A number of weeks passed. The nobles assembled in greater and greater
numbers for the election. The population of the city increased tenfold;
for with the crowds of nobles poured in thousands of merchants and
shopkeepers of the whole world, from distant Persia to England beyond
the sea. On the field of Vola a booth was built for the senate, and
around it whitened already thousands of tents, with which the spacious
meadows were entirely covered. No one could tell yet which of the two
candidates--Prince Kazimir, the cardinal, or Karl Ferdinand, the bishop
of Plotsk--would be elected. On both sides great were the efforts and
exertions made. Thousands of pamphlets were given to the world,
relating the merits and defects of the candidates. Both had numerous
and powerful adherents. On the side of Karl stood, as is known, Prince
Yeremi, who was the more terrible for his opponents, as it was always
likely that he would draw after him the inferior nobles, who were
enamoured of him; and with the inferior nobles lay the ultimate
decision. But neither did Kazimir lack power. Seniority was in his
favor. On his side was the influence of the chancellor; the primate
appeared to incline to him. On his side stood the majority of the
magnates, each of whom had numerous clients; and among the magnates
also was Prince Dominik Zaslavski Ostrogski, voevoda of Sandomir, with
greatly injured reputation after Pilavtsi and even threatened with
prosecution, but always the greatest lord in the Commonwealth, nay,
even in all Europe, and able at any moment to throw the immense weight
of his wealth into the scale of his candidate.
Still the adherents of Kazimir more than once had bitter hours of
doubt; for as has been said, everything depended on the inferior
nobles, who, beginning from the 4th of October, had camped in crowds
around Warsaw and were coming still in thousands from every side of the
Commonwealth, and who in an incalculable majority declared for Prince
Karl, attracted by the magic of Vishnyevetski's name and the liberality
of the prince in public objects. Karl was a good manager and wealthy;
he did not hesitate at that moment to devote considerable sums
to the formation of new regiments which were to be placed under
command of Yeremi. Kazimir would have followed his example willingly;
it was certainly not greed that held him back, but just the
opposite,--excessive liberality, the immediate result of which was an
insufficiency, and continual lack of money in his treasury.
Meanwhile both sides were canvassing. Every day messengers were flying
between Nyeporente and Yablonna. Kazimir in the name of his own
seniority and brotherly affection adjured Karl to resign; but the
bishop held back, answering that it would not become him to contemn
the fortune which might meet him, since that fortune was in the free
gift of the Commonwealth, and was his to whom the Lord had designed it.
Time passed; the term of six weeks was approaching, and together with
it the Cossack storm. News had come that Hmelnitski, having raised the
siege of Lvoff, which had ransomed itself after a number of assaults,
had invested Zamost, and night and day was storming that last rampart
of the Commonwealth.
It was said too that besides the delegates whom Hmelnitski had sent to
Warsaw with a letter and declaration that as a noble of Poland he would
give his vote to Kazimir, there were nobles hidden among the crowd, and
that the city itself was full of disguised Cossack elders whom no one
could detect, for they had come like regular and wealthy nobles,
differing in nothing, even in speech, from other electors, especially
those from the Russian provinces. Some, as was said, had crept in
through simple curiosity to look at the election and Warsaw; others to
spy, to obtain news, to hear talk about the war,--how many troops the
Commonwealth thought of putting in the field, and what grants it
proposed for the levies. Perhaps there was much truth in the reports
concerning these guests; for among the Zaporojian elders were many
nobles who had become Cossacks, who had picked up some Latin and
therefore were not to be recognized in any way. Besides, in the distant
steppes Latin did not flourish as a rule, and such princes as the
Kurtsevichi did not know it any better than Bogun and other atamans.
But reports like these with which the election field as well as the
city were filled, together with news of the movements of Hmelnitski and
the Cossack-Tartar expeditions,--which had reached, it was said, the
Vistula,--filled people's minds with alarm, and more than once became
causes of tumult. In the crowd of nobles to cast on a man the suspicion
of being a Zaporojian in disguise was enough to insure his being sabred
into small pieces before he could show who he was. In this way innocent
men might perish and the dignity of deliberations be destroyed,
especially since with the custom of the time sobriety was not
too much observed. The chapter "propter securitatem loci" (concerning
public peace) was inadequate to stop the endless quarrels in which
people were cut down for the slightest cause. But if those tumults,
sabre-slashings, and drinking-bouts alarmed orderly people, penetrated
with a love of good and peace, through the danger with which they
threatened the country, on the other hand the reckless, the disorderly,
the gamblers and disturbers felt as it were in their element; they
considered this as their own special season, their day of harvest, and
the more boldly permitted themselves various misdeeds.
It is needless to add that among these Zagloba was first. His primacy
was secured by his great fame as a knight, his unquenchable thirst
upheld by a supply of drink, a tongue so tanned that it had no equal,
and by a self-confidence which nothing could shake. But he had at times
his attacks of "melancholy;" then he shut himself up in a room or a
tent, and did not go out, or if he did go he was in angry humor,
inclined to quarrels and genuine fighting. It happened, in fact, that
in such a humor he hacked up Pan Dunchevski badly, only because he had
knocked against his sabre in passing. At such times he endured only the
presence of Pan Michael, to whom he complained that a longing for
Skshetuski and the "poor young lady" was devouring him. "We have
deserted her, Pan Michael," he used to say; "we have betrayed her like
Judas into godless hands. Don't excuse yourself to me with your _nemine
excepto_. What is happening to her, Pan Michael, tell me that?"
In vain Pan Michael explained that had it not been for Pilavtsi, they
would have been searching for "the poor young lady," but that now when
the whole power of Hmelnitski separated them from her it was an
impossible thing. Zagloba did not yield himself to consolation, but
fell into still greater passion, cursing by what the world stands
on,--"Feather-bed," "Baby," and "Latin."[16]
But these periods of gloom were of short duration. When they were over
Zagloba, as if wishing to reward himself for lost time, generally
revelled and drank more than ever. He spent his time in taverns in
company with the mightiest drinkers or with women of the capital, in
which occupation Pan Michael held him trusty companionship.
Pan Michael, a soldier and a splendid officer, possessed not, however,
a farthing's worth of that seriousness which misfortune and suffering
had developed, for instance, in Skshetuski. Volodyovski understood his
duty to the Commonwealth in this way: he killed whomsoever he was
ordered to kill,--cared for naught else. He knew nothing of public
questions; he was always ready to bewail a military defeat, but it
never entered his head that quarrels and tumults were as harmful to
public affairs as defeats; in one word, he was a thoughtless young man
who, having entered the bustle of the capital, sank in it to his ears,
and stuck like a thistle to Zagloba, for he was his master in license.
He went therefore with him among the nobles, to whom Zagloba at his
cups related things uncreated, winning at the same time adherents for
Prince Karl; he drank with him, protected him when necessary; they both
circled around in the field of election and the city like flies in a
pot, and there was no corner into which they did not crawl. They were
at Nyeporente and in Yablonna; they were at all the feasts and dinners
given by magnates; they were at taverns,--they were everywhere, and
took part in everything. Pan Michael's youthful hand was restive; he
wanted to exhibit himself, and to prove at the same time that the
nobility of the Ukraine was better than any other and that the soldiers
of the prince were higher than all. They went therefore to seek
adventures on purpose among the Poles of the kingdom, as the most
skilled with the sword, and specially among the partisans of Prince
Dominik Zaslavski, for whom both felt a particular hatred. They engaged
only with the most celebrated champions, men of undoubted and settled
fame, and plotted the quarrels beforehand. "You pick the quarrel," said
Pan Michael, "and then I will step in." Zagloba, very skilful in fence
and by no means timid in duelling with a brother noble, did not always
agree to have a substitute, especially in affairs with adherents of
Zaslavski; but when it was a question with some famous swordsman, he
halted in the dispute; if the noble was eager for the sword and
challenged, Zagloba said: "My good sir, I should be without conscience
if I were to expose you to evident death by fighting with you myself;
better try my little son and pupil here, and I am not sure that you
will be able to manage him." After such words Volodyovski appeared on
the scene with his little upturned mustaches, nose in the air, and
gaping face. Whether accepted or not, he opened the fight, and being in
truth a master above masters, he generally stretched out his antagonist
after a few blows. In this fashion the two found sport from which their
fame increased among restless spirits and the nobles, but especially
the fame of Pan Zagloba, for it was said: "If the pupil is such a man,
what must the master be!" Pan Kharlamp was the one person that
Volodyovski could not find for a long time. He thought: "Perhaps they
have sent him back to Lithuania on business of some sort."
In this way nearly six weeks had gone, during which time public affairs
had advanced notably. The protracted battle of the candidate brothers,
the efforts of their adherents, the fever and storm of passion among
partisans had passed, leaving scarcely trace or memory. It was now
known to all that Yan Kazimir would be chosen; for Prince Karl had
yielded to his brother, and resigned the candidature of his own
good-will. It is a wonderful thing that the voice of Hmelnitski had
great weight; for it was hoped on every side that he would yield
to the authority of the king, especially when chosen according to
his wish. These previsions were justified in great part. But for
Vishnyevetski--who, like Cato of old, ceased not one moment from
repeating that the Zaporojian Carthage must be destroyed--this turn of
affairs was a fresh blow. Negotiations must be the order of the day.
The prince knew, it is true, that these negotiations would either
result in nothing from the start or would be broken off soon from the
nature of the case, and saw war in the future; but disquiet seized him
at the thought: "What will be the issue of that war? After negotiations
the justified Hmelnitski will be still stronger, and the Commonwealth
still weaker. And who will lead its forces against a chief so famous as
Hmelnitski? Will not there be new defeats and new catastrophes which
will exhaust its forces to the last?" For the prince did not deceive
himself, and knew that to him, the most eager adherent of Karl, the
command would not be given. Kazimir had promised, it is true, to favor
his brother's adherents as much as his own. Kazimir was high-souled,
but he was a partisan of the chancellor's policy. Some one else will
receive the command, not the prince; and woe to the Commonwealth if he
be not a leader superior to Hmelnitski! At this thought a twofold pain
straitened the soul of Yeremi,--fear for the future of the country, and
the unendurable feeling of a man who sees that his services are passed
over, that justice will not be done him, and that others will raise
their heads above his. He would not have been Yeremi Vishnyevetski if
he had not been proud. He felt within himself the power to wield the
baton, and he had earned the baton; therefore he suffered doubly.
It was reported among officers that the prince would not wait for the
close of the election, and would leave Warsaw; but that was not true.
The prince not only did not leave, but he visited, in Nyeporente,
Prince Kazimir, who received him with unbounded favor; then he returned
to the city for a prolonged stay, caused by military affairs. It was a
question of finding support for the army, which the prince urged
diligently. Besides, new regiments of dragoons and infantry were
equipped at Karl's expense. Some had been sent to Russia already;
others were to be drilled. For this purpose the prince sent out on
every side officers expert in organizing troops. Kushel and Vershul had
been sent, and finally the turn came for Volodyovski. One day he was
summoned to the prince, who gave him the following order:--
"You will go by way of Babitse and Lipki to Zaborovo, where horses for
the regiment are waiting; you will inspect them, reject those unfit,
and pay Pan Tshaskovski for those accepted; then you will bring them
for the soldiers. The money you will receive here in Warsaw from the
paymaster on this my order."
Volodyovski set about the work briskly. He took the money, and on the
same day he and Zagloba with eight others set out with a wagon bearing
the money. They moved slowly, for that side of Warsaw was swarming with
nobles, attendants, and horses; the villages as far as Babitse were so
packed that in every cottage there were guests. It was easy to meet
adventures in a press of people of various humors; and in spite of
their greatest efforts and modest bearing, our two friends did not
escape them.
On reaching Babitse they saw before the public house a number of nobles
who were just mounting to continue their journey. The two parties,
after saluting each other, were about to pass, when suddenly one of the
riders looked at Volodyovski, and without saying a word rode up to him
on a trot.
"Ah, you are here, my little fellow!" cried he. "You have been
skulking, but I have found you. You won't escape me this time! Eh,
gentlemen!" shouted he to his comrades, "just wait a bit. I have
something to say to this little stub of an officer, and I should like
to have you as witnesses of my words."
Volodyovski smiled with pleasure, for he recognized Pan Kharlamp. "God
is my witness that I was not hiding," said he; "more than that, I was
looking for you myself to ask if you still cherished rancor against me,
but somehow we couldn't meet."
"Pan Michael," whispered Zagloba, "you are on duty."
"I remember," muttered Volodyovski.
"Come to business!" roared Kharlamp. "Gentlemen, I have promised this
milksop, this bald mustache, to clip his ears for him, and I'll clip
them as true as I am Kharlamp. Be witnesses, gentlemen, and you,
youngster, come up here!"
"I cannot, as God is dear to me, I cannot," said Volodyovski; "let me
off even for a couple of days."
"Why can you not? You are frightened, I suppose. If you do not meet me
at once, I will slap you so with my sword that you'll think of your
grandfather and grandmother. Oh, you dodger, you venomous gadfly, you
know how to get in the way, you know how to buzz, you know how to bite,
but when it comes to the sabre you are not there."
Here Zagloba interfered. "It seems to me that you are pressing matters
rather far," said he to Kharlamp, "and look out that this fly does not
sting; if he does, no plaster will help you. Tfu! the devil take it,
don't you see that this officer is on duty? Look at that wagon with
money which we are taking to the regiment, and understand that his
person is not at his own disposal and he cannot meet you. Whoever can't
understand that is a dunce and not a soldier. We serve under the
voevoda of Rus, and we have fought men different from you; but to-day
it is impossible, and what is deferred will not escape."
"It is certain," said one of Kharlamp's comrades, "that they are
transporting money; he cannot meet you."
"What is their money to me?" screamed the irrepressible Kharlamp; "let
him stand before me or I'll slap him with my sword."
"I will not meet you to-day, but I give you the word of a soldier to
meet you in three or four days, wherever you please, the moment I have
carried out my orders. And if this does not satisfy you, gentlemen, I
shall give order to touch the triggers, for I shall believe that I have
to do not with soldiers, but with brigands. Take yourselves off then to
all the devils, for I have no time to loiter."
On hearing this, the dragoons of the escort turned the muzzles of their
guns on the aggressors. That movement, as well as the decisive words of
Pan Michael, produced an evident impression on the comrades of
Kharlamp. "Oh, let him off!" said they. "You are a soldier yourself,
you know what service is; it is certain that you will receive
satisfaction. He is a bold piece, like all men of the Russian squadron;
restrain yourself, since we ask you."
Pan Kharlamp blustered awhile longer, but saw at last that he would
either make his companions angry or expose them to an uncertain
struggle with the dragoons. He turned therefore to Volodyovski, and
said: "Give me your word that you will meet me."
"I will seek you myself, were it only because you have asked twice
about such a thing. To-day is Wednesday, and let it be Saturday at two
o'clock in the afternoon. Select your ground."
"Here in Babitse there is a crowd of travellers," said Kharlamp;
"something might interfere. Let it be over there at Lipki; it is
quieter, and not far for me, because our quarters are in Babitse."
"Will there be as large a company of you as to-day?" asked the prudent
Zagloba.
"Oh, it's not necessary," said Kharlamp; "I shall come only with the
Selitskis, my relatives. You will be without your dragoons, I trust."
"Perhaps they fight duels with the aid of soldiers among you," replied
Pan Michael; "but it is not the custom with us."
"In four days then, on Saturday," said Kharlamp. "We shall be in front
of the public house at Lipki; and now with God!"
"With God!" said Volodyovski and Zagloba.
The opponents parted quietly. Pan Michael was made happy by the coming
amusement, and promised himself to make a present to Pan Longin of
mustaches shorn from the light-horseman. He went therefore in good
spirits to Zaborovo, where he found Prince Kazimir, who had come to
hunt. But Pan Michael saw his future lord only at a distance, for he
was in a hurry. In two or three days he carried out his orders,
inspected the horses, paid Pan Tshaskovski, returned to Warsaw, and at
the appointed time, yes, an hour earlier, he was at Lipki with Zagloba
and Pan Kushel, whom he had asked to be his other second.
On arriving in front of the inn kept by a Jew, they entered to moisten
their throats a little with mead and amuse themselves with conversation
at the glass.
"Here, scald-head! is your master at the castle?" asked Zagloba of the
innkeeper.
"He is away in the town."
"Are there many nobles stopping in Lipki?"
"My house is empty. Only one has stopped with me, and he is sitting in
the next room,--a rich man, with servants and horses."
"And why did he not go to the castle?"
"Because it is evident he does not know our master. Besides, the place
has been closed for a month past."
"Maybe it is Kharlamp," said Zagloba.
"No," said Volodyovski.
"Well, Pan Michael, it seems to me that it is he. I'll go and see who
it is. Jew, has this gentleman been long here?"
"He came to-day, not two hours ago."
"And don't you know where he came from?"
"I do not; but it must be from a distance, for his horses are used up;
his men said, from beyond the Vistula."
"Why did he come here then to Lipki?"
"Who knows?"
"I'll go and see," repeated Zagloba; "perhaps it is some acquaintance."
Approaching the closed door of the room, he knocked with his sword-hilt
and said: "Worthy sir, may I enter?"
"Who is there?" answered a voice within.
"A friend," said Zagloba, opening the door. "Ah, begging your pardon,
maybe I'm not in season," he added, pushing his head into the room. He
drew back suddenly, and slammed the door as if he had looked on death.
On his face was depicted terror coupled with the greatest astonishment.
His mouth was open, and he looked with vacant stare on Volodyovski and
Kushel.
"What is the matter?" asked Volodyovski.
"By the wounds of Christ, be quiet!" said Zagloba. "Bogun is there!"
"Who? What's happened to you?"
"There--Bogun!"
Both officers rose to their feet.
"Have you lost your reason? Compose yourself! Who is it?"
"Bogun! Bogun!"
"Impossible!"
"As I live! As I stand before you here, I swear to you by God and all
the saints."
"Why are you so disturbed?" asked Volodyovski. "If he is there, then
God has given him into our hands. Compose yourself! Are you sure that
it is he?"
"As sure as that I am speaking to you, I saw him; he was changing his
clothes."
"And did he see you?"
"I don't know; I think not."
Volodyovski's eyes gleamed like coals. "Jew," whispered he, beckoning
hurriedly with his hand. "This way! Are there doors from the room?"
"No, only through this room."
"Kushel, you go under the window!" whispered Pan Michael. "Oh, he will
not escape us this time!"
Kushel, without speaking a word, ran out of the room.
"Come to your senses," said Volodyovski. "Not over you, but over his
neck hangs destruction. What can he do to you? Nothing!"
"Nothing; but from astonishment I am unable to catch my breath." And he
thought to himself: "True, I have nothing to fear. Pan Michael is with
me. Let Bogun be afraid!" And putting on a terribly savage look, he
grasped the hilt of his sabre. "Pan Michael, he must not escape us."
"But is it he?--for still I can't believe. What should he be doing
here?"
"Hmelnitski has sent him as a spy; that is most certain. Wait! Pan
Michael, we will seize him and lay down the condition that unless he
gives up the princess, we will deliver him to justice. If he gives up
the princess, then let the devil take him."
"But are there not too few of us,--two, and Kushel? He will defend
himself like a madman, and he has attendants also."
"Kharlamp will come with two; there will be six of us. That's enough;
be quiet!"
At that moment the door opened, and Bogun entered the room. He could
not have seen Zagloba looking into his room, for at the sight of him he
quivered suddenly, a flush as it were went over his face, and his hand
as quick as lightning rested on the hilt of his sabre; but all this
lasted only the twinkle of an eye. The flush went from his face, which
grew slightly pale.
Zagloba looked at him, and said nothing. The ataman also remained
silent, and in the room a fly on the wing could be heard. Those two
persons whose fates had crossed in such a wonderful manner pretended at
the moment not to know each other. The interval was rather long; it
appeared to Pan Michael that whole ages were passing.
"Jew," said Bogun, all at once, "is it far from here to Zaborovo?"
"Not far," answered the Jew. "Are you going now?"
"Yes," said Bogun, and turned toward the door leading to the anteroom.
"With your permission," sounded the voice of Zagloba.
The chief halted at once as if he had grown to the floor, and turning
to Zagloba, fastened his dark and terrible eyes on him. "What do you
wish?" asked he, curtly.
"It seems to me that we made acquaintance somewhere,--at a wedding on a
farm in Russia, was it not?"
"Yes," said the chief haughtily, putting his hand again on the hilt.
"How does your health serve you?" asked Zagloba. "For you rode off in
such haste that I had no time to bid you farewell."
"And were you sorry for that?"
"Of course I was sorry. We should have had a dance, and the company
would have been larger." Here Zagloba pointed to Volodyovski. "This is
the cavalier who came in, and he would have been glad of a nearer
acquaintance with you."
"Enough of this!" shouted Pan Michael, rising suddenly. "I arrest you,
traitor!"
"With what authority?" asked the ataman, raising his head haughtily.
"You are a rebel, an enemy of the Commonwealth, and have come here as a
spy."
"And who are you?"
"Oh, I will not explain that to you; but you won't escape me!"
"We shall see," said Bogun. "I should not explain to you who I am if
you had challenged me to sabres like a soldier; but since you threaten
with arrest, then I will explain. Here is a letter which I carry from
the Zaporojian hetman to Prince Kazimir, and not finding him in
Nyeporente, I am going with it to Zaborovo. How will you arrest me
now?"
Bogun looked haughtily and sneeringly at Volodyovski. Pan Michael was
greatly confused, like a hound which feels that the game is escaping
him; and not knowing what to do, he turned an inquiring look at
Zagloba. A painful moment of silence followed.
"It is difficult indeed," said Zagloba. "Since you are an envoy, we
cannot arrest you; and you will not meet this cavalier with a sabre,
for you have already fled before him till the earth groaned."
Bogun's face grew purple, for that moment he recognized Volodyovski.
Shame and wounded pride sprang into play in the fearless chief. The
remembrance of that flight scorched him like fire. It was the single
stain on the fame of his heroism,--the fame which he loved beyond life,
beyond all.
The inexorable Zagloba continued in cold blood: "You had almost lost
your trousers, when pity penetrated this cavalier. Tfu! young hero, you
have a woman's face, and a woman's heart too. You were brave with the
old princess and the lad her son, but with a knight you are a wind-bag.
Carry letters, steal young ladies,--that's your work, not war! As God
is dear to me, I saw with my own eyes how your trousers were flying
around. Tfu, tfu! Now you talk of the sabre, for you are carrying a
letter. How are we to meet you when you shield yourself with that
letter? All dust in the eyes, young hero! Hmelnitski is a good soldier,
Krívonos a good one; but among the Cossacks there is many a cowardly
sneak."
Bogun pushed up suddenly to Zagloba, and Zagloba drew back with equal
swiftness behind Volodyovski, so that the two young knights stood
before each other, eye to eye.
"Not from fear did I retreat before you, but to save my men," said
Bogun.
"I know not your reasons for fleeing, but I know that you fled," said
Volodyovski.
"I will meet you anywhere, even here, this minute."
"Will you challenge me?" asked Volodyovski, half closing his eyes.
"You have touched my fame, tried to cast shame on me, I need your
blood."
"No dispute on those points," said Volodyovski.
"No harm to the consenting party," added Zagloba. "But who will deliver
the letter to the prince?"
"Give yourself no headache over that; it is my affair."
"Fight, then, if it cannot be otherwise," said Zagloba. "But if fortune
favors you against this cavalier, remember that you will have to meet
me. And now, Pan Michael, come out to the front of the house; I have
something important to say."
The two friends went out and called Kushel from under the window of the
room.
"Gentlemen, our affair is a bad one. He has really a letter to the
prince; if we kill him, it is a capital crime. Remember that the
chapter 'propter securitatem loci' has jurisdiction ten miles from the
field of election, and he is the same as an envoy. A weighty question!
We must either hide somewhere afterward, or perhaps the prince will
protect us; otherwise it may go hard with us. And to let him go free
again is still worse. This is the only way to liberate our poor young
lady. For when he is no longer in the world we shall find her more
easily. The Lord himself evidently wishes to aid her and Skshetuski;
that's clear. Let us help."
"Will you invent some stratagem?" asked Kushel.
"With my stratagem I have already brought him to challenge us. But
seconds are necessary,--strangers. My idea is to wait for Kharlamp. I
will undertake to make him yield his first place, and in case of need,
to testify how we were challenged and obliged to defend ourselves. We
must also find out more accurately from Bogun where he hid the young
lady. If he has to die, she is nothing to him; perhaps he will tell if
we press him. And if he won't tell, then it is better that he should
not live. It is necessary to do everything with foresight and
discretion. My head is bursting, gentlemen."
"Who will fight with him?" asked Kushel.
"Pan Michael first, I second," said Zagloba.
"And I third."
"Impossible!" interrupted Volodyovski. "I will fight with him alone,
and that will be the end. If he brings me down, it is his fortune. Let
him go in peace."
"I've told him already," said Zagloba; "but if it is your wish, I
yield."
"If it is his wish, he may fight with you, but with no one else."
"Let us go to him then."
"Let us go."
They found Bogun in the main room, drinking mead. He was perfectly
calm.
"Listen," said Zagloba, "for these are important questions which we
want to discuss with you. You have challenged this cavalier. Very well.
But you must know that since you are an envoy you are protected by law,
for you come among civilized men, not among wild beasts; and therefore
we cannot meet you unless you state before witnesses that you have
challenged us of your own free will. A number of nobles with whom we
had to fight a duel will come here, and you will make this statement
before them. We will give you our knightly word that if fortune favors
you against Pan Volodyovski you will go away at liberty, and no one
will hinder you, unless you wish to make a trial with me."
"Agreed," said Bogun. "I will make that statement before those nobles,
and I will tell my men to deliver the letter and to inform Hmelnitski,
if I perish, that I made the challenge. And if God favors me to
vindicate my Cossack fame against this knight, I will ask you to
sabres."
When he had spoken he looked into Zagloba's eyes, Zagloba was rather
confused, coughed, spat, and said,--
"Agreed! When you have made a trial of my pupil, you will know what
sort of work you will have with me. But enough of this! There is
another and more important point in which we appeal to your conscience;
for though a Cossack, we wish to treat you as a knight. You carried off
Princess Helena Kurtsevichovna, the betrothed of our comrade and
friend, and you hold her secreted. Know that if we had accused you of
this it would not have helped you that Hmelnitski made you his envoy,
for this is 'raptus puellæ,' a capital offence, which would be judged
here immediately. But since you are going to combat, and may perish,
bethink yourself what will happen to that unfortunate lady if you die.
Do you, who love her, wish evil and destruction to her? Will you
deprive her of protection and give her to shame and misfortune? Do you
wish to be her executioner, even when you are dead?"
Here the voice of Zagloba sounded with unusual solemnity for him. Bogun
grew pale and asked: "What do you want of me?"
"Tell us where she is hidden, so that we may find her if you die, and
give her to her betrothed. If you do this, God will have mercy on your
soul."
The chief rested his head on his hands, and thought deeply. The three
comrades watched carefully the changes in that mobile face, which was
suddenly covered with such touching grief as if neither anger, rage,
nor any fierce feeling had ever played upon it, and as if that man had
been created only for love and yearning. A long time this silence
lasted, till finally it was broken by the voice of Zagloba, which
trembled while uttering the following words,--
"If you have already put her to shame, may God condemn you and let her
find shelter in a cloister."
Bogun raised his sad, moistened eyes, and said: "If I have shamed her?
I know not how you Poles love, knights and cavaliers, but I am a
Cossack. I protected her in Bar from death and disgrace, and afterward
took her to the desert, and there guarded her as the eye in my head;
did no injury to her, fell at her feet and bowed to her as before an
image. If she told me to go, I went, and have not seen her since, for
war detained me."
"God will remember that for you at the judgment," said Zagloba, sighing
deeply, "But is she safe? Krívonos and the Tartars are there."
"Krívonos is at Kamenyets, and sent me to ask Hmelnitski whether he was
to march on Kudák. He has surely gone there, and where she is there are
neither Cossacks nor Poles nor Tartars. She is safe."
"Where is she, then?"
"Listen to me, Poles! Let it be as you wish. I will tell you where she
is, and I will give the order to render her up; but you must give me
your knightly word that if God favors me, you will not look for her.
You promise for yourselves and for Pan Skshetuski, and I will tell
you."
The three friends looked at one another.
"We cannot do that," said Zagloba.
"Oh, as true as life we cannot!" cried Kushel and Volodyovski.
"Is it possible?" asked Bogun. His brows were frowning and his eyes
flashed. "Well, why can you not?"
"Because Pan Skshetuski is not present; and besides, you may be sure
that none of us would cease to seek for her, even if you have hidden
her under ground."
"So you would make this bargain with me: 'Cossack, give up your soul,
and then we will sabre you!' Oh, don't wait for it! And do you think my
Cossack sabre is not made of steel, that you are croaking over me like
ravens over a dead carcass? And why am I to die, and not you? You want
my blood, but I want yours! We shall see who gets whose."
"Then you will not tell?"
"Why talk to me? Death to you all!"
"Death to you! You deserve to be cut to pieces with sabres!"
"Try it!" said the chief, rising quickly.
Kushel and Volodyovski sprang at the same moment from the bench.
Threatening looks were exchanged, breasts overflowing with anger
breathed more violently, and it is unknown what might have happened,
had not Zagloba, who had looked through the window, cried: "Kharlamp
has come with his seconds!"
The light-horse captain with his two companions, the Selitskis, entered
the room. After the first greeting, Zagloba took them aside to explain
the affair. He spoke so eloquently that he soon convinced them,
especially when he declared that Volodyovski asked only for a short
delay, and immediately after his struggle with the Cossack would be
ready to meet Kharlamp. Here Zagloba related how old and terrible was
the hatred of all the soldiers of the prince for Bogun; how he was an
enemy of the whole Commonwealth, and was one of the most desperate
rebels; and finally, how he had carried off the princess, a lady of a
noble house, the betrothed of a noble who was the mirror of every
knightly virtue. "And if you are a noble and have some feeling of
brotherhood, you know that the wrong inflicted on one is inflicted on
the whole order. Can you let it go then unavenged?"
Kharlamp raised difficulties at first, and said that since matters were
in that state, Bogun should be cut to pieces on the spot. "But let Pan
Volodyovski meet me according to agreement."
Zagloba had to explain to him again why this could not be, and that it
would not be knightly to attack one man from behind in this fashion.
Happily the Selitskis helped him, both men of judgment and prudence, so
that the stubborn Lithuanian let himself be convinced at last, and
agreed to a delay.
Meanwhile Bogun went to his men, and returned with the essaul
Eliasenko, to whom he told how he had challenged two nobles, and then
repeated the same thing aloud, in presence of Kharlamp and the
Selitskis.
"We on our part declare," said Volodyovski, "that if you come out
victorious in the struggle with me, it will depend on your will whether
you are to fight with Pan Zagloba, and in no case will any one else
call you out, and this company will not attack you; you will go where
you please. For this I give my knightly word, and I beg you, gentlemen
who have just come, to add the same on your part."
"We do," said Kharlamp and the two Selitskis, solemnly.
Then Bogun delivered to Eliasenko Hmelnitski's letter to the prince;
and said: "You will give this letter to the prince; and if I die you
will tell him and Hmelnitski that the fault was mine, and that I was
not killed through treachery."
Zagloba, who had a watchful eye on everything, saw not the least
disquiet on the sullen visage of Eliasenko. It was evident that he was
too sure of his ataman.
Bogun then turned haughtily to the nobles: "Well, to one death, to
another life," said he. "We may begin."
"Time, time!" said all, tucking back the skirts of their coats under
their belts, and taking their sabres under their arms.
They went in front of the inn, and turned down to a creek which flowed
among a growth of hawthorns, wild roses, and plum-trees. November had
stripped, it is true, the leaves from the bushes, but the thicket was
so close that it looked black as a mourning-ribbon along through the
empty fields to the forest. The day was pale, but pleasant with that
melancholy mildness of autumn full of sweetness. The sun embroidered
softly with gold the naked branches of the trees, and lighted up the
yellow, sandy banks extending some distance along the right side of the
creek. The combatants and their seconds went straight to these banks.
"We will stop here," said Zagloba.
"Agreed," answered all.
Zagloba grew more and more unquiet; at last he approached Volodyovski,
and whispered: "Pan Michael--"
"Well?"
"For the love of God, Pan Michael, exert yourself! In your hands now is
the fate of Skshetuski, the freedom of the princess, your own life and
mine. God keep you from accident! I could do nothing with this robber."
"Why did you challenge him then?"
"The word came out of itself. I trusted in you, Pan Michael. I am old,
and my breath is short. I choke, and this beauty can jump like a goat.
He is a fleet hound, Pan Michael."
"I'll do my best," said the little knight.
"God give you aid! Don't lose courage!"
"Why should I?"
At that moment one of the Selitskis came up to them. "He is a trim
fellow, your Cossack," he whispered; "he acts with us as if he were an
equal, if not a superior. What a bearing! It must be that his mother
looked on some noble."
"It is more likely," said Zagloba, "that some noble looked on her."
"And so it appears to me," said Volodyovski.
"To our places!" called Bogun, suddenly.
"To our places, to our places!"
They took their places,--the nobles in a half-circle, Volodyovski and
Bogun opposite each other.
Volodyovski, as a man experienced in such affairs though he was young,
tested the ground first with his feet to see if it was firm; then he
cast his eye about, wishing to know all the unevenness of the place.
And it was apparent that he did not underestimate the affair. He had to
meet with a knight the most celebrated in the whole Ukraine, of whom
the people sang songs, and whose name was known through the breadth of
Russia to the Crimea. Pan Michael, a simple lieutenant of the dragoons,
promised himself much from that struggle, for it was either a glorious
death or an equally glorious victory; therefore he neglected nothing to
show himself worthy of such an opponent. He had an unusual seriousness
in his face, seeing which Zagloba was frightened. "He is losing
courage," thought he; "it is over with him, and then it is over with
me!"
Meanwhile Volodyovski, having examined the ground carefully, began to
unbutton his vest. Bogun followed his example, and both threw off their
upper garments, so that they were in trousers and shirts; then they
rolled up the sleeves on their right arms.
But how insignificant appeared little Pan Michael before the large and
powerful ataman! He was almost invisible. The seconds looked uneasily
on the broad breast of the Cossack, on the great muscles visible from
under the rolled-up sleeve, like knots and cords. It seemed as though a
little cock had stood up to fight with a powerful falcon of the
steppes. The nostrils of Bogun were distended as if snuffing blood in
advance; his face was so contracted that his dark foretop seemed to
touch his brow, and the sabre quivered in his hand; he fixed his eyes
rapaciously on his opponent and waited the word.
Volodyovski looked once more through the light at the edge of his
sword, moved his little yellow mustache, and stood in position.
"There will be straight cuts here," muttered Kushel to Selitski.
Meanwhile the voice of Zagloba, slightly trembling, said: "In the name
of God, begin!"