In Lithuania a civil war had begun, which, with two invasions of the
Commonwealth and the ever more stubborn war of the Ukraine, filled the
measure of misfortune.
The army of the Lithuanian quota, though so small in number that alone
it could not offer effectual resistance to any of the enemies, was
divided into two camps. Some regiments, and specially the foreign ones,
remained with Radzivill; others, forming the majority, proclaimed the
hetman a traitor, protested in arms against joining Sweden, but without
unity, without a leader, without a plan. Sapyeha might be its leader,
but he was too much occupied at that time with the defence of Byhovo
and with the desperate struggle in the interior of the country, to be
able to take his place immediately at the head of the movement against
Radzivill.
Meanwhile the invaders, each considering a whole region as his own,
began to send threatening messages to the other. From their
misunderstandings might rise in time the salvation of the Commonwealth;
but before it came to hostile steps between them there reigned the most
terrible chaos in all Lithuania. Radzivill, deceived in the army,
determined to bring it to obedience through force.
Volodyovski had barely reached Ponyevyej with his squadron, after the
battle of Klavany, when news came to him of the destruction, by
Radzivill, of Mirski's squadron, and that of Stankyevich. Some of the
men were placed by force among Radzivill's troops; others were cut down
or scattered to the four winds; the remainder were wandering singly or
in small groups through villages and forests, seeking a place to hide
their heads from vengeance and pursuit.
Fugitives came daily to Pan Michael's detachment, increasing his force
and bringing news the most varied.
The most important item was news of the mutiny of Lithuanian troops
stationed in Podlyasye, near Byalystok and Tykotsin. After the armies
of Moscow had occupied Vilno the squadrons from that place had to cover
the approach to the territories of the kingdom. But hearing of the
hetman's treason, they formed a confederation, at the head of which
were two colonels, Horotkyevich and Yakub Kmita, a cousin of Andrei,
the most trusty assistant of Radzivill.
The name of the latter was repeated with horror by the soldiers. He
mainly had caused the dispersion of Stankyevich's squadron and that of
Mirski; he shot without mercy the captured officers. The hetman trusted
him blindly, and just recently had sent him against Nyevyarovski's
squadron, which, disregarding the example of its colonel, refused
obedience.
Volodyovski heard the last account with great attention; then he turned
to the officers summoned in counsel, and asked,--
"What would you say to this,--that we, instead of hurrying to the
voevoda of Vityebsk, go to those squadrons which have formed a
confederacy in Podlyasye?"
"You have taken that out of my mouth!" said Zagloba "It is nearer home
there, and it is always pleasanter among one's own people."
"Fugitives mention too a report," added Pan Yan, "that the king has
ordered some squadrons to return from the Ukraine, to oppose the Swedes
on the Vistula. If this should prove true, we might be among old
comrades instead of pounding from corner to corner."
"But who is going to command those squadrons? Does any one know?"
"They say that Charnyetski will," answered Volodyovski; "but people say
this rather than know it, for positive intelligence could not come
yet."
"However it may be," said Zagloba, "my advice is to hurry to Podlyasye.
We can bring to our side those squadrons that have risen against
Radzivill, and take them to the king, and that certainly will not be
without a reward."
"Let it be so!" said Oskyerko and Stankyevich.
"It is not easy," said the little knight, "to get to Podlyasye, for we
shall have to slip through the fingers of the hetman. If fortune
meanwhile should grant us to snap up Kmita somewhere on the road, I
would speak a couple of words in his ear, from which his skin would
grow green."
"He deserves it," said Mirski. "That some old soldiers who have served
their whole lives under the Radzivills hold to the hetman, is less to
be wondered at; but that swaggerer serves only for his own profit, and
the pleasure which he finds in betrayal."
"So then to Podlyasye?" asked Oskyerko.
"To Podlyasye! to Podlyasye!" cried all in one voice.
But still the affair was difficult, as Volodyovski had said; for to go
to Podlyasye it was necessary to pass near Kyedani, as near a den in
which a lion was lurking.
The roads and lines of forest, the towns and villages were in the hands
of Radzivill; somewhat beyond Kyedani was Kmita, with cavalry,
infantry, and cannon. The hetman had heard already of the escape of the
colonels, the mutiny of Volodyovski's squadron, and the battle of
Klavany; the last brought him to such rage that there was fear for his
life, since a terrible attack of asthma had for a time almost stopped
his breathing.
In truth he had cause enough for anger, and even for despair, since
that battle brought on his head a whole Swedish tempest. People began
at once after this battle to cut up here and there small Swedish
detachments. Peasants did this, and individual nobles independently;
but the Swedes laid it to the account of Radzivill, especially as the
officers and men sent by Volodyovski to Birji declared before the
commandant that one of Radzivill's squadrons had fallen upon them at
his command.
In a week a letter came to the prince from the commandant at Birji, and
ten days later from Pontus de la Gardie himself, the commander-in-chief
of the Swedish forces.
"Either your highness has no power and significance," wrote the
latter,--"and in such case how could you conclude a treaty in the name
of the whole country!--or it is your wish to bring about through
artifice the ruin of the king's army. If that is the case, the favor of
my master will turn from your highness, and punishment will come
quickly, unless you show obedience and efface your faults by faithful
service."
Radzivill sent couriers at once with an explanation of what had
happened and how; but the dart had fastened in his haughty soul, and
the burning wound began to rankle more and more. He whose word not long
before terrified the country more than all Sweden; he for the half of
whose property all the Swedish lords might have been bought; he who
stood against his own king, thinking himself the equal of monarchs; he
who had acquired fame in the whole world by his victories, and who
walked in his own pride as in sunshine--must now listen to the threats
of one Swedish general, must hear lectures on obedience and
faithfulness. It is true that that general was brother-in-law to the
king; but the king himself,--who was he? A usurper of the throne
belonging by right and inheritance to Yan Kazimir.
Above all, the rage of the hetman was turned against those who were the
cause of that humiliation, and he swore to himself to trample
Volodyovski and those colonels who were with him and the whole squadron
of Lauda. With this object he marched against them; and as hunters to
clear out the wolf's nest surround a forest with shares, he surrounded
them and began to pursue without rest.
Meanwhile tidings came that Kmita had crushed Nyevyarovski's squadron,
cut down or scattered the officers, and joined the men to his own.
Radzivill, to strike the more surely, commanded Pan Andrei to send him
some of these troops.
"Those men," wrote the hetman, "for whose lives you interceded with us
so persistently, and mainly Volodyovski with that other straggler,
escaped on the road to Birji. We sent the stupidest officer with them
on purpose, so that they might not win him over; but even he either
became a traitor, or they fooled him. Now Volodyovski has the whole
Lauda squadron, and fugitives are reinforcing him. They cut to pieces
one hundred and twenty Swedes at Klavany, saying that they did it at
our command, from which great distrust has arisen between us and
Pontus. The whole cause may be ruined by those traitors, whose heads,
had it not been for your interference, would have been cut off at our
command, as God is in heaven. So we have to repent of our mildness,
though we hope in God that vengeance will soon overtake them. Tidings
have come to us, too, that in Billeviche nobles assemble at the house
of the sword-bearer and conspire against us. This must be stopped! You
will send all the cavalry to us, and the infantry to Kyedani to guard
the castle and the town, for from those traitors anything may be
expected. You will go yourself with some tens of horsemen to
Billeviche, and bring the sword-bearer and his niece to Kyedani. At
present it is important, not only for you, but for us; for whoso has
them in hand has the whole Lauda region, in which the nobles, following
the example of Volodyovski, are beginning to rise against us. We have
sent Harasimovich to Zabludovo with instructions how to begin with
those confederates. Of great importance among them is Yakub, your
cousin, to whom you will write, if you think you can act on him through
a letter. Signifying to you our continual favor, we commit you to the
care of God."
When Kmita had read this letter, he was content at heart that the
colonels had succeeded in escaping the Swedes, and in secret he wished
them to escape Radzivill. Still he carried out all commands of the
prince, sent him the cavalry, garrisoned Kyedani with infantry, and
began to make trenches along the castle and the town, promising himself
to go immediately after this work was done to Billeviche for the
sword-bearer and the young woman.
"I will use no force, unless in the last resort," thought he, "and in
no case will I urge Olenka. Finally, it is not my will, 'tis the
command of the prince. She will not receive me pleasantly, I know; but
God grant that in time she will know my intentions, and that I serve
Radzivill not against the country, but for its salvation."
Thinking thus, he labored zealously at fortifying Kyedani, which was to
be the residence of his Olenka in the future.
Meanwhile Volodyovski was slipping away before the hetman, but the
hetman pursued him furiously. It was, however, too narrow for Pan
Michael; for from Birji considerable detachments of Swedish troops
pushed toward the south, the east of the country was occupied by the
legions of the Tsar, and on the road to Kyedani the hetman was lying in
wait.
Zagloba was greatly depressed by such a condition of affairs, and he
turned with increasing frequency to Pan Michael with questions: "Pan
Michael, by the love of God, shall we break through or shall we not
break through?"
"There is not even talk of breaking through here," answered the little
knight. "You know that I am not lined with cowardice, and that I attack
whom I will, even the devil himself. But I cannot meet the hetman, for
I am not equal to him. You have said yourself that he is a pike and we
perches. I shall do what is in my power to slip out, but if it comes to
a battle, I tell you plainly that he will defeat us."
"Then he will command to chop us up and throw us to the dogs. As God
lives! into any man's hands save Radzivill's! But in this case why not
turn to Pan Sapyeha?"
"It is too late now, for the hetman's troops and the Swedes have closed
the roads."
"The devil tempted me when I persuaded Pan Yan and his cousin to go to
Radzivill!" said Zagloba, in despair.
But Pan Michael did not lose hope yet, especially since the nobles, and
even the peasants, brought him warning of the hetman's movements; for
all hearts were turning from Radzivill. Pan Michael twisted out
therefore as he knew how,--and he knew how famously, for almost from
childhood he had inured himself to war with Tartars and Cossacks. He
had been made renowned in the army of Yeremi by descents on Tartar
chambuls, by scouting expeditions, unexpected attacks, lightning
escapes, in which he surpassed other officers.
At present hemmed in between Upita and Rogova on one side and Nyevyaja
on the other, he doubled around on the space of a few miles, avoiding
battle continually, worrying the Radzivill squadrons, and even plucking
them a little as a wolf hunted by dogs slips by often near the hunters,
and when the dogs press him too closely, turns and shows his white
gleaming teeth.
But when Kmita's cavalry came up, the hetman closed the narrowest gaps
with them, and went himself to see that the two ends of the snare came
together.
That was at Nyevyaja.
The regiments of Myeleshko and Ganhoff with two squadrons of cavalry,
under the lead of the prince himself, formed as it were a bow, the
string of which was the river. Volodyovski with his squadron was in the
centre of the bow. He had in front of him, it is true, one ford which
led through a swampy stream, but just on the other side of the ford
were two Scottish regiments and two hundred of Radzivill's Cossacks,
with six fieldpieces, turned in such manner that even one man could not
have reached the other side under the fire of them.
Now the bow began to contract. The middle of it was led by the hetman
himself.
Happily for Volodyovski, night and a storm with pouring rain stopped
the advance; but for the enclosed men there remained not more than a
square half-mile of meadow, grown over with willows, in the middle of
the half-ring of Radzivill's army, and the river guarded on the other
side by the Scots.
Next morning when the early dawn was just whitening the tops of the
willows, the regiments moved forward to the river and were struck dumb
with amazement.
Volodyovski had gone through the earth,--there was not a living soul in
the willows.
The hetman himself was astounded, and then real thunders fell on the
heads of the officers commanding at the ford. And again an attack of
asthma seized the prince with such force that those present trembled
for his life. But rage overcame even the asthma. Two officers,
intrusted with guarding the bank, were to be shot; but Ganhoff
prevailed on the prince to have inquiries made first as to how the
beast had escaped from the toils.
It appeared in fact that Volodyovski, taking advantage of the darkness
and rain, had led his whole squadron out of the willows into the river,
and swimming or wading with the current had slipped along Radzivill's
right wing, which touched the bank at that point. Some horses, sunk to
their bellies in the mud, indicated the place where he had come out on
the right bank. From farther tracks it was easy to see that he had
moved with all horse-breath in the direction of Kyedani. The hetman
guessed at once from this that he wished to make his way to
Horotkyevich and Yakub Kmita in Podlyasye.
"But in passing near Kyedani would he not burn the town or try to
plunder the castle?"
A terrible fear straitened the heart of the prince. The greater part of
his ready money and treasures were in Kyedani. Kmita, it is true, was
bound to supply it with infantry; but if he had not done so, the
undefended castle would easily become plunder for the insolent colonel.
Radzivill felt sure that courage would not be wanting Volodyovski to
attack the residence of Kyedani itself. It might be that time would not
be wanting, for escaping in the beginning of the night he had left
pursuit at least six hours behind.
In every case it was imperative to hasten with all breath to the
rescue. The prince left the infantry, and pushed on with the cavalry.
When he arrived at Kyedani he did not find Kmita, but he found
everything quiet; and the opinion which he had of the young colonel's
ability increased doubly at sight of the finished trenches and
field-cannon standing on them. That same day he reviewed them in
company with Ganhoff, to whom he remarked in the evening,--
"He acted thus of his own mind, without my order, and finished those
trenches so well that a protracted defence might be made here, even
against artillery. If that man does not break his neck too early, he
may rise high."
There was another man, at thought of whom the hetman could not restrain
a certain kind of admiration, but mingled with rage, for the man was
Pan Michael. "I could finish the mutiny soon," said he to Ganhoff, "if
I had two such servants. Kmita may be still more alert, but he has not
the experience, and the other was brought up in the school of Yeremi,
beyond the Dnieper."
"Does your highness give command to pursue him?" asked Ganhoff.
The prince looked at Ganhoff, and said with emphasis, "He would beat
you and escape from me." But after a while he frowned, and added,
"Everything is quiet here now; but we must move to Podlyasye at once,
and finish those there."
"Your highness," said Ganhoff, "as soon as we move a foot out of this
place, all will seize arms against the Swedes."
"Which all?"
"The nobles and peasants. And not stopping with the Swedes, they will
turn against the dissidents, for they put all the blame of this war on
our co-religionists, saying that we sent to the enemy, and in fact
brought the enemy in."
"It is a question with me of my cousin Boguslav. I know not whether he
is able to hold out against the confederates in Podlyasye."
"It is a question of Lithuania to keep it in obedience to us and the
King of Sweden."
The prince began to walk through the room, saying, "If I could in any
way get Horotkyevich and Yakub Kmita into my hands! They will devour my
property, destroy, plunder it; they will not leave a stone upon a
stone."
"Unless we stipulate with General de la Gardie to send hither as many
troops as possible, while we are in Podlyasye."
"With Pontus,--never!" answered Radzivill, to whose head a wave of
blood rushed. "If with any one, with the king himself. I do not need to
treat with servants when I can treat with their master. If the king
were to command Pontus to place two thousand cavalry at my disposal,
that would be another thing. But I will not ask Pontus for them. It is
needful to send some one to the king; it is time to negotiate with him
directly."
The lean face of Ganhoff flushed slightly, and his eyes were lighted
with desire. "If your highness commanded--"
"You would go; but for you to arrive there is another thing. You are a
German, and it is dangerous for a foreigner to enter an uprisen
country. Who knows where the king is at this moment, and where he will
be in half a month or a month? It is necessary to ride through the
whole country. Besides, it cannot be! You will not go, for it is
necessary to send one of my own people, a man of high family, so as to
convince the king that not all the nobles have left me."
"An inexperienced man might do much harm," said Ganhoff, timidly.
"An envoy will have no work there except to deliver my letter, and
bring back an answer; and any man can explain that it was not I who
gave orders to beat the Swedes at Klavany."
Ganhoff was silent.
The prince began again to walk with unquiet steps through the room; on
his forehead was manifest a continual struggle of thought. In truth, he
had not known a moment of peace from the time of his treaty with the
Swedes. Pride devoured him, his conscience gnawed him, the unexpected
resistance of the country and the army gnawed him; the uncertainty of
the future, and the threat of ruin terrified him. He struggled, he
fought, he passed sleepless nights, he was failing in health. His eyes
were sinking, he was growing thin; his face, formerly red, became blue,
and almost with every hour silver threads increased in his mustaches
and his forelock. In a word, he lived in torment, and bent under the
burden.
Ganhoff followed him with his eyes as he walked through the room; he
had still a little hope that the prince would bethink himself, and send
him.
But the prince halted suddenly, and struck his forehead with his palm.
"Two squadrons of cavalry, to horse at once! I will lead them myself."
Ganhoff looked on him with wonderment. "An expedition?" inquired he,
involuntarily.
"Move on!" said the prince. "God grant that it be not too late!"