CHAPTER XXVII.
They ran long through the pine-forest with such speed that the trees bythe roadside seemed to flee backward in panic; inns, huts of forestguards, pitch-clearings, flashed by, and at times wagons singly or afew together, going to Pilvishki. From time to time Boguslav bentforward in the saddle as if to struggle; but his arms were onlywrenched the more painfully in the iron hands of the soldiers, whilePan Andrei held the pistol-barrel between the princess shoulders again,and they rushed on till the white foam was falling in flakes from thehorses.
At last they were forced to slacken the speed, for breath failed bothmen and beasts, and Pilvishki was so far behind that all possibility ofpursuit had ceased. They rode on then a certain time at a walk and insilence, surrounded by a cloud of steam, which was issuing from thehorses.
For a long time the prince said nothing; he was evidently trying tocalm himself and cool his blood. When he had done this he asked,--
"Whither are you taking me?"
"Your highness will know that at the end of the road," answered Kmita.
Boguslav was silent, but after a while said, "Cavalier, command thesetrash to let me go, for they are pulling out my arms. If you commandthem to do so, they will only hang; if not, they will go to the stake."
"They are nobles, not trash," answered Kmita; "and as to the punishmentwhich your highness threatens, it is not known whom death will strikefirst."
"Know ye on whom ye have raised hands?" asked the prince, turning tothe soldiers.
"We know," answered they.
"By a million horned devils!" cried Boguslav, with an outburst. "Willyou command these people to let me go, or not?"
"Your highness, I will order them to bind your arms behind your back;then you will be quieter."
"Impossible! You will put my arms quite out of joint."
"I would give orders to let another off on his word that he would nottry to escape, but you know how to break your word," said Kmita.
"I will give another word," answered the prince,--"that not only will Iescape at the first opportunity, but I will have you torn apart withhorses, when you fall into my hands."
"What God wants to give, he gives!" said Kmita. "But I prefer a sincerethreat to a lying promise. Let go his hands, only hold his horse by thebridle; but, your highness, look here! I have but to touch the triggerto put a bullet into your body, and I shall not miss, for I never miss.Sit quietly; do not try to escape."
"I do not care, Cavalier, for you or your pistol."
When he had said this, the prince stretched his aching arms, tostraighten them and shake off the numbness. The soldiers caught thehorse's bridle on both sides, and led him on.
After a while Boguslav said, "Yon dare not look me in the eyes, PanKmita; you hide in the rear."
"Indeed!" answered Kmita; and urging forward his horse, he pushedZavratynski away, and seizing the reins of the prince's horse, helooked Boguslav straight in the face. "And how is my horse? Have Iadded even one virtue?"
"A good horse!" answered the prince. "If you wish, I will buy him."
"This horse deserves a better fate than to carry a traitor till hisdeath."
"You are a fool, Pan Kmita."
"Yes, for I believed the Radzivills."
Again came a moment of silence, which was broken by the prince.
"Tell me, Pan Kmita, are you sure that you are in your right mind, thatyour reason has not left you? Have you asked yourself what you havedone, madman? Has it not come to your head that as things are now itwould have been better for you if your mother had not given you birth,and that no one, not only in Poland, but in all Europe, would haveventured on such a dare-devil deed?"
"Then it is clear that there is no great courage in that Europe, for Ihave carried off your highness, hold you, and will not let you go."
"It can only be an affair with a madman," said the prince, as if tohimself.
"My gracious prince," answered Pan Andrei, "you are in my hands; bereconciled to that, and waste not words in vain. Pursuit will not comeup, for your men think to this moment that you have come off with mevoluntarily. When my men took you by the arms no one saw it, for thedust covered us; and even if there were no dust, neither the equerriesnor the guards could have seen, it was so far. They will wait for youtwo hours; the third hour they will be impatient, the fourth and fifthuneasy, and the sixth will send out men in search; but we meanwhileshall be beyond Maryapole."
"What of that?"
"This, that they will not pursue; and even if they should startimmediately in pursuit, your horses are just from the road, while oursare fresh. Even if by some miracle they should come up, that wouldnot save you, for, as truly as you see me here, I should open yourhead,--which I shall do if nothing else is possible. This is theposition! Radzivill has a court, an army, cannon, dragoons; Kmita hassix men, and Kmita holds Radzivill by the neck."
"What further?" asked the prince.
"Nothing further! We will go where it pleases me. Thank God, yourhighness, that you are alive; for were it not that I gave orders tothrow many gallons of water on my head to-day, you would be in theother world already, that is, in hell, for two reasons,--as a traitorand as a Calvinist."
"And would you have dared to do that?"
"Without praising myself I say that your highness would not easily findan undertaking on which I would not venture; you have the best proof ofthat in yourself."
The prince looked carefully at the young man and said, "Cavalier, thedevil has written on your face that you are ready for anything, andthat is the reason why I have a proof in myself. I tell you, indeed,that you have been able to astonish me with your boldness, and that isno easy thing."
"That's all one to me. Give thanks to God, your highness, that you arealive yet, and quits."
"No, Cavalier. First of all, do you thank God; for if one hair hadfallen from my head, then know that the Radzivills would find you evenunder the earth. If you think that because there is disunion between usand those of Nyesvyej and Olyta, and that they will not pursue you, youare mistaken. Radzivill blood must be avenged, an awful example must begiven, otherwise there would be no life for us in this Commonwealth.You cannot hide abroad, either: the Emperor of Germany will give youup, for I am a prince of the German Empire; the Elector of Brandenburgis my uncle; the Prince of Orange is his brother-in-law; the King andQueen of France and their ministers are my friends. Where will youhide? The Turks and Tartars will sell you, though we had to give themhalf our fortune. You will not find on earth a corner, nor suchdeserts, nor such people--"
"It is a wonder to me," replied Kmita, "that your highness takes suchthought in advance for my safety. A great person a Radzivill! Still Ihave only to touch a trigger."
"I do not deny that. More than once it has happened in the world that agreat man died at the hands of a common one. A camp-follower killedPompey; French kings perished at the hands of low people. Without goingfarther, the same thing happened to my great father. But I ask you whatwill come next?"
"What is that to me? I have never taken much thought of what will beto-morrow. If it comes to close quarters with all the Radzivills, Godknows who will be warmed up best. The sword has been long hanging overmy head, but the moment I close my eyes I sleep as sweetly as a suslik.And if one Radzivill is not enough for me, I will carry off a second,and a third."
"As God is dear to me, Cavalier, you please me much; for I repeat thatyou alone in Europe could dare a deed like this. The beast does notcare, nor mind what will come to-morrow. I love daring people, andthere are fewer and fewer of them in the world. Just think! he hascarried off a Radzivill and holds him as his own. Where were you rearedin this fashion, Cavalier? Whence do you come?"
"I am banneret of Orsha."
"Pan Banneret of Orsha, I grieve that the Radzivills are losing a manlike you, for with such men much might be done. If it were not aquestion of myself--h'm! I would spare nothing to win you."
"Too late!" said Kmita.
"That is to be understood," answered the prince. "Much too late! But Itell you beforehand that I will order you only to be shot, for you areworthy to die a soldier's death. What an incarnate devil to carry meoff from the midst of my men!"
Kmita made no answer; the prince meditated awhile, then cried,--
"If you free me at once, I will not take vengeance. Only give me yourword that you will tell no one of this, and command your men to besilent."
"Impossible!" replied Kmita.
"Do you want a ransom?"
"I do not."
"What the devil, then, did you carry me off for? I cannot understandit."
"It would take a long time to tell. I will tell your highness later."
"But what have we to do on the road unless to talk? Acknowledge,Cavalier, one thing: you carried me off in a moment of anger anddesperation, and now you don't know well what to do with me."
"That is my affair!" answered Kmita; "and if I do not know what to do,it will soon be seen."
Impatience was depicted on Prince Boguslav's face.
"You are not over-communicative, Pan Banneret of Orsha; but answer meone question at least sincerely: Did you come to me, to Podlyasye, witha plan already formed of attacking my person, or did it enter your headin the last moment?"
"To that I can answer your highness sincerely, for my lips are burningto tell you why I left your cause; and while I am alive, while there isbreath in my body, I shall not return to it. The prince voevoda ofVilna deceived me, and in advance brought me to swear on the crucifixthat I would not leave him till death."
"And you are keeping the oath well. There is nothing to be said on thatpoint."
"True!" cried Kmita, violently. "If I have lost my soul, if I must bedamned, it is through the Radzivills. But I give myself to the mercy ofGod, and I would rather lose my soul, I would rather burn eternally,than to sin longer with knowledge and willingly,--than to serve longer,knowing that I serve sin and treason. May God have mercy on me! Iprefer to burn, I prefer a hundred times to burn; I should burn surely,if I remained with you. I have nothing to lose; but at least I shallsay at the judgment of God: 'I knew not what I was swearing, and had Idiscovered that I had sworn treason to the country, destruction to thePolish name, I should have broken the oath right there.' Now let theLord God be my judge."
"To the question, to the question!" said Boguslav, calmly.
But Pan Andrei breathed heavily, and rode on some time in silence, withfrowning brow and eyes fixed on the earth, like a man bowed down bymisfortune.
"To the question!" repeated the prince.
Kmita roused himself as if from a dream, shook his head, and said,--
"I believed the prince hetman as I would not have believed my ownfather. I remember that banquet at which he announced his union withthe Swedes. What I suffered then, what I passed through, God willaccount to me. Others, honorable men, threw their batons at his feetand remained with their country; but I stood like a stump with thebaton, with shame, with submission, with infamy, in torture, for I wascalled traitor to my eyes. And who called me traitor? Oi, better notsay, lest I forget myself, go mad, and put a bullet right here in thehead of your highness. You are the men, you the traitors, the Judases,who brought me to that."
Here Kmita gazed with a terrible expression on the prince, and hatredcame out on his face from the bottom of his soul, like a dragon whichhad crawled out of a cave to the light of day; but Boguslav looked atthe young man with a calm, fearless eye. At last he said,--
"But that interests me, Pan Kmita; speak on."
Kmita dropped the bridle of the prince's horse, and removed his cap asif wishing to cool his burning head.
"That same night," continued he, "I went to the hetman, for he gavecommand to call me. I thought to myself, 'I will renounce his service,break my oath, suffocate him, choke him with these hands, blow upKyedani with powder, and then let happen what may.' He knew too thatwas ready for anything, knew what I was; I saw well that he wasfingering a box in which there were pistols. 'That is nothing,' thoughtI to myself; 'either he will miss me or he will kill me.' But he beganto reason, to speak, to show such a prospect to me, simpleton, and puthimself forward as such a savior, that your highness knows whathappened."
"He convinced the young man," said Boguslav.
"So that I fell at his feet," cried Kmita, "and saw in him the father,the one savior, of the country; so that I gave myself to him soul andbody as to a devil. For him, for his honesty I was ready to hurl myselfheadlong from the tower of Kyedani."
"I thought such would be the end," said Boguslav.
"What I lost in his cause I will not say, but I rendered him importantservices. I held in obedience my squadron, which is in Kyedaninow,--God grant to his ruin! Others, who mutinied, I cut up badly. Istained my hands in brothers' blood, believing that a stern necessityfor the country. Often my soul was pained at giving command to shoothonest soldiers; often the nature of a noble rebelled against him, whenone time and another he promised something and did not keep his word.But I thought: 'I am simple, he is wise!--it must be done so.' Butto-day, when I learned for the first time from those letters of thepoisons, the marrow stiffened in my bones. How? Is this the kind ofwar? You wish to poison soldiers? And that is to be in hetman fashion?That is to be the Radzivill method, and am I to carry such letters?"
"You know nothing of politics, Cavalier," interrupted Boguslav.
"May the thunders crush it! Let the criminal Italians practise it, nota noble whom God has adorned with more honorable blood than others, butat the same time obliged him to war with a sabre and not with adrug-shop."
"These letters, then, so astonished you that you determined to leavethe Radzivills?"
"It was not the letters,--I might have thrown them to the hangman, ortossed them into the fire, for they refer not to my duties; it was notthe letters. I might have refused the mission without leaving thecause. Do I know what I might have done? I might have joined thedragoons, or collected a party again, and harried Hovanski as before.But straightway a suspicion came to me: 'But do they not wish to poisonthe country as well as those soldiers?' God granted me not to breakout, though my head was burning like a grenade, to remember myself, tohave the power to think: 'Draw him by the tongue, and discover thewhole truth; betray not what you have at heart, give yourself out asworse than the Radzivills themselves, and draw him by the tongue.'"
"Whom,--me?"
"Yes! God aided me, so that I, simple man, deceived a politician,--sothat your highness, holding me the last of ruffians, hid nothing ofyour own ruffianism, confessed everything, told everything, as if ithad been written on the hand. The hair stood on my head, but I listenedand listened to the end. O traitors! arch hell-dwellers! O parricides!How is it, that a thunderbolt has not stricken you down before now? Howis it that the earth has not swallowed you? So you are treating withHmelnitski, with the Swedes, with the elector, with Rakotsy, and withthe devil himself to the destruction of this Commonwealth? Now you wantto cut a mantle out of it for yourself, to sell it to divide it, totear your own mother like wolves? Such is your gratitude for all thebenefits heaped on you,--for the offices, the honors, the dignities,the wealth, the authority, the estates which foreign kings envy you?And you were ready without regard to those tears, torments, oppression.Where is your conscience, where your faith, where your honesty? Whatmonster brought you into the world?"
"Cavalier," interrupted Boguslav, coldly, "you have me in your hand,you can kill me; but I beg one thing, do not bore me."
Both were silent.
However, it appeared plainly, from the words of Kmita, that the soldierhad been able to draw out the naked truth from the diplomat, and thatthe prince was guilty of great incautiousness, of a great error inbetraying his most secret plans and those of the hetman. This prickedhis vanity; therefore, not caring to hide his ill-humor, he said,--
"Do not ascribe it to your own wit merely, Pan Kmita, that you got thetruth from me. I spoke openly, for I thought the princ
e voevoda knewpeople better, and had sent a man worthy of confidence."
"The prince voevoda sent a man worthy of confidence," answered Kmita,"but you have lost him. Henceforth only scoundrels will serve you."
"If the way in which you seized me was not scoundrelly, then may thesword grow to my hand in the first battle."
"It was a stratagem! I learned it in a hard school. You wish, yourhighness, to know Kmita. Here he is! I shall not go with empty hands toour gracious lord."
"And you think that a hair of my head will fall from the hand of YanKazimir?"
"That is a question for the judges, not for me."
Suddenly Kmita reined in his horse: "But the letter of the princevoevoda,--have you that letter on your person?"
"If I had, I would not give it. The letter remained in Pilvishki."
"Search him!" cried Kmita.
The soldiers seized the prince again by the arms. Soroka began tosearch his pockets. After a while he found the letter.
"Here is one document against you and your works," said Pan Andrei,taking the letter. "The King of Poland will know from it what you havein view; the Swedish King will know too, that although now you areserving him, the prince voevoda reserves to himself freedom to withdrawif the Swedish foot stumbles. All your treasons will come out, all yourmachinations. But I have, besides, other letters,--to the King ofSweden, to Wittemberg, to Radzeyovski. You are great and powerful;still I am not sure that it will not be too narrow for you in thisCommonwealth, when both kings will prepare a recompense worthy of yourtreasons."
Prince Boguslav's eyes gleamed with ill-omened light, but after a whilehe mastered his anger and said,--
"Well, Cavalier! For life or death between us! We have met! You maycause us trouble and much evil, but I say this: No man has daredhitherto to do in this country what you have done. Woe be to you and toyours!"
"I have a sabre to defend myself, and I have something to redeem my ownwith," answered Kmita.
"You have me as a hostage," said the prince.
And in spite of all his anger he breathed calmly; he understood onething at this moment, that in no case was his life threatened,--thathis person was too much needed by Kmita.
Then they went again at a trot, and after an hour's ride they saw twohorsemen, each of whom led a pair of packhorses. They were Kmita's mensent in advance from Pilvishki.
"What is the matter?" asked Kmita.
"The horses are terribly tired, for we have not rested yet."
"We shall rest right away!"
"There is a cabin at the turn, maybe 'tis a public house."
"Let the sergeant push on to prepare oats. Public house or not, we musthalt."
"According to order, Commander."
Soroka gave reins to the horses, and they followed him slowly. Kmitarode at one side of the prince, Lubyenyets at the other. Boguslav hadbecome completely calm and quiet; he did not draw Pan Andrei intofurther conversation. He seemed to be exhausted by the journey, or bythe position in which he found himself, and dropping his head somewhaton his breast, closed his eyes. Still from time to time he cast a sidelook now at Kmita, now at Lubyenyets, who held the reins of the horse,as if studying to discover who would be the easier to overturn so as towrest himself free.
They approached the building situated on the roadside at a bulge of theforest. It was not a public house, but a forge and a wheelwright-shop,in which those going by the road stopped to shoe their horses and mendtheir wagons. Between the forge and the road there was a small openarea, sparsely covered with trampled grass; fragments of wagons andbroken wheels lay thrown here and there on that place, but there wereno travellers. Soroka's horses stood tied to a post. Soroka himself wastalking before the forge to the blacksmith, a Tartar, and two of hisassistants.
"We shall not have an over-abundant repast," said the prince; "there isnothing to be had here."
"We have food and spirits with us," answered Kmita.
"That is well! We shall need strength."
They halted. Kmita thrust his pistol behind his belt, sprang from thesaddle, and giving his horse to Soroka, seized again the reins of theprince's horse, which however Lubyenyets had not let go from his handon the other side.
"Your highness will dismount!" said Kmita.
"Why is that? I will eat and drink in the saddle," said the prince,bending down.
"I beg you to come to the ground!" said Kmita, threateningly.
"But into the ground with you!" cried the prince, with a terriblevoice; and drawing with the quickness of lightning the pistol fromKmita's belt, he thundered into his very face.
"Jesus, Mary!" cried Kmita.
At this moment the horse under the prince struck with spurs reared sothat he stood almost erect; the prince turned like a snake in thesaddle toward Lubyenyets, and with all the strength of his powerful armstruck him with the pistol between the eyes.
Lubyenyets roared terribly and fell from the horse.
Before the others could understand what had happened, before they haddrawn breath, before the cry of fright had died on their lips, Boguslavscattered them as a storm would have done, rushed from the square tothe road, and shot on like a whirlwind toward Pilvishki.
"Seize him! Hold him! Kill him!" cried wild voices.
Three soldiers who were sitting yet on the horses rushed after him; butSoroka seized a musket standing at the wall, and aimed at the fleeingman, or rather at his horse.
The horse stretched out like a deer, and moved forward like an arrowurged from the string. The shot thundered. Soroka rushed through thesmoke for a better view of what he had done; he shaded his eyes withhis hand, gazed awhile, and cried at last,--
"Missed!"
At this moment Boguslav disappeared beyond the bend, and after himvanished the pursuers.
Then Soroka turned to the blacksmith and his assistants, who werelooking up to that moment with dumb astonishment at what had happened,and cried,--
"Water!"
The blacksmith ran to draw water, and Soroka knelt near Pan Andrei, whowas lying motionless. Kmita's face was covered with powder from thedischarge, and with drops of blood; his eyes were closed, his left browand left temple were blackened. The sergeant began first to feellightly with his fingers the head of his colonel.
"His head is sound."
But Kmita gave no signs of life, and blood came abundantly from hisface. The blacksmith's assistants brought a bucket of water and acloth. Soroka, with equal deliberation and care, began to wipe Kmita'sface.
Finally the wound appeared from under the blood and blackness. The ballhad opened Kmita's left cheek deeply, and had carried away the end ofhis ear. Soroka examined to see if his cheek-bone were broken.
After a while he convinced himself that it was not, and drew a longbreath. Kmita, under the influence of cold water and pain, began togive signs of life. His face quivered, his breast heaved with breath.
"He is alive!--nothing! he will be unharmed," cried Soroka, joyfully;and a tear rolled down the murderous face of the sergeant.
Meanwhile at the turn of the road appeared Biloues, one of the threesoldiers who had followed the prince.
"Well, what?" called Soroka.
The soldier shook his head. "Nothing!"
"Will the others return soon?"
"The others will not return."
With trembling hands the sergeant laid Kmita's head on the threshold ofthe forge, and sprang to his feet. "How is that?"
"Sergeant, that prince is a wizard! Zavratynski caught up first, for hehad the best horse, and because the prince let him catch up. Before oureyes Boguslav snatched the sabre from his hand and thrust him through.We had barely to cry out. Vitkovski was next, and sprang to help; andhim this Radzivill cut down before my eyes, as if a thunderbolt hadstruck him. He did not give a sound. I did not wait my turn. Sergeant,the prince is ready to come back here."
"There is nothing in this place for us," said Soroka. "To horse!"
That moment they began to make a stretcher bet
ween the horses forKmita. Two of the soldiers, at the command of Soroka, stood withmuskets on the road, fearing the return of the terrible man.
But Prince Boguslav, convinced that Kmita was not alive, rode quietlyto Pilvishki. About dark he was met by a whole detachment of horsemensent out by Patterson, whom the absence of the prince had disturbed forsome time. The officer, on seeing the prince, galloped to him,--
"Your highness, we did not know--"
"That is nothing!" interrupted Prince Boguslav. "I was riding thishorse in the company of that cavalier, of whom I bought him."
And after a while he added: "I paid him well."