CHAPTER LIII.
Sakovich, after he had seized and flayed Braun, arranged at once ajoint attack on the Billevich party with Hamilton, the commandant ofPonyevyej, an Englishman in the Swedish service.
Babinich had just disappeared somewhere in the forest, and for a numberof days no report of him had come. But Sakovich would not have regardedhim, even had he been in the neighborhood. He had, it is true, in spiteof all his daring, a certain instinctive dread of Babinich; but thistime he was ready to perish himself, if he could accomplish hisvengeance. From the time of Anusia's flight rage had not ceased for amoment to tear his soul. Deceived calculations, and wounded loveespecially, brought him to frenzy; and besides the heart was sufferingin him. At first he wished to marry Anusia only for the property willedher by her first betrothed, Pan Podbipienta; but later he fell in lovewith her blindly, and to the death, as only such a man can fall inlove. And it went so far that he who feared no one on earth saveBoguslav, he before whose glance alone people grew pale, gazed like adog into the eyes of that maiden, yielded to her, endured her caprices,carried out all her wishes, strove to divine her thoughts.
She used and abused her influence, deluding him with words, with alook; used him as a slave, and finally betrayed him.
Sakovich was of those men who consider that only as good and virtuouswhich is good for them, and as evil and criminal that which brings themharm. In his eyes, therefore, Anusia had committed the most terriblecrime, and there was no punishment sufficiently great for her. If themishap had met another, the starosta would have laughed and jeered atthe man; but when it touched his own person, he roared as a woundedwild beast, and thought only of vengeance. He wished to get the guiltywoman into his hands, dead or alive. He would have preferred her alive,for then he could exercise a cavalier's vengeance before her death; butif the maiden had to fall in time of attack, he cared little, if onlyshe did not come into possession of another.
Wishing to act with certainty, he sent a bribed man to the sword-bearerwith a letter as if from Babinich, in which he announced, in the nameof the latter, that he would be in Volmontovichi in the course of aweek.
Billevich believed easily, trusting therefore in the invincible powerof Babinich; and he made no secret of the arrangement. He not only tookup his headquarters for good in Volmontovichi, but by the announcementof the news he attracted almost all the population of Lauda. Whatremained of it assembled from the forests,--first, because the end ofautumn had come, and there were heavy frosts; and second, through purecuriosity alone to see the great warrior.
Meanwhile, from the direction of Ponyevyej marched toward VolmontovichiHamilton's Swedes, and from the direction of Kyedani was stealingforward in wolf-fashion Sakovich.
But Sakovich had no suspicion that on his tracks was advancing inwolf-fashion also a third man, who without invitation had the habit ofcoming where people expected him least.
Kmita knew not that Olenka was with the Billevich party. In Taurogi,which he ruined with fire and sword, he learned that she had gone withAnusia; but he supposed that they had gone to Byalovyej, where PanYan's wife was in hiding as well as many other noble women. He mightthe more easily suppose this, since he knew that Billevich had longintended to take his niece to those impassable forests.
It tortured Pan Andrei immensely that he had not found her in Taurogi,but at the same time he was glad that she had escaped from the hands ofSakovich, and would find safe refuge till the end of the war. Not beingable to go for her at once to the wilderness, he determined to attackand destroy the enemy in Jmud, until he had crushed them completely.And fortune went with him. For a month and a half victory followedvictory; armed men rushed to him in such numbers that soon his chambulwas barely one fourth of his force. Finally, he drove the enemy out ofall western Jmud; but hearing of Sakovich, and having old scores tosettle with the starosta, he set out for his own former district, andfollowed him. In this way both were now drawing near Volmontovichi.
Billevich, who at first had taken a position not far from the village,had been living there a week, and the thought did not even come to hishead that he would soon have such terrible guests. One evening theyouthful Butryms, herding horses beyond Volmontovichi, informed himthat troops had issued from the forest, and were advancing from thesouth. Billevich was too old and experienced a soldier not to takeprecautions. Some of his infantry, partly furnished with fire-arms bythe Domasheviches, he placed in the houses recently rebuilt, and somehe stationed at the gate; with the cavalry he took possession himselfof a broad pasture somewhat in the rear, beyond the fences, and whichtouched with one side the river. He did this mainly to gain the praiseof Babinich, who must understand skilful dispositions; the place he hadchosen was really a strong one.
After Kmita had burned Volmontovichi, in vengeance for the slaughter ofhis comrades, the village was rebuilt by degrees; but as later on theSwedish war had stopped work on it, a multitude of beams, planks, andboards were lying on the principal street. Whole piles of them rose upnear the gate; and infantry, even slightly trained, might make aprotracted defence from behind them.
In every case the infantry protected the cavalry from the first onset.Billevich was so eager to exhibit his military skill to Babinich, thathe sent forward a small party to reconnoitre.
What was his amazement, and at the first moment alarm, when from adistance and beyond the grove there came to him the sound of musketry;then his party appeared on the road, but coming at a gallop, with acrowd of enemies at its shoulders.
The sword-bearer sprang at once to the infantry to give final orders;but from the grove rushed forth dense groups of the enemy, and advancedlocust-like toward Volmontovichi, with arms glittering in the settingsun.
The grove was near. When they had approached somewhat, the cavalrypushed forward at once on a gallop, wishing to pass the gate at a blow;but the sudden fire of the infantry stopped them on the spot. The firstranks fell back, and even in considerable disorder; only a few broughttheir horses' breasts to the defences.
The sword-bearer recovered meanwhile, and galloping to the cavalryordered all who had pistols or guns to advance to the aid of theinfantry.
Evidently the enemy were equally provided with muskets; for after thefirst onset they began a very violent, though irregular fire.
From both sides it thundered now more quickly, now more slowly; theballs whistling came up to the cavalry, struck on the houses, fence,piles of timber; the smoke rose over Volmontovichi, the smell of powderfilled the street.
Anusia had what she wanted,--a battle. Both ladies mounted ponies atthe first moment, by command of Billevich, so that at a given signalthey might retreat with the party should the enemy's forces turn outtoo great. They were stationed therefore in the rear ranks of thecavalry.
But though Anusia had a small sabre at her side and a lynx-skin cap onher head, her soul fled at once into her arms. She who knew so well howto take counsel in peace with officers, had not one pinch of energywhen she had to stand eye to eye with the sons of Bellona in the field.The whistle and knocking of balls terrified her; the uproar, the racingof orderlies, the rattle of muskets, and the groans of the wounded tookaway her presence of mind, and the smell of powder stopped the breathin her breast. She grew faint and weak, her face became pale as akerchief, and she squirmed and whimpered like a little child, tillyoung Pan Olesha from Kyemnar had to hold her by the arms. He held herfirmly, more firmly than was needed; and he was ready to hold her inthat way to the end of the world.
The soldiers around her began to laugh. "A knight in petticoats!"called voices. "Better set hens and pluck feathers!" Others cried: "PanOlesha, that shield has come to your arm; but Cupid will shoot you allthe more easily through it!" And good-humor seized the soldiers.
But others preferred to look at Olenka, who bore herself differently.At first, when bullets flew past at some distance she grew pale too,not being able to forbear inclining her head and closing her eyes; butlater knightly blood began to act in he
r, then with face flushed like arose she reared her head and looked forward with fearless eye. Herdistended nostrils drew in as it were with pleasure the smell ofpowder. Since the smoke grew thicker and thicker at the gate anddecreased the view greatly, the daring lady, seeing that the officerswere advancing, went with them, to follow more accurately the course ofbattle, not even thinking of what she was doing.
In the throng of cavalry there rose a murmur of praise.
"Oh, that is blood! that is the wife for a soldier; she is the rightkind of volunteer!"
"Vivat Panna Billevich!"
"Let us hasten, gracious gentlemen, for it is worth while before sucheyes."
"The Amazons did not meet muskets better!" cried one of the youngermen, forgetting in his enthusiasm that the Amazons lived before theinvention of powder.
"It is time to finish. The infantry have borne themselves well, and theenemy are seriously shattered!"
In fact, the enemy could do nothing with their cavalry. Every momentthey urged on their horses, attacked the gate, but after a salvo drewback in disorder. And as a wave which has fallen upon the flat shoreleaves behind mussels, stones, and dead fish, so after each attack anumber of bodies of horses and men were left on the road before thegate.
At last the onsets ceased. Only volunteers came up, firing in thedirection of the village with pistols and guns rather thickly, so as tooccupy the attention of Billevich's men. But the sword-bearer, comingout along the gutter of the house, saw a movement in the rear ranks ofthe enemy toward the fields and thickets extending along the left sideof Volmontovichi.
"They will try from that side!" cried he; and sent immediately a partof the cavalry between the houses so as to give resistance to the enemyfrom the gardens.
In half an hour a new battle was begun on the left wing of the partyand also with fire-arms. The fenced gardens rendered difficult ahand-to-hand struggle, and equally difficult for both sides.
The enemy, however, being extended over a longer line, were lessexposed to bullets.
The battle was becoming more stubborn and more active, and the enemydid not cease to attack the gate.
Billevich was growing uneasy. On the right flank he had a field behindhim still free, ending with a stream not very wide, but deep andswampy, through which a passage, especially if in haste, might bedifficult. In one place only was there a trodden road to a flat shorealong which villagers drove cattle to the forest.
The sword-bearer began to look around oftener toward that side. All atonce among willows which could be seen through, for they had lost theirleaves, he saw in the evening light glittering weapons and a dark cloudof soldiers.
"Babinich is coming!" thought he.
But at that moment Pan Hjanstovski, who led the cavalry, rushed up tohim.
"Swedish infantry are visible from the river!" cried he, in terror.
"Some treason!" cried Pan Tomash. "By Christ's wounds, gallop with yourcavalry against that infantry; otherwise it will attack us on theflank."
"There is a great force!" answered Hjanstovski.
"Oppose it even for an hour, and we will escape in the rear to theforests."
The officer galloped away, and was soon rushing over the field at thehead of two hundred men; seeing which the enemy's infantry began toform in the willows to receive the Poles. The squadron urged thehorses, and in the willow-bushes a musketry fire was soon rattling.
Billevich had doubts, not only of victory, but of saving his owninfantry. He might withdraw to the rear with a part of the cavalry withthe ladies, and seek safety in the forest; but such a withdrawal wouldbe a great defeat, for it meant leaving to the enemy's sword most ofthe party and the remnant of the population of Lauda, which hadcollected in Volmontovichi to see Billevich. Volmontovichi itself wouldbe levelled to the ground. There remained still the lone hope thatHjanstovski would break the infantry. Meanwhile it was growing dark inthe sky; but in the village the light increased every moment, for thechips, splinters, and shavings, lying in a heap at the first house nearthe gate, had caught fire. The house itself caught fire from them, anda red conflagration was rising.
By the light of the burning Billevich saw Hjanstovski's cavalryreturning in disorder and panic; after it the Swedish infantry wererushing from the willows, advancing to the attack on a run.
He understood then that he must retreat by the only road open. Herushed to the rest of the cavalry, waved his sword and cried,--
"To the rear, gentlemen, and in order, in order!"
Suddenly shots were heard in the rear also, mingled with shouts ofsoldiery.
Billevich saw then that he was surrounded, that he had fallen as itwere into a trap from which there was neither issue nor rescue. Itremained for him only to perish with honor; therefore he sprang outbefore the line of cavalry, and cried,--
"Let us fall one upon the other! Let us not spare our blood for thefaith and the country!"
Meanwhile the fire of the infantry defending the gate and the left sideof the village had grown weak, and the increasing shout of the enemyannounced their near victory.
But what mean those hoarse trumpet sounds in the ranks of Sakovich'sparty, and the rattle of drums in the ranks of the Swedes?
Outcries shriller and shriller are heard, in some way wonderful,confused, as if not triumph but terror rings through them.
The fire at the gate stops in a moment, as if some one had cut it offwith a knife. Groups of Sakovich's cavalry are flying at break-neckspeed from the left flank to the main road. On the right flank theinfantry halt, and then, instead of advancing, begin to withdraw to thewillows. "What is this?" cried Billevich.
Meanwhile the answer comes from that grove out of which Sakovich hadissued; and now emerge from it men, horses, squadrons, horsetailstandards, sabres, and march--no, they fly like a storm, and not like astorm,--like a tempest! In the bloody gleams of the fire they are asvisible as a thing on the hand. They are hastening in thousands! Theearth seems to flee from beneath them, and they speed on in densecolumn; one would say that some monster had issued from the oak-grove,and is sweeping across the fields to the village to swallow it. The airflies before them, driven by the impetus; with them go terror and ruin.They are almost there! Now the attack! Like a whirlwind they scatterSakovich's men.
"O God! O great God!" cries Billevich, in bewilderment; "these areours! That must be Babinich!"
"Babinich!" roared every throat after him.
"Babinich! Babinich!" called terrified voices in Sakovich's party.
And all the enemy's cavalry wheel to the right, to escape toward theinfantry. The fence is broken with a sharp crash, under the pressureof horses' breasts. The pasture is filled with the fleeing; but thenew-comers, on their shoulders already, cut, slash,--cut withoutresting, cut without pity. The whistling of sabres, cries, groans, areheard. Pursuers and pursued fall upon the infantry, overturn, break,and scatter them. At last the whole mass rolls on toward the river,disappears in the brush, clambers out on the opposite bank. Men arevisible yet; the chasing continues, with cutting and cutting. Theyrecede. Their sabres flash once again; then they vanish in bushes, inspace, and in darkness.
Billevich's infantry began to withdraw from the gate and the houses,which needed no further defence. The cavalry stood for a time in suchwonder that deep silence reigned in the ranks; and only when theflaming house had fallen with a crash was some voice heard on asudden,--
"In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the storm has goneby!"
"Not a foot will come out alive from that hunt!" said another voice.
"Gracious gentlemen!" cried the sword-bearer, suddenly, "shall we notspring at those who came at us in the rear? They are retreating, but wewill come up."
"Kill, slay!" answered a chorus of voices.
All the cavalry wheeled around and urged their horses after the lastdivision of the enemy. In Volmontovichi remained only old men, women,children, and "the lady" with her friend.
They quenched the fire in a twinkle; joy inconceivabl
e seized allhearts. Women with weeping and sobbing raised their hands heavenward,and turning to the point where Babinich had rushed away, cried,--
"God bless thee, invincible warrior! savior who rescued us, with ourchildren and houses, from ruin!"
The ancient, decrepit Butryms repeated in chorus,--
"God bless thee, God guide thee! Without thee this would have been theend of Volmontovichi."
Ah, had they known in that crowd that the very same hand that had nowsaved the village from fire and the people from steel had two yearsbefore brought fire and the sword to that Volmontovichi!
After the fire was quenched, all began to collect in Billevich'swounded; the youths in a rage ran through the battle-field, and killed,with poles from wagon-racks, the wounded left by the Swedes andSakovich's ravagers.
Olenka took command of the nursing. Ever keeping her presence of mind,full of energy and power, she did not cease her labor till everywounded man was resting in a cottage, with dressed wounds. Then all thepeople followed her example in repeating at the cross a litany for thedead. Through the whole night no one closed an eye in Volmontovichi;all were waiting for the return of the sword-bearer and Babinich,hurrying around at the same time to prepare for the victors a fittingreception. Oxen and sheep, herded in the forests, went under the knife;and fires were roaring till morning.
Anusia alone could take no part in anything; for at first fear deprivedher of power, and later her joy was so great that it had the seeming ofmadness. Olenka had to care for her; she was laughing and weeping inturn, and again she threw herself in the arms of her friend, repeatingwithout system or order,--
"Well, what? Who saved Billevich and the party and all Volmontovichi?Before whom did Sakovich flee; who overwhelmed him, and the Swedes withhim? Pan Babinich! Well, now! I knew he would come, for I wrote to him.But he did not forget! I knew, I knew he would come. It was I whobrought him! Olenka, Olenka! I am happy. Have I not told you that noone could conquer him? Charnyetski is not his equal. O my God, my God!Is it true that he will return? Will it be to-day? If he was not goingto return, he would not have come, is it not true? Do you hear, Olenka?Horses are neighing in the distance!"
But in the distance nothing was neighing. Only toward morning a trampwas heard, shouting, singing, and Billevich came back. The cavalry onfoaming horses filled the whole village. There was no end to the songs,to the shouts, to the stories.
The sword-bearer, covered with blood, panting, but joyful, related tillsunrise how he had broken a body of the enemy's cavalry, how he hadfollowed them ten miles, and cut them almost to pieces.
Billevich, as well as the troops and all the Lauda people, wereconvinced that Babinich might return at any moment. The forenoon came;then the sun went to the other half of the sky, and was descending; butBabinich came not.
Anusia toward evening had sunburned spots on her face. "If he caredonly for the Swedes, and not for me!" thought she, in her soul; "still,he got the letter, for he came to the rescue!"
Poor woman! she knew not that the souls of Yurek Billevich and Braunwere long since in the other world, and that Babinich had received noletter; for if he had received the letter he would have returned like alightning-flash to Volmontovichi,--but not for thee, Anusia.
Another day passed. Billevich did not lose hope yet, and did not leavethe village. Anusia held stubborn silence.
"He has belittled me terribly! But it is good for me, for my giddinessand my sins!" said she to herself.
On the third day Billevich sent some men on a reconnoissance. Theyreturned four days later with information that Babinich had takenPonyevyej, and spared not a Swede. Then he marched on, it was unknownwhither, for tidings of him had ceased.
"I shall not find him till he comes up again," said Billevich.
Anusia became a nettle; whoever of the nobles or younger officerstouched her drew back quickly. But the fifth day she said to Olenka,--
"Pan Volodyovski is just as good a soldier, but less rude."
"And maybe," answered Olenka, meditatively, "maybe Pan Babinich hasretained his constancy for that other woman, of whom he spoke to you onthe road from Zamost."
"Well, all one to me!" said Anusia.
But she told not the truth; for it was not all one to her yet, by anymeans.
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