The Deluge: An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Vol. 2 (of 2)

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER XVII.

  After these solemnities various tidings flew into Lvoff like wingedbirds. There were older and fresh tidings more or less favorable, butall increased courage. First the confederation of Tyshovtsi grew like aconflagration; every one living joined it, nobles as well as peasants.Towns furnished wagons, firearms, and infantry; the Jews money. No onedared to oppose the manifestoes; the most indolent mounted. There camealso a terrible manifesto from Wittemberg, turned against theconfederation. Fire and sword were to punish those who joined it. Thismanifesto produced the same effect as if a man tried to quench flameswith powder. The manifesto, with the knowledge assuredly of the king,and to rouse hatred more thoroughly against the Swedes, was scatteredthrough Lvoff in great numbers, and it is not becoming to state whatcommon people did with the copies; it suffices to say that the windbore them terribly dishonored through the streets of the city, and thestudents showed, to the delight of crowds, "Wittemberg's Confusion,"singing at the same time the song beginning with these words,--

  "O Wittemberg, poor man, Race across over the sea, Like a hare! But when thy buttons are lost Thou wilt drop down thy trousers, While racing away!"

  And Wittemberg, as if making the words of the song true, gave up hiscommand in Cracow to the valiant Wirtz, and betook himself hurriedly toElblang, where the King of Sweden was sojourning with the queen,spending his time at feasts, and rejoicing in his heart that he hadbecome the lord of such an illustrious kingdom.

  Accounts came also to Lvoff of the fall of Tykotsin, and minds weregladdened. It was strange that men had begun to speak of that eventbefore a courier had come; only they did not say whether Radzivill haddied or was in captivity. It was asserted, however, that Sapyeha, atthe head of a considerable force, had gone from Podlyasye to Lyubelskto join the hetmans; that on the road he was beating the Swedes andgrowing in power every day.

  At last envoys came from Sapyeha himself in a considerable number, forthe voevoda had sent neither less nor more than one whole squadron tobe at the disposal of the king, desiring in this way to show honor tothe sovereign, to secure his person from every possible accident, andperhaps specially to increase his significance.

  The squadron was brought by Volodyovski, well known to the king; so YanKazimir gave command that he should stand at once in his presence, andtaking Pan Michael's head between his hands, he said,--

  "I greet thee, famous soldier! Much water has flowed down since we lostsight of thee. I think that we saw thee last at Berestechko, allcovered with blood."

  Pan Michael bent to the knees of the king, and said,--

  "It was later, in Warsaw, Gracious Lord; also in the castle with thepresent castellan of Kieff, Pan Charnyetski."

  "But are you serving all the time? Had you no desire to enjoy leisureat home?"

  "No; for the Commonwealth was in need, and besides, in these publiccommotions my property has been lost. I have no place in which to putmy head, Gracious Lord; but I am not sorry for myself, thinking thatthe first duty of a soldier is to the king and the country."

  "Ah, would there were more such! The enemy would not be so rich. Godgrant the time for rewards will come; but now tell me what you havedone with the voevoda of Vilna?"

  "The voevoda of Vilna is before the judgment of God. The soul went outof him just as we were going to the final storm."

  "How was that?"

  "Here is Pan Sapyeha's report," said Volodyovski.

  The king took Sapyeha's letter and began to read; he had barely begunwhen he stopped.

  "Pan Sapyeha is mistaken," said he, "when he writes that the grandbaton of Lithuania is unoccupied; it is not, for I give it to him."

  "There is no one more worthy," said Pan Michael, "and to your RoyalGrace the whole army will be grateful till death for this deed."

  The king smiled at the simple soldierly confidence, and read on. Aftera while he sighed, and said,--

  "Radzivill might have been the first pearl in this glorious kingdom, ifpride and the errors which he committed had not withered his soul. Itis accomplished! Inscrutable are the decisions of God! Radzivill andOpalinski--almost in the same hour! Judge them, O Lord, not accordingto their sins, but according to Thy mercy."

  Silence followed; then the king again began to read.

  "We are thankful to the voevoda," said he, when he had finished, "forsending a whole squadron and under the greatest cavalier, as he writes.But I am safe here; and cavaliers, especially such as you, are moreneeded in the field. Rest a little, and then I will send you to assistCharnyetski, for on him evidently the greatest pressure will beturned."

  "We have rested enough already at Tykotsin, Gracious Lord," said thelittle knight, with enthusiasm; "if our horses were fed a little, wemight move to-day, for with Charnyetski there will be unspeakabledelights. It is a great happiness to look on the face of our graciouslord, but we are anxious to see the Swedes."

  The king grew radiant. A fatherly kindness appeared on his face, and hesaid, looking with pleasure on the sulphurous figure of the littleknight,--

  "You were the first little soldier to throw the baton of a colonel atthe feet of the late prince voevoda."

  "Not the first, your Royal Grace; but it was the first, and God grantthe last, time for me to act against military discipline." Pan Michaelstopped, and after a while added, "It was impossible to do otherwise."

  "Certainly," said the king. "That was a grievous hour for those whounderstood military duty; but obedience must have its limits, beyondwhich guilt begins. Did many officers remain in with Radzivill?"

  "In Tykotsin we found only one officer, Pan Kharlamp, who did not leavethe prince at once, and who did not wish afterward to desert him inmisery. Compassion alone kept Kharlamp with Radzivill, for naturalaffection drew him to us. We were barely able to restore him to health,such hunger had there been in Tykotsin, and he took the food from hisown mouth to nourish the prince. He has come here to Lvoff to implorepardon of your Royal Grace, and I too fall at your feet for him; he isa tried and good soldier."

  "Let him come hither," said the king.

  "He has also something important to tell, which he heard in Kyedanifrom the mouth of Prince Boguslav, and which relates to the person ofyour Royal Grace, which is sacred to us."

  "Is this about Kmita?"

  "Yes, Gracious Lord."

  "Did you know Kmita?"

  "I knew him and fought with him; but where he is now, I know not."

  "What do you think of him?"

  "Gracious Lord, since he undertook such a deed there are no torments ofwhich he is not worthy, for he is an abortion of hell."

  "That story is untrue," said the king; "it is all an invention ofPrince Boguslav. But putting that affair aside, what do you know ofKmita in times previous?"

  "He was always a great soldier, and in military affairs incomparable.He used to steal up to Hovanski so that with a few hundred people hebrought the whole force of the enemy to misery; no other man could havedone that. It is a miracle that the skin was not torn from him andstretched over a drum. If at that time some one had placed PrinceRadzivill himself in the hands of Hovanski, he would not have given himso much pleasure as he would had he made him a present of Kmita. Why!it went so far that Kmita ate out of Hovanski's camp-chests, slept onhis rugs, rode in his sleighs and on his horse. But he was aninfliction on his own people too, terribly self-willed; like PanLashch, he might have lined his cloak with sentences, and in Kyedani hewas lost altogether."

  Here Volodyovski related in detail all that had happened in Kyedani.

  Yan Kazimir listened eagerly, and when at last Pan Michael told howZagloba had freed first himself and then all his comrades fromRadzivill's captivity, the king held his sides from laughter.

  "_Vir incomparabilis! vir incomparabilis_ (an incomparable man)!" herepeated. "But is he here with you?"

  "At the command of your Roy
al Grace!" answered Volodyovski.

  "That noble surpasses Ulysses! Bring him to me to dinner for a pleasanthour, and also the Skshetuskis; and now toll me what you know more ofKmita."

  "From letters found on Roh Kovalski we learned that we were sent toBirji to die. The prince pursued us afterward and tried to surround us,but he did not take us. We escaped luckily. And that was not all, fornot far from Kyedani we caught Kmita, whom I sent at once to be shot."

  "Oh!" said the king, "I see that you had sharp work there inLithuania."

  "But first Pan Zagloba had him searched to find letters on his person.In fact, a letter from the hetman was found, in which we learned thathad it not been for Kmita we should not have been taken to Birji, butwould have been shot without delay in Kyedani."

  "But you see!" said the king.

  "In view of that we could not take his life. We let him go. What he didfurther I know not, but he did not leave Radzivill at that time. Godknows what kind of man he is. It is easier to form an opinion of anyone else than of such a whirlwind. He remained with Radzivill and thenwent somewhere. Later he warned us that the prince was marching fromKyedani. It is hard to belittle the notable service he did us, for hadit not been for that warning Radzivill would have fallen on unpreparedtroops, and destroyed the squadrons one after the other. I know notmyself, Gracious Lord, what to think,--whether that was a calumny whichPrince Boguslav uttered."

  "That will appear at once," said the king; and he clapped his hands."Call hither Pan Babinich!" said he to a page who appeared on thethreshold.

  The page vanished, and soon the door of the king's chamber opened, andin it stood Pan Andrei. Volodyovski did not know him at once, for hehad changed greatly and grown pale, as he had not recovered from thestruggle in the pass. Pan Michael therefore looked at him withoutrecognition.

  "It is a wonder," said he at last; "were it not for the thinness oflips and because your Royal Grace gives another name, I should say thisis Pan Kmita."

  The king smiled and said,--

  "This little knight has just told me of a terrible disturber of thatname, but I explained as on my palm that he was deceived in hisjudgment, and I am sure that Pan Babinich will confirm what I say."

  "Gracious Lord," answered Babinich, quickly, "one word from your gracewill clear that disturber more than my greatest oath."

  "And the voice is the same," said Pan Michael, with growingastonishment; "but that wound across the mouth was not there."

  "Worthy sir," answered Kmita, "the head of a noble is a register onwhich sometimes a man's hand writes with a sabre. And here is yournote; recognize it."

  He bowed his head, shaven at the sides, and pointed at the long whitishscar.

  "My hand!" cried Volodyovski.

  "But I say that you do not know Kmita," put in the king.

  "How is that, Gracious Lord?"

  "For you know a great soldier, but a self-willed one, an associate inthe treason of Radzivill. But here stands the Hector of Chenstohova, towhom, next to Kordetski, Yasna Gora owes most; here stands the defenderof the country and my faithful servant, who covered me with his ownbreast and saved my life when in the pass I had fallen among the Swedesas among wolves. Such is this new Kmita. Know him and love him, for hedeserves it."

  Volodyovski began to move his yellow mustaches, not knowing what tosay; and the king added,--

  "And know that not only did he promise Prince Boguslav nothing, but hebegan on him the punishment for Radzivill intrigues, for he seized himand intended to give him into your hands."

  "And he warned us against Prince Yanush!" cried Volodyovski. "Whatangel converted you?"

  "Embrace each other!" said the king.

  "I loved you at once!" said Kmita to Volodyovski.

  Then they fell into each other's embraces, and the king looked on themand pursed out his lips with delight, time after time, as was hishabit. But Kmita embraced the little knight with such feeling that heraised him as he would a cat, and not soon did he place him back on hisfeet.

  Then the king went to the daily council, for the two hetmans of thekingdom had come to Lvoff, they were to form the army there, and leadit later to the aid of Charnyetski, and the confederate divisionsmarching, under various leaders, throughout the country.

  The knights were alone.

  "Come to my quarters," said Volodyovski; "you will find there Pan Yan,Pan Stanislav, and Zagloba, who will be glad to hear what the king hastold me. There too is Kharlamp."

  But Kmita approached the little knight with great disquiet on his face."Did you find many people with Radzivill?" asked he.

  "Of officers, Kharlamp alone was there."

  "I do not ask about the military, but about women."

  "I know what you mean," answered Pan Michael, flushing somewhat."Prince Boguslav took Panna Billevich to Taurogi."

  Kmita's face changed at once; first it was pale as a parchment, thenpurple, and again whiter than before. He did not find words at once;but his nostrils quivered while he was catching breath, whichapparently failed in his breast. Then he seized his temples with bothhands, and running through the room like a madman, began to repeat,--

  "Woe to me, woe, woe!"

  "Come! Kharlamp will tell you better, for he was present," saidVolodyovski.