When Sasha came to his senses it seemed to him that he must have been
dead for a long time. First of all, he had to think who he was; and
this was not so easy as you may suppose, for he found himself lying
in bed in a room he had never seen before. It was broad daylight,
and the sun shone upon one of his hands, which was so white and thin
that it did not seem to belong to him. Then he lifted it, and was
amazed to find how little strength there was in his arm. But he
brought it to his head at last--and there was another surprise. All
his long silken hair was gone! He was so weak and bewildered that he
groaned aloud, and the tears ran down his cheeks.
There was a noise in the room, and presently old Gregor, his
grandfather, bent over him as he lay in bed.
"Grandfather," said the boy--and how feeble his voice sounded--"am I
your Sasha still?"
The old man, crying for joy, dropped on his knees and uttered a short
prayer. "Now you will get well!" he cried; "but you mustn't talk;
the doctor said you were not to talk."
"But where am I, grandfather?" asked Sasha.
"In the palace! And the baron's own doctor comes every day to see
you; and they allow me to stay here and nurse you--it will be a week
to-morrow!"
"What's the matter--what has happened?"
"Don't talk, for the love of heaven!" said Gregor; "you saved the
baron from being robbed and killed; and the principal robber struck
your head and broke your arm; and the baron and the people came just
at the right time; and one of them was shot, and the other two are in
prison. O, my boy, remember the altar of the black god Perun; be
obedient to me; shut your eyes and keep quiet!"
But Sasha could not shut his eyes. Little by little his memory came
back, and a sense of what he had done filled his mind and made him
happy. He felt a dull ache in his left arm, and found that it was so
tightly bandaged he could not move it, as he lay quite still, while
his grandfather sat and watched him with sparkling eyes. After a
time the door opened and a strange gentleman came in; it was the
doctor. The old man rose and conversed with him in whispers. Then
Sasha found that a spoon was held to his lips; he mechanically
swallowed something that had a strange, pleasant taste, and almost
immediately fell asleep.
In a day or two he was strong enough to sit up in bed, and was
allowed to talk. Then the baron and the baroness came with the lady
who was their guest, to see him. They were all eager to learn the
particulars of the occurrence, especially how Sasha had discovered
the plot of the robbers. He began at the beginning, and had got as
far as the latter's change of language on seeing him, when he stopped
in great confusion, and looked at his grandfather.
Gregor neither spoke nor moved, but his eyes seemed to say plainly,
"Tell everything."
Sasha then related the whole story to the end. The baroness came to
the bedside, stooped down, kissed him, and said, "You have saved your
lord!"
But the other lady, who had been watching him very closely and
curiously, suddenly exclaimed:
"Why, it's the same nice-looking young serf that I saw before; and
when I spoke of him in French he blushed. I was sure he understood
me! Don't you understand me now, my boy?"
She asked the question in French, and Sasha answered in the same
language, "Yes, madam."
The lady clapped her hands with delight; but the baron asked very
sternly:
"Where did you learn so many languages?"
"From me!" answered Gregor, instantly. "The boy likes to know
things, and I've always thought--saving your opinion, my lord--that
when God gives anyone a strong wish for knowledge he means it to be
answered. So I opened to him all there is in this foolish old head
of mine while we were together in the forest; and it was such a
pleasure for him to take that it came to be a pleasure for me to
give. You understand, my lady?"
"Yes," said the baroness, "I understand that without Sasha's
knowledge of German my husband would probably have been murdered."
"That's not so certain," replied the baron. "But some celebrated man
has said, 'All's well that ends well.' The boy did his duty like a
full-grown man, and I'll take care of him."
Therewith they went out of the room, and Sasha immediately asked in
some anxiety, "Grandfather, you meant that I should tell?"
"Yes, my boy," said Gregor readily, "for the youngest robber has
already confessed that they spoke in German, and thought themselves
safe while you were passing. They are vagabonds from the borders of
Poland, and knew a little of three or four tongues. It is all right,
Sasha; the baron is satisfied, and means to help you. Your chance
has come sooner than I expected. I must have a little time to think
about it; my head is like a stiff joint, hard to bend when I want to
use it. It's a piece of good luck to me that you can't get out of
bed for a week to come!"
He laughed as he left the bedside and took his seat on the broad
stone bench beside the fireplace. Sasha kept silent, for he knew
that the old man's brain was hard at work. He tried to do a little
thinking himself, but it made him feel weak and giddy; in fact, the
blow upon his head would have killed a more delicate boy.
His strength came back so rapidly, however, that in a week he was
able to walk about with his arm in a sling. He was still pale, and
looked so strange in his short hair that on his first visit home his
mother burst into tears on seeing him. Then Minka, Peter, Sergius,
and Waska lifted up their voices and cried; and Ivan, who was at
first angry with them, finally cried also, without knowing why he did
it. All this made Sasha feel very uncomfortable, and he was on the
point of saying, "I won't do it again!" when Old Gregor made silence
in the house. He had looked through the window and seen some of the
neighbours coming; so the whole family became cheerful again as
rapidly as they could.
By this time Gregor had made up his mind. Sasha knew that he could
not change it if he would, and he was therefore very glad to find how
well his grandfather's notions agreed with his own. While he was
waiting for the baron to speak again he was not losing time; for the
strange lady who was visiting at the castle took quite a friendly
interest in teaching him French and German, and giving him Russian
books which were not too difficult to read. He was so eager to
satisfy her that he really made astonishing progress.
When the robbers were tried before the judge he was called upon to
give testimony against them. One of the three having been killed,
the youngest one was not afraid to confess, and his story and Sasha's
agreed perfectly. The boy described the unwillingness of the former
to undertake the crime; even the baron said a word in his favour, and
the judge at last sentenced him to be banished to Siberia for only
ten years, while the older robber was sent there for life.
That evening the baron asked Sasha, "Would you like to be one of my
house-servants, boy?"
Just as his grandfather had advised him, Sasha answered, "It is not
for me to choose, my lord; but I think I can serve you much more to
your profit if you will let me try to become a merchant."
"A merchant!" exclaimed the baron.
"Not all at once," said Sasha. "I could be of use now as a boy to
help carry and sell things, because I can count, and speak a little
in other tongues. I could make myself so useful to some merchant
that he would give me a chance to learn the whole business in time.
Then I should earn much money, and could pay you for the privilege."
The baron had often envied noblemen of his acquaintance, some of
whose serfs were rich manufacturers or merchants, and paid them large
annual sums for the privilege of living for themselves. Here seemed
to be a chance for him to gain something in the same way. The boy
spoke so confidently, and looked in his face with such
straightforward eyes, that he felt obliged to consider the
proposition seriously.
"How will you get to St. Petersburg?" he asked.
"When you go, my lord," said Sasha, "I could sit on the box at the
coachman's feet. I will help him with the horses, and it shall cost
you nothing. When I get there I know I shall find a place."
The baron then said, "You may go."