CHAPTER XVIII
And he had to speak long in pacifying the angry brothers. He explainedto them that were they to cut down Krepetski at once it would be theact not of nobles but assassins.
"There is need first of all," said he, "to visit our neighbors, to cometo an understanding with Father Tvorkovski, to have the support of theclergy and the nobles, to obtain the testimony of the servants atBelchantska, then to take the case before a tribunal, and only when thesentence is passed to stand behind it with weapons. If," continued he,"ye were to bear Martsian apart on your sabres immediately, his fatherwould not fail to report in all places that ye did so through agreementwith Panna Anulka; by this her reputation might suffer, and the old manwould summon you, and, instead of going to the war, ye would have todrag around through tribunals, for, not being under the authority ofthe hetman as yet, ye would not escape a civil summons. That is howthis matter stands at the moment."
"How so?" inquired Yan, with sorrow; "then we are to let the wrong donethis dove go unpunished?"
"But do ye think," said the priest, "that life will be pleasant forKrepetski when infamy is hanging over him, or the axe of the headsman,and in addition when general contempt is surrounding him? That is aworse torment than a quick death would be, and I should not wish, forall the silver in Olkuts, to be in his skin at this moment."
"But if he will wriggle out?" inquired Marek. "His father is an oldtrickster, who has won more than one lawsuit."
"If he wriggles out, Yatsek on returning will whisper a word in hisear."
"Ye do not know Yatsek yet! He has the eyes of a maiden, but it issafer to take her young cubs from a she-bear than to pain himunjustly."
Hereupon Vilchopolski till then only listening spoke in gloomyaccents,--
"Pan Krepetski has written his own sentence, whether he awaits thereturn of Pan Tachevski or not-- But there is another point; he willtry, with armed hand, to get back the young lady, and then--"
"Then we shall see!" interrupted Pan Serafin. "But let him only try!That is something quite different!"
And he shook his sabre, threateningly, while the Bukoyemskis began togrit their teeth straightway.
"Let him try! let him try!" said they.
"But, gentlemen," said Vilchopolski, "you are going to the war."
"We will arrange then in another way," replied Father Voynovski.
Further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the butler. Hehad brought trunks filled with the wardrobe of Panna Sieninski which,as he said, he did only with difficulty. The Krepetski sisters tried toprevent him, and even wished to wake Martsian, and keep the trunks inthe mansion, but they could not wake him; and the butler persuaded themthat they should not act thus, both in view of their own good and thatof their brother, otherwise an action would be brought against them forrobbery, and they would be summoned for damages before a tribunal. Aswomen who do not know law they were frightened and yielded. The butlerthought that Martsian would try surely to get back the young lady, buthe did not think that the man would use violence immediately.
"He will be restrained from that," said the butler, "by his father, whounderstands well the significance of _raptus puellae_. He knows nothingyet of what has happened, but from here I will go to him directly andexplain the whole matter, for two reasons. First, so that he mayrestrain Martsian, and second, because I do not wish to be inBelchantska to-morrow when Martsian wakes and learns that I have helpedthe young lady in fleeing. He would rush on me surely, and then to oneof us something ugly might happen."
Pan Serafin and Father Voynovski praised the man's prudence and,finding that he was a well-wishing person, and experienced, a man whohad eaten bread from more than one oven, and to whom law itself was nonovelty, begged him to aid in examining the question. There were twocouncils then, one of these being formed of the four Bukoyemskis.
Pan Serafin, knowing how to restrain them most easily from murderousintentions, and detain them at home, sent a large demijohn of good meadto the brothers; this they were glad to besiege at the moment, andbegan to drink one to another. Their hearts were moved, and theyremembered involuntarily the night when Panna Anulka crossed for thefirst time the threshold of that house there in Yedlinka. They recalledhow they had fallen in love with her straightway, how through her theyhad quarrelled, and then in one voice adjudged her to Stanislav, andthus made an offering of their passion to friendship.
At last Mateush drank his mead, put his head on his palm, sighed, andcontinued,--
"Yatsek was sitting that night on a tree like a squirrel. Who couldhave thought then that he was just the man to whom the Lord God hadgiven her?"
"And commanded us to continue in our orphanhood," added Marek.
"Do ye remember," asked Lukash, "how the rooms were all bright from herpresence? They would not have been brighter from a hundred burningcandles. And she at one time stood up, at another sat down, and a thirdtime she laughed. And when she looked at a man it was as warm in hisbosom as if he had drunk heated wine that same instant. Let us take aglass now on our terrible sadness."
They drank again; then Mateush struck a blow with his fist on thetable, and shouted,--
"Ei! if she had not loved that Yatsek so!"
"Then what?" asked Yan, angrily, "dost think that she would fall inlove with thee right away? Look at him--my dandy!"
"Well thou art no beauty!" retorted Mateush.
And they looked at each other with ill-feeling. But Lukash, thoughgiven greatly to quarrels, began now to pacify his brothers.
"Not for thee, not for thee, not for any of us," said he. "Another willget her and take her to the altar."
"For us there is nothing but sorrow and weeping," blurted out Marek.
"Then at least we will love one another. No one in this world loves us!No one!"
"No one! no one!" repeated they all in succession, mingling their winewith their tears as they said so.
"But she is sleeping up there!" added Yan on a sudden.
"She is sleeping, the poor little thing," responded Lukash; "she islying down like a flower cut by the scythe, like a lamb torn by avillainous wolf. My born brothers! is there no man here who will takeeven a pull at the wild beast?"
"It cannot be but there is!" cried out Mateush, Marek, and Yan. Andagain they grew indignant, and the more they drank the oftener theygritted their teeth, first one, then another, or one of them struck hisfist on the table.
"I have an idea!" said the youngest on a sudden.
"Tell it! Have God in thy heart!"
"Here it is. We have promised Pan Serafin not to cut up that 'stump.'Have we not promised?"
"We have, but tell what thou hast to say; ask no questions."
"Though we have promised we must take revenge for our young lady. OldKrepetski will come here, as they said, to see if Pan Serafin will notgive back the young lady. But we know that he will not give her, do wenot?"
"He will not! he will not!"
"But think ye not this way: Martsian will hurry to meet his father onthe road back, to see and inquire if he has succeeded."
"As God is in heaven, he will do so."
"On the road, half-way between Belchantska and Yedlinka, is a tar pitnear the roadside. If we should wait at that tar pit for Martsian--?"
"Well, but what for?"
"Psh! quiet!"
"Psh!"
And they began to look around through the room, though they knew thatsave themselves there was not a living soul in it, and then theywhispered. They whispered long, now louder, now lower. At last theirfaces grew radiant, they finished their wine at one draught, embracedone another, and in silence went out of the room one after the other,in goose fashion.
They saddled their horses without the least noise, and each led hisbeast by the bit from the courtyard. When they had gone through thegate they mounted and rode stirrup by stirrup to the roadway where Yan,though the youngest, took command and said then to his brothers,--
"Now I with M
arek will go to the tar pit, and do ye bring that caskbefore daybreak."