Over the whole Ukraine and beyond the Dnieper strange sounds began to
spread like the heralds of a coming tempest; certain wonderful tidings
flew from village to village, from farmhouse to farmhouse,--like those
plants which the breezes of spring push along the steppes, and which
the people call field-rollers. In the towns there were whispers of some
great war, though no man knew who was going to make war, nor against
whom. Still the tidings were told. The faces of people became unquiet.
The tiller of the soil went with his plough to the field unwillingly,
though the spring had come early, mild and warm, and long since the
larks had been singing over the steppes. Every evening people gathered
in crowds in the villages, and standing on the road, talked in
undertones of terrible things. Blind men wandering around with lyres
and songs were asked for news. Some persons thought they saw in the
night-time reflections in the sky, and that a moon redder than usual
rose from behind the pine woods. Disaster or the death of the king was
predicted. And all this was the more wonderful, since fear found no
easy approach to those lands, long accustomed to disturbances,
conflicts, and raids. Some exceptionally ominous currents must have
been playing in the air, since the alarm had become universal.
It was the more oppressive and stifling, because no one was able to
point out the danger. But among the signs of evil omen, two especially
seemed to show that really something was impending. First, an
unheard-of multitude of old minstrels appeared in all the villages and
towns, and among them were forms strange, and known to no one; these,
it was whispered, were counterfeit minstrels. These men, strolling
about everywhere, told with an air of mystery that the day of God's
judgment and anger was near. Secondly, the men of the lower country
began to drink with all their might.
The second sign was the more serious. The Saitch, confined within too
narrow limits, was unable to feed all its inhabitants; expeditions were
not always successful; besides, the steppes yielded no bread to the
Cossacks. In time of peace, therefore, a multitude of Zaporojians
scattered themselves yearly over the inhabited districts. The Ukraine,
and indeed all Russia, was full of them. Some rose to be land stewards;
some sold liquor on the highways; some labored in hamlets and towns, in
trade and industry. In every village there was sure to be a cottage on
one side, at a distance from the rest, in which a Zaporojian dwelt.
Some of them had brought their wives with them, and kept house in these
cottages. But the Zaporojian, as a man who usually had passed through
every experience, was generally a benefactor to the village in which
he lived. There were no better blacksmiths, wheelwrights, tanners,
wax-refiners, fishermen, and hunters than they. The Cossack understood
everything, did everything; he built a house, he sewed a saddle. But
the Cossacks were not always such quiet inhabitants, for they lived a
temporary life. Whoever wished to carry out a decision with armed hand,
to make an attack on a neighbor, or to defend himself from an expected
attack, had only to raise the cry, and straightway the Cossacks hurried
to him like ravens to a ready spoil. The nobility and magnates,
involved in endless disputes among themselves, employed the Cossacks.
When there was a lack of such undertakings the Cossacks stayed quietly
in the villages, working with all diligence, earning their daily bread
in the sweat of their brows.
They would continue in this fashion for a year or two, till sudden
tidings came of some great expedition, either of an ataman against the
Tartars or the Poles, or of Polish noblemen against Wallachia; and that
moment the wheelwrights, blacksmiths, tanners, and wax-refiners would
desert their peaceful occupations, and begin to drink with all their
might in every dram-shop of the Ukraine. After they had drunk away
everything, they would drink on credit,--not on what they had, but on
what they would have. Future booty must pay for the frolic.
This phenomenon was repeated so regularly that after a while people of
experience in the Ukraine used to say; "The dram-shops are bursting
with men from below; something is on foot in the Ukraine."
The starostas strengthened the garrisons in the castles at once,
looking carefully to everything; the magnates increased their retinues;
the nobility sent their wives and children to the towns.
That spring the Cossacks began to drink as never before, squandering at
random all they had earned, not in one district, not in one province,
but throughout all Russia,--the length and the breadth of it.
Something was on foot, indeed, though the men from below had no idea of
what it was. People had begun to speak of Hmelnitski, of his flight to
the Saitch, of the men from Cherkasi, Boguslav, Korsún, and other
places who had followed him; but something else was talked of too. For
years reports had been current of a great war with the Pagans,--a war
desired by the king to give booty to the Cossacks, but opposed by the
Poles. This time all reports were blended, and roused in the brains of
men uneasiness and the expectation of something uncommon.
This uneasiness penetrated the walls of Lubni also. It was not proper
to shut one's eyes to such signs, and Prince Yeremi especially had not
that habit. In his domain the disturbance did not really come to an
outbreak, fear kept all within bounds; but for some time reports had
been coming from the Ukraine, that here and there peasants were
beginning to resist the nobles, that they were killing Jews, that they
wished to force their own enrolment for war against the Pagans, and
that the number of deserters to the Saitch was increasing continually.
The prince sent envoys in various directions,--to Pan Pototski, to Pan
Kalinovski, to Loboda in Pereyasláv,--and collected in person the herds
from the steppes and the troops from the outposts. Meantime peaceful
news was brought. The Grand Hetman communicated all that he knew
concerning Hmelnitski; he did not think, however, that any storm could
rise out of the affair. The full hetman wrote that the rabble were
accustomed "to bustle in spring like bees," Zatsvilikhovski was the
only man who sent a letter imploring the prince to underestimate
nothing, for a mighty storm was coming on from the Wilderness. He wrote
that Hmelnitski had hurried to the Crimea to ask assistance of the
Khan.
"And as friends from the Saitch inform me," wrote he, "the koshevoi is
collecting the army, horse and foot, from all the meadows and streams,
telling no one why he does it. I think, therefore, that this storm will
come on us. If it comes with Tartar aid, then God save all Russian
lands from ruin!"
The prince had more confidence in Zatsvilikhovski than in the hetmans,
for he knew that no one in all Russia had such knowledge of the
Cossacks and their devices as he. He determined, therefore, to
concentrate as many troops as possible, and also to get to the bottom
of the truth.
One morning he summoned to his presence the lieutenant of the
Wallachian regiment, Pan Bykhovets, to whom he said,--
"You will go for me to the Saitch on a mission to the koshevoi, and
give him this letter with the seal of my lordship. But that you may
know what plan of action to follow, I tell you this letter is a
pretext, and the whole meaning of the mission lies in your own wit. You
are to see everything that is done there,--what troops they have
assembled, and whether they are assembling more. I enjoin you specially
to win some people to your person, and find out for me carefully all
about Hmelnitski,--where he is, and if it is true that he has gone to
the Crimea to ask aid of the Tartars. Do you understand what I say?"
"As if it had been written on the palm of my hand."
"You will go by Chigirin. Rest but one night on the way. When you
arrive, go to Zatsvilikhovski for letters, which you will deliver
secretly to his friends in the Saitch. They will tell you all they
know. From Chigirin you will go by water to Kudák. Give my respects
with this letter to Pan Grodzitski. He will issue orders to convey you
over the Cataracts by proper guides. Be fearless in the Saitch, keep
your eyes and ears open, and come back if you survive, for the
expedition is no easy one."
"Your Highness is the steward of my blood. Shall I take many men?"
"You will take forty attendants. Start to-day; before evening come for
further instructions. Your mission is important."
Pan Bykhovets went out rejoicing. In the antechamber he met Skshetuski
with some artillery officers.
"Well, what is going on?" asked they.
"I take the road to-day."
"Where, where?"
"To Chigirin, and from there farther on."
"Then come with me," said Pan Yan.
And taking him to his quarters, he began to tease him to transfer his
mission to him.
"As my friend," said he, "ask what you like,--a Turkish horse, an Arab
steed,--you shall have one. I'll spare nothing if I can only go, for my
soul is rushing out in that direction. If you want money I'll give it,
if you will only yield. The trip will bring you no glory; for if war
breaks out it will begin here, and you may be killed in the Saitch. I
know, too, that Anusia is as dear to you as to others; if you go they
will get her away from you."
This last argument went home to the mind of Pan Bykhovets more than any
other, but still he resisted. What would the prince say if he should
withdraw? Wouldn't he take it ill of him? An appointment like this was
such a favor.
Hearing this, Skshetuski rushed off to the prince and directed the page
at once to announce him.
The page returned soon with the answer that the prince permitted him to
enter.
The lieutenant's heart beat like a hammer, from fear that he should
hear a curt "No!" after which he would be obliged to let the matter
drop entirely.
"Well, what have you to say?" asked the prince, looking at the
lieutenant.
Skshetuski bent down to his feet.
"Mighty prince, I have come to implore you most humbly to intrust me
with the expedition to the Saitch. Bykhovets would give it up, perhaps,
for he is my friend, and to me it is as important as life. Bykhovets'
only fear is that you may be angry with him for yielding the place."
"As God lives!" said the prince, "I should have sent no one else, but I
thought you would not like to go just after returning from a long
journey."
"I should rejoice to be sent even every day in that direction."
The prince looked at him very attentively with his black eyes, and
after a while inquired: "What have you got there?"
The lieutenant grew confused, like a culprit unable to bear a searching
glance.
"I must tell the truth, I see," said he, "since no secret can stand
before your reason. Of one thing I am not sure,--your favorable
hearing."
Thereupon he began to tell how he had become acquainted with the
daughter of Prince Vassily, had fallen in love with her and would like
to visit her, and on his return from the Saitch to Lubni to remove and
save her from Cossack turmoil and the importunities of Bogun. But he
said nothing of the machinations of the old princess, for in this he
was bound by his word. He began then to beg the prince so earnestly to
give him the mission confided to Bykhovets, that Vishnyevetski said,--
"I should permit you to go on your own account and give you men; but
since you have planned everything so cleverly that your personal
affection agrees with your office, I must arrange this affair for you."
Then he clapped his hands and commanded the page to call Pan Bykhovets.
The lieutenant kissed the prince's hand with joy. Yeremi took him by
the head and commanded him to be quiet. He loved Skshetuski beyond
measure as a splendid soldier and officer whom he could trust in all
things. Besides, there was between them that bond which is formed
between a subordinate reverencing his chief with his whole soul and a
chief who feels this clearly. There were not a few courtiers and
flatterers who circled around the prince for their own profit; but the
eagle eye of Yeremi knew well whom to choose. He knew that Pan Yan was
a man without blemish; he valued him, and was grateful to him for his
feelings. He rejoiced, too, that his favorite had fallen in love with
the daughter of the old servant of the Vishnyevetskis, Vassily
Kurtsevich, whose memory was the dearer because of its sadness.
"It was not from ungratefulness to the prince," said he, "that I made
no inquiry concerning his daughter. Since the guardians did not visit
Lubni, and I received no complaint against them, I supposed they were
good people. But as you have put me in mind of the lady, I will care
for her as for my own daughter."
Skshetuski, hearing this, could not admire sufficiently the kindness of
the prince, who reproached himself, notwithstanding the multitude of
his occupations, with inattention to the child of his former soldier
and official.
Bykhovets now came in.
"Well," said the prince, "my word is given, and if you wish to go you
will go; but I ask you to do this for me: yield your mission to
Skshetuski,--he has his own special and solid reasons for wanting
it,--and I will think of another reward for you."
"Oh, your Highness," said Bykhovets, "your favor is great; for while
able to command, you ask that which if I refused to give I should be
unworthy of your favor."
"Thank your friend," said the prince, turning to Pan Yan, "and prepare
for the road."
Skshetuski thanked Bykhovets heartily indeed, and in a few hours he was
ready. For some time it had been irksome for him in Lubni, and this
expedition accorded with all his wishes. First, he was to see Helena.
True, he had to go from her for a long time; but just such an interval
was needed to make the roads passable for wheels, after such
measureless rains. The princess and Helena could not come earlier to
Lubni. Skshetuski therefore must either wait in Lubni or live at
Rozlogi,--which would be against his covenant with the princess, and,
what was more, rouse the suspicions of Bogun. Helena could be really
safe against his attacks only in Lubni; but since she must in every
case wait some time yet in Rozlogi, it appeared best to Pan Yan to
depart, and on his return take her under the protection of the armed
power of the prince. Having settled the matter thus, the lieutenant
hastened his journey,--got everything ready, took letters and
instructions from the prince, money for expenses from the treasurer,
and made a good start over the road before night, having with him
Jendzian and forty horsemen from the Cossack regiment.