn at the
right moment and kill the one that is pressing him hardest;
so did they. In the twinkle of an eye the quarry became
the hunter; he started off, hid and feinted, and, though pur-
sued, he himself hunted, made an unexpected attack and
bit to death. This was called 'the Tartar trick/ by which
each party tried to outdo the other in stratagems, tricks, and
ambushes. The most celebrated man at this business was
Pan Michael, and next came Pan Eushchyts, and then Pan
Pivo, and then Pan Motovidlo; but Novovyeyski, who had
warred in the steppes from childhood, belonged to the num-
ber of those who were mentioned among the most famous,
and therefore it was very probable that when he came in
the presence of the horde he would not let himself be cap-
tured.
The expedition also had chances of success because there
were wild regions beyond the Dniester in which it was easy
to hide. Settlements only appeared here and there along
the rivers and the country was little inhabited for the most
part; it was rocky and hilly by the Dniester, but farther in-
land were steppes, or the land was covered with forests in
which strayed numerous herds of animals, from wild buf-
faloes, to hinds, harts, and wild-boars. Before the expedition,
the Sultan wanted to estimate his strength and count his
forces, the hordes dwelling on the Nij Dniester, and Byalo-
(410)
PAA T MICHAEL. 4tl
grod, and the Dobrudja still farther away, had marched to
the south of the Balkans at the Sultan's command, and the
forces of Moldavia had followed them, so that the country
had become more deserted than ever and it was possible to
travel for a week without being seen by anybody.
Pan Novovyeyski was too familiar with Tartar ways not
to know that when the chambuls had once passed the border
of the Commonwealth they would advance with greater cau-
tion, keeping strict watch on every side; but that in their
own country they would move in wide columns without spe-
cial care. And indeed they did so; the Tartars would have
considered themselves more likely to meet Death himself
than to meet in the depths of Bessarabia, in the very haunts
of the Tartars, the forces of that Commonwealth which had
not sufficient troops to protect its- own border.
Pan Novovyeyski was confident that, in the first place his
expedition would surprise the enemy, and would therefore
do more good even than the Hetman had hoped, and in the
second, that it might be fatal to Azya and his Lipkovs. It
was easy for the young lieutenant to guess that the Lipkovs
and Cheremis would form the vanguard, as they were well
acquainted with the country, and he placed his chief hope
on that certainty. All that Novovyeyski's tortured spirit
desired was to fall unexpectedly on Azya and capture him,
and perhaps rescue his sister and Zosia, snatch them from
slavery, wreak his vengeance, and then fall in battle.
Buoyed up by these thoughts and hopes, Novovyeyski
shook off his torpor and revived. His march along unknown
ways, his severe toil, the wide-blowing wind of the steppes,
and the peril of the daring undertaking improved his health
and restored his former strength. The man of misfortune
in him began to yield to the warrior. Until now there had
been no room in his heart for anything but memories and
anguish; but now for whole days he had to think how an
enemy should act and rend.
After passing the Dniester they struck a diagonal and
went down towards the Pruth. During the day they often
hid in reeds and forests, and made secret and forced marches
at night. The country was not much inhabited so far, and
was principally occupied by nomads and the greater part
of it was desolate. Very rarely they came across fields of
maize with houses near by.
Making secret marches they endeavored to avoid the larger
PAN MICHAEL.
settlements, but they frequently halted at smaller ones of one,
two, three, or even a number of huts; they boldly entered
these, as they knew that none of the inhabitants would think
of fleeing before them to Budziak and warning the Tartars
there. However Lusnia took good care that this should not
happen, though he soon omitted the precaution, as he was
satisfied that these few settlements, although partly subject
to the Sultan, were anticipating his troops with dread; and
moreover that they had no idea what sort of people had ar-
rived, and took the detachment for a Karalash body who were
following the others at the Sultan's command.
Without opposition, the inhabitants supplied them corn,
cakes, and dried buffalo-meat. Every one had his flock of
sheep, his buffaloes, and horses in hiding near the rivers.
Sometimes also numerous herds of half-wild buffaloes ap-
peared attended by herdsmen. These herdsmen lived on the
steppes in tents and only stayed in one place as long as grass
was plentiful. They were often old Tartars. Novovyeyski
surorunded these as carefully as though they had been a
chambul and did not spare them, for fear they might send
tidings of his coming to Budziak. After inquiring of the
Tartars concerning the roads, or rather the trackless country,
he mercilessly slew them so that not a foot should escape.
From the herds he then took as many heads as he needed and
went on.
The detachment went southwards and now more often
met with herds that were almost exclusively guarded by
Tartars in considerable bodies. In two weeks' marching
Novovyeyski surrounded and slew three parties of shepherds
of some dozens of men. The dragoons always took the sheep-
skin coats, cleaned them over the fire, and put them on, so
as to look like wild herdsmen and shepherds. In another
week they were all dressed like Tartars and looked exactly
' like a chambul. They only retained the weapons of regular
cavalry; but they kept their jackets strapped to their saddles,
so as to resume them when they returned. Close at hand
they might be recognized by their yellow moustaches and
blue eyes; but from a distance the most experienced might be
deceived by their appearance, and the more so as they drove
before them the cattle needed for food.
They approached the Pruth and marched along its left
bank. Since the Kuchman trail was in too desolate a region,
it was plain that the Sultan's forces and the horde in the
PAN MICHAEL.
vanguard would march through Falezi, Hush, Kotirnore,
and then only by the Wallachian border, either turning to-
wards the Dniester, or going as straight as the swathe of a
sickle through all Bessarabia to issue on the Commonwealth
frontier near Ushytsa. Pan Novoyetski was so sure of this
that he went more and more slowly and warily; so as not
to come across chambuls too suddenly. At last he arrived
at the confluence of the Sarat and Tekich and stopped there
for a long halt, first to rest his men and horses, and second,
to await the coming of the horde in a favorable lurking-place.
The spot was well sheltered and carefully selected; be-
cause both banks of the two rivers were covered with the cor-
nelian brush and dogwood. This bush extended as far as
the eye could reach covering the ground in places with thick
brush, and in others forming clumps of bushes among which
were open spaces convenient for a camp. At that season the
trees and bushes had shed their blossoms, but in early Spring
there must have been a sea of yellow and white flowers. The
spot was deserted by mankind, but it swarmed with game,
such as deer, antelopes, and rabbits; and with birds. Here
and there also, on the margin of a spring, the soldiers found
the tracks of bears. When the party arrived one man killed
a couple of sheep. Lusnia, in consequence, wanted to have
a sheep-hunt, but Novovyeyski would not allow muskets to
be used, as he wanted to lie in concealment; so the soldiers
hunted with boar-spears and axes.
They found, later, traces of fires near the water, but they
were probably old ones of last year. It was evident that oc-
casionally nomads visited the place with their herds, or per-
haps Tartars came there to cut wood for handles. But the
strictest search did not reveal a human being.
Novovyeyski decided to go no further, but to await the
coming of the Turkish army there.
They laid out a square, built huts, and waited. Sentries
were posted at the edge of the wood, some watched day and
night towards Budziak; others towards Falezi and the Pruth.
Pan Adam knew that certain signs would announce the ap-
proach of the Sultan's forces; he also sent out small scouting-
parties and usually led them himself. The weather was very
favorable for a halt in that dry region. The days were warm
but it was easy to escape the heat in the shade of the wood;
the nights were clear, trnnquil, and moonlight, and the
woods were tremulous with the nightingale's songs. On such
4I4 PAN MICHAEL.
nights Pan Novovyeyski's sufferings were greatest as he could
not sleep; his thoughts reverted to his former happiness and
dwelt on the present days of anguish.
He only lived in the thought that when he had glutted his
heart with vengeance his mind would regain peace and hap-
uiness. Meanwhile the time was approaching when he would
fulfill his vengeance or die.
Week after week went by in foraging in wild places and
keeping watch. During this time they examined all the
trails, ravines, clearings, rivers and streams, again collected
a number of herds and slew some small parties of nomads;
and kept constant vigil in the grove like a wild beast await-
ing its prey. At length the expected moment came.
One morning they >saw flocks of birds darkening the earth
and sky. Bustards, partridges, and blue-legged quails were
hurrying through the grass towards the thicket; through the
heavens were flying ravens, crows, and even aquatic birds,
that had evidently been scared on the banks of the Danube,
or in the swamps of the Dobrudja. When they saw this the
dragoons gazed at one another and the words, "They are
coming, they are coming!" flew from lip to lip. Faces im-
mediately lighted up, mouths began to twitch, and eyes to
flash; but there was not the least alarm in this excitement.
These were all men whose lives had been spent in irregular
warfare, and so they experienced only what a hound feels
when he scents game. Fires were extinguished in a mo-
ment, so that the presence of those in the thicket might not
be revealed by the smoke; the horses were saddled and the
whole troop stood ready for action.
It was necessary so to arrange the time as to fall upon the
enemy during a halt. Pan Novovyeyski quite understood
that the Sultan's forces would not march in close order, par-
ticularly in their own country, where danger was entirely
improbable. He also knew that the vanguards usually
marched from five to ten miles in advance of the main army.
He had good reason to hope too that the Lipkovs would lead
the vanguard.
For some time 'he was uncertain whether to advance to
them by hidden ways, with which he had acquainted him-
self, or await their approach in the woods. He took the latter
course because it was easier to make an unexpected attack from
the woods. Another day and night passed during which
not only swarms of birds but beasts of the earth came to
the woods in droves. The next morning the enemy appeared.
PAN MICHAEL.
415
To the Aouth of the wood a wide rolling meadow extended
till it was lost o>n the far horizon. The enemy appeared on this
meadow and rapidly approached the Tekich. From the trees
the dragoons watched that dark mass that sometimes dis-
appeared behind the hills and then appeared again in full
array.
Lusnia, who had remarkably keen sight gazed intently for
some time at the approaching mass; then he advanced to
Novovyeyski and said:
"Pan Commandant, there are not many men; they are only
driving the herds out to pasture."
Novovyeyski soon satisfied himself that Lusnia was correct
and his face gleamed with satisfaction.
"That means that their halting place is five or six miles
from this wood/' he said.
"It does/' Lusnia replied. "They evidently march at night
to escape the heat, and sleep during the day; they are now
sending the horses out to pasture till the evening."
"Are the horses strongly guarded?"
Lusnia again went to the edge of the wood and stayed there
for a longer time. At last he appeared and said:
"There are about fifteen hundred horses and twenty-five
men with them. They are in their own country and have
nothing to fear, and so do not keep a strong guard."
"Could you recognize the men?"
"They are still distant, but they are Lipkovs. They are
ours already!"
"They are," said Novoyeyski.
Indeed he was satisfied that not a living soul of them
would escape. It was a very easy matter for such a leader
as himself with such soldiers as he led.
In the meantime the herdsmen were driving the horses
nearer and nearer to the wood. Lusnia went to the edge
again and returned with a face illuminated with gladness
and ferocity.
"Lipkovs, Sir!" he whispered, "sure!"
When he heard that Novovyeyski made a noise like a fal-
con and immediately a body of dragoons advanced into the
thick woods. There they separated into two parties, one of
which disappeared down a defile to issue in the rear of the
herd and the Tartars; the other formed a semi-circle and
waited.
All this passed so quietly that the most trained ear could
4 i6 PAX MICHAEL.
not have caught a sound; not a sabre nor spur rattled; not
a horse neighed, and the thick sward deadened the train})
of hoofs; moreover the very horses seemed to comprehend
that the success of the attack depended on silence, for it was
not the first time they had been engaged in such service.
From the gulley and the bushes nothing was audible but
the cry of the falcon gradually growing fainter and less fre-
quent.
The herd of Lipkov horses stopped in front of the wood
and scattered over the meadow in groups of various size.
Pan Adam himself was then near the margin following the
movements of the herdsmen. It was a clear day in the fore-
noon, but the sun was already high and casting its hot rays
upon the earth. The horses began to roll and presently they
approached the wood. The keepers rode to the edge of the
wood, dismounted, and tethered their horses with long ropes*
then in search of shade and cool spots they entered the grove
and lay down to rest under the largest bushes.
Soon some dry sticks burst into a flame, when they had
turned to embers and were covered with ashes the herdsmen
put half a colt on them and sat down at some distance to
escape the heat.
Some extended themselves on the grass, while others
talked, sitting in groups in the Turkish fashion; one began
to play on the pipe. Complete silence prevailed in the
thicket, and only the falcon was occasionally heard.
The odor of burned flesh at last announced that the roast
was ready. Two men withdrew it from the ashes and
dragged it to <a shady tree where they sat in a circle cutting
the meat with their knives and devouring it like animals.
Blood flowed from the half-raw strips, bathing their fingers
and trickling down their beards.
After they had ended eating and had drunk sour mare's
milk out of cups they began to rub their stomachs in reple-
tion. Then they talked for a time until their heads and
limbs grew heavy. The afternoon came. The heat beat
down more and more strongly from Heaven. The ground
of the forest was streaked with quivering light as it pierced
the dense foliage. Everything was still and even the falcons
had ceased to call.
Several Tartars got up and went to look at the horses;
others stretched themselves out like corpses on a battlefield
and were soon overcome by sleep. But their sleep after
PAN MICHAEL.
much meat and drink was somewhat heavy and disturbed,
for now and then one would groan heavily and another would
open his eyes for a moment and cry, "Allah, BismillahP
Suddenly on the edge of the wood a faint and dreadful
sound was heard like the short gasp of a choked man who
had no time to call out. Whether the hearing of the herds-
men was so keen, or some animal instinct had warned them
of danger, or whether, lastly, Death had blown upon them
with cold breath, it is sufficient that they sprang from then
sleep in an instant.
"What is that? Where are the men with the horses ?"
they began to ask each other. A voice from the thicket then
said in Polish:
"They won't come back!"
That moment a hundred and fifty men surrounded the
herdsmen, who were so terrified that the cry died on their lips.
One here and there scarcely managed to grasp his dagger.
The circle of assailants covered and completely concealed
them. The brush trembled with the swaying of human
bodies which were struggling in a confused mass. The whizz
of blades and sometimes panting, groaning, or wheezing was
audible; but this lasted only for a moment and then all was
still.
"How many are alive ?" asked a voice among the assailants.
"Five, Pan Commandant.''
"Examine the bodies; give every man a knife in the throat
lest any escape, and bring the prisoners to the fire."
The order was carried out in an instant. The corpses were
pinned to the sward with their own knives; after having their
feet bound to sticks the prisoners were brought up to the
fire which Lusnia had raked so that the embers under the
ashes were brought to the top.
The captives gazed at Lusnia and at these preparations
with starting eyes. There were three Lipkovs of Khreptyov
among them who were perfectly well acquainted with the
sergeant. He also knew them and said:
"Well, comrades, now you must sing, or you will go to
the other world with roasted soles. I will not stint the fire
for the sake of old acquaintance."
Then he threw some dry sticks on the fire which immedi-
ately leaped up in tall flames.
Then Pan Adam approached and commenced the examina-
tion. From the confessions of the captives it appeared that
27
4i 8 PAN MICHAEL.
what the young lieutenant had already divined was the truth.
The Lipkovs and Cheremis were marching in the vanguard
in front of the horde and all the troops of the Sultan. They
were led by Azya, the son of Tukhay Bey, who had received
the command over all the detachments. In common with
the whole army they marched at night on account of the heat
and pastured their herds during the day. They sent out
no scouts, because nobody imagined that they would be at-
tacked even near the Dniester, much less at the Pruth in
the very haunts of the horde; therefore they marched easily
with their herds and the camels carrying the tents of the
officers. Murza Azya's tent was easily recognized by the
bunchuk above it and the banners of the various companies
were set up near it at the halt. The camp was four or five
miles away and it contained about two thousand men, but
some of them had remained with the Byalogrod horde which
followed about five miles behind.
Pan Novovyeyski made further inquiries concerning the
best way to reach the camp and how the tents were arranged
and lastly of what most deeply concerned him.
"Are any women in the tent?"
The Lipkovs trembled for their skins. Those among them
who had served at Khreptyov knew perfectly well that Pan
Novovyeyski was the brother of one of those women and
the betrothed of the other; they therefore understood what
would be his fury when he learned the whole truth.
That fury might first fall upon them; therefore they hesi-
tated, but Lusnia immediately cried:
"Pan Commandant, we'll warm their soles for the dog-
brood; then they will speak."
"Thrust their feet into fire/ 7 cried Pan Novovyeyski.
"Have mercy!" cried Elyashevich, an old Lipek from
Khreptyov. "I will tell all that my eyes have seen."
Lusnia glanced towards the commander to see if he was to
cany out the threat notwithstanding this answer; but Pan
Novovyeyski shook his head, and said to Elyashevich:
"Tell what you have seen."
"We are innocent, master, we were under orders. The
murza gave your gracious sister to Pan Adurovich, who kept
her in his tent. I saw her at Kauchunkaury as she was going
with pails for water and I helped her to carry them, for her
condition was such that they were heavy. . . .
"Woe!" groaned Novovyeyski.
PAN MICHAEL. 4 ! 9
"But our murza himself had the other kdy in his tent.
We did not see her often, but we heard her screams more
than once, for though the murza kept her for his pleasure he
beat her with rods and kicked her. . . .
Pan Novovyeyski's lips began to quiver and Elyashevich
scarcely heard the question:
"Where are they now?"
"Sold 'in Stambul."
"To whom?"
"The murza himself does not know. The Padishah gave
orders that no women were to be kept in camp. They all
sold their women in the bazaar; the murza sold his/'
The explanation was ended and silence fell around the
fire; but for some time a sultry afternoon wind had been
moving the branches that sounded more and more heavily.
The air was growing stifling and on the horizon black clouds
were rising, murky in the centre and with a coppery gleam
along the edges.
Pan Adam strode away from the fire like a madman taking
no heed of where he went. At length he fell with his face
to the earth and began to tear it up with his nails, and then
to gnaw at his fingers and gasp like a dying man. His gi-
gantic body writhed convulsively and he lay so for hours.
The dragoons watched him from a distance, but not even
Lusnia dared to approach him.
Being satisfied that he would not incur the wrath of his
commander by not sparing the Lipkovs, the terrible sergeant,
prompted by sheer innate cruelty, stuffed their mouths with
grass to prevent a noise and slaughtered them like bullocks.
He only spared Elyashevich, thinking he might be needed
as a guide. After finishing this work he dragged the still
quivering bodies away from the fire and laid them out in a
row; then he went to look <at the commander.
"We must catch that man yonder, even if he has gone
mad/' Lusnia muttered.
Midday and afternoon had passed and evening was now
coming on. But the clouds which -were small at first now
covered half the sky and were constantly growing denser
and darker, without losing the coppery gleam along the
edges. The gigantic masses rolled heavily like millstones
upon their own axes; then they semed to fall upon and crowd
and push one another from above and roll in dense masses
down nearer and nearer to the earth. . . Now and then
420 PAN MICHAEL.
the wind swooped with its wings like a bird of prey mid bent
the cornelian and dogwood trees to the ground and tore oil'
clouds cf lea,ves and carried them furiously away; sometimes
there was a dead lull as if it had fallen to the earth. During
these lulls there was heard among the rending cloucb an
omnious growling and shrieking and rattling, as if a legion
of thunders were gathering in them and preparing for battle,
growling in deep tones to excite the rage and iury in their
own breasts before bursting forth and wildly striking the
terrified world.
"A tempest! a tempest is coming!" the dragoons muttered
to each other.
The tempest was coming. The atmosphere was becoming
momentarily darker.
Then in the east towards the Dniester the thunder arose
and rolled across the sky with a dreadful roar till it died
away beyond the Pruth; there it ceased for a moment but
again breaking forth, it rolled towards the steppes of Bud-
ziak and along the whole horizon.
Big drops of rain began to fall on the dried grass. At that
moment Pan Novovyeyski stood before the dragoons.
"To horse!" he cried in mighty tones.
/And in the space of one hurried Pater he was riding at
the head of a hundred and fifty troopers After issuing from
the wood near the herd of horses he joined the other half of
his men who had been keeping guard at the side of the mea-
dow r to prevent the escape of any of the herdsmen from the
camp. The dragoons darted around the herd in the twinkle
of an eye, uttering shrill cries peculiar to the Tartars, and
advanced driving the panic-stricken horses before them.
The sergeant held Elyashevich with a lasso and shouted
in his ear trying to outroar the thunder:
"Lead the way dog-blood, and straight, or a knife in your
throat!"
The clouds were now rolling so low as almost to touch the
earth. Suddenly they burst like the explosion of a furnace
and a furious tempest was let loose; then a blinding flash
rent the darkness, followed by a clap of thunder and then n
second and a third; the smell of sulphur pervaded the at-
mosphere and again there was gloom. The herd of horses
was seized with terror. Driven on by the wild cries of the
dragoons they galloped with wide nostrils and flying manes
scarcely touching the earth in their fight; the thunder
PAN MICHAEL. 421
roared continually and the horses rushed madly on in the
wind and darkness amid explosions in which the earth seemed
to be breaking. Driven forward by the storm and by ven-
geance, they seemed to be a terrible band of vampires or evil
spirits in that wild steppe. Space vanished in front of them.
There was no need of a guide, for the herd ran direct to
the Lipkov camp which was closer and closer. But before
they had galloped so far the tempest was unchained as if
earth and sky had gone mad. The entire heavens blazed
with living fire, by the flash of which the tents were visible
standing on the steppe; the earth was trembling with the
crash of thunder and it seemed as if at any moment the
clouds might burst and fall upon the earth. It seemed that
their sluices were opened and torrents of rain began to
deluge the steppe. The downpour was so dense that nothing
was visible a few paces distant and a thick mist rose from the
sunbaked earth.
The herd and dragoons will soon be in the camp now.
But immediately in front of the tents the herd divided and
dashed to . either side in wild panic; three hundred throats
uttered a frightful yell; three hundred sabres glittered in the
flash of the lightning and the dragoons fell upon the tents.
Before the torrent of rain burst, the Lipkovs had seen
the approaching herd in the glare of the lightning; but none
of them knew what terrible herdsmen were driving them.
They were seized with amazement and alarm and wondered
why the herd was rushing direct for the tents and then they
began to shout to frighten them away. Azya, the son of
Tukhay Bey, pushed aside his canvas door and not withstand-
ing the rain he went out with anger on his scowling face.
But at that moment the herd divided and amid the torrents
of rain appeared savage forms, black and much more nu-
merous than the horse-herds; and then was heard the terrible
cry:
"Smite! kill! ... j
There was no time for anything: not even to guess what
had happened, nor even to be frightened. The whirlwind
of men, far more dreadful and raging than the storm,
swooped on the camp. Before the son of Tukhay Bey could
take one step back to his tent he was snatched up with a force
that seemed superhuman. Suddenly he felt crushed in a
terrible embrace till his hours lu'iil and his ribs broke from
the pressure; then, as though through a mist, he saw a face
MICHAEL.
to which he would have preferred to see that of Satan, and
he swooned.
By that time the fight, or rather the ghastly slaughter, had
commenced. The tempest, the gloom, the unknown number
of the assailants, the suddeness of the attack and the dis-
persion of the horses were the causes of the faint resistance
of the Lipkovs. They were simply seized with the madness
of terror. No one knew in what direction to escape or where
to hide. Many of them had no weapons at hand and the
attack found many others asleep. They therefore masted
together, stunned, bewildered, and terrified, jostling, up-
setting and trampling each other. They were driven back
and overthrown by the chests of the horses and slashed by
sabres and mashed by hoofs. No tempest breaks, destroys,
and lays waste a young forest, no wolves rend a flock of be-
wildered sheep as the dragoons trampled and cut down those
Lipkovs. Bewilderment on the one hand, and fury and
vengeance on the other, filled the measure of their misfor-
tune. Torrents of blood mingled with the rain. It seemed
to the Lipkovs as if the heavens were falling upon them and
the earth was opening under th^ir feet. The flashing of
the lightning, the roar of the thunder, the rush of the rain,
and the terror of the tempest answered the awful cries of
the slain. The horses of the dragoons also, maddened with
fright dashed into the throng, breaking and casting men
to the earth. At length the smaller groups began to take
to flight, but they had so lost their bearings that they ran
about on the field of strife instead of fleeing straight r.head,
and they frequently collided like two opposing waves and
upset each other and fell under the sword. At last the dra-
goons completely scattered what was left of them and slew
them in the rout, taking no prisoners and mercilessly pur~
suing them till the trumpets recalled them from the pursuit.
Never was an attack more unexpected, nor a calamity more
dreadful. Three hundred men had scattered to the four
winds of the earth nearly two thousand picked cavalry whose
training was incomparably superior to un ordinary chambul.
The majority of them were prostrate in red pools of blood
and rain. The rest had dispersed and hid their heads, thanks
to the darkness, and escaped on foot at random, uncertain
whether they would run under the blade a second time. The
victors were 'aided by the tempest and darkness, as though
the wrath of the Lord were fighting on their side against
traitors.
PAN MICHAEL. 423
Night had entirely fallen when Pan ISTovovyeyaM started
at the head of his dragoons to return to the frontier of the
Commonwealth. A horse from the herd moved between the
young lieutenant and sergeant Lusnia. On the back of this
horse, bound with cords, lay the leader of all the Lipkov
Tartars, Azya, the son of Tukhay Bey, swooning and with
broken ribs.
They both looked at him from time to time as carefully
and anxiously as if they were carrying a treasure and were
afraid of losing it.
The storm began to abate. In the sky heaps of clouds
were still scurrying, but in the rents between them the stars
were beginning to shine and be reflected in pools of water
formed on the steppes by the heavy rain. In the distance
towards the frontier of the Commonwealth thunder still oc-
casionally rumbling.
CHAPTER XIII.
I The fugitive Lipkovs carried the news of the disaster to
I the Byalogrod horde. From them couriers took the tidings
on to the Ortu-i-Humayun that is, to the camp of the
Padishah, where it made a sensation.
Pan Novovyeyski had no need to make such haste to flee
with his booty to the Commonwealth, for the fact was that
not only was he not pursued at once, but also for the two
following days. The Sultan was so amazed that he did not
know what to do. He immediately despatched Byalogrod
and Dobrudja chambuls to ascertain what forces were in the
neighborhood. They went unwillingly, for with them it was
a question of their own skins. Meanwhile the news spread
from lip to lip and assumed the proportions of a considerable
calamity. Men from the depths of Asia and Africa who had
not hitherto fought against the Poles, and who had heard
tales of the terrible cavalry of the unbelievers, were terrified
at the thought that they were already face to face with that
foe who did not wait for them within his own boundaries, but
sought them in the very dominions of the Padishah; the grand
vizir himself, and the "Rising Sun of War," the kaimakan,
Black Mustafa, did not know what to think of the attack
either. ISTo Turkish head could explain how that Common-
wealth, of whose weakness they had heard so much could
suddenly make an attack. It is sufficient that thenceforth
the march seemed less safe and an easy triumph less probable.
At the council of war the Sultan received the vizir and kai-
makan with a terrible countenance.
I "You have deceived me/' he said. "The Poles cannot be
so feeble, since they seek us even here. You told me that
Sobieski would not defend Kamenets, and now he is certainly
facing us with his whole army . . ."
The vizir and kaimakan tried to explain to their master
that this might be some detached party of marauders, but
they did not believe that themselves in view of the muskets
and straps holding the dragoon-jackets. Sobieski's late ex-
(424)
PAN MICHAEL.
pedition to the Ukraine, which was daring beyond measure
and yet victorious, permitted the supposition that on this
occasion also that terrible leader meant to be beforehand with
the enemy.
"He has no troops/ 7 said the grand vizir as they left the
council; "but in him there is a lion that knows no fear. If
he has asembled even a few thousand and is here, we shall
wade in blood to Khotsim."
"I should like to measure my strength with him," said
young Black Mustafa.
"May God preserve you from misfortune!" replied the
grand vizir.
Gradually however the Byalogrod and Dobrudja chambuls
became satisfied that not only -were there no large bodies of
troops, but none at all in the neighborhood. They discovered
the trail of a party of about three hundred horse that had
hastened towards the Dniester. The Horde, remembering
the fate of Azya's men, made no pursuit for fear of an am-
bush. The attack remained as something amazing and in-
explicable, but gradually, tranquillity was restored to the
Ortu-i-Humayun and the hosts of the Padishah again began,
to advance like a flood.
In the meantime Pan Novovyeyski was returning in safety
with his living booty to Piashkov. He made haste, but as ex-
perienced scouts ascertained on the second day that there was
no pursuit, notwithstanding his haste he moved slowly enough
not to overtire the horses. Azya, bound with cords to the
back of the horse, was always between Novovyeyski and
Lusnia. He had two broken ribs and grew extremely weak,
for even the wound inflicted by Basia in his face opened in
his struggle with Pan Adam and from riding face downwards.
The terrible sergeant was careful not to let him die before
reaching Rashkov and thus escape their vengeance. The
young Tartar wished to die. Knowing what was awaiting
him, he first tried to kill himself with hunger and refused to
take food; but Lusnia opened his clenched teeth with a knife
and forced down his throat gorzalka and Moldavian wine
.mixed with ground biscuits. When they halted they threw
water on his face, so that the wounds of his eye and nose, on
which flies had thickly settled during the journey, should not
mortify and bring death to the ill-fated villain.
Pan Adam did not speak to him along the way. Only
once, at the beginning of the journey, when Azya offered to
426
PAN MICHAEL.
restore Zosia and Eva as the price of life and liberty, the lieu-
tenant cried:
"Thou liest, dog! Thou hast sold them to a merchant of
Stambul who will re-sell them in the bazaar."
And immediately they brought forward Elyashevich who
repeated in the presence of everybody:
"It is so, Effendi. You sold her without knowing to
whom; and Adurovich sold the bagadir's sister although she
was with child by him."
After these words for awhile Azya thought that Xovovyey-
ski would crush him at once in his terrible grip.
Afterwards, when he had lost all hope, h'e determined to
provoke the young giant to kill him in a transport of fury and
so escape future torments. Since Novovyeyski did not want
to let his captive out of his sight and always rode near him,
Azya began to indulge in boundless and shameless boasts of
his deeds. He told how he had slaughtered old Novovyeyski,
and kept Zosia Boska in his tent, and gloated over her inno-
cence, and lacerated her body with rods, and kicked her. The
sweat rolled down Pan Adam's pale face in great drops. He
listened and could not and did not want to go away. He
listened eagerly, his hands trembled, his body shook convul-
sively; but he conquered himself and did not slay.
But while Azya tortured his enemy he also tortured him-
self, for the tales he told reminded him of his present mis-
fortunes. A few days ago he was in command of men and
living in luxury, a mnrza, and a favorite of the young kai-
makan, and now, bound to the back of a horse and eaten alive
by flies, he was going to a terrible death. Relief came when
he swooned with the pain of his wounds and with suffering.
This increased in frequency till Lusnia began to fear that he
might not get him back alive. But they travelled night and
day and only allowed the horses what rest was absolutely
necessary and Rashkov came nearer and nearer. . Still the
horned soul of the Tartar would not leave his afflicted body.
Instead of that his body was in a continual fever during the
last days, and sometimes he fell into a deep sleep. More than
once in that sleep or delirium he dreamed that he was still at
Khreptyov and that he had to accompany Volodiyovski to a
great war; again that he was escorting Basia to Rashkov, or
again that he had carried her off and hidden her in his tent;
sometimes in his fever he saw battles and slaughter where he
was issuing orders beneath his bunchuk as the Hetman of the
PAN MICHAEL. 4 2 7
Polish Tartars. But awaking came and consciousness with
it. Opening his eyes he saw the faces of Novovyeyski and
Lusnia and the shakos of the dragoons who had cast off the
sheepskin caps of the horseherds, and the reality was so hor-
rible that it really appeared a nightmare. Each motion of
the horse tortured him, his wounds burned more and more
and he fainted again. Transfixed with agony he again re-
turned to consciousness only to fall into delirious dreams and
wake again.
There were moments when it seemed impossible that this
miserable being could be Azya the son of Tukhay Bey; that
his life so full of unusual occurrences, and promise of a high
destiny, was to come to such a sudden and terrible end.
Sometimes also it came into his mind that after torture and
death he would go straight to Paradise; but, because he had
once professed Christianity and long lived among Christians,
he was seized with fear at the thought of Christ. Christ
would have no pity on him and if the Prophet were mightier
than Christ he would not have delivered him into the hands
of Pan Novovyeyski. Perhaps, however, the Prophet would
still have mercy and take away his soul before he was tortured
to death.
Meanwhile Rashkov was near. They entered the cliff dis-
trict that indicated the vicinity of the Dniester. In the even-
ing Azya fell into a half-delirious, half-conscious state, in
which illusions and reality were mingled. It seemed to him
that they had arrived and come to a halt and around him he
heard the wors "Rashkov! Rashkov!" Then he thought he
heard the sound of axes cutting wood.
Then he felt that people were dashing water on his head
and then for some time they kept pouring gorzalka down his
throat. After that he completely recovered his senses. A
starry xnght was above him and many torches were flaring
about him. He heard the following words:
"Is he conscious ?"
"Conscious. He seems in his right mind . . "
At that moment he saw Lusnia's face above him.
"Well, brother," said the sergeant in a quiet voice. "Thy
hour has come."
Azya was lying on his back and breathing freely, for his
arms were extended above his head, on account of which his
expanded breast rose freely and received more air than when
he was lying bound to the back of the horse. But he could
428 PAH MICHAEL.
not move his arms, for they were tied to an oak staff placed
along his shoulders and were tied with straw dipped in tar.
The son of Tukhay Bey instantly divined the reason of this
but at the same moment he also noted other preparations that
told him that his torture would be protracted and horrible.
He was stripped from his waist to his feet, and slightly raising
his head, between his bare knees he saw a freshly-cut, pointed
stake, the butt of which was set against the stump of a tree.
From each of Azya's feet extended a rope leading to a whiffile-
tree to which a horse was attached. By the light of the
torches Azya could only see the rumps of the horses and two
men standing a little farther off who were evidently holding
the horses by the mouth.
The hapless villain took in these preparations at a glance;
then, for some unknown reason, looking at the sky, he saw
the stars and the shining crescent of the moon.
"They will drag me on," he thought.
And he immediately clenched his teeth so firmly that his
jaws were seized with a spasm. Sweat broke out on his brow
and at the same moment his face grew cold as all the blood
left it. Then he felt as if the earth were fleeing from under
him and his body were flying on and on through some bound-
less abyss. For a time he lost all consciousness of time and
space, and what they were doing to him. The sergeant opened
Azya's mouth with a knife and poured in some more gorzalka.
He coughed and spat out the fiery liquor, but was forced to
swallow some of it. Then he fell into a very strange state:
he was not intoxicated; on the contrary, his brain had never
been clearer nor his mind more active, He saw what they
were doing and comprehended it all; but he was seized with a
strange land of excitement, an impatience that it was taking
so long and that as yet nothing was beginning.
Then heavy steps were heard approaching and Pan Novovv-
eyski stood before him. At the sight of him every vein in
the Tartar's body quivered. He did not fear Lusnia as h
despised him too much. But he did not despise Pan Adam;
indeed he had no reason to do so; on the contrary, every
glance of his eye filled Azya with a certain superstitious terror
and aversion. At that moment he thought to himself, "Lamin
his power; I fear him!" and this was such a terrible feeling
that the hair of the son of Tukhay Bey stood upright on his
head.
And ISTovovyeyski said:
"For what thou hast done them shalt perish in torture/'
PAN MICHAEL.
429
The Lipkov made no reply but began to pant audibly.
Novovyeyski departed and a silence followed that was
broken by Lusnia:
"Thou didst raise thy hand against the lady," he cried in
hoarse tones, "but now the lady is at home with her husband
and thou art in our hands. Thy hour has come."
With these words Azya's tortures commenced. That ter-
rible being at the hour of his death learned that his treachery
and cruelty had been of no avail. Even if Basia had died on
the road he would have been consoled by the thought that
even if she was not his still she would not belong to anyone
else and he was deprived of that consolation at the very mo-
ment when the point of the stake was within an ell's length
of his body. All had been in vain. So many treasons, so
much blood, such great impending punishment for nothing,
for nothing at all. . . Lusnia had no idea how death had
been embittered to Azya by those words; if he had known he
would have repeated them all along the way.
But there was no time for regrets now; everything must
yield to the execution. Lusnia stooped down and seizing
both hips he placed them in position and called cut to the
men who were holding the horses:
"Move on, but slowly, and together!"
The horses moved forward; the ropes became taut and pul-
led Azya's legs. % In an instant his body was dragged along
the earth and reached the point of the stake. Then the point
began to penetrate him and something horrible began,
something repugnant to nature and humanity. The bones
of the wretch separated; his body parted in two directions; in-
describable agony, so awful as almost to verge on some mon-
strous delight, passed through him. The stake sank deeper
and deeper. Azya set his teeth, but could not endure it; his
teeth were bared in a horrible grin and from his throat came
a noise like the croak of a raven: "Ah! ah! ah!"
"Slowly!" the sergeant ordered.
Then he shouted to the men:
"Pull together! Stop! There, it is finished."
And he turned towards Azya who had suddenly become
silent except for a deep rattle in his throat.
The horses were quickly unhitched; then the stake was set
up and planted with the thick end in a hole prepared for it
and earth was packed round it. The son of Tukhay Bey
looked down on the work. He was conscious. This norrible
species of punishment was the more awful in that the victims
PAN MICHAEL.
of impalement sometimes lingered for three days. Azya's
head was bowed on his breast; his lips were moving and
smacking as if he were tasting something. He then experi-
enced extreme faintness and saw a kind of thick grey mist
before his eyes which seemed dreadful for some reason or
other, and in this mist he recognized the faces of the sergeant
and the dragoons and saw that he was on the stake and that
the weight of his own body was sinking him deeper and
deeper. Then he began to get numb from the feet upwards
and less and less* sensitive to pain.
Sometimes that grey mist became obscured and then he
would blink with his sound eye in the desire to witness every-
thing before his death. His gaze wandered persistently from
torch to torch, for it seemed that there was a rainbow circle
round each flame.
But his tortures were not over: presently the sergeant ap-
proached the stake with an augur in his hand and cried to
those about:
"Lift me up."
Two strong men hoisted him. Azya began to watch him
narrowly, blinking, as if trying to find out what kind of man
was climbing up to his elevation. Then the sergeant said:
"The lady knocked out one eye, and I vowed to bore out
the other." *
Then he drove the point into the pupil and gave a couple
of twists and, when the lid and delicate skin surrounding the
eye were wound round the thread of the augur, he gave a jerk.
Then two streams of blood gushed from Azya's eye-sockets
and flowed down his cheeks like two streams of tears.
His face grew paler and paler. The dragoons extinguished
the torches in silence as if ashamed that light should shine on
such a dreadful deed, and from the moon's crescent fell faint
silvery rays on Azya's body. His head bowed low on his
breast; but his hands, bound to the oak staff and wrapped in
straw dipped in tar, were pointed upwards to the sky, as if
that son of the Orient were calling down the vengeance of the
Turkish crescent on his executioners.
"To horse!" was heard from Pan Adam.
Before mounting, with the last torch the sergeant set fire
to those uplifted hands of the Tartar, and the detachment
took their way towards Yampol. Amid the ruins of Rashkov
in the middle of the night and the desert, Azya, the son of
Tukhay Bey, remained on the lofty stake and gleamed
for a long time.
CHAPTEE XIV.
Three weeks later at noon Pan Novovyeyski was at Khrept-
yov. He had been so slow in making the journey from Rash-
kov, because he had frequently crossed to the other bank of
the Dnieper to attack the chambuls and perkulabs of the Sul-
tan's forces at various stanitsas. Afterwards the latter in-
formed the Sultan's forces that they had seen Polish detach-
ments everywhere, and had heard of great armies that would
certainly not await the coming of the Turks at Kamenets, but
would oppose their advance and measure themselves with
them in a general battle.
The Sultan, who had been assured of the helplessness of the
Commonwealth, was amazed, and sending Lipkovs, Wal-
lachians, and Danubian hordes in advance, he slowly moved
forward, for, notwithstanding his overwhelming strength, he
dreaded a battle with the armies of the Commonwealth.
Pan Adam did not find Volodiyovski at Khreptyov, as the
little knight had followed Motovidlo to assist the governor of
Podlasia -against the Crimean horde and Doroshenko. There
he gained great victories and added fresh glory to his ancient
renown. He defeated the grim Korpan and left his body as
food for beasts on the wild fields; he crushed the terrible
Drozd, and the doughty Malyshka, and the two brothers Siny,
famous Cossack warriors, besides many smaller bands and
chambuls.
But when Pan Adam arrived, Pani Volodiyovska was just
making preparations to accompany the rest of the people and
the tabor to Kamenets, for the invasion made it necessary to
abandon Khreptyov. Basia was grieved to leave that wooden
fort where she had experienced many adventures, it is true,
but where the happiest part of her life had been spent with
her husband and in the midst of brave soldiers and loving
ones. At her own request she was now going to Kamenets,
to the unknown fortunes and perils incident to a siege.
But since she had a masculine spirit she did not give way
to grief, but carefully supervised the preparations for the
(431)
432 PAN
benefit of the soldiers and the tabor. In this she was assisted
by Pan Zagloba, who in every adventure surpassed everybody
in capability, and by Pan Mushalski, the matchless archer,
who was moreover a soldier of dexterous hand and incom-
parable experience.
Everybody was delighted at the arrival of Pan Adam, al-
though the face of the knight at once revealed that he had
not freed Evka, nor the sweet Zosia from Pagan captivity.
Basia bewailed the fate of the two ladies with bitter tears,
since they must now be regarded as finally lost. Sold to they
knew not whom, they might be carried from the bazaars of
Stambul, to Asia Minor, or to islands under the Turkish
dominion, or to Egypt, and there be locked up in harems;
thus it was not only impossible to ransom them, but even to
learn where they were.
Basia wept, and so did the wise Zagloba, and even the
matchless archer, Mushalski. Pan ISTovovyeyski's eyes alone
were dry, for tears had already failed him. But when he re-
lated how he had gone down as far as Tekich on the Danube
and cut the Lipkovs to pieces by the side of the horde and the
Sultan, and had captured Azya, the son of Tukhay Bey, the
evil enemy, the two old men clattered theii sabres and said:
"Give him to us! He should die here in Khreptyov."
^ot in Khreptyov," Pan Adam replied. "Rashkov is the
,;--Oe where he perished, that is the place where he should die;
Sad the sergeant here found for him a torture that was not
len he described the death by which Azya had died and
they listened with terror, but without pity.
"It is well known that the Lord God pursues crime, at last
said Zagloba; "but it is wonderful how poorly the Devil pro-
tects his servants."
Basia sighed piously and raised her eyes and said, after a
short meditation:
"That is because he lacks the power to withstand the might
of the Lord."
"Ah, you have said it," remarked Pan Mushalski, "for if
the Devil were more powerful than the Lord, which God for-
bid! all justice would disappear and the Commonwealth
with it."
"I do not fear the Turks, in the first place because they
are such sons, and in the second because they are children
of Belial," Zagloba replied,
PAN MICHAEL.
433
For a time all were silent. Pan Adam sat on the bench
with his hands on his knees looking at the floor with glassy
c-yes. Then Pan Mushalski turned to him and said:
"It must have been of some relief," he said, "for it is a
groat consolation to wreak a righteous vengeance."
"Tell us, has it really relieved your mind? Do you feel
better now?" asked Basia with a voice full of pity.
The giant was silent for awhile as though struggling with
his own thoughts; at last he said, as though greatly wonder-
ing, and in a voice that was almost a whisper:
"Just imagine! As God is dear to me, I thought I should
feel better if I were to kill him. ... I saw him on the
stake, I saw him when his eye was bored out, and I told myself
that I felt better; but it is not true, not true." . . .
Here 'Pan Adam put his suffering head in his hands and
muttered through his clenched teeth:
"It was better for him on the stake, better with the auger
in his eye, better with the flames on his hands, than it is for
me with what abides in me, and thinks, and remembers.
Death is my only consolation; death, death."
Basia's brave and martial spirit rose at his words, and sud-
denly laying her hand on the head of the miserable man, she
said :
"God grant it to you at Kamenets; for as you truly say, it is
the only consolation."
Then he shut his eyes and repeated:
"Oh, that is true! that is true! God repay you!" . . .
They all set out for Kamenets the same evening.
After passing through the gate Basia turned and gazed long
and lingeringly at the fort gleaming in the evening glow; at
last she crossed herself and said:
"God grant that we may be allowed to return with Michael
to thee, dear Khreptyov! . . . God grant that nothing
worse be in store for us."
And two tears rolled down her rosy face. Every heart was
oppressed with a strange sense of sorrow, and they moved on
silently.
Meanwhile darkness fell.
They advanced slowly towards Kamenets on account of the
tabor. It included wagons, herds of horses, bullocks, buffa-
loes, camels, and camp-followers who attended the herds.
Some of the servants and soldiers had married at Khreptyov
and so there was no lack of women in the tabor. There were
88
434 FAN MICHAEL.
the troops of Pan Adam's command, besides two hundred
Hungarian infantry that the little knight had equipped at his
own chajge, and trained. Basia was their patron; and Ka-
lushevski, a good officer led them. It included no real Hun-
garians,, it received the name only because it had a Magyar
uniform. The inferior officers were veterans of the dragoons;
but the ranks were composed of murderers and bandits who
had been condemned to the rope. They were reprieved on
condition of joining the infantry and blotting out their past
iniquities with loyalty and valor. Among them also were vol-
unteers who had left their ravines, fields, and other robber
haunts to take service at Khreptyov under the Little Falcon
rather than have his sword hanging over their heads. These
men were not very tractable, nor sufficiently trained as yet;
but they were brave and inured to hardship, danger, and
bloodshed. Basia was very fond of this infantry as of
Michael's child; and the wild hearts of the warriors soon con-
ceived a devotion for the wonderful and kind lady. They
were now marching beside her carriage with muskets on their
shoulders and sabres at their side, proud to guard the lady,
and ready to defend her to the death should any chambul
bar her road.
But the road was still open, for Pan Michael was more far-
sighted than others, and, moreover, he loved his wife too
much to expose her to danger by delay. The journey there-
for was a quiet one. They left Khreptyov in the afternoon
and travelled that evening and all night and the next day they
gaw the high cliffs of Kamenets.
When they saw them and the bastions of the fort crowning
the cliffs they at once were greatly comforted; for it looked
unlikely to them for any but the hand of God to destroy
that eagle's nest on the summit of jutting cliffs, and sur-
rounded by the bend of the river. It was a lovely summer
day. The towers of the churches, peeping over the cliffs,
shone like enormous lights and that spot seemed steeped in
peace, serenity, and gladness.
"Bashka," cried Zagloba, "the Infidels have gnawed at
those walls on more than one occasion and have always broken
their teeth on them. Ah, how often have I myself seen them
flee, holding themselves by the snout in their agony! God
grant it may be so this time!"
"Surely it will," answered the radiant Basia.
"Osman, one of their Sultans, was here. I remember as if
PAN MICHAEL. 435
it were to-day; it was in the year 1621. He came himself, the
scoundrel, just there from that side of the Smotrych, from
Khotsim, stared, and gaped, and stared, and stared, and at
last asked, 'Who fortified that place like that?' 'The Lord
God/ the vizir replied. 'Then let the Lord God take it, for
I am no fool!' And immediately he returned."
"Bah! they returned in a hurry!" interrupted Pan Mush-
alsM.
"They turned back quickly," cried Zagloha, "because we
kicked them in the weak side with our lances, and afterwards
the knighthood carried me to Pan Lubomirski."
"Were you at Khotsim then?" asked the matchless archer.
"I can scarcely believe that there is anywhere where you have
not been, or anything you have not done."
Pan Zagloba was rather annoyed, and replied:
"Not only was I there, but I received a wound that I can
show you, if you care to see it; I can do so immediately, but
we must retire, as it would not be becoming in me to speak of
it in the presence of Pani Volodiyovski."
The celebrated archer at once saw that Zagloba was making
fun of him, and as he did not feel equal to defeating him in a
war of wit he made no further inquiries and turned the con-
versation.
"What you say is true," he said, "when a man is far away
and hears people say, 'Kamenets is not provisioned, Kamenets
will fall/ he is seized with dread; but when he sees Kamenets,
by God, he is reassured."
"Besides, Michael will be in Kamenets," cried Basia.
"And perhaps Pan Sobieski will send assistance."
"Praise be to God! we are not so badly off after all. Things
have been worse, and we did not yield."
"Even if it were worse, the point is not to lose courage.
They have not devoured us yet, and they won't as long as
we keep our spirits up," said Zagloba.
Cheered by these thoughts they became silent. But sud-
denly Pan Adam rode up beside Basia; his face, which was
usually dark and terrible was now smiling and tranquil. His
eyea were fastened in a rapt gaze on Kamenets which was
bathed in sunlight; and he was smiling.
The two knights and Basia looked at him in astonishment,
not being able to comprehend why the sight of that strong-
hold should so suddenly have removed all weight from his
spirit.
43 6 PAN MICHAEL.
But he exclaimed:
"Praised be the name of the Lord! there was a world of
suffering, but now happiness is near me."
Then he turned to Basia.
"They are both with the bailiff, Tomashevich, and it is
well that they have concealed themselves there, for in a fort-
ress like that that robber cannot harm them/'
"Whom are you talking about?" asked Basia in terror.
"Zosia and Evka."
"God help you!" cried Zagloba; "do not give way to the
Devil."
But Pan Adam continued:
"Neither is it true, as they say, that Azya killed my father."
"His mind is wandering," whispered Pan Mushalski.
"Allow me," said Novovyeyski again, "I will hasten on in
advance. It is so long since I saw them that I am pining
for them."
"Ah! There seems to be the booth of my beloved."
With that his great head began to sway from side to side
and he spurred on.
Pan Mushalski beckoned to some dragoons and followed,
to keep an eye on the madman. Basia hid her rosy face in her
hands and scalding tears began to trickle through her fingers.
"He was such a fine fellow, like gold, but such misfortunes
are more that a human heart can bear. . . . Besides mere
vengeance will not restore the spirits." . . .
Kamenets was busy with defensive preparations. On the
Avails, in the old castle, and at the gates, especially the Bus-
si an gates, the various nationalities in the town worked under
their own bailiffs, among whom Tomashevich held the first
place on account of his great daring and skill in handling
cannon. At the same time Poles, Russians, Armenians, Jews,
and Gypsies emulated each other with the spade and wheel-
> < arrow. Officers of various regiments supervised the work;
sergeants and soldiers assisted the citizens, and even nobles
set to work, forgetting for once that God had created their
hands for the sabre alone and allotted all other work to men
of lowly rank. Voytsiekh Humyetski, the banneret of Podo-
lia, himself set an example that brought tears into people's
eyes, for with his own hands he brought stones in a barrow.
There was great bustle in the town and castle. The Domin-
icans, Jesuits, Brothers of St. Francis, and Carmelites went
about among the throngs blessing the effort of the people.
PAN MIC HAUL. 437
Women carried food and drink to the laborers and the sol-
diers' eyes were attracted by beautiful Armenian women, the
wives and daughters of rich merchants, and yet more lovely
Jewesses from Karvasera, Javnets, Zinkoviets and Dunaygrod.
But Basia's entrance attracted the attention of the crowds
more than anything else. There were undoubtedly more dis-
tinguished women in Kamenets, but none whose husband had
a greater military reputation. In Kamenets they had also
heard of Pani Volodiyovski herself as a marshal lady who was
not afraid to dwell on a watch-tower in the wilderness among
wild people, and who accompanied her husband on expedi-
tions, and, when abducted by a Tartar, had managed to over-
come him and make her escape in safety from the hands of
the ravisher. So she was extremely famous. But those who
did not know her and had not seen her yet supposed her
to be some giantess who could break horse-shoes and crush
armor. Therefore what was their surprise to see a little, rosy,
childish face! "Is that Pani Volodiyovski herself, or her
little daughter?" people in the throng asked. "Herself/' an-
swered those who knew her. And citizens, women, priests,
and soldiers were all overcome with admiration. They gazed
no less wonderingly at the invincible garrison of Khreptyov
and at the dragoons, among whom Pan Adam was riding
calmly with wandering glances, and at the terrible faces of
the marauders who were transformed into Hungarian in-
fantry. But at Basia's side marched a few hundred men who
were worthy of all praise, being soldiers by profession, and so
the townspeople gained fresh courage. "That is no ordinary
force; they will look the Turks boldly in the face/' cried the
people in the throng. Some of the citizens, and even of the
soldiers, particularly those of the regiment of Bishop Tjebit-
ski, that had recently arrived at Kamenets, thought that Pan
Michael himself was with the party and cried:
"Long live Pan Volodiyovski!"
"Long live our defender! The most famous cavalier!"
"Vivat Volodiyovski! vivat!"
Basia's heart swelled as she listened, for nothing is dearer
to a woman than her husband's fame, especially when it
sounds on the lips of people in a great city. "There are so
many knights here," Basia thought, "and my dear Michael is
the only one they acclaim." And she wanted to join in the
chorus "Vivat Volodiyovski!" herself, but Zagloba told her
that she must comfort herself as a person of distinction and
MICHAEL.
bow from side to side as queens do when entering a capital.
He also saluted, sometimes with his cap and sometimes with
liis hand, and when acquaintances began to honor him with
vivats he addressed the crowd:
"Gracious gentlemen, he who endured Zbaraj will hold out
in Kamenets."
In accordance with Volodiyovski's instructions the party
went to the newly-built cloister of the Dominican nuns. The
little knight had his own house in Kamenets; but, as the
cloister was in a remote spot, out of the reach of cannon-balls,
he preferred to settle his beloved Basia there, more especially
as he anticipated a hearty welcome on account of his benefac-
tions to the cloister. Indeed the abyge, Mother Victoria, the
daughter of Stephen Pototski, Voyevoda of Bratslav, received
Basia with .open arms. The embraces of the abbess were fol-
lowed by other greatly-loved ones; those of her aunt, Pani
Makovyetska, whom she had not seen, for some years. They
both shed tears and so did her uncle, the Stolnik of Latychov,
with whom Basia had always been a favorite. They had
scarcely dried their joyful tears when Krysia Ketling rushed
in and fresh greetings commenced; then Basia was surrounded
by the nuns and noble strangers and acquaintances; Pani
Martsinova Bogush, Pani Stanislavska, Pani Kalinovska, Pani
Khotsimirski, Pani Voytsyekhova Humyetska, the wife of the
banneret of Podolia, a great cavalier. Some, like Pani Bogush,
asked after their husbands, while others asked what Basia
thought about the Turkish invasion and whether, in her opin-
ion, Kamenets would hold out. Basia was delighted to see
that they regarded her as an authority on military matters,
and looked for comfort from her lips. So she did not stint
her gifts. "Nobody says," she said, "that we cannot hold
out against the Turks. Michael will be here to-day, or to-
morrow, or in a couple of days at the furthest; and when he
takes the defence in hand, you, ladies, may sleep in peace.
Besides the fortress is exceedingly strong; thank God, I have
some little knowledge in such affairs."
Basia 7 s confidence comforted the hearts of the women; in
particular they were reassured by the promise of Pan Michael's
arrival. Indeed, his name was held in such honor that, al-
though it was evening, the officers of the place immediately
began to come and pay their respects to Basia* After the first
greetings, everyone asked when the little knight would re-
turn, and whether he really meant to shut himself up ii*
PAN MICHAEL. 439
Kamenets. Basia only received Major Kvasibrotski, who
commanded the infantry of the Bishop of Cracow; the secre-
tary, Jevuski, who had succeeded Pan Lanchyski, or rather
was acting as locum tenens in command of the regiment; and
Ketling. No others were admitted that day, as Basia was
tired after the journey, and moreover she had to see after
Pan Novovyeyski. That unfortunate man had fallen from
his horse at the very gate of the convent and had been carried
unconscious to a cell. They immediately sent for the same
doctor who had cured Basia at Khreptyov. The doctor said
that Pan Adam had a serious brain disease and gave little
jiope of his recovery. Basia, Pan Mushalski, and Zagloba sat
up late, talking about the affair and dwelling on the knight's
unhappy lot.
"The doctor told me," said Zagloba, "that if he recovers
consciousness, and is bled freely, his mind will not be de-
ranged and he will bear his misfortune with a lighter heart."
"There is no consolation for him now," said Basia.
"It would often be better for a man to have no memory,"
said Pan Mushalski; "but even alimals are not without it."
The little, old man demurred to this remark of the famous
archer's.
"If you had no memory you couldn't go to confession,"
said the latter; "and you would deserve hell-fire like a Lu-
theran. Father Kaminski has already cautioned you against
blasphemy; but repeat the Paternoster to a wolf and he would
rather be devouring a goat."
"What kind of a wolf am I?" asked the famous archer.
"There was Azya; he was a wolf."
"Didn't I say so?" asked Zagloba. "Who was the first to
say, 'there's a wolf ?" J
"Pan Adam told me," said Basia, "that day and night he
hears Evka and Zosia calling to him 'rescue,' and how can
he rescue? It had to end in an illness, for nobody could endure
such suffering. He could survive their death; but not their
shame."
"Now he is lying like a log of wood; he knows nothing of
God's world," said Pan Mushalski; "and it's a great pity, for
he was unsurpassed as a fighter."
At this point the conversation was interrupted by a ser-
vant who announced there was a great noise in the town,
where, people were gathering to see the General of Podolia,
who was just entering with a large escort and several tens of
infantry.
PAN MICHAEL.
"The command belongs to him/ 7 said Zagloba, "It is brave
of Pan Nikolai Pototski to prefer this to any other place, but,
as of old, J would rather he were not here. He is opposed to
the Hetman; he did not believe the war was coming; and now
who knows whether he will not want to surrender."
"Perhaps other Pototskis will come in after him/' said Pan
Mushalski.
"It is evident that the Turks are not far away," answered
Zagloba. "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
God grant that the General of Podolia may prove a second
Yeremy; and Kamenets a second Zbaraj!"
"It must be; or we shall first die/' cried a voice on the
threshold.
At the sound of that voice Basia sprang up and, crying
"Michael," cast herself into the little knight's arms.
Pan Michael brought much important news from the field
and told it to his wife in the quiet cell before communicating
it to the military council. He had utterly destroyed a number
of small chambuls and had dashed around the camps of the
Crimea and Doroshenko with great glory to himself. He had
also brought a few dozen prisoners, from whom they might
gain intelligence as to the force of the Khan and Doroshenko.
But other raiders had not been so successful. The Chief
of Podlasia, commanding considerable forces, had been
crushed in a sanguinary battle; Motovidlo had been defeated
by Krychinski, who had pursued him to the Wallachian trail
with the assistance of the Byalogrod horde and the Lipkovs
who had survived Pan Adam's victory at Tekich. Before
coming to Kamenets, Pan Michael had turned aside to
Khreptyov, as he said he had wanted to gaze again on the
scene of his happiness.
"I arrived there immediately after your departure," he
said, "the place had not yet grown cold and I might easily
have overtaken you, but I crossed over to the Moldavian bank
to listen in the direction of the steppes. Some chambuls have
already crossed, but they fear that if they come out at Pokuts
they may unexpectedly come across people. There are others
in advance of the Turkish army and they will soon be here.
There will be a siege, my most beloved dove, there is no help
for it; but we will not surrender, for everyone here is not only
defending the country, 'but his private property as well."
Then he twirled his moustache and put his arms round his
wife and kissed her cheeks and they conversed no more that
day.
PAN MICHAEL.
441
The next morning Pan Michael repeated his tidings at
Bishop Lantskoronski's, before the council of war, which in
addition to the Bishop, included Pan Nikolai Pototski, Gen-
eral of Podolia; Pan Lantskoronski, Chamberlain of Podolia;
Pan Jevuski, Secretary of Podolia; Pan Humyetski, the Stand-
ard Bearer; Ketling, Makovyetska, Major Kvasibrotski, and
several other officers. In the first place Volodiyovski was not
pleased with the General of Podolia's declaration that he
would not assume the command himself, but depute it to a
council. "In sudden emergencies there ought to be one head
and one will," said the little knight. "At Zbaraj there were
three men who were entitled to the command, but they re-
signed it to Prince Yeremy Vishnyovyetski, properly con-
sidering that it is better to obey one in times of peril."
These words had no effect. The learned Ketling vainly
quoted the example of the Romans, who, being the greatest
warriors in the world, instituted the dictatorship. Bishop
Lantskoronski, who did not like Ketling, for he had taken
it into his head for some reason or other that, as Ketling
was of Scottish birth, he must be a heretic in his secret heart,
retorted that the Poles did not need to learn history from
new arrivals; moreover, they had minds of their own and had
no need to follow the example of Romans, who were not
their superiors in bravery and eloquence, or very little, even
if at all. The bishop added, "As there is more blaze from
an armful of wood than from one stick, so there is more vigi-
lance in many heads than in one." Thereupon he extolled the
General of Podolia's modesty, though the others knew it was
rather dread of responsibility, and for his own part he coun-
selled negotiations. As he uttered this word the soldiers
sprang from their seats as if scorched. Pan Michael, Ketling,
Makovyetska, Humyetski, Jevuski and Kvasibrotski began to
grind their teeth and clatter their sabres. Voices exclaimed,
"I believe that we did not come here to negotiate!" "The
negotiator is protected by his frock!" and Kvasibrotski even
cried: "the church porch, not this council, is your place!"
and there was a tumult.
At that the bishop arose and said in a loud voice: "I should
be the first to give my life for the church and my little lambs;
but if I have spoken of negotiations and the desire to tem-
porize, God is my judge that it is not because I want to give
up the fortress, but to gain time for the Hetman to gather
veinforcements. The name of Pan Sobieski is dreaded by
442 MICHAEL.
the Infidels, and even though he has not enough forces yet,
if the rumor spreads that he is advancing, the Mussulmans
will leave Kamenets quickly enough." And as he spoke so
forcibly all were silent and some were glad to see that the
bishop really had no thought of surrender.
On this, Volodiyovski said:
"Before the enemy can besiege Kamenets he must destroy
Jvanets, because he cannot leave a strong place of defence in
his rear. Therefore with the General's permission I will un-
dertake to shut myself up in Jvanets and hold it while the
bishop tries to gain time with negotiations. I will take trusty
men with me; and Jvanets will stand as lor g as my life lasts."
At that they all cried :
"By no means can that be, you are wanted here! The citi-
zens will lose heart without you, and the soldiers will not be
so willing to fight. By no means! by no manner of means!
Who has had more experience? Who went through Zbaraj?
And when it comes to a sortie who will lead the men? You
would be consumed in Jvanets, and without you here, we
should be consumed."
"I am at the disposal of the command," answered Pan
Michael.
"Send some young man to be my assistant at Jvanets," said
the under-Chamberlain of Podolia.
"Let Novovyeyski go," cried several voices.
"Novovyeyski cannot go, for his head is burning," answered
Pan Michael; "he is lying on his bed, and knows nothing of
God's world/'
"Meanwhile let us decide where each man's place is to be
and what gate he is to defend," said the bishop.
All eyes were turned on the General of Podolia, who said:
"Before I give orders I should be glad to have the opinions
of experienced soldiers; since Pan Volodiyovski here has the
greatest military experience, I call on him first for his
opinion."
In the first place Volodiyovski advised that the castles in
front of the town should be well garrisoned, for he thought
that the main force of the enemy would be directed to them
especially. Others were of the same opinion. There were
sixteen hundred infantry, so disposed that Pan Myslishevski
occupied the right side of the castle and the left was held by
Pan Humyetski, celebrated for his exploits at Khotsim. Pan
Michael took the mast perilous post on the side towards Khot-
PAN MICHAEL. 443
sim, and Serdyuk's division was posted lower down. Major
Kvasibrotski covered the side towards Zinkoviets; the south
was occupied by Pan Vansovich, and the side next the court
by Captain Bukar with Pan Krasinski's men. The latter were
not volunteers of indifferent quality, but soldiers by profes-
sion, so excellent and steady in battle, that to them artillery
fire was no more than the heat of the sun to other men.
Moreover, serving in the armies of the Commonwealth, which
were always small in numbers, from their earliest year they
had been accustomed to oppose a foe of ten times their
strength and looked upon it as quite a natural thing. Ket-
ling, who was most expert in the art of aiming cannon, was
given the general management of the castle artillery. The
little knight was to have chief command in the castle, and the
General left him at liberty to make a sortie as often as it was
necessary and possible.
Knowing now the position of each man, they heartily re-
joiced and raised a great shout, at the same time clattering
their swords, which was their way of showing their willing-
ness. When he heard this the General said to himself:
"I had no belief that we could defend ourselves and I came
here without any faith, only listening to the voice of my own
conscience; but who knows? we may repulse the foe with such
soldiers! In that case the glory will be mine and they will
hail me as a second Yeremy; and in that event it may be
that a fortunate star has brought me here."
And as he had before been doubtful of the defence of
Kamenets, so now he doubted its capture; so his courage grew
and he more actively began to take measures for the strength-
ening of the city.
It was decided to post Pan Makovyetska at the Russian
gate in the city, itself with a handful of nobles and Polish
citizens who were more than usually martial, and a few dozen
Armenians and Jews with them. The Lutsk gate was con-
fided to Pan Grodetski, who was joined by Pan Juk and Pan
Matchynski in command of the artillery. The guard of the
square in front of the town-hall was commanded by Lukash
Dzevanovski, and the noisy Gypsies at the Russian gate were
commanded by Khotsimirski. From the bridge to Pan Sinit-
ski's house the guards were commanded by Pan Casimir
Humyetski, the manly brother of Voytsyekh. Further on
were to be quartered Pan Stanishevski; and Pan Martsin
Bogush at the Polish gate; and Pan Yerzy Skarjinski at tha
444 PAN MICHAEL.
Spij Bastion, and Pan Yatskovski beside the Byaloblotski em-
brasures; and the Butcher Bastion was held by Pan Dubravski
and Pan Pyetrashevski. The great intrenchment of the town
was entrusted to Tomashevich, the Polish bailiff, and the
smaller one to Pan Yatskovski; orders were given to con-
struct a third one, from which, later, a certain Jew, a skilful
gunner, greatly annoyed the Turks.
When these arrangements were completed the whole council
went to sup with the General, who, at that entertainment,
particularly honored Pan Michael with place, food, wine, and
conversation, foreseeing that for his deeds during the siege
posterity would add the title of the "Hector of Kamenets" to
that of the "Little Knight." The latter declared that he
meant to serve with the utmost earnestness, and to that end
he intended to take a certain vow in the cathedral, and prayed
the bishop therefore to allow him to do so on the morrow.
The bishop readily acquiesced as he saw that this vow might
be to the popular advantage. The next morning there was a
solemn service in the cathedral. It was heard with devotion
and elevation of heart by knights, nobles, soldiers, and the
populace. Pan Michael and Ketling both lay prostrate in the
form of a cross before the altar; Krysia and Basia were both
kneeling close by, outside the railing, weeping, for they knew
that that vow might imperil the lives of their husbands. At
the end of the Mass the bishop turned to the people with the
monstrance; then the little knight rose and, kneeling on the
steps of the altar, in calm tones, though with emotion, said:
"Being deeply grateful for the special benefactions and
particular protection that I have received from the Most High
God and from His Only Son, I vow and make oath that, as
He and His Son have aided me, so to my last breath I will
defend the Holy Cross, and since I am entrusted with the
command of the old castle, while I have life and can move
I hand and foot, I will not admit to the castle the Infidel foe,
who live in vileness; nor will I leave the wall, nor raise the
white flag, even if I have to be buried there under the
ruins. ... So help me God and the Holy Cross! Amen!"
A solemn silence prevailed in the church and then Ket-
ling's voice was heard.
"I vow," he said, "for the special benefactions that I have
received in the fatherland, to defend the castle to the last
drop of my blood and to bury myself under its ruins rather
than allow the foot of an enemy to enter its walls. And, as
FAN MICHAEL. 445
I take this oath with a clean heart and out of pure gratitude,
so help me God and the Holy Cross! Amen!"
Here the bishop lowered the monstrance and gave it first
to Volodiyovski and then to Ketling to kiss. At this sight
a loud murmur arose from the numerous knights in the
church. Voices were heard: "We will all swear! We will lie
upon one another! The fortress shall not fall! We will swear!
we will swear! Amen, amen, amen!" The rasping of the
sabres and rapiers was heard as thsy left the scabbards and
the church became bright with the steel. The gleam shone on
threatening faces and glittering eyes and the nobles, soldiers,
and populace were seized with intense and indescribable en-
thusiasm. Then all the bells rang, the organ rumbled, the
bishop intoned the 'Sub Tuum praesidium/ and a hundred
voices sounded in answer; and thus they prayed for that for-
tress that was the watch-tower of Christendom and the key
of the Commonwealth.
At the end of the service Ketling and Pan Michael left the
church hand in hand. Blessings and praise accompanied
their steps, for nobody doubted that they would die sooner
than surrender the castle. However, not death, but victory
and glory seemed to be hovering over them, and probably
among all those people they alone knew how terrible was the
oath by which they had bound themselves. Perhaps also, two
loving hearts had a presentiment of the destruction that was
hanging over their heads, for neither Basia nor Krysia could
recover their composure; and when Pan Michael found him-
self at last in the convent with his wife, choked with tears and
sobbing like a little child she nestled up to his breast and
cried in broken accents:
"Remember . . . Michael, that . . . God ward off mis-
fortune from you. ... I ... I ... know not . . , what
. . . will . . . become of me!"
And she quivered with emotion; the little knight was also
greatly moved. His little yellow moustache quivered. Pres-
ently he said:
"But Bashka ... it was necessary, well! well!" . . .
"I would rather die!" cried Basia.
At her words the little knight's lips quivered more violently
and he said again and again:
"Quiet, Bashka, quiet!" At length, to calm the woman he
loved more than all women on earth, he said:
"Do you remember that when the Lord God restored you to
446 PAX MICHAEL.
me I said, 'Whatever return, Lord God, is right, I promise
Thee. . After the war if I am alive, I will build a chapel, but
during the war I must do something remarkable so as not feed
Thee with ingratitude?' What is a castle? It is little for
such benefits. The time has come. Is it right that the
Saviour should say to Himself, 'His promise is a plaything?'
May the stones of the castle overwhelm me before I break the
knightly word that I gave to God. It is necessary, Bashka,
and that's the whole thing! . . . Let us trust in the Lord,
Bashka!" .
CHAPTER XV.
The same day Pan Michael took some squadrons to tho
assistance of Pan Vasilkovski who had gone in haste to Hryn-
chuk, for news arrived that the Tartars had made an attack
there, taking captives and cattle, but not burning villages,
so as not to attract notice. Pan Vasilkovski soon dispersed
them, rescuing the captives and" taking prisoners. Volodiy-
ovski took these prisoners to Jvanets and instructed Pan
Makovyetska to torture them and take down their confessions
in writing, to be forwarded to the Hetman and the King.
The Tartars confessed that at the order of the perkulab they
had crossed the border with Captain Styngan and with Wal-
lachians; but even under the^ flames they could not tell how
far away at that time the Sultan was with his whole force,
for, as they moved forward in irregular bodies, they did not
keep in touch with the main army.
However, they all agreed that the Sultan was advancing
in force to the Commonwealth and would soon be at Khot-
sim. These confessions contained nothing new for the fu-
ture defenders of Kamenets; but since in the king's palace
it was not believed that war was coming, the Under-Cham-
berlain determined to send these prisoners, together with
their statements, to Warsaw.
Meanwhile the scouting parties had returned from their
first expedition in good spirits. In the evening the secretary
of Habareskul, Pan Michael's relative, the senior perkulab
of Khotsim, arrived. He brought no letters, as the perkulab
was afraid to write; but his orders were to tell his relative
Volodiyovski, 'the pupil of his eye and the love of his heart/
to be on his guard, and if there were not sufficient troops
to defend Kamenets, to find some excuse for leaving the
town, for the Sultan with his whole force had been expected
for two days at Khotsim.
Pan Michael sent his thanks to the perkulab and rewarded
the secretary and sent him back; he then informed the com-
mandants of the approaching danger. Work on the forti-
(447)
44 8 PAN MICHAEL.
fications was pushed hourly with increased energy; Tan
Hieronim Lantskoronski, without a moment's delay, went
to his Jvanets to keep an eye on Khotsim.
Some time passed in waiting; at length, on the second
day of August, the Sultan halted at Khotsim. His regiments
extended like a shoreless sea; aaid at the sight of the last
town in the Sultan's dominions, the cry "Allah! Allah!" rose
from hundreds of thousands of throats. On the other side
of the Dniester lay the defenceless Commonwealth which
those innumerable hosts were to overspread like a deluge,
or devour like a flame. Crowds of warriors, unable to find
room in the town, spread over the fields; the same fields
where some decades earlier Polish sabres had dispersed an
equally numerous army of the Prophet. It now seemed that
the hour of vengeance had arrived and not one in all those
wild legions, from the Sultan down to the camp-follower
had any presentiment that those fields would a second time
be ill-omened for the Crescent. Hope and even the assurance
of victory reigned in all hearts. Janissaries and pnpliis,
crowds of levies from the Balkans and the mountains of
Rhodope, from Rumelia, from Pelion and Osa, from Car-
mel and Lebanon, from the deserts of Arabia, from the
farther banks of the Tigris, from the lowlands of the Nile
and the burning sands of Africa, uttering wild shouts de-
manded to be led at once to the "shore of the unbelievers."
But the muezzins began to call to prayer from the minarets
of Khotsim and therefore all became silent. A sea of heads
in turbans, caps, fezes, burnooses, kef is, and steel helmets
bowed to the earth, and the deep murmur of prayer passed
over the fields like the hum of an innumerable swarm of
bees, and was carried by the breeze across the Dniester to-
wards the Commonwealth.
Then were heard drums, trumpets and pipes, calling to
rest. Though the hosts had marched leisurely and comfort-
ably the Padishah wanted to give them a rest at the river
after the long journey from Adrianople. He performed his
own ablutions in a clear spring near the town and rode
thence to the konak of Khotsim; and they began to pitch
tents in the fields that soon made the whole surrounding
country look as if covered with snow.
It was a lovely day with a beautiful close. After the last,
evening prayers the camp went to rest. Thousands and hun-
dreds of thousands of fires were blazing. From the little castle
PAN MICHAEL.
in Jvanets opposite, the light of those fires filled them with
dread, for they extended to such a distance that the sol-
diers who went out to reconnoitre brought in the account,
"It" looked as if the whole of Moldavia were in flames."
But as the bright moon mounted higher in the starry skies
they -all died down except the watch-fires; the camp grew
silent and the quiet of the night was only disturbed by the
neighing of horses and the bellowing of the buffaloes feed-
ing on the meadows of Taraiban.
But the next day at dawn the Sultan ordered the janis-
saries and Tartars and Lipkovs to cross the Dniester and
occupy Jvanets, the town as well as the castle. The valiant
Pan Hieronim I^antskoronski did not await them behind
the walls, but, having with him forty Tartars, eighty men
of Kiev, and one squadron of his own, he charged the janis-
saries at the ferry; and notwithstanding a rattling volley
from their muskets, he broke that splendid infantry so that
they began .to retreat to the river in disorder. But in the
meantime the chambul, reinforced by the Lipkovs, who had
crossed higher up, broke into the town. Smoke and crie*
warned the brave Under-Chamberlain that the place was
in the possession of the enemy. He therefore gave orders
for the ferry to be abandoned for the purpose of aiding the
unfortunate inhabitants. The janissaries could not pursue,
as they were infantry, and he dashed to the rescue at full
speed.
Just as he was coming up, his own Tartars suddenly
threw down their flag and went over to the enemy. Then
followed a moment of great danger. The chambul,, aided by
the treacherous Lipkovs, thinking the treason would throw
them into confusion, fiercely engaged the Under-Chamber-
Iain hand to hand. Luckily the men of Kiev, inspired by
their leader's example, offered stout resistance. The squad-
ron broke the enemy, who were not capable of withstanding
regular Polish cavalry. The ground before the bridge v/;;<
soon covered with corpses, especially of the Lipkovs, who kept
the field as they were hardier than the average men of the
horde. Many of them were 'afterwards cut down in the
streets. Lantskoronski, seeing the janissaries approaching
from the river, withdrew behind the walls and sent to Kam-
enets for aid.
The Padishah had not intended to take the castle of
Jvanets that day, rightly thinking that he could crush it
29
4.50 PAN MICHAEL.
in an instant at the general passage of the hosts. He merely
wanted to occupy that point, and thinking the force he sent
to be quite sufficient, he sent no more either of the janis-
saries or the horde. Those who had crossed the river again
occupied the place when the squadron had retired within
the walls. They did not burn the town, for they wanted
it as a future shelter for their own and other detachments,
but went to work in it with sabres and daggers. The janis-
saries seized the young women in the manner of soldiers and
cut down the husbands and children with axes; the Tartars
were plundering.
Then from the castle-bastion the Poles saw cavalry ap-
proaching from the direction of Kamenets. . When he heard
that, Lantkoronski went out to the bastion with some com-
panions and a field-glass and gazed long and carefully At
last he said:
"That is light cavalry from the Khreptyov garrison, the
same that accompanied Vasilkovski to Hrynchuk. It is evi-
dent that they have been sent out this time."
Then he began to scrutinize them again.
"I see volunteers. It must be Humyetski."
And in a moment:
"God be praised! Volodiyovski himself is there, for I
see dragoons. Worthy gentlemen, let us again dash out from
behind the walls and with God's aid we will drive the enemy
not only out of the town but across the river."
Then he ran down breathlessly to draw up below, his
men of Kiev, and the squadron. Meanwhile the Tartars in
the town first saw the approaching troops and raising shrill
shouts of "Allah!" began to form in a shambul. Drums and
whistles were heard in every street. The janissaries formed
with that rapidity in which they were equalled by few
troops in the world. The chambul dashed out of the place
like a whirlwind and fell upon the light cavalry. The cham-
bul itself, without counting the Lipkovs who had been badly
mauled by Lantskoronski, were three times as numerous as
the garrison of Jvanets and the approaching reinforcements
combined, so it did not hesitate to attack Pan Vasilkovski;
but the latter, who was young and impetuous and dashed
against every danger ardently and blindly, ordered his sol-
diers to go at full gallop and flew along like a tornado, pay-
ing not the slightest heed to the number of the enemy. The
Tartars, who had no taste for close fighting, were dismayed
PAN MICHAEL. 45I
at such daring. Notwithstanding the shouts of the murzas
in the rear, the shrill tones of the pipes, and the rolling of
the drums calling to "kensim" that is, to cut off the heads
of unbelievers, they began to check and rein in their horses.
Their heart and martial spirit was evidently growing momen-
tarily fainter. At last at about a bow-shot's distance from
the squadron they parted to either side and discharged a
shower of arrows at the charging cavalry.
Pan Vasilkovski, entirely ignorant of the presence of the
janissaries who had formed beyond the houses near the river,
came up at undiminished speed behind the Tartars, or rather
one-half of the cliambul. IJe arrived at close quarters and
began to cut down those whose poor mounts did not enable
them to flee quickly enough. The second half of the cham-
bul turned in the attempt to surround him; but at that
moment the volunteers came up, and the Under-Chamberlain
with his men of Kiev. The Tartars, pressed on so many sides,
scattered in the twinkling of an eye like sand, and a con-
fused chase began, of a group by a group and a man by a
man, in which many of the horde were killed, especially by
the hand of Pan Vasilkovski, who, single-handed, struck
blindly at whole crowds as a hawk swoops on sparrows or
bunting.
P>ut Pan Volodiyovski, a cool and keen warrior, kept his
dragoons well in hand. Like one who holds trained, eager
hounds in strong leashes, not letting them fly at a coming
beast, but only when he sees the glowing eyes and gleaming
teeth of a savage old boar, so did the little knight despise
the mean horde and watch to see whether spahis, janissaries,
or other regular soldiery was not behind them.
Pan Lantskoronski rushed up to him with his men of
Kiev and cried:
"My benefactor, the janissaries are moving towards the
river; let us attack them!"
Volodiyovski drew his sword, and commanded:
"Forward!"
Each dragoon tightened his rein so as to have his horse
well in hand, and then the ranks dressed up and advanced
as regularly as when on parade. They first went at a trot and
then at a gallop, but did not yet let their horses go at full
speed. Only after passing the houses near the river to the
oa?t. of the castle did they see the white felt caps of the jan-
izaries, and knew that they had to deal not with volunteers,
but with regulars.
452 PAN MICHAEL.
"Charge!" cried Volodiyovski.
The horses extended themselves till their bellies almost
touched the ground, as their hoofs scattered lumps of hard
earth behind them.
The janissaries, not knowing what force was coming to
the aid of Jvanets, were in fact retreating to the river. One
body of between two and three hundred men was already
at the bank, and its first ranks were stepping into scows,
another body of similar size was moving rapidly though in
perfect order. When they caught sight of the approaching
cavalry they halted and faced the enemy in an instant. Their
muskets were lowered in a line and thundred a salvo as if
at a review. Moreover these seasoned warriors, counting
on their comrades on the bank supporting them with their
fire, not only did not retreat after the volley, but followed
up their own smoke and dashed savagely at the cavalry with
their sabres. Only the janissaries would have been capable
of such daring, but they paid dearly for it, because the
troopers who could not have restrained their horses even if
they had wanted to, struck them like a hammer, and, break-
ing them in an instant, spread destruction and terror in
their ranks. The first rank fell beneath the force of the
blow like grain before a whirlwind. - It is true that many
of them fell only from the impact, and these regained their
feet and ran in disorder to the river, from where the second
body kept on firing, aiming high, so as to hit the dragoons
over the heads of their comrades.
For a moment the janissaries at the ferry evidently hesi-
tated whether to embark or follow the example of the other
detachment and come to close quarters with the cavalry. But
they were restrained from the latter course by the sight of
groups of fugitives were pressed upon by the chests of the
horses and hacked so terribly by the troopers that their fury
was only equalled by their skill. Now and then a group too
hotly pressed turned in desperation and began to bite like an
animal at bay when it sees that it cannot escape. And then
those on the bank could see as plainly as in their palms that
it was not possible to meet that cavalry with cold steel, so
far superior were they in its use. The defenders were slashed
with such regularity and rapidity that it was impossible for
the eye to follow the movements of the sabres. As when
skillfull laborers shelling well-dried peas strike quickly and
continuously on the threshing floor till the whole place re-
PAN MICHAEL.
sounds with their blows and the peas are jumping in all di-
rections, so did the whole river-bank resound with the blows
of the sabres and the groups of janissaries, mercilessly slashed,
sprang hither and thither like peas out of a pod.
Pan Vasilkovski charged at the head of the cavalry,, reck-
less of his own life. But as a trained reaper surpasses a youth
much stronger but less skillful at the sickle than himself,
for while the youth is toiling covered with streams of pers-
piration, the other goes steadily on and cuts down the hay
before him evenly, so did Pan Volodiycvski surpass the
impetuous youth Vasilkovski. Before attacking the janis-
saries he let the dragoons go forward, while he himself re-
mained somewhat in the rear to watch the whole battle.
Standing thus at a distance, he kept careful watch, but
every now and then he would spring into the melee and
strike and give directions, and then again would allow the
battle to recede and then again he would watch and strike.
As always happens in a light with infantry, so then also
seme of the fugitives were left in the rear of the cavalry.
These, having their retreat to the river cut off, fled back to-
wards the town to hide among the sunflowers that were grow-
ing in front of the houses; but Volodiyovski saw them. He
came up with the first two and gave each a light blow; they
immediately fell and, digging their heels into the earth, their
souls escaped with their blood through the gaping wounds.
When he saw this a third janissary fired at the little knight
with his musket but missed; and the little knight struck him
with the edge of his sword between the nose and mouth and
slew him. Without any delay Pan Michael then sprang after
the others, and no village boy gathers a clump of mushrooms
so quickly as he gathered those men before they reached the
sun-flowers. Only the last two were seized by soldiers of
Jvanets and these the little knight ordered to be kept alive.
IVing now warmed up and seeing that the janissaries were
being hotly pressed at the river, he sprang into the thick of
the fight and joining the dragoons began to work in earnest.
First he struck in front and then turned to right or left,
thrusting once with his sword, and paying no further atten-
tion; a white cap.fell to the earth with each thrust. The jan-
issaries began to crowd away from him with loud cries; he
redoubled the rapidity of his blows and though he remained
calm himself no eye could follow the play of his sword and
know when he would strike and when he would thrust, for
his blade described a gleaming circle around him.
454 PAN MICHAEL.
Pan Lantskoronski, who had long heard him quoted as a
master of masters, but had not hitherto seen him in action,
ceased fighting and looked on astonished, unable to believe
his own eyes that one man, though a master, and celebrated
as the best cavalier, could accomplish so much. Consequently
he raised his 'hand to his head and his companinos heard
. him keep repeating: "As God lives, they have told me very
little about him as yet!" And others cried, "Look at him,
for you won't see that again in this world!" But Volodiy-
ovski labored on.
The janissaries driven down to the river now began to
throng into the scows in disorder. As the scows were suffi-
cient in number and there were fewer to return than had
come, they quickly and easily took their places. Then the
heavy oars moved and a space of water momentarily widened
between the janissaries and the bank.
But the rattle of musketry began to rise from the scows,
to which the dragoons replied; litlle clouds of smoke rose
over the water and trailed in bands. The scows with the
janissaries were receding every moment. The dragoons who
were left in possession of the field uttered a fierce shout and
shaking their fists, cried:
"Ah, off with thee, thou dog, off with thee!"
Though the balls were still plashing Pan Lantskoronski
threw his arms around Volodiyovski right on the bank and
said:
"I did not believe my own eyes; my benefactor, those are
marvels that deserve a golden pen!"
"Natural aptitude and training, that's all. How many
wars have I gone through?"
Then, returning Pan Lantskoronski's pressure, he freed
himself from his embrace, and looking toward the bank he
said:
"Watch, your lordship, you will see another personality."
i The Under-Chamberlain turned and saw an officer on the
1 bank drawing a bow.
It was Pan Mushalski.
Hitherto the famous archer had been engaged with the
others in a hand to hand fight with the foe; but now that he
janissaries had reached so far that bullets could not reach
them, he drew his bow and, standing on the highest point
of the bank, he first tried the string with his finger and
when it twanged sharply he fitted a feathered arrow on it
and took aim.
PAN MICHAEL. 455
At that instant Volodiyovski and Lantskoronski looked
at him. It was a beautiful picture. The archer was sitting
on his horse with his left arm extended and holding the
bow as if in a vice. He drew back his right hand powerfully
to his breast till the veins on his brow swelled, and took care-
ful aim. In the distance, beneath a cloud of smoke, a
number of scows were visible on the river which was very
high with melted mountain snow and so transparent that
the scows and the janissaries sitting in them were reflected
in the water Pistols were silent 'on the bank and all eyes
were turned on Pan Mushalski, or gazing in the direction
which the murderous arrow was about to take.
Then the string loudly twanged and the feathered arrow
left the bow. No eye could follow its fight; but everybody
saw a sturdy janissary standing at an oar sudednly throw up
his arms and stagger and fall into the water. The trans-
parent surface splashed up under his weight and Pan Mu-
shalski said:
"For thee, Didyuk!"
Then he took another arrow. "In honor of the Hetman,"
he said to his companions.
They held their breath; presently the air again whistled
and a second janissary fell in the bottom of the scow.
The oars began to move more quickly on all the scows
and struck the clear stream more powerfully; but the famous
archer turned with a smile to the little kinght.
"In honor of the worthy wife of your lordship."
A third time the bow was bent; a third time he despatched
a bitter arow; and a third time it sank half its length into
the body of a man. A shout of triumph arose on the bank
and a shout of rage from the scows. Pan Mushalski then
withdrew and the other victors of the day followed him into
the town.
On their return they were rejoiced to look upon the har-
vest of that day. Few of the horde had fallen, for they had
not made even one good stand, and when scattered they
quickly recrossed the river. But the janissaries lay to the
number of several dozens like neatly-bound sheaves. Pan
Volodiyovski said as he looked at them:
"Brave infantry! the men rush to battle like wild-boars;
but they don't know more than half what the Swedes do."
"They fired as a man would crack nuts," said the Under-
Chamberlain.
456
PAN MICHAEL.
"Tliat caine naturally, not from training, for they have
no general training. They were of the Sultan's guard and
have some kind of discipline; in addition to these there are
irregular janissaries who are greatly inferior."
"We have given them a souvenir! God is gracious to per-
mit us to begin the war with such a noteworthy victory.
But the experienced Pan Volodiyevski thought otherwise.
"This is a small and insignificant success," he said, "it
is good enough to inspirit untrained men and citizens, hut it
will be fruitless."
"But do you not think it will dispirit the Infidels?"
"The Infidels will not be discouraged," he said.
Thus conversing they reached the town, where the people
delivered up the two captured janissaries who had tried to
hide from Pan Volodiyovski in the sun-flowers.
One was slightly wounded and the other was quite sound
and full of wild courage. In the castle the little knight who
understod Turkish well enough though he did not speak
it fluently, asked Pan Makovyetska to question the man. Pan
Makovyetska inquired whether the Sultan himself were in
Khotsim and would soon come to Kamenets.
The Turk replied clearly and boldly:
"The Padishah himself is present. In the camp it was
said that to-morow the Pashas Halim and Murad would cross
with Mehentysy. To-morrow or the day after the hour of
destruction will strike for you."
Here the prisoner put his hands on his hips and, confident
in the terror inspired by the name of the Sultan, continued:
"Mad Poles! how did you dare in the presence of the
Sultan to attack us and slay his men? Do you think that
you will escape harsh punishment? Do you think that this
little castle will protect you? What will you be in a few
days but captives? What are you to-day but dogs flying at
your master's face?"
Pan Makovyetska carefully wrote down everything; but
Pan Volodiyovski struck him in the face for his last words,
to temper the insolence of the prisoner. The Turk was sur-
prised and immediately became more respectful to the little
knight and began to express himself more mildly. When the
examination was ended and they had brought him to the
hall Pan Volodiyovski said:
"We must send these prisoners and their confession at full
speed to Warsaw, for at the court of the king they do not
yet believe that war is imminent!
PAN MICHAEL.
457
"AYhat are the Mehentysy with whom ITalil and Murad
have to be provided," asked Pan Lantskoronski.
"Mehentysy a.re engineers to prepare the earthworks for
the guns."
"'And what do you think, gentlemen, did that prisoner tell
the truth, or did he lie altogether?"
"IT you like, gentlemen/' answered Volodiyovski, "it is
possible to burn his heels. I have a sergeant who executed
Azya, the son of Tukhay Bey and who is exquisitissimus at
that business, but in my opinion the janissary told the exact
truth. The passage will soon commence, we cannot prevent
it, no! even if we were a hundred times more numerous.
The only thing left is' to get together and go to Kamenets
with the news."
"I have done so well at Jvanets that I should be very
pleased to shut myself up in the castle," said the Under-
Cbamberlam, "if I were sure that 'you would occasionally
come with aid from Kamenets. After that let what will hap-
pen !"
"They have two hundred cannon," said Pan Michael; "and,
if they bring two heavy guns across, this castle cannot hold
out for one day. I also wanted to shut myself up here, but
now I see that it would be futile."
The others agreed with the litlte knight. Pan Lantskor-
ontski, as though to parade his courage, still insisted for a
time on staying at Jvanets, but he was too experienced a sol-
dier not to see that Volodiyovski was right. At last he was
interrupted by Pan Vasllkovski who rushed in haste from
the field into the castle.
"Worthy gentlemen," he cried, "the river is not to be seen;
the whole Dniester is covered with craft."
"Are they crossing?" everybody asked at once.
"They are, as I live! The Turks are on rafts and the
chambuls are fording by the horses' tails."
Pan Lantskoronski hesitated no longer; he gave orders
at once for the old howitzer to be sunk and for the other
tilings either to be hidden or to be carried to Kamanets. Pan
Michael darted to his horse and with his men went to a dis-
tant eminence to watch the passage.
The Pashas Halil and Murad were indeed crossing. As
far as the eye could reach it saw scows and rafts propelled
by oars with measured strokes in the clear water. Janissaries
and spahis were moving together in great force, for craft
PA A 7 MIC HALL.
for the passage had long been prepared at Khotsim. -^lore-
over great masses of troops were standing on the bank in the
distance. Pan Michael had supposed that they would build
a bridge, but the Sultan had not yet moved his main army.
Meanwhile Pan Lantskoronski arrived with his men and they
set out for Kamenets with the little knight. Pain Pototski
was awaiting them in the city. His quarters were full of
( the commanding officers, and in fro-nt of the quarters were
assembled both sexes disquieted, careworn, and curious.
"The enemy is crossing and Jvanets is occupied!" said the
little knight.
"The works are completed, and we are waiting," replied
Pan Pototski.
The tidings spread to the crowd who began to make a
noise like waves.
"To the gates! to the. gates!" resounded through the city.
"The foe is in Jvanets!" Men and women ran to the fortifi-
actions expecting to see the foe; but the soldiers would not
let them go to the strategetical points.
"Go home!" they cried to the crowds; "you will hinder
the defence. Your wives will soon see the Turks close at
hand."
However there was no terror in the city, for the news of
that day's victory had already spread and it was naturally ex-
aggerated. The soldiers related marvels of the encounter..
"Pan Volodiyovski defeated the janissaries, the Sultan's
own guard," was repeated by every lip. "It is not for In-
fidels to measure strength with Pan Volodiyovski. He cut
down the Pasha himself. The Devil is not so terrible as he
is painted! And they could not stand against our troops.
Good for you dog-brothers! Destruction to you and your
Sultan!"
The women again appeared at the entrenchments and bas-
tions laden with flasks of gorzalka, wine, and mead. This
( time they were gladly welcomed and the soldiers became
! very joyful. Pan Pototski did not object to this as he wanted
to stimulate the courage and cheerfulness of the men, and
because there was an inexhaustible supply of ammunition
in the city and castle he allowed them to fire salvos in the
hope that these -sounds of joy would dispirit the foe if it
should hear them.
Pan Volodiyovski remained at the quarters of the General
of Podolia till nightfall and then he mounted his horse and
PAN MICHAEL. 459
tried to escape unobserved with his servant to the con-
vent, with the desire of being with his wife as soon as
possible But his attempt was frustrated, for he was recog-
nized and crowds surrounded his horse. Shouts and vivats
arose. Mothers lifted up their children to him.
"There he is! look at him, remember him!" cried many
voices. He was greatly admired; but people who knew noth-
ing about war were astonished at his diminutive stature.
They could not get it into their heads that so small a man
with such a pleasant face, could be the Commonwealth's
most terrible soldier, and one whom none could resist But
he rode through the throngs and smiled from time to time,
for he was gratified. When he arrived at the convent he
fell into Bashka's open arms
She already knew of the deeds he had performed that day
and of all his masterly strokes; the Under-Chamberlain of
Podolia had just left the convent and, as an eye-witness, he
had given her a detailed report. At the beginning of his
tale Bashka had called in all the women present in the con-
vent, the ladies Pototska, Makovyetska, Humyetska, Ket-
ling, and Hotsimirska, and as the Under-Chamberlain pro-
ceeded she began to be greatly puffed up in their presence.
Volodiyovski arrived just after the women had gone. After
the greetings the wearied knight sat down to supper. Basia
sat beside him, heaped his plate with food and poured mead
into his goblet. He was glad to eat and drink for scarcely
anything had passed his lips the whole day. In the intervals
of eating he would tell something to Bashka, who listened
with sparkling eyes and shook her head as was her wont and
asked:
"Aha! Well! What then? what then?"
"There are powerful and very savage men among them,
but it is difficult to find a Turk who is a swordsman," said the
little knight.
"Then I could meet any of them?'
"You could, but you won't, for I won't take you."
"Not for once in my life? You know, little Michael, when
you go outside the walls I am not even restless; I know that
no one can touch you."
^But can't they shoot me?"
"Be quiet! Is there not a Lord God? You will not let
them cut you down, and that's the chief thing."
"T will not let one or two slay me/'
"Nor three, Michael,, nor
460 PAN MICHAEL.
"Nor four thousand/ 'said Zagloba, imitating her. "If
you only knew, Michael, how she behaved while the Under-
Chamberlain was telling the story! I thought I should burst
with laughter. As I love Grod! she snorted just like a goat
and looked each woman in the face to see if she was properly
impressed. I was afraid that at last the goat would begin
to butt; no very decent spectacle."
The little knight stretched himself after his meal, for he
was quite tired; then he suddenly drew Basia to his side and
said:
"My quarters in the castle are prepared, but I don't want
to go back. Bashka, I suppose I may as well stay here /to-
night!' '
"As you please, little Michael," she replied lowering her
eyes.
"Aha!" cried Zagloba, "they regard me here as a mush-
room instead of a man, for the abbess invites me to live in
the convent. But I'll pay her out; my head on it! Have
you noticed how Pan! Hotsomirska is casting eyes at me?
. . . She's a young widow, all right! I won't say any
more."
"I think I'll stay,' 'said the litlte knight.
"If you will only rest well," said Basia.
"Why shouldn't 'he rest?" cried Zagloba
"Because we shall talk, and talk, and talk."
Pan Zagloba wanted to retire and turned to look for his
cap; at last when he found it, he put it on his head and said:
"You will not talk, and talk, and talk."
Then he went out.
CHAPTER XVI.
The next morning at daybreak the little knight went to
Knyahin where he fought with the Spahis and captured Buluk
Pasha, a famous warrior among the Turks. He spent the
whole day in the field, and part of the night taking council
with Pan Pototski, and not till the first cock-crow did he lay
down his tired head for a little sleep. But he had scarcely
fallen into a sweet and deep slumber when he was aroused by
the thunder of cannon. His 'faithful Jmudjian friend and
servant Pientk came into the -room.
"Sir," he said, "the enemy is before the city."
The little knight jumped out and asked:
"What guns are those?"
"Ours, ours, frightening the Pagans. There is a larg'e body
driving cattle off the meadows."
"Are they janissaries or cavalry?"
"'Cavalry: quite sorcerers! Our side is frightening them
with the Holy Cross, for who knows but that they are devils?"
"Devils or no devils, we must be at them," said the little
knight. "Go to the lady and tell her that I am in the field..
If she likes to come to the castle to watch she may, if she
comes with Pan Zagloba, for I have the greatest confidence in
his foresight."
Half an hour later Pan Michael rode into the field at the
head of some dragoons and volunteer nobles who thought
they would have an opportunity to distinguish themselves in
skirmishing. From the old castle a perfect view was to be
had of the cavalry, about two thousand in number, partly
composed of spahis, but principally of the Egyptian guard of
the Sultan. In the latter served wealthy and generous mame-
lukes from the Nile. Their mail of shining scales, their bril-
liant kefis, woven with gold, on their heads, their white
burnooses and their weapons set with jewels, made them the
most brilliant cavalry in the world. They were armed with
darts fixed on jointed canes, and curved swords, and knives.
Mounted on horses as swift as the wind, they swept over the
4 g 2 PAN MICHAEL.
field like a rainbow-colored cloud, yelling and brandishing
the deadly darts. The Poles in the castle could not look at
them enough.
Pan Volodiyovski advanced against them with his cavalry.
However it was difficult for both sides to meet with cold steel
as the Turks were held in check by the cannon of the castle
and they were too numerous for the little knight to go to
them and have a trial of strength out of the range of their
own cannon. So for some time both sides circled about at a
distance brandishing their weapons and uttering loud cries.
But at length these empty threats' evidently grew distasteful
to the fiery sons of the desert, for suddenly single horsemen
began to separate from the mass and advance, calling loudly
to their opponents. Soon they scattered over the field and
gleamed on it like flowers driven in A^arious directions by the
wind. Volodiyovski looked at his own men.
"Worthy gentlemen/' he said, "they are challenging us.
Who will go to the skirmish?"
The fiery cavalier, Pan Vasilkovski, was the first to spring
Out followed by Pan Mushalski, the infallible archer, but also
an excellent skirmisher in hand to hand fight; after them
came Pan Myazga of the Prus coat-of-arms who could carry
away a finger-ring on the point of his lance at full gallop;
after Pan Myazga came Pan Teodor Paderevski, Pan Ozievich,
Pan Shmlud-Plotski, Prince Ovsyani, and Pan Murkos-
Sheluta, with several other fine cavaliers; a small party of the
dragoons also went, attracted by the hope of rich spoil, and
most of all, by the matchless horses of the Arabs. The grim
Lusnia headed the dragoons, gnawing his yellow moustache
and picking out the richest foe from a distance.
It was a beautiful day. They were perfectly visible. One
by one the cannon on the walls became silent, till at last all
firing had ceased, for the gunners were afraid of hurting their
own men; they also preferred to watch the fray than to fire at
scattered skirmishers. The two sides advanced towards each
other at a walk, at first leisurely and then at a trot, not in line
"but independently as each man pleased. At length, as they
neared each other, they reined in their horses and began to
abuse one another to excite their own anger and courage.
"You will not put on any flesh with us, Infidel dogs!" cried
the Poles. "Your foul Prophet will not protect you here!"
The others responded in Turkish and Arabic. Many of
the skirmishing Poles were acquainted with both tongues, for.
. PAN MICHAEL. 463
like the famous archer, many had passed through harsh
captivity; and so, when the Infidels blasphemed the Most
Holy Virgin with special insolence, the servants of Mary felt
their hair stand up on their heads with rage and Uhey spurred
their horses forward to take vengeance on those who insulted
her name.
Who struck the first blow and deprived a man of precious
life? First Pan Mushalski with an arrow pierced a young
bey, with a purple kefi on his head and dressed in mail of
silver scales bright as moonlight. The agonising shaft sank
below his left eye, burying itself half its length in his head.
Tie threw back his beautiful head and spread out his arms and
fell from his hors-e. The archer put his bow under his thigh
and sprang forward and cut him with the sabre in addition;
then, seizing the bey's beautiful weapons, and driving his
horse towards the castle with the flat of his sword, he cried
aloud in Arabic:
"I wish he were the Sultan's own son. He would rot here
before you played the last 'kindya.' r '
"When the Turks and Egyptians heard that they were
furious and two beys immediately sprang together at Pan
Mushalski, but Lusnia, who was as savage as a wolf, inter-
cepted them from one side and bit one of them to death in the
twinkle of an eya He first slashed him over the hand and,
as the bey stooped for his fallen scimitar, Lusnia almost
severed his neck with a terrible stroke. At that sight the
other bey wheeled his horse as swift as the wind to escape, but
at that instant Pan Mushalski again took his bow from under
his thigh and sent an arrow after the fugitive; it reached him
on his flight and sank between his shoulder-blades almost to
the feathers.
Pan Shmlud-Plotski was the third to finish his enemy,
striking him on the helmet with a sharp battle-axe. The
blow drove in the silk and velvet lining of the steel and the
hooked point of the axe was imbedded so firmly in the skull
that for some time Pan Shmlud-Plotski could not draw it
forth. Others fought with varied fortune, but the nobles,
being the more skilful fencers, were generally victorious.
However two dragoons fell by the powerful hand of Hamdi
Bey, who then clove the face of Prince Ovsyani with a
scimitar and stretched him on the field. Prince Ovsyani
watered his native soil with his blood. Hamdi then turned
to Pan Sheluta, whose horse had put its foot into a burrow.
MICHAEL.
Sheluta, seeing that death was inevitable, preferred to meet
the terrible horseman on foot and sprang to the ground. But
Hamdi overthrew the Pole with the chest of his horse and
reached the falling man's arm with the very point of his
scimitar. The arm fell and the bey dashed on through the
field in search of other adversaries.
But not many had the courage to meet him, as he was so
manifestly and greatly their superior in strength. The wind
lifted his white burnoose on his shoulders and fluttered it like
the wings of a bird of prey; his gold-wrought mail cast an
ominous gleam on his almost black countenance, with its wild
and flashing eyes; a scimitar gleamed above his head like the
moon's sickle on a clear night.
The famous archer despatched two arrows at him, but both
merely clashed against his mail and fell powerless on the
grass. After the second, Pan Mushalski hesitated whether to
shoot a third at the neck of the horse, or rush on the bey with
his sabre. But while he was considering the bey caught
sight of him and spurred his black stallion towards him.
Both met in the middle of the field. With the desire of
exhibiting his great strength and taking Hamdi alive, Pan
Mushalski struck up his scimitar with a powerful blow and
closed with him; he grasped the bey's throat with one hand
and his pointed helmet with the other and' dragged from his
horse. But his own saddle-girth broke and the matchless
archer slipped with it and fell to the ground. Hamdi struck
the falling man on the head with the hilt of his scimitar and
stunned him. The spahis and mamelukes, who had been
fearful on Hamdi's account, now raised joyous shouts and the
Poles were greatly distressed. Then the opposing sides
dashed towards each other in thick masses, the one to capture
the archer and the other to protect his body.
Until now the little knight had taken no part in the skirm-
ish, as his dignity as colonel would not allow it; but, on seeing
the fall of Mushalski and the mastery of Hamdi, he de-
termined to avenge the archer and at the same time give heart
to his own men. Fired with this thought, he set spurs to
his horse and flew across the field as swiftly as a hawk swoops
on a flock of plover circling above the stubble. Bashka saw
him from the battlements as she gazed through a glass and
immediately cried out to Zagloba at her side:
"Michael is charging! Michael is charging!"
"You will recognize him," answered the old warrior,
v* Watch closely; see where he strikes the first blow! Fear not!"
PAN MICHAEL. 465
The glass shook in Bashka's hand. Though as yet there
was no discharge in the field from bows or janissary guns, she
was not greatly alarmed about her husband's life, still she was
seized with ardor, curiosity, and disquietude. At that mo-
ment her heart and soul seemed to have left her body and to
be flying after him. Her breast heaved quickly and her face
flushed deeply. A-t one moment she had leaned so far over
the battlement that Zagloba seized her by the waist for fear
that she might fall in to the moat.
"Two are charging Michael/ 7 she cried.
"There will be two less," replied Zagloba.
In fact two spahis came out against the little knight. They
knew from his uniform that he was a man of some importance
and, seeing the diminutive size of the horseman, they thought
to gain glory cheaply. The fools! they were flying to certain
death; for, when they came up the little knight did not even
rein in his horse, but delivered two blows, apparently as light
as when a mother pushes two children as she passes. They
both fell to the ground and dug their fingers into it and
writhed like two lynxes simultaneously struck by two death-
dealing arrows.
The little knight sped on towards other horsemen dashing
about the field and commenced to spread terrible disaster.
As at the end of Mass a boy comes in with a metal ex-
tinguisher on a pole and puts out the candles on the altar one
after another and the altar is left in darkness, so Pan Michael
quenched right and left the brilliant Turkish and Egyptian
horsemen and they sank into the shades of death. The Infi-
dels recognized a master above all others and their hearts
fainted in them. One by one they turned their horses so as
to avoid the terrible leader; the little knight pursued the fugi-
tives like a vicious wasp and pierced one after another with
his sting.
At this sight the castle gunners uttered joyous shouts.
Some of them rushed up to Basia and kissed the hem of her
robe in the height of their enthusiasm; others abused the
Turks.
"Restrain yourself, Basia!" cried Zagloba every few mo-
ments, while he kept hold of her waist; but Pani Volodi-
yovska wanted to laugh and cry and clap her hands and shout
and watch and fly to her husband in the field.
He continued to despatch spahis and Egyptian beys, till at
last cries of "Hamdi! Hamdi!" arose throughout the field.
466 PA * MICHAEL.
The followers of the Prophet called aloud for their greatest
warrior to match himself with this terrible little cavalier who
appeared to be Death in person.
Hamdi had seen the little knight for some time; but at the
sight of his exploits he was simply afraid of him. He was
terrified at the thought of risking at the same time his great
fame and young life against such a dread opponent, and so he
pretended not to see him and began to busy himself at the
other end of the field. He had just put an end to Pan
Yalbjyk and Pan Kos when despairing cries of "Hamdi!
Hamdi!" reached his ear. He saw then that he could not
keep out of the way any longer and that he must win bound-
less glory or lose his life. At that moment he uttered so shrill
a cry all the cliffs echoed and he spurred his horse as swiftly
as a whirlwind towards the little knight.
Volodiyovski saw him from afar and also dug his spurs into
the sides of his Wallachian bay. All the others paused in the
armed dispute. At the castle, Basia, who had just before
witnessed all the deeds of the terrrible Hamdi-Bey, became
rather pale notwithstanding her blind faith in the little
knight, the unconquerable swordsman; but Zagloba was quite
easy.
"I would rather be the heir of that Infidel than that Infidel
himself," he said sententiously to Basia.
Pientk, the slow Jmudjian, was so sure of his master that
his face was not shaded with the least anxiety, but seeing
Hamdi charging he began to hum a popular song:
"0 thou foolish, foolish watch-dog,
That's a grey wolf from the forest.
Why dost thou chase him
If thou art not able to overcome him?"
The champions met in the centre of the field between the
two ranks who looked on from a distance. For a moment
the hearts of all died within them. Then serpentine light-
ning seemed to flash in the bright sun above the heads of the
combatants; but the scimitar flew out of Hamdi's hand like
an arrow from a bowstring; he bowed on his saddle as if
pierced by the point of a blade and closed his eyes. Pan
Volodiyovski grasped his neck with his left hand and holding
his sabre to his armpit, turned towards his own men. Hamdi
offered no resistance; he even spurred his horse forward, for
PAN MICHAEL.
407
he felt the point between his armpit and armor. He went
like one stunned, with his hands hanging powerless,, and tears
began to fall from his eyes. Yolodiyovski turned him over to
the cruel Lusnia, and himself returned to the field.
Bat trumpets and pipes sounded in the Turkish ranks as
a signal for the skirmishers to retreat. They began to retire
towards their own troops, carrying with them humiliation,
rage, and the memory of the terrible horseman.
"That was Shaitan!" (Satan) the spahis and mamelukes
said to each other. "He who meets that man is doomed to
death! Shaitan, no other !"
The Polish skirmishers remained for some time to show
that they held the field; then, raising three shouts of victory,
they withdrew under the cover of their own guns which Pan
Pototski ordered to fire again. But the Turks began to re-
treat altogether. For some time yet their burnooses and their
colored kefis and glittering helmets gleamed in the sun and
then disappeared on the horizon.
Only the Turks and Poles who had fallen beneath the sword
remained. Servants came out of the castle to collect and
bury their own people. The ravens came to work at the
burial of the Infidels, but they did not stay long, for fresh
legions of the Prophet frightened them away that evening.
CHAPTER XVII.
On the following day the vizir himself arrived before
Kamenets at the head of a numerous army of spahis, janis-
saries, and general levies from Asia. From the great strength
of his force it was concluded that he would storm the place
at once; but he wished only to examine the walls. Engineers
accompanied him to inspect the fortress and earthworks. Pan
Myslishevski this time went out against the vizir with some
infantry and mounted volunteers. Another skirmish began
which was favorable to the besieged, though not so brilliant
as the previous day. At last the vizir ordered the janissaries
to make an attempt against the walls. The thunder of cannon
at once shook the city and castle. When the janissaries came
opposite the command of Pan Podchaski they all fired a great
volley; but Pan Podchaski answered from above with a well-
directed fire and, as there was some fear of cavalry flanking
the janissaries, they retired along the Jvanets road and re-
turned to the main camp.
In the evening a certain Bohemian slunk into the city; he
had been a groom of the aga of the janissaries and had de-
serted after being bastinadoed. The Poles learned from him
that the Turks had fortified themselves at Jvanets and oc-
cupied broad meadows on this side of the Dlujka village.
They made minute inquiries of the fugitive as to the general
opinion among the Turks whether they could capture Kamen-
ets or not. He replied that the courage of the army was high
and the omens were favorable. A couple of days before a
kind of column of smoke, slender at the base and expanding
above in the form of a great bush, had risen from the earth
in front of the Sultan's pavilion. The muftis had inter-
preted this as signifying that the glory of the Padishah would
reach to the Heavens and that he would be the ruler to crush
Kamenets, hitherto impregnable. This had greatly strength-
ened the hearts of all in the army. The fugitive added: "The
Turks fear Pan Hetman Sobieski and relief; they remember
of old the danger of meeting the troops of the Commonwealth
J'.i'X MICHAEL. 469
in the open field, though they are willing to meet Venetians,
Hungarians, or any other people. But, since they have in-
telligence that there are no troops in the Commonwealth, they
are generally of the opinion that they will take Kamenets,
though not without trouble. Black Mustafa, the kaimakan,
has simply counselled to storm the walls; but the more
cautious vizir prefers to invest the city with regular works
and rain grenades into it. After the first skirmishes the
Sultan agreed with the vizir, and so a regular siege is to be
looked for."
Thus spoke the deserter. On hearing this news, Pan Potot-
ski, and the bishop, the Under-Chamberlain, Pan Volodi-
yovski and all the other superior officers were greatly grieved.
They had reckoned on stormings and hoped "by the defensive
condition of the place to repulse them with severe loss to the
enemy. They knew by experience that storming-parties suffer
great losses, and that every attack repulsed weakens their
courage and strengthens that of the besieged. As at Zbaraj
the knights at last came to delight in resistance, battle, and
sorties, so the inhabitants of Kamenets might acquire the love
of fight, especially if every attack should end in defeat for
the Turks and victory for the city.
But a regular siege, in which the digging of approaches and
mines and the emplacement of guns constitute the whole mat-
ter, would only tire out the besieged, weaken their spirit, and
incline them to negotiate. It was difficult also to depend upon
sorties, for it was not wise to strip the walls of soldiers, and
should the servants and others be led beyond the walls, they
could hardly withstand against the janissaries.
When they considered all this the chief officers were greatly
troubled and it seemed less likely that the defence would
have a happy ending. In fact there was small chance of suc-
cess on account of the state of affairs among themselves as
well as on account of the Turkish force. Pan Volodiyovski
was a matchless soldier and very celebrated, but he did not
possess the majesty of greatness. The man who has the sun
in himself can warm all others wherever they may be; but he
who is merely a flame, however ardent, can only" warm those
who are closest to him. Thus it was with the little knight.
He did not know how to inspire others with his own spirit,
and could not do it even as he could not impart his own skill
in fencing. Pan Pototski, the supreme chief, was no war-
rior; and moreover he had no faith in himself, or in others,
470 MICHAEL.
or in the Commonwealth. The bishop relied principally on
negotiations; his brother had a heavy hand, but his head was
equally heavy. Relief was improbable, for, though the Het-
man, Pan Sobieski, was a great man, he had no power at
that time. Powerless also was the King and the entire Com-
monwealth.
On the 16th of August the Khan arrived with the Horde,
and Doroshenko with his Cossacks, and occupied an enormous
expanse of the fields extending from Orynina. Sufan Kazi
Aga on that day invited Pan Myslishevski to a conference and
advised him to surrender the place, for by so doing he would
receive more favorable conditions that had ever yet been heard
of in the history of sieges. The bishop was curious to learn
what were these favorable conditions, but he was shouted
down in the council and a refusal was sent back in reply. On
the 18th of August the Turks began to advance, and the Sul-
tan with them.
They came on like a boundless ocean, infantry, janissaries,
and spahis. Each pasha led the forces of his own pashalik,
comprising inhabitants of Europe, Asia, and Africa. They
were followed by an enormous train of baggage-wagons, drawn
by mules and buffaloes. That hundred-hued swarm, variously
costumed and armed, seemed to be endless. From dawn till
night those leaders kept coming, moved from place to place,
stationed posted troops, moved about in the fields and pitched
their tents, that occupied such tremendous expanse that from
the towers and highest points of Kameuets not a field free
from canvas was visible. It looked to the gazers as if snow
had fallen and covered the whole region round about. The
work was accomplished amid volleys of musketry, for the
jannissaries protecting it fired ceaselessly at the walls of the
fortress and were answered by a continuous cannonade from
the walls. The cliffs echoed the thunder and smoke rose and
obscured the blue of the sky. Towards evening Kamenets
was so hemmed in that nothing could leave it but pigeons.
The firing ceased only when the first stars began to twinkle.
For several succeeding days the firing at and from the walls
was kept up without ceasing. It resulted in great loss to the
besiegers, for immediately a group of janissaries gathered
within range, white smoke spurted from the walls and balls
fell among them, scattering them like a flock of sparrows when
they are fired at with fine shot from a musket. In the mean-
time the Turks, being evidently ignorant that in both castles
PAN MICHAEL. 47 !
and in the town there were long-range guns, pitched their
tents too near. By Pan Michael's advice this was allowed,
and not till the hour of rest, when the soldiers had crowded
into those tents to avoid the heat, did the walls roar with con-
tinuous thunder. Then there was a panic; the balls tore
through the tents, broke the poles, struck the soldiers, and
scattered sharp fragments of rock about. The Janissaries re-
treated in dismay and confusion, uttering loud cries; in their
flight they overturned other tents and carried fear with them
in every direction. While they were in this disorder Pan
Volodiyovski fell upon them with troopers and hewed them
till a strong force of cavalry came to their aid. Ketling prin-
cipally directed this fire, and next to him the Polish bailiff,
Cyprian, effected the most havoc among the Infidels. He
sighted every gun and applied the match himself; then he
would shield his eyes with his hand and watch the effect of
the shot, exulting in his success.
However, the Turks were digging approaches, making in-
trenchments, and arming them with heavy guns. But, before
firing them, a Turkish envoy came under the walls, fastened a
letter from the Sultan to a pike, and exhibited it to the be-
sieged. The Sultan summoned the city to surrender, while
extolling his own power and clemency to the skies.
"My army," he wrote, "may be likened to the leaves of the
forest, and the sands of the sea. Look at the sky and, when
you see the countless stars, let your hearts be afraid and say
one to another, 'Behold, such is the force of the believers.
But because I am a king, merciful above all other things,
and a grandson of the True God, I receive my right from God.
Know that I hate stubborn men, therefore do not oppose
my will but surrender your city. If you resist, you shall all
perish under the sword, and no voice of man will be raised
against me."
They consulted at length what reply to give to this letter
and rejected Zagloba's rash advice to cut off a dog's tail and
send it by way of a response. FinaMy they despatched a man
named Yuritsa, who was well versed in Turkish. He carried
a letter that read as follows:
"We have no desire to anger the Sultan, but we do not
consider it our duty to obey him, for we have not taken an
oath to him but to our own lord. We will not surrender
Kamenets, for we are bound by an oath to defend the fortress
and churches so long as we have life."
472 MICHAEL.
After this reply the officers went to their posts on the walls.
Bishop Lantskoronski and the General of Podolia took ad-
vantage of their absence to send another letter to the Sultan,
asking for an armistice of four weeks. When the news of
this spread around the gates there was an uproar and clatter-
ing of sabres. The officers said to each other, "Here we are
roasting at the guns and behind our backs they are secretly
sending letters, although we are members of the council."
At the evening 'kindya/ the officers went in a body to the
General of Podolia, with the little knight and the stolnik of
Latychov at their head, both being greatly upset by what had
occurred.
"How is this?" asked Makovyetska. "Are you already
thinking of surrendering, since you have sent another envoy?
Why was this done without informing us?"
"Indeed," said the little knight, "since we were called to
the council it was wrong to send any letters without our
knowledge. Neither will we allow anyone to utter the word
'surrender/ if anybody wants to do so let him resign his
post."
His lips twitched as he spoke; since he was a soldier of the
most scrupulous obedience he was deeply grieved to speak
thus against his superiors. But as he had vowed to defend the
nastle to the death, he thought: "It is incumbent on me to
speak."
The General of Podolia was confused and replied:
"I thought it was done with general consent."
"There is no consent. We will die here!" cried many voices.
"I am glad to hear that," said the General, "for faith is
dearer to me than life, and I have never known cowardice,
and never shall.' Noble gentlemen, stay to supper, and we
shall come to an agreement more readily."
But they would not stay.
"Our place is at the gates, not at the table," said the little
knight.
At this moment the biehop arrived, and, learning what was
the matter, he at once turned to Pan Makovyetska and the
little knight.
"Worthy gentlemen," he said, "we are all agreed in what
we have at heart and nobody has said a word about surrender-
ing. I sent to ask for an armistice for four weeks; I wrote
thus: 'In that interval we will send to our king for help and
await his instructions and God will decide the rest."
When the little knight heard that he was still more dis-
PAN MICHAEL.
turbed, but now he was carried away with anger and scorn
at such military ideas. A soldier from his boyhood, he could
not believe his ears, nor that anybody could propose an armis-
tice to a foe to allow him to send for help.
The little knight looked from Makovyetska to the other
officers and they looked at him.
"Is this a jest?" cried several voices. Then they were all
silent.
"Your lordship," at last said Pan Michael, "I fought
through the Tartar, Cossack, Moscow, and Swedish wars, and
I never heard of such reasons. The Sultan has come here to
please himself, not us. How should he consent to an armistice
when we write that at its expiration we expect assistance?"
"If he does not consent, the situation will be still the same,"
said the bishop.
"Whoever prays for an armis-tice," said Volodiyovski,
"shows fear and weakness, and whoever looks for assistance
doubts his own strength. The Infidel will come to this con-
clusion from your letter, and thus it has wrought irreparable
injury."
When the bishop heard this he grew sad and said:
"I might be elsewhere, and because I did not desert my
flock in time of need I have to submit to reprimand."
The little knight was immediately sorry for the worthy
prelate, so he put his arms about his knees and kissed his
hands and said:
"God preserve me from uttering any reprimand here; but
as this is a council; I speak what is dictated by my exper-
ience."
"What is to be done then? Let the fault be mine, but what
is to be done? How repair the harm?" asked the bishop.
"How repair the harm?" repeated Volodiyovski.
After a moment's thought, he joyously raised his head.
"Well, it is possible. Worthy gentlemen, I beg you to
follow me."
He went out, followed by the officers. A quarter of an
hour later all Kamenets shook with the roar of cannon.
Volodiyovski dashed outside the walls with volunteers, and
falling upon the sleeping janissaries in the trenches, he sabred
them till he dispersed and drove the whole force to the main
camp.
Then he returned to the General of Podolia and found the
bishop with him.
"Here," he cried joyfully, "here is counsel for Your High-
ness;"
CHAPTER XVin.
After that sortie the night passed in desultory firing; at
dawn it was announced that several were standing near the
castle waiting till men were sent out to parley. Let be what
would it was necessary to know what they wanted, and so the
chiefs Pan Makovyetska and Pan Myslishevski were deputed
by the council to meet the Infidels.
A little later they were joined by Pan Casimir Humyetski
and they went out. There were three Turks, Mukhtan-Bey,
Salomi, Pasha of Kustchuk, and Kozra, an interpreter. The
meeting took place in the open air outside the castle gate.
On seeing the envoys the Turks began to bow and put the
tips of their fingers to their hearts, mouths, and brows; the
Poles politely saluted them, and inquired their mission.
Salomi replied:
. "Dear men, a great wrong, over which all who love justice
must weep, has been done to our Lord, and for this the Eter-
nal will punish you unless you correct it without delay. Be-
hold, of your own will you sent Yuritsa, who beat his fore-
head before our vizir and prayed him for a suspension of hos-
tilities. When we, trusting in your virtue, left the trenches,
you commenced to fire on us with cannon and, springing out
from behind the walls, you strewed the ground with corpses
to the very tents of the Padishah; which deed cannot go un-
punished unless you at once surrender the castle and the city
and exhibit great regret and repentance."
To this Makovyetska made reply:
"Yuritsa is a dog who exceeded his instructions, for he or-
dered his attendants to display a white flag, for which he will
be judged. On his own initiative the bishop made inquiries
whether an armistice could be arranged; but you did not cease
firing during the despatch of those letters. (I myself am wit-
ness to that, since I was wounded in the mouth by shattered
stones.) So that you have no right to ask us to cease firing.
If you have now come prepared with an armistice, it is well;
if not, tell your lord, dear men, that we will defend the walls
(474)
PAN MICHAEL.
475
and town as before until we perish,, or, what is more certain,
until you, dear men, perish among these rocks. We have
nothing more to give you except wishes that God may multiply
your days and permit you to live to an old age."
Then the- envoys immediately separated. The Turks re-
turned to the vizir, and Makovyetska, Humyetski, and Mys-
lishevski to the castle. They were deluged with questions as
to how they had dismissed the envoys. They repeated the
Turkish message.
"Don't accept it, dear brothers, "said Casimir Humyetski.
"In short, those dogs want us to deliver up the keys of the
city before evening."
To this many voices answered with their favorite expres-
sion:
"That Infidel dog will not put on flesh with us. We will
not surrender; we will drive him away in disorder. We do
not want him."
After this decision they all separated and the firing at once
recommenced. The Turks had already succeeded in mounting
many heavy guns and their balls flew over the ramparts and
began to fall into the city. The gunners in the city and
castles worked in the sweat of their brow for the rest of the
day and all night. When a man fell there was no one to take
his place, and they were short of men to carry ammunition.
Not till nearly dawn did the uproar somewhat abate.
But the day was scarcely growing grey in the east and the
rosy gold-edged band of dawn appearing when the alarm was
sounded in both castles. All who were sleeping sprang to
their feet and drowsy crowds poured into the streets intently
listening. "They are getting ready to storm," some of them
said to the others as they pointed in the direction of the castle.
"But is Pan Volodiyovski there?" frightened voices asked.
"He is," others replied.
The chapel bells were rung in the castles and everywhere
was heard the roll of drums. In the morning twilight, when
the town was comparatively silent, these noises sounded solemn
and mysterious. At that moment the Turks played the
"kindya;" one band took it up from another and so it rolled
throughout the enormous camp. The Infidels began to swarm
about the tents. As the dawn brightened, the mounds,
trenches, and approaches started out of the darkness extend-
ing in a long line facing the castle. The heavy Turkish guns
immediately thundered along the whole line; the cliffs of th
476 PAN MICHAEL.
Smotrych echoed back the thunder and the noise was as
dreadful as if all the thunders in heaven's magazine has
caught fire and exploded at once and brought down the dome
of clouds with them to the earth.
That was an artillery battle. The city and castles gave
mighty response. The sun and daylight were soon obscured
by the smoke and the Turkish works were invisible. Kamenets
was hidden and only one immense cloud filled with lightning,
thunder and uproar, was to be seen. But the guns of the
Turks carried farther than those of the city. Death soon
began to cut down people in Kamenets. Several guns were
dismounted. At the arquebuses men fell by twos and threes.
A Franciscan Father while blessing the guns had his nose and
part of his lip carried away by a wedge from under a cannon
and two very resolute Jews who were assisting to work that
gun were killed.
But the Turkish guns played principally on the city en-
trenchments. Pan Casimir Humyetski sat there like a sala-
mander amid tremendous fire and smoke; half of his com-
pany had fallen and nearly all the survivors were wounded.
He himself had lost his speech and hearing; but with the as-
sistance of the Polish mayor he silenced the enemy's batter}',
at least till fresh guns were brought up.
A day passed, and a second, and third; and that dreadful
artillery duel did not cease for an instant. The Turks had
four reliefs of gunners a day; but in the city the same men
had to work the whole time without sleep and almost without
food; half-stifled with smoke, many were wounded with flying
masonry and splinters of the gun-carriages. The soldiers
were steadfast but the hearts of the inhabitants began to fail
them. At la>st it became necessary to drive them with clubs
to the guns, where they fell in heaps. Fortunately, on the
third evening, from Thursday to Friday, the guns were
chiefly turned on the castles.
Both, but the old one especially, were showered with bombs
from the great mortars which, however, did little damage be-
cause each grenade was visible in the dark and a man could
avoid it. But towards morning, when the men were seized
with such weariness that they could not keep their feet, they
perished in considerable numbers.
The little knight, Ketling, Myslishevski, and Kvasibrodzi
replied to the Turkish fire from the castles. The General of
Podolia visited them repeatedly and moved unconscious of
ganger, though anxious, amid a hail of bullets.
PAN MICHAEL.
However, towards evening, when the fire had grown still
hotter, Pan Pototski approached Pan Volodiyovski.
"Colonel," he said, "we shall not hold out."
"We shall hold out so long as they confine themselves to
firing,' 7 answered the little knight, "but they will hlow us out
of here with mines, for they are constructing them."
"Are they really mining?" asked the general in alarm.
Volodiyovski replied:
"Seventy guns are playing and their roar is almost con-
tinuous, but there are quiet moments. When one comes,
lean your ear intently, and listen."
Just then it was not necessary to wait long, more especially
as an accident favored them. One of the Turkish siege-guns
burst, causing considerable confusion. From other trenches
inquiries were made as to what had occurred, and so the bom-
bardment temporarily ceased.
Pan Michael and the General approached the edge of one of
the abutments of the castle and began to listen. Presently
they clearly discerned the sound of pickaxes striking the stone
of the wall.
"They are mining," said Pan Pototski.
"They are mining," repeated the little knight.
Then they were silent. The General's face betrayed great
alarm; he lifted his hands and pressed his brow. Seeing that
Volodiyovski said:
"That is the usual thing in every siege. At Zbaraj they
were digging under us night and day."
The general raised Jiis head.
"What did Prince Vishnyovyetski do?"
"We retired from wide ramparts within narrower ones."
"But what ought we to do?"
"We ought to take the guns and everything movable with
them and transfer them to the old castle; for that is founded
on rock that the Turks cannot mine. I always thought that
the new castle would merely serve as the first line of defence;
after that we must blow it up with powder and the real de-
fence will commence in the old one."
A moment's silence followed, and the General again bowed
his anxious head.
But if we have to evacuate the old castle, where shall we
go?" he asked in a broken voice.
At this question the little knight straightened himself and
pointed his finger to the earth:
478
PAX MICHAEL.
"I shall go there!"
At that moment the guns again thundered and a whole
flock of grenades began to fly to the castle; but as darkness
shrouded the world they were perfectly visible. Volodiyovski
took leave of the general and went round the walls. Pro-
ceeding from one battery to another he encouraged the men
everywhere and gave advice; at last he met Ketling and said:
"Well, how goes it?"
Ketling smiled.
"The grenades make it as bright as day," he said, pressing
the little knight's hand. "They do not stint us with fire."
"One of their good guns burst; did you do it?"
"I did."
"I am dreadfully sleepy."
"So am I, but there is no leisure for that."
"Bah!" exclaimed Volodiyovski, "and the little wives must
be frightened; at that thought sleep takes flight."
"They are praying for us," said Ketling, raising his eyes
towards the flying grenades.
"God grant health to mine and thine!" cried Pan Michael.
"There are no women among all upon earth" began Ket-
ling.
But he did now conclude, for the little knight at that mo-
ment turned towards the interior of the castle and suddenly
cried loudly:
"For Heaven's sake! Save us! What do I see?"
And he sprang forward. Ketling looked round in aston-
ishment. A few paces distant in the courtyard of the castle
he saw Basia, Zagloba, and the Jmudjian Pientk.
"To the wall! to the wall!" cried the little knight, dragging
them as quickly as possible under cover of the "battlements.
"'For Heaven's sake!"
"Ah!" said Zagloba brokenly, as he panted, "persuade such
a woman yourself if you can. I remonstrate with her and
say, 'You will destroy both yourself and me.' 1 kneel down,
no use. Could I allow her to go alone? Ugh! No use, no
use! 'I will go, I will go,' I cried. Take her!"
There was fear in Basia's face and her brow was puckered
as if about to weep. But it was not the grenades that she
dreaded, nor the whizzing of the balls, nor the scattering
stone, but her husband's anger. So she clasped her hands like
a child in fear of punishment and exclaimed in sobbing tones:
"I could not, Michael dear; as I love you I could not.
PAN MICHAEL. 479
Don't be angry, Michael clear! I cannot stay there while you
are perishing here. 1 cannot, I cannot! 1 ' . . .
Indeed at first lie was angry and had exclaimed, "Bashka,
you have no fear of God!" but he was seized with a sudden
tenderness and his voice stuck in his throat, and not till that
beloved shining head was resting on his breast did he say:
"You are my faithful friend until death."
And he kissed her hands.
But Zagloba went up to the wall and said to Ketling.
"And yours wanted to come too, but we deceived her, tell-
ing her that we were not coming. How could she come in
euch a state? ... A general of artillery will be born to you.
I'm a rascal if he won't be a general. Well, on the bridge be-
tween the city and the castle the grenades are falling like
peas. I thought I should burst, . . . with anger, not with
fear. ... I slipped on some sharp pieces of shell and cut
myself. I shan't be able to sit down for a week without pain.
The nuns will have to anoint me without minding their mod-
esty. . . . Phew! but those rascals are firing. May the thun-
derbolts strike them! Pan Pototski wants to resign the com-
mand to me. . . . Give the soldiers a drink, or they won't
hold out. . . . See that grenade! As God lives, it will fall
somewhere near us! Hide yourself, Basia! By God, it is
near!"
But the grenade fell far away instead of near, for it fell
on the Lutheran church of the old castle. Ammunition had
been stored there as the dome was very strong, but the grenade
broke the dome and exploded the powder. The foundations
of both castles were shaken by an explosion louder than the
thunder of guns. Terrified voices were heard on the battle-
ments. Both the Polish and Turkish guns were silent.
Ketling left Zagloba and Volodiyovski left Basia. They
both sprang to the walls with all the power of their limbs.
For some time they were both heard giving orders with pant-
ing breasts; but their voices were drowned by the rattle of
drums in the Turkish trenches.
"They will make an assault," whispered Zagloba,
In fact when the Turks heard the explosion they appar-
ently supposed that both castles were destroyed and that the
defenders were half buried in the ruins and half paralyzed
with fear. Under that impression they prepared to storm the
place. Fools! They did not know that only the Lutheran
church had gone up! The only effect produced by the ex-
4?o .P- IV MK'IIAVL.
plosion was the shock; not even a gun had been dismounted
in the new castle. But the roll of the drums grew more and
more hurried in the trenches. Janissaries came crowding out
of the trenches and advanced towards the castle at the double.
It is true that no lights were visible in the castle or Turkish
trenches, but it was a clear night and the moonlight revealed
dense masses of janissary white caps rising and falling in the
rush like waves driven by the wind. Some thousands of janis-
saries and several hundred volunteers were dashing on with
fury and the certain hope of victory in their hearts; but many
of them would never again see the minarets of Stambul, the
bright waters of the Bosphorus, and the dark cypresses of the
cemeteries.
Yolodiyovski ran along the walls like a spirit.
"Don't fire! Wait for the word!" he cried at every gun.
The dragoons with their muskets were lying flat on the bat-
tlements,, breathing hard with determination. There was si-
lence, except for the hurried tread of the janissaries, sounding
like low thunder. The nearer they came the more sure they
felt of taking the castle with one stroke. Many thought that
those of the defenders who were left had retired into the city
and that the battlements were deserted. When they reached
the fosse they began to fill it with fascines and sacks of straw;
and filled it in the twinkle ( f an eye. On the walls the silence
was unbroken.
But when the front ranks stood on the material with which
they had filled the fosse, the report of a pistol was heard in
one of the embrasures and a shrill voice shouted:
"Fire!"
Both bastions and the connecting rampart burst at the same
moment into one long stream of fire. The thunder of cannon,
the rattle of musketry, and the shouts of the storming-party
were all mingled. When a dart cast by the hand of a strong
hunter plunges half its length into the belly of a bear, the
beast rolls itself up, roars, casts itself down, squirms, straight-
ens out, and rolls up again, and the crowd of janissaries and
irregulars acted just in that manner. Not a single shot of the
defenders was thrown away. Cannon, charged with grape,
laid the men as flat as a pavement, exactly as a mighty wind
levels standing grain at one blast. Those who were attacking
the connecting rampart between the bastions found them-
selves under three fires, and they became a panic-stricken
mass in the centre and fell so thickly that they formed a quiv-
/M.V MK'H.iKL. 481
cring heap. Ketling rained grape-shot from two guns on
that mass, and at last when they began to take to flight he
closed the narrow exit between the two bastions with a shower
of lead and iron.
The assault was repulsed along the whole line and the janis-
saries left the fosse and fled like madmen, howling with terror.
In the Turkish trenches they began to throw flaming tar-
buckets and torches, turning night into day, so as to make a
sortie in pursuit difficult.
Meanwhile, Volodiyovski, seeing that mass hemmed inl^e-
tween the bastions, shouted for his dragoons and sallied out.
The hapless Turks again attempted to escape through the
exit; but Ketling raked them so dreadfully that he soon ob-
structed the entrance with a heap of bodies as high as a wall.
The survivors were doomed, for the besieged would not take
any prisoners, and so they began to defend themselves in
desperation. Strong men collected in little groups of two,
three, and five, and supporting each other back to back, armed
with darts, battle-axes, yatagans, and sabres, fought madly.
Their terror, despair, and the certainty of death were changed
into a feeling of fury. They were seized with the fever of
battle. Some in their rage rushed single-handed on the dra-
goons. These fell beneath the sabres in an instant. It was
a struggle between two opposing furies, for the dragoons, from
toil, sleeplessness and hunger, were possessed with the rage of
wild animals against a foe to whom they were superior in skill
in the use of cold steel; they therefore caused dreadful havoc.
To illuminate more fully the scene of strife, Ketling or-
dered tar-buckets to be lighted, and their blaze revealed un-
controllable Mazovians fighting with janissaries with sabres
and grasping them by the hair and beard. The savage Lusnia
in particular raged like a wild bull. At the other end Pan
Volodiyovski was fighting in person, and knowing that
Bashka was watching him from the walls, he outdid himself.
As a savage weasel breaks into grain where a swarm of mice
have taken up their abode and does fearful execution among
them, so the little knight rushed like a spirit of destruction
among the janissaries. His name was already familiar to the
besiegers, both from previous encounters and from the tales
of the Turks at Khotsim. The impression was general that
no man could meet him and escape death, so that many a
janissary, hemmed in between the bastions, seeing Pan
Michael suddenly before him, did not even defend himself,
31
MICHAEL.
but shut his eyes and fell beneath the thrust of the little
knight's s\vord with the word "kismet" on his lips. At last
the resistance grew feeble and the remaining Turks rushed to
the rampart of bodies that blocked the entrance and were cut
to pieces there.
The dragoons then returned across the filled fosse singing,
yelling, and panting and reeking with blood; the castle and
Turkish trenches cannonaded each other for a time and then
were silent. Thus ended that artillery duel that had lasted
for several days, concluding with the assault of the janissaries.
"Praise be to God!" cried the little knight, "we shall have
rest till the morning 'kindya' at least, and in truth we are
entitled to it."
But it was only an apparent rest, for later in the night
they heard through the stillness the sound of mattocks stri-
king the stony wall.
"That is worse than artillery," said Ketling as he listened.
"Now would be the time to make a sortie," said the little
knight, but it is impossible, as the men are worn out. They
have not slept nor have they eaten; for, though they had food,
they had no time to take it. Moreover the enemy have some
thousands guarding the sappers to prevent opposition from
our side. There is nothing for it but to blow up the new castle
ourselves and retire into the old one."
"Not to-day," replied Ketling. "Look, the men have fallen
like sheaves of corn and are in a stony sleep. The dragoons
have not even wiped their sabres."
"Bashka, it is time to go home to sleep," said the little
knight.
"Very well Michael,'" answered Basia obediently, "'I will
do as you command. But the convent is shut up now; I would
rather stay and watch over your sleep."
"I think it very strange," said the little knight, "that sleep
has fled from me after such labor, and I have not the least
desire to rest my head."
"Because you excited your blood among the janissaries,"
said Zagloba. "It was always so with me; I could never get
any sleep after a battle. But as for Bashka, why should she
drag herself to a shut gate? Let her stay here till the morn-
ing."
Basia embraced Zagloba in her delight, and the little
knight, seeing how anxious she was to stay, said:
"Let us go into the rooms."
PAN MICHAEL. 483
They went in, but everything was thick with dust raised
by the concussion of the cannon-balls against the walls, it
was impossible to stay there, so they went out again and set-
tled down in a niche where the old gate had been walled up.
Pan Michael reclined against the masonry and Basia nestled
up to him like a child against its mother. It was a warm and
sweet August night. The silver light of the moon illuminated
the niqhe and bathed their faces with its rays. Below, in the
courtyard of the castle, were groups of sleeping soldiers and
the bodies of those killed during the bombardment, as there
had been no time yet to bury them. The tranquil light of the
moon stole over those heaps as if that solitary of the sky
wanted to find out who was merely asleep from weariness and
who had fallen into eternal sleep. Farther away was outlined
the wall of the main castle \vhich cast a black shadow half
across the courtyard. Beyond the walls, human voices arose
from between the bastions where the sabred janissaries lay.
They were the camp-followers and those dragoons who pre-
ferred spoil to sleep and were stripping the corpses. Their
lanterns gleamed like glow-worms over the field of battle.
Some of them were calling to one another and one was softly
singing a sweet song, strangely at variance with the work iji
which he was engaged at that moment:
" Nothing is silver, nothing is gold to me now,
Nothing is fortune.
Then let me starve to death at the crooked fence,
If only beside thee ! "
But presently the movement decreased and at last ceased
entirely. A silence followed that was broken only by the
distant noise of the mattocks striking the rocks and the cries
of the sentries on the walls. That silence and moonlight and
quiet night soothed Pan Michael and Basia. A vague longing
stole into their hearts and a faint pleasant melancholy. Bashka
raised her eyes to her husband's face and, seeing that his eyes
were open, she said:
"Michael dear, you are not asleep ?"
"It is strange: I don't want to sleep."
"Is it pleasant for you here?"
"Quite pleasant. And you?"
Basia nodded her bright head. "Ah, Michael dear, so
pleasant! Ah, ah, ah! Didn't you hear what that man was
singing? Then she repeated the last words of the little song:
" Then let me starve to death at the crooked fendl,
If only beside thee. *. v ' "
484 PAN MICHAEL.
A moment's silence followed which was interrupted by the
little knight:
"Listen to me, Bashka."
"What, Michael dear?"
"To tell the truth we are marvellously happy in each other
and I think that if one of us were to fall the grief of the
other would be boundless."
Basia quite understood that when the little knight said "if
one of us were to fall," instead of die, he was only thinking
of himself. It occurred to her that perhaps he did not ex-
pect to survive that siege and wanted to accustom her mind
to such an end, so her heart was seized with a terrible pre-
sentiment and she clasped her hands and said:
"Michael dear, have pity on yourself and me!"
In somewhat moved though quiet tones the little knight
replied:
"But look, Bashka, you are wrong; for if you only think
about it, what is this temporal existence? Why should we
wrench our feelings about it? Who would be satisfied to
possess love and happiness here when everything snaps like
a dry twig, who?"
But Basia was shaken with weeping, and kept repeating:
"I will not! I will not! I will not!"
"As I love God, you are wrong," the little knight repeated.
"Look, think of it! above there, beyond that quiet moon is a
realm of everlasting bliss. Talk to me of that, Whosoever
reaches those fields will take breath for the first time as after
a long journey and feed in peace. When my time comes and
that is the business of a soldier you ought simply to say:
'That's nothing! Michael's gone. True, he has gone far
away, farther than Lithuania; but that's nothing, because I
shall follow him/ Bashka control yourself; do not weep. The
first to go will prepare quarters for the other; that's all/"
Here he seemed to obtain a vision of approaching event-;
for he raised his eyes to the moon and continued:
"What is this mortal life? Grant that I may be there first,
waiting for some one to knock at the Gate of Heaven. St.
Peter opens it! I look; who is it? My Bashka! Save us! Oh,
I shall leap then! Oh, T shall cry then! Dear God, words
fail me. And there will be no tears; nothing but endless joy;
and there will be no Infidels, nor cannon, nor mines under
walls, but only peace and happiness. Ah. Baslska, remember,
this life is nothing!"
PAN MICHAEL. 485
"Dear Michael, dear Michael!" repeated Basia.
And again silence fell, interrupted only by the distant
monotonous sound of the mattocks.
"Bashka, let us say a Pater together," Volodiyovski said
at last
And those two souls, pure as their tears, began to pray. As
they repeated their Paters peace fell upon them both, and
then sleep mastered them and they slumbered till the first-
break of day.
Pan Volodiyovski led Basia away before the morning
"kindya" to the bridge connecting the city with the old cattle,
At parting he said:
"Remember, Bashka; it's nothing I"
CHAPTER XIX.
Immediately after the "kindya" the thunder of cannoB
ehook the castles and city. The Turks had dug a fosse be-
side the castle five hundred ells long. In one place they
were digging deep at the wall Itself. From their trench the
janissary muskets fired constantly at the walls. The be-
sieged made ramparts of leather bags stuffed with wool, but,
as missiles and grenades were continually cast from the
trenches, the bodies fell thickly around the guns. At one
gun, six of Volodiyovski's infantry were killed with one gren-
ade, and other gunners were constantly falling. Before even-
ing the chiefs saw that they could not hold out any longer,
especially as the mines might be exploded at any moment.
Therefore, during the night, the captains led out their men,
and before the morning, in the midst of ceaseless firing, they
had transferred all the guns, powder, and provisions to the
old castle. They could hold out longer there, as it was built
on a rock, and it was particularly difficult to undermine it.
When Pan Michael was consulted about the matter at the
council of war he stated that he was ready to defend it for
a year if no one would enter into negotiations. His words
spread to the city, and greatly relieved all hearts, for the
people knew that the little knight would keep his word, even
at the cost of his own life.
When the new castle was evacuated powerful 'mines were
placed along the front and both bastions. These exploded
about noon with a tremendous noise, but caused no serious
loss to the Turks, for, remembering yesterday's lesson, they
had not yet ventured to occupy the abandoned place. But
both bastions and the front and main body of the new castle
formed one enormous mass of ruins. It is true that these
ruins made it difficult to approach the old castle, but they
afforded perfect cover to sharpshooters, and what is worse,
to the miners, who, not at all daunted at the sight of the
mighty cliff, began to bore a fresh mine. This work was
supervised by skillful Italian and Hungarian engineers in
(486)
PAN MICHAEL. 4 Sy
the. service of the Sultan, and it made rapid headway. The
bpyiogod could not hit the enemy with either cannon <r
musket, as they were invisible. Pan Michael was thinking of
a sortie, but could not immediately undertake it as his sol-
diers were too weary. Blue lumps as large as loaves of bread
had formed on the dragoons' right shoulders from the con-
stant lecoil of the butts of their guns. Some could scarcely
move their arms. It was plain that, if the boring should
continue for any length of time without check, the main
gate of the castle would be blown into the air without fail.
Foreseeing this, Pan Volodiyovski gave orders to have a high
wall built inside the gate, and said without losing courage:
"What do I care? if the gate is blown up, we will defend
ourselves behind the wall; if the wall is blown up, we will
have a second one made beforehand, and so on, as long as
we have an ell of ground under our feet."
"But when the ell is gone?"
"Then we shall be gone too," answered the little knight.
In the meantime, he ordered hand-grenades to be thrown
at the enemy, which caused considerable damage. The most
effective man at this work was Lieutenant Dembinski, who
killed innumerable Turks until a grenade, which he had
ignited too soon, burst in his hand and tore it off. Captain
Shmit perished in the same way. Many fell by the artillery,
and many by musket-shots from the janissaries concealed
in the ruins of the new castle. During this time they rarely
fired the castle guns, and this considerably disturbed the
council. "They are not firing, so it is evident that Volodi-
yovski himself has doubts about the defence." This was the
general opinion; none of the military dared to be the first
to say that the only thing left was to obtain the best con-
ditions, but the Bishop, who had no knightly ambition, said
so openly; but first, Pan Vasilokovski was sent to the General
for news from the castle. He answered: "It is my opinion
that the castle cannot hold out till evening, but here they
think otherwise."
On reading this reply, even the officers began to say:
"We have done what we could, no one has spared himself,
but what is impossible, is impossible. We must think of con-
ditions."
These words reached the city and a great multitude of
people assembled in consequence. They thronged in front
of the town hall, alarmed, silent, and hostile, rather than
488 PAX MICHAEL.
inclined to negotiate. Some rich Armenian merchants were
secretly glad that the siege would come to an end and trade
begin again, but other Armenians who had long been settled
in the Commonwealth were very favorable towards it; in ad-
dition to them, the Poles and Russians wanted to defend
themselves. "If we wanted to surrender, we ought to have
done so at first/' it was whispered here and there; we couldn't
have obtained much, but now there will be no favorable con-
ditions and it would be better to bury ourselves beneath the
ruins."
The murmurs of discontent grew louder and louder, till
suddenly they changed into enthusiastic shouts and cheers.
What had happened? On the square Pan Volodiyovski
had appeared with Pan Humyetski; as the general had sent
them for the purpose of making a report of what had hap-
pened in the castle. The crowd was seized with enlmsiasm.
Some shouted as though the Turks had already burst into
the town, while tears came into the eyes of others at the
sight of that idolized knight, whose appearance showed his
great exertions. His face was black with the smoke of the
powder, and haggard; his eyes were red and sunken, but he
had a joyous expression. When he and Humyetski had made
their way through the crowd and entered the council, they
also received a joyful greeting there. The Bishop spoke at
once.
"Beloved brothers, he said, "Nee Hercules contra plurcs,
the general has already written that you must surrender/'
At this, Humyetski, who was very impulsive and of noble
family, and didn't care for anyone, cried sharply:
"The general has lost his head, but at least he has this
virtue, that he exposes it to danger. As for the defence, I
leave that for Pan Volodiyovski to describe, as he is better
able."
The eyes of all were turned on the little knight, who
twisted his yellow moustache and said:
"For Heaven's sake! who talks about surrendering? have
we not sworn to the living God, to fall one above the other?"
"We have sworn to do all that is in our power, and we
have done that/' replied the Bishop.
"Let every man answer for what he has promised. Ivet-
ling and I have vowed not to surrender the castle until
death, and we will not surrender, for if I am bound to keep
the word of a knight to every man, what must I do t<r God,
who is above all in majesty?"
1>AX ^IC HA EL.
"But how is it with the castle? We 'have heard that there
is a mine under the gate, can you hold out long?" cried many
voices?
"There is, or will be a mine under the gate, but behind
the gate there is a good wall, and I have ordered falconets
to be mounted on it. Dear brothers, fear the wounds of God;
remember that by surrendering you will be forced to give up
churches into the hands of Infidels, who will convert them
into mosques to celebrate bawdy discourses in them. How
can you mention surrender with such a light heart? With
what conscience can you think of opening a gate into the
heart of the country to the foe? I am in the castle, and have
no fear of mines, ^and you, far away here in the city, are
afraid. By the dear Lord, we will not surrender while we
live. Let the memory of this defence remain with those who
come after us, like the memory of Zbaraj."
"The Turks will reduce the castle to a heap of ruins," cried
a voice.
"Let them, we can defend ourselves from a heap of ruins."
Here the little knight somewhat lost patience.
"And I will defend myself from a heap of ruins, so help
me God. Finally, I tell you, that I will not surrender the
castle. Do you hear?"
"But will you destroy the town?" asked the Bishop
"If opposing the Turks will destroy it, I would rather
destroy it. I have taken my oath, I will not waste any more
words, I will return to the guns for they defend the Com-
monwealth instead of betraying it."
Then he departed, followed by Humyetski who slammed
the door. They both hurried away, for they really felt hap-
pier amid ruins, corpses, and shot, than among men of weak
faith. Pan Makovyetska overtook them on the way and said:
"Michael, tell the truth, did you talk of resistance only
to strengthen their courage, or will you really be able to hold
out in the castle?"
The little knight shrugged his shoulders.
"As God is dear to me, if only the city will not surrender
I will defend the castle for a year."
"Why don't you fire the guns, that's why people are alarmed
and talk about surrendering?"
"We don't fire them because we are busy with the hand-
grenades, which have done considerable injury to the mines."
"Listen, Michael, have you sufficient force in the castle to
49 MICHAEL.
support the Russian gate from the rear? for if the Turks
break in, which God prevent,, they will reach the gate. I am
keeping watch with my whole force, but with only the towns-
people and without soldiers I don't know what to do/'
"Then the little knight answered: "Do not fear, dear
brother, I have fifteen guns trained on it. Make your mind
easy also about the castle. Not only will we defend our-
selves, but we will reinforce you at the gates when it is ne-
cessary."
When he heard that, Makovyetska was greatly delighted,
and wanted to depart, but the little knight detained him,
and inquired further:
"Tell me, you are oftener at the council, do they only
want to try us, or do they really intend delivering Kamenets
into the hands of the Sultan?"
Makovyetska bowed his head.
"Michael," he said, "tell the truth now, must it not end
in that? We shall resist for a time yet, one week, two, a
month, two months; but it will be the same in the end/ ?
Volodiyovski looked gloomily at him, then he raised his
hands and cried,
"And than too, Brutus, against me! Well, in that case,
you will have to enjoy your shame alone. To such diet 1 am
not accustomed."
And they parted with bitterness in their hearts.
The mine under the chief gate of the old castle exploded
soon after Pan Volodiyovski's return. Bricks and stones
were scattered abroad and dust and smoke arose. The gun-
ners' hearts were overcome with terror. For some time the
Turks rushed into the breach as sheep rush through the
open gate of a sheepfold, when the shepherd and his assist-
ants drive them in with whips. But Ketling breathed on
the mass with the charges of six guns previously prepared
on the wall; he breathed once, twice, thrice and swept them
out of the court. Volodiyovski, Humyetski, and Myslishev-
ski, hurried up with infantry and dragoons and covered the
walls as rapidly as flies on a sultry day cover the carcass of
a horse or ox. Then a duel began between the muskets and
janissary guns. Balls fell on the wall like rain, or like the
grains of wheat cast from the shovel of a sturdy peasant.
The Turks were swarming among the ruins of the new castle,
they sat in twos, threes, fives, and tens, in every hollow, be-
hind every fragment, behind every stone, and in every gap
PAN MICHAEL. 49 r
in the ruins, and fired without a moment's pause. Fresh
reinforcements constantly arrived from the direction of
Khotsim. Regiment followed regiment, crouched among the
ruins, and immediately began to fire. The new castle seemed
to be paved with turbans. From time to time, these masses
of turbans suddenly* sprang up with frightful yells and sprang
to the breach; and then Ketling's voice was raised and the
bass of the cannon drowned the rattle of musketry and a
storm of grape-shot with a whistling and dreadful rattling
threw the mass into confusion, laid them out" on the earth,
and choked the breach with a quivering heap of human flesh.
Four times the janissaries sprang to the assault and four
times Ketling hurled them back, and scattered them as a
storm scatters a cloud of leaves. Alone, amidst the fire,
smoke, showers of earth, and exploding grenades, he seemed
and angel of war. His eyes were fixed on the breach and not
the slightest anxiety was visible on his calm brow. Now and
then he would seize the lintstock from the gunner and touch
the priming. Sometimes he would cover his eyes with his
hand to watch the effect of the shot; sometimes he would
turn with a smile to the Polish officers and say:
"They cannot enter."
Never was the rage of assault repulsed with such fur} r of
resistance. The officers and men emulated each other. It
seemed that these men's attention was directed to every-
thing but death, and death mowed them down quickly. Pan
Humyetski fell and so did Pan Mokoshytski, the commander
of the men of Kiev. At length the white-haired Pan Kal-
ushovski put his hand to his breast with a groan; he was
an old friend of Pan Michael's, as 'gentle as a lamb, but" as
terrible a soldier as a lion. Pan Michael caught the falling
man who crieo 1 , "Give me your hand, give me your hand
quickly;'' then he added, "Praise be to God!" and his face
grew as white as his beard a-nd moustache. That was before
the fourth attack. A body of janissaries had entered the
breach, or rather they could not leave it, because of the too
dense cloud of missiles. Pan Michael sprang upon them at
the head of his infantry, and they were struck down in a
moment with the stocks of the muskets.
Hour followed hour, and the fire did not slacken; but in
the meantime, tidings of the heroic defence spread through
the town, exciting emlnisia-'m and martial ardor. The Polish
inhabitants, particularly the young men, began to call on
49 2 PAN MICHAEL.
one another, and gaze at one another, and mutually encourage
each other. "Let us carry aid to the castle, let us go, let us
go. We will not allow our brothers to perish. Come boys!"
This kind of exclamation was heard on the square and at
the gates, and soon a few hundred men, variously armed, but
with courage in their hearts, advanced towards the bridge.
The Turks directed a terrible fire on the young men, and
stretched many of them in death, but some of them crossed
and began to work on the walls with great zeal against the
Turks.
The fourth attack of the Turks was repulsed with terrible
loss and it seemed that a moment of rest must come. Vain
hope! The rattle of the janissary musketry was kept up till
evening. Not till the evening kindya was played did the
guns become silent and the Turks leave the ruins of the
new castle. The surviving officers then went outside the
wall. The little knight, without a moment's pause, ordered
the breach to be filled up with whatever materials could be
found, such as blocks of timber, fascines, earth, and rub-
bish. Infantry, retinue, dragoons, rank and file, all vied
with each other, regardless of rank. The Turkish guns were
expected to begin firing again at any moment, but that was
a day of great triumph for the besieged over the besiegers.
All their faces were aglow and their hearts flamed with hope
and the desire for further victory.
Ketling and Pan Michael, grasping one another's hand
after their toil, went the round of the square and the walls,
leaned out through the embrasures to look at the court-yard
of the new castle, and rejoiced at the bountiful harvest.
'"Corpses lie there beside corpses," said the little knight
pointing to the ruins, "and there are such heaps at the breach
that you would require a ladder to cross them. Ketling,
that is the work of your cannon."
"The best thing is," answered Ketling, "that we have re-
paired the breach. The approach is closed to the Turks and
they must make a new mine; their force is as boundless as
the sea, but a siege of this kind for a month or two must
disgust them in time."
"By that time the Hetman will aid us. But come what
may, you and I are bound by our oaths," said the little
knight.
At that moment, they gazed into one another's eyes and
Pan Michael asked in lower tones:
PAN MICHAEL. 493
"Have you done what I told you?"
"All is ready/' replied Ketling in -a whisper, "but I do not
think it will come to that, for we may hold out here for a
lo-ng time and have many such days as this.
"God grant us such a morrow."
"Amen!" added Ketling as he raised his eyes to Heaven.
Further conversation was interrupted by the thunder of
cannon. Bombs began 'again to fly against the castle. How-
ever, many of them burst in the air and died away like sum-
mer lightning.
Ketling watched them with the eye of an expert and said:
"In that trench yonder, from which they are firing, the
fuses of the grenades have too much sulphur."
"Other trenches are beginning to smoke," said Volodi-
yovski.
In fact they were. As, when one dog barks in the middle
of a quiet night, others begin to accompany it, till at last,
the entire village is filled with the noise, so one cannon in
the Turkish trenches aroused all the neighboring ones, and
the besieged place was surrounded with a crown of grenades.
Now, however, the enemy was firing at the city, not at the
castle. But mining was heard going on on three sides.
Though the mighty rock had almost rendered the efforts of
the miners of no avail, it was clear that the Turks had de-
termined at all costs to blow that rocky nest into the air.
By the orders of Ketling and Pan Volodiyovski, the de-
fenders again began to throw hand-grenades, guided by the
sound of the mattocks. But at night it was impossible to
see whether this means of defence effected any damage.
The eyes and attention of all were directed to the city, against
which whole showers of flaming grenades were flying. Some
of them burst in the air, but others described a fiery arc in
the sky, and fell on the roofs of houses. Immediately a blood-
red glare pierced the darkness in several places. The church
of St. Catherine was burning, as well as the church of St.
George in the Russian quarter, and soon the Armenian
cathedral was in flames. But the latter had already been
set on fire during the day, and now it merely caught fire
again from the grenades. The conflagration momentarily
increased and illumined the whole neighborhood. The din
from the city penetrated to the old castle. It might bave
been imagined that the whole city was in flames.
"That's bad," cried Ketling, "for it will weaken the cour-
age of the inhabitants."
PAN MICHAEL.
"Let everything burn, said the little knight, "so that only
the rock is not destroyed, from which we may defend our-
selves."
Now the noise increased. The fire extended from the
cathedral to the Armenian warehouses of costly merchandise.
The latter were built on the square belonging to that people;
great wealth was being consumed there in gold, silver, divans,
furs, and sumptuous fabrics. Presently, tongues of fire ap-
peared above the houses here and there.
Volodiyovski was greatly disturbed.
"Ketling," he said, "see to the throwing of the grenades
and do as much damage as possible to the mining. I will
hasten to the town for my heart is grieved for the Dominican
nuns. Praise be to God that the Turks are leaving the castle
in peace, so that I can be absent."
In fact, just then there was not much to do in the castle,
so the little knight mounted his horse and rode away. Not
till two hours later did he return, accompanied by Pan Mus-
halski, who recovered from the hurt received at the hand of
Hamdi-Bey and now came to the castle with the thought
that, during the assaults, with his bow he might inflict great
loss on the Infidels and gain boundless glory.
'Welcome," said Ketling, "I was alarmed. How is it with
the nuns?"
"All is well," replied the little knight, "not a single shell
has burst there. The place is very quiet and safe."
"Thank God for that ! But Krysia is not alarmed?"
"She is as quiet as if in her own home. She and Bashka
are in the same cell, and Pan Zagloba is with them. Pan
Novovyeyski, who has recovered consciousness, is also there.
He begged to come to the castle with me, but he cannot yet
stand on his feet for long. Go there now, Ketling, while I
take your place here/"
Ketling embraced Pan Michael, as his heart drew him
strongly to Krysia; and he ordered his horse to be brought at
once. But before it came, he asked the little knight what
tidings he had from the city.
"The inhabitants are extinguishing the flames with great
bravery." the little knight answered, "but when the more
wealthy Armenian merchants saw their merchandise burning
they sent deputations to the Bishop insisting on a surrender.
When I heard that, I went to the council, though I had prom-
ised myself not to go there again. I struck that man's face
PAN MICHAEL.
who insisted most strongly on surrendering, and therefore,
the Bishop rose against me in wrath. The situation is evil,
brother, people are becoming more and more cowardly, and
our readiness for the defence seems to them of little import.
They blarue but do not praise, saying that we are vainly ex-
posing the place. I also h.eard that Makovyetska was at-
tacked because he opposed negotiations. The Bishop himself
said to him, 'We are deserting neither our faith nor our king,
but what is the good of further resistance? See!' he said,
'what will result from it shrines desecrated, honorable ladies
insulted, and innocent children dragged into captivity. With
a treaty/ he said, 'we can assure their fate and gaia a free
evacuation/ Thus spoke the Bishop, but the general nodded
and said. 'I would sooner perish, but that is true!" 1
"God's will be done!" said Ketling.
But Pan Michael wrung his hands.
"Even if that were true," he cried, "but God is witness
that we can still defend ourselves."
Meanwhile the horse was brought; Ketling mounted hur-
riedly.
"Cross the bridge warily," said Pan Michael on the way,
"for the grenades are falling thickly there."
"I shall be back in an hour," said Ketling, as he rode
away.
Volodiyovski started to make the round of the walls with
Mushalski.
In three places where the hammering was heard hand
grenades were thrown. Lusnia was directing this work to
the left of the castle.
"Well, how goes it there?' asked Volodiyovski.
"Badly, Pan Commandant!" replied the seargant. "The
dog-bloods are sitting in the cliff and only occasionally at
the entrance is a man hurt by a fragment of shell. We
haven't done much. . . ."
Elsewhere the case was even worse, especially as the sky
had darkened and rain was falling, which damped the fuses
of the grenades. The work was also impeded by the dark-
ness.
Pan Michael drew Mushalki a little aside and suddenly
halted and said,
"Listen, suppose we try to suffocate these moles in their
burrows!"
"To me it looks like certain death for they are guarded
by whole regiments of janissaries. But let us try!"
PAN MICHAJEL.
"It is true that they are guarded by regiments; but it is
a very dark night, and they are quickly cast into confusion.
Just think! they are talking of surrendering the town.
Yv 7 hy? Because they tell us, 'There are mines under you; you
are not defending yourselves/ We should silence them, if
to-night we could send the tidings, "The mine no longer
exists!' Is it worth while laying down one's head in such a
cause, or not?"
Pan Mushalski reflected for a moment and cried:
"It is worth while! It is, as God lives!"
"A little while ago they began to mine in that spot," said
Pan Yolodiyovski; "those we will leave unmolested, but
here and on this side they have bored deep into the rock. You
take fifty dragoons and I will take the same number and we
will try to suffocate them. Are you willing?"
"I am, more so every moment. I will take some spikes
in my belt for the cannon; perhaps I niay be able to spike
some of those falconets on the way."
"As for spiking, I doubt it, though there are some fal-
conets standing near; but take them. We will only wait for
Ketling; he knows how to render aid in a sudden emergency
better than others."
Ketling returned as he had promised; he was not a moment
late. Half an hour later two detachments of fifty dragoons
each went to the breach, slipped quietly out on the other side
and disappeared in the darkness. Ketling ordered grenades
to be thrown fcr a little while only and then he ceased and
waited. His heart beat anxiously for he well knew what
a bold undertaking it WPS. A quarter of an hour went by,
half an hour, an hour; it seemed that they should be there
already and begin; in the meantime he laid his ear to the
ground and could clearly distinguish the dull sound of the
mattocks.
Suddenly at the left base of the castle there was a pistol-
shot which did not make too loud a report on the damp air
on account of the firing from the trenches; and might have
passed without attracting the attention of the garrison but
for the terrible din that followed it. "They are there,"
thought Ketling, "but will the}^ return?" And then arose
the shouts of the men, the roll of drums, the shrill sound of
pipes, and lastly the rattle of musketry, but hurried and
desultory. The Turks were firing in crowds from all sides;
it was evident that whole divisions had hastened to the as-
PAN MICHAEL.
497
sistance of the sappers. But as Pan Michael had anticipated,
the janissaries were thrown into disorder and confusion;
they were afraid of hitting one another and so uttered loud
shouts and fired at random, and often in the air. The noise
and firing increased momentarily. When weasels, thirsting
for blood, break at night into a sleeping poultry shed the
quiet building is soon filled with noise and cackling: a similar
uproar suddenly arose around the castle. From the earth-
works they began to throw grenades at the walls to illuminate
the scene. Ketling trained his guns on the Turkish troops
on guard and replied with grape-shot. The Turkish ap-
proaches and the walls blazed in turn. The alarm was
beaten in the city for everybody thought that the enemy
bad burst into the fortress. In the earthworks the Turks
thought that a strong sortie was making a simultaneous at-
tack on all their trenches and they were thrown into a gen-
eral panic. Night favored the desperate undertaking of Pan
Volodiyovski and Pan Mushalski as it had become very dark.
The dischages of cannon and grenades pierced the darkness
only momentarily and left it blacker than before. Lastly,
the sluices of Heaven were suddenly opened and torrents of
rain poured down. Thunder outroared the guns, rolling,
muttering, howling, and rousing dreadful echoes among the
cliffs. Ketling sprang from the wall at the head of several
men and ran to the breach and waited.
But he did not wait long. Dark forms soon came throng-
ing in-between the timbers that barred the opening.
"Who goes there?" cried Ketling.
"Volodiyovski,' was the reply. And the two knights fell
into each other's arms.
"Well, how goes it there ?" asked the officers, as they rushed
out to the breach.
"God be praised! the sappers are slain to the last man
and their tools arebroken and scattered. Their labor is fruit-
less."
"God be praised! God be praised!"
"But is Mushalski with his men?"
"lie has not arrived yet."
"We might go to his aid. Gracious gentlemen, who will
volunteer?"
I Jut at that moment the breach was again filled. Mushal-
nki's men were hastily returning greatly reduced in number
for many had fallen \inder the bullets. But they returned
498 PAN M/CJtAEL.
elated for they had been equal!)- successful. Some of the
soldiers had brought back mattocks, drills, and pickaxes as
a proof that they had been into the mine itself.
''But where is Mushalski?" inquired Pan Michael.
'True, where is Pan Mushalski?" repeated several voices.
The men unde-r the command of the famous archer began
to look at one another; at length a dragoon who was severely
wounded said in faint tones:
"Pan Mushalski has fallen. I saw him when he fell. I
fell beside him, but I rose, and he remained. . . "
The knights were deeply grieved to hear of the famous
archer s death, for he was one of the foremost cavaliers in
I? 6 C orcefl of the Commonwealth. They again questioned
the dragoon as to how it had happened but he was unable to
reply for blood was streaming from his wounds and he fell
to the earth like a sheaf of corn.
The knights began to lament over Pan Mushalski.
The army will cherish his memory/' said Pan Kvasibrod-
ski, and whoever survives the siege will extoll his name."
There will never be such another archer," cried a voice.
'He had a stronger arm than any man in Khreptyov"
said the little knight. "With his fingers he could press a
dollar into a new board. Pan Podbiyenta, the Lithuanian
alone surpassed him in strength; but Podbiyenta was slain at
Zbaraj, and no living man has such strong hands except per-
haps Pan Novovyeyski."
"A great loss, a great loss!" exclaimed others. "Suoh cava-
liers were only born in old days."
Honoring the memory of the archer in this manner they
scaled the wall. Pan Michael immediately despatched a mes
senger to the general with tidings that the mines were de
stroyed and the miners slain by a sortie. This intelligence
was received in the city with great astonishment, but also,
who would have imagined it! with secret annoyance The
- general and the bishop did not believe that these passing
successes would save the city, but only rouse the terrible lion
.1 more. They could be advantageous only in case of an
agreement to surrender in spite of them; so the two principal
leaders determined to carry on further negotiations.
But neither Pan Volodiyovski nor Ketling imagined for
a moment that the happy tidings would produce such an
Bttect. On the contrary, they felt sure that the faintest heart
would gain courage and that all would burn with the desire
PAN MICHAEL.
for a furious resistance. It was impossible to take the city
without first taking the castle and so if the castle not merely
resisted but kept on thundering the besieged had not the
least necessity to enter into negotiations. There was abund-
ance of provisions and ammunition and therefore all that
was necessary was to watch the gates and extinguish the fires
in the city.
During the entire siege this was the most joyful night
for Pan Michael and Ketling. They had never been so hope-
ful of issuing alive from those Turkish toils and bringing
those beloved heads out in safety.
"A couple more assaults/ said the little knight, "and as
God is in Heaven, the Turks will be sick of them and will
rather try to starve us out. And we have sufficient supplies
here. September is approaching and rain and cold will
commence in two months. T^ose troops are not very hardy;
let them once get well chilled and they will retire.
"Many of them are from the lands of Ethiopia," said
Ketling, "or from various peaces where pepper grows and
any frost will nip them. At the worst we can hold out for
two months; even under assaults. Moreover it is impossible
to imagine that no aid will be sent to us. The Common-
wealth will finally awaken and even if the Hetman should
not be able to assemble a large force he can still annoy the
Turks with attacks."
"Ketling, it appears to me that our last hour has not struck
yet."
"It is in God's hands, but it also appears to me that it
will not come to that."
"Even though someone has fallen, like Pan Mushalski.
Well, it can't be helped! I am dreadfully grieved about Mu-
shalski, though he died a cavalier's death."
"God grant us no worse one, if only deferred ! for I confess
to you, Michael, I should be sorry for. . . . Krysia."
"Yes, and I ... for Basia; we will work earnestly and
perhaps there is mercy above us. For some reason I am
very light-hearted. We must do something noteworthy to-
morrow as well!"
"The Turks have used boards for protection. I have
thought of a method used in setting fire to ships; the rags
are now steeping in tar so that by noon to-morrow we will
burn all those works.'
"Ah," cried the little knight, "then I will head * sortie,
PAN MICHAEL.
During the conflagration there will be much confusion in
any case and it would never occur to them that we would
make a sortie during daylight. To-morow may be better
than to-day, Ketling."
They talked thus with sanguine hearts and then went to
rest as they were very weary. But the little knight had not
slept for three hours, when he was roused by Lusnia.
"Pan Commander, we have news."
"What is it?" cried the vigilant soldier springing up im-
mediately.
"Pan Mushalski is here."
"For God's sake! What are you telling me?"
"He is here. I was standing at the breach and heard some-
body on the other side calling in Polish, 'Do not fire, it is I/
I looked, and there was Pan Mushalski, returning in the
clothes of a janissary."
"God be praised!" cried the little knight as he sprang to
greet the archer. Dawn was already breaking. Pan Mushal-
eki was standing outside the wall in a white cap and mail,
looking so exactly like a genuine janissary as to make one
doubt one's own eyes. When he saw the little knight, he
hurried up -to him, and began io give him joyful greeting.
"We have already mourned over you," cried Volodiyovski.
Then several other officers with Ketling among them ran
up. They were all indescribably astonished, and interrupted
each other with questions as to how he came to be in a Turk-
ish disguise.
"On my way back I tripped against the body of a janissary
and struck my head against a cannon ball and though I
wore a cap bound with wire I was stunned. My head is
still tender and susceptible to the slightest injury after
that blow that I received from Hamdi-Bey. When I
recovered consciousness I was lying on a dead janissary
like a bed. I felt my head; it was rather painful,
but there was not even a lump on it. I took off my
cap and the rain cooled my head as I reflected: This is
lucky far me. It struck me that it would be a good idea to
take that janissary's uniform and take a stroll among the
Turks. I speak their language as well as I do Polish and
no one could detect me by my speech and my face is not
unlike that of a janissary I will go and listen to what they
eay.' At intervals I was afraid when I remembered my for-
jner captivity; but I proceeded. It was a dark night with only.
PAN MICHAEL. 5OI
an occasional light. I tell you, gentlemen., I went about
among them as if they had been my own men. Many of
them were lying under cover in the trenches; I approached
them. One would ask, 'Why are you wandering about?' 'Be-
cause I cannot sleep/ I answered. Others were sitting in
groups talking about the siege. There is great consternation
among them. With my own ears I heard how they com-
plained of our Khreptyov commander here present/ here
Pan Mushalski bowed to Volodiyovski. I repeat their very
words because the blame of an enemy is the highest praise.
'While that little dog/ they said, thus did the dog-brothers
designate your grace! 'while that little dog defends the
castle we shall not capture it.' Others said, "Bullets and iron
will not harm him, but from him Death blows like a pesti-
lence/ Then the whole group would begin to complain: 'We
alone do the fighting while the other troops are doing noth-
ing; the other troops are lying with their bellies to the sky.
The Tartars are plundering; the spahis are strolling about
the bazaars. The Padishah says to us, 'My dear lambs/ but
it is evident the we are not so very dear to him since he
sends us her to the shambles. We will not stand it long,
but will go back to Khotsim, and if they try to prevent us it
may end in the fall of some lofty heads/ ' ;
"Do you hear, gentlemen?" cried Volodiyovski, "when the
janissaries mutiny the Sultan will be frightened and raise
the siege."
"As God is dear to me I am telling the simple truth," said
Mushalski. "It is easy for the janissaries to rebel and they
are greatly disatisfied. I think they will attempt one or two
more assaults and then gnash their teeth at their aga, at the
kaimakan, and even at the Sultan himself."
"So it will be," cried the officers.
"Let them attempt twenty assaults; we are prepared," cried
others.
They clattered their sabres and looked at the trenches with
blood-shot eyes and drew deep breaths; as he heard it the
little knight whispered to Ketling:
"Another Zbaraj! Another Zbaraj!"
But Pan Mushalski again commenced: "I have told you
all that I heard. I was sorry to leave them as I might have
learned more but I was afraid to be caught by the dawn.
I next went to the trenches where there was no firing so as
to slip past in the dark. I look and see no regular sentries,
502 PAN MICHAEL.
only groups of janissaries wandering all about. I approach
a frowning gun and nothing is said. You know I took
spikes for the guns. I push a spike quickly into the touch-
hole; it won't go in, it needs the blow of a hammer. But
since the Lord God endowed my hand with some strength
(more than once you have witnessed my performances) I
press the spike; it grates slightly but goes in up to the head.
. . . I was glad beyond measure."
"As God lives! did you do- that? Did you spike the big
gun?" asked many voices.
"I spiked that one and another, for the business went so
favorably that I was loth sorry to leave it and so I went to
another gun. My hand is somewhat sore but the spike went
in."
"Gracious gentlemen, cried Volodiyovski, "no one present
has done greater things; no one has covered 'himself with such
glory. Vivat Pan Mushalski!"
"Vivat! vivat!" cried the officers.
After the officers the soldiers began to shout. The noise
was heard in the Turkish trenches and alarmed them and
dispirited them still more. But the overjoyed archer bowed
to the officers and exhibited his mighty palm which resembled
a shovel; there were two blue marks on it.
"As true as God lives! here is the witness," he said.
"We believe!' cried everybody. "God be praised that you
returned in safety!"
"I passed the boarding and wanted to burn that work, but
had nothing to do it with."
"Michael," cried Ketling, "do you know that my rags are
ready? I am beginning to think about that boarding. Let
us show them that we are foremost in the attack."
"Begin! begin!" cried Pan Michael.
He himself ran to the arsenal and sent fresh tidings to
I the city :
"Pan Mushalski was not killed in the sortie; for he has re-
turned after spiking two heavy guns. He went among the
janissaries who are thinking of mutinying. In an hour we
sihall burn their woodworks and if at the same time it is pos-
sible to make a sortie I shall do so."
The messenger had scarcely crossed the bridge before the
walls were trembling with the roar of guns. This time the
castle commenced the thundering dialogue. In the pale light
of dawn the blazing rags flew like flaming banners and Jell
PAN MICHAEL. 503
on the timber. The night rain that had wetted it was of
no avail. The timbers soon caught fire and blazed. Ketling
followed up the rags with grenades. The weary throngs of
janissaries evacuated the earthworks in the first few moment?.
They did not play the "kindya." The vizir himself appeared
at the head of fresh legions, but doubt had evidently stolen
into his 'heart, for the pashas heard him muttering:
"To those men battle is sweeter than rest. What kind of
people dwell in that castle?"
Throughout the army terrified voices were heard exclaim-
ing:
"The little dog is begining to bite! The little dog is b*-
gining to bite!"
CHAPTER XX.
When that happy night, so full of omens of victory,
August 26th followed, that day which became the most im-
portant in the annals of that war. In the castle some great
effort was expected on the side of the Turks. In fact, about
dawn the mattocks were heard striking on the left of the
castle louder than ever before. The Turks were evidently
making haste on a new mine, more powerful than any yet.
Strong bodies of troops were protecting this work at a dis-
tance. The trenches began to swarm. From the innumer-
able colored banners that dotted the plain like flowers in the
direction of Dlujek, it was evident that the vizir himself was
coming to direct the assault. Fresh cannon were placed on
the earthworks by the janissaries, great masses of whom
covered the new castle, taking shelter in its trenches and
ruins, so as to be ready for a hand-to-hand fight.
As has been said, the castle was the first to begin to speak,
and that so effectually that it caused a temporary panic in the
entrenchments. But the bimbashes speedily rallied the
janissaries and at the same moment every Turkish gun raised
its voice. Grenades, flying about the heads of the besieged;
smoke was mingled with dust and the heat of fire with that of
the sun. Men could scarcely breathe, and their sight failed
them. The roar of guns, the bursting of grenades, the crash-
ing of cannon-balls against the rocks, the din of the Turks
and the shouts of the defenders made a terrible concert which
was accompanied by the echoes from the cliffs. Missiles
rained upon the castle, the city, the gates, and all the bastions.
But the castle furiously defended itself; to thunder it replied
with 'thunder, and trembled and flashed and smoked and
roared, its guns belching forth fire and death and devastation
as if it was carried away with Jove's anger and as if it had
forgotten itself amid flames and wafted to drown the Turkish
thunders and sink into the earth or gain the victory.
In the castle the little knight ran amid flying balls, fire,
dust, and smoke from gun to gun, from one wall to another,
(504)
PAN MICHAEL. ^
and from niche to niche; he himself resembled a destroying
ilame. He seemed to duplicate and triplicate himself: he
seemed ubiquitous. He yelled and gave encouragement.
When a gunner fell he took his place, and after instilling hope
into the men's hearts, he proceeded to another spot. His
ardor was communicated to the soldiers. They believed that
this was the last assault and would be followed by peace and
glory and their breasts were strong with the faith in victory.
Their hearts grew strong and vehement and they were seized
\vith the madness of battle. From moment to moment
shouts and challenges issued from their throats. Some of
them became possessed with such fury that they went outside
the walls to engage the janissaries at close quarters.
Under cover of the smoke the janissaries twice advanced to
the breach in dense masses, and twice they fell back panic-
stricken leaving the ground strewed with their bodies.
About noon the volunteers and irregulars were sent to their
assistance; but the less disciplined, throngs, though driven
forward with darts, only raised frightful howls and were un-
willing to attack the castle. The kaimakan came but that
did no good. Each moment the confusion increased threat-
ening to become a general panic. At length the men were
recalled and the guns were alone worked on ceaselessly as
before, hurtling thunder on thunder and lightning on
lightning.
Whole hours passed in this way. The sun had passed the
meridian and gazed down on that struggle rayless, red, and
smoky, as if veiled in a haze. About three in the afternoon
the roar of the guns had become so mighty that the loudest
words shouted in the ear could not be heard. The air in the
castle was as hot as an oven. The water poured on the guns
turned to steam, mingling with the smoke and obscuring the
light; but the guns kept on roaring.
Just after three o'clock the biggest culverins of the Turks
were shattered. A few Paters later the mortar standing be-
side them was hit by a long shot and burst. Gunners perished
like flies. Every instant it was becoming more evident that
the invincible castle was gaining the upper hand and would
roar down the Turkish thunder and utter the final word of
victory. .
The Turkish fire gradually In'gan to slacken.
"The end is near!" Vohxliyovski shouted with all his
might into Killing's car. lie wanted his friend to hear those
words amid the uproar.
506 PAN MICHAEL.
"I think so too!" answered Ketling. To-morrow, or
longer ?"
"Perhaps longer. Victory is ours to-day."
"And through us!"
"We must think about that new mine."
The Turkish fire was growing feebler and feebler.
"Keep up the cannonade!" cried Volodiyovski.
And he sprang among the gunners and cried: "Fire, boys,
till the last Turkish gun is silenced! To the glory of God
and the Most Holy Virgin! To the glory of the Common-
wealth!"
The soldiers, seeing that the assault was coming to an end
uttered a loud shout and poured shot and shell into the
Turkish trenches with still greater enthusiasm.
"We'll play an evening 'kindya' for you, dogs," cried many
voices.
Suddenly a wonderful thing occurred. All the Turkish
guns ceased at once as if they had been cut off with a knife.
At the same time the musketry-fire from the janissaries in the
new castle also ceased. For some time yet the old castle con-
tinued to thunder but at last the officers began to look at each
other and inquire:
"What is it? What has happened?"
Ketling grew uneasy, and ceased firing also.
One of the officers suggested.
"Perhaps there is a mine under which is to be exploded
immediately. . ."
Volodiyovski's threatening glance transfixed the man and
said: "The mine is not ready; and even if it were only the left
side of the castle could be blown up by it and we will defend
ourselves among the ruins while there is breath in our
nostrils. Do you understand?"
Then there was silence not broken even by a shot from the
trenches or the city. After the thunders that had made the
walls and the ground tremble there was something solemn in
that silence, but also something ominous. The eyes of all
were intently fixed on the trenches, but nothing was to be
seen through the clouds of smoke.
Suddenly the measured sound of mattocks was again
audible on the left side.
"I told you that they are only making the mine," said Pan
Michael.
And he turned to Lusnia:
PAN MICHAEL. 5 O 7
"Sergeant, take twenty men and examine the new castle
for me."
Lusnia quickly obeyed and in a moment disappeared be-
yond the breach. There was again silence, only broken by oc-
casional groans or gasps of the dying, and the strokes of the
mattocks.
There was rather a long wait till the sergeant returned.
"Pan Commandant/' he said, "there is not a living soul in
the castle."
Volodiyovski gazed at Ketling in amazement. "Have they
already raised the siege or what? The smoke renders every-
thing invisible."
But the smoke was gradually thinned by the wind and at
last its veil was rent above the city. At that moment a shrill
and dreadful cry arose from the bastion:
"There are white flags above the gates! We are surrender-
ing!"
As they heard it the officers and men turned towards the
city. Every face reflected awful amazement, words (lied
away on every lip and they gazed at the city through wre,ath,es
of smoke. In the city white flags were really waving on the
Russian and Polish gates. Farther away one was visible on
the bastion of Batory.
"Ketling, do you see," he whispered, turning to his friend.
"Ketling's face was also pale.
"I see," he replied.
And for some time they gazed into each other's eyes with
looks that said everything which two blameless and fearless
soldiers like themselves had to say soldiers, who had never
broken their word in their lives, and had sworn before the
altar to die rather than surrender the castle. Now, after such
a defence, after a struggle which recalled the days of Zbaraj,
after an assault which had been repulsed, and after a victory,
they were ordered to break their oaths, surrender the castle,
and live.
As hostile balls had been flying over the castle shortly
before, so now, ill-omened thoughts were flying in clouds
through their heads. And their hearts were oppressed with
boundless sorrow sorrow for two loved ones, sorrow for life
and happiness; so they looked wildly at one another, and di-
rected occasional glances full of despair towards the city, as
if wanting to assure themselves that their eyes were not de-
ceiving them, and that the hour had really struck.
5o8 PAN MICHAEL.
Then horses' hoofs sounded from the direction of the City,
and in a few moments, Horaim, the general of Podolia's
orderly rushed up to them:
"An order for the commander," he cried, reigning in his
horse.
Volodiyovski took the order, read it in silence and pre-
sently, amid a silence like that of a grave, said to the officers:
"Gentlemen, the commissioners have crossed the river in a
boat, and have gone to Dlujka, to sign conditions. Presently
they will come here. . . We must withdraw the troops from
the castle before evening and raise the white flag immedi-
ately."
No one answered a word. The only sound heard was quick
breathing.
At last, Kvasibrodzki said:
"We must raise the white flag, I will gather the men."
Here and there, words of command were heard. The
soldiers began to take their places in the ranks, and shoulder
arms. The clatter of muskets and a measured tramp awak-
ened echoes in the silent castle.
Ketling went up to Pan Michael. "Is it time?" he asked.
"Wait for the commissioners, let us hear the conditions. . .
besides, I will go down myself."
"No, I will go. I know the places better, I know the
position of everything."
Further conversation was interrupted by shouts.
"The commissioners are returning; the commissioners are
returning!"
The three unfortunate envoys presently entered the castle.
They were Grushetski, Judge of Podolia, the Chamberlain,
Jevuski, and Pan Myslishevski, Banneret of Chernigov. They
came in gloom, with bowed heads; on their shoulders shone
kaftans of gold brocade which had been given to them bv the
I Vizir.
Volodiyovski was awaiting them, resting against the gun
pointing towards Dlujka, which was still hot and smoking.
All three greeted him silently.
"What are the conditions?" he asked.
"The city will not be pillaged, the inhabitants are assured of
life and property. He who does not want to remain may re-
tire to wherever he likes."
"And Kamenets?"
The commissioners bowed their heads.
PAN MICHAEL.
"Goes to the Sultan forever and ever. . ."
The commissioners did not depart by the bridge, for it was
blocked by crowds of people, but they went out by the south-
ern gate. When they had gone down they entered the boat
to go to the Polish gate. On the strand, along the river
between the cliffs, the janissaries began to appear. Tho
people came flocking from the town in greater and great(3r
numbers and occupied the place opposite the old bridge; many
of them wanted to come into the castle, but by the little
knight's orders, they were prevented from doing so by the
departing regiments.
When Volodiyovski had mustered the men, he called Pan
Mushalski and said to him:
"Old friend, do me one more service; go at once to my wife
and tell her for me" here the little knight's voice stuck in
his throat, for some moments. "And say to her for me . "
here his voice again choked . . "and tell her for me," here he
said quickly: "this life is nothing."
The archer departed. . . The troops gradually followed
him. Pan Michael mounted his horse and directed the
march. The castle was evacuated slowly because of the rub-
bish and debris which blocked the way.
Ketling approached the little knight, "I will go down," he
said, setting his teeth.
"Go, but wait till the troops are all gone; go."
Then they clasped each other in a long embrace. The eyes
of both shone with unusual brilliancy. At length Ketling
darted away towards the vaults.
Pan Michael took oft' his helmet; for a while he gazed at the
ruins, at that scene of his glory; the rubbish, the corpses, the
shattered walls, the ramparts, and the guns; then he raised
his eyes, and began to pray.
His last words were, "0 Lord, grant that she may bear this
patiently, give her peace. . ."
Ah! Ketling had made haste, not even waiting until all the
troops had marched out, for at that moment, the bastions
trembled, a frightful roar rent the air, bastions, towers, walls,
horses, guns, men, living and dead, masses of earth. . all
torn up with a flash and mixed and welded together as it were,
into one dreadful charge flew into the air. . .
Thus perished Volodiyevski. . . The Hector of Kamenets,
the first soldier of the Commonwealth.
In the seminary of Stanislav, stood a lofty catafalque in the
2 io MICHAEL.
centre of the chapel; it was surrounded with flaring tapers
and on it lay Pan Volodiyovski in a double coffin of lead and
wood. The lids had been fastened down, and the funeral
service was just concluding.
It was the widow's earnest wish that the body should rest
in Khreptyov, but since the whole of Podolia was in posses-
sion of the enemy, it was decided to inter it temporarily at
Stanislav, for to that place the exiles of Kamencts had been
sent under a Turkish escort and delivered over to the troops
of the Hetman there.
All the bells of the seminary were tolling. The chapel was
filled with a crowd of nobles and soldiers who wanted to take
a last look at the coffin of the Hector of Karnenets and the
first cavalier of the Commonwealth. It was whispered that
the Hetman himself was to be present at the funeral, but as
he had not yet arrived, and as the Tartars might come in a
chambul at any moment, it was decided not to put off the
ceremony.
Old soldiers, friends or subordinates of the deceased, stood
around the catafalque in a circle. Among others present were
Mushalski, the archer, Pan Motovidlo, Pan Snitko, Pan
Hromyka, Pan Nyenashinyets, Pan Novovyeyski, and many
other old officers of the military post. By a fortunate coinci-
dence, there was no man lacking of those who had sat in the
evening on the benches around the hearth at Khreptyov; they
had all come out of the war in safety with the exception of the
man who was their leader and model. That good and just
knight, terrible to the foe, and loving to his own; that match-
less swordsman, with the heart of a dove, lay there high among
swordsman, with the heart of a dove, lay there high among
the candles in immeasurable glory, but in the silence of death.
Hearts hardened by warfare were overcome with sorrow at
that sight; yellow rays from the candles gleamed on the stern
suffering faces of the warriors, and glittered in the tears
trickling from their eyelids. Within the circle of soldiers lay
P>asia, extended on the floor in the form of a cross, and near
her Zagloba, old, broken, decrepit, and trembling. She had
followed the hearse bearing that most precious coffin from
Kamenets on foot. And now the moment had come when
that coffin must be consigned to the earth. The whole way
as she walked, scarcely sensible, as if not belonging to this
world and now, beside the catafalque, she kept repeating
with unconscious lips, "This life is nothing!'' she repeated it
UH'ltAEL. 5I ,
because that beloved one had commanded it, for it was his
last message to her, but that repetition and those syllables were
mere sounds without substance, or truth, or meaning, or com-
fort. No, 'this life is nothing,' merely meant to her sorrow,
darkness, despair, mortification, merely irreparable misfor-
tune, merely crushed and broken life; a false statement that
there was nothing about her, neither mercy nor hope, that
there was simply a desert, and would be one which can only
be filled by God when he sends death.
The bells tolled, mass was concluded at the high altar. At
last, the deep voice of the priest thundered as if issuing from
the depths, Requiescat in pace. Basia trembled feverishly
and her dulled brain was only conscious of the thought,
"Now, now, they are going to take him away from me!" But
they had not yet reached the end of the ceremony. The
knights had prepared many speeches to be given when the
coffin was lowered^ and in the meantime, Father Kaminski
ascended the pulpit*; he was the same who had frequently been
at Khreptyov, and had prepared Basia for death when she
was ill.
In the church people began to hawk and cough, as is usual
before a sermon, then there was silence and all -eyes turned to
the pulpit. In the pulpit, the roll of a drum was heard.
The listeners were amazed. Father Kaminski was beating
the drum as if for an alarm; suddenly he stopped and a dead
silence followed. Then the drum was heard a second time
and then a third; suddenly the priest threw the drumsticks on
the floor o' the church and cried:
"Pan Colonel Volodiyovski."
He was answered by a horrible scream from Basia. The
emotion in the church was something terrible. Pan Zagloba
got up and carried the swooning woman out with the aid of
Mushalski.
In the meantime the priest continued, "For God's sake, Pan
Volodiyovski, they are sounding the alarm, there is war, the
enemy is at the boundary, and you do not spring up to seize
your sabre and mount your horse? What has come to you,
soldier, have you forgotten your former virtue, do you leave
us alone with grief and terror?"
The breasts of the knights heaved and the church broke out
into universal weeping, several times repeated, as the priest
extolled the deceased's virtue, patriotism, and bravery. The
preacher was carried away by his own words; his face grew
5I2 PAN MICHAEL.
pale; his brow broke out into perspiration and his voice shook.
He was carried away by grief for the little knight, grief for
Kamenets, grief for the Commonwealth, ruined by the hands
of the followers of the Crescent, and finally he concluded his
eulogy with this prayer:
"0 Lord, they will convert the churches into mosques and
read the Koran in places where the Gospel has been read
until now. Thou hast cast us down, Lord, Thou hast
turned away thy face from us, and delivered us over to the
power of the vile Turk. Inscrutable are thy decrees, Lord,
but who now will resist the Turk. What armies will fight
against him on the border; Thou, from whom nothing in the
world is hidden, Thou knowest best that there is no cavalry
superior to ours. What cavalry can charge for thee a Lord,
like ours? Wilt thou bring to nought defenders, behind
whose back the whole of Christendom might glorify Thy
Name. gracious Father, do not desert ijjs, have mercy upon
us. Send us a defender, send a destroyer of the vile Moham-
medan; let him come here, let him stand among us, let him
raise our fallen hearts; send him, Lord. . . !"
At that moment, the people at the door made way anil the
Hetman, Pan Sobieski, walked into the church; all eyes were
turned upon him, a quiver ran through the people and he
strode with jingling spurs to the catafalque, lordly, mighty,
with the face of a Caesar. He was followed by an escort of
iron cavalry.
"Salvator!" cried the priest in prophetic ecstasy.
Sobieski knelt beside the catafalque and prayed for the
soul of Volodiyovski.
EPILOGUE.
More than a year had passed since the fall of Kamenets,
when the contention of parties having somewhat ceased, the
Commonwealth at length came out to defend its Eastern
boundary.
And it came out offensively. The Grand Hetman, Sobieski,
advanced with 31,000 cavalry and infantry to Khotsim, in the
Sultan's dominions, to attack the immeasurably superior
forces of Hussein Pasha at the latter fortress.
Sobieski's name had become terrible to the foe. During
the year that followed the capture of Kamenets, the Hetman,
with only a few thousand men had accomplished so much, and
so greatly injured the innumerable hosts of the Padishah, de-
stroyed so many chambuls, rescued such crowds of captives,
that old Hussein, though superior in numbers, commanding
picked cavalry, and helped by Kaplan Pasha, did not venture
to oppose the Hetman in an open field and determined to de-
fend himself in a fortified camp.
The Hetman invested that camp with his army, and it was
generally known that he intended to take it by assault. By
some, this was considered an enterprise unheard of in mili-
tary history, to attack a superior army, protected by walls and
entrenchments, with an inferior one. Hussein had one hun-
dred and twenty guns, while there were only fifty in the
Polish camp. The Turkish infantry was three times as nu-
merous as the Hetman's forces. Of the janissaries alone, so
terrible in hand-to-hand fighting, there were 18,000, but the
Hetman believed in his star, and in the spell of his name, and
lastly in the men under him.
Kegiments, trained and tried in fire, marched under him,
men who had grown up from their childhood amid the din of.
war, and passed through innumerable expeditions, campaigns,
sieges and battles. Many of them remembered the terrible
days of Khmyelnitski, and Zbaraj and Berestechko. Many
had served through all the Swedish, Prussian, Moscow, in-
ternecine, Danish, and Hungarian wars. He was accompanied
88
5 ! 4 PAX MICHAEL.
by the escorts of Magnates, formed of veterans only; there
were soldiers from the frontier posts, to whom war had be-
come what peace is to other men: the ordinary business and
course of life. Under the Voyevoda of Russia, there were
fifteen squadrons of huzzars, cavalry whom foreigners con-
sidered matchless, there were light squadrons, the same at
whose head the Hetman had so disastrously defeated detached
Tartar chambuls after the fall of Kamenets, lastly, there were
the land infantry, who could charge janissaries with the butts
of their muskets without firing a shot.
Those veterans had been reared by warfare, for it had reared
entire generations in the Commonwealth, but hitherto they
had been scattered, or in the service of contending parties.
Now that internal union had assembled them in one camp
and under one command the Hetman with such soldiers hoped
to crush the more powerful Hussein and the equally powerful
Kaplan. At the head of these veterans were trained chiefs
who had inscribed their names more than once in the history
of the late wars, in the revolving wheel of victory and defeat.
The Hetman himself stood at the head of them all like a
sun, and directed thousands with his will, but who were the
other leaders who were to cover themselves with fame at this
camp of Khotsim? They were the two Lithuanian Hetmans,
the chief one, Pats, and the Field Hetman, Michael Casimir
Radzivill. These two joined the royal armies a few days be-
fore the battle, and now, by Sobieski's orders, they took up
their position on the heights connecting Khotsim and Jvanets.
Twelve thousand warriors obeyed their orders, among whom
were two thousand picked infantry. From the Dniester south-
wards stood the allied regiments of Wallachia, who deserted
the Turkish camp on the eve of the battle to unite their
strength with the Christians. On the flank of the Wallachians
with his artillery stood Pan Kantski, who could not be
equalled in capturing fortified places, in throwing up earth-
works and handling cannon. He had been trained abroad,
but soon excelled the foreigners themselves. Behind Pan
Kantski stood Korytski's Russian and Mazovian infantry;
and further on, the field Hetman of the kingdom, Dmitri
Vishnyovyetski, the cousin of the feeble king. Under him
was the light cavalry. Next to him, with his own force of
infantry and cavalry, stood Pan Andrey Pototski, once an
opponent of the Hetman's and now an admirer of his genius.
In the rear of himself and Korytski, under Pan Yablinovski,
PAN MICHAEL.
515
Voyevoda of Kussia, stood fifteen squadrons of Hussars in
glittering mail, with helmets casting a threatening shadow on
their faces, and with wings at their shoulders. The forest
of lances reared their heads above these squadrons, but the
men stood calm, confident in their invincible strength, and
sure that it would be theirs to decide the victory.
There were warriors inferior to these in renown, but not
in manliness, there was the Podlasian Castellan, Pan Lujetski,
whose brother had been slain by the Turks in Bodjanov, for
which deed he had sworn a deathless vengeance. There was
Pan Stefan Charnyetski, nephew of the great Stefan, and
Field Secretary of the Kingdom. During the siege of Kamen-
ets he had headed a whole party of nobles at Golemb as one
of the King's partisans, and had almost stirred up civil war,
and now he wanted to distinguish himself by his bravery.
There was Gabriel Silnitski, whose whole life had been spent
in war, and whose head was already whitened with years;
there were other voyevodas and castellans, who were not so
experienced in previous warfare, nor so famous, and therefore
were more desirous of glory.
Among the knighthood that were not invested with sen-
atorial rank, though more than usually famous, was Pan
Skshetuski, the celebrated hero of Zbaraj, a warrior who was
held up as a model to the knighthood. He had shared in
every war undertaken by the Commonwealth for thirty years.
His hair was gray, but he was surrounded by six sons as
strong as six wild boars. Four of these were already acquainted
with war, but the two younger had still to serve their novi-
tiate, therefore they were burning with such martial ardor
that their father had to restrain their impatience with words
of advice.
The comrades regarded this father and his sons with great
respect, but greater admiration was evoked by Pan Yarotski,
who, blind in both eyes, the paragon of the Bohemian King
Yan, joined the campaign.
He had neither children nor relations, he was led by the
hands of attendants; his only hope was to lay down his life
in battle, benefit his country, and gain glory. There also was
Pan Jechytski, whose father and brother fell in that year.
There was also Pan Motovidlo, who not long before had es-
caped from Tartar captivity and taken the field with Pan
Mvslishevski. The former wanted to avenge his captivity,
and the latter, the injustice which he had suffered at Kamen-
PAN MICHAEL.
ets where, in spite of the conditions and his dignity as a
noble, he had been beaten with rods by the janissaries. There
were knights of great experience from the outposts of the
Dniester: the wild Pan Rushchyts and the matchless archer
Mushalski, who had brought a sound head out of Kamenets,
because the little knight had sent him with a message to
Basia. There was Snitko, and Pan Nyenashinyets, and Pan
Hromyka, and most wretched of all, Pan Adam Novovyeyski.
Even his friends and relatives desired death for this man
for there was no consolation left for him. After regaining his
health, Pan Adam had destroyed chambuls for a whole year,
pursuing Lipkovs with special tenacity. After Pan Moto-
vidlo's defeat by Krychinski, he had hunted Krychinski
through the whole of Podolia, giving him no rest, and causing
him no end of trouble. In one of these expeditions he had
captured Adurovich and flayed him alive. He spared no pris-
oners, but his sufferings found no relief. He joined the Rus-
sian voyavoda's hussars a month before the battle.
This was the knighthood with which Pan Sobieski took up
his position at Khotsim. These warriors were anxious to
wreak vengeance for the wrongs of the Commonwealth in the
first place, but secondly, for their own. In constant warfare
with the Infidels in that blood-stained land, nearly every man
had lost some dear one, and carried in his heart the remem-
brance of some awful calamity. Therefore, the Grand Het-
man hastened to battle, for he saw that the fury in the hearts
of his soldiers was like the fury of a lioness whose cubs have
been stolen from the jungle by reckless hunters.
On November 9, 1674, the business commenced with skir-
mishing. In the morning, throngs of Turks appeared before
the walls, and throngs of Polish knights eagerly hastened to
meet them. Men fell on both sides, but the Turks suffered
the greater loss: however, only a few Turks or Poles of note
\ foil. At the very beginning of the skirmish, Pan May was
pierced by the scimitar of a gigantic spahi, but the head of
the latter was almost severed at a blow by Pan Yan's youngest
8on. This deed earned for him the praise of his prudent
father, and great glory.
They fought singly or in groups, the spectators of the strug-
gle gained courage and became more eager every moment. In
the meantime, detachments of the army were placed around
the Turkish camp, each in the position assigned by Sobieski.
The latter took up his position on the old Yassy road, behind
PAN MICHAEL. 5l y
Korytski's infantry, and gained a view of Hussein's entire
camp^, and his face expressed that serene tranquility possessed
by a master who is sure of his art before he commences his
labor. Now and then ne despatches adjutants with orders,
and then he thoughtfully watched the skirmishing. Towards
evening the Voyevoda of Russia came to him.
"The intrenchments are so extensive/ 7 he said, "that it is
impossible to make a simultaneous attack on all sides."
"To-morrow, we shall be in the intrenchments and the day
after we shall cut down those men in three-quarters of an
hour," Sobieski calmly replied.
Meanwhile night came on. The skirmishers retired from
the field. The Hetman ordered all the divisions to approach
the entrenchments in the darkness; Hussein prevented this as
much as possible with heavy guns, but with no result. To-
wards morning the Polish divisions again slightly advanced.
The infantry began to throw up breast-works. Some of the
regiments had advanced to within a musket shot. The janis-
saries opened a close fire. By the Herman's command, there
was scarcely any reply to these volleys, but the infantry pre-
pared for a hand-to-hand attack. The soldiers only awaited
the signal for a wild charge. Grape-shot flew over their long
line with whistling and a noise like flocks of birds. Pan
KantskPs artillery began the attack at daybreak and did not
cease for one moment. Not till the battle was over was it
known what tremendous destruction had been wrought by its
missiles falling in the places most thickly covered with the
tents' of the janissaries and spahis.
Thus passed the time till noon, but as it was November
and the day was short, haste was necessary. Suddenly, all
the benbens and small and great drums were heard. Some
dozen thousands of throats shouted with one voice. The in-
fantry, supported by light cavalry, rushed in the dense mass
to the attack.
They attacked the Turks simultaneously at five points.
The foreign regiments were led by Yan Dennemark and
Christopher De Bohan, experienced warriors. The former oi'
a fiery nature rushed on with such elan that he reached his
entrenchment and almost destroyed his own regiment, for he
encountered a volley from twelve or fifteen hundred muskets.
He himself fell. The soldiers began to waver, but at that
moment De Bohan came to the rescue and stopped a panic.
With a step as steadily as on parade and keeping time to the
PAN MICHAEL.
fosse with fascines, was the first to cross it beneath a storm
music, he marched the whole distance right up to the Turkish
intrenchments answering volley with volley, and, filling the
posse with fascines, was the first to eross it beneath a storm
of bullets; he raised his cap to the janissaries, and ran his
sword through the first banneret. Carried away by the ex-
ample of such a colonel, the soldiers sprang forward and a
terrible contest commenced, in which discipline and training
vied successfully with the fierce courage of the janissaries.
But dragoons were quickly brought up from the small vil-
lages of Taraban by Tetwin and Doenhoff ; another regiment
was headed by Aswer Greben and Haydepol, all distinguished
soldiers who, with the exception of Haydepol, had covered
themselves with great glory in Denmark under Charnyetski.
The troops under their command were big and doughty, se-
lected from men on the Royal domains, and well trained to
fight on foot and horseback. The gate was defended against
them by irregular Turkish soldiers, who, though in great
force, were quickly thrown into confusion and forced to re-
treat; when they came to close quarters they only defended
themselves when they had no chance of escape. That gate
was the first one opened, and the cavalry were the first to pass
it to the interior of the camp.
At the head of the Polish militia, Pans Kobyletski, Michael
Jebrovski, Pyotrkovchyk, and Galetski, stormed the entrench-
ments at three other points. A most stubborn fight raged at
the main gate on the Yassy road where the Mazovians came
in contact with the guard of Hussein Pasha. The vizir con-
sidered that gate of the utmost importance, for the Polish
cavalry might dash into the camp through it, so he determined
to defend it to the last, and constantly pushed fresh bodies
of janissaries to the front. The militia took the gate at one
stroke and then exerted all their strength to retain it. They
were driven back by cannon balls and a storm of bullets from
small arms. Every moment fresh bodies of Turkish warriors
sprang out of the clouds of smoke to attack them. Pan
Kobyletski did not wait for them, but sprang at them like a
raging bear, and two walls of men clashed together, swaying
backwards and forwards at close quarters in disorder, in a
vortex, in rivers of blood, and on heaps of corpses. They
fought with every kind of weapon; with swords, knives, gun-
stocks, shovels, clubs, etc., and sometimes the crush became
30 tremendous and terrible, that men grappled with each other
PAN MICHAEL.
519
and fought with fists and teeth. Hussein twice attempted to
break the infantry with a cavalry charge; but each time the
infantry fell upon him with such extraordinary resolution that
the cavalry had to retreat in disorder. Pan Sobieski at last
took pity on his men and sent all the camp-servants to their
assistance.
Pan Motovidlo was leading them. This mob, very seldom
employed in battle, and armed with all kinds of weapons,
dashed forward with such ardor that they even roused the
Hetman's admiration. It may be that they were inspired
with the desire for spoil; it may be that the fire that pos-
sessed the whole army that day was communicaited to them
also. It is sufficient that they charged the janissaries as if
they were only smoke and were so irresistible that at the first
onset they drove them back a musket's shot from the gate.
Hussein cast fresh regiments into the vortex of battle and the
struggle was instantly renewed and lasted for whole hours.
Meanwhile Korytski at the head of picked regiments attacked
the gate in force; in the distance the hussars, like a huge
bird lazily rising for flight, also advanced towards the gate.
At that moment an orderly rushed up to the Hetman from
the eastern side of the camp.
"The voyevoda of Belsk is on the walls," he cried with heav-
ing breast.
He was followed by a second:
"The hetmans of Lithuania, are on the walls!"
He was followed by others and all with similar news. The
world had grown dark, but there was light in the Hetman's
face. He turned to Pan Bidzinski by his side and said:
"It will be the cavalry's turn next; but that will be in the
morning." /
Nobody in either the Turkish or Polish army knew or
imagined that the Hetman meant to put off the general attack
till the next morning. Far from it ! Orderlies carried orders
to the captains to hold them in readiness at any moment. The
infantry stood in close ranks and the cavalry kept their hands
on their sabres and lances. They were all impatiently await-
ing the word, for the men were cold and hungry.
But no commands arrived and hours passed on. The night
became as black as a shroud. A drizzling rain had set in
about one in the afternoon., but about midnight it gave way
to a fierce wind with hail and snow. Its blasts froze the mar-
row in the bones of men; the horses were scarcely able to keep
X MIC HAUL.
their feet, and men were numbed. The sharpest dry frost
could never be so bitter as that hail and snow that cut like
a scourge. Momentarily expecting the signal, it was not pos-
sible to think about eating and drinking, or kindling fires.
The weather grew worse every hour. That was a memorable
night, "a night of torture and gnashing of teeth." The
voices of the captains crying "Stand I stand!" were heard
every instant; and the soldiers, perfectly disciplined, stood
alert, motionless, and patient.
But the stiffened Turkish regiments, equally alert, stood
facing them in the hail, and tempest, and darkness.
Among them also nobody lighted a fire, or ate, or drank.
The attack of the whole Polish force might occur at any mo-
ment, and so the spahis could not let their sabres out of their
hands. The janissaries stood like a wall with their muskets
ready to shoot. The hardy Polish soldiers, inured to the
rigors of winter, could spend such a night; but the others,
reared in the mild climate of Kumelia, or among the palms
of Asia Minor, were suffering more than they could endure.
At last Hussein found out why Sobieski did not commence
the attack. It was because that frozen rain was the Poles'
best ally. It was clear that, if the spahis and janissaries were
to be forced to stand through twelve such hours as those, the
cold would lay them down like sheaves on the morrow. They
would not even try to -defend themselves; at least till they
were warmed by the heat of battle.
Both Poles and Tartars comprehended this. About four in
the morning Hussein was approached by two Pashas, Yanish
and Kiaya, the leader of the janissaries, an old warrior of
experience and renown. Both their faces were troubled and
anxious.
Kiaya was the first to speak: "Lord, if my 'lambs 7 have to
stand like this till daylight, neither bullets nor sword will be
needed against them."
"Lord," said Yanish Pasha, "my spahis will freeze and be
unable to fight in the morning."
Hussein pulled at his beard, foreseeing defeat for his army
and ruin for himself. But what could he do ? If he allowed
his men to fall out even for a moment, or light fires to warm
themselves with hot food, the attack would commence at once.
Even now the trumpets sounded at the walls at intervals as if
the cavalry were about to advance.
Kiaya and Yanish Pashas could only see one way to escape
PAN MICHAEL. 5 2i
disaster, and that was not to await the attack, but to strike at
the foe with the entire force. It mattered not that he was
prepared; for, though he was ready to attack, he himself did
not anticipate attack. Perhaps they might drive him out of
the trenches; in the worst case defeat was only a probability in
a night battle, but in the morrow's fight it was certain.
But Hussein did not care to take the old warriors' advice.
"What?" he cried; "you have lined the camp with trenches,
regarding them as the one safe-guard against that hellish cav-
alry, that was your counsel and precaution; and now you
say something else!"
He did not issue the command. He merely ordered the
cannon to fire, which was instantly answered with great effect
by Pan Kantski. The rain became colder and colder and cut
more and more cruelly; the wind roared and howled and pene-
trated clothing and skin and froze the blood in the veins.
Thus passed that long November night during which the
strength of the warriors of Islam failed in them and despair
invaded their hearts with a foreboding of defeat.
Even at daybreak Yanish Pasha again approached Hussein
and advised him to retreat in order of battle to the bridge
over the Dniester and cautiously commence the game of war
there. "For," said he, "if the troops cannot withstand the
charge of the cavalry they can retreat to the opposite bank and
be protected by the river." But Kiaya, the chief of the janis-
saries, did not agree with this opinion. He thought that
Yanish's counsel came too late and feared that an order to
retreat might throw the entire army into immediate panic.
The spahis supported by the djamaks must meet the first
shock of cavalry of the unbelievers even if they are all de-
stroyed thereby. By that time the janissaries will come to
their support and when the first charge of the unbelievers is
checked God may perhaps send the victory."
Kiaya and Hussein followed this advice. Multitudes of
mounted Turks went to the front and the janissaries and
djamaks were disposed in their rear around Hussein's tents.
Their serried ranks presented a splendid and awe-inspiring
spectacle The white-bearded Kiaya, "Lion of God," who
had led only to victory till that time, flew along their close
ranks strengthening and encouraging them and recalling for-
mer battles and their own unbroken power to their memories.
They also far preferred battle to that idle waiting amid storm
and rain and wind that pierced them to the bone; and so,
522 PAN MICHAEL.
although they could scarcely hold the muskets and spears in
their stiffened hands, their spirits rose at the thought that
they would warm them in battle. The spahis awaited the at-
tack with far less desire, because they had to face its first fury,
and secondly, because among them were many natives of Asia
Minor and Egypt who were only half-alive after that night,
as they were extremely sensitive to cold. The horses also
suffered considerably and, though covered with splendid ca-
parisons, they stood with their heads lowered to the earth,
breathing columns of steam from their nostrils. With blue
faces, and half-sightless eyes, the men had not the least
thought of victory. Their sole thought was that death would
be preferable to such torture as they had experienced during
the past night, but flight to their distant homes, beneath the
hot beams of the sun, would be better still.
Many of the Polish troops who were unsufficiently clothed
had died on the walls before day; but on the whole, they had
endured the cold far better than the Turks, for they were
strengthened by the hope of victory and an almost blind faith
that since the Hetman had ordained that they must stiffen in
the rain, the torture must infallibly result in their own ad-
vantage, and the hurt and ruin of the Turks. However, even
they gladly greeted the first beam of dawn.
At that moment Sobieski appeared at the walls.
That day there was no bright dawn in the sky, but there
was brightness in his face; for when he saw that the enemy
meant fight in the camp, he was sure that that day would
result in a terrible rout to Mohammed, so he went from regi-
ment to regiment repeating: "For the desecration of churches!
for blasphemy against the Most Holy Virgin in Kamenets!
for injury to Christendom and the Commonwealth! for
Kamenets!" The soldiers' faces assumed a terrible expres-
sion, as if to say, "We can scarcely restrain ourselves! Let
us go, Grand Hetman, and you shall see!" The gray morning
light momentarily grew brighter and brighter and from the
fog rows of horses heads, forms of men, lances, standards, and
finally regiments of infantry became more distinct every mo-
ment. First they advanced through the fog towards the
enemy like two rivers on the flanks of the cavalry; then the
light cavalry moved, leaving only a broad track in the centre,
along which the hussars were to charge at the right moment.
Every head of an infantry and every captain had his in-
structions and knew what to do. Pan Kantskfs artillery be-
PAN MICHAEL. 523
gan to speak more deeply and elicit also strong response from
the Turkish side. The musketry rattled and a mighty shout
arose throughout the camp; the attack had commenced.
The foggy atmosphere obscured the view, but the sounds
of the struggle reached the spot where the hussars were await-
ing. The clash of weapons and the yells of the men could be
heard. The Hetman who had remained with the hussars until
then, and was talking with the Eussian Voyevoda, suddenly
stopped and listened.
The infantry are engaged with the Djamaks, the front
ranks are dispersed, he said to the voyevoda.
Presently, when the musketry was slackening, suddenly a
mighty volley roared, quickly followed by another. It was
evident that the light cavalry had driven back the spahis and
were face to face with the janissaries.
The Grand Hetman set spurs to his horse and sprang to
the battle at lightning speed at the head of a small body of
men. The Voyevoda of Russia remained behind with the
fifteen squadrons of hussars who, in perfect order, were only
awaiting the signal to dash to the front and decide the fate
of the battle.
They waited for some time yet, and in the meantime, in the
heart of the camp, it seethed and roared more and more ter-
ribly. Sometimes the battle seemed to roll towards the right,
and sometimes to the left. Now towards the Lithuanian regi-
ments, and now towards the Voyevoda of Belski; exactly as in
a storm, when thunders roll across the sky. The artillery-fire
of the Turks was slackening, while Pan Kantski's guns re-
doubled their energy. In the course of an hour it appeared
to the Voyevoda of Russia, that the might of the struggle
moved to the centre immediately in front of his hussars.
At that moment, the Grand Hetman galloped up at the
head of his escort. His eyes were flashing fire. He reined in
his horse near the Voyevoda and cried:
"At them now, with God's aid!"
"At them!" shouted the Voyevoda of Russia.
And the captains repeated the order after him. With a
dreadful noise that forest of lances dropped with one move-
ment level with the horses' heads and fifteen squadrons of that
cavalry which was accustomed to destroy everything before it,
advanced like a mighty cloud?
From the day when, during the three day's battle at War-
saw, the Lithuanian hussars under Polubiriski had split the
,, 24 PAN MICHAEL.
entire Swedish army like a wedge, and penetrated it, a
remembered an attack made with such force. Those s
rons started at a trot, but at two hundred paces distance, the
captains ordered "Gallop!" The men shouted "Strike, kill!"
in answer, and bent in their saddles as the horses went at full
speed. Then that column sweeping on like a tornado com-
posed of horses, iron men, and levelled lances, partook some-
what of the resistless character of an element let loose. It
moved like a storm or a raging river, with fury and uproar.
The earth trembled under its weight, and even if no man had
levelled a lance, or drawn a sabre, it was evident that the
mere weight and shock of the hussars w r ould overturn, tram-
ple, and shatter everything before them, just as a tornado
shatters and levels a forest. Thus they swept on to the bloody
field, strewn with bodies, where the battle was raging. The
light cavalry were still fighting on the wings with the Turkish
cavalry, which they had succeeded in driving back some dis-
tance. But in the centre the dense ranks of the janissaries
stood like an indestructible wall. Again and again the light
cavalry had broken themselves against that wall, as a rolling
wave breaks itself on a rocky shore. It was now the task of
the hussars to shatter and destroy it.
Several thousands of muskets thundered like a single re-
port. In another moment the janissaries settled themselves
more firmly on their feet and some blinked their eyes at the
sight of the terrible charge; the hands of some of them trem-
bled as they grasped their spears, and the hearts of all were
beating like hammers, their teeth were clinched, and their
breasts heaving terribly. The hussars are just upon them.
The loud breathing of the horses is heard. Destruction, an-
nihilation, and death are swooping down on them.
"Allah! . . . Jesu Maria!" . . . These two cries are
mingled as terribly as if they had never broken from human
breasts till that moment. The living wall shakes, bends and
breaks. The dry snapping of broken lances for a moment
drowns every other sound, and then is heard the clash of iron,
the sound as of thousands of hammers striking violently on
anvils, as of thousands of flails on a threshing-floor, and single
and collective cries, groans, shouts, reports of pistols and
guns, and howls of terror. Attackers and attacked are min-
gled in an indescribable vortex. A slaughter follows. From
under the press blood flows, warm, steaming, and spreading
its raw odor on the air.
PAN MICHAEL. 535
The first,, second, third, and tenth rank of the janissaries
are lying like a pavement, trampled with hoofs, pierced with
lances, and slashed with swords. But the white-bearded
Kiaya, "Lion of God," casts all his men into the seething
battle. It matters not that they are levelled like grain before
a tempest. They fight, they are seized with rage, they breathe
forth death, and seek it. The lava of horses' chests presses
against them, bends, and upsets them. They lay open the
horses' bellies with their knives, thousands of sabres cease-
lessly slash them, blades rise like lightning and fall on their
heads, necks, and hands. They slash the hussars on the legs
and knees, they coil about and bite like venomous reptiles,
they die and avenge themselves.
Kiaya, "Lion of God," constantly hurls fresh forces into the
jaws of death. He encourages them to fight by his cries and
with uplifted scimitar he rushes himself into the press. Then
a gigantic hussar, destroying everything before him like a
flame, falls upon the white-bearded old man and, rising in his
stirrups, to give a more terrible stroke, brings a two-handed
sword down on the white head with an awful sweep. Neither
the scimitar, nor the helmet forged in Damascus, can resist
the blow, and Kiaya, cleft almost to the shoulders, falls to
the earth as if struck by lightning.
Pan Novovyeyski, for it was he, had already caused terrible
havoc, for no one could withstand the strength and sullen
fury of the man; but now he had done that utmost service by
cutting down the old hero who alone kept up the obstinate
fight. The janissaries raised a dreadful cry at the sight of
the death of their chief, and some of them aimed their mus-
kets at the breast of the cavalier. He turned towards them
like dark night, and before they could be sabred by other hus-
sars the shots rang out, Pan Adam reined in his horse, and
bowed in his saddle. Two comrades grasped him by the arms,
but a smile, long a stranger guest, illuminated his gloomy
face, his eyes rolled in his head, and his white lips whispered
words which no one could distinguish in the roar of battle.
Meanwhile, the last ranks of the janissaries wavered.
The valia.nt Yanish Pasha endeavored to renew the fight,
but his men had fallen into a panic and all efforts were use-
less. The ranks were broken and shattered, driven back,
beaten down, trampled and slashed, and they could not re-
cover their order. Finally they broke like an over-strained
chain and men flew apart from each other in all directions
52 6 PAN MICHAEL.
like separate links, yelling, shouting, casting away their weap-
ons, and covering their heads with their hands. The cavalry
followed them up, and not finding any room for separate
flight, they huddled together in dense masses, on whose necks
the cavalry rode swimming in hlood. Pan Mushalski, the
archer, struck the valiant Yanish Pasha such a fierce "blow on
the neck with his sabre, that his spinal marrow gushed out and
stained his silk shirt and the silver scales of his mail.
The diamaks, defeated by the Polish infantry, and part of
the cavalry which was dispersed at the very beginning of the
battle, in fact a whole Turkish division, now fled to the oppos-
ite side of the camp where was a rocky ravine some dozens
of feet deep. They were driven there by the madness of
terror. Many cast themselves over the precipice, not to es-
cape death, but death at the hands of the Poles. Pan Bidzin-
ski, the Crown Commander, obstructed the way of this de-
spairing crowd, but the avalanche of fugitives carried him
along with it and cast him to the bottom of the precipice,
which in a few moments was filled almost to the brink with
heaps of slain, wounded, and suffocated men.
Dreadful groans arose from the bottom; bodies were quiv-
ering, kicking one another, or clawing in the agonies of death.
The sound of groaning and the writhing of the bodies lasted
till evening, but more and more faintly, till at dark they
ceased altogether.
The effect of the shock of the hussars was frightful..
Eight thousand sabred janissaries lay near the trench sur-
rounding the tents at Hussein Pasha, without counting those
who perished in the flight, or at the foot of the precipice. The
Polish cavalry was among the tents; Pan Sobieski had tri-
umphed. The trumpets were giving forth their blare of vic-
tory when the battle suddenly flamed up again.
When the janissaries were routed, the vizir, Hussein Pasha,
at the head of his mounted guards and all the surviving cav-
alry, fled through the gate leading to Yassy; but when the
squadrons of Dmitri Vishnyovyetski intercepted him outside,
and began to slash without mercy, he turned back to the camp
to seek another outlet of escape, just as a wild beast sur-
rounded in a forest seeks an outlet. He came back with such
a rush that in a moment he scattered the light squadron of
Semenovs, threw the infantry, who were partly occupied in
pillaging the camp, into disorder, and reached to within half
a pistol shot of the Hetman himself.
PAN MICHAEL. 527
"In the very camp/' afterwards wrote Pan Sobieski, "we
came near being defeated, and our escape from death must
be attributed to the extraordinary resolution of the hussars.
In fact, the pressure of the Turks was tremendous, under the
impulse of utter despair, and it was the more terrible because
entirely unexpected; but the hussars, who had not yet cooled
from the heat of battle, immediately charged them with the
greatest impetus. Prusinovski's squadron first advanced and
brougkt the attackers to a halt. He was followed by Pan Yan
Skshetuski with his men, and then the whole army, cavalry,
infantry, and camp-followers, every man as he was and
wherever he happened to be; they all charged the enemy with
the greatest fury, and there was a battle somewhat disordered,
but not less furious than the hussars' charge on the janis-
saries.
When the struggle was over the knights looked back with
wonder on the valor of the Turks, who, attacked by Vishnyov-
yetski and the Hetmans of Lithuania and surrounded on all
sides, defended themselves with such fury that, although
Sobieski allowed the Poles to take prisoners then, they were
scarcely able to take the handful of captives. Finally, when
the heavy squadrons dispersed them after half an hour's
fighting, single groups and single horsemen fought to the last
gasp, calling upon Allah. Many glorious deeds were per-
formed, the memory of which has not perished among men.
The Field Hetman of Lithuania slew a strong Pasha who
had killed Pan Rudomina, Pan Kimbar, and Pan Rdultovski,
but the Field Hetman, coming upon him unnoticed, cut off
his head with one blow. Pan Sobieski slew before the army
a spahi who had fired a pistol at him. Pan Bidzinski, the
Crown Commander, escaping from the ravine by some miracle,
although bruised and wounded, at once dashed into the thick
of the fight and fought till he fainted with exhaustion. He
was sick for a long time, but recovered his health after some
months and again went to the field with great glory to him-
self.
Of less celebrated men, Pan Rushchyts fought the most
furiously, destroying horsemen as a wolf snatches sheep from
a flock. Pan Yan Skshetuski on his part performed wonders,
and his sons fought around him like young lions. Sorrow-
fully and regretfully did these knights afterwards think of
what Pan Yolodiyovski, that swordsman above all others,
would have performed on that day, had it not been that he
52 g PAN MICHAEL.
had been in the earth for a whole year resting in God and in
Glory. But others trained in his school gained sufficient
fame for him and for themselves on that field of carnage.
Besides Pan Novovyeyski, two of the old knights of Khrcpt-
yov fell in that renewed fight: Pan Motovidlo and the terrible
archer, Mushalski. Several balls simultaneously pierced
Motovidlo's breast and he fell like an oak that has reached
its term. It was said by eye-witnesses that he fell by the
hand of those Cossack brothers who had struggled to the last
under Hohol against their mother-country and Christendom.
Strange to relate, Pan Mushalski died by an arrow from the
bow of some fugitive Turk; it pierced his throat just at the
moment when, at the final defeat of the Infidel, he was put-
ting his hand to the quiver to send fresh unerring messen-
gers of death in pursuit of the flying. But his soul had to
join the soul of Didyuk, so that the friendship begun on the
Turkish galley might endure bound together in eternity. The
old comrades of Khreptyov found the three bodies after the
battle and took a tearful farewell of them, though they envied
their glorious. death. Pan Novovyeyski had a smile upon his
lips and his face was calm and serene; Pan Motovidlo seemed
to be peacefully sleeping; and Pan Mushalski had his eyes
raised as if in prayer. They were buried together on that
glorious field of Khotsim beneath the cliff on which, as an
eternal memorial of the day, their three names were engraved
beneath a cros, .
The leader of the entire Turkish army, Hussein Pasha, es-
caped on a swift Anatolian steed, but only to receive a silken
cord from the hands of the Sultan at Stambul. O'f the mag-
nificent Turkish army only small bands were able to carry
away whole heads from the disaster. The last legions of Hus-
sein Pasha's cavalry fell into the hands of the troops of the
Commonwealth. Thus, the field Hetman drove them to the
Grand Hetman, and he drove them to the Lithuanian Het-
mans, and they back again to the Field Hetman, and so in
turn, till almost the whole of them had perished. Scarcaly
one of the janissaries escaped. The whole enormous camp was
streaming with blood mingled with snow and rain. So many
bodies lay there that nothing but crows, ravens, and wolves
prevented a pestilence, which usually comes from decaying
bodies. The Polish troops were inspired with such an ardor
of battle, that, without waiting to draw breath after the vic-
tory, they captured Khotsim. Immense spoil was taken in
PAX MICHAEL. $29
the camp itself. The Grand Hetman took one hundred and
twenty guns and three hundred flags and standards from that
field on which the Polish sabre had celebrated a great triumph
for the second time in the course of a century.
Pan Sobieski himself stood in Hussein Pasha's tent, which
sparkled with rubies and gold, and sent forth news of the for-
tunate victory in every direction by swift couriers. Then were
assembled the cavalry and infantry; all the squadrons, Polish,
Lithuanian, and Cossack and the whole army stood in battle
array. A Thanksgiving Mass was celebrated and on the same
square, where the day before Muezzins had cried "La Allah
ilia Allah!" Te Deum Laudamus was chanted.
The Hetman, extended in the form of a cross, heard mass
and the chant, and joyful tears were flowing down his worthy
face when he rose. At that sight the legions of knights not
yet cleansed from the blood, still trembling after their exer-
tions in the fight, chrice uttered the mighty thundering shout:
"Vivat, Joannes victor!"
Ten years later, when the might of King Yan the Third
(Sobieski) hurled the Turkish power at Vienna to the dust,
that shout was repeated from sea to sea, from mountain to
mountain, throughout the world, wherever bells called the
faithful to prayer.
Here ends this series of books, written in the course of
several years and with no little labor, for the strengthening
of men's hearts.
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1956"
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY