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

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  A week after the departure of Anusia with Kotchyts, Sapyeha's camp wasstill at Byala. Kmita, with the Tartars, was ordered to theneighborhood of Rokitno; he was resting too, for the horses needed foodand rest after the long road. Prince Michael Kazimir Radzivill, theowner of the place by inheritance, came also to Byala; he was apowerful magnate of the Nyesvyej branch of Radzivills, of whom it wassaid that they had inherited from the Kishkis alone seventy towns andfour hundred villages. This Radzivill resembled in nothing his kinsmenof Birji. Not less ambitious perhaps than they, but differing in faith,an ardent patriot, and an adherent of the lawful king, he joined withhis whole soul the confederacy of Tyshovtsi, and strengthened it asbest he could. His immense possessions were, it is true, greatlyravaged by the last war, but still he stood at the head of considerableforces and brought the hetman no small aid.

  Not so much, however, did the number of his soldiers weigh in thebalance as the fact that Radzivill stood against Radzivill; in this waythe last seeming of justice was taken from Boguslav, and his acts werecovered with the open character of invasion and treason.

  Therefore Sapyeha saw Prince Michael in his camp with delight. He wascertain now that he would overcome Boguslav, for he surpassed him muchin power; but according to his custom he weighed his plans slowly,stopped, considered, and summoned councils of officers.

  Kmita also was at these councils. He so hated the name Radzivill thatat first sight of Prince Michael he trembled from anger and rage; butMichael knew how to win people by his countenance alone, on whichbeauty was united with kindness. The great qualities of this Radzivill,the grievous times which he had recently passed while defending thecountry from Zolotarenko and Serobryani, his genuine love for the king,made him one of the most honorable cavaliers of his time. His verypresence in the camp of Sapyeha, the rival of the house of Radzivill,testified how far the young prince knew how to sacrifice private topublic affairs. Whoso knew him was forced to love him. This feelingcould not be resisted even by the passionate Kmita, despite his firstopposition.

  Finally the prince captivated the heart of Pan Andrei by his advice.

  This advice was not merely to move against Boguslav, but to movewithout negotiations, to dash upon him at once: "Do not let him takecastles; give him neither rest nor chance to draw breath; make war uponhim with his own method." In such decision the prince saw speedy andcertain victory.

  "It cannot be that Karl Gustav has not moved also; we must have ourhands free, therefore, as soon as possible, and hasten to succorCharnyetski."

  Of the same opinion was Kmita, who had been fighting three days withhis old evil habit of self-will so as to restrain himself fromadvancing without orders.

  But Sapyeha liked to act with certainty, he feared every inconsideratestep; therefore he determined to wait for surer intelligence.

  And the hetman had his reasons. The reported expedition of Boguslavagainst Podlyasye might be only a snare, a trick of war. Perhaps it wasa feigned expedition with small forces, to prevent the junction ofSapyeha with the king. That done, Boguslav would escape from beforeSapyeha, receiving battle nowhere, or delaying; but meanwhile KarlGustav with the elector would strike Charnyetski, crush him withsuperior forces, move against the king himself, and smother the work inits inception,--the work of defence created by the glorious example ofChenstohova. Sapyeha was not only a leader, but a statesman. Heexplained his reasons with power at the councils, so that even Kmitawas forced in his soul to agree with him. First of all, it wasincumbent to know what course to take. If Boguslav's invasion proved tobe merely a trick, it was sufficient to send a number of squadronsagainst him, and move with all speed to Charnyetski against the chiefpower of the enemy. The hetman might leave boldly a few or even moresquadrons, for his forces were not all around Byala. Young PanKrishtof, or the so-called Kryshtofek Sapyeha, was posted with twolight squadrons and a regiment of infantry at Yavorov; Horotkyevich wasmoving around Tykotsin, having under him half a dragoon regiment verywell trained, and five hundred volunteers, besides a light horsesquadron named for Sapyeha; and in Byalystok were land infantry.

  These forces would more than suffice to stand against Boguslav, if hehad only a few hundred horses.

  But the clear-sighted hetman sent couriers in every direction andwaited for tidings.

  At last tidings came; but like thunderbolts, and all the more so thatby a peculiar concurrence of circumstances all came in one evening.

  They were just at council in the castle of Byala when an officer oforderlies entered and gave a letter to the hetman. Barely had thehetman cast eyes on it when he changed in the face and said,--

  "My relative is cut to pieces at Yavorov by Boguslav himself; hardlyhas he escaped with his life."

  A moment of silence followed.

  "The letter is written in Bransk, in fright and confusion," said he;"therefore it contains not a word touching Boguslav's power, whichmust, I think, be considerable, since, as I read, two squadrons and aregiment of infantry are cut to pieces. It must be, however, thatBoguslav fell on them unawares. The letter gives nothing positive."

  "I am certain now," said Prince Michael, "that Boguslav wants to seizeall Podlyasye, so as to make of it a separate or feudal possession inthe treaties. Therefore he has surely come with as much power as hecould possibly get. I have no other proofs save a knowledge ofBoguslav. He cares neither for the Swedes nor the Brandenburgers, onlyfor himself. He is an uncommon warrior, who trusts in his fortunatestar. He wants to win a province, to avenge Yanush, to cover himselfwith glory; and to do this he must have a corresponding power, and hasit, otherwise he would not march on us."

  "For everything the blessing of God is indispensable," said Oskyerko;"and the blessing is with us!"

  "Serene great mighty hetman," said Kmita, "information is needed. Letme loose from the leash with my Tartars, and I will bring youinformation."

  Oskyerko, who had been admitted to the secret and knew who Babinichwas, supported the proposal at once and with vigor.

  "As God is good to me, that is the best idea in the world! Such a manis needed there, and such troops. If only the horses are rested."

  Here Oskyerko was stopped, for the officer of orderlies entered theroom again.

  "Serene great mighty hetman!" said he.

  Sapyeha slapped his knees and exclaimed. "They have news! Admit them."

  After a while two light-horsemen entered, tattered and muddy.

  "From Horotkyevich?" asked Sapyeha.

  "Yes."

  "Where is he now?"

  "Killed, or if not killed, we know not where he is."

  The hetman rose, but sat down again and inquired calmly,--

  "Where is the squadron?"

  "Swept away by Prince Boguslav."

  "Were many lost?"

  "We were cut to pieces; maybe a few were left who were taken captivelike us. Some say that the colonel escaped; but that he is wounded Isaw myself. We escaped from captivity."

  "Where were you attacked?"

  "At Tykotsin."

  "Why did you not go inside the walls, not being in force?"

  "Tykotsin is taken."

  The hetman covered his eyes for a moment with his hand, then he beganto pass his hand over his forehead.

  "Is there a large force with Boguslav?"

  "Four thousand cavalry, besides infantry and cannon; the infantry verywell trained. The cavalry moved forward, taking us with them; butluckily we escaped."

  "Whence did you escape?"

  "From Drohichyn."

  Sapyeha opened wide his eyes. "You are drunk. How could Boguslav cometo Drohichyn? When did he defeat you?"

  "Two weeks ago."

  "And is he in Drohichyn?"

  "His scouting-parties are. He remained in the rear himself, for someconvoy is captured which Pan Kotchyts was conducting."

  "He was conducting Panna Borzobogati!" cried Kmita.

  A silence followed. Boguslav's success, and so
sudden, had confused theofficers beyond measure. All thought in their hearts that the hetmanwas to blame for delay, but no one dared say so aloud.

  Sapyeha, however, felt that he had done what was proper, and had actedwisely. Therefore he recovered first from the surprise, sent out themen with a wave of his hand, and said,--

  "These are ordinary incidents of war, which should confuse no one. Donot think, gentlemen, that we have suffered any defeat. Those regimentsare a loss surely; but the loss might have been a hundred times greaterif Boguslav had enticed us to a distant province. He is coming to us.We will go out to meet him like hospitable hosts."

  Here he turned to the colonels: "According to my orders all must beready to move?"

  "They are ready," said Oskyerko. "Only saddle the horses and sound thetrumpet."

  "Sound it to-day. We move in the morning at dawn, without fail. PanBabinich will gallop ahead with his Tartars, and seize with all hasteinformants."

  Kmita had barely heard this when he was outside the door, and a momentlater hurrying on as his horse could gallop to Rokitno.

  And Sapyeha also did not delay long.

  It was still night when the trumpets gave out their prolonged sounds;then cavalry and infantry poured forth into the field; after themstretched a long train of squeaking wagons. The first gleams of daywere reflected on musket-barrels and spear-points.

  And they marched, regiment after regiment, squadron after squadron, ingreat regularity. The cavalry sang their matins, and the horses snortedsharply in the morning coolness, from which the soldiers predicted surevictory for themselves.

  Their hearts were full of consolation; for the knighthood knew fromexperience that Sapyeha weighed everything, that he labored with hishead, that he considered every undertaking from both sides, that whenhe began a thing he would finish it, and when he moved he would strike.

  At Rokitno the lairs of the Tartars were cold; they had gone the nightbefore, hence must have pushed far in advance. It surprised Sapyehathat along the road it was difficult to learn anything of them, thoughthe division, numbering, with volunteers, several hundred, could notpass without being seen.

  The most experienced officers wondered greatly at this march, and atPan Babinich for being able to lead in such fashion.

  "Like a wolf he goes through the willows, and like a wolf he willbite," said they; "he is as if born for the work."

  But Oskyerko, who, as has been said, knew who Babinich was, said toSapyeha,--

  "It was not for nothing that Hovanski put a price on his head. God willgive victory to whom he chooses; but this is sure, that war with uswill soon be bitter for Boguslav."

  "But it is a pity that Babinich has vanished as if he had fallen intowater," answered the hetman.

  Three days passed without tidings. Sapyeha's main forces had reachedDrohichyn, had crossed the Bug, and found no enemy in front. The hetmanbegan to be disturbed. According to the statements of the light horse,Boguslav's scouts had reached Drohichyn; it was evident therefore thatBoguslav had determined to withdraw. But what was the meaning of thiswithdrawal? Had Boguslav learned that Sapyeha's forces were superior,and was he afraid to measure strength with him, or did he wish toentice the hetman far toward the north, to lighten for the King ofSweden his attack on Charnyetski and the hetmans of the kingdom?Babinich was to find an informant and let the hetman know. The reportsof the light horse as to the number of Boguslav's troops might beerroneous; hence the need of precise information at the earliest.

  Meanwhile five days more passed, and Babinich gave no account ofhimself. Spring was coming; the days were growing warmer; the snow wasmelting. The neighborhoods were being covered with water, under whichwere sleeping morasses which hindered the march in an unheard ofdegree. The greater part of the cannons and wagons the hetman had toleave in Drohichyn, and go farther on horseback. Hence greatinconvenience and murmuring, especially among the general militia. InBransk they came upon such mud that even the infantry could not marchfarther. The hetman collected on the road horses from peasants andsmall nobles, and seated musketeers on them. The light cavalry tookothers; but they had gone too far already, and the hetman understoodthat only one thing remained,--to advance with all speed.

  Boguslav retreated unceasingly. Along the road they found continualtraces of him in villages burned here and there, in corpses of menhanging on trees. The small local nobles came every little while withinformation to Sapyeha; but the truth was lost, as is usual incontradictory statements. One saw a single squadron, and swore that theprince had no more troops; another saw two; a third three, a fourth anarmy five miles long. In a word they were fables such as men tell whoknow nothing of armies or war.

  They had seen Tartars, too, here and there; but the stories concerningthem seemed most improbable, for it was said that they were seen notbehind the prince's army, but in front, marching ahead. Sapyeha pantedangrily when any one mentioned Babinich in his presence, and he said toOskyerko,--

  "You overrated him. In an evil hour I sent away Volodyovski, for if hewere here I should have had long ago as many informants as I need; butBabinich is a whirlwind, or even worse. Who knows, he may in truth havejoined Boguslav and be marching in the vanguard."

  Oskyerko himself did not know what to think. Meanwhile another weekpassed; the army had come to Byalystok.

  It was midday.

  Two hours later the vanguard gave notice that some detachment wasapproaching.

  "It may be Babinich!" cried the hetman. "I'll give him _Pater Noster!_"

  It was not Babinich himself. But in the camp there rose such commotionover the arrival of this detachment that Sapyeha went out to see whatwas taking place.

  Meanwhile officers from different squadrons flew in, crying,--

  "From Babinich! Prisoners! A whole band! He seized a crowd of men!"

  Indeed the hetman saw a number of tens of men on poor, ragged horses.Babinich's Tartars drove nearly three hundred men with bound hands,beating them with bullock-skin whips. The prisoners presented aterrible sight. They were rather shadows than men. With torn clothing,half naked, so poor that the bones were pushing through their skin,bloody, they marched half alive, indifferent to all things, even to thewhistle of the whips which cut them, and to the wild shouts of theTartars.

  "What kind of men are they?" asked the hetman.

  "Boguslav's troops!" answered one of Kmita's volunteers who had broughtthe prisoners together with the Tartars.

  "But where did you get so many?"

  "Nearly half as many more fell on the road, from exhaustion."

  With this an old Tartar, a sergeant in the horde, approached, andbeating with the forehead, gave a letter from Kmita to Sapyeha.

  The hetman, without delay, broke the seal and began to read aloud:--

  "Serene great mighty hetman! If I have sent neither news nor informantswith news hitherto, it is because I went in front, and not in the rearof Prince Boguslav's army, and I wished to learn the most possible."

  The hetman stopped reading.

  "That is a devil!" said he. "Instead of following the prince, he wentahead of him."

  "May the bullets strike him!" added Oskyerko, in an undertone.

  The hetman read on.

  "It was dangerous work, as Boguslav's scouts marched in a wide front;but after I had cut down two parties and spared none. I worked to thevan of the army, from which movement great confusion came upon theprince, for he fell to thinking at once that he was surrounded, and asit were was crawling into a trap."

  "That is the reason of this unexpected withdrawal!" cried the hetman."A devil, a genuine devil!" He read on with still more curiosity,--

  "The prince, not understanding what had happened, began to lose hishead, and sent out party after party, which we cut up notably, so thatnone of them returned in the same number. Marching in advance, weseized provisions, cut dams, destroyed bridges, so that Boguslav's menadvanced with great trouble, neither sleeping nor eating, having restneither day nor night. They could not stir from the c
amp, for theTartars seized the unwary; and when the camp was sleeping, the Tartarshowled terribly in the willows; so the enemy, thinking that a greatarmy was moving on them, had to stand under arms all night. The princewas brought to great despair, not knowing what to begin, where to go,how to turn,--for this reason it is needful to march on him quickly,before his fear passes. He had six thousand troops, but has lost nearlya thousand. His horses are dying. His cavalry is good; his infantry ispassable; God, however, has granted that from day to day it decreases,and if our army comes up it will fly apart. I seized in Byalystok theprince's carriages, some of his provision chests and things of value,with two cannons; but I was forced to throw most of these into theriver. The traitor from continual rage has grown seriously ill, and isbarely able to sit on his horse; fever leaves him neither night norday. Panna Borzobogati is taken, but being ill the prince can make noattack on her honor. These reports, with the account of Boguslav'sdesperation, I got from the prisoners whom my Tartars touched up withfire, and who if they are touched again will repeat the truth. Now Icommend my obedient services to you, serene great mighty hetman,begging for forgiveness if I have erred, the Tartars are good fellows,and seeing a world of plunder, serve marvellously."

  "Serene great mighty lord," said Oskyerko, "now you surely regret lessthat Volodyovski is away, for he could not equal this devil incarnate.Oh, he is an ambitious piece; he even hurled the truth into the eyes ofPrince Yanush, not caring whether it was pleasant or unpleasant forthat hetman to hear it. This was his style with Hovanski, but Hovanskihad fifteen times more troops."

  "If that is true, we need to advance at the greatest speed," saidSapyeha.

  "Before the prince can collect his wits."

  "Let us move on, by the dear God! Babinich will cut the dams, and wewill overtake Boguslav!"

  Meanwhile the prisoners, whom the Tartars had kept in a group in frontof Sapyeha, seeing the hetman, fell to groaning and weeping, showingtheir misery and calling for mercy in various tongues; for there wereamong them Swedes, Germans, and the Scottish guards of Prince Boguslav.Sapyeha took them from the Tartars, and gave command to feed them andtake their testimony without torture. Their statements confirmed thetruth of Kmita's words; therefore the rest of Sapyeha's army advancedat great speed.