CHAPTER XXXVI.
After that victory Charnyetski permitted at last the army to takebreath and feed the wearied horses; then he was to return to Sandomirby forced marches, and bend the King of Sweden to his fall.
Meanwhile Kharlamp came to the camp one evening with news from Sapyeha.Charnyetski was at Chersk, whither he had gone to review the generalmilitia assembled at that town. Kharlamp, not finding the chief, betookhimself at once to Pan Michael, so as to rest at his quarters after thelong journey.
His friends greeted him joyously; but he, at the very beginning, showedthem a gloomy face and said,--
"I have heard of your victory. Fortune smiled here, but bore down on usin Sandomir. Karl Gustav is no longer in the sack, for he got out, and,besides, with great confusion to the Lithuanian troops."
"Can that be?" cried Pan Michael, seizing his head.
Pan Yan, Pan Stanislav, and Zagloba were as if fixed to the earth.
"How was it? Tell, by the living God, for I cannot stay in my skin!"
"Breath fails me yet," said Kharlamp; "I have ridden day and night, Iam terribly tired. Charnyetski will come, then I will tell all from thebeginning. Let me now draw breath a little."
"Then Karl has gone out of the sack. I foresaw that, did I not? Do younot remember that I prophesied it? Let Kovalski testify."
"Uncle foretold it," said Roh.
"And whither has Karl gone?" asked Pan Michael.
"The infantry sailed down in boats; but he, with cavalry, has gonealong the Vistula to Warsaw."
"Was there a battle?"
"There was and there was not. In brief, give me peace, for I cannottalk."
"But tell me one thing. Is Sapyeha crushed altogether?"
"How crushed! He is pursuing the king; but of course Sapyeha will nevercome up with anybody."
"He is as good at pursuit as a German at fasting," said Zagloba.
"Praise be to God for even this, that the army is intact!" put inVolodyovski.
"The Lithuanians have got into trouble!" said Zagloba. "Ah, it is a badcase! Again we must watch a hole in the Commonwealth together."
"Say nothing against the Lithuanian army," said Kharlamp. "Karl Gustavis a great warrior, and it is no wonder to lose against him. And didnot you, from Poland, lose at Uistsie, at Volbor, at Suleyov, and inten other places? Charnyetski himself lost at Golembo. Why should notSapyeha lose, especially when you left him alone like an orphan?"
"But why did we go to a dance at Varka?" asked Zagloba, withindignation.
"I know that it was not a dance, but a battle, and God gave you thevictory. But who knows, perhaps it had been better not to go; for amongus they say that the troops of both nations (Lithuanian and Poland) maybe beaten separately, but together the cavalry of hell itself could notmanage them."
"That may be," said Volodyovski; "but what the leaders have decided isnot for us to discuss. This did not happen, either, without yourfault."
"Sapyo must have blundered; I know him!" said Zagloba.
"I cannot deny that," muttered Kharlamp.
They were silent awhile, but from time to time looked at one anothergloomily, for to them it seemed that the fortune of the Commonwealthwas beginning to sink, and yet such a short time before they were fullof hope and confidence.
"Charnyetski is coming!" said Volodyovski; and he went out of the room.
The castellan was really returning; Volodyovski went to meet him, andbegan to call from a distance,--
"The King of Sweden has broken through the Lithuanian army, and escapedfrom the sack. There is an officer here with letters from the voevodaof Vilna."
"Bring him here!" cried Charnyetski. "Where is he?
"With me; I will present him at once."
Charnyetski took the news so much to heart that he would not wait, butsprang at once from his saddle and entered Volodyovski's quarters.
All rose when they saw him enter; he barely nodded and said,--
"I ask for the letter!"
Kharlamp gave him a sealed letter. The castellan went to the window,for it was dark in the cottage, and began to read with frowning browand anxious face. From instant to instant anger gleamed on hiscountenance.
"The castellan has changed," whispered Zagloba to Pan Yan; "see how hisbeak has grown red. He will begin to lisp right away, he always doeswhen in anger."
Charnyetski finished the letter. For a time he twisted his beard withhis whole hand; at last he called out with a jingling, indistinctvoice,--
"Come this way, officer!"
"At command of your worthiness!"
"Tell me the truth," said Charnyetski, with emphasis, "for thisnarrative is so artfully put together that I am unable to get at theaffair. But--tell me the truth, do not color it--is the armydispersed?"
"Not dispersed at all, your grace."
"How many days are needed to assemble it?"
Here Zagloba whispered to Pan Yan: "He wants to come at him from theleft hand as it were."
But Kharlamp answered without hesitation,--
"Since the army is not dispersed, it does not need to be assembled. Itis true that when I was leaving, about five hundred horse of thegeneral militia could not be found, were not among the fallen; but thatis a common thing, and the army does not suffer from that; the hetmanhas even moved after the king in good order."
"You have lost no cannon?"
"Yes, we lost four, which the Swedes, not being able to take with them,spiked."
"I see that you tell the truth; tell me then how everything happened."
"_Incipiam_ (I will begin)," said Kharlamp. "When we were left alone,the enemy saw that there was no army on the Vistula, nothing butparties and irregular detachments. We thought--or, properly speaking,Pan Sapyeha thought--that the king would attack those, and he sentreinforcements, but not considerable, so as not to weaken himself.Meanwhile there was a movement and a noise among the Swedes, as in abeehive. Toward evening they began to come out in crowds to the San. Wewere at the voevoda's quarters. Pan Kmita, who is called Babinich now,a soldier of the first degree, came up and reported this. But PanSapyeha was just sitting down to a feast, to which a multitude of noblewomen from Krasnik and Yanov had assembled--for the voevoda is fond ofthe fair sex--"
"And he loves feasting!" interrupted Charnyetski.
"I am not with him; there is no one to incline him to temperance," putin Zagloba.
"Maybe you will be with him sooner than you think; then you can bothbegin to be temperate," retorted Charnyetski. Then he turned toKharlamp: "Speak on!"
"Babinich reported, and the voevoda answered: 'They are only pretendingto attack; they will undertake nothing! First,' said he, 'they will tryto cross the Vistula; but I have an eye on them, and I will attackmyself. At present,' said he, 'we will not spoil our pleasure, so thatwe may have a joyous time! We will eat and drink.' The music began totear away, and the voevoda invited those present to the dance."
"I'll give him dancing!" interrupted Zagloba.
"Silence, if you please!" said Charnyetski.
"Again men rush in from the bank saying that there is a terribleuproar. 'That's nothing!' the voevoda whispered to the page; 'do notinterrupt me!' We danced till daylight, we slept till midday. At middaywe see that the intrenchments are bristling, forty-eight pound guns onthem; and the Swedes fire from time to time. When a ball falls it isthe size of a bucket; it is nothing for such a one to fill the eyeswith dust."
"Give no embellishments!" interrupted Charnyetski; "you are not withthe hetman."
Kharlamp was greatly confused, and continued: "At midday the voevodahimself went out. The Swedes under cover of these trenches began tobuild a bridge. They worked till evening, to our great astonishment;for we thought that as to building they would build, but as to crossingthey would not be able to do that. Next day they built on. The voevodaput the troops in order, for he expected a battle."
"All this time the bridge was a pretext, and they crossed lower downover anothe
r bridge, and turned your flank?" interrupted Charnyetski.
Kharlamp stared and opened his mouth, he was silent in amazement; butat last said,--
"Then your worthiness has had an account already?"
"No need of that!" said Zagloba; "our grandfather guesses everythingconcerning war on the wing, as if he had seen it in fact."
"Speak on!" said Charnyetski.
"Evening came. The troops were in readiness, but with the first starthere was a feast again. This time the Swedes passed over the secondbridge lower down, and attacked us at once. The squadron of PanKoshyts, a good soldier, was at the edge. He rushed on them. Thegeneral militia which was next to him sprang to his aid; but when theSwedes spat at them from the guns, they took to their heels. PanKoshyts was killed, and his men terribly cut up. Now the generalmilitia, rushing back in a crowd on the camp, put everything indisorder. All the squadrons that were ready advanced; but we effectednothing, lost cannon besides. If the king had had more cannon andinfantry, our defeat would have been severe; but fortunately thegreater number of the infantry regiments with the cannon had sailedaway in boats during the night. Of this no one of us knew."
"Sapyo has blundered! I knew it beforehand!" cried Zagloba.
"We got the correspondence of the king," added Kharlamp, "which theSwedes dropped. The soldiers read in it that the king is to go toPrussia to return with the elector's forces, for, he writes, that withSwedish troops alone he cannot succeed."
"I know of that," said Charnyetski. "Pan Sapyeha sent me that letter."Then he muttered quietly, as if speaking to himself: "We must followhim to Prussia."
"That is what I have been saying this long time," put in Zagloba.
Charnyetski looked at him for a while in thoughtfulness. "It isunfortunate," said he, aloud; "for if I had returned to Sandomir thehetman and I should not have let a foot of them out alive. Well! it haspassed and will not return. The war will be longer; but death is fatedto this invasion and to these invaders."
"It cannot be otherwise!" cried the knights in chorus; and greatconsolation entered their hearts, though a short time before they haddoubted.
Meanwhile Zagloba whispered something in Jendzian's ear; he vanishedthrough the door, and soon returned with a decanter. Seeing this,Volodyovski inclined to the knee of the castellan.
"It would be an uncommon favor for a simple soldier," he began.
"I will drink with you willingly," said Charnyetski; "and do you knowwhy?--because we must part."
"How is that?" cried the astonished Pan Michael.
"Sapyeha writes that the Lauda squadron belongs to the Lithuanian army,and that he sent it only to assist the forces of the kingdom; that nowhe will need it himself, especially the officers, of whom he has agreat lack. My Volodyovski, you know how much I love you; it is hardfor me to part with you, but here is the order. It is true Pan Sapyehaas a courteous man leaves the order in my power and discretion. I mightnot show it to you.--Well, it is as pleasant to me as if the hetman hadbroken my best sabre. I give you the order precisely because it is leftto my discretion, and do your duty. To your health, my dear soldier!"
Volodyovski bowed again to the castellan's knees; but he was sodistressed that he could not utter a word, and when Charnyetskiembraced him tears ran in a stream over his yellow mustaches.
"I would rather die!" cried he, pitifully. "I have grown accustomed totoil under you, revered leader, and there I know not how it will be."
"Pan Michael, do not mind the order," cried Zagloba, with emotion. "Iwill write to Sapyo myself, and rub his ears for him fittingly."
But Pan Michael first of all was a soldier; therefore he flew into apassion,--
"But the old volunteer is ever sitting in you. You would better besilent when you know not the question. Service!"
"That is it," said Charnyetski.
The Deluge: An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Vol. 2 (of 2) Page 36