CHAPTER I.
There was in Jmud a powerful family, the Billeviches, descended fromMendog, connected with many, and respected, beyond all, in the districtof Rossyeni. The Billeviches had never risen to great offices, thehighest they had filled were provincial; but in war they had renderedthe country unsurpassed services, for which they were richly rewardedat various times. Their native nest, existing to this day, was calledBilleviche; but they possessed many other estates, both in theneighborhood of Rossyeni and farther on toward Krakin, near Lauda,Shoi, Nyevyaja, and beyond Ponyevyej. In later times they branched outinto a number of houses, the members of which lost sight of oneanother. They all assembled only when there was a census at Rossyeni ofthe general militia of Jmud on the plain of the invited Estates. Theymet also in part under the banners of the Lithuanian cavalry and atprovincial diets; and because they were wealthy and influential, eventhe Radzivills, all powerful in Lithuania and Jmud, had to reckon withthem.
In the reign of Yan Kazimir, the patriarch of all the Billeviches, wasHeraclius, colonel of light-horse and under-chamberlain of Upita. Hedid not dwell in the ancestral nest, which was rented at that time byTomash, the sword-bearer of Rossyeni; Heraclius Billevich owned alsoVodokty, Lyubich, and Mitruny, situated near Lauda, surrounded, as ifwith a sea, by agriculturists of the petty nobility.
Besides the Billeviches there were only a few of the more considerablefamilies in the neighborhood, such as the Sollohubs, the Montvills, theSchyllings, the Koryznis, the Sitsinskis,--though there was no lack ofsmaller nobility of these names; finally, the whole river region ofLauda was thickly studded with so-called "neighborhoods," or, in commonparlance, _zastsianki_,[4] occupied by the nobility of Lauda, renownedand celebrated in the history of Jmud.
In other neighborhoods of the region the families took their names fromthe places, or the places from the families, as was customary inPodlyasye; but along the river region of Lauda it was different. InMorezi dwelt the Stakyans, whom Batory in his time settled there forbravery at Pskoff; in Volmontovichi, on good land, swarmed the Butryms,the bulkiest fellows in all Lauda, noted for few words and heavyhands,--men who in time of provincial diets, raids on property, or warswere wont to go in close rank and in silence. The lands in Drojeykaniand Mozgi were managed by the numerous Domasheviches, famed hunters;these men tramped through the wilderness of Zyelonka as far as Wilkomiron bear-trails. The Gashtovts occupied Patsuneli; their women werefamous for beauty, so that finally all pretty girls around Krakin,Ponyevyej, and Upita were known as Patsuneli girls. The Sollohubs Maliwere rich in horses and excellent cattle, bred in forest pastures. TheGostsyeviches in Goshchuni made tar in the woods, from which occupationthey were called Gostsyevichi Charni (Black) or Dymni (Smoky),--theBlack or Smoky Gostsyeviches.
There were other villages and families also. The names of many of themare still extant; but these villages are not situated as before, andmen call them by other names. Wars came too with misfortunes and fires,villages were not always rebuilt on the ruins; in a word, much haschanged. But in that time old Lauda was still flourishing in itsprimeval estate; and the nobles had reached their highest repute a fewyears before, when, fighting at Loyovo against the uprisen Cossacks,they covered themselves with great glory under the lead of YanushRadzivill.
All the Lauda men served in the regiment of old HeracliusBillevich,--the richer with two horses, the poorer with one, and thepoorest as attendants. In general, these nobles were warlike, andespecially enamoured of a knightly career; but in questions whichformed the ordinary subjects of discussion at a provincial diet theywere less skilled. They knew that there was a king in Warsaw; thatRadzivill and Pan Hlebovich were starostas in Jmud, and Pan Billevichat Vodokty in Lauda. That was sufficient for them; and they voted asPan Billevich instructed them, convinced that he wanted the same as PanHlebovich, and that the latter went hand in hand with Radzivill.Radzivill was the king's arm in Lithuania and Jmud; the king was theconsort of the Commonwealth, the father of the legion of nobles.
Pan Billevich was, in fact, a friend rather than a client of thepowerful oligarchs in Birji, and a greatly esteemed one at that; for atevery call he had a thousand voices and a thousand Lauda sabres,--andsabres in the hands of the Stakyans, the Butryms, the Domasheviches, orthe Gashtovts were despised at that period by no man on earth. It wasonly later that everything changed, just at the time when Pan HeracliusBillevich was no more.
This father and benefactor of the nobles of Lauda died in 1654. In thatyear a terrible war[5] flamed forth along the whole eastern line of theCommonwealth; Pan Billevich did not go to it, for his age and hisdeafness did not permit; but the Lauda men went. When tidings came thatRadzivill was defeated at Shklov, and the Lauda regiment in an attackon the hired infantry of France was cut almost to pieces, the oldcolonel, stricken by apoplexy, yielded his soul.
These tidings were brought by a certain Pan Michael Volodyovski, ayoung but very famous warrior, who instead of Heraclius had led theLauda regiment by appointment of Radzivill. The survivors came with himto their inherited fields, wearied, weighed down, and famished; incommon with the whole army, they complained that the grand hetman,trusting in the terror of his name and the spell of victory, had rushedwith small forces on a power ten times greater than his own, and thushad overwhelmed the army and the whole country.
But amid the universal complaining not one voice was raised againstVolodyovski. On the contrary, those who had escaped lauded him to theskies, relating wonders of his skill and his deeds. And the only solaceleft the survivors was the memory of the exploits performed under theyoung colonel's leadership,--how in the attack they had burst throughthe first line of reserves as through smoke; how later they fell on theFrench mercenaries and cut to pieces with their sabres the foremostregiment, on which occasion Pan Volodyovski with his own hand killedthe colonel; how at last, surrounded and under fire from four sides,they saved themselves from the chaos by desperate fighting, falling inmasses, but breaking the enemy.
Those of the Lauda men who, not serving in the Lithuanian quota, wereobliged to form a part of the general militia, listened in sorrow butwith pride to these narratives. It was hoped on all sides that thegeneral militia, the final defence of the country, would soon becalled. It was agreed already that Volodyovski would be chosen captainof Lauda in that event; for though not of the local residents, therewas no man among them more celebrated than he. The survivors said,besides, that he had rescued the hetman himself from death. Indeed, allLauda almost bore him in its arms, and one neighborhood seized him fromanother. The Butryms, the Domasheviches, and the Gashtovts disputed asto whose guest he should be for the longest period. He pleased thatvaliant nobility so much that when the remnant of Radzivill's troopsmarched to Birji so as to be brought to some order after the defeat, hedid not go with others, but passing from village to village took up hisabode at last in Patsuneli with the Gashtovts, at the house of PakoshGashtovt, who had authority over all in that place.
In fact, Pan Volodyovski could not have gone to Birji in any event, forhe was so ill as to be confined to the bed. First an acute fever cameon him; then from the contusion which he had received at Tsybihovo helost the use of his right arm. The three daughters of his host, whowere noted for beauty, took him into their tender care, and vowed tobring back to his original health such a celebrated cavalier. Thenobility to the last man were occupied with the funeral of their formerchief, Heraclius Billevich.
After the funeral the will of the deceased was opened, from which ittranspired that the old colonel had made his granddaughter, AleksandraBillevich, daughter of the chief hunter of Upita, the heiress of allhis property with the exception of the village of Lyubich. Guardianshipover her till her marriage he confided to the entire nobility ofLauda--
"who, as they were well wishing to me," continued he in the will, "andreturned kindness for kindness, let them do the same too for the orphanin these times of corruption and wickedness, when no one is safe fromthe license of men or free o
f fear; let them guard the orphan frommischance, through memory of me.
"They are also to see that she has safe use of her property with theexception of the village of Lyubich, which I give, present, and conveyto the young banneret of Orsha, so that he may meet no obstacle inentering into possession of it. Should any man wonder at this myaffection for Andrei Kmita, or see in it injustice to my owngranddaughter Aleksandra, he must and should know that I held infriendship and true brotherly love from youthful years till the day ofhis death the father of Andrei Kmita. I was with him in war, he savedmy life many times; and when the malice and envy of the Sitsinskisstrove to wrest from me my fortune, he lent me his aid to defend it.Therefore I, Heraclius Billevich, under-chamberlain of Upita, and alsoan unworthy sinner standing now before the stern judgment of God, wentfour years ago, while alive and walking upon the earthly vale, to PanKmita, the father, the sword-bearer of Orsha, to vow gratitude andsteady friendship. On that occasion we made mutual agreement, accordingto ancient noble and Christian custom, that our children--namely hisson Andrei and my granddaughter Aleksandra--were to be married, so thatfrom them posterity might rise to the praise of God and the good of theState, which I wish most earnestly; and by the will here written I bindmy granddaughter to obedience unless the banneret of Orsha (which Godforbid) stain his reputation with evil deeds and be despoiled of honor.Should he lose his inheritance near Orsha, which may easily happen, sheis to take him as husband with blessing; and even should he loseLyubich, to pay no heed to the loss.
"However, if by the special favor of God, my granddaughter should wishin praise of Him to make an offering of her virginity and put on thehabit of a nun, it is permitted her to do so, for I know that thepraise of God is to precede that of man."
In such fashion did Pan Heraclius Billevich dispose of his fortune andhis granddaughter, at which no one wondered much. Panna Aleksandra hadbeen long aware of what awaited her, and the nobles had heard from ofold of the friendship between Billevich and the Kmitas; besides, intime of defeat the thoughts of men were occupied with other things, sothat soon they ceased to talk of the will.
But they talked of the Kmitas continually in the house at Vodokty, orrather of Pan Andrei, for the old sword-bearer also was dead. Theyounger Kmita had fought at Shklov with his own banner and withvolunteers from Orsha. Then he vanished from the eye; but it was notadmitted that he had perished, since the death of so noted a cavalierwould surely not have escaped notice. The Kmitas were people of birthin Orsha, and lords of considerable fortune; but the flame of war hadruined those regions. Districts and entire lands were turned intodeserts, fortunes were devoured, and people perished. After thecrushing of Radzivill no one offered firm resistance. Gosyevski, fullhetman, had no troops; the hetmans of the Crown with their armies inthe Ukraine were struggling with what strength they had left and couldnot help him, exhausted as well as the Commonwealth by the Cossackwars. The deluge covered the land more and more, only breaking here andthere against fortified walls; but the walls fell one after another, ashad fallen Smolensk. The province of Smolensk, in which lay the fortuneof the Kmitas, was looked on as lost. In the universal chaos, in thegeneral terror, people were scattered like leaves in a tempest, and noman knew what had become of the banneret of Orsha.
But war had not reached Jmud yet. The nobles of Lauda returned to theirsenses by degrees. "The neighborhoods" began to assemble, and discussboth public and private affairs. The Butryms, readiest for battle,muttered that it would be necessary to go to Rossyeni to the muster ofthe general militia, and then to Gosyevski, to avenge the defeat ofShklov; the Domasheviches, the hunters, had gone through the wildernessof Rogovo by the forests till they found parties of the enemy andbrought back news; the Smoky Gostsyeviches smoked meat in their hutsfor a future expedition. In private affairs it was decided to sendtried and experienced men to find Pan Andrei Kmita.
The old men of Lauda held these deliberations under the presidency ofPakosh Gashtovt and Kassyan Butrym, two neighborhood patriarchs. Allthe nobility, greatly flattered by the confidence which the late PanBillevich had placed in them, swore to stand faithfully by the letterof the will, and to surround Panna Aleksandra with well-nigh fatherlycare. This was in time of war, when even in places to which war had notcome disturbance and suffering were felt. On the banks of the Lauda allremained quiet, there were no disputes, there was no breaking throughboundaries on the estates of the young heiress, landmarks were notshifted, no ditches were filled, no branded pine-trees were felled onforest borders, no pastures were invaded. On the contrary, the heiresswas aided with provisions,--whatever the neighborhood had; forinstance, the Stakjans on the river sent salt-fish, wheat came from thesurly Butryms at Voimontovichi, hay from the Gashtovts, game from theDomasheviches (the hunters), tar and pitch from the Gostsyeviches. OfPanna Aleksandra no one in the villages spoke otherwise than as "ourlady," and the pretty girls of Patsuneli waited for Pan Kmita perhapsas impatiently as she.
Meanwhile came the summons calling the nobility. The Lauda men began tomove. He who from being a youth had grown to be a man, he whom age hadnot bent, had to mount his horse. Yan Kazimir arrived at Grodno, andfixed that as the place of general muster. There, then, they mustered.The Butryms in silence went forth; after them others, and the Gashtovtslast,--as they always did, for they hated to leave the Patsuneli girls.The nobles from other districts appeared in scant numbers only, and thecountry was left undefended; but God-fearing Lauda had appeared in fullquota.
Pan Volodyovski did not march, for he was not able yet to use his arm;he remained therefore as if district commander among the women. Theneighborhoods were deserted, and only old men and women sat around thefires in the evening. It was quiet in Ponyevyej and Upita; they werewaiting on all sides for news.
Panna Aleksandra in like manner shut herself in at Vodokty, seeing noone but servants and her guardians of Lauda.