CHAPTER XVIII.
The Kurtsevichi were not sleeping yet. They were supping in thatanteroom, filled with weapons, which extended the whole width of thehouse, from the garden to the square on the other side. At the sight ofBogun and Zagloba, they sprang to their feet. On the face of theprincess was reflected not only astonishment, but displeasure andfright as well. Only two of the young men were present,--Simeon andNikolai.
"Oh, Bogun!" exclaimed the princess. "But what are you here for?"
"I came to do you homage, mother. Are you not glad to see me?"
"I am glad to see yon,--glad; but I wonder that you came, for I heardthat you were on guard in Chigirin. But whom has God sent to us withyou?"
"This is Pan Zagloba,--a noble, my friend."
"We are glad to see you, sir," said the princess.
"We are glad," repeated Simeon and Nikolai.
"Worthy lady!" said Zagloba, "an untimely guest, it is true, is worsethan a Tartar; but it is known also that whoever wishes to enter heavenmust receive the traveller into his house, give meat to the hungry, anddrink to the thirsty"--
"Sit down, then; eat and drink," said the old princess. "We arethankful that you have come. But, Bogun, I did not expect to see you;perhaps you have some business with us."
"Perhaps I have," answered Bogun, slowly.
"What is it?" asked the princess, disturbed.
"When the moment comes, we will talk about it. Let us rest a little. Ihave come straight from Chigirin."
"It is evident that you were in a hurry to see us."
"And whom should I be in a hurry to see, if not you? Is Princess Helenawell?"
"Well," replied the old lady, dryly.
"I should like to gladden my eyes with her."
"Helena is sleeping."
"That is too bad, for I shall not stay long."
"Where are you going?"
"War, mother! There is no time for aught else. Any moment the hetmansmay send us to the field, and it will be a pity to strike Zaporojians.Was it seldom that we went with them for Turkish booty? Isn't it true,Princes? We sailed upon the sea with them, ate bread and salt withthem, drank and caroused, and now we are their enemies."
The princess looked quickly at Bogun. The thought flashed through hermind that perhaps Bogun intended to join the rebellion, and came totamper with her sons.
"And what do you think of doing?" inquired she.
"I, mother? Well, it is hard to strike our own, but it is demanded."
"That is what we will do," said Simeon.
"Hmelnitski is a traitor!" added the young Nikolai.
"Death to traitors!" said Bogun.
"Let the hangman light their way," added Zagloba.
Bogun began to speak again: "So it is in this world. He who to-day isyour friend is to-morrow a Judas. It is impossible to trust any one."
"Except good people," said the princess.
"True, you can believe good people; therefore I believe and love you;for you are good people, not traitors."
There was something so strange in the voice of the leader that in amoment deep silence reigned. Zagloba looked at the princess, andblinked with his sound eye; but the princess fixed her glance on Bogun.
He spoke on: "War does not give life to men, but death; therefore Iwanted to see you once more before going to the field. And you wouldmourn over me, for you are my friends from the heart, are you not?"
"We are, as God is our aid. From childhood we have known you."
"You are our brother," added Simeon.
"You are princes, you are nobles, and you did not despise the Cossack;you took him to your house and promised him the maiden, your relative,for you knew that for the Cossack there was neither life nor existencewithout her; so you had mercy on the Cossack."
"There is nothing to talk about," said the princess, hurriedly.
"But there is, mother, something to talk about; for you are mybenefactress, and I have asked of this noble, my friend, to make me hisson and give me his escutcheon, so that you may not be ashamed to giveyour relative to a Cossack. Pan Zagloba has agreed to this, and weshall seek the permission of the Diet, and when the war is over will goto the Grand Hetman, who is kind to me. He can assist. He too acquirednobility for Krechovski."
"God give you aid!" said the princess.
"You are sincere people, and I thank you. But before the war I shouldlike to hear once more from your lips that you give me the maiden, andthat you will keep your word. The word of a noble is not smoke, and youare a princess."
Bogun spoke with a slow and solemn voice, but at the same time in hisspeech there vibrated, as it were, a threat declaring that there mustbe consent to what he demanded.
The old princess looked at her sons; they looked at her, and for amoment silence continued. Suddenly the falcon, sitting on her perch bythe wall, began to make a noise, though it was long before daylight;others followed her. The great eagle woke, shook his wings, and beganto scream. The pitch-pine burned low; it was growing gloomy and dark inthe room.
"Nikolai, put wood on the fire!" said the old princess.
The young prince threw on more wood.
"Well, do you consent?" inquired Bogun.
"We must ask Helena."
"Let her speak for herself; you speak for yourselves. Do you promise?"
"We promise," said the mother.
"We promise," said the sons.
Bogun stood up suddenly, and turning to Zagloba, said with a clearvoice,--
"My friend Zagloba, ask for the maiden too; maybe they will give her toyou."
"What do you mean, Cossack? Are you drunk?" cried the princess.
Bogun, in place of an answer, took out Skshetuski's letter, and turningto Zagloba, said: "Read!"
Zagloba took the letter, and began to read it in the midst of deepsilence. When he had finished, Bogun crossed his arms on his breast.
"To whom then do you give the girl?" asked he.
"Bogun!"
The voice of the Cossack became like the hiss of a serpent: "Traitors,murderers, faith-breakers, Judases!"
"Sons, to your sabres!" screamed the princess.
The princes sprang like lightning to the walls, and seized their arms.
"Quiet, gentlemen, quiet!" began Zagloba.
But before he had finished speaking, Bogun drew a pistol from his beltand fired.
"Jesus!" groaned Prince Simeon. Advancing a step, he began to beat theair with his hands, and fell heavily on the floor.
"People, to the rescue!" screamed the princess, in despair.
But that moment, in the yard and from the side of the garden, wereheard other volleys. The windows and the doors flew open with a crash,and several tens of Cossacks rushed into the room.
"Destruction!" thundered wild voices.
The alarm-bell was tolled on the square. The birds in the room began toscream. Uproar, firing, and shouts took the place of the recent quietof a drowsy house.
The old princess threw herself, howling like a wolf, on the body ofSimeon, shuddering in the last convulsions; but soon two Cossacksseized her by the hair and drew her aside. Meanwhile Nikolai, driven tothe corner of the room, defended himself with fury and the boldness ofa lion.
"Aside!" cried Bogun suddenly, to the Cossacks around him. "Aside!"repeated he, with a thundering voice.
The Cossacks withdrew. They thought that he wished to save the life ofthe young man. But Bogun himself, with sabre in hand, rushed on theprince.
Now began a terrible hand-to-hand struggle, on which the princess,whose hair was grasped by four iron hands, looked with glaring eyes andopen mouth. The young prince hurled himself like a storm on theCossack, who, retreating slowly, led him out into the middle of theroom. Then suddenly stooping, he parried a powerful blow, and fromdefence changed to attack.
The Cossacks, holding their breath, let their sabres hang, andmotionless, as if fastened to the floor, followed with their eyes thecourse of the conflict. Only the bre
athing and panting of thecombatants were heard in the silence, with the gnashing of teeth, andthe sharp click of the swords striking each other.
For a while it appeared as if Bogun would yield to the gigantic powerand obstinacy of the youth, for he began again to retreat and defendhimself. His countenance was contracted as if by over-exertion. Nikolairedoubled his blows; dust rose from the floor and covered the two menwith a cloud, but through the masses of it the Cossacks saw bloodflowing from the face of their leader.
All at once Bogun sprang aside; the prince's sword struck the emptyair. Nikolai staggered from the effort and bent forward; that instantthe Cossack struck him such a blow on the neck that he dropped as ifstruck by lightning.
The joyful cries of the Cossacks were mingled with the unearthly shriekof the princess. It seemed as though the ceiling would break from thenoise. The struggle was finished. The Cossacks rushed at the weaponshanging along the walls, and began to pull them down, tearing from oneanother the most costly sabres and daggers, and trampling upon thebodies of the princes and their own comrades who had fallen at thehands of Nikolai. Bogun permitted everything. He stood at the doorleading to Helena's rooms, guarding the way. He breathed heavily fromweariness; his face was pale and bloody, for the sword of the princehad struck his head twice. His wandering look passed from the body ofNikolai to the body of Simeon, and then fell upon the blue face of theprincess, whom the Cossacks, holding by the hair, pressed to the floorwith their knees, for she was tearing herself from their hands to thebodies of her children.
The tumult and confusion in the room increased every moment. TheCossacks tied the servants with ropes and tormented them without mercy.The floor was covered with blood and dead bodies, the room filled withsmoke from pistol-shots; the walls were stripped, the birds killed.
All at once the door at which Bogun stood was opened wide. He turnedand started back. In the door appeared the blind Vassily, and at hisside Helena, dressed in a white gown, pale herself as the gown, witheyes starting out from terror, and with open mouth.
Vassily carried in both hands a cross, which he held as high as hisface. In the midst of the uproar in the room, in the presence of thecorpses, and the blood scattered in pools on the floor, in front theglitter of sabres and of flashing eyes, that lofty figure had anappearance of wonderful solemnity. Emaciated, with hair growing gray,and with depressions instead of eyes, you would have said that it was aspirit, or a dead body which had left its shroud and was coming for thepunishment of crime.
The clamor ceased; the Cossacks drew back in a fright. Silence wasbroken by the calm, but painful and groaning voice of the prince,--
"In the name of the Father, the Saviour, the Spirit, and the HolyVirgin! Oh, you men who come from distant lands, do you come in thename of God?--for blessed is the wayfarer who goes announcing the wordof God. And do you bring good news? Are you apostles?"
A deathlike stillness reigned after the words of Vassily; but he turnedslowly with the cross to one side and then the other, and continued,--
"Woe to you, brothers, for whoso makes war for gain or vengeance willbe damned forever. Let us pray, so that we obtain mercy. Woe to you,brothers, woe to me! Woe! woe! woe!"
A groan came from the breast of the prince.
"Lord, have mercy upon us!" answered the dull voices of the Cossacks,who under the influence of fear began to make the sign of the cross interror.
Suddenly a wild piercing shriek from the princess was heard: "Vassily!Vassily!"
There was something in her voice as full of anguish as in the lastvoice of life passing away. But the Cossacks pressing her with theirknees knew that she could not escape from their hands.
The prince shuddered, but immediately covered himself with the cross,on the side from which the voice came, and said: "Oh, lost soul, cryingfrom the abyss, woe to thee!"
"Lord, have mercy upon us!" repeated the Cossacks.
"To me!" said Bogun to the Cossacks that moment, and he staggered.
The Cossacks sprang and supported him under the shoulders.
"You are wounded, father?"
"I am! But that is nothing; I have lost blood. Here, boys! guard thisyoung woman as the eyes in your head. Surround the house; let no oneout! Princess--"
He could say no more; his lips grew white, and his eyes were coveredwith a mist.
"Bear the ataman to the rooms!" cried Zagloba, who creeping out of somecorner or another appeared unexpectedly at Bogun's side. "This isnothing, nothing at all," said he, feeling the wounds with his fingers."He will be well to-morrow. I will take care of him. Mix up bread andspider-webs for me! You, boys, go off to the devil with yourselves, tofrolic with the girls in the servants' quarters, for you have nothingto do here; but let two carry the ataman. Take him--that's the way! Beoff now! What are you standing here for? I will take care of the house,I will look after everything."
Two Cossacks carried Bogun to the adjoining room; the rest went out ofthe antechamber.
Zagloba approached Helena, and rapidly blinking his one eye, said in aquick low voice,--
"I am Pan Skshetuski's friend; have no fear. Only put your prophet tobed and wait for me."
Having said this, he went to the room in which the two essauls had putBogun on a Turkish divan. Then he sent them for bread and spider-webs;and when these were brought from the servants' quarters he set aboutnursing the young ataman with the dexterity which every noble possessedat that period, and which he acquired in plastering heads cut up induels at the petty Diets.
"Tell the Cossacks," said he to the essauls, "that to-morrow the atamanwill be as well as a fish, and not to trouble about him. He got ascratch, but came out splendidly, and to-morrow he can have his weddingeven without a priest. If there is a wine-cellar in the house, then youmay use it. See, his wounds are dressed already! Now go, that theataman may rest."
The essauls moved toward the door.
"But don't drink the whole cellar dry," added Zagloba.
Sitting at Bogun's pillow, he looked at him attentively.
"Well, the devil won't take you on account of these wounds, though yougot good ones. You won't move hand or foot for two days," muttered heto himself, looking at the pale face and closed eyes of the Cossack."The sabre was unwilling to cheat the executioner; for you are hisproperty and from him you will not escape. When they hang you the devilwill make a doll out of you for his imps, as you are pretty-faced. No,brother, you drink well, but you will drink no longer with me. You mayseek companions for yourself among crawfish-dealers, for I see that youlike to kill people, but I will not fall upon noble houses with you inthe night. May the hangman light your way!"
Bogun groaned slightly.
"Oh, groan and sigh! To-morrow you'll groan better. But wait, youTartar soul, you wanted the princess? I don't wonder, for she is abeauty; but if you get her, then I'll let the dogs eat my wit. Hairwill grow on the palms of my hands first."
The uproar and hum of many voices came from the square to the ears ofZagloba.
"Ah! they have got to the cellar surely," he muttered. "Drink likehorseflies, so that you will sleep well. I will watch for all of you,though I don't know whether you will be glad of my watching to-morrow."
Then he rose to see if the Cossacks had really made the acquaintance ofthe princess's cellar, and went to the anteroom, where a terrible sightmet his eyes. In the middle of the room lay the bodies of Simeon andNikolai, already cold, and in the corner of the room the body of theprincess in a sitting posture, inclined just as she had been bent bythe Cossacks. Her eyes were open, her teeth exposed. The fire, burningin the chimney, filled the whole room with a faint light, trembling inpools of blood; the depth of the room was obscure in the shadow.Zagloba approached the princess to see if she was breathing, and placedhis hand on her face; it was cold already. He hurried to the square,for terror seized him in that room.
The Cossacks had begun their revel on the outside. Fires had beenkindled, by the light of which Zagloba saw barrels of mead, wine, andspirits with th
e heads broken in. The Cossacks dipped from them as froma well, and drank with all their might. Some, already warmed by drink,chased the young women from the servants' quarters; some of the youngwomen, seized by fright, struggled and ran away, springing through thefire, others amidst bursts of laughter and shouting allowed themselvesto be caught and drawn toward the barrels, or fires at which they weredancing the Cosachka. The Cossacks rushed into the dance as if mad; infront of them the girls now pushing forward, now retreating before theviolent movements of their partners.
The spectators either kept time with tin cups, or sang. Cries of"U-ha!" were heard louder and louder, with the accompaniment of howlingof dogs, neighing of horses, and bellowing of cattle to be slaughteredfor the feast.
At the distant fires were seen peasants from aroundRozlogi,--neighbors, who at the sound of shots and cries had rushedfrom the village in crowds to see what was going on. They did not thinkof defending the princess, for the Kurtsevichi were hated in the place;they only looked on the revelling of the Cossacks, elbowing oneanother, whispering, and approaching nearer and nearer the barrels ofvudka and mead. The orgies grew more and more tumultuous, the drinkingincreased. The Cossacks no longer dipped from the barrels with cups,but thrust their heads in up to the neck, and sprinkled the dancinggirls with vudka and mead. Their faces were inflamed, steam rose fromtheir heads; and some were already staggering.
Zagloba, coming out on the porch, cast his eye on the drinking crowd,then looked carefully at the sky.
"Clear, but dark," he muttered; "when the moon goes down you mightstrike them in the face, they wouldn't see you.--Go on, my boys," hecried, "go on! Don't spare yourselves; your teeth won't grow stiff. Afool is he who won't drink to-day to the health of his ataman! Go onwith the barrels! Go on with the girls! U-ha!"
"U-ha!" shouted the Cossacks, joyfully.
Zagloba looked around on every side.
"Oh, you wretches, rogues, good-for-nothings!" shouted he, all at once;"you drink yourselves like horses after a journey, but to the men onguard around the house not a drop. Hallo there! change the guards forme this minute!"
The order was executed without delay, and in a moment a number of tipsyCossacks ran to relieve the guards, who up to that time had taken nopart in the revelry. They came in at once with a haste easilyunderstood.
"Help yourselves!" cried Zagloba, "help yourselves!" pointing to thebarrels.
"We thank you!" answered the Cossacks, dipping in the cups.
"In an hour relieve these for me."
"Very well," said the essaul.
It seemed quite natural to the Cossacks that Zagloba should take thecommand in place of Bogun. It had happened already more than once, andthey were glad of it because he always permitted them everything. Theguards therefore drank with the others. Zagloba entered intoconversation with the peasants of Rozlogi.
"Well, my man," asked he of an old "sub-neighbor," "is it far from hereto Lubni?"
"Oh, very far, very far!"
"Could a man get there by morning?"
"Oh, no!"
"In the afternoon?"
"In the afternoon, perhaps."
"And how do you go there?"
"By the high-road."
"Is there a high-road?"
"Oh, yes; Prince Yeremi commanded that there should be a road, andthere it is."
Zagloba spoke loud on purpose, so that in the shouting and noise alarge number of Cossacks might hear him.
"Give them vudka too," said he to the Cossacks, pointing to thepeasants; "but first give me some mead, for the night is cold."
One of the Cossacks drew mead from the barrel into a gallon pail, whichhe passed on his cap to Zagloba.
Zagloba took the pail carefully in both hands, so that it should notoverflow, raised it to his lips, and pushing his head back, began todrink slowly, but without drawing breath. He drank and drank, till theCossacks began to wonder.
"Look at him," said one to another, "plague take him!"
Meanwhile Zagloba's head went back slowly, till at last he took thegallon measure from his reddened face, pursed out his lips, raised hisbrows, and said, as if to himself,--
"Oh, it is not bad! Old mead!--evident at once that it is not bad. Apity to give such mead to your scoundrelly throats,--dregs would begood enough for you! Strong mead! I know that it has comforted me, andthat I feel a little better."
Indeed, Pan Zagloba felt better; his head became clear, he grew daring;and it was evident that his blood mixed with mead formed the excellentliquor of which he had spoken himself, and from which bravery anddaring went through the whole man. He beckoned to the Cossacks to drinkmore, and turning, passed with a leisurely step along the whole yard;he examined every corner carefully, crossed the bridge over the fosse,and went around the picket-fence to see if the guards were watching thehouse carefully. The first sentry was asleep; the second, the third,and the fourth also. They were weary from the journey, and besides hadcome to their posts drunk, and had fallen asleep straightway.
"I might steal any one of them, and make him my man," said Zagloba.
Then he turned straight to the yard, entered the ill-omened anteroomagain, looked at Bogun, and seeing that he gave no sign of life,withdrew to Helena's door, and opening it quietly, entered the room,from which there came a sound as of prayer.
It was really Prince Vassily's room. Helena, however, was there withthe prince, with whom she felt in greater safety. The blind Vassily waskneeling before an image of the Holy Virgin, in front of which a lampwas burning. Helena was at his side. Both of them were praying aloud.Seeing Zagloba, she turned her astonished eyes on him. He placed hisfinger on his lips.
"I am a friend of Pan Skshetuski," said he.
"Rescue me!" answered Helena.
"It is for that I have come; trust in me."
"What have I to do?"
"It is necessary to escape while that devil is lying unconscious."
"What must I do?"
"Put on man's clothes; and when I knock at the door, come out."
Helena hesitated; distrust shone in her eyes. "Can I trust you?"
"What better can you do?"
"True, true; but swear that you will not betray me."
"Your mind is disturbed, to ask that. But if you wish, I swear. So helpme God and the holy cross! Destruction waits you here, salvation is inflight."
"That is true, that is true."
"Put on male attire as quickly as you can, and wait."
"And Vassily?"
"What Vassily?"
"My crazy cousin."
"Destruction threatens you, not him," said Zagloba. "If he is crazy, heis sacred to the Cossacks. Indeed, I noticed that they take him for aprophet."
"That is true, and he has offended Bogun in nothing."
"We must leave him; otherwise we are lost, and Pan Skshetuski with us.Hurry, my lady, hurry!"
With these words Zagloba left the room and went directly to Bogun. Thechief was pale and weak, but his eyes were open.
"You are better?" asked Zagloba.
Bogun wished to speak, but could not.
"You cannot speak?"
Bogun moved his head in sign that he could not, but at the same timesuffering was stamped on his face. His wounds had evidently grownpainful from movement.
"And you are not able to cry?"
Bogun gave a sign only with his eyes that he could not.
"Nor move?"
The same sign.
"So much the better; for you will not speak, nor cry, nor move.Meanwhile I will go to Lubni with the princess. If I don't sweep heraway from you, then I will let an old woman grind me to bran in a mill.What a scoundrel! You think that I haven't enough of your company, thatI will be hail-fellow-well-met with trash? Oh, you scoundrel! youthought that for your wine, your dice, and your plebeian loves I wouldkill people and go into rebellion with you? No, nothing of the sort, myhandsome fellow!"
As Zagloba went on, the dark eyes of the chief opened wider and wider.Was he dre
aming, was he awake, or was Zagloba jesting?
But Zagloba talked on: "What do you stare so for, like a cat? Do youthink that I won't do this? Perhaps you would like to send yourrespects to somebody in Lubni? A barber could be sent to you, for agood one can be had from the prince."
The pale visage of the chief became terrible. He understood thatZagloba was speaking in earnest. Lightning flashes of despair and rageshot from his eyes; a flame rushed into his face. With superhumaneffort he raised himself and a cry broke from his lips.
"Hi! Cos--"
He had not finished when Zagloba, with the speed of lightning, threwBogun's coat over his head, and in a moment had wound it completelyaround him and thrown him on his back.
"Don't cry, for it hurts you," said he quietly, panting heavily. "Yourhead might go to aching to-morrow; therefore as a good friend I amcareful of you. In this fashion you will be warm and sleep comfortably,not scream your throat out. Lest you tear your clothes, I will bindyour hands; and all this through friendship, that you may remember mewith gratitude."
With the belt on the Cossack he bound his hands; then with his own belthe tied his feet. Bogun felt nothing now; he had fainted.
"A sick man should lie quietly," said Zagloba, "so that humor may notfly to his head; from this comes delirium. Well, good health to you! Imight rip you with a knife, which would probably be the best use foryou, but I am ashamed to kill a man in peasant fashion. Quite anotheraffair if you choke before morning, for that has happened to more thanone pig. Good health, and return my love! Maybe we shall have anothermeeting; but if I try to hasten it, then let some one flay me and makehorse-cruppers of my skin."
When he had finished this speech Zagloba went to the anteroom, quenchedthe fire in the chimney, and knocked at Vassily's door. A slenderfigure emerged from it at once.
"Is that you?" asked Zagloba.
"It is."
"Come on! If we only reach the horses--but then the Cossacks are alldrunk, the night is dark; before they wake we shall be far away. Becareful! the princes are lying here."
"In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!" whispered Helena.
Ogniem i mieczem. English Page 20
