The Circassian Chief: A Romance of Russia
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trees, leaping and climbing from rock to rock, afterinfinite labour, they at last reached the flat ground, which crowned thesummit of the mountain; when, striking across the country, theyperceived the bands of Arslan Gherrei, and the Hadji, with thechieftain's daughter and her women.
No sooner did Ivan and his small band appear at the summit of the hill,than the keen eye of the Hadji caught sight of him; and spurring on hissteed, he came to meet him, almost lifting him from his horse, as herode up to his side to embrace him; at the same time, exclaiming withaccents of delight: "Welcome to my arms, my son! I feared one of thefuture heroes of the Atteghei might have been slain by those rascalCossacks, as you could nowhere be found after the fight. But my heartleaps with joy, to see you alive; for well have you fought this day, andfull worthy are you to be called a son of the Atteghei! My eye was onyou, when you first charged the Cossack horse, and I was then confidentyou would prove no disgrace to your country; for bravely you fell uponthem; and one of the noblest of our Uzdens says, that you gallantly cameto his aid, when hard pressed by our foes. His fair daughter seeks toshew you her gratitude, for rescuing her from the hands of Besin Khan,that vile traitor. So, my son, you have lost no time in becoming knownas a gallant warrior, and the praise of the chief, whom you rescued, isalone the proudest meed you could gain."
"Happy, indeed am I, to have won his praise then," replied Ivan; "andnot the less your's, my kind friend. But I hope, with your guidance,ere long to win more laurels in my country's cause."
They waited till Arslan Gherrei and his band came up; when thechieftain, leaping from his horse, Ivan doing the same, advanced to meethim.
"My gallant young hero!" he exclaimed, embracing him, "though astranger, as I hear, in our land, you have this day shewn yourself asvaliant as the bravest of our chiefs; and a deep debt do I owe you, notonly for saving my life, but in rescuing my only child from the hands ofour enemy. Think not, that if I am wanting in the power of expressingmy feelings, my heart thanks you the less. My child too longs to throwherself at your feet, to express her gratitude."
"Speak not thus noble chieftain, for you owe me nothing," cried Ivan."I acted but the duty of a warrior, nor deserve thanks for so doing; andtell your fair daughter, that to have been of service to her, is mygreatest happiness. The gratitude of all is, however, due to my father,the Hadji Guz Beg; for he it was, who shewed us the way into action."
"Do not thank me, my friends," exclaimed the Hadji; "for I have not beenso happy for years. Inshallah! we left not a few of our foes on thefield. But we must not delay here, my friends; the day is far spent,and if we lose more time, we shall not reach our konag before dark."
Mounting their horses, therefore, they overtook the rest of the party,passing the Armenian pedlar and his pack horses. He had remained on thesummit of the hill when the Hadji's band galloped down to join thefight--a distant hearer of the combat, though not venturing to approachnear enough to the edge of the cliffs, to see what was going forwardbelow.
"Ah, man of trade!" exclaimed the Hadji, laughingly, as he rode up; "youlook fresh and well. As a spectator of our combat, you have managed tokeep yourself cleaner than we have done. How think you, your friendsthe Russians like it? But you will make a rich harvest; for there arefew of our followers who have not something to exchange for your goods."
Ina gazed earnestly at our hero, as he rode past her; for anunaccountable feeling of bashfulness prevented his addressing her,though, bending low to his saddle bow, he respectfully saluted her, andwent on to take his place by the Hadji's side. Not so, however, hispage the young Conrin, who gained a situation near her, earnestlystealing glances at her beautiful features, as her veil was occasionallyblown aside; but they seemed not to give him that pleasure, which theyso highly merited; for a slight frown and a look of dissatisfaction saton the boy's countenance, though he seemed so fascinated that he couldnot withdraw his eyes from her.
The warlike party now gained another height, close above the bay ofGhelendjik, when the report of musketry was heard. Looking down uponthe fort, a wreath of smoke ascended to the sky, and they observed acompany of the Russian soldiers drawn up, and a man in the dress of thecountry fall beneath their fire. A feeling of rage and indignationagitated their breasts, as they fancied some friend might have been thuscruelly murdered; and brandishing their weapons they uttered a loudshout of defiance, and a promise of revenge. They were, however,obliged to retreat behind shelter, for their appearance was a signal forthe discharge of all the guns in the fort.
"Bismillah! I wish we had some of their powder and shot, if they canafford to expend it in this way upon the rocks and trees," exclaimed theHadji. "But whom have the cowards dared thus to murder before oureyes?"
A young mountaineer, who had been stationed as a scout close to thefort, now made his appearance.
"Yonder died the traitor squire of Besin Khan, who this morning deceivedus all by false reports," said the youth; "and now he has paid thepenalty of his deceit, for the Russians have vented their rage at theirown defeat on him."
"It is well," exclaimed the Hadji. "They have saved us a task, forwhich they are more fitted."
As it was found impossible to reach the place at which they hadoriginally intended to stop before night, a nearer konag was fixed upon,and a messenger sent forward to warn the host of their near approach.
The shades of evening were fast coming on, as they caught sight of asmiling village, sequestered in a dell amid the mountains, and shaded bylofty trees. The chimneys with their curling wreaths of smoke, and theshepherds driving home their flocks, afforded a scene of rural beautyand peace, in welcome contrast to that in which they had lately beenengaged. As our wayfarers reached the dwelling of the chief of thehamlet, the moon rose above the mountains, throwing her pale golden hueon their summits, and shedding her rays in a silvery stream amid theforest glades, and deep into the recesses of the dale. Numerousdomestic slaves ran out to take the horses of the chiefs, who wereushered into the guest-house, by the squire of the lord of the mansion;he himself being absent, mounting guard in the passes from Ghelendjik,above which they had lately passed. Ina and her attendants weredelivered over to the care of the wife and daughters of the host.
As Ivan was dismounting, he observed the Armenian merchant regarding theRussian prisoners with an uneasy look, which was increased when he sawKarl in close attendance on himself. Javis also regarded the pedlarwith a scrutinising glance.
"There is something in that man's look that I like not," said he,addressing Ivan. "I will watch him closely, for if I mistake not, hewill be found no true friend to Circassia."
As the man, unsuspicious of what was said of him, moved onward with hispack horses to take up his abode with one of the inhabitants of thevillage, of equal rank to himself, Karl came up to Ivan who was standingunder the verandah of the guest-house admiring the scene of lovelinessbefore him.
"Hist! sir, hist!" he said. "Did you observe yonder travellingmerchant? Where did he come from? I am surprised to see him in suchworshipful company; for if my eyes deceive me not, I saw him a fewnights ago, as I was on guard near the Baron's quarters, pass by metwice, and each time a light fell upon his features, so that I think Icannot be mistaken. He remained closeted with the governor for an hour,and then took his way towards the mountains."
"Is it, indeed, so?" said Ivan. "The man must be closely watched; forit will not be advisable to let a spy go at large. Here, Javis, I giveit to your charge to watch the pedlar's movements. My friends seem tohave no suspicion of him; but I will speak to the Hadji, and persuadehim to send some shrewd person to assist you, and act as your guide ifrequisite."
As he spoke the Hadji himself appeared, and Ivan lost no time inmentioning the suspicions which had been raised about the Armenian'shonesty.
"A spy do you think he is?" he replied; "I suspected the fellow was aknave when he tried to persuade the Prince of Pchad that there was nouse in contending with Russia. No use, forsooth! We shewed them asmuch to-da
y. But this fellow shall be watched, and he shall pay dearlyif he proves treacherous."
"You are silent, my son; of what are you thinking?"
"I am thinking of a dear friend I once had who is in the ranks of theenemy," replied Ivan. "He is a noble Pole, who, did he know the truestate of this country, would, I feel confident, be ready to shed hisbest blood in our cause instead of against us. I saved his life to-day;and I long to find means to see him and to bring him over to our party.Say, my father, how I can accomplish it?"
"I scarcely know," replied the Hadji. "We might send some one on somepretext into the fort; but these Russian rascals are grown suspicious oflate, and our young men cannot now play them the tricks they were wontto do. It