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

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER XLVIII.

  Next morning the prince received a summons from the elector to go withall speed to Konigsberg to take command of the newly levied troopswhich were to march to Marienburg or Dantzig. The letter contained alsonews of the daring campaign of Karl Gustav through the whole length ofthe Commonwealth to Russian regions. The elector foresaw a disastrousend to the campaign; but just for that reason he desired to be at thehead of as many troops as possible, that he might in case of need beindispensable to one side or the other, sell himself dearly, and decidethe fate of the war. For those reasons he enjoined on the young princeall possible haste, so greatly was he concerned about avoiding delay;but after the first courier he sent a second, who arrived twelve hourslater.

  The prince, therefore, had not a moment to lose, and not time enough torest, for the fever returned with its previous violence. Still he hadto go. So when he had delegated his authority to Sakovich, he said,--

  "Perhaps we shall have to transport Billevich and the maiden toKoenigsberg. There it will be easier in quiet to handle a hostile manfirmly; but the girl I will take to the camp, for I have had enough ofthese ceremonies."

  "It is well, and the cavalry may be increased," answered Sakovich atparting.

  An hour later the prince was no longer in Taurogi. Sakovich remained,an unlimited despot, recognizing no power above himself but that ofAnusia. And he began to blow away the dust from before her feet, as ona time the prince had before the feet of Olenka. Restraining his wildnature, he was courteous, anticipating her wishes, divining herthoughts, and at the same time he held himself at a distance, with allthe respect which a polished cavalier should have toward a lady forwhose hand and heart he is striving.

  It must be confessed that this reigning in Taurogi pleased Anusia; itwas grateful to her to think that when evening came, in the lowerhalls, in the corridors, in the barracks, in the garden still coveredwith winter frost, the sighs of old and young officers were heard; thatthe astrologer was sighing while looking at the stars from his tower;that even old Billevich interrupted his evening rosary with sighs.

  While the best of maidens, she was still glad that those swiftaffections went not to Olenka, but to her. She was glad also withrespect to Babinich; for she felt her power, and it came to her headthat if no man had resisted her anywhere, she must have burned on hisheart also permanent marks with her eyes.

  "He will forget that woman, it cannot be otherwise, for she feeds himwith ingratitude; and when he forgets her he knows where to seekme,--and he will seek me, the robber!"

  Then she threatened him in her soul: "Wait! I will pay you before Iconsole you."

  Meanwhile, though not in real truth caring much for Sakovich, she sawhim with pleasure. It is true that he justified himself in her eyesfrom reproaches of treason in the same way in which Boguslav hadexplained himself to the sword-bearer. He said, therefore, that peacewas already concluded with the Swedes; that the Commonwealth mightrecover and flourish, had not Pan Sapyeha ruined everything for his ownprivate ends.

  Anusia, not knowing over-much of these matters, let the words pass herears; but she was struck by something else in Sakovich's narrative.

  "The Billeviches," said he, "scream in heaven-piercing voices ofinjustice and captivity; but nothing has happened to them here, andnothing will happen. The prince has not let them go from Taurogi, it istrue; but that is for their good, for three furlongs beyond the gatethey would perish from ravagers or forest bandits. He has not let themgo also, because he loves Panna Billevich, and that also is true. Butwho will not justify him? Who would act otherwise, who had a feelingheart and a breast burdened with sighs? If he had had less honorableintentions, being such a powerful man, he might have given rein tohimself; but he wanted to marry her, he wanted to elevate that stubbornlady to his princely estate, to cover her with happiness, place thecoronet of the Radzivills on her head; and these thankless people arehurling invectives at him, thus trying to diminish his honor and fame."

  Anusia, not believing this greatly, asked Olenka that same day if theprince wished to marry her. Olenka could not deny; and because they hadbecome intimate, she explained her reasons for refusal. They seemedjust and sufficient to Anusia; but still she thought to herself that itwas not so grievous for the Billeviches in Taurogi, and that the princeand Sakovich were not such criminals as Pan Tomash had proclaimed.

  Then, also, came news that Sapyeha and Babinich were not only notapproaching Taurogi, but had gone with forced marches against the Kingof Sweden, faraway toward Lvoff. Anusia fell into a rage at first, andthen began to understand that if the hetman and Babinich had gone,there was no reason to flee from Taurogi, for they might lose theirlives, or in the most favorable event change a quiet existence into acaptivity full of dangers.

  For this reason it came to disputes between her on one side, and Olenkaand Billevich on the other; but even they were forced to admit that thedeparture of Sapyeha rendered their flight very difficult, if not quiteimpossible, especially since the country was growing more and moreexcited, and no inhabitant could be certain of the morrow. Finally,even should they not accept Anusia's reason, flight without her aid wasimpossible, in view of the watchfulness of Sakovich and the otherofficers. Kettling alone was devoted to them, but he would not lethimself be involved in any plot against his service; besides, he wasabsent often, for Sakovich was glad to employ him against armed bandsof confederates and ravagers, since he was an experienced soldier and agood officer, therefore he sent him frequently from Taurogi.

  But it was pleasanter and pleasanter for Anusia. Sakovich made adeclaration to her a month after the departure of the prince; but, thedeceiver! she answered cunningly that she did not know him, that menspoke variously concerning him, that she had not time yet to love, thatwithout permission of Princess Griselda she could not marry, andfinally, that she wished to subject him to a year's trial.

  The starosta gnawed his anger, gave orders that day to give threethousand stripes to a cavalry soldier for a trifling offence,--afterthis the poor soldier was buried; but the starosta had to agree toAnusia's conditions. She told the lordling that if he would serve stillmore faithfully, diligently, and obediently, in a year he would receivewhatever love she had.

  In this way she played with the bear; and she so succeeded in masteringhim that he stifled even his growling. He merely said,--

  "With the exception of treason to the prince, ask anything of me, evenask me to walk on my knees."

  If Anusia had seen what terrible results of Sakovich's impatience werefalling on the whole neighborhood, she would not have teased him sogreatly. Soldiers and residents in Taurogi trembled before him, for hepunished grievously and altogether without cause, punished beyond everymeasure. Prisoners died in chains from hunger, or were burned with hotiron.

  More than once it seemed that the wild starosta wished to cool in theblood of men his spirit, at once raging and burning with love, for hestarted up suddenly and went on an expedition. Victory followed himnearly everywhere. He cut to pieces parties of rebels, and ordered, asan example, that the right hands be cut from captured peasants, whowere then sent home free.

  The terror of his name girded Taurogi as with a wall; even the mostconsiderable bodies of patriots did not dare to go beyond Rossyeni.Peace was established in all parts, and he formed new regiments ofGerman vagrants and the local peasants with the money extorted fromneighboring citizens and nobles, and increased in power so as tofurnish men to the prince in case of urgent necessity.

  A more loyal and terrible servant Boguslav could not have found.

  But Sakovich gazed more and more tenderly at Anusia with his terrible,pale-blue eyes, and played to her on a lute. Life, therefore, inTaurogi passed for Anusia joyously and with amusement; for Olenka itwas sore and monotonous. From one there went gleams of gladness, likethat light which issues at night from the firefly; the face of theother grew paler and paler, more serious, sterner; her dark brows werecontracted more resolutely on her white
forehead, so that finally theycalled her a nun. And she had something in her of the nun; she began toaccept the thought that she would become one,--that God himself wouldthrough suffering and disappointment lead her to peace behind thegrating. She was no longer that maiden with beautiful bloom on her faceand happiness in her eyes; not that Olenka who on a time while ridingin a sleigh with her betrothed, Andrei Kmita, cried, "Hei! hei!" to thepine woods and forests.

  Spring appeared in the world. A wind strong and warm shook thewaters of the Baltic, now liberated from ice; later on, trees bloomed,flowers shot out from their harsh leafy enclosures; then the sun grewhot, and the poor girl was waiting in vain for the end of Taurogicaptivity,--for Anusia did not wish to flee, and in the country it wasever more terrible.

  Fire and sword were raging as though the pity of God were never to bemanifest. Nay more, whoso had not seized the sabre or the lance inwinter, seized it in spring; snow did not betray his tracks, the pinewood gave better concealment, and warmth made war the easier.

  News flew swallow-like to Taurogi,--sometimes terrible, sometimescomforting; and to these and to those the maiden devoted her prayers,and shed tears of sorrow or joy.

  Previous mention had been made of a terrible uprising of the wholepeople. As many as the trees in the forests of the Commonwealth, asmany as the ears of grain waving on its fields, as many as the starsshining on it at night between the Carpathians and the Baltic, were thewarriors who rose up against the Swedes. These men, being nobles, wereborn to the sword and to war by God's will and nature's order; thosewho cut furrows with the plough, sowed land with grain; those who wereoccupied with trade and handicraft in towns; those who lived in thewilderness, from bee-keeping, from pitch-making, who lived with the axeor by hunting; those who lived on the rivers and labored at fishing;those who were nomads in the steppes with their cattle,--all seizedtheir weapons to drive out the invader.

  The Swede was now drowning in that multitude as in a swollen river.

  To the wonder of the whole world, the Commonwealth, powerless but ashort time before, found more sabres in its defence than the Emperor ofGermany or the King of France could have.

  Then came news of Karl Gustav,--how he was marching ever deeper intothe Commonwealth, his feet in blood, his head in smoke and flames, hislips blaspheming. It was hoped any moment to hear of his death and thedestruction of all the Swedish armies.

  The name of Charnyetski was heard with increasing force from boundaryto boundary, transfixing the enemy with terror, pouring consolationinto the hearts of the Poles.

  "He routed them at Kozyenitsi!" was said one day. "He routed them atYaroslav!" was repeated a few weeks later; a distant echo repeated: "Hehas beaten them at Sandomir!" The only wonder was where so many Swedescould still come from after so many defeats.

  Finally a new flock of swallows flew in, and with them the report ofthe imprisonment of the king and the whole Swedish army in the fork ofthe rivers. It seemed that the end was right there. Sakovich stoppedhis expeditions; he merely wrote letters at night and sent them invarious directions.

  Billevich seemed bewildered. He rushed in every evening with news toOlenka. Sometimes he gnawed his hands, when he remembered that he hadto sit in Taurogi. The old soldier soul was yearning for the field. Atlast he began to shut himself up in his room, and to ponder oversomething for hours at a time. Once he seized Olenka in his arms, burstout into great weeping, and said,--"You are a dear girl, my onlydaughter, but the country is dearer." And next day he vanished, as ifhe had fallen through the earth. Olenka found merely a letter, and init the following words:--

  "God bless thee, beloved child! I understood well that they areguarding thee and not me, and that it would be easier for me to escapealone. Let God judge me, thou poor orphan, if I did this from hardnessof heart and lack of fatherly love for thee. But the torment surpassedmy endurance. I swear, by Christ's wounds, that I could endure nolonger. For when I thought that the best Polish blood was flowing in ariver _pro patria el libertate_ (for the country and liberty), and inthat river there was not one drop of my blood, it seemed to me that theangels of heaven were condemning me. If I had not been born in oursacred Jmud, where love of country and bravery are cherished, if I hadnot been born a noble, a Billevich, I should have remained with theeand guarded thee. But thou, if a man, wouldst have done as I have;therefore thou'lt forgive me for leaving thee alone, like Daniel in thelions' den, whom God in His mercy preserved; so I think that theprotection of our Most Holy Lady the Queen will be better over theethan mine."

  Olenka covered the letter with tears: but she loved her uncle stillmore because of this act, for her heart rose with pride. Meanwhile nosmall uproar was made in Taurogi. Sakovich himself rushed to the maidenin great fury, and without removing his cap asked,--

  "Where is your uncle?"

  "Where all, except traitors, are,--in the field!"

  "Did you know of this?" cried he.

  But she, instead of being abashed, advanced some steps and measuringhim with her eyes, said with inexpressible contempt,--

  "I knew--and what?"

  "Ah, if it were not for the prince! You will answer to the prince!"

  "Neither to the prince nor to his serving-lad. And now I beg you--" Andshe pointed to the door.

  Sakovich gnashed his teeth and went out.

  That same day news of the victory at Varka was ringing through Taurogi,and such fear fell on all partisans of the Swedes that Sakovich himselfdared not punish the priests who sang publicly in the neighboringchurches _Te Deum_.

  A great burden fell from his heart, when a few weeks later a lettercame from Boguslav, who was before Marienburg, with information thatthe king had escaped from the river sack. But the other news was verydisagreeable. The prince asked reinforcements, and directed to leave inTaurogi no more troops than were absolutely needed for defence.

  All the cavalry ready marched the next day, and with it Kettling,Oettingen, Fitz-Gregory,--in a word, all the best officers, exceptBraun, who was indispensable to Sakovich.

  Taurogi was still more deserted than after the prince's departure.Anusia grew weary, and annoyed Sakovich all the more. The starostathought of removing to Prussia; for parties, made bold by the departureof the troops, began again to push beyond Rossyeni. The Billevichesthemselves had collected about five hundred horse, small nobles andpeasants. They had inflicted a sensible defeat on Buetzov, who hadmarched against them, and they ravaged without mercy all villagesbelonging to Radzivill.

  Men rallied to them willingly; for no family, not even the Hleboviches,enjoyed such general honor and respect. Sakovich was sorry to leaveTaurogi at the mercy of the enemy; he knew that in Prussia it would bedifficult for him to get money and reinforcements, that he managed hereas he liked, there his power must decrease; still he lost hope more andmore of being able to maintain himself.

  Buetzov, defeated, took refuge under him; and the tidings which hebrought of the power and growth of the rebellion made Sakovich decideat last on the Prussian journey.

  As a positive man, and one loving to bring into speedy effect thatwhich he had planned, he finished his preparations in ten days, issuedorders, and was ready to march.

  Suddenly he met with an unlooked for resistance, and from a side fromwhich he had least expected it,--from Anusia Borzobogati.

  Anusia did not think of going to Prussia. She was comfortable inTaurogi. The advances of confederate "parties" did not alarm her in theleast; and if the Billeviches had attacked Taurogi itself, she wouldhave been glad. She understood also that in a strange place, amongGermans, she would be at Sakovich's mercy completely, and that shemight the more easily be brought there to obligation, for which she hadno desire; therefore she resolved to insist on remaining. Olenka, towhom she explained her reasons, not only confirmed the justness ofthem, but implored with all her power, with tears in her eyes, tooppose the journey.

  "Here," said she, "salvation may come,--if not to-day, to-morrow; therewe should both be lost utterly."

  "B
ut see, you almost abused me because I wanted to conquer thestarosta, though I knew of nothing; as I love Princess Griselda, itonly came somehow of itself. But now would he regard my resistance werehe not in love? What do you think?"

  "True, Anusia, true," responded Olenka.

  "Do not trouble yourself, my most beautiful flower! We shall not stir afoot out of Taurogi; besides, I shall annoy Sakovich terribly."

  "God grant you success!"

  "Why should I not have it? I shall succeed, first, because he cares forme, and second, as I think he cares for my property. It is easy for himto get angry with me; he can even wound me with his sabre; but then allwould be lost."

  And it turned out that she was right. Sakovich came to her joyful andconfident; but she greeted him with disdainful mien.

  "Is it possible," asked she, "that you wish to flee to Prussia fromdread of the Billeviches?"

  "Not before the Billeviches," answered he, frowning; "not from fear;but I go there from prudence, so as to act against those robbers withfresh forces."

  "Then a pleasant journey to you."

  "How is that? Do you think that I will go without you, my dearesthope?"

  "Whoso is a coward may find hope in flight, not in me."

  Sakovich was pale from anger. He would have punished her; but seeingbefore whom he was standing, he restrained himself, softened his fierceface with a smile, and said, as if jesting,--

  "Oh, I shall not ask. I will seat you in a carriage and take youalong."

  "Will you?" asked she. "Then I see that I am held here in captivityagainst the will of the prince. Know then, sir, that if you do that, Ishall not speak another word to you all my life, so help me the LordGod! for I was reared in Lubni, and I have the greatest contempt forcowards. Would that I had not fallen into such hands! Would that PanBabinich had carried me off for good into Lithuania, for he was notafraid of any man!"

  "For God's sake!" cried Sakovich. "Tell me at least why you areunwilling to go to Prussia."

  But Anusia feigned weeping and despair.

  "Tartars as it were have taken me into captivity, though I was rearedby Princess Griselda, and no one had a right to me. They seize me,imprison me, take me beyond the sea by force, will condemn me to exile.It is soon to be seen how they will tear me with pincers! O my God! myGod!"

  "Have the fear of that God on whom you are calling!" cried thestarosta. "Who will tear you with pincers?"

  "Oh, save me, all ye saints!" cried Anusia, sobbing.

  Sakovich knew not what to do; he was choking with rage. At times hethought that he would go mad, or that Anusia had gone mad. At last hethrew himself at her feet and said that he would stay in Taurogi. Thenshe began to entreat him to go away, if he was afraid; with which shebrought him to final despair, so that, springing up and going out, hesaid,--

  "Well! we shall remain in Taurogi, and whether I fear the Billevicheswill soon be seen."

  And collecting that very day the remnant of Buetzov's defeated troopsand his own, he marched, but not to Prussia, only to Rossyeni, againstthe Billeviches, who were encamped in the forests of Girlakol. They didnot expect an attack, for news of the intended withdrawal of the troopsfrom Taurogi had been repeated in the neighborhood for several days.The starosta struck them while off their guard, cut them to pieces, andtrampled them. The sword-bearer himself, under whose leadership theparty was, escaped from the defeat; but two Billeviches of another linefell, and with them a third part of the soldiers; the rest fled to thefour points of the world. The starosta brought a number of tens ofprisoners to Taurogi, and gave orders to slay every one, before Anusiacould intercede in their defence.

  There was no further talk of leaving Taurogi; and the starosta had noneed of doing so, for after this victory parties did not go beyond theDubisha.

  Sakovich put on airs and boasted beyond measure, saying that ifLoewenhaupt would send him a thousand good horse he would rub out therebellion in all Jmud. But Loewenhaupt was not in those parts then.Anusia gave a poor reception to this boasting.

  "Oh, success against the sword-bearer was easy," said she; "but if hebefore whom both you and the prince fled had been there, of a certaintyyou would have left me and fled to Prussia beyond the sea."

  These words pricked the starosta to the quick.

  "First of all, do not imagine to yourself that Prussia is beyond thesea, for beyond the sea is Sweden; and second, before whom did theprince and I flee?"

  "Before Pan Babinich!" answered she, courtesying with great ceremony.

  "Would that I might meet him at a sword's length!"

  "Then you would surely lie a sword's depth in the ground; but do notcall the wolf from the forest."

  Sakovich, in fact, did not call that wolf with sincerity; for though hewas a man of incomparable daring, he felt a certain, almostsuperstitious, dread of Babinich,--so ghastly were the memories thatremained to him after the recent campaign. He did not know, besides,how soon he would hear that terrible name.

  But before that name rang through all Jmud, there came in time othernews,--for some the most joyful of joyful, but for Sakovich mostterrible,--which all mouths repeated in three words throughout thewhole Commonwealth,--

  "Warsaw is taken!"

  It seemed that the earth was opening under the feet of traitors; thatthe whole Swedish heaven was falling on their heads, together with allthe deities which had shone in it hitherto like suns. Ears would notbelieve that the chancellor Oxenstiern was in captivity; that incaptivity were Erskine, Loewenhaupt, Wrangel; in captivity the greatWittemberg himself, who had stained the whole Commonwealth with blood,who had conquered one half of it before the coming of Karl Gustav; thatthe king, Yan Kazimir, was triumphing, and after the victory would passjudgment on the guilty.

  And this news flew as if on wings; roared like a bomb through theCommonwealth; went through villages, for peasant repeated it topeasant; went through the fields, for the wheat rustled it; wentthrough the forest, for pine-tree told it to pine-tree; the eaglesscreamed it in the air; and all living men still the more seized theirweapons.

  In a moment the defeat of Girlakol was forgotten around Taurogi. Therecently terrible Sakovich grew small in everything, even in his owneyes. Parties began again to attack bodies of Swedes; the Billeviches,recovering after their last defeat, passed the Dubisha again, at thehead of their own men and the remainder of the Lauda nobles.

  Sakovich knew not himself what to begin, whither to turn, from whatside to look for salvation. For a long time he had no news from PrinceBoguslav, and he racked his head in vain. Where was he, with whattroops could he be? And at times a mortal terror seized him: had notthe prince too fallen into captivity? He called to mind the prince'ssaying that he would turn his tabor toward Warsaw, and that if theywould make him commandant over the garrison in the capital, he wouldprefer to be there, for he could look more easily on every side.

  There were not wanting also people who asserted that the prince musthave fallen into the hands of Yan Kazimir.

  "If the prince were not in Warsaw," said they, "why should our graciouslord the king exclude him alone from amnesty, which he extended inadvance to all Poles in the garrison? He must be already in the powerof the king; and since it is known that Prince Yanush's head wasdestined for the block, it is certain that Prince Boguslav's willfall."

  In consequence of these thoughts Sakovich came to the same conviction,and wrestled with despair,--first, because he loved the prince; second,because he saw that if this powerful protector were dead, the wildestbeast would more easily find a place to hide its head in theCommonwealth than he, the right hand of the traitor.

  All that seemed left to him was to flee to Prussia without regard toAnusia's opposition, and seek there bread, service.

  "But what would happen?" asked the starosta of himself more than once,"if the elector, fearing the anger of Yan Kazimir, should give up allfugitives?"

  There was no issue but to seek safety beyond the sea, in Sweden itself.

  Fortunately, after a week
of this torment and doubt, a courier camefrom Prince Boguslav with a long autograph letter.

  "Warsaw is taken from the Swedes," wrote the prince. "My tabor andeffects are lost. It is too late for me to recede, for the king'sadvisers are so envenomed against me that I was excepted from amnesty.Babinich harassed my troops at the very gates of Warsaw. Kettling is incaptivity. The King of Sweden, the elector, and I, with Steinbock andall forces, are marching to the capital, where there will be a generalbattle soon. Karl Gustav swears that he will win it, though the skillof Yan Kazimir in leading armies confounds him not a little. Who couldhave foreseen in that ex-Jesuit such a strategist? But I recognized himas early as Berestechko, for there everything was done with his headand Vishnyevetski's. We have hope in this,--that the general militia,of which there are several tens of thousands with Yan Kazimir, willdisperse to their homes, or that their first ardor will cool and theywill not fight as at first. God grant some panic in that rabble; thenKarl Gustav can give them a general defeat, though what will come lateris unknown, and the generals themselves tell one another in secret thatthe rebellion is a hydra on which new heads are growing every moment.First of all, 'Warsaw must be taken a second time.' When I heard thisfrom the mouth of Karl, I asked, 'What next?' He said nothing. Here ourstrength is crumbling, theirs is increasing. We have nothing with whichto begin a new war. And courage is not the same; no Poles will join theSwedes as at first. My uncle the elector is silent as usual; but I seewell that if we lose a battle, he will begin to-morrow to beat theSwedes, so as to buy himself into Yan Kazimir's favor. It is bitter tobow down, but we must. God grant that I be accepted, and come out wholewithout losing my property. I trust only in God; but it is hard toescape fear, and we must foresee evil. Therefore what property you cansell or mortgage for ready money, sell and mortgage; even enter intorelations with confederates in secret. Go yourself with the whole taborto Birji, as from there to Courland is nearer. I should advise you togo to Prussia; but soon it will not be safe from fire and sword inPrussia, for immediately after the taking of Warsaw Babinich wasordered to march through Prussia to Lithuania, to excite the rebellionand burn and slay on the road. And you know that he will carry out thatorder. We tried to catch him at the Bug; and Steinbock himself sent aconsiderable force against him, of which not one man returned to givenews of the disaster. Do not try to measure yourself with Babinich, foryou will not be able, but hasten to Birji.

  "The fever has left me entirely; here there are high and dry plains,not such swamps as in Jmud. I commit you to God, etc."

  The starosta was as much grieved at the news as he was rejoiced thatthe prince was alive and in health; for if the prince foresaw that thewinning of a general battle could not much better the shattered fortuneof Sweden, what could be hoped for in future? Perhaps the prince mightsave himself from ruin under the robe of the crafty elector, and he,Sakovich, under the prince; but what could be done in the mean while?Go to Prussia?

  Pan Sakovich did not need the advice of the prince to restrain him frommeeting Babinich. Power and desire to do that were both lacking. Birjiremained, but too late for that also. On the road was a Billevichparty; then a second party,--nobles, peasants, people of the prince,and God knows what others,--who at a mere report would assemble andsweep him away as a whirlwind sweeps withered leaves; and even if theydid not assemble, even if he could anticipate them by a swift and boldmarch, it would be needful to fight on the road with others; at everyvillage, at every swamp, in every field and forest, a new battle. Whatforces should he have to take even thirty horses to Birji? Was he toremain in Taurogi? That was bad, for meanwhile the terrible Babinichwould come at the head of a powerful Tartar legion; all the partieswould fly to him; they would cover Taurogi as with a flood, and wreak avengeance such as man had not heard of till that day.

  For the first time in his life the hitherto insolent starosta felt thathe lacked counsel in his head, strength in undertaking, and decision indanger; and the next day he summoned to counsel Buetzov, Braun, and someof the most important officers.

  It was decided to remain in Taurogi and await tidings from Warsaw.

  But Braun from that council went straight to another, to one withAnusia.

  Long, long did they deliberate together. At last Braun came out withface greatly moved; but Anusia rushed like a storm to Olenka,--

  "Olenka, the time has come!" cried she, on the threshold. "We mustflee!"

  "When?" asked the valiant girl, growing a little pale, but rising atonce in sign of immediate readiness.

  "To-morrow, to-morrow! Braun has the command, and Sakovich will sleepin the town, for Pan Dzyeshuk has invited him to a banquet. PanDzyeshuk was long ago prepared, and he will put something in Sakovich'swine. Braun says that he will go himself and take fifty horse. Oh,Olenka, how happy I am! how happy!"

  Here Anusia threw herself on Panna Billevich's neck, and began to pressher with such an outburst of joy that she asked,--

  "What is the matter, Anusia? You might have brought Braun to this longago."

  "I might, I might. I have told you nothing yet! O my God! my God! Haveyou heard of nothing? Pan Babinich is marching hither! Sakovich and allof them are dying of fear! Pan Babinich is marching, burning, andslaying. He has destroyed one party, has beaten Steinbock himself, andis advancing with forced marches, so as to hurry. And to whom can hehurry hither? Tell me, am I not a fool?"

  Here tears glistened in Anusia's eyes. Olenka placed her hands togetheras if in prayer, and raising her eyes said,--

  "To whomsoever he is hastening, may God straighten his paths, blesshim, and guard him!"