CHAPTER XIII.
THE ARREST.
Reunited in so marvellous a manner to the young girl who, that verymorning even, had caused me so much unhappy disquiet, I could notbelieve in my happiness, and I deemed all that had befallen me a dream.
Marya looked sometimes thoughtfully upon me and sometimes upon the road,and did not seem either to have recovered her senses. We keptsilence--our hearts were too weary with emotion.
At the end of two hours we had already reached the neighbouring fort,which also belonged to Pugatchef. We changed horses there.
By the alertness with which we were served and the eager zeal of thebearded Cossack whom Pugatchef had appointed Commandant, I saw that,thanks to the talk of the postillion who had driven us, I was taken fora favourite of the master.
When we again set forth it was getting dark. We were approaching alittle town where, according to the bearded Commandant, there ought tobe a strong detachment on the march to join the usurper.
The sentries stopped us, and to the shout, "Who goes there?" ourpostillion replied aloud--
"The Tzar's gossip, travelling with his good woman."
Immediately a party of Russian hussars surrounded us with awful oaths.
"Get out, devil's gossip!" a Quartermaster with thick moustachios saidto me.
"We'll give you a bath, you and your good woman!"
I got out of the "_kibitka_," and asked to be taken before theauthorities.
Seeing I was an officer, the men ceased swearing, and the Quartermastertook me to the Major's.
Saveliitch followed me, grumbling--
"That's fun--gossip of the Tzar!--out of the frying-pan into the fire!Oh, Lord! how will it all end?"
The "_kibitka_" followed at a walk. In five minutes we reached a littlehouse, brilliantly lit up. The Quartermaster left me under the guard,and went in to announce his capture.
He returned almost directly, and told me "his high mightiness,"[67] hadnot time to see me, and that he had bid me be taken to prison, and thatmy good woman be brought before him.
"What does it all mean?" I cried, furiously; "is he gone mad?"
"I cannot say, your lordship," replied the Quartermaster, "only his highmightiness has given orders that your lordship be taken to prison, andthat her ladyship be taken before his high mightiness, your lordship."
I ran up the steps. The sentries had not time to stop me, and I enteredstraightway the room, where six hussar officers were playing"_faro_."[68]
The Major held the bank.
What was my surprise when, in a momentary glance at him, I recognized inhim that very Ivan Ivanovitch Zourine who had so well fleeced me in theSimbirsk inn!
"Is it possible?" cried I. "Ivan Ivanovitch, is it you?"
"Ah, bah! Petr' Andrejitch! By what chance, and where do you drop from?Good day, brother, won't you punt a card?"
"Thanks--rather give me a lodging."
"What, lodging do you want? Stay with me."
"I cannot. I am not alone."
"Well, bring your comrade too."
"I am not with a comrade. I am--with a lady."
"With a lady--where did you pick her up, brother?"
After saying which words Zourine began to whistle so slyly that all theothers began to laugh, and I remained confused.
"Well," continued Zourine, "then there is nothing to be done. I'll giveyou a lodging. But it is a pity; we would have had a spree like lasttime. Hullo! there, boy, why is not Pugatchef's gossip brought up? Isshe refractory? Tell her she has nothing to fear, that the gentlemanwho wants her is very good, that he will not offend her in any way, andat the same time shove her along by the shoulder."
"What are you talking about?" I said to Zourine; "of what gossip ofPugatchef's are you speaking? It is the daughter of Captain Mironoff. Ihave delivered her from captivity, and I am taking her now to myfather's house, where I shall leave her."
"What? So it's you whom they came to announce a while ago? In heaven'sname, what does all this mean?"
"I'll tell you all about it presently. But now I beg of you, do reassurethe poor girl, whom your hussars have frightened dreadfully."
Zourine directly settled matters. He went out himself into the street tomake excuses to Marya for the involuntary misunderstanding, and orderedthe Quartermaster to take her to the best lodging in the town. I stayedto sleep at Zourine's house. We supped together, and as soon as I foundmyself alone with Zourine, I told him all my adventures.
He heard me with great attention, and when I had done, shaking hishead--
"All that's very well, brother," said he, "but one thing is not well.Why the devil do you want to marry? As an honest officer, as a goodfellow, I would not deceive you. Believe me, I implore you, marriage isbut a folly. Is it wise of you to bother yourself with a wife and rockbabies? Give up the idea. Listen to me; part with the Commandant'sdaughter. I have cleared and made safe the road to Simbirsk; send herto-morrow to your parents alone, and you stay in my detachment. If youfall again into the hands of the rebels it will not be easy for you toget off another time. In this way, your love fit will cure itself, andall will be for the best."
Though I did not completely agree with him, I yet felt that duty andhonour alike required my presence in the Tzarina's army; so I resolvedto follow in part Zourine's advice, and send Marya to my parents, andstay in his troop.
Saveliitch came to help me to undress. I told him he would have to beready to start on the morrow with Marya Ivanofna. He began by showingobstinacy.
"What are you saying, sir? How can you expect me to leave you? Who willserve you, and what will your parents say?"
Knowing the obstinacy of my retainer, I resolved to meet him withsincerity and coaxing.
"My friend, Arkhip Saveliitch," I said to him, "do not refuse me. Be mybenefactor. Here I have no need of a servant, and I should not be easyif Marya Ivanofna were to go without you. In serving her you serve me,for I have made up my mind to marry her without fail directlycircumstances will permit."
Saveliitch clasped his hands with a look of surprise and stupefactionimpossible to describe.
"Marry!" repeated he, "the child wants to marry. But what will yourfather say? And your mother, what will she think?"
"They will doubtless consent," replied I, "when they know MaryaIvanofna. I count on you. My father and mother have full confidence inyou. You will intercede for us, won't you?"
The old fellow was touched.
"Oh! my father, Petr' Andrejitch," said he, "although you do want tomarry too early, still Marya Ivanofna is such a good young lady it wouldbe a sin to let slip so good a chance. I will do as you wish. I willtake her, this angel of God, and I will tell your parents, with all duedeference, that such a betrothal needs no dowry."
I thanked Saveliitch, and went away to share Zourine's room.
In my emotion I again began to talk. At first Zourine willinglylistened, then his words became fewer and more vague, and at last hereplied to one of my questions by a vigorous snore, and I then followedhis example.
On the morrow, when I told Marya my plans, she saw how reasonable theywere, and agreed to them.
As Zourine's detachment was to leave the town that same day, and it wasno longer possible to hesitate, I parted with Marya after entrusting herto Saveliitch, and giving him a letter for my parents. Marya bid megood-bye all forlorn; I could answer her nothing, not wishing to giveway to the feelings of my heart before the bystanders.
I returned to Zourine's silent and thoughtful; he wished to cheer me. Ihoped to raise my spirits; we passed the day noisily, and on the morrowwe marched.
It was near the end of the month of February. The winter, which hadrendered manoeuvres difficult, was drawing to a close, and our Generalswere making ready for a combined campaign.
Pugatchef had reassembled his troops, and was still to be found beforeOrenburg. At the approach of our forces the disaffected villagesreturned to their allegiance.
Soon Prince Galitsyn won a complete victory
over Pugatchef, who hadventured near Fort Talitcheff; the victor relieved Orenburg, andappeared to have given the finishing stroke to the rebellion.
In the midst of all this Zourine had been detached against some mountedBashkirs, who dispersed before we even set eyes on them.
Spring, which caused the rivers to overflow, and thus block the roads,surprised us in a little Tartar village, when we consoled ourselves forour forced inaction by the thought that this insignificant war ofskirmishers with robbers would soon come to an end.
But Pugatchef had not been taken; he reappeared very soon in the miningcountry of the Ural, on the Siberian frontier. He reassembled new bands,and again began his robberies. We soon learnt the destruction ofSiberian forts, then the fall of Khasan, and the audacious march of theusurper on Moscow.
Zourine received orders to cross the River Volga. I shall not stay torelate the events of the war.
I shall only say that misery reached its height. The gentry hid in thewoods; the authorities had no longer any power anywhere; the leaders ofsolitary detachments punished or pardoned without giving account oftheir conduct. All this extensive and beautiful country-side was laidwaste with fire and sword.
May God grant we never see again so senseless and pitiless a revolt. Atlast Pugatchef was beaten by Michelson, and was obliged to fly again.
Zourine received soon afterwards the news that the robber had been takenand the order to halt.
The war was at an end.
It was at last possible for me to go home. The thought of embracing myparents and seeing Marya again, of whom I had no news, filled me withjoy. I jumped like a child.
Zourine laughed, and said, shrugging his shoulders--
"Wait a bit, wait till you be married; you'll see all go to the devilthen."
And I must confess a strange feeling embittered my joy.
The recollection of the man covered with the blood of so many innocentvictims, and the thought of the punishment awaiting him, never left meany peace.
"Emela,"[69] I said to myself, in vexation, "why did you not castyourself on the bayonets, or present your heart to the grapeshot. Thathad been best for you."
_(After advancing as far as the gates of Moscow, which he might perhapshave taken had not his bold heart failed him at the last moment,Pugatchef, beaten, had been delivered up by his comrades for the sum ofa hundred thousand roubles, shut up in an iron cage, and conveyed toMoscow. He was executed by order of Catherine II., in 1775.)_
Zourine gave me leave.
A few days later I should have been in the bosom of my family, when anunforeseen thunderbolt struck me. The day of my departure, just as I wasabout to start, Zourine entered my room with a paper in his hand,looking anxious. I felt a pang at my heart; I was afraid, withoutknowing wherefore. The Major bade my servant leave us, and told me hewished to speak to me.
"What's the matter?" I asked, with disquietude.
"A little unpleasantness," replied he, offering me the paper. "Read whatI have just received."
It was a secret dispatch, addressed to all Commanders of detachments,ordering them to arrest me wherever I should be found, and to send meunder a strong escort to Khasan, to the Commission of Inquiry appointedto try Pugatchef and his accomplices.
The paper dropped from my hands.
"Come," said Zourine, "it is my duty to execute the order. Probably thereport of your journeys in Pugatchef's intimate company has reachedheadquarters. I hope sincerely the affair will not end badly, and thatyou will be able to justify yourself to the Commission. Don't be castdown, and start at once."
I had a clear conscience, but the thought that our reunion was delayedfor some months yet made my heart fail me.
After receiving Zourine's affectionate farewell I got into my"_telega_,"[70] two hussars, with drawn swords, seated themselves, oneon each side of me, and we took the road to Khasan.
The Daughter of the Commandant Page 14
