Ogniem i mieczem. English

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER XXI.

  Next morning after the flight of Zagloba, the Cossacks found Bogun halfsuffocated in the coat in which Zagloba had wrapped him; but since hiswounds were not serious he returned soon to consciousness. Rememberingeverything that had happened, he fell into a rage, roared like a wildbeast, stained his hands with blood from his own wounded head, andstruck at the men with his dagger, so that the Cossacks dared not comenear him. At last, being unable to support himself in the saddle, heordered them to bind a Jew cradle between two horses, and sitting init, he hurried on as if insane in the direction of Lubni, supposingthat the fugitives had gone thither. Resting on the Jew bed on down,and in his own blood, he raced over the steppe like a vampire hurryingback to its grave before daybreak; and after him speeded his trustyCossacks, with the thought in mind that they were hurrying to evidentdeath. They flew on in this way to Vassilyevka, where there was agarrison of one hundred Hungarian infantry belonging to Prince Yeremi.The furious leader, as if life had become loathsome to him, fell uponthese without hesitation, rushing first into the fire himself, andafter a struggle of some hours' duration cut the men to pieces, withthe exception of a few whom he spared to gain from them a confessionthrough torture. Learning that no noble with a maiden had escaped bythat road, and not knowing himself what to do, he tore away hisbandages from excess of pain.

  To go farther was impossible; for everywhere toward Lubni werestationed the forces of the prince, whom the villagers that had runaway during the battle at Vassilyevka must have already informed of theattack. The faithful Cossacks therefore bore away their ataman weakenedfrom rage, and took him back to Rozlogi. On their return they found nota trace of the buildings; for the peasants of the neighborhood hadplundered and burned them, together with Prince Vassily, thinking thatin case the Kurtsevichi or Prince Yeremi should wish to inflictpunishment, the blame could be cast easily on Bogun and his Cossacks.They had burned every out-house, cut down the cherry-orchard, andkilled all the servants. The peasants had taken unsparing vengeance forthe harsh rule and oppression which they had endured from theKurtsevichi.

  Just beyond Rozlogi, Pleshnyevski, who was carrying tidings of thedefeat at Joltiya Vodi from Chigirin, fell into the hands of Bogun.When asked where and for what purpose he was going, he hesitated andfailed to give clear answers; he fell under suspicion, and when burnedwith fire, told of the victory of Hmelnitski, and also of Zagloba, whomhe had met the day before. The leader rejoiced, and drew a long breath.After he had hanged Pleshnyevski, he hurried on, feeling certain thatZagloba would not escape him. The herdsmen gave some new indications,but beyond the ford all traces disappeared. The ataman did not meet theminstrel whom Zagloba had stripped of his clothing, for he had gonelower down along the Kagamlik, and besides was so frightened that hehad hidden like a fox in the reeds.

  A day and a night more passed; and since the pursuit toward Vassilyevkaoccupied two days precisely, Zagloba had much time on his side. Whatwas to be done then? In this difficult juncture the essaul came toBogun with advice and assistance. He was an old wolf of the steppe,accustomed from youth to track Tartars through the Wilderness.

  "Father," said he, "they fled to Chigirin,--and they have done wisely,for they have gained time,--but when they heard of Hmelnitski andJoltiya Vodi from Pleshnyevski, they changed their road. You have seenyourself, father, that they left the high-road and rushed to one side."

  "To the steppe?"

  "In the steppe I could find them, father; but they went toward theDnieper, to go to the hetmans; therefore they went either throughCherkas or Zolotonosha and Prohorovka; and if they went even toPereyaslav, though I don't believe that, still we shall find them.We should go, one to Cherkasi, another to Zolotonosha, along thewagon-road; and quickly, for as soon as they cross the Dnieper, theywill hasten to the hetmans, or Hmelnitski's Tartars will pick them up."

  "You hurry to Zolotonosha, and I will go to Cherkasi," said Bogun.

  "All right, father."

  "And keep a sharp lookout, for he is a cunning fox."

  "Ai, father! I am cunning too."

  Having settled the plan of pursuit in this way, the leader and theessaul turned immediately,--one to Cherkasi; the other higher up, toZolotonosha. In the evening of the same day the old essaul Antonreached Demianovka.

  The village was deserted; only the women were left, for all the men hadgone beyond the river to Hmelnitski. Seeing armed men and not knowingwho they were, the women had hidden in the thatch and in the barns. TheCossacks had to search long; but at last they found an old woman, whofeared nothing, not even the Tartars.

  "And where are the men, mother?" asked Anton.

  "Do I know?" answered she, showing her yellow teeth.

  "We are Cossacks, mother, don't be afraid; we are not from the Poles."

  "The Poles? May the evil one--"

  "You are glad to see us, I suppose?"

  "You?" The old woman hesitated a moment. "The plague take you!"

  Anton was at a loss what to do, when suddenly the door of one of thecottages squeaked, and a young, fair-looking woman came out.

  "Ai! good men, I heard that you were not Poles."

  "True, we are not."

  "Are you from Hmelnitski?"

  "Yes."

  "Not from the Poles?"

  "By no means."

  "And why do you ask for the men?"

  "I ask if they have gone already."

  "They have gone."

  "Glory be to God! And tell us now, did a noble go by here,--a cursedPole with a young woman?"

  "A noble? A Pole? I didn't see them."

  "Was no one here?"

  "There was a 'grandfather.' He persuaded the men to go to Hmelnitskithrough Zolotonosha, for he said that Prince Yeremi was coming here."

  "Where?"

  "Here. And from here would go to Zolotonosha, so the old man said."

  "And the old man persuaded the men to rise?"

  "He did."

  "And he was alone?"

  "No, With a dumb boy."

  "How did he look?"

  "Who?"

  "The old man."

  "Oh, ai! old, very old. He played on a lyre, and complained of thelords. But I did not see him."

  "And he persuaded the men to rise?" asked Anton.

  "He did."

  "Well, good-by, young woman."

  "God be with you!"

  Anton stopped in deep thought. If the old man was Zagloba disguised,why did he persuade the peasants to go to Hmelnitski, and where did heget the disguise? Where did he leave the horses, for he fled onhorseback? But, above all, why did he incite peasants to rebellion andwarn them of the coming of the prince? A noble would not have warnedthem, and first of all he would have taken refuge under the protectionof the prince. And if the prince is really going to Zolotonosha, inwhich there is nothing strange, then he will pay for Vassilyevkawithout fail. Here Anton shuddered; for that moment he saw a new picketin the gate, exactly like an empaling stake.

  "No! That old man was only a minstrel and nothing more. There is noreason to go to Zolotonosha unless they fled that way."

  But Zagloba had disappeared. What was to be done further? Wait?--butthe prince might come up. Go to Prohorovka and cross the Dnieper?--thatwould be to fall into the hands of the hetmans.

  It was growing rather narrow for the old wolf of the Wilderness in thebroad steppes. He felt also that being a wolf he had come upon a fox inPan Zagloba. Then he struck his forehead. But why did that"grandfather" take the people to Zolotonosha, beyond which isProhorovka, and beyond that and the Dnieper the hetmans and the wholecamp of the king? Anton determined that come what might, he would go toProhorovka.

  "When I am at the river, if I hear that the forces of the hetmans areon the other side, then I will not cross, I will go along the bank andjoin Bogun opposite Cherkasi. Besides, I shall get news of Hmelnitskialong the road."

  Anton already knew, from the story of Pleshnyevski, that Hmelnitski hadoccupied Chi
girin; that he had sent Krivonos against the hetmans, andwas to follow him at once with Tugai Bey. Anton was an experiencedsoldier, and knowing the situation of the country well, was sure thatthe battle must have been fought already. In such an event it wasnecessary to know what was to be done. If Hmelnitski had been beaten,the forces of the hetmans would spread over the whole country along theDnieper in pursuit; in that case there would be no sense in looking forZagloba. But if Hmelnitski had won,--which in truth Anton did notgreatly believe,--it was easier to beat the son of the hetman than thehetman, a van detachment than the whole army.

  "Oh," thought the old Cossack, "our ataman would do better to think ofhis own skin than of a young girl! Near Chigirin he might have crossedthe Dnieper, and from there slipped off to the Saitch in time. Herebetween Prince Yeremi and the hetmans it will be difficult for him tomake his way."

  With these thoughts he moved on quickly with the Cossacks in thedirection of the Sula, which he had to cross just beyond Demianovka,wishing to go to Prohorovka. They went to Mogilna, situated at theriver itself. Here fortune served Anton; for Mogilna, like Demianovka,was deserted. He found, however, scows ready, and ferrymen who tookover peasants fleeing to the Dnieper.

  The Trans-Dnieper did not dare to rise under the hand of the prince;but to make up for this the peasants left all the hamlets, settlements,and villages, to join Hmelnitski and rally to his banners. The news ofthe victory of the Zaporojians at Joltiya Vodi flew like a bird throughthe whole Trans-Dnieper. The wild inhabitants could not remain inquiet, though there especially they had experienced hardly anyoppression; for, as has been said, the prince, merciless to rebels, wasa real father to peaceful settlers. His overseers on this accountfeared to commit injustice on people intrusted to them. But thatpeople, changed not long before from robbers into agriculturists, wereweary of the harshness of regulations and order. They fled therefore towhere the hope of wild freedom gleamed. In many villages even the womenfled to Hmelnitski. In Chabanovets and Vysoki the whole populationturned out, burning the houses behind them so as to have no place forreturn. In those villages in which a few people still remained, theywere forced to arms.

  Anton began to inquire at once of the ferrymen for news beyond theDnieper. There were reports, but contradictory, confused,unintelligible. It was said that Hmelnitski was fighting with thehetmans; some said that he was beaten, others that he was victorious. Apeasant fleeing toward Demianovka said that the hetmans were takencaptive. The ferrymen suspected that he was a noble in disguise, butwere afraid to detain him because they had heard that the forces of theprince were at hand. A certain fear increased the number of theprince's armies everywhere, and made of them omnipresent divisions; forthere was not a single village in the whole Trans-Dnieper in which itwas not said that the prince was "right here, close by." Anton saw thatthey considered his party everywhere as belonging to Prince Yeremi.

  But soon he set the ferrymen at rest, and began to inquire about theDemianovka peasants.

  "Oh yes; they passed. We took them to the other side," said a ferryman.

  "And there was a minstrel with them?"

  "Yes, there was."

  "And a dumb boy with the old man,--a lad?"

  "Yes; there was."

  "What did the minstrel look like?"

  "He was not old, heavy, had eyes like a fish, and on one of them acataract."

  "Oh, that is he!" muttered Anton, and inquired further: "And the boy?"

  "Oh, father ataman," said the ferryman, "an angel, out and out! We havenever seen such a boy."

  In the mean while they were coming to the shore.

  "Ah, we will bring her to the ataman!" muttered Anton to himself. Thenhe turned to the Cossacks: "To horse!"

  They shot on like a flock of frightened bustards, though the road wasdifficult, for the country was broken into gorges. But they entered abroad ravine at the bottom of which was a kind of natural path formedby the flowing of a spring. The ravine extended to Kavraiets. Theyrushed on some miles without halting; Anton, on the best horse, ahead.The broad mouth of the ravine was already visible when Anton suddenlypulled in his horse till his hind shoes crushed the stones.

  "What is this?"

  The entrance was suddenly darkened with men and horses. A troop enteredin pairs, and formed six abreast. There were about three hundredhorsemen. Anton looked; and although he was an old soldier hardened toevery danger, his heart thumped within his breast and on his face camea deathly pallor. He recognized the dragoons of Prince Yeremi.

  It was too late to flee. Anton's party was separated from the dragoonsby scarcely two hundred yards, and the tired horses of the Cossackscould not go far in escape. The dragoons, seeing them, rode up on atrot. In a moment the Cossacks were surrounded on every side.

  "Who are you?" asked the commander, sternly.

  "Bogun's men!" answered Anton, seeing that it was necessary to tell thetruth. But recognizing the lieutenant whom he had seen in Pereyaslav,he cried out at once with pretended joy: "Oh, Pan Kushel! Thank God!"

  "Ah! is that you, Anton?" asked the lieutenant, looking at the essaul."What are you doing here? Where is your ataman?"

  "The Grand Hetman has sent our ataman to the prince to ask forassistance; so he has gone to Lubni, and he has commanded us to goalong through the villages to catch deserters."

  Anton lied as if for hire; but he trusted in this,--since the dragoonswere going away from the Dnieper, they could not know yet of the attackon Rozlogi, nor of the battle at Vassilyevka, nor of any of Bogun'sundertakings.

  Still the lieutenant added: "One might say you wanted to steal over tothe rebellion."

  "Oh, Lieutenant, if we wanted to go to Hmelnitski, we should not be onthis side of the Dnieper."

  "That," said Kushel,--"is an evident truth which I am not able todeny. But the ataman will not find the prince in Lubni."

  "Where is he?"

  "He was in Priluka; but it is possible that he started yesterday forLubni."

  "Too bad! The ataman has a letter from the hetman to the prince. Andmay I make bold to ask if you are coming from Zolotonosha?"

  "No; we were stationed at Kalenki, and now we have received orders togo to Lubni, like the rest of the army. From there the prince willmove, with all his forces. But where are you going?"

  "To Prohorovka, for the peasants are crossing there."

  "Have many of them fled?"

  "Oh, many, many!"

  "Well, then, go! God be with you!"

  "Thank you kindly, Lieutenant. God conduct you!"

  The dragoons opened their ranks, and Anton's escort rode out from amongthem to the mouth of the ravine.

  After he had issued from the ravine, Anton stopped and listenedcarefully; and when the dragoons had vanished from sight, and the lastecho had ceased, he turned to his Cossacks, and said,--

  "Do you know, you simpletons, that were it not for me, you would soonbe gasping, empaled on stakes, in Lubni? And now, forward, even if wedrive the last breath out of our horses!"

  They rushed on with all speed.

  "We are lucky, and doubly so," thought Anton,--"first, in escaping withsound skins, and then because those dragoons were not marching fromZolotonosha, and Zagloba missed them; for if he had met them, he wouldhave been safe from every pursuit."

  In truth, fortune was very unfavorable to Zagloba in not letting himcome upon Kushel and his company; for then he would have been rescuedat once, and freed from every fear.

  Meanwhile the news of the catastrophe at Korsun came upon Zagloba atProhorovka like a thunderbolt. Reports had already been passing throughthe villages and farmhouses on the road to Zolotonosha of a greatbattle, even of the victory of Hmelnitski; but Zagloba did not lendthem belief, for he knew from experience that every report grows andgrows among the common people to unheard of dimensions, and thatspecially of the preponderance of the Cossacks the people willinglytold wonders. But in Prohorovka it was difficult to doubt any longer.The terrible and ominous truth struck like a club on the head.Hmelnits
ki had triumphed, the army of the king was swept away, thehetmans were in captivity, and the whole Ukraine was on fire.

  Zagloba lost his head at first, for he was in a terrible position.Fortune had not favored him on the road, for at Zolotonosha he did notfind the garrison, and the old fortress was deserted. He doubted notfor a moment that Bogun was pursuing him, and that sooner or later hewould come upon his trail. He had doubled back, it is true, like ahunted hare; but he knew, through and through, the hound that washunting him, and he knew that that hound would not allow himself to beturned from the trail. Zagloba had Bogun behind, and before him a seaof peasant rebellion, slaughter, conflagration, Tartar raids, andraging mobs. To flee in such a position was a task difficult ofaccomplishment, especially with a young woman who, though disguised asa minstrel boy, attracted attention everywhere by her extraordinarybeauty. In truth, it was enough to make a man lose his head.

  But Zagloba never lost it long. Amid the greatest chaos in his brain hesaw perfectly one thing, or rather felt it most clearly,--that hefeared Bogun a hundred times more than fire, water, rebellion,slaughter, or Hmelnitski himself. At the very thought that he mightfall into the hands of the terrible leader, the skin crept on his body."He would flay me," repeated he, continually. "But in front is a sea ofrebellion!"

  One method of salvation remained,--to desert Helena, and leave her tothe will of God; but Zagloba did not wish to do that, and did not letthe thought enter his head. What was he to do?

  "Ah," thought he, "it is not the time to look for the prince. Before meis a sea; I will give a plunge into this sea. At least I shall hidemyself, and with God's aid swim to the other shore." And he determinedto cross to the right bank of the Dnieper.

  This was no easy task at Prohorovka. Nikolai Pototski had alreadycollected for Krechovski and his men all the scows and boats, large andsmall, from Pereyaslav to Chigirin. In Prohorovka there was only oneleaky scow. Thousands of people, fleeing from the neighborhood of theDnieper, were waiting for that scow. All the cottages, cow-houses,barns, sheds in the entire village were taken. Everything wasenormously dear. Zagloba was in truth forced to earn a bit of breadwith his lyre and his song. For twenty-four hours there was no passage.The scow was injured twice, and had to be repaired. Zagloba passed thenight sitting on the bank of the river with Helena, together withcrowds of drunken peasants who were sitting around fires. The night,too, was windy and cold. The princess was worn out and in pain, for thepeasant boots galled her feet; she was afraid of becoming so ill as tobe unable to move. Her face grew dark and pale, her marvellous eyeswere quenched; every moment she feared that she should be recognizedunder her disguise, or that Bogun's men would come up. That same nightshe beheld a terrible sight. A number of nobles who had tried to takerefuge in the domains of Vishnyevetski from Tartar attack were broughtfrom the mouth of the Ros by peasants, and put to death on the bank ofthe river.

  Besides this, in Prohorovka there were two Jews, with their families.The maddened crowd hurled them into the river; and when they did not goto the bottom at once, they were pushed down with long sticks, togetherwith their wives and children. This was accompanied by uproar anddrunkenness. Tipsy men frolicked with tipsy women. Terrible outburstsof laughter sounded ominously on the dark shores of the Dnieper. Thewinds scattered the fire; red brands, and sparks driven by the wind,flew along, and died on the waves. Occasionally alarm sprang up. At onetime and another a drunken, hoarse voice would cry in the darkness,"Save yourselves! Yeremi is coming!" And the crowd rushed blindly tothe shore, trampled on one another, and pushed one another into thewater. Once they came near running over Zagloba and the princess. Itwas an infernal night, and seemed endless. Zagloba begged a quart ofvudka, drank himself, and forced the princess to drink; otherwise shewould have fainted or caught a fever. At last the waves of the Dnieperbegan to whiten and shine. Light had come. The day was cloudy, gloomy,pale. Zagloba wished to cross, with all haste, to the other side.Happily the scow was repaired, but the throng in front of it wasenormous.

  "A place for the grandfather, a place for the grandfather!" criedZagloba, holding Helena between his outstretched arms, and defendingher from the pressure. "A place for the grandfather! I am going toHmelnitski and Krivonos. A place for the grandfather, good people! Mydear fellows, may the black death choke you and your children! I cannotsee well; I shall fall into the water; my boy will be drowned. Giveway, children! May the paralysis shake every limb of you; may you dieon the stake!"

  Thus brawling, begging, pushing the crowd apart with powerful arms, heurged Helena forward to the scow, clambered on himself, and then beganto brawl again,--

  "There are plenty of you here already. Why do you crowd so? You willsink the scow. Why do so many of you push on here? Enough, enough! Yourturn will come; and if it doesn't, small matter!"

  "Enough, enough!" cried those who had got on the scow. "Push off, pushoff!"

  The oars bent, and the scow began to move from the shore. A swiftcurrent bore it downward at once, somewhat in the direction ofDomontov.

  They had passed about one half the stream, when on the Prohorovka sideshouts and cries were heard. A terrible disturbance rose among thepeople near the river. Some ran as if wild toward Domontov; othersjumped into the water. Some shouted and waved their hands, or threwthemselves on the ground.

  "What is that? What has happened?" was asked on the scow.

  "Yeremi!" cried one voice.

  "Yeremi, Yeremi! Let us flee," cried others.

  The oars began to beat feverishly on the water; the scow sped onthrough the waves like a Cossack boat. At the same moment horsemenappeared on the Prohorovka shore.

  "The armies of Yeremi!" shouted some on the boat.

  The horsemen rode along the shore, turned, asked the people aboutsomething. At last they began to call out to the boatmen: "Stop, stop!"

  Zagloba looked, and cold sweat covered him from head to foot. Herecognized Bogun's Cossacks. It was, in fact, Anton with his men.

  But, as already stated, Zagloba never lost his head long. He coveredhis eyes like a man of poor sight, looking; he must have looked a goodwhile. At last he began to cry, as if some one were pulling him out ofhis skin,--

  "Oh, children, those are the Cossacks of Vishnyevetski! Oh, for thesake of God and his Holy Purest Mother, quick, to the shore! We willresign ourselves to the loss of those who are left, and break the scow;if not, death to us all!"

  "Oh, hurry, hurry! break the scow!" cried others.

  A shouting was raised, in which nothing could be heard of the criesfrom the Prohorovka side. Then the scow grated upon the gravel of theshore. The peasants began to spring out; but some of them were not ableto land before others were breaking the railing and cutting the bottomwith their axes. The planks and broken pieces began to fly through theair. The ill-fated boat was destroyed with frenzy, torn to pieces;terror lent strength to the raging people.

  And all this time Zagloba was screaming: "Cut! slash! break! tear!burn! Save yourselves! Yeremi is coming! Yeremi is coming!"

  Shouting in this fashion, he looked with his sound eye at Helena andbegan to mutter significantly.

  Meanwhile from the other shore the shouts increased in view of thedestruction of the boat, but it was so far away they could notunderstand what was said. The waving of hands seemed like threatening,and only increased the speed of destruction.

  The scow disappeared after a while, but suddenly from every breastthere came a cry of horror.

  "They are springing into the water! they are swimming to us!" roaredthe peasants.

  In fact, one horseman in advance and after him a number of others urgedtheir horses into the water to swim to the other shore. It was a deedof almost insane daring; for increased by the spring flood, the riverrushed on more powerfully than usual, forming here and there manyeddies and whirlpools. Borne away by the impetus of the river, thehorses could not swim straight across; the current began to bear themon with extraordinary swiftness.

  "They will not swim across!" cried the pe
asants.

  "They are drowning!"

  "Glory be to God! Oh! oh! one horse has gone down already! Death tothem!"

  The horses had swum a third part of the river, but the water bore themdown with increasing speed. Evidently they began to lose strength;gradually too they sank deeper and deeper. After a little the men ontheir backs were in the water to their girdles. The peasants fromShelepukhi ran to the water to see what was going on; now only thehorses' heads looked out above the water, which reached the breasts ofthe men. But now they had swum half the river. Suddenly one horse'shead and one man disappeared under the water; after that a second, athird, a fourth, a fifth,--the number of swimmers decreased eachmoment. On both sides of the river a deep silence reigned in thecrowds, but all ran with the course of the water to see what wouldhappen. Now two thirds of the river was crossed; the number of swimmersstill decreased, but the heavy snorting of horses and the voices of theheroes urging them on was heard; it was clear that some would cross.

  "Hi, children! to your muskets! Destruction to the prince's men!"

  Puffs of smoke burst forth; then the rattle of muskets. A cry ofdespair was heard from the river, and after a while horses and men hadvanished. The river was cleared; only here and there in the distance,in the whirl of the waves, looked black for an instant the belly of ahorse, gleamed red for a moment the cap of a Cossack.

  Zagloba looked at Helena, and muttered.