CHAPTER L.
A Week later Kmita crossed the boundaries of Electoral Prussia atRaygrod. It came to him easily enough; for before the departure of thefull hetman he disappeared in the woods so secretly that Douglas feltsure that his party too had marched with the whole Tartar-Lithuaniandivision to Warsaw, and he left merely small garrisons in the castlesfor the defence of those parts.
Douglas, with Radzeyovski and Radzivill, followed Gosyevski.
Kmita heard of this before passing the boundary, and grieved greatlythat he could not meet his mortal enemy eye to eye, and lest punishmentmight come to Boguslav from other hands,--namely, from Volodyovski, whoalso had made a vow against him.
Hence, not being able to wreak vengeance on the person of the traitorfor the wrongs done the Commonwealth and himself, he wreaked it interrible fashion on the lands of the elector.
That very night in which the Tartars had passed the boundary pillar,the heavens grew red from flames. An uproar was heard, with the weepingof people trampled by the foot of war. Whoso was able to beg for mercyin the Polish tongue was spared at command of the leader; but Germansettlements, colonies, villages, and hamlets were turned into a riverof fire, and the terrified inhabitants went under the knife.
And not so swiftly does oil spread over the sea when the sailor poursit to pacify the waves, as that chambul of Tartars and volunteersspread over quiet and hitherto safe regions. It seemed that everyTartar was able to double and treble himself, to be at the same time ina number of places, to burn, to slay. They spared not even grain in thefield, nor trees in the gardens.
Kmita had held his Tartars so long in the leash that at last, when helet them free like a flock of birds of prey, they grew almost wild inthe midst of slaughter and destruction. One surpassed the other; andsince they could not take captives, they swam from morning till eveningin blood.
Kmita himself, having in his heart no little fierceness, gave it fullfreedom, and though he did not steep his own hands in the blood ofdefenceless people, he looked with pleasure on the flow of blood. Inhis soul he was at rest, and conscience reproached him with nothing;for this was not Polish blood, and besides it was the blood ofheretics; therefore he judged that he was doing a work pleasing to God,and especially to the saints of the Lord.
The elector, a vassal, therefore a servant of the Commonwealth andliving from its bounties, was the first to raise his sacrilegious handagainst it; therefore punishment was his due, and Kmita was purely aninstrument of God's vengeance.
For this reason, when in the evening he was repeating his Litany inpeace by the blaze of burning German settlements, and when the screamsof the murdered interrupted the tally of his prayers, he began againfrom the beginning, so as not to burden his soul with the sin ofinattention to the service of God.
But he did not cherish in his heart savage feelings alone; for,besides piety, various other feelings moved it, connected by memorywith distant years. Therefore those times came frequently to hismind when he attacked Hovanski with such glory, and his formercomrades stood as if alive before his eyes,--Kokosinski; the giganticKulvyets-Hippocentaurus; the spotted Ranitski, with senatorial blood inhis veins; Uhlik, playing on the flageolet; Rekuts, on whom human bloodwas not weighing; and Zend, imitating birds and every kind of beast.
They all, save perhaps Rekuts alone, were burning in hell; and behold,if they were living now, they might wallow in blood without bringingsin on their souls, and with profit to the Commonwealth.
Here Pan Andrei sighed at the thought of how destructive a thinglicense is, since in the morning of youth it stops the road for theages of ages to beautiful deeds.
But he sighed more than all for Olenka. The deeper he entered thePrussian country, the more fiercely did the wounds of his heart burnhim, as if those fires which he kindled roused at the same time his oldlove. Almost every day then he said in his heart to the maiden,--
"Dearest dove, you may have forgotten me, or if you remember, disgustfills your heart; but I, at a distance or near, in the night or theday-time, in labor for the country and toils, am thinking ever of you,and my soul flies to you over pine-woods and waters, like a tired bird,to drop down at your feet. Only to the country and to you would I giveall my blood; but woe is me, if in your heart you proclaim me an outlawforever."
Thus meditating, he went ever farther to the north along the boundarybelt. He burned and slew, sparing no one. Sadness throttled himterribly. He would like to be in Taurogi on the morrow; but the roadwas still long and difficult, for at last they began to ring all thebells in the province of Prussia.
Every one living seized arms to resist the dreadful destroyers;garrisons were brought in from towns the remotest, regiments wereformed of even village youths, and soon they were able to place twentymen against every Tartar.
Kmita rushed at these commands like a thunderbolt, beat them, hangedmen, escaped, hid, and again sailed out on a wave of fire; but still hecould not advance so swiftly as at first. More than once it wasnecessary to attack in Tartar fashion, and hide for whole weeks inthickets or reeds at the banks of a lake. The inhabitants rushed forthmore and more numerously, as if against a wolf; and he bit too like awolf,--with one snap of his jaws he gave death, and not only defendedhimself, but did not desist from attack.
Loving genuine work, he did not leave a given district, in spite ofpursuit, until he had annihilated it for miles around with fire andsword. His name reached, it is unknown by what means, the mouths of thepeople, and bearing terror and fright, thundered on to the shores ofthe Baltic.
Babinich might, it is true, return within the boundaries of theCommonwealth, and in spite of Swedish detachments, move quickly toTaurogi; but he did not wish to do so, for he desired to serve not onlyhimself but the country.
Now came news which gave courage for defence and revenge to the peoplein Prussia, but pierced the heart of Babinich with savage sorrow. Newscame like a thunderclap of a great battle at Warsaw, which the King ofPoland had lost. "Karl Gustav and the elector have beaten all thetroops of Yan Kazimir," people repeated to one and another with delightthroughout Prussia. "Warsaw is recaptured!" "This is the greatestvictory of the war, and now comes the end of the Commonwealth!" All menwhom the Tartars seized and put on the coals to obtain information,repeated the same; there was also exaggerated news, as is common intime of war and uncertainty. According to this news the Poles were cutto pieces, the hetmans had fallen, and Yan Kazimir was captured.
Was all at an end, then? Was that rising and triumphing Commonwealthnaught but an empty illusion? So much power, so many troops, so manygreat men and famous warriors; the hetmans, the king, Charnyetski withhis invincible division, the marshal of the kingdom, other lords withtheir attendants,--had all perished, had all rolled away like smoke?And are there no other defenders of this hapless country, save detachedparties of insurgents who certainly at news of the disaster will passaway like a fog?
Kmita tore the hair from his head and wrung his hands; he seized thewet earth, pressed palms-full of it to his burning head.
"I shall fall too," said he; "but first this land will swim in blood."
And he began to fight like a man in despair. He did not hide longer, hedid not attack in the forest and reeds, he sought death; he rushed likea madman on forces three times greater than his own, and cut them topieces with sabres and hoofs. In his Tartars all traces of humanfeeling died out, and they were turned into a herd of wild beasts. Apredatory people, but not over-much fitted for fighting in the openfield, without losing their genius for surprises and ambush, they, bycontinual exercise, by continual conflict, had trained themselves sothat breast to breast they could hold the field against the firstcavalry, and scatter quadrangles even of the Swedish guard. In theirstruggles with the armed mob of Prussia, a hundred of those Tartarsscattered with ease two and even three hundred sturdy men armed withspears and muskets.
Kmita weaned them from weighting themselves with plunder; they tookonly money and gold, which they sewed
up in their saddles, so that whenone of them fell the survivors fought with rage for his horse and hissaddle. Growing rich in this manner, they lost none of their swiftness,well-nigh superhuman. Recognizing that under no leader on earth couldthey find such rich harvests, they grew attached to Babinich, as houndsto the hunter, and with real Mohammedan honesty placed after battle inthe hands of Soroka and the Kyemliches the lion's share of the plunderwhich belonged to the "bagadyr."
"Allah!" said Akbah Ulan, "few of them will see Bagche-Serai, but allwho go back will be murzas."
Babinich, who from of old knew how to live upon war, collected greatriches; but death, which he sought more than gold, he found not.
A month passed again in battles and labors surpassing belief. TheTartar horses, though fed with barley and Prussian wheat, neededabsolutely even a couple of days' rest; therefore the young colonel,wishing also to gain news and fill the gaps in his ranks with freshvolunteers, withdrew, near Dospada, to the Commonwealth.
News soon came, and so joyful that Kmita almost lost his wits. Itturned out to be true that the equally valiant and unfortunate YanKazimir had lost a great three-days' battle at Warsaw, but for whatreason?
The general militia in an immense majority had gone home, and the partwhich remained did not fight with such spirit as at the taking ofWarsaw, and on the third day of the battle a panic set in. But for thefirst two days the victory was inclining to the side of Poland. Theregular troops, not in sudden partisan warfare, but in a great battlewith the most highly trained soldiers of Europe, exhibited such skilland endurance that amazement seized the Swedish and Brandenburggenerals themselves.
Yan Kazimir had won immortal glory. It was said that he had shownhimself a leader equal to Karl Gustav, and that if all his commands hadbeen carried out the enemy would have lost the general battle, and thewar would have been ended.
Kmita received these tidings from eye-witnesses, for he had stumbledupon nobles who, serving in the general militia, had taken part in thebattle. One of them told him of the brilliant attack of the hussars,during which Karl himself, who, despite the entreaties of his generals,would not withdraw, came near perishing. All showed the falsehood ofthe report that the army had been routed or the hetmans had fallen. Onthe contrary, the whole force, except the general militia, remainedintact, and withdrew in good order along the country.
From the bridge of Warsaw which was giving way cannon had fallen; butthey were pulled through the Vistula in a breath. The army swore byeverything that under such a leader as Yan Kazimir they would, in thecoming battle, conquer Karl Gustav, the elector, and whomsoever itmight be necessary to conquer. As to the recent battle it was only atrial, though unfavorable, but full of solace for the future.
Kmita was at a loss to know how the first news could have been soterrible. They explained to him that Karl Gustav had sent outexaggerated reports purposely; in fact, he did not know well what todo. The Swedish officers whom Pan Andrei seized a week later confirmedthis opinion.
He learned also from them that beyond others the elector lived in fear,and was thinking more and more of his own safety; for a multitude ofhis men had fallen at Warsaw, and disease had seized those remaining soterribly that it was destroying them more quickly than battles. At thesame time the men of Great Poland, eager to make good Uistsie and allwrongs, had attacked the monarchy of Brandenburg itself, burning andslaying, leaving nothing behind them but land and water. According tothe officers, the hour was near in which the elector would abandon theSwedes, and join the more powerful.
"It is needful to touch him with fire somewhat," thought Kmita, "sothat he may do this the more quickly."
And since his horses were rested already, and he had made good thelosses among his men, he passed the boundary again at Dospada, andrushed on the German settlements like a spirit of destruction.
Various "parties" followed his example. He found a weaker defence;hence he accomplished more. News came ever more joyful, moregladdening, so that it was difficult to believe it.
First of all, it was said that Karl Gustav, who, after the Warsawbattle, had pushed on to Radom, was retreating at breakneck speed toRoyal Prussia. What had happened? Why was he retreating? There was noanswer to this for a time, till at last the name of Charnyetskithundered again through the Commonwealth. He was victorious at Lipets,victorious at Stjemeshno; at Rava itself he had cut to pieces therearguard of the retreating Karl; then, learning that two thousandcavalry were returning from Cracow, he attacked that body, and did notlet one man escape to announce the defeat. Colonel Forgell, brother ofthe general, thirteen captains, and twenty-four lieutenants went intocaptivity. Others gave the numbers as twice greater; some insisted intheir enthusiasm that Yan Kazimir had not suffered a defeat, but hadwon a victory at Warsaw, and that his march along the country was onlya stratagem for the destruction of the enemy.
Kmita himself began to think the same; for being a soldier fromyouthful years, he understood war, but had never heard of a victoryafter which the victor was in a worse condition than before. The Swedeswere evidently in a worse condition, and just after the battle atWarsaw.
Pan Andrei called to mind at that moment the words of Zagloba, when attheir last meeting he said that victories would not improve the Swedishcause, but that one defeat might destroy it.
"That is a chancellor's head," pondered Kmita, "which reads in thefuture as in a book."
Here he remembered the further predictions,--how he, Kmita or Babinich,would go to Taurogi, find his Olenka, persuade her, marry her, and havedescendants to the glory of the Commonwealth. When he remembered this,fire entered his veins; he wished not to lose a moment, but to leavePrussians and slaughter for a time, and fly to Taurogi.
On the eve of his starting there came to him a noble of Lauda, ofVolodyovski's squadron, with a letter from the little knight.
"We are going with Sapyeha and Prince Michael Radzivill againstBoguslav and Waldeck," wrote Pan Michael. "Join us, since a field forjust vengeance will be found, and it is proper to pay the Prussians forharm done the Commonwealth."
Pan Andrei could not believe his own eyes, and for some time hesuspected the noble of being sent by some Prussian or Swedishcommandant of purpose to lead him with the chambul into ambush. HadGosyevski come a second time to Prussia? It was impossible not tobelieve. The handwriting was Volodyovski's, the arms Volodyovski's, andPan Andrei remembered the noble too. Then he inquired where Gosyevskiwas, and to what point he intended to go.
The noble was rather dull. It was not for him to know whither thehetman was marching; he knew only that he was two days distant, andthat the Lauda squadron was with him. Charnyetski had borrowed it for awhile, but had sent it back long ago, and now it was marching underlead of the hetman. "They say," concluded the noble, "that we must goto Prussia, and the soldiers are greatly delighted. But our work is toobey and to strike."
Kmita, when he had heard the narrative, did not hesitate long. Heturned his chambul, went with forced marches to the hetman, and aftertwo days fell late at night into the arms of Volodyovski, who, pressinghim, said at once,--
"Count Waldeck and Prince Boguslav are in Prostki, making intrenchmentsto secure themselves with a fortified camp. We shall march on them."
"To-day?" asked Kmita.
"To-morrow before daybreak,--that is, in two or three hours."
Here they embraced each other again. "Something tells me that God willgive him into our hands!" exclaimed Kmita, with emotion. "And I thinkso too."
"I have made a vow to fast till death on the day in which I meet him."
"The protection of God will not fail you," said Volodyovski. "I shallnot be envious, either, if this lot falls to you, for your wrong isgreater. Yendrek, let me look at you! You have grown perfectly blackfrom the weather; but you have acquitted yourself. The whole divisionlooks with the greatest esteem on your labor. Nothing behind you butruins and corpses! You are a born soldier; and it would go hard withZagloba himself, were he here, to invent in self-praise deeds betterthan t
hose you have done."
"But where is Zagloba?"
"He remained with Sapyeha; for he fell into weeping and despair afterKovalski."
"Then has Kovalski fallen?"
Volodyovski pressed his lips. "Do you know who killed him?"
"Whence should I know? Tell me!"
"Prince Boguslav!"
Kmita turned in his place, as if thrust with a point, and began to drawin air with a hiss; at last he gritted his teeth, and casting himselfon the bench, rested his head on his palms in silence.
Volodyovski clapped his hands, and ordered the attendant to bringdrink; then he sat near Kmita, filled a cup for him, and began,--
"Ron Kovalski died such a cavalier's death that God grant any man of usto die no worse. It is enough to inform you that Karl Gustav himselfafter the battle celebrated his funeral, and a whole regiment of theguards fired a salute over his coffin."
"If only not at those hands, at those hellish hands!" exclaimed Kmita.
"Yes, at the hands of Boguslav; we know that from hussars who withtheir own eyes saw the sad end."
"Were you not there then?"
"In battle places are not chosen, but a man stands where he is ordered.If I had been there, either I should not be here now, or Boguslav wouldnot be making trenches at Prostki."
"Tell me how it all happened. It will only increase the anger."
Pan Michael drank, wiped his yellow mustaches, and began:--
"Of a certainty you are not lacking in narratives of the Warsaw battle,for every one is speaking of it; therefore I shall not dwell on it toolong. Our gracious lord--God give him health and long years! for underanother king the country would have perished amid disasters--has shownhimself a famous leader. Had there been such obedience as there wascommand, had we been worthy of the king, the chroniclers would have todescribe a new Polish victory at Warsaw equal to those at Gruenwald andBerestechko. Speaking briefly, on the first day we beat the Swedes; onthe second, fortune inclined now to one, now to the other, but still wewere uppermost. At that time the Lithuanian hussars, in which Kovalskiserved under Prince Polubinski, a great soldier, went to the attack.When they were passing I saw them as I see you this moment, for I waswith the Lauda men on a height near the intrenchments. They were twelvehundred strong,--men and horses such as the world had not seen. Theypassed twenty rods distant from our flank; and I tell you that theearth trembled under them. We saw the Brandenburg infantry plantingtheir pikes in the ground in a hurry, to meet the first onrush. Thenbegan firing from muskets, till the smoke covered them entirely. Welooked. The hussars had given rein to their horses. O God, what asweep! They fell into the smoke,--disappeared! My soldiers began toshout, 'They will break them, they will break them!' For a while thehussars were invisible; then something thundered, and there was a soundas if in a thousand forges men were beating anvils with hammers. Welook. Jesus! Mary! The elector's men are lying like stones on a street,like wheat through which a tempest has passed; and the hussars far awaybeyond, their streamers glittering. They are bearing down on theSwedes! They struck cavalry; the cavalry were down like a pavement!They struck a second regiment; they left that like a pavement! Therewas a roar, cannon were thundering; we saw them when the wind bore thesmoke aside. They were smashing Swedish infantry. Everything wasfleeing, rolling, opening; they went on as if over a highway. They hadpassed almost through the whole army, when they struck a regiment ofthe horse-guard, in which was Karl Gustav himself; and like a whirlwindthey scattered the horse-guard."
Here Pan Michael stopped, for Kmita had closed his eyes with his fistsand was exclaiming,--
"O Mother of God! To see such a thing once and then die!"
"Such an attack my eyes will never see again," continued the littleknight. "We too were commanded to spring forward. I saw no more, butwhat I tell I heard from the mouth of a Swedish officer who was at theside of Karl and saw with his own eyes the end. That Forgell who fellinto our hands afterward at Rava, rushed up to Karl. 'O King,' criedhe, 'save Sweden! save yourself! Aside, aside! Nothing can stop them!'But Karl answered: 'No use to yield; we must meet them or perish.'Other generals rush up, implore, entreat, in vain. The king movedforward; they strike. The Swedes are broken more quickly than you cancount ten. One fell, another was trampled, others were scattered likepeas. The king defended himself single-handed. Kovalski rode up andknew Karl Gustav, for he had seen him twice before. A horseman shieldedthe king; but those who were present said that lightning does not killmore quickly than Kovalski cut him in two. Then the king rushed at PanRoh."
Volodyovski again interrupted his narrative and breathed deeply; butKmita cried at once,--
"Oh, finish, or the soul will go out of me!"
"They rushed at each other so that the breasts of the horses struck.They raged. 'I look,' said the officer; 'the king with his horse is onthe ground.' He freed himself, touched the trigger of his pistol,missed. The king's hat had fallen. Roh then made for the head of KarlGustav,--had his sword raised; the Swedes were weak from terror, forthere was no time to save Karl, when Boguslav rose as if from under theearth, fired into the very ear of Kovalski, broke his head and hishelmet."
"O my God! he had not time to bring down the sword?" screamed PanAndrei, tearing his hair.
"God did not grant him that grace," said Pan Michael. "Zagloba and Italked of what had happened. The man had served with the Radzivillsfrom years of youth; he considered them his masters, and at sight ofRadzivill it must be that he was confused. Perhaps the thought hadnever come to his head to raise a hand on Radzivill. It happens thatway! Well, he paid with his life. Zagloba is a wonderful man, for he isnot Roh's uncle at all, and not his relative; still another man wouldnot have been in such despair for a son. And, to tell the truth, therewas no reason, for one might envy Kovalski such a glorious death; anoble and a soldier is born to give his life, if not on the present daythen on the morrow; men will write of Kovalski, and posterity willcelebrate his name."
Pan Michael was silent; after a while he made the sign of the cross andsaid,--
"Eternal rest give him, O Lord, and may light shine on him forever!"
"For the ages of ages!" said Kmita.
Both whispered prayers for a certain time, maybe asking for themselvesa similar death, if only not at the hands of Prince Boguslav. At lastPan Michael said,--
"Father Pyekarski assured us that Roh went straight to heaven."
"Of course he did, and our prayers are not needed for him."
"Prayers are always needed; for they are inscribed to the credit ofothers, and maybe to our own."
"My hope is in the mercy of God," said Kmita, sighing. "I trust thatfor what I have done in Prussia, even a couple of years will be takenfrom me in purgatory."
"Everything there is reckoned. What a man works out here with hissabre, the heavenly secretary records."
"I too served with Radzivill," said Kmita, "but I shall not be confusedat sight of Boguslav. My God, my God! Prostki is not far away!Remember, O Lord, that he is Thy enemy too, for he is a heretic whomore than once has blasphemed Thy true faith."
"And is an enemy of the country," added Pan Michael. "We have hope thathis end is approaching. Zagloba, speaking in grief and in tears and asif inspired, foretold the same after that attack of the hussars. Hecursed Boguslav so that the hair stood on the head of every manlistening. Prince Michael Radzivill, who is marching with us againsthim, saw also in a dream two golden trumpets, which the Radzivills haveon their shield, gnawed by a bear, and he said at once next day,'Misfortune will meet me or some other Radzivill.'"
"By a bear?" asked Kmita, growing pale.
"By a bear."
Pan Andrei's face became clear as if a gleam of the morning dawn hadfallen on it; he raised his eyes, stretched his hands toward heaven andsaid with a solemn voice,--
"I have a bear on my shield. Praise to Thee, O Lord on high! Praise toThee, Most Holy Mother! O Lord, O Lord! I am not worthy of this grace."
When he heard this Pan Michael was grea
tly moved, for he recognized atonce that that was an omen from heaven.
"Yendrek!" cried he, "to make sure, press the feet of Christ before thebattle; and I will implore him against Sakovich."
"Prostki! Prostki!" repeated Kmita, as in a fever. "When do we move?"
"Before day, and soon it will begin to dawn."
Kmita approached the broken window of the cottage and cried: "The starsare paling already. _Ave, Maria_."
Then came the distant crowing of a cock, and with it low trumpeting. Afew "Our Fathers" later, movement began in the whole village. Theclatter of steel was heard, and the snorting of horses. Dark masses ofcavalry assembled on the highway.
The air began to be filled with light; a pale gleam was silvering thepoints of the spears, twinkling on the naked sabres, bringing out ofthe shade mustached threatening faces, helmets, kolpaks, Tartarsheepskin caps, fur cloaks, quivers. At last the advance with Kmita inthe vanguard was moving toward Prostki; the troops stretched in a longline over the road, and marched quickly.
The horses in the first ranks fell to snorting greatly, after themothers, as a good portent for the soldiers.
White mists hid the meadows yet, and the fields.
Round about was silence; only land-rails were playing in the grass, wetwith dew.
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