CHAPTER VI.
The horses bore Kmita and the Kyemliches swiftly to ward the Silesianboundary. They advanced with caution to avoid meeting Swedish scouts,for though the cunning Kyemliches had "passes," given by Kuklinovskiand signed by Miller, still soldiers, though furnished with suchdocuments, were usually subjected to examination, and examination mighthave an evil issue for Pan Andrei and his comrades. They rode,therefore, swiftly, so as to pass the boundary in all haste and pushinto the depth of the Emperor's territory. The boundaries themselveswere not free from Swedish ravagers, and frequently whole parties ofhorsemen rode into Silesia to seize those who were going to YanKazimir. But the Kyemliches, during their stay at Chenstohova, occupiedcontinually with hunting individual Swedes, had learned through andthrough the whole region, all the boundary roads, passages, and pathswhere the chase was most abundant, and were as if in their own land.
Along the road old Kyemlich told Pan Andrei what was to be heard in theCommonwealth; and Pan Andrei, having been confined so long in thefortress, forgetting his own pain, listened to the news eagerly, for itwas very unfavorable to the Swedes, and heralded a near end to theirdomination in Poland.
"The army is sick of Swedish fortune and Swedish company," said oldKyemlich; "and as some time ago the soldiers threatened the hetmanswith their lives if they would not join the Swedes, so now the same menentreat Pototski and send deputations asking him to save theCommonwealth from oppression, swearing to stand by him to the death.Some colonels also have begun to attack the Swedes on their ownresponsibility."
"Who began first?"
"Jegotski, the starosta of Babimost, and Pan Kulesha. These began inGreat Poland, and annoy the Swedes notably. There are many smalldivisions in the whole country, but it is difficult to learn the namesof the leaders, for they conceal them to save their own families andproperty from Swedish vengeance. Of the army that regiment rose firstwhich is commanded by Pan Voynillovich."
"Gabryel? He is my relative, though I do not know him."
"A genuine soldier. He is the man who rubbed out Pratski's party, whichwas serving the Swedes, and shot Pratski himself; but now he has goneto the rough mountains beyond Cracow; there he cut up a Swedishdivision, and secured the mountaineers from oppression."
"Are the mountaineers fighting with the Swedes already?"
"They were the first to rise; but as they are stupid peasants, theywanted to rescue Cracow straightway with axes. General Douglasscattered them, for they knew nothing of the level country; but of theparties sent to pursue them in the mountains, not a man has returned.Pan Voynillovich has helped those peasants, and now has gone himself tothe marshal at Lyubovlya, and joined his forces."
"Is Pan Lyubomirski, the marshal, opposed to the Swedes?"
"Reports disagreed. They said that he favored this side and that; butwhen men began to mount their horses throughout the whole country hewent against the Swedes. He is a powerful man, and can do them a greatdeal of harm. He alone might war with the King of Sweden. People saytoo that before spring there will not be one Swede in theCommonwealth."
"God grant that!"
"How can it be otherwise, your grace, since for the siege ofChenstohova all are enraged against them? The army is rising, thenobles are fighting already wherever they can, the peasants arecollecting in crowds, and besides, the Tartars are marching; the Khan,who defeated Hmelnitski and the Cossacks, and promised to destroy themcompletely unless they would march against the Swedes, is coming inperson."
"But the Swedes have still much support among magnates and nobles?"
"Only those take their part who must, and even they are merely waitingfor a chance. The prince voevoda of Vilna is the only man who hasjoined them sincerely, and that act has turned out ill for him."
Kmita stopped his horse, and at the same time caught his side, forterrible pain had shot through him.
"In God's name!" cried he, suppressing a groan, "tell me what is takingplace with Radzivill. Is he all the time in Kyedani?"
"O Ivory Gate!" said the old man; "I know as much as people say, andGod knows what they do not say. Some report that the prince voevoda isliving no longer; others that he is still defending himself against PanSapyeha, but is barely breathing. It is likely that they are strugglingwith each other in Podlyasye, and that Pan Sapyeha has the upper hand,for the Swedes could not save the prince voevoda. Now they say that,besieged in Tykotsin by Sapyeha, it is all over with him."
"Praise be to God! The honest are conquering traitors! Praise be toGod! Praise be to God!"
Kyemlich looked from under his brows at Kmita, and knew not himselfwhat to think, for it was known in the whole Commonwealth that ifRadzivill had triumphed in the beginning over his own troops and thenobles who did not wish Swedish rule, it happened, mainly, thanks toKmita and his men. But old Kyemlich did not let that thought be knownto his colonel, and rode farther in silence.
"But what has happened to Prince Boguslav?" asked Pan Andrei, at last.
"I have heard nothing of him, your grace," answered Kyemlich. "Maybe heis in Tykotsin, and maybe with the elector. War is there at present,and the King of Sweden has gone to Prussia; but we meanwhile arewaiting for our own king. God give him! for let him only show himself,all to a man will rise, and the troops will leave the Swedesstraightway."
"Is that certain?"
"Your grace, I know only what those soldiers said who had to be withthe Swedes at Chenstohova. They are very fine cavalry, some thousandsstrong, under Zbrojek, Kalinski, and other colonels. I may tell yourgrace that no man serves there of his own will, except Kuklinovski'sravagers; they wanted to get the treasures of Yasna Gora. But allhonorable soldiers did nothing but lament, and one quicker than anothercomplained: 'We have enough of this Jew's service! Only let our kingput a foot over the boundary, we will turn our sabres at once on theSwedes; but while he is not here, how can we begin, whither can we go?'So they complain; and in the other regiments which are under thehetmans it is still worse. This I know certainly, for deputations camefrom them to Pan Zbrojek with arguments, and they had secret talksthere at night; this Miller did not know, though he felt that there wasevil about him."
"But is the prince voevoda of Vilna besieged in Tykotsin?" asked PanAndrei.
Kyemlich looked again unquietly on Kmita, for he thought that surely afever was seizing him if he asked to have the same informationrepeated; still he answered,--
"Besieged by Pan Sapyeha."
"Just are Thy judgments, God!" said Kmita. "He who might compare inpower with kings! Has no one remained with him?"
"In Tykotsin there is a Swedish garrison. But with the prince only someof his trustiest attendants have remained."
Kmita's breast was filled with delight. He had feared the vengeance ofthe terrible magnate on Olenka, and though it seemed to him that he hadprevented that vengeance with his threats, still he was tormented bythe thought that it would be better and safer for Olenka and all theBilleviches to live in a lion's den than in Kyedani, under the hand ofthe prince, who never forgave any man. But now when he had fallen hisopponents must triumph by the event; now when he was deprived of powerand significance, when he was lord of only one poor castle, in which hedefended his own life and freedom, he could not think of vengeance; hishand had ceased to weigh on his enemies.
"Praise be to God! praise be to God!" repeated Kmita.
He had his head so filled with the change in Radzivill's fortunes, sooccupied with that which had happened during his stay in Chenstohova,and with the question where was she whom his heart loved, and what hadbecome of her, that a third time he asked Kyemlich: "You say that theprince is broken?"
"Broken completely," answered the old man. "But are you not sick?"
"My side is burned. That is nothing!" answered Kmita.
Again they rode on in silence. The tired horses lessened their speed bydegrees, till at last they were going at a walk. That monotonousmovement lulled to sleep Pan Andrei, who was mortally wearied, and hesl
ept long, nodding in the saddle. He was roused only by the whitelight of day. He looked around with amazement, for in the first momentit seemed to him that everything through which he had passed in thatnight was merely a dream; at last he inquired,--
"Is that you, Kyemlich? Are we riding from Chenstohova?"
"Of course, your grace."
"But where are we?"
"Oho, in Silesia already. Here the Swedes will not get us."
"That is well!" said Kmita, coming to his senses completely. "But whereis our gracious king living?"
"At Glogov."
"We will go there then to bow down to our lord, and offer him service.But listen, old man, to me."
"I am listening, your grace."
Kmita fell to thinking, however, and did not speak at once. He wasevidently combining something in his head; he hesitated, considered,and at last said: "It cannot be otherwise!"
"I am listening, your grace," repeated Kyemlich.
"Neither to the king nor to any man at the court must you mutter who Iam. I call myself Babinich, I am faring from Chenstohova. Of the greatgun and of Kuklinovski you may talk, so that my intentions be notmisconstrued, and I be considered a traitor, for in my blindness Iaided and served Prince Radzivill; of this they may have heard at thecourt."
"I may speak of what your grace did at Chenstohova--"
"But who will show that 'tis true till the siege is over?"
"I will act at your command."
"The day will come for truth to appear at the top," added Kmita, as itwere to himself, "but first our gracious lord must convince himself.Later he also will give me his witness."
Here the conversation was broken. By this time it had become perfectday. Old Kyemlich began to sing matins, and Kosma and Damianaccompanied him with bass voices. The road was difficult, for the frostwas cutting, and besides, the travellers were stopped continually andasked for news, especially if Chenstohova was resisting yet. Kmitaanswered that it was resisting, and would take care of itself; butthere was no end to questions. The roads were swarming with travellers,the inns everywhere filled. Some people were seeking refuge in thedepth of the country from the neighboring parts of the Commonwealthbefore Swedish oppression; others were pushing toward the boundary fornews. From time to time appeared nobles, who, having had enough of theSwedes, were going, like Kmita, to offer their services to the fugitiveking. There were seen, also, attendants of private persons; at timessmaller or larger parties of soldiers, from armies, which eithervoluntarily or in virtue of treaties with the Swedes had passed theboundaries,--such, for instance, as the troops of Stefan Charnyetski.News from the Commonwealth had roused the hope of those "exiles," andmany of them were making ready to come home in arms. In all Silesia,and particularly in the provinces of Ratibor and Opol, it was boilingas in a pot; messengers were flying with letters to the king and fromthe king; they were flying with letters to Charnyetski, to the primate,to Pan Korytsinski, the chancellor; to Pan Varshytski, the castellan ofCracow, the first senator of the Commonwealth, who had not deserted thecause of Yan Kazimir for an instant.
These lords, in agreement with the great queen, who was unshaken inmisfortune, were coming to an understanding with one another, with thecountry, and with the foremost men in it, of whom it was known thatthey would gladly resume allegiance to their legal lord. Messengerswere sent independently by the marshal of the kingdom, the hetmans, thearmy, and the nobles, who were making ready to take up arms.
It was the eve of a general war, which in some places had broken outalready. The Swedes put down these local outbursts either with arms orwith the executioner's axe, but the fire quenched in one place flamedup at once in another. An awful storm was hanging over the heads of theScandinavian invaders; the ground itself, though covered with snow,began to burn their feet; threats and vengeance surrounded them on allsides; their own shadows alarmed them.
They went around like men astray. The recent songs of triumph died ontheir lips, and they asked one another in the greatest amazement, "Arethese the same people who yesterday left their own king, and gave upwithout fighting a battle?" Yes, lords, nobles, army,--an exampleunheard of in history,--passed over to the conqueror; towns and castlesthrew open their gates; the country was occupied. Never had a conquestcost fewer exertions, less blood. The Swedes themselves, wondering atthe ease with which they had occupied a mighty Commonwealth, could notconceal their contempt for the conquered, who at the first gleam of aSwedish sword rejected their own king, their country, provided thatthey could enjoy life and goods in peace, or acquire new goods in theconfusion. What in his time Count Veyhard had told the emperor's envoy,Lisola, the king himself, and all the Swedish generals repeated: "Thereis no manhood in this nation, there is no stability, there is no order,no faith, no patriotism! It must perish."
They forgot that that nation had still one feeling, specially that onewhose earthly expression was Yasna Gora. And in that feeling wasrebirth.
Therefore the thunder of cannon which was heard under the sacredretreat found an echo at once in the hearts of all magnates, nobles,town-dwellers, and peasants. An outcry of awe was heard from theCarpathians to the Baltic, and the giant was roused from his torpor.
"That is another people!" said the amazed Swedish generals.
And all, from Arwid Wittemberg to the commandants of single castles,sent to Karl Gustav in Prussia tidings filled with terror.
The earth was pushing from under their feet; instead of recent friends,they met enemies on all sides; instead of submission, hostility;instead of fear, a wild daring ready for everything; instead ofmildness, ferocity; instead of long-suffering, vengeance.
Meanwhile from hand to hand were flying in thousands throughout thewhole Commonwealth the manifestoes of Yan Kazimir, which, issued atfirst in Silesia, had found no immediate echo. Now, on the contrary,they were seen in castles still free of the enemy. Wherever the Swedishhand was not weighing, the nobles assembled in crowds large and small,and beat their breasts, listening to the lofty words of the fugitiveking, who, recounting faults and sins, urged them not to lose hope, buthasten to the rescue of the fallen Commonwealth.
"Though the enemy have already advanced far, it is not too late," wroteYan Kazimir, "for us to recover the lost provinces and towns, give duepraise to God, satisfy the profaned churches with the blood of theenemy, and restore the former liberties, laws, and ancient enactmentsof Poland to their usual circuit; if only there is a return of thatancient Polish virtue, and that devotion and love of God peculiar toyour ancestors, virtues for which our great-grandfather, Sigismund I.,honored them before many nations. A return to virtue has alreadydiminished these recent transgressions. Let those of you to whom Godand His holy faith are dearer than aught else rise against the Swedishenemy. Do not wait for leaders or voevodas, or for such an order ofthings as is described in public law. At present the enemy have broughtall these things to confusion among you; but do you join, the first manto a second, a third to these two, a fourth to the three, a fifth tothe four, and thus farther, so that each one with his own subjects maycome, and when it is possible try resistance. Afterward you will selecta leader. Join yourselves one party to another, and you will form anarmy. When the army is formed and you have chosen a known chief overit, wait for our person, not neglecting an occasion wherever it comesto defeat the enemy. If we hear of the occasion, and your readiness andinclination, we will come at once and lay down our life wherever thedefence of the country requires it."
This manifesto was read even in the camp of Karl Gustav, in castleshaving Swedish garrisons, in all places wherever Polish squadrons werefound. The nobles shed tears at every word of the king their kind lord,and took an oath on crosses, on pictures of the Most Holy Lady, and onscapulars to please him. To give a proof of their readiness, whileardor was in their hearts and their tears were not dry, they mountedhere and there without hesitation, and moved on while hot against theSwedes.
In this way the smaller Swedish parties began to melt and to vanish.This was done in
Lithuania, Mazovia, Great and Little Poland. More thanonce nobles who had assembled at a neighbor's house for a christening,a name's day, a wedding or a dance, without any thought of war,finished the entertainment with this, that after they had taken a goodshare of drink they struck like a thunderbolt and cut to pieces thenearest Swedish command. Then, amid songs and shouts, they assembledfor the road. Those who wished to "hunt" rode farther, changed into acrowd greedy for blood, from a crowd into a "party" which began steadywar. Subject peasants and house-servants joined the amusement inthrongs; others gave information about single Swedes or small squadsdisposed incautiously through the villages. And the number of "balls"and "masquerades" increased with each day. Joyousness and daringpersonal to the people were bound up with these bloody amusements.
They disguised themselves gladly as Tartars, the very name of whichfilled the Swedes with alarm; for among them were current marvellousaccounts and fables touching the ferocity, the terrible and savagebravery of those sons of the Crimean steppes, with whom theScandinavians had never met hitherto. Besides, it was known universallythat the Khan with about a hundred thousand of the horde was marchingto succor Yan Kazimir; and the nobles made a great uproar whileattacking Swedish commands, from which wonderful disorder resulted.
The Swedish colonels and commandants in many places were reallyconvinced that Tartars were present, and retreated in haste to largerfortresses and camps, spreading everywhere erroneous reports and alarm.Meanwhile the neighborhoods which were freed in this manner from theenemy were able to defend themselves, and change an unruly rabble intothe most disciplined of armies.
But more terrible for the Swedes than "masquerades" of nobles, or thanthe Tartars themselves, were the movements of the peasants. Excitementamong the people began with the first day of the siege of Chenstohova;and ploughmen hitherto silent and patient began here and there to offerresistance, here and there to take scythes and flails and help nobles.The most brilliant Swedish generals looked with the greatest alarm atthese crowds, which might at any moment turn into a genuine deluge andoverwhelm beyond rescue the invaders.
Terror seemed to them the most appropriate means by which to crush inthe beginning this dreadful danger. Karl Gustav cajoled still, andretained with words of kindness those Polish squadrons which hadfollowed him to Prussia. He had not spared flattery on Konyetspolski,the celebrated commander from Zbaraj. This commander stood at his sidewith six thousand cavalry, which at the first hostile meeting with theelector spread such terror and destruction among the Prussians that theelector abandoning the fight agreed as quickly as possible to theconditions.
The King of Sweden sent letters also to the hetmans, the magnates, andthe nobles, full of graciousness, promises, and encouragement topreserve loyalty to him. But at the same time he issued commands to hisgenerals and commandants to destroy with fire and sword everyopposition within the country, and especially to cut to pieces peasantparties. Then began a period of iron military rule. The Swedes castaside the semblance of friendship. The sword, fire, pillage,oppression, took the place of the former pretended good will. From thecastles they sent strong detachments of cavalry and infantry in pursuitof the "masqueraders." Whole villages, with churches and priests'dwellings, were levelled to the earth. Nobles taken prisoners, weredelivered to the executioner; the right hands were cut from capturedpeasants, then they were sent home.
These Swedish detachments were specially savage in Great Poland, which,as it was the first to surrender, was also the first to rise againstforeign dominion. Commandant Stein gave orders on a certain occasion tocut the hands from more than three hundred peasants. In towns theybuilt permanent gibbets, which every day were adorned with new victims.Pontus de la Gardie did the same in Lithuania and Jmud, where the noblevillages took up arms first, and after them the peasants. Because ingeneral it was difficult for the Swedes in the disturbance todistinguish their friends from their enemies, no one was spared.
But the fire put down in blood, instead of dying, grew without ceasing,and a war began which was not on either side a question merely ofvictory, castles, towns, or provinces, but of life or death. Crueltyincreased hatred, and they began not to struggle, but to exterminateeach the other without mercy.
The Deluge: An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Vol. 2 (of 2) Page 6