CHAPTER XXXVI.
Kmita had, it is true, Radzivill's passes to all the Swedish captains,commandants, and governors, to give him a free road everywhere, andmake no opposition, but he did not dare to use those passes; for heexpected that Prince Boguslav, immediately after Pilvishki, had hurriedoff messengers in every direction with information to the Swedes ofwhat had happened, and with an order to seize him. For this reason PanAndrei had assumed a strange name, and also changed his rank. Avoidingtherefore Lomja and Ostrolenko, to which the first warning might havecome, he directed his horses and his company to Pjasnysh, whence hewished to go through Pultusk to Warsaw.
But before he reached Pjasnysh he made a bend on the Prussian boundarythrough Vansosh, Kolno, and Myshynyets, because the Kyemliches, knowingthose wildernesses well, were acquainted with the forest trails, andbesides had their "cronies" among the Bark-shoes,[29] from whom theymight expect aid in case of emergency.
The country at the boundary was occupied for the most part by theSwedes, who limited themselves, however, to occupying the mostconsiderable towns, going not too boldly into the slumbering andfathomless forests inhabited by armed men,--hunters who never left thewilderness, and were still so wild that just a year before, the Queen,Marya Ludvika, had given a command to build a chapel in Myshynyets andsettle there Jesuits, who were to teach religion and soften the mannersof those men of the wilderness.
"The longer we do not meet the Swedes," said old Kyemlich, "the betterfor us."
"We must meet them at last," answered Pan Andrei.
"If a man meets them in a large town they are often afraid to do himinjustice; for in a town there is always some government and somehigher commandant to whom it is possible to make complaint. I havealways asked people about this, and I know that there are commands fromthe King of Sweden forbidding violence and extortion. But the smallerparties sent far away from the eyes of commandants have no regard fororders, and plunder peaceful people."
They passed on then through the forests, meeting Swedes nowhere,spending the nights with pitch-makers in forest settlements. Thegreatest variety of tales concerning the invasion were current amongthe Bark-shoes, though almost none of them had known the Swedeshitherto. It was said that a people had come from over the sea who didnot understand human speech, who did not believe in Christ the Lord,the Most Holy Lady, or the Saints, and that they were wonderfullygreedy. Some told of the uncommon desire of those enemies for cattle,skins, nuts, mead, and dried mushrooms, which if refused, they burnedthe woods straightway. Others insisted that, on the contrary, they werea people of were-wolves, living on human flesh, and feeding speciallyon the flesh of young girls.
Under the influence of those terrible tidings, which flew into theremotest depths of the wilderness, the Bark-shoes began to watch and tosearch through the forests. Those who were making potash and pitch;those who worked at gathering hops; wood-cutters and fishermen, who hadtheir wicker nets fixed in the reedy banks, of the Rosoga; trappers andsnarers, bee-keepers and beaver-hunters, assembled at the mostconsiderable settlements, listening to tales, communicating news, andcounselling how to drive out the enemy in case they appeared in thewilderness.
Kmita, going with his party, met more than once greater or smallerbands of these men, dressed in hemp shirts, and skins of wolves, foxes,or bears. More than once he was stopped at narrow places, and byinquiries,--
"Who art thou? A Swede?"
"No!" answered Pan Andrei.
"God guard thee!"
Kmita looked with curiosity at those men who lived always in the gloomof forests, and whose faces the open sun had never burned; he wonderedat their stature, their boldness of look, the sincerity of theirspeech, and their daring, not at all peasant-like.
The Kyemliches, who knew them, assured Pan Andrei that there were nobetter shots than these men in the whole Commonwealth. When hediscovered that they all had good German muskets bought in Prussia forskins, he asked them to show their skill in shooting, was astonished atsight of it, and thought, "Should I need to collect a party, I willcome here."
At Myshynyets itself he found a great assembly. More than a hundredmarksmen held constant watch at the mission, for it was feared that theSwedes would show themselves there first, especially because thestarosta of Ostrolenko had commanded them to cut out a road in theforest so that the priests settled at the mission might have "access tothe world."
The hop-raisers, who took their produce to Pjasnysh to the celebratedbreweries there, and hence passed for men of experience, related thatLomja, Ostrolenko, and Pjasnysh were swarming with Swedes, who weremanaging and collecting taxes there as if at home.
Kmita tried to persuade the Bark-shoes not to wait for the Swedes inthe wilderness, but to strike on them at Ostrolenko, and begin war; heoffered to command them himself. He found a great willingness amongthem; but two priests led them away from this mad enterprise, tellingthem to wait till the whole country moved, and not draw on themselvesthe terrible vengeance of the enemy by premature attack.
Pan Andrei departed, but regretted his lost opportunity. The onlyconsolation remaining was this,--he had convinced himself that ifpowder were to explode anywhere, neither the Commonwealth nor the kingwould lack defenders in those parts.
"This being the case," thought he, "it is possible to begin in anotherplace."
His fiery nature was restive for quick action, but judgment said: "TheBark-shoes alone cannot conquer the Swedes. You will go through a partof the country; you will look around, examine, and then obey the king'sorder."
He travelled on therefore. He went out of the deep wilderness to theforest borders, to a neighborhood more thickly settled; he saw anuncommon movement in all the villages. The roads were crowded withnobles going in wagons, carriages, and carts, of various kinds, or onhorseback. All were hastening to the nearest towns and villages to giveSwedish commanders an oath of loyalty to the new king. In return theyreceived certificates which were to preserve their persons andproperty. In the capitals of provinces and districts "capitulations"were published securing freedom of confession and privileges pertainingto the order of nobles.
The nobles went with the requisite oath, not only willingly, but inhaste; for various punishments threatened the stubborn, and especiallyconfiscation and robbery. It was said that here and there the Swedeshad already begun, as in Great Poland, to thumb-screw suspected men. Itwas repeated also, with alarm, that they were casting suspicion on thewealthiest on purpose to rob them.
In view of all this, it was unsafe to remain in the country; thewealthier therefore hurried to the towns to live under the immediateeye of Swedish commandants, so as to avoid suspicion of intrigueagainst the King of Sweden.
Pan Andrei bent his ear carefully to what nobles were saying, andthough they did not wish greatly to speak with him, since he was a poorfellow, he discovered this much, that near neighbors, acquaintances,even friends, did not speak among themselves with sincerity touchingthe Swedes or the new government. It is true they complained loudly ofthe "requisitions;" and in fact there was reason, for to each village,each hamlet, came letters from commandants with orders to furnish greatquantities of grain, bread, salt, cattle, money; and frequently theseorders exceeded the possible, especially because when supplies of onekind were exhausted, others were demanded; whoso did not pay, to himwas sent an execution in thrice the amount.
But the old days had gone! Each man extricated himself as best he wasable, took out of his own mouth, gave, paid; complaining, groaning, andthinking in his soul that long ago it was different. But they comfortedthemselves for the time, saying that when the war was over therequisitions would cease. The Swedes promised the same, saying, "Onlylet the king gain the whole country, he will begin to govern at oncelike a father."
For the nobles who had given up their own king and country; who before,and not long before, had called the kindly Yan Kazimir a tyrant,suspecting him of striving for absolute power; who opposed him ineverything, protesting in provincial
and national diets, and in theirhunger for novelty and change went so far that they recognized, almostwithout opposition, an invader as lord, so as to have some change,--itwould be a shame then even to complain. Karl Gustav had freed them fromthe tyrant, they had abandoned of their own will their lawful king; butthey had the change so greatly desired.
Therefore the most intimate did not speak sincerely among themselvestouching what they thought of that change, inclining their earswillingly to those who asserted that the attacks, requisitions,robberies, and confiscations were, of course burdens, but onlytemporary ones, which would cease as soon as Karl Gustav was firm onthe throne.
"This is grievous, brother, grievous," said one noble to another attimes, "but still we must be thankful for the new ruler. He is a greatpotentate and warrior; he will conquer the Tartars, restrain the Turks,drive the Northerners away from the boundaries; and we together withSweden will flourish."
"Even if we were not glad," answered another, "what is to be doneagainst such power? We cannot fly to the sun on a spade."
At times, too, they referred to the fresh oath. Kmita was enragedlistening to such talks and discussions; and once when a certain noblesaid in his presence in an inn that a man must be faithful to him towhom he had taken oath. Pan Andrei shouted out to him,--
"You must have two mouths,--one for true and the other for false oaths,for you have sworn to Yan Kazimir!"
There were many other nobles present, for this happened not far fromPjasnysh. Hearing these words, all started. On some faces wonder wasvisible at the boldness of Kmita; others flushed. At last the mostimportant man said,--
"No one here has broken his oath to the former king. He broke ithimself; for he left the country, not watching over its defence."
"Would you were killed!" cried Kmita. "But King Lokyetek,--how manytimes was he forced to leave the country, and still he returned, forthe fear of God was yet in men's hearts. It was not Yan Kazimir whodeserted, but those who sold him and who now calumniate him, so as topalliate their own sins before God and the world!"
"You speak too boldly, young man! Whence come you who wish to teach uspeople of this place the fear of God? See to it that the Swedes do notoverhear you."
"If you are curious, I will tell you whence I am. I am from ElectoralPrussia, and belong to the elector. But being of Sarmatian blood, Ifeel a good will toward the country, and am ashamed of the indifferenceof this people."
Here the nobles, forgetting their anger, surrounded him and began toinquire hurriedly and with curiosity,--
"You are from Electoral Prussia? But tell what you know! What is theelector doing there? Does he think of rescuing us from oppression?"
"From what oppression? You are glad of the new ruler, so do not talk ofoppression. As you have made your bed, so you must sleep on it."
"We are glad, for we cannot help it. They stand with swords over ournecks. But speak out, as if we were not glad."
"Give him something to drink, let his tongue be loosened! Speak boldly,there are no traitors here among us."
"You are all traitors!" roared Pan Andrei, "and I don't wish to drinkwith you; you are servants of the Swedes."
Then he went out of the room, slamming the door, and they remained inshame and amazement; no man seized his sabre, no man moved after Kmitato avenge the insult.
But he went directly to Pryasnysh. A few furlongs before the placeSwedish patrols took him and led him before the commandant. There wereonly six men in the patrol, and an under-officer was the seventh;therefore Soroka and the two Kyemliches began to look at them hungrily,like wolves at sheep, and asked Kmita with their eyes, if he would notgive order to surround them.
Pan Andrei also felt no small temptation, especially since theVengyerka flowed near, between banks overgrown with reeds; but herestrained himself, and let the party be taken quietly to thecommandant.
There he told the commandant who he was,--that he had come from theelector's country, and that he went every year with horses to Sobota.The Kyemliches too had certificates with which they provided themselvesin Leng, for the place was well known to them; therefore thecommandant, who was himself a Prussian German, made no difficulty, onlyinquired carefully what kind of horses they were driving and wished tosee them.
When Kmita's attendants drove the beasts up, in accordance with thecommandant's wish, he looked at them carefully and said,--
"I will buy these. From another I would have taken them without pay;but since you are from Prussia, I will not harm you."
Kmita seemed somewhat confused when it came to selling, for by this thereason for going farther was lost, and he would have to go back toPrussia. He asked therefore a price so high that it was almost twicethe real value of the horses. Beyond expectation the officer wasneither angry, nor did he haggle about the price.
"Agreed!" said he. "Drive the horses into the shed, and I will bringyou the pay at once."
The Kyemliches were glad in their hearts, but Pan Andrei fell intoanger and began to curse. Still there was no way but to drive in thehorses. If they refused, they would be suspected at once of tradingonly in appearance.
Meanwhile the officer came back, and gave Kmita a piece of paper withwriting.
"What is this?" asked Pan Andrei.
"Money or the same as money,--an order."
"And where will they pay me?"
"At headquarters!"
"Where are headquarters?"
"In Warsaw," said the officer, laughing maliciously.
"We sell only for ready money."
"How's that, what's that, oh, gates of heaven?" began old Kyemlich,groaning.
Kmita turned, and looking at him threateningly, said,--
"For me the word of the commandant is the same as ready money. I willgo willingly to Warsaw, for there I can buy honest goods from theArmenians, for which I shall be well paid in Prussia."
Then, when the officer walked away, Pan Andrei said, to comfortKyemlich,--
"Quiet, you rogue! These orders are the best passes; we can go toCracow with our complaints, for they will not pay us. It is easier topress cheese out of a stone than money out of the Swedes. But this isjust playing into my hand. This breeches fellow thinks that he hastricked me, but he knows not what service he has rendered. I'll pay youout of my own pocket for the horses; you will be at no loss."
The old man recovered himself, and it was only from habit that he didnot cease yet for a while to complain,--
"They have plundered us, brought us to poverty!"
But Pan Andrei was glad to find the road open before him, for heforesaw that the Swedes would not pay for the horses in Warsaw, and inall likelihood they would pay nowhere,--hence he would be able to go oncontinually as it were seeking for justice, even to the Swedish king,who was at Cracow occupied with the siege of the ancient capital.
Meanwhile Kmita resolved to pass the night in Pjasnysh to give hishorses rest, and without changing his assumed name to throw aside hisexterior of a poor noble. He saw that all despised a poor horse-dealer,that any one might attack him more readily and have less fear to answerfor injustice to an insignificant man. It was more difficult in thatdress to have approach to important nobles, and therefore moredifficult to discover what each one was thinking.
He procured therefore clothing answering to his station and his birth,and went to an inn so as to talk with his brother nobles. But he wasnot rejoiced at what he heard. In the taverns and public houses thenobles drank to the health of the King of Sweden, and to the success ofthe protector, struck glasses with the Swedish officers, laughed at thejokes which these officers permitted themselves to make at the expenseof Yan Kazimir and Charnyetski.
Fear for their own lives and property had debased people to such adegree that they were affable to the invaders, and hurried to keep uptheir good humor. Still even that debasement had its limits. The noblesallowed themselves, their king, the hetmans, and Pan Charnyetski to beridiculed, but not their religion; and when a certain Swedish captaindeclared that the Luther
an faith was as good as the Catholic, PanGrabkovski, sitting near him, not being able to endure that blasphemy,struck him on the temple with a hatchet, and taking advantage of theuproar, slipped out of the public house and vanished in the crowd.
They fell to pursuing him, but news came which turned attention inanother direction. Couriers arrived with news that Cracow hadsurrendered, that Pan Charnyetski was in captivity, and that the lastbarrier to Swedish dominion was swept away.
The nobles were dumb at the first moment, but the Swedes began torejoice and cry "Vivat." In the church of the Holy Ghost, in the churchof the Bernardines, and in the cloister of Bernardine nuns, recentlyerected by Pani Muskovski, it was ordered to ring the bells. Theinfantry and cavalry came out on the square, from the breweries andcloth-shearing mills, in battle-array, and began to fire from cannonsand muskets. Then they rolled out barrels of gorailka, mead, and beerfor the army and the citizens; they burned pitch-barrels and feastedtill late at night. The Swedes dragged out the inhabitants from thehouses to dance with them, to rejoice and frolic; and together withthrongs of soldiers straggled along nobles who drank with the cavalry,and were forced to feign joy at the fall of Cracow and the defeat ofCharnyetski.
Disgust carried away Kmita, and he took refuge early in his quartersoutside the town, but he could not sleep. A fever tormented him, anddoubts besieged his soul. Had he not turned from the road too late,when the whole country was in the hands of the Swedes? It came into hishead that all was lost now, and the Commonwealth would never rise fromits fall.
"This is not a mere unlucky war," thought he, "which may end with theloss of some province; this is accomplished ruin! This means that thewhole Commonwealth becomes a Swedish province. We have caused thisourselves, and I more than others."
This thought burned him, and conscience gnawed. Sleep fled from him. Heknew not what to do,--to travel farther, remain in the place, orreturn. Even if he collected a party and harried the Swedes, they wouldhunt him as a bandit, and not treat him as a soldier. Besides, he is ina strange region, where no one knows who he is. Who will join him?Fearless men rallied to him in Lithuania, where he, the most famous,called them together; but here, even if some had heard of Kmita, theyheld him a traitor and a friend of the Swedes, but surely no one hadever heard of Babinich.
All is useless! It is useless to go to the king, for it is too late; itis useless to go to Podlyasye, for the Confederates think him atraitor; it is useless to go to Lithuania, for there the Radzivills ownall; it is useless to stay where he is, for there he has nothing to do.The best would be to drive out the soul, and not look on this world,but flee from remorse.
But will it be better in that world for those who having sinned theirfill in this life, have not effaced their sins in any way, and willstand before judgment beneath the whole weight of these sins? Kmitastruggled in his bed, as if lying on a bed of torture. Such unendurabletorments he had not passed through, even in the forest cabin of theKyemliches.
He felt strong, healthy, enterprising,--the soul in him was rushing outto begin something, to do something,--and here every road was blocked;even knock the head against a wall,--there is no issue, no salvation,no hope.
After he had tossed during the night on his bed, he sprang up beforedaybreak, roused his men, and rode on. They went toward Warsaw, but heknew not himself wherefore or why. He would have escaped to the Saitchin despair, if times had not changed, and if Hmelnitski, together withButurlin, had not just overborne the grand hetman of the kingdom, atGrodek, carrying at the same time fire and sword through thesouthwestern regions of the Commonwealth, and sending predatory bandsas far as Lublin.
Along the roads to Pultusk, Pan Andrei met at all points Swedishparties, escorting wagons with provisions, grain, bread, beer, andherds of every kind of cattle. With the herds and wagons went crowds ofpeasants, small nobles, weeping and groaning, for they were draggedaway numbers of miles with the wagons. Happy the man who was allowed toreturn home with his wagon; and this did not happen in every case, forafter they had brought the supplies peasants and petty nobles wereforced to labor at repairing castles, building sheds and magazines.
Kmita saw also that in the neighborhood of Pultusk the Swedes actedmore harshly with the people than in Pjasnysh; and not being able tounderstand the cause, he inquired about it of the nobles whom he met onthe road.
"The nearer you go to Warsaw," answered one of the travellers, "theharsher you will find the oppressors. Where they have just come and arenot secure, they are more kindly, publish the commands of the kingagainst oppression, and promulgate the capitulations; but where theyfeel safe, and have occupied castles in the neighborhood, they breakall promises, have no consideration, commit injustice, plunder, rob,raise their hands against churches, the clergy, and sacred nuns. It isnothing here yet, but to describe what is going on in Great Polandwords fail in the mouths of men."
Here the noble began to describe what was taking place in GreatPoland,--what extortions, violence, and murders the savage enemycommitted; how men were thumbscrewed and tortured to discover money;how the Provincial, Father Branetski, was killed in Poznan itself; andpeasants were tortured so fearfully that the hair stood on one's headat the mere thought of it.
"It will come to this everywhere," said the noble; "it is thepunishment of God. The last judgment is near. Worse and worse everyday,--and salvation from no point."
"It is a marvel to me," said Kmita, "for I am not of these parts andknow not how people feel here, that you, gracious gentlemen, beingnobles and knightly persons, endure these oppressions in patience."
"With what can we rise up?" answered the noble. "In their hands are thecastles, fortresses, cannon, powder, muskets; they have taken from useven fowling-pieces. There was still some hope in Charnyetski; butsince he is in prison, and the king in Silesia, who will think ofresistance? There are hands, but nothing in them, and there is nohead."
"And there is no hope," added Kmita, in a hollow voice.
Here they dropped the conversation, for a Swedish division came upconvoying wagons, small nobles, and a "requisition." It was a wonderfulspectacle. Sitting on horses as fat as bullocks, mustached and beardedtroopers rode on in a cloud of dust, with their right hands on theirhips, with their hats on the sides of their heads, with tens of geeseand hens hanging at their saddles. Looking at their warlike andinsolent faces, it was easy to see that they felt like lords, gladsomeand safe. But the brotherhood of petty nobles walked at the side of thewagons, not only barefooted, but with heads drooping on their bosoms,abused, troubled, frequently urged forward with whips.
On seeing this, Kmita's lips quivered as in a fever, and he fell torepeating to the noble near whom he was riding,--
"Oh, my hands are itching, my hands are itching, my hands are itching!"
"Quiet, in the name of the Merciful God! you will ruin yourself, me,and my little children."
More than once, however, Pan Andrei had before him sights still moremarvellous. Behold at times, among parties of horsemen, he saw marchinggroups, larger or smaller, of Polish nobles, with armed attendants;these nobles were joyous, singing songs, drunk, and with Swedes andGermans on the footing of "lord brother."
"How is this?" asked Kmita. "They are persecuting some nobles andcrushing them, while with others they enter into friendship. It must bethat those citizens whom I see among the soldiers are fanaticaltraitors?"
"Not merely fanatical traitors, but worse, for they are heretics,"answered the noble. "They are more grievous to us Catholics than theSwedes; they are the men who plunder most, burn houses, carry offmaidens, commit private offences. The whole country is in alarm fromthem, for everything drops from these men altogether withoutpunishment, and it is easier to get justice from Swedish commandersagainst a Swede, than against one of our own heretics. Everycommandant, if you utter a word, will answer at once, 'I have no rightto touch him, for he is not my man; go to your own tribunals.' And whattribunals are there here now, and what execution of law when everythingis in Swedish hands? Where
the Swede cannot go the heretics will takehim, and they are the men chiefly who incite the Swedes againstchurches and clergy. This is the way in which they punish the country,our mother, for having given them refuge here and freedom for theirblasphemous faith when they were persecuted in other Christian landsjustly, for their intrigues and abominations."
The noble stopped and looked with alarm at Kmita,--
"But you say that you are from Electoral Prussia, so you may be aLutheran?"
"God save me from that," answered Pan Andrei. "I am from Prussia, butof a family Catholic for ages, for we went from Lithuania to Prussia."
"Then praise to the Most High, for I was frightened. My dear sir, as toLithuania there is no lack of dissidents there; and they have apowerful chief in Radzivill, who has turned out so great a traitor thathe can come into comparison with Radzeyovski alone."
"May God grant the devils to pull the soul out through his throatbefore the New Year!" exclaimed Kmita, with venom.
"Amen!" answered the noble, "and also the souls of his servants, hisassistants, his executioners, of whom tidings have come even to us, andwithout whom he would not have dared to bring destruction on thiscountry."
Kmita grew pale and said not a word. He did not ask even--he did notdare to ask--of what assistants, servants, and executioners that noblewas speaking.
Travelling slowly, they came to Pultusk late in the evening; there theycalled Kmita to the bishop's palace or castle to give answer to thecommandant.
"I am furnishing horses to the army of his Swedish Grace," said PanAndrei, "and I have orders with which I am going to Warsaw for money."
Colonel Israel (such was the name of the commandant) smiled under hismustaches and said,--
"Oh, make haste, make haste, and take a wagon for the return, so as tohave something to carry that money in!"
"I thank you for the counsel," answered Pan Andrei. "I understand thatyou are jeering at me; but I will go for my own, even if I have to goto his grace the king!"
"Go! don't give away your own; a very nice sum belongs to you."
"The hour will come when you'll pay me," retorted Kmita, going out.
In the town itself he came on celebrations again, for rejoicing overthe capture of Cracow was to last three days. He learned, however, thatin Pjasnysh the Swedish triumph was exaggerated, perhaps by design.Charnyetski, the castellan of Kieff, had not fallen into captivity, buthad obtained the right of marching from the city with his troops, witharms and lighted matches at the cannon. It was said that he was toretire to Silesia. This was not a great consolation, but still aconsolation.
In Pultusk there were considerable forces which were to go thence tothe Prussian boundary, under command of Colonel Israel, to alarm theelector; therefore neither the town nor the castle, though veryspacious, could furnish lodging for the soldiers. Here too, for thefirst time, Kmita saw soldiers encamped in a church,--in a splendidGothic structure, founded almost two hundred years before by BishopGijytski, were quartered hireling German infantry. Inside the sanctuaryit was flaming with light as on Easter, for on the stone floor wereburning fires kindled in various places. Kettles were steaming over thefires. Around kegs of beer were groups of common soldiers,--hardenedrobbers, who had plundered all Catholic Germany, and of a certaintywere not spending their first night in a church. In the church wereheard talking and shouting. Hoarse voices were singing camp songs;there sounded also the outcry and merriment of women, who in those daysstraggled usually in the wake of an army.
Kmita stood in the open door; through the smoke in the midst of ruddyflames he saw the red, mustached faces of soldiers who, inflamed withdrink, were sitting on kegs and quaffing beer; some throwing dice orplaying cards, some selling church vestments, others embracing lowwomen dressed in bright garments. Uproar, laughter, the clatter oftankards, the sound of muskets, the echoes thundering in the vaultsdeafened him. His head whirled; he could not believe what his eyes saw;the breath died in his breast; hell would not have more greatly amazedhim. At last he clutched his hair and ran out repeating as if inbewilderment,--
"O God, aid us! O God, correct us! O God, deliver us!"