The sabres whistled; edge clashed against edge. The place of conflict
was shifted at once; for Bogun pressed on with such fury that
Volodyovski sprang back a number of steps, and the seconds had to
retreat too. The lightning zigzags of Bogun's sword were so swift that
the astonished eyes of those present could not follow them. It seemed
to them that Volodyovski was altogether surrounded and covered, and
that God alone could snatch him from beneath that storm of
thunderbolts. The blows were mingled in one uninterrupted whistle; the
rush of the moving air struck all faces. The fury of the Cossack
increased; the wild rage of conflict seized him, and like a hurricane
he pushed Volodyovski before him. The little knight retreated
continually, and merely defended himself. His extended right arm
scarcely moved; only his hand described, without stopping, circles
narrow but swift as thought, and caught the raging blows of Bogun. He
put edge under edge, warded off and again defended and still retreated,
fixed his eyes on the eyes of the Cossack, and in the midst of
serpentine lightnings appeared calm; but on his cheeks purple spots
were coming out. Zagloba closed his eyes, and heard nothing but blow
after blow, bite after bite.
"He defends himself yet," thought he.
"He defends himself yet," said the Selitskis and Kushel.
"He is already pushed to the sand-bank," added Kushel, quietly.
Zagloba opened his eyes again and looked. True, Volodyovski was pushed
to the bank; but evidently he was not wounded yet. The flush on his
face had become deeper, and drops of sweat were on his forehead.
Zagloba's heart began to beat with hope. "Pan Michael is a master
beyond masters," thought he, "and this fellow will become tired at
last."
In fact Bogun's face had grown pale, sweat stood in drops on his
forehead; but resistance only roused his rage, foam shone from under
his mustache, and from his breast came the hoarseness of fury.
Volodyovski did not let him out of sight, and defended himself
continually. Suddenly, feeling the sand-bank behind, he collected
himself. It seemed to the spectators that he had fallen; meanwhile he
bent, shrunk up, half squatted, and hurled his whole body as if it were
a stone against the breast of the Cossack.
"He is attacking!" shouted Zagloba.
"He is attacking!" repeated the others.
So he was, in fact. The Cossack retreated now; and the little knight,
having discovered the whole power of his opponent, pushed on him so
briskly that the breath stopped in the breasts of the seconds.
Evidently he began to warm up; his little eyes shot sparks; he
squatted, he sprang, he changed position in a moment, he described
circles around the Cossack, and forced him to turn where he stood.
"Oh, masterly, masterly!" said Zagloba.
"You will perish!" said Bogun, all at once.
"You will perish!" answered, like an echo, Volodyovski.
At that moment the Cossack threw, his sabre from his right to his left
hand,--a feat possible only to the ablest fencers,--and gave with his
left hand such a terrible blow that Volodyovski fell to the ground as
if struck by lightning.
"Jesus, Mary!" screamed Zagloba.
But Volodyovski had fallen on purpose, so that the sabre of Bogun might
meet only air. Then the little knight sprang up like a wildcat, and
with almost the whole length of his blade cut terribly into the open
breast of the Cossack.
Bogun tottered, advanced a step, and with a last effort gave the last
thrust. Volodyovski warded it off with ease, and struck still twice on
the inclined head. The sabre dropped from the powerless hands of Bogun,
and he fell with his face on the sand, which immediately reddened under
him in a broad pool of blood.
Eliasenko, present at the duel, rushed to the body of the ataman. The
seconds were unable to utter a word for some time. Pan Michael too was
silent; he rested both hands on his sabre and panted heavily.
Zagloba first broke the silence. "Pan Michael, come to my embrace!"
said he, with emotion.
Then they surrounded him in a circle.
"You are a swordsman of the first water. May the bullets strike you!"
said the Selitskis.
"You are a deceitful rogue, I see," said Kharlamp; "but I'll meet you,
lest it be said that I am afraid. But though you were to slash me in
such fashion as this, still I congratulate you."
[Illustration "THE LITTLE KNIGHT, HAVING DISCOVERED THE WHOLE POWER OF
HIS OPPONENT, PUSHED ON HIM BRISKLY."]
Copyright, 1898, by Little, Brown, and Company.
"And you should put yourself at rest, for in fact you have nothing to
fight about," said Zagloba.
"Impossible!" answered the light-horseman, "for it is a question here
of my reputation, for which I am glad to give my life."
"I have no claim on your life. It is better to drop the matter; for to
tell you the truth, I have not come in your way as you imagine. Some
other man better than I will stand in your way, but not I."
"Is that true?"
"My knightly word for it."
"Then make peace with each other," cried the Selitskis and Kushel.
"Let it be so," said Kharlamp, opening his arms.
Volodyovski fell into them, and the two men kissed each other till the
echoes resounded along the bank.
Kushel said: "I did not think that you could beat such a giant; and he
knew too how to use a sabre."
"I had no idea that he was such a swordsman. Where could he have
learned?"
Here the attention of all was directed again to the prostrate chief,
whom at that time Eliasenko had turned on his back and was looking with
tears for signs of life in him. It was impossible to recognize the
features of Bogun, for they were covered with streaks of blood which
flowed out of the wounds in his head and which immediately grew stiff
in the chill air. The shirt on his breast was all in blood, but he
still gave signs of life. Seemingly he was in his last agonies; his
feet quivered, and his fingers hooked convulsively like claws in the
sand.
Zagloba looked and waved his hand. "He has had his fill; he is parting
with the world."
"Ah," said one of the Selitskis, looking at the body, "that's a corpse
already!"
"Yes, for he is almost cut into bits."
"He was no common knight," muttered Volodyovski, nodding his head.
"I know something of that," added Zagloba.
Meanwhile Eliasenko tried to raise up and carry away the unfortunate
ataman; but being rather a slender man and not young, and since Bogun
belonged almost to the giants, he could not. It was some distance to
the inn, and Bogun might die at any moment. The essaul, seeing this,
turned to the nobles.
"Gentlemen," said he, clasping his hands, "for the sake of the Saviour
and the Holy Most Pure, help me! Do not let him die here like a dog! I
am old, not strong enough, and the men are far away."
The nobles looked at one another. Animosity against Bogun had vanished
from every heart.
"True, it is hard to leave him here like a dog," muttered Zagloba.
"Since we met him in a duel, he is no longer a peasant for us, but a
soldier, to whom such assistance is due. Who will carry him with me,
gentlemen?"
"I," said Volodyovski.
"Then carry him on my burka," added Kharlamp.
In a moment Bogun was lying on the mantle, the ends of which Zagloba,
Volodyovski, Kushel, and Eliasenko held; and the whole party, in
company with Kharlamp and the Selitskis, moved with slow steps toward
the inn.
"He has a firm life," said Zagloba; "he is moving yet. My God, if any
man had told me that I should become his nurse and carry him in this
fashion, I should have thought that he was trifling with me. I have too
feeling a heart, I know that myself; but life is cruel. I'll dress his
wounds too. I hope we shall meet no more in this world; let him
remember me kindly in the next."
"Then you think that he will not recover by any means?" asked Kharlamp.
"He! I wouldn't give a wisp of old straw for his life. Such was his
fate, and he could not escape it; for even if he had succeeded with Pan
Volodyovski, he wouldn't have escaped my hands. But I prefer that it
has happened as it has, for already there is an outcry against me as a
merciless slaughterer. And what am I to do when a man crawls into my
way? I had to pay Pan Dunchevski five hundred sequins' fine, and you
know, gentlemen, that estates in Russia give no income now."
"True, for they have plundered you there to the last," said Kharlamp.
"Oh, this Cossack is heavy!" said Zagloba; "I've lost my
breath.--Plundered us, yes, plundered; but I hope the Diet will make
some provision, otherwise we are reduced to death. But he is heavy, he
is heavy! See, the blood is beginning to run again! Hurry, Pan
Kharlamp, to the inn; let the Jew mix some dough with spider-web. It
won't help the dead man much, but care is a Christian act, and it will
be easier for him to die. Hurry, Pan Kharlamp!"
Kharlamp pushed ahead; and when at last they carried the chief into the
room, Zagloba betook himself, with great knowledge of the art and
expertness, to dressing him. He stopped the blood, closed the wounds,
then turned to Eliasenko and said,--
"You, grandfather, are not needed here. Ride with all speed to
Zaborovo, ask to be placed before the prince, deliver the letter, and
tell what you saw, everything as it was. If you lie, I shall know, for
I am a confidant of his Highness the Prince, and I shall command your
head to be cut off. Give my respects to Hmelnitski, for he knows and
loves me. We will give a fitting funeral to your ataman. You do your
own work; do not loiter in corners, or some one will settle you before
you can tell who you are. Be in good health, and be off!"
"Let me stay, gentlemen, even till he gets cold."
"Be off, I tell you!" said Zagloba, threateningly; "if not, I'll order
the peasants to take you to Zaborovo. And my respects to Hmelnitski."
Eliasenko bowed to the girdle and went out. Zagloba said again to
Kharlamp and the Selitskis,--
"I've got that Cossack off; for what has he to do here, and if some one
should kill him, which might easily happen, then the blame would be
laid on us. The partisans of Zaslavski and the curs of the chancellor
would be first to roar with all their might that in spite of God's law
Vishnyevetski's men murdered the whole Cossack embassy. But a wise head
has a remedy for everything. We won't let ourselves be eaten in kasha
by these fops, these parasites; and when necessary you, gentlemen, will
bear witness how it all happened, and that he challenged us himself. I
must order the bailiff of this place to bury him somehow. They don't
know here who he was; they will think that he was a noble, and bury him
decently. It's time for us too to be on the road, Pan Michael, for we
have a report to make to the prince yet."
The hoarse breathing of Bogun interrupted these words.
"Oh, the soul is seeking a way for itself," said Zagloba. "It is
getting dark, and the spirit will go groping to the other world. But
since he put no shame on our young lady, may God give him eternal
rest,--amen! Let us go, Pan Michael. From my heart I forgive him all
his sins, though to tell the truth, I put myself more in his way than
he put himself in mine. But the end has come. Gentlemen, I wish you
good health. It was a delight to make the acquaintance of such
honorable men, but remember to testify in case of need."