The horses were given barely time to rest, and the return was begun
with such speed that when the moon had risen on the steppe the party
was already in the neighborhood of Studenka, beyond the Valadinka.
Volodyovski rode in front, looking carefully on every side. Next came
Zagloba at the side of Helena; and Jendzian closed the procession,
driving the pack animals and two saddle-horses, which he had not failed
to take from Horpyna's stable. Zagloba's mouth was not closed; and in
truth he had something to tell the princess, who shut up in the wild
ravine knew nothing of what was passing in the world. He told her how
they had looked for her at first; how Skshetuski, without knowing of
the duel, had sought Bogun as far as Pereyasláv; how finally Jendzian
gained the secret of her concealment from the ataman and brought it to
Zbaraj.
"Merciful God!" said Helena, raising her beautiful pale face to the
moon; "then Pan Skshetuski went beyond the Dnieper for me?"
"To Pereyasláv, as I tell you. And surely he would have come with us
now, but we had no time to send for him as we wished to hurry to your
aid at once. He knows nothing as yet of your safety, and offers prayers
for your soul every day; but have no sorrow for him now. Let him suffer
a while longer since such a reward is awaiting him."
"And I thought that all had forgotten me, and I was only imploring the
Lord for death."
"Not only did we not forget you, but all the time our single thought
was how to come to your aid. Wonders we planned. I was drying my brain,
and so was Skshetuski; but that was to be expected. This knight too who
is riding in front of us spared neither toil nor sword."
"May God reward him!"
"It is clear that you both have that which makes people cleave to you;
but in truth you owe Volodyovski gratitude, for as I said we cut up
Bogun like a pike."
"In Rozlogi, Pan Skshetuski spoke much of Volodyovski as of his best
friend."
"And justly. He has a great soul in a little body. This moment he is
somehow dull. It is evident that your beauty has stunned him; but wait,
let him only grow used to it and he will come to himself. Oh! he and I
worked wonders at the election."
"Then there is a new king?"
"Poor girl! In this cursed wilderness you don't know that Yan Kazimir
was elected last autumn and has been reigning eight months. There will
be a great war this time with the rabble. God grant us good fortune,
for Yeremi has been set aside and others appointed who are altogether
unfitted."
"And will Pan Skshetuski go to the war?"
"He is a true soldier, and I don't think you can stop him. He and I are
alike! When powder entices, nothing can restrain us. Oh, we gave it to
the ruffians in grand fashion last year! The whole night would be short
were I to tell you all as it happened. We shall be sure to go, but with
a light heart now. The main thing is that we have found you, poor girl,
without whom life was a burden to us."
The princess inclined her sweet face to Zagloba. "I know not why you
love me, but it is sure that you do not love me more than I do you."
Zagloba began to puff with satisfaction. "Then you love me?"
"As I live, I do."
"God reward you, for my old age will be lighter. Women pursue me yet,
as was the case in Warsaw more than once during the election.
Volodyovski is witness of that. But I don't care for love, and in spite
of my hot blood, I am content with the feeling of a father."
Silence followed; but the horses began to snort violently, one after
another,--a favorable omen.
"Good health, good health!" said the travellers.
The night was clear; the moon rose higher and higher in the sky, which
was filled with twinkling stars, that became weaker and paler. The
tired horses lessened their speed, and weariness seized the travellers.
Volodyovski reined in his horse first.
"The dawn is not distant," said he; "it is time to rest."
"It is," said Zagloba. "I am so sleepy that my horse seems to have two
heads."
But before resting, Jendzian prepared supper. He made a fire, removed
the saddle-bags from a horse, and took out provisions which he had
obtained from Burlai in Yampol, such as corn bread, cold meat, and
Wallachian wine. At the sight of these two leather bags, well filled
out with liquid which gave forth a pleasant sound, Zagloba forgot his
sleep; the others also fell to eating and drinking with a good will.
There was abundance for all; and when they were satisfied, Zagloba
wiped his mouth and said,--
"Till death I shall not cease to repeat, 'Wondrous are the judgments of
God!' Now, my young lady, you are free; and here we sit comforted under
the sky, drinking Burlai's wine. I will not say that Hungarian would
not be better, for this smells of the skin, but on the road it will
pass."
"There is one thing at which I cannot wonder sufficiently," said
Helena,--"that Horpyna consented so easily to give me up to you."
Zagloba looked at Volodyovski, then at Jendzian, and blinked rapidly.
"She consented, for she had to. There is nothing to hide, for it is no
shame that we rubbed out both Cheremís and the witch."
"How?" asked the princess, with fright.
"Didn't you hear the shots?"
"I heard them, but thought Cheremís was firing."
"It was not Cheremís, but this young fellow here, who shot the witch
through and through. The devil sits in him, we don't dispute that. But
he could not act otherwise; for the witch--whether it was because she
knew something, or was stubborn--insisted on going with us. It was
difficult to permit that, for she would have seen at once that we were
not going to Kieff. He shot her, and I killed Cheremís,--a real African
monster,--and I think that God will not count it ill of me. There must
be a universal disgust of him in even the regions below. Just before
leaving the ravine I went ahead and pulled the bodies aside a little,
so that you might not be frightened at them or take it as a bad omen."
"In these terrible times I have seen too many dead persons who were
kindred of mine to be frightened at the sight of slain bodies," said
the princess; "still I should prefer not to have blood shed, so that
God might not punish us for it."
"It was not a knightly deed," said Volodyovski, harshly. "I would not
put my hand to it."
"What is the use of thinking over it," said Jendzian, "when it could
not be avoided? If we had destroyed some good person I should not
speak; but an enemy of God may be killed; and I myself saw how that
witch entered into fellowship with devils. It is not for her that I am
sorry."
"And why is Pan Jendzian sorry?" asked the princess.
"Because money is buried there, of which Bogun told me; but you
gentlemen were so urgent that I had no time to dig it up, though I know
well where it is, near the mill. My heart was cut also at having to
leave so much property of every kind in that room where you, my lady,
lived."
"Just see what a servant you are going to have!" said Zagloba to the
princess. "With the exception of his master, there is no one, not the
devil himself, from whom he would not strip skin to make a coat-collar
for himself."
"With God's help, Jendzian will not complain of my ingratitude,"
answered Helena.
"I thank you humbly," said he, kissing her hand.
During this time Volodyovski sat with a sullen look, drinking wine
quietly from the skin, till his unusual silence attracted Zagloba's
attention.
"Ah, Pan Michael," said he, "you have given us scarcely a word." Here
the old man turned to Helena. "I have not told you that your beauty has
deprived him of reason and speech."
"You would better take a nap before daylight," was the little knight's
reply; and he began to move his mustaches like a rabbit trying to gain
courage.
But the old noble was right. The beauty of the princess had kept the
little knight in a sort of continual ecstasy. He looked at her, looked
again, and in his mind he asked: "Can it be that such a woman moves
upon the earth?"
He had seen much beauty in his day. Beautiful were the Princesses Anna
and Barbara Zbaraska, and Anusia Borzobogata, charming beyond
expression. Panna Jukovkna, to whom Roztvorovski was paying court, had
many a charm, and so had Vershulovna and Skoropadska and Bohovitnianka;
but none of these could compare with that marvellous flower of the
steppe. In presence of the others Volodyovski was vivacious, full of
speech; but now, when he looked on those velvet eyes, sweet and
languishing, on the silken lashes, the shade of which fell on the
pupils, on the arrowy form, on the bosom lightly moved by the breath,
on the bloom of the lips,--when Volodyovski looked at all this, he
simply forgot the tongue in his mouth; and what was worse, he seemed
awkward, stupid, and above all diminutive,--so small as to be
ridiculous. "She is a princess, and I am a little boy," thought he, in
bitterness; and he would have rejoiced could some giant have issued
from the darkness by chance, for then poor Pan Michael would have shown
that he was not so small as he seemed. He was irritated also because
Zagloba, evidently glad that his daughter was so attractive, coughed
every little while, quizzed, and winked fearfully. And each instant she
was more beautiful, as calm and sweet she sat before the fire, shone on
by the rosy flame and the white moon.
"Confess, Pan Michael," said Zagloba, early next day, when they found
themselves alone for a moment, "that there is not such another girl in
the Commonwealth. If you show me another such, I will let you call me
idiot and give me a drubbing."
"I do not deny," said the little knight, "that she is dainty and rare,
such as I have not seen till this hour; for even those forms of
goddesses cut from marble which seem alive, and which we saw in the
Kazanovski palace, are not to be compared with her. I do not wonder
that the best men are risking their lives for her, for she is worth
it."
"Well, well," said Zagloba, "as God lives, you cannot tell when she is
better, morning or evening, for she always moves in beauty, like a
rose. I have told you that I was once of extraordinary beauty myself,
but I should have been forced to yield to her, though some say she
resembles me as one cup does another."
"Go to the devil!" cried the little knight.
"Don't be angry, Pan Michael, for you are bad enough to the eye
already. You gaze on her as a goat on a head of cabbage. One might
swear that longing has seized you; but the sausage is not for the dog."
"Tfu!" cried Volodyovski. "Are you not ashamed, being an old man, to
talk such nonsense?"
"And why are you frowning?"
"Because you think we have passed all danger, like a bird in the air,
and are entirely safe; but now careful deliberation is needed, so that
when we have escaped one evil we may avoid another. There is a terrible
road before us yet, and God knows what may happen, for these regions to
which we are going must be already on fire."
"When I stole her from Bogun out of Rozlogi it was worse, for there was
pursuit in the rear and rebellion in front; still I passed through the
whole Ukraine as through a flame, and went to Bar. And why is the head
on my shoulders? At the worst, it is not far to Kamenyets."
"True; but it is not far for the Turks and Tartars, either."
"Oh, what stuff do you tell me?"
"I tell you the truth, and say that it is worth thinking over. It is
better to avoid Kamenyets and move on towards Bar; for the Cossacks
will respect the baton. With the rabble we can get on; but if the
Tartars see us, all is lost. I know them of old, and I could flee
before a Tartar party with the birds and the wolves; but if we were to
meet them I could be of no service."
"Then let us go through Bar or around Bar; let the plague take the
limes and cherries of Kamenyets. You don't know that Jendzian took a
baton from Burlai. We can go everywhere among the Cossacks singing. We
have passed the worst of the Wilderness; we shall enter a settled
country. We must think of stopping here and there at a farm about the
time of evening milking, for such a place is more proper and
comfortable for the princess. But it seems to me, Pan Michael, that you
look at things in too sombre a light. Just think that three men like
us--without flattery to you or me--should not be able to make our way
in the steppe! We'll join our stratagems to your sabre; and now for it!
Nothing better can be done. Jendzian has Burlai's baton; and that is
the main thing, for Burlai commands all Podolia at present, and if we
are once beyond Bar, Lantskoronski is there, with the squadrons of the
Crown. On, Pan Michael, let us lose no time!"
And in fact they lost no time, but tore on through the steppes toward
the north and the west as fast as their horses could go. On the heights
of Mogileff they entered a more settled land, so that in the evening it
was not difficult anywhere to find farms or villages in which to spend
the night; but the ruddy dawn always found them on horseback and on the
road. Fortunately the summer was dry,--warm days, with dewy nights, and
in the early morning the whole steppe was silvered as with frost. The
wind dried the waters, the rivers decreased, and they crossed without
difficulty.
Going for some time along and above Lozova, they stopped for a somewhat
longer rest than usual in Shargorod, where there was a Cossack regiment
not belonging to Burlai's command. There they found messengers from
Burlai, and among them Kuna, a sotnik (captain), whom they had seen in
Yampol at the feast with Burlai. He was somewhat surprised that they
were not going through Bratslav, Raigorod, and Skvira to Kieff; but no
suspicion remained in his mind, especially when Zagloba explained to
him that they had not taken that road from fear of the Tartars, who
were about to march from the direction of the Dnieper. Kuna told them
then that Burlai had sent him to proclaim the campaign, and that he
himself was ready to come at any moment, with all the forces at Yampol
and the Budjak-Tartars to Shargorod, whence they would advance
immediately.
Couriers had come from Hmelnitski to Burlai with news that war had
begun, and with orders to lead all the regiments to Volynia. Burlai had
long wished to move on Bar, and was merely awaiting the Tartar
reinforcements, for somehow it had begun to go badly at Bar for the
rebellion. Lantskoronski, the Polish commander, had cut up considerable
bands there, captured the place, and put a garrison in the castle.
Several thousand Cossacks had been killed. Burlai wished to avenge
these and recapture the castle; but Kuna said that the final orders of
Hmelnitski to march on Volynia prevented these plans, and Bar would not
be besieged unless the Tartars should insist on it.
"Well, Pan Michael," said Zagloba the next day, "Bar is before us and
we might hide the princess there a second time; but the devil take it,
I have no more trust in Bar, or any other fortress, since these
ruffians have more cannon than the armies of the Crown. This, however,
troubles me somewhat, that clouds are gathering around."
"Not only are clouds gathering," answered the knight, "but a storm is
rolling up behind, namely the Tartars; and if Burlai should come up
with us he would be greatly astonished that we are not going to Kieff,
but in the opposite direction."
"He would be ready to show us another road. May the devil show him
first the straightest road to his own kingdom! Let us make an
agreement, Pan Michael. I will explain everything to the Cossacks, but
let your wit work against the Tartars."
"It is easier for you to manage the ruffians who take us for their
own," answered Volodyovski. "Against the Tartars there is but one
help,--to flee with all swiftness, to slip out of the snare while there
is time. We must buy good horses on the road wherever we can, so as to
have fresh ones at any moment."
"Pan Longin's purse will suffice for that, and if it does not we will
take Burlai's money from Jendzian. But now forward!"
And they pushed on still more hurriedly, till foam covered the sides of
the ponies and fell like snow-flakes on the green steppe. After they
had passed Derla and Ladava, Volodyovski bought new horses in Barek,
without leaving the old ones; for those which they had as a gift from
Burlai were of rare breed, and they kept them attached by the bridle,
and drove on, making shorter stops and night-rests. Every one was in
good health, and Helena in excellent spirits. Though wearied with the
road, she felt that every day gave her new strength. In the ravine she
had passed a secluded life and scarcely left her gilded room, not
wishing to meet the shameless Horpyna and listen to her talk and
persuasion; now the fresh breeze of the steppe brought back her health.
The roses bloomed on her face, the sun darkened her complexion, but her
eyes gained brightness; and when at times the wind blew the hair over
her forehead, you would have said she was some gypsy, the most
wonderful soothsayer, or that a gypsy queen was travelling in the wide
steppe,--flowers springing up before her, knights following behind.
Volodyovski grew accustomed to her beauty by degrees, as the journey
brought them together, so that finally he became used to her; then he
regained his speech and cheerfulness, and often while riding at her
side told of Lubni, and especially of his friendship for Pan Yan,
thinking she heard this with gladness; at times he even teased her,
saying: "I am Bogun's friend and am taking you to him."
Then she would fold her hands as if in great dread, and say in a sweet
voice: "Oh, cruel knight, better kill me at once than do that!"
"Impossible, I must take you!" answered the stern knight.
"Strike!" said she, closing her eyes and stretching her neck to him.
Then the ants began to travel along the back of the little knight.
"That girl goes to the head like wine!" thought he; "but I cannot drink
this wine, for it is another's." The honest Pan Michael then shook
himself and urged his horse forward. When he plunged into the grass
like a sea-mew into water, the ants fell from him; he turned all his
attention to the journey. Was it safe, were they going well, or was any
adventure approaching them from any side? He straightened himself in
the stirrups, raised his yellow mustaches over the waving grass,
looked, sniffed, listened like a Tartar when he is prowling in the wild
fields through the grass of the steppe.
Zagloba too was in the best of spirits. "It is easier for us to escape
now," said he, "than when on the Kagamlik we had to sneak off on foot
like dogs, with our tongues hanging out. My tongue at that time was so
dried up in my mouth that I could have planed a tree with it, but now,
thanks be to God, I have something to sleep on in the evening, and
something to wet my throat with from time to time."
"Do you remember how you carried me over the water?"
"God grant us to wait! you'll have something to carry in your arms;
I'll bet Skshetuski's head on that."
"Ho! ho!" laughed Jendzian.
"Desist, I beg you," whispered the princess, blushing and dropping her
eyes.
Thus they conversed over the steppe, to shorten the time. Finally,
beyond Barek and Yeltushkoff they entered a country recently gnawed by
the teeth of war. There bands of armed ruffians raged; there also, not
long before, Lantskoronski burned and slew, for it was only a few days
since he had withdrawn to Zbaraj. Our travellers learned also from the
people of the town that Hmelnitski and the Khan had set out with all
their forces against the Poles, or rather against the commanders whose
forces were in mutiny and refused to serve except under the command of
Prince Yeremi. In this connection it was generally prophesied that
destruction or the end of either the Poles or the Cossacks would surely
come, for Father Hmelnitski and Yeremi were to meet. The whole country
was as if on fire. All were rushing to arms and marching to the north
to join Hmelnitski. From the lower Dniester, Burlai was advancing with
his entire force; and along the road every regiment was in motion from
garrisons, quarters, and pastures, for the order had come to all. They
marched then in hundreds, in squadrons, in thousands; and at their
flank rolled on like a river the mob, armed with flails, forks, knives,
and pikes. Horseboys and herdsmen left their herds, settlers their
lands, bee-keepers their bees, wild fishermen their reeds by the
Dnieper, hunters the woods. Hamlets, villages, and towns were deserted.
In three provinces there remained at home but old women and children,
for even the young women had gone with the men against the Poles.
Simultaneously from the east approached with his entire main army
Hmelnitski, like an ominous storm, crushing by the way with his mighty
hand castles, great and small, and killing all who were left from the
previous defeats.
Having passed Bar, full of gloomy reminiscences for the princess, our
travellers took the high-road leading through Latichi and Ploskiri to
Tarnopol, and farther to Lvoff. Now, they met more frequently, at one
time regular tabors of wagons, at another detachments of Cossack
infantry and cavalry; now parties of peasants; now countless herds of
cattle surrounded with clouds of dust, and driven on as food for the
Cossack and the Tartar armies. The road became dangerous, for they were
asked continually what they wanted, whence they came, and where they
were going. Zagloba showed the Cossack companies Burlai's baton, and
said,--
"We are sent from Burlai; we are taking Bogun's wife."
At sight of the baton of the terrible colonel, the Cossacks generally
opened the way the more readily, since every one understood that if
Bogun was alive he must be near the forces of the commanders in the
neighborhood of Zbaraj or Konstantinoff. But it was far more difficult
for the travellers to pass the mob with its wild parties of herdsmen,
ignorant, drunk, and having almost no idea of the ensigns given by
colonels for a safe conduct. Had it not been for Helena, these
half-savage people would have taken Zagloba, Volodyovski, and Jendzian
for their own,--in fact they did so even as it was; but Helena
attracted universal attention by her sex and unusual beauty, hence the
dangers had to be overcome with the greatest care.
At one time Zagloba showed the baton, at another Volodyovski his teeth,
and more than one corpse fell behind them. A number of times the
unapproachable steeds of Burlai alone saved them from too grievous
adventure, and the journey so favorable at the beginning grew more
difficult each day. Helena, although brave by nature, began to fail in
health from continual alarm and sleeplessness, and looked in truth like
a captive dragged against her will into the tent of an enemy. Zagloba
exerted himself savagely, and was continually inventing new stratagems
which the little knight put into practice at once; both of them
consoled the princess as best they could.
"We have only to pass the swarm which is now in front," said
Volodyovski, "and reach Zbaraj, before Hmelnitski with the Tartars
fills the region about."
They learned on the road that the commanders had concentrated at
Zbaraj, and intended to defend themselves there. They went to that
place, expecting justly that Prince Yeremi would come to the commanders
with his division, since a part of his forces (and that a considerable
one) had its permanent post at Zbaraj. The swarms grew thinner on the
road, for the country occupied by the squadrons of the Crown began only
fifty miles beyond. The Cossack parties did not dare therefore to push
on farther; they preferred to wait, at a safe distance, the arrival of
Burlai from one and Hmelnitski from the other side.
"Only fifty miles now! only fifty miles!" repeated Zagloba, rubbing his
hands. "If we could but reach the first Polish squadrons, we might go
to Zbaraj in safety."
But Volodyovski determined to supply himself with fresh horses at
Ploskiri, for those which he had bought at Barek were already useless,
and it was necessary to spare Burlai's steeds for a black hour. This
precaution became imperative, since news came that Hmelnitski was
already at Konstantinoff, and the Khan with all his hordes was moving
from Pilavtsi.
"Jendzian and I will remain here with the princess near the town, for
it is better not to show ourselves on the market-place," said the
little knight to Zagloba, when they came to a deserted house about two
furlongs from the town, "and you go and inquire if there are horses for
sale or exchange. It is evening now, but we will travel all night."
"I'll return soon," said Zagloba.
He went to the town. Volodyovski told Jendzian to let out the
saddle-girths a little, so that the horses might rest; then he
conducted Helena into the house, begging her to strengthen herself with
some wine and with sleep.
"I should like to pass those fifty miles before daybreak to-morrow,"
said he; "then we shall all rest."
But he had scarcely brought the wine-skin and food when there was a
clatter in front of the house. The little knight looked out through the
window.
"Zagloba has already returned," said he; "it is evident that he has
found no horses."
The door opened that moment, and Zagloba appeared in it, pale, blue,
sweating, puffing. "To horse!" he cried.
Volodyovski was too experienced a soldier to lose time on inquiries. He
didn't lose it even in saving the skin of wine,--which Zagloba carried
off nevertheless,--but he seized the princess with all haste, took her
out, put her on the saddle, gave a last look to see if the girths were
drawn, and cried, "Forward!"
The hoofs clattered, and soon horses and riders had vanished in the
darkness like a party in a dream. They flew on a long time without
rest, till at last nearly five miles of road separated them from
Ploskiri. Before the rising of the moon darkness became so dense that
every pursuit was impossible. Volodyovski drew near Zagloba, and
asked,--
"What was the matter?"
"Wait, Pan Michael, wait! I am terribly blown. I came near losing the
use of my legs. Uf!"
"But what was the matter?"
"The devil in his own person,--the devil or a dragon! If you cut one
head off him, another will grow."
"But speak plainly!"
"I saw Bogun on the market-square."
"Are you mad?"
"I saw him on the square, as I live, and with him five or six men, for
I nearly lost the use of my legs. They held torches for him, and I
thought, 'Some devil is standing in our road.' I lost all hope of a
successful end to our undertaking. Can this imp of hell be immortal, or
what? Don't speak of him to Helena. Oh, for God's sake, you slew him;
Jendzian gave him up! That wasn't enough; he is alive now, free, and
stands in the way. Oh, my God, my God! I tell you, Pan Michael, that I
would rather see a ghost in a graveyard than him. And what devilish
luck that I am the first to meet him everywhere! It's luck to cram down
a dog's throat. Are there no other people in the world? Let others meet
him. No! always I, and I."
"But did he see you?"
"If he had seen me, Pan Michael, you wouldn't be looking at me now.
That alone was wanting."
"It would be important to know whether he is chasing after us, or is
going to Valadinka to Horpyna with the intention of seizing us on the
road."
"It seems to me that he is going to Valadinka."
"It must be so. Then we shall go on in one direction and he in the
opposite; now there are five miles and more between us, and soon there
will be twenty-five. Before he hears about us on the road, and returns,
we shall be not only in Zbaraj, but in Jolkvi."
"Your speech, Pan Michael, thank God! is like a plaster to me. But tell
me how it can be that he is free, when Jendzian gave him into the hands
of the commandant of Vlodava?"
"Oh, he simply ran away!"
"The head of a commandant like that should be struck off. Jendzian!
Jendzian!"
"What do you wish, my master?" asked the youth, reining in his horse.
"To whom did you deliver Bogun?"
"To Pan Rogovski."
"And who is this Pan Rogovski?"
"He is a great knight, a colonel of an armored regiment of the king."
"There it is for you!" said Volodyovski, snapping his fingers. "Don't
you remember what Pan Longin told about Skshetuski's enmity with
Rogovski? He is a relative of Pan Lashch, on account of whose disgrace
he has a hatred for Skshetuski."
"I understand, I understand!" shouted Zagloba. "He is the one who must
have let Bogun out through spite. But that is a capital offence, and
smells of death. I'll be the first to report it."
"If God lets me meet him," muttered Volodyovski, "we shall be sure not
to go to a tribunal."
Jendzian did not know yet what the trouble was, for after his answer he
pushed forward again to the princess.
They were riding slowly. The moon had risen; the mists, which since
evening had settled upon the land, fell away, and the night became
clear. Volodyovski was sunk in meditation. Zagloba was digesting for
some time yet the remnants of his astonishment; at last he said,--
"Bogun would have given it to Jendzian now if he had caught him."
"Tell him the news; let him be afraid too, and I'll go immediately to
the princess," answered the little knight.
"Here, Jendzian!"
"Well, what is it?" asked the youth, reining in his horse again.
Zagloba came up with him. He was silent for a while, waiting for
Volodyovski and the princess to ride far enough away. At last he asked:
"Do you know what has happened?"
"No."
"Pan Rogovski set Bogun at liberty. I saw him in Ploskiri."
"In Ploskiri? To-day?" asked Jendzian.
"Yes. Why don't you drop from the saddle?"
The rays of the moon fell straight on the round face of the youth, and
Zagloba saw on it not terror, but, to his utmost astonishment, that
expression of stern, almost brutal stubbornness which Jendzian had when
he killed Horpyna.
"Well, are you not afraid of Bogun?"
"My master," answered the youth, "if Pan Rogovski has let him go, then
I must seek revenge on him again myself for the wrong done me and the
insult. I do not forgive him, for I took an oath; and if we were not
conducting the lady, I should turn back on the road at once. Let what
belongs to me be mine."
"I am glad not to have offended this young fellow."
They spurred their horses, and soon came up with the princess and
Volodyovski. In an hour they turned through the Medvédovka and entered
a forest extending from the very bank of the river in two black walls
along the road.
"I know the neighborhood well," said Zagloba. "There will soon be an
end to this forest; after it is about a mile and a quarter of level
land, and then another forest still larger extending to Matchin. God
grant us to find Polish squadrons there!"
"It is high time that rescue came," muttered Volodyovski.
They rode awhile in silence over a road clearly lighted by the rays of
the moon.
"Two wolves have run across," said Helena, suddenly.
"Yes," said Volodyovski, "and here is a third."
The gray shadow shot across a little more than a hundred rods in front
of the horses.
"There is a fourth," said the princess.
"No, that is a deer. Look,--two, three!"
"What the devil!" cried Zagloba. "Deer chasing wolves! The world, I
see, is overturned."
"Let us go a little faster," cried Volodyovski, with a voice of alarm.
"Jendzian, come this way and go ahead with the lady!"
They shot on; but Zagloba bent forward as they rode to Volodyovski's
ear, and inquired: "Pan Michael, what tidings?"
"Evil!" answered the little knight. "You have seen wild beasts rushing
from their lairs and escaping in the night."
"But what does that mean?"
"It means that they are frightened."
"Who frightens them?"
"Troops, Cossack or Tartar, are coming toward us from the right hand."
"But it may be our squadrons?"
"Impossible, for the beasts are fleeing from the east, from Pilavtsi.
Doubtless, then, the Tartars are marching in a wide body."
"Let us flee, Pan Michael, in God's name!"
"There is no help. Oh, if the princess were not here, we could go quite
near them; but with her the passage will be very difficult if they set
eyes on us."
"Have the fear of God, Pan Michael. Shall we turn to the woods and run
after the wolves, or what?"
"Impossible; for though the enemy would not reach us at once, they
would deluge the country in front of us, and then how should we
escape?"
"May brimstone thunderbolts shake them! This alone was wanting to us.
Oh, Pan Michael, are you not mistaken? You know wolves follow an army;
they do not run before it."
"Those at the flanks follow the army and gather in from every side, but
those in front get frightened. Look! on the right, between the trees,
there is a fire."
"Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews!"
"Silence! Is there much more of this forest?"
"We shall be at the end in a moment."
"And then a field?"
"Yes, O Jesus!"
"No noise! Beyond the field there is another forest?"
"Extending to Matchin."
"We shall be all right if they don't overtake us in this field. If we
reach the second forest in safety, we are at home. Let us go together
then. Luckily the princess and Jendzian are on Burlai's horses."
They put spurs to the horses, and joined the princess and Jendzian.
"What fire is that on the right?" asked the princess.
"There is no use in hiding it from you; that may be Tartars."
"Jesus, Mary!"
"Have no fear. My neck for it, we shall escape them, and our squadrons
are in Matchin."
"For God's sake, let us be off!" said Jendzian.
They were silent, and sped on like ghosts. The trees began to grow
thinner; they were reaching the end of the forest, and the fire was
somewhat dimmer too. Suddenly Helena turned to Volodyovski.
"Swear to me, gentlemen," said she, "that I shall not go alive into
their hands."
"You will not," said Volodyovski, "while I am alive."
They had barely passed the end and come into an open field about a mile
in width, and on the other side of it another line of forest stood
dark. That bald space of earth open on every side was all silvered over
from the rays of the moon. All things were as visible on it as in the
daytime.
"This is the worst piece of road," whispered Volodyovski to Zagloba;
"for if they are in Chorni Ostroff, they will pass between these
forests."
Zagloba gave no answer; he only pressed the horse with his heels.
They had run to the middle of the field, the opposite forest was
growing nearer each moment and more distinct, when suddenly the little
knight stretched out his hand to the east. "Look!" said he to Zagloba;
"do you see?"
"Some kind of branches and thicket in the distance."
"Those branches are moving. Now on, on, push on! for they see us beyond
a doubt."
The wind whistled past the ears of the fleeing; the forest of salvation
drew nearer each instant.
All at once out of that dark mass approaching from the right side of
the field flew on as it were the roar of sea waves, and the next moment
one great shout rent the air.
"They see us!" bellowed Zagloba. "Dogs, ruffians, devils, wolves,
scoundrels!"
The forest was so near that the fugitives almost felt its cold, austere
breath; but also the cloud of Tartars became each moment more clearly
outlined, and from the dark body of it long arms began to push out like
the horns of some gigantic monster, and approached the fugitives with
inconceivable rapidity. The trained ear of Volodyotski already
distinguished clearly: "Allah! Allah!"
"My horse has stumbled!" shouted Zagloba.
"That is nothing!" cried Volodyovski.
But through his head that moment there flew like thunderbolts the
questions: "What will happen if the horses do not hold out? What will
happen if one of them falls?" They were valiant Tartar steeds of iron
endurance, but they had come already from Ploskiri, resting but little
on that wild flight from the town to the first forest. They might, it
is true, take the led horses, but they too were tired. "What is to be
done?" thought Volodyovski; and his heart throbbed with alarm,--perhaps
for the first time in his life,--not for himself, but for Helena, whom
during that long journey he had come to love as his own sister. And he
knew too that the Tartars when they had once begun pursuit would not
relinquish it very soon. "Let them keep on, they will not catch her,"
said he, setting his teeth.
"My horse has stumbled!" cried Zagloba a second time.
"That is nothing!" answered Volodyovski again.
They were now in the forest, darkness around them; but single Tartar
horsemen were not farther than a few hundred yards behind. But the
little knight knew now what to do.
"Jendzian," cried he, "turn with the lady to the first path leading out
of the highway."
"Good, my master!"
The little knight turned to Zagloba. "Pistol in hand!" At the same
time, seizing the bridle of Zagloba's horse, he began to restrain his
course.
"What are you doing?" cried the noble.
"Nothing! Hold in your horse!"
The distance between them and Jendzian, who had escaped with Helena,
increased every moment. At last he came with her to a point where the
highway turned rather sharply toward Zbaraj, and straight ahead lay a
narrow forest-trail half hidden by branches. Jendzian rushed into it,
and in a twinkle the two had disappeared in the thicket and the gloom.
Meanwhile Volodyovski had stopped his own horse and Zagloba's.
"In the name of God's mercy, what are you doing?" roared Zagloba.
"We delay the pursuit. There is no other salvation for the princess."
"We shall perish!"
"Let us perish. Stop here right by the side of the road,--right here!"
Both stood close under the trees in the darkness; presently the mighty
thumping of Tartar horses approached and roared like a storm till the
whole forest was filled with it.
"It has come!" said Zagloba, raising the skin of wine to his mouth. He
drank and drank, then shook himself. "In the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost," coughed he. "I am ready for death."
"This minute! this minute!" cried Volodyovski. "Three of them are
riding in advance; that is what I wanted."
In fact three horsemen appeared on the clear road, mounted evidently on
the best horses,--"wolf-hunters," so called in the Ukraine, for they
came up with wolves in the chase,--and two or three hundred yards
behind them a few hundred others, and still farther a whole dense
throng of the horde.
When the first three came in front of the ambush two shots were
discharged; then Volodyovski sprang like a panther into the middle of
the road, and before Zagloba had time to think what was done the third
Tartar was on the ground.
"Forward!" shouted the little knight.
Zagloba did not let the order be repeated, and they rushed over the
road like a pair of wolves hunted by a pack of angry dogs. That moment
the other Tartars hastened to the corpses, and seeing that those hunted
wolves could bite to death they curbed their horses a little, waiting
for their comrades.
"As you see, I knew that I should stop them," said Volodyovski.
But although the fugitives gained a few hundred steps, the interruption
in the chase did not last long. Only the Tartars pressed on in a larger
crowd, not pushing forward singly.
The horses of the fugitives were wearied by the long road, and their
speed slackened, especially that of Zagloba's horse, which bearing such
a considerable burden stumbled once and twice. What there was left of
the old man's hair stood on end at the thought that he should fall.
"Pan Michael, dearest Pan Michael, do not abandon me!" cried he, in
despair.
"Oh, be of good heart!" answered the little knight.
"May the wolves tear this hor--"
He had not finished this sentence when the first arrow hissed near his
ear, and after it others began to hiss and whistle and sing as if they
were horseflies and bees. One passed so near that its head almost
grazed Zagloba's ear.
Volodyovski turned and again fired twice from his pistol at the
pursuers.
Zagloba's horse stumbled now so heavily that his nostrils were almost
buried in the earth.
"By the living God, my horse is dying!" shouted he, in a heart-rending
voice.
"From the saddle to the woods!" thundered Volodyovski.
Having given this order, he stopped his own horse, sprang off, and a
moment later he and Zagloba vanished in the darkness. But this movement
did not escape the slanting eyes of the Tartars, and several tens of
them springing from their horses also gave chase. The branches tore the
cap from Zagloba's head, beat him on the face and caught his coat, but
putting his feet behind his belt he made off as if he were thirty years
of age. Sometimes he fell, but he was up again and off quicker than
ever, puffing like a bellows. At last he fell into a deep hole, and
felt that he could not crawl out again, for his strength had failed him
completely.
"Where are you?" called Volodyovski, in a low voice.
"Down here! It's all over with me,--save me, Pan Michael."
Volodyovski sprang without hesitation to the hole and clapped his hand
on Zagloba's mouth: "Be silent! perhaps they will pass us! We will
defend ourselves anyhow."
By that time the Tartars came up. Some of them did in fact pass the
hole, thinking that the fugitives had gone farther; others went slowly,
examining the trees and looking around on every side. The knights held
the breath in their breasts.
"Let some one fall in here," thought Zagloba, in despair; "I'll fall on
him."
Just then sparks scattered on every side; the Tartars began to strike
fire. By the flash their wild faces could be seen, with their puffed
cheeks and lips sticking out, blowing the lighted tinder. For a time
they kept going around a few tens of steps from the hole like
ill-omened forest phantoms, drawing nearer and nearer.
But at the last moment wonderful sounds of some sort, murmurs, and
confused cries began to come from the highway and to rouse the
slumbering depths. The Tartars stopped striking fire, and stood as if
rooted to the earth. Volodyovski's hand was biting into the shoulder of
Zagloba.
The cries increased, and suddenly red lights burst forth, and with them
was heard a salvo of musketry,--once, twice, three times,--followed by
shouts of "Allah!" the clatter of sabres, the neighing of horses,
tramping, and confused uproar. A battle was raging on the road.
"Ours, ours!" shouted Volodyovski.
"Slay! kill! strike! cut! slaughter!" bellowed Zagloba.
A second later a number of Tartars rushed past the hole in the wildest
disorder, and vanished in the direction of their party. Volodyovski did
not restrain himself; he sprang after them, and pressed on in the
thicket and darkness.
Zagloba remained at the bottom of the hole. He tried to crawl up, but
could not. All his bones were aching, and he was barely able to stand
on his feet.
"Ah, scoundrels!" said he, looking around on every side, "you have
fled; it is a pity some one of you did not stay,-- I should have
company in this hole, and I would show him where pepper grows! Oh,
pagan trash, they are cutting you up like beasts this minute! Oh, for
God's sake, the uproar is increasing every moment! I wish that Yeremi
himself were here; he would warm you. You are shouting, 'Allah! Allah!'
The wolves will shout 'Allah!' over your carrion pretty soon. But that
Pan Michael should leave me here alone! Well, nothing wonderful; he is
eager, for he is young. After this last adventure I would follow him
anywhere, for he is not a friend to leave one in distress. He is a
wasp! In one minute he stung three! If at least I had that wine-skin
with me! But those devils have surely taken it, or the horses have
trampled it. Besides insects are devouring me in this ditch! What's
that?"
The shouts and discharges of musketry began to recede in the direction
of the field and the first forest.
"Ah, ah!" thought Zagloba, "they are on their necks. Oh, dog-brothers,
you could not hold out! Praise be to God in the highest!"
The shouts receded farther and farther.
"They ride lustily," muttered he. "But I see that I shall have to sit
in this ditch. It only remains now for the wolves to eat me. Bogun to
begin with, then the Tartars, and wolves at the end! God grant a stake
to Bogun and madness to the wolves! Our men will take care of the
Tartars not in the worst fashion. Pan Michael! Pan Michael!"
Silence gave answer to Zagloba; only the pines murmured, and from afar
came the sounds fainter and fainter.
"Shall I lie down to sleep here, or what? May the devil take it! Pan
Michael!"
But Zagloba's patience had a long trial yet, for dawn was in the sky
when the clatter of hoofs was heard again on the road and lights shone
in the forest.
"Pan Michael, I am here!"
"Crawl out."
"But I cannot."
Volodyovski with a torch in his hand stood over the hole, and giving
his hand to Zagloba, said: "Well, the Tartars are gone; we drove them
to the other forest."
"But who came up?"
"Kushel and Roztvorovski, with two thousand horse. My dragoons are with
them too."
"Were there many of the Pagans?"
"A couple of thousand."
"Praise be to God! Give me something to drink, for I am faint."
Two hours later Zagloba, having eaten and drunk what he needed; was
sitting on a comfortable saddle in the midst of Volodyovski's dragoons,
and at his side rode the little knight, who said,--
"Do not worry; for though we shall not come to Zbaraj in company with
the princess, it would have been worse if she had fallen into the hands
of the heathen."
"But perhaps Jendzian will come back yet to Zbaraj."
"He will not. The highway will be occupied; the party which we drove
back will return soon and follow us. Besides Burlai may appear at any
moment before Jendzian could come in. Hmelnitski and the Khan are
marching on the other side from Konstantinoff."
"Oh, for God's sake! Then he will fall into a trap with the princess."
"Jendzian has wit enough to spring through between Zbaraj and
Konstantinoff in time, and not let the regiments of Hmelnitski nor the
parties of the Khan catch him. You see I have great confidence in his
success."
"God grant it!"
"He is a cunning lad, just like a fox. You have no lack of stratagem,
but he is more cunning. We split our heads a great deal over plans to
rescue the girl, but in the end our hands dropped, and through him the
whole has been directed. He'll slip out this time like a snake, for it
is a question of his own life. Have confidence,--for God, who saved her
so many times, is over her now; and remember that in Zbaraj you bade me
have confidence when Zakhar came."
Zagloba was strengthened somewhat by these words of Pan Michael, and
then fell into deep thought.
"Pan Michael," he said after a time, "have you asked Kushel what
Skshetuski is doing?"
"He is in Zbaraj, and well; he came from Prince Koretski's with
Zatsvilikhovski."
"But what shall we tell him?"
"Ah, there is the rub!"
"Does he think yet that the girl was killed in Kieff?"
"He does."
"Have you told Kushel or any one else where we are coming from?"
"I have not, for I thought it better to take counsel first."
"I should prefer to say nothing of the whole affair. If the girl should
fall again into Cossack or Tartar hands (which God forbid!), it would
be a new torture, just as if some one were to tear open all his
wounds."
"I'll give my head that Jendzian takes her through."
"I should gladly give my own to have him do so; but misfortune rages
now in the world like a pestilence. Better be silent, and leave
everything to the will of God."
"So let it be. But will not Podbipienta give the secret to Skshetuski?"
"Don't you know him? He gave his word of honor, which for that
Lithuanian is sacred."
Here Kushel joined them. They rode on together, talking, by the first
rays of the rising sun, of public affairs, of the arrival at Zbaraj of
the commanders in consequence of Yeremi's wishes, of the impending
arrival of the prince himself, and the inevitable and awful struggle
with the whole power of Hmelnitski.