The Deluge: An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Vol. 1 (of 2)

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER XXXII.

  Jendzian had no intention of passing a night at "The Mandrake," forfrom Vansosh to Shchuchyn was not far,--he wanted merely to give restto his horses, especially to those drawing the loaded wagons.Therefore, when Kmita let him travel farther, Jendzian lost no time,and entered Shchuchyn late in the evening. Having announced himself tothe sentries, he took his place on the square; for the houses wereoccupied by soldiers, who even then were not all able to find lodgings.Shchuchyn passed for a town, but was not one in reality; for it had notyet even walls, a town hall, courts of justice, or the college ofmonks, founded in the time of King Yan III. It had a few houses, but agreater number of cabins than houses, and was called a town, because itwas built in a quadrangular form with a market-place in the centre,slightly less swampy than the pond at which the paltry little place wassituated.

  Jendzian slept under his warm wolfskin till morning, and then wentstraight to Pan Volodyovski, who, as he had not seen him for an age,received him with gladness and took him at once to Pan Yan and Zagloba.Jendzian shed tears at sight of his former master, whom he had servedfaithfully so many years; and with whom he had passed through so manyadventures and worked himself finally to fortune. Without shame of hisformer service, Jendzian began to kiss the hands of Pan Yan and repeatwith emotion,--

  "My master, my master, in what times do we meet again!"

  Then all began in a chorus to complain of the times; at last Zaglobasaid,--

  "But you, Jendzian, are always in the bosom of fortune, and as I seehave come out a lord. Did I not prophesy that if you were not hangedyou would have fortune? What is going on with you now?"

  "My master, why hang me, when I have done nothing against God, nothingagainst the law? I have served faithfully; and if I have betrayed anyman, he was an enemy,--which I consider a special service. And if Idestroyed a scoundrel here and there by stratagem, as some one of therebels, or that witch,--do you remember, my master?--that is not a sin;but even if it were a sin, it is my master's, not mine, for it was fromyou that I learned stratagems."

  "Oh, that cannot be! See what he wants!" said Zagloba. "If you wish meto howl for your sins after death, give me their fruit during life. Youare using alone all that wealth which you gained with the Cossacks, andalone you will be turned to roast bacon in hell."

  "God is merciful, my master, though it is untrue that I use wealth formyself alone; for first I beggared our wicked neighbors with lawsuits,and took care of my parents, who are living now quietly in Jendziane,without any disputes,--for the Yavorskis have gone off with packs tobeg, and I, at a distance, am earning my living as I can."

  "Then you are not living in Jendziane?" asked Pan Yan.

  "In Jendziane my parents live as of old, but I am living in Vansosh,and I cannot complain, for God has blessed me. But when I heard thatall you gentlemen were in Shchuchyn, I could not sit still, for Ithought to myself, 'Surely it is time to move again!' There is going tobe war, let it come!"

  "Own up," said Zagloba, "the Swedes frightened you out of Vansosh?"

  "There are no Swedes yet in Vidzka, though small parties appear, andcautiously, for the peasants are terribly hostile."

  "That is good news for me," said Volodyovski, "for yesterday I sent aparty purposely to get an informant concerning the Swedes, for I didnot know whether it was possible to stay in Shchuchyn with safety;surely that party conducted you hither?"

  "That party? Me? I have conducted it, or rather I have brought it, forthere is not even one man of that party who can sit on a horse alone."

  "What do you say? What has happened?" inquired Volodyovski.

  "They are terribly beaten!" explained Jendzian.

  "Who beat them?"

  "Pan Kmita."

  The Skshetuskis and Zagloba sprang up from the benches, oneinterrupting the other in questioning,--

  "Pan Kmita? But what was he doing here? Has the prince himself comealready? Well! Tell right away what has happened."

  Pan Volodyovski rushed out of the room to see with his eyes, to verifythe extent of the misfortune, and to look at the men; thereforeJendzian said,--

  "Why should I tell? Better wait till Pan Volodyovski comes back; for itis more his affair, and it is a pity to move the mouth twice to repeatthe same story."

  "Did you see Kmita with your own eyes?" asked Zagloba.

  "As I see you, my master!"

  "And spoke with him?"

  "Why should I not speak with him, when we met at 'The Mandrake' not farfrom here? I was resting my horses, and he had stopped for the night.An hour would have been short for our talk. I complained of the Swedes,and he complained also of the Swedes--"

  "Of the Swedes? He complained also?" asked Pan Yan.

  "As of devils, though he was going among them."

  "Had he many troops?"

  "He had no troops, only a few attendants; true, they were armed, andhad such snouts that even those men who slaughtered the Holy Innocentsat Herod's command had not rougher or viler. He gave himself out as asmall noble in pigskin boots, and said that he went with horses to thefairs. But though he had a number of horses, his story did not seemclear to me, for neither his person nor his bearing belonged to ahorse-dealer, and I saw a fine ring on his finger,--this one." HereJendzian held a glittering stone before the listeners.

  Zagloba struck himself on the side and cried: "Ah, you gypsied that outof him! By that alone might I know you, Jendzian, at the end of theworld!"

  "With permission of my master, I did not gypsy it; for I am a noble,not a gypsy, and feel myself the equal of any man, though I live onrented lands till I settle on my own. This ring Pan Kmita gave as atoken that what he said was true; and very soon I will repeat his wordsfaithfully to your graces, for it seems to me that in this case ourskins are in question."

  "How is that?" asked Zagloba.

  At this moment Volodyovski came in, roused to the utmost, and pale fromanger; he threw his cap on the table and cried,--

  "It passes imagination! Three men killed; Yuzva Butrym cut up, barelybreathing!"

  "Yuzva Butrym? He is a man with the strength of a bear!" said theastonished Zagloba.

  "Before my eyes Pan Kmita stretched him out," put in Jendzian.

  "I've had enough of that Kmita!" cried Volodyovski, beside himself;"wherever that man shows himself he leaves corpses behind, like theplague. Enough of this! Balance for balance, life for life; but now anew reckoning! He has killed my men, fallen upon good soldiers; thatwill be set to his account before our next meeting."

  "He did not attack them, but they him; for he hid himself in thedarkest corner, so they should not recognize him," explained Jendzian.

  "And you, instead of giving aid to my men, testify in his favor!" saidVolodyovski, in anger.

  "I speak according to justice. As to aid, my men tried to give aid; butit was hard for them, for in the tumult they did not know whom to beatand whom to spare, and therefore they suffered. That I came away withmy life and my sacks is due to the sense of Pan Kmita alone, for hearhow it happened."

  Jendzian began a detailed account of the battle in "The Mandrake,"omitting nothing; and when at length he told what Kmita had commandedhim to tell, they were all wonder fully astonished.

  "Did he say that himself?" asked Zagloba.

  "He himself," replied Jendzian. "'I,' said he, 'am not an enemy to PanVolodyovski or the confederates, though they think differently. Laterthis will appear; but meanwhile let them come together, in God's name,or the voevoda of Vilna will take them one by one like lobsters from anet.'"

  "And did he say that the voevoda was already on the march?" asked TanYan.

  "He said that the voevoda was only waiting for Swedish reinforcements,and that he would move at once on Podlyasye."

  "What do you think of all this, gentlemen?" asked Volodyovski, lookingat his comrades.

  "Either that man is betraying Radzivill, or he is preparing some ambushfor us. But of what kind? He advises us to keep in a body. Wh
at harm tous may rise out of that?"

  "To perish of hunger," answered Volodyovski. "I have just received newsthat Jyromski, Kotovski, and Lipnitski must dispose their cavalry inparties of some tens each over the whole province, for they cannot getforage together."

  "But if Radzivill really does come," asked Pan Stanislav, "who canoppose him?"

  No one could answer that question, for really it was as clear as thesun that if the grand hetman of Lithuania should come and find theconfederates scattered, he could destroy them with the greatest ease.

  "An astonishing thing!" repeated Zagloba; and after a moment's silencehe continued: "Still I should think that he had abandoned Radzivill.But in such a case he would not be slipping past in disguise, and towhom,--to the Swedes." Here he turned to Jendzian: "Did he tell youthat he was going to Warsaw?"

  "He did."

  "But the Swedish forces are there already."

  "About this hour he must have met the Swedes, if he travelled allnight," answered Jendzian.

  "Have you ever seen such a man?" asked Zagloba, looking at hiscomrades.

  "That there is in him evil with good, as tares with wheat, is certain,"said Pan Yan; "but that there is any treason in this counsel that hegives us at present, I simply deny. I do not know whither he is going,why he is slipping past in disguise; and it would be idle to break myhead over this, for it is some mystery. But he gives good advice, warnsus sincerely: I will swear to that, as well as to this,--that the onlysalvation for us is to listen to his advice. Who knows if we are notindebted to him again, for safety and life?"

  "For God's sake," cried Volodyovski, "how is Radzivill to come herewhen Zolotarenko's men and Hovanski's infantry are in his way? It isdifferent in our case! One squadron may slip through, and even with onewe had to open a way through Pilvishki with sabres. It is another thingwith Kmita, who is slipping by with a few men; but when the princehetman passes with a whole army? Either he will destroy those first--"

  Volodyovski had not finished speaking when the door opened and anattendant came in.

  "A messenger with a letter to the Colonel," said he.

  "Bring it."

  The attendant went out and returned in a moment with the letter. PanMichael broke the seal quickly and read,--

  That which I did not finish telling the tenant of Vansosh yesterday, Iadd to-day in writing. The hetman of himself has troops enough againstyou, but he is waiting for Swedish reinforcements, so as to go with theauthority of the King of Sweden; for then if the Northerners[26] attackhim they will have to strike the Swedes too, and that would mean warwith the King of Sweden. They will not venture to make war withoutorders, for they fear the Swedes, and will not take on themselves theresponsibility of beginning a war. They have discovered that it isRadzivill's purpose to put the Swedes forward against them everywhere;let them shoot or cut down even one man, there would be war at once.The Northerners themselves know not what to do now, for Lithuania isgiven up to the Swedes; they stay therefore in one place, only waitingfor what will be, and warring no further. For these reasons they do notrestrain Radzivill, nor oppose him. He will go directly against you,and will destroy you one after the other, unless you collect in onebody. For God's sake, do this, and beg the voevoda of Vityebsk to comequickly, since it is easier for him to reach you now through theNortherners while they stand as if stupefied. I wanted to warn youunder another name, so that you might more easily believe, but becausetidings are given you already from another, I write my own name. It isdestruction if you do not believe. I am not now what I was, and Godgrant that you will hear something altogether different about me.

  Kmita.

  "You wished to know how Radzivill would come to us; here is youranswer!" said Pan Yan.

  "That is true, he gives good reasons," answered Volodyovski.

  "What good reasons! holy reasons!" cried Zagloba. "There can be nodoubt here. I was the first to know that man; and though there are nocurses that have not been showered on his head, I tell you we shallbless him yet. With me it is enough to look at a man to know his value.You remember how he dropped into my heart at Kyedani? He loves us, too,as knightly people. When he heard my name the first time, he came nearsuffocating me with admiration, and for my sake saved you all."

  "You have not changed," remarked Jendzian; "why should Pan Kmita admireyou more than my master or Pan Volodyovski?"

  "You are a fool!" answered Zagloba. "He knew you at once; and if hecalled you the tenant, and not the fool of Vansosh, it was throughpoliteness."

  "Then maybe he admired you through politeness!" retorted Jendzian.

  "See how the bread swells; get married, lord tenant, and surely youwill swell better--I guarantee that."

  "That is all well," said Volodyovski; "but if he is so friendly, whydid he not come to us himself instead of slipping around us like a wolfand biting our men?"

  "Not your head, Pan Michael. What we counsel do you carry out, and noevil will come of it. If your wit were as good as your sabre, you wouldbe grand hetman already, in place of Revera Pototski. And why shouldKmita come here? Is it not because you would not believe him, just asyou do not now believe his letter, from which it might come to greattrouble, for he is a stubborn cavalier. But suppose that you didbelieve him, what would the other colonels do, such as Kotovski,Jyromski, or Lipnitski? What would your Lauda men say? Would not theycut him down the moment you turned your head away?"

  "Father is right!" said Pan Yan; "he could not come here."

  "Then why was he going to the Swedes?" insisted the stubborn PanMichael.

  "The devil knows, whether he is going to the Swedes; the devil knowswhat may flash into Kmita's wild noddle. That is nothing to us, but letus take advantage of the warning, if we wish to carry away our heads."

  "There is nothing to meditate on here," said Pan Stanislav.

  "It is needful to inform with all speed Kotovski, Jyromski, Lipnitski,and that other Kmita," said Pan Yan. "Send to them, Michael, news atonce; but do not write who gave the warning, for surely they would notbelieve."

  "We alone shall know whose the service, and in due time we shall notfail to publish it!" cried Zagloba, "Onward, lively, Michael!"

  "And we will move to Byalystok ourselves, appointing a muster there forall. God give us the voevoda of Vityebsk at the earliest," said Yan.

  "From Byalystok we must send a deputation from the army to him. Godgrant that we shall stand before the eyes of the hetman of Lithuania,"said Zagloba, "with equal force or greater than his own. It is not forus to rush at him, but it is different with the voevoda. He is a worthyman, and honest; there is not another such in the Commonwealth."

  "Do you know Pan Sapyeha?" asked Stanislav.

  "Do I know him! I knew him as a little boy, not higher than my sabre.But he was then like an angel."

  "And now he has turned into money, not only his property, not only hissilver and jewels, but most likely he has melted into coin the metal ofhis horse-trappings, so as to collect as many troops as possibleagainst the enemy," said Volodyovski.

  "Thank God that there is even one such man," answered Pan Stanislav,"for remember how we trusted in Radzivill."

  "Oh that is blasphemous!" cried Zagloba. "Voevoda of Vityebsk, ba! ba!Long life to the voevoda of Vityebsk! And you, Michael, to the roadwith all speed, to the road! Let the mudfish remain in these swamps ofShchuchyn, but we will go to Byalystok, where perhaps we shall findother fish. The Jews there, on Sabbath, bake very excellent bread.Well, at least war will begin; I am yearning for it. And if we breakthrough Radzivill we will begin at the Swedes. We have shown themalready what we can do. To the road, Michael, for _periculum in mora_(there is danger in delay)!"

  "I will go to put the squadrons in line!" said Pan Yan.

  An hour later, messengers, between ten and twenty in number, wereflying as a horse gallops toward Podlyasye, and soon after them movedthe whole squadron of Lauda. The officers went in advance, arrangingand discussing; and Roh Koval
ski, the lieutenant, led the soldiers.They went through Osovyets and Gonyandz, shortening for themselves theroad to Byalystok, where they hoped to find other confederatesquadrons.