features, clad inglittering armour, who ofttimes had carried him in his arms. Heremembered the very shape of his shield, and the dazzling brightness ofhis sword, as it was wielded before his eyes in the rays of the sun.Then a confused tumult--the loud roar of cannon--the rattle ofmusketry--the clashing of swords--red blood flowing around--the wildshouts of men striving in deadly combat--the shrieks of terror-strickenwomen--the anguish-wrought groans of the wounded and dying--rushedacross his recollection.
After those scenes, if such had ever been presented to his sight, thetablet of his memory, for a lapse of time, remained a complete blank,and his first clear remembrance was of the Chateau of the BaronGaletzoff, when he found himself loved and petted by its inmates, andeven treated by its haughty Lord with as much kindness as his capriciousnature would allow, and with much more than he seemed to bestow on anyother human being.
Once only had Ivan mentioned the obscure recollection of his infantyears to his fair protectress, but she had, in a passionate flood oftears, charged him, as he valued her love and happiness, never to alludeto the subject again.
With advancing years, the visions faded gradually from his mind, or ifhe thought of them, he considered them but as a dream of childhood, andbelieved himself in reality to be the son of the tyrannical BaronGaletzoff.
Volume 1, Chapter V.
We left the serf Karl urging on the weary animal which drew his master'sbaggage-cart towards Tver, and there he arrived without any otheraccident than a thorough drenching from the same storm which they hadescaped under shelter of the Gipsy's tent. He proceeded straightway tothe best inn the town possessed, which was kept by one of the despisedrace of Israel, who are the principal innkeepers throughout the country.The inn in question was very inferior to those houses of entertainmentwhich most of the larger cities of Russia now afford; but rapidimprovements in all the conveniences for travelling have lately takenplace.
The lower floor of the house consisted of two divisions; the oneappropriated to the horses and equipages of travellers, the other to theculinary department of the establishment, as also to the accommodation--at that precise moment--of a motley assemblage of human beings,soldiers, mechanics, carriers, wagoners, postillions, all talking at thesame time in their guttural language; smoking, drinking, and hallowingto each other, with loud laughter and jokes; yet the ear was nevershocked by the profane oath, or other evidences of the fierce quarrels,which too often occur amongst a mixture of people of similar degree inother countries.
The upper part of the building was laid out in rooms for theaccommodation of the better order of travellers. One of largerdimensions than the rest formed the dining-room--this was completelyimpregnated with the fumes of tobacco; the rest consisted of sleepingapartments.
As Karl drove into the court-yard, he seemed to have roused himself to asense of his own importance, and the responsibility with which he wasentrusted, for he endeavoured to assume an air of authority. "Help,here! help!" he exclaimed as the wheels of his cart rattled over thestones, "help here, to carry the baggage of my noble masters up-stairs!Does no one come? Help here, help, halloo!"
His calls for assistance were at last heeded by a being very similar tohimself in dress and features. "Halloo, villain!" cried Karl, as theman approached, "can you not hear when a Christian calls? Here, help meto carry this baggage, will you?"
"Who art thou that speakest thus to me?" demanded the other; "art thoubetter than I am myself, knave? Art thou not a slave as well as I?"
"Ay, ay, truly," answered Karl, "but I serve a noble master, whilst thouart but the slave of a base-born Hebrew innkeeper!"
"There thou liest!" exclaimed the indignant ostler, for such was hisoffice. "I serve the innkeeper truly, and if he did not oblige me toobserve his fasts, as well as those of our own holy church, the servicewould not be so bad; but I am no slave of his. I am the born serf ofthe noble Baron Ogstrofsty; he has let me out for hire, to the old JewLevi, to pay off an old score, and when I have worked it out, I shallreturn to my own master."
"That alters the case," replied Karl, rubbing his forehead, that hemight more clearly understand the knotty difference, "so now let us befriends, and lend me your aid."
"With all my heart, now that thou art civil," said the ostler.
Suiting the action to the word, after fastening the horse's bridle to aring in the wall, he assisted in taking the luggage from the cart, andled the way up a rude flight of steps, on the landing of which they weremet by the landlord Levi, who had been eagerly looking out, in the hopeof making considerable gain by his new guests.
"My noble master, the son of the Baron Galetzoff, and my noble master'sfriend, sent me on before them to announce their coming, and to engagebeds and supper. They will be here anon, so make ready for theirreception: their baggage must be placed in their room that I may unpackit, for they will be rather wet, I fancy, when they arrive."
"Your noble masters shall be well served," answered Levi, bowing ratherto the young nobles' portmanteaus, than to the bearer of them. "Thisway, this way!"
And he conducted Karl into a room, boasting of but little comfort. Tohim, however, it appeared a luxurious apartment, and he immediatelycommenced unpacking the luggage. That done, he locked the door, anddescended with his fellow-serf to look after his horse, and to attend tohis own creature comforts.
Seating himself at the long table in the common eating-room, among thestrange variety of guests, he applied himself with unwearied energy tothe business of mastication, washing down his food with deep draughts ofquass; and so completely was he engaged in this, to him, most gratefuloccupation, that he paid but little attention to what was going onaround him.
When his appetite was at length thoroughly satisfied, he pushed theempty dish from before him, with a sigh, and took another long andsteady draught from the jug of quass. He then resigned himself to theenjoyment of his sensations of satisfaction, when his eye-lids began tofall; re-opening slightly, they closed again, his head nodded for aminute, when he shook it to rouse himself, but it soon again fell slowlydown, and he dropped fast asleep, resting his arms and shoulders on thetable.
Some time had elapsed, when he was aroused by the entrance of two men,who seated themselves close to him, one of them pushing rudely againsthim as he took his seat at the table. The movement made Karl raise hishead, and seeing two serving men in the liveries apparently of anobleman, he endeavoured, for the sake of good fellowship, to join intheir conversation; but he found it impossible to sustain his headwithout the support of the table. He listened, however, for some timeto what they were saying, till their words grew indistinct andmeaningless to his comprehension, and Karl sunk again into sleep.
"Well," said one of the new-comers, "this is a pretty business we'vebeen engaged in. First, the certainty of being knocked on the head bythe Gipsies, had they caught us, of which there was every risk; then,the very clear reality of finding ourselves knocked down by two wildhorsemen, who seemed to have risen out of the forest, for no otherpurpose than to interfere where they had no business; and then, becausewe could not prevent their getting up to the Count, when we did ourbest, to be rewarded with a thrashing and a load of abuse; and finally,to be sent, with our broken heads, scampering across the country to lookafter these gentlemen. And after all, what is the cause of all thisfuss?--a woman--a girl--a piece of painted flesh! a baggage, no betterthan those who go singing about the streets of Moscow. So coy andmodest too! Why the Count is mad to make such a disturbance about her.It makes me thirsty to think of it--hand the quass, Kruntz."
"You may well say that," answered his companion, "for I never saw ourmaster in such a taking before. He swears he will have deadly vengeanceagainst those who prevented him from carrying off the girl; and he saysthat he should know them again, whether he met them in this world or thenext. I don't think he has much chance of meeting them in a betterplace, do you, Groff?"
"No, no," answered the first speaker; "our master has played too manyodd tricks on earth for that. H
e may know them, perhaps, for he hadtime to see their faces; but it is too hard of him to expect that weshould; for I could have sworn, when they came so suddenly upon us, thatthey were the wild horsemen of the woods."
"They may be devils themselves, and still not escape our master'svengeance," replied Kruntz; "and, as for the girl, he will entrap herbefore long, or he will not act like himself. If he cannot do it byopen force, he has numerous secret means to bring about his ends."
"That I'll be sworn he has," said the other; "and so long as he pays mewell, I am ready to serve him, though I do not much relish so hard aride as he sent us, in a storm, on a fool's errand. Yet if I could findout who the two young gallants were, who gave us such confoundedly hardblows, I should like to see how they felt
The Circassian Chief: A Romance of Russia Page 9