CHAPTER XXVI.
Hmelnitski remained awhile at Korsun, and then pushed on to BelayaTserkoff, where he established his capital. The horde was disposed incamp on the other side of the river, sending out parties through thewhole province of Kieff. Pan Longin Podbipienta therefore had beengrieving in vain over the dearth of Tartar heads. Skshetuski foresawcorrectly that the Zaporojians seized by Ponyatovski at Kanyeff gavefalse information. Tugai Bey not only had not departed, but had notgone even to Chigirin. What is more, new Tartar reinforcements camefrom every side. The petty sovereigns of Azoff and Astrakhan, who hadnever been in Poland before, came with four thousand warriors. Twelvethousand of the Nogai horde came, and twenty thousand of the Belgorodand Budjak hordes,--all sworn enemies hitherto of the Zaporojians andthe Cossacks, now brothers and sworn allies against Christian blood.Finally the Khan Islam Girei himself came with twelve thousand fromPerekop. The whole Ukraine suffered from these friends; not only thenobles suffered, but the Russian people, whose villages were burned,cattle driven away, and whose wives and children were hurriedinto captivity. In those times of murder, burning, and bloodshed therewas only one rescue for the peasant, and that was to flee toHmelnitski,--where from being a victim he became a destroyer, andravaged his own country; but at least his life was safe. Unhappycountry! When rebellion broke out in it Pan Nikolai Pototski punishedand wasted it to begin with; then the Zaporojians and the Tartars, whocame as if for its liberation; and now Yeremi Vishnyevetski hoveredover it.
Therefore all who were able fled to Hmelnitski's camp; even noblesfled, for other means of safety were not to be found. Thanks to this,Hmelnitski increased in power; and if he remained long in BelayaTserkoff and did not move at once to the heart of the Commonwealth, itwas above all to give order to these lawless and wild elements.
In his iron hands they changed quickly into military strength. Skeletonregiments of trained Zaporojians were at hand; the mob was dividedamong these. Colonels were appointed from koshevoi atamans of longstanding; single parties were sent out to capture castles, and receivethereby training for battle. They were men valiant by nature, fittedbeyond all others for war, used to arms, familiar with fire and thebloody front of battle, through Tartar raids.
Two colonels, Handja and Ostap, went to Nestorvar, which they captured,cutting to pieces all the Jews and nobles among its inhabitants, andbeheading Prince Chetvertinski's miller on the threshold of the castle.Ostap made the princess his captive. Others went in other directions,and success attended their arms; for a terror of the heart seized thePoles,--a terror "unusual to that people," who dropped the weapons fromtheir hands and lost their strength.
More than once it happened that the colonels importuned Hmelnitski:"Why don't you move on Warsaw? Why do you stay resting here, gettinginformation from wizards, and filling yourself with gorailka, lettingthe Poles recover from their terror and assemble their men?" More thanonce also the drunken crowd howled in the night-time, surrounding thequarters of Hmelnitski, asking him to lead them against the Poles. Thehetman had raised the rebellion and given it a terrible power, but nowhe began to see that this power was urging him forward to an unknownfuture; therefore he gazed often into that future with uncertain eye,tried to solve the riddle of it, and in the face of that future wasdisturbed at heart.
As has been said, among those colonels and atamans he alone knew whatterrible power there was in the apparent weakness of the Commonwealth.He had raised the rebellion, gained the victory at Joltiya Vodi, atKorsun had swept away the armies of the Crown,--but what further?
He assembled the colonels then in council, and glancing at them withbloodshot eyes before which they all trembled, proposed the very samequestion,--"What further? What do you want? To go to Warsaw? ThenPrince Vishnyevetski will be here, and kill your wives and childrenwith the speed of lightning. He will leave only earth and water behind,and will follow to Warsaw, marching with the whole power of the nobleswho will join him. Then, caught between two fires, we shall perish; ifnot in battle, empaled on stakes. You cannot depend on Tartarfriendship. To-day they are with us; to-morrow they may turn against usand rush off to the Crimea, or sell our heads to the Poles. Well, whatmore will you say? March on Vishnyevetski? He would detain our forcesand those of the Tartar till armies could be enrolled in the heart ofthe Commonwealth and brought to his aid. Choose!"
The alarmed colonels were silent, and Hmelnitski continued:--
"Why are you silent? Why do you urge me no longer to go to Warsaw? Ifyou know not what to do, then rely on me, and with God's help I willsave my own head and yours, and win satisfaction for the Zaporojianarmy and all the Cossacks."
In fact, there remained one method,--negotiation. Hmelnitski knew wellhow much he could extort from the Commonwealth in that way. Hecalculated that the Diets would rather agree to liberal concessionsthan to taxes, levies of troops, and war, which would have to be longand difficult. Finally, he knew that in Warsaw there was a strongparty, and at the head of it the king himself (news of whose death hadnot yet come), with the chancellor and many nobles, who would be gladto hinder the growth of the colossal fortunes of the magnates of theUkraine, and to create a power for the hands of the king out of theCossacks, conclude a permanent peace with them, and use those thousandsof warriors for foreign wars. In these conditions Hmelnitski mightacquire a distinguished position for himself, receive the baton ofhetman from the king, and gain countless concessions for the Cossacks.
This was why he remained long in Belaya Tserkoff. He armed his men,sent general orders in every direction, collected the people, createdwhole armies, took possession of castles, for he knew they wouldnegotiate only with power, but he did not move into the heart of theCommonwealth. If he could conclude peace by negotiation, then eitherthe weapon would drop from the hand of Vishnyevetski, or, if the princewould not lay it aside, then not Hmelnitski, but Vishnyevetski, wouldbe the rebel carrying on war against the will of the king and theDiets. He would move then on Vishnyevetski, but by command of the kingand the Commonwealth; and the last hour would have struck not forVishnyevetski alone, but for all the kinglets of the Ukraine, withtheir fortunes and their lands.
Thus meditated the self-created Zaporojian hetman; such was the pilethat he built for the future. But on the scaffolding of this edificethe dark birds, Care, Doubt, Fear, sat many a time, and ominous wastheir croaking. Will the peace party be strong enough in Warsaw? Willit begin negotiations with him? What will the Diet and the Senate say?Will they close their ears in the capital to the groans and cries ofthe Ukraine? Will they shut their eyes to the flames of conflagration?Will not negotiations be prevented by the influence of the magnatespossessing those immeasurable estates, the preservation of whichwill be for their interest? And has the Commonwealth become soterror-stricken that it will forgive him?
On the other hand, Hmelnitski's soul was rent by the doubt. Has not therebellion become too inflamed and too developed? Would those wildmasses allow themselves to be confined within any limits? Suppose he,Hmelnitski, should conclude peace, the cut-throats may continue tomurder and burn in his name, or take vengeance on his head for theirdeluded hopes. Then that swollen river, that sea, that storm! An awfulposition! If the outbreak had been weaker, they would not negotiatewith him, by reason of his weakness; but because the rebellion ismighty, negotiations, by the force of things, may be defeated. Thenwhat will happen?
When such thoughts besieged the weighty head of the hetman he shuthimself up in his quarters, and drank whole days and nights. Then amongthe colonels and the mob the report went around: "The hetman isdrinking!" and following his example, all drank. Discipline wasrelaxed, prisoners killed, fights sprang up, booty was stolen. The dayof judgment was beginning, the reign of horror and ghastliness. BelayaTserkoff was turned into a real Inferno.
One day Vygovski, a noble captured at Korsun and made secretary to thehetman, came in. He began to shake the drinker without ceremony, tillseizing him by the shoulders he seated him on the low bench and br
oughthim to his senses.
"What is it? What the plague--" demanded Hmelnitski.
"Rise up, Hetman, and come to yourself!" answered Vygovski. "An embassyhas come."
Hmelnitski sprang to his feet, and in a moment was sober.
"Hi, there!" he cried to the Cossack sitting at the threshold, "give memy cap and baton. Who has come? From whom?"
"The priest Patroni Lasko, from Gushchi, from the voevoda of Bratslav."
"From Pan Kisel?"
"Yes."
"Glory to the Father and Son, glory to the Holy Ghost and to the HolyMost Pure!" said Hmelnitski, making the sign of the cross. His facebecame clear, he regained his good humor,--negotiations had begun.
But that day there came news of a character directly opposed to thepeaceful embassy of Pan Kisel. It was stated that Prince Yeremi, afterhe had given rest to his army, wearied with its march through the woodsand swamps, had entered into the rebellious country; that he waskilling, burning, beheading; that a division sent under Skshetuski haddispersed a band of two thousand Cossacks with a mob and cut them topieces; that the prince himself had taken Pogrebische, the property ofthe princes Zbaraski, and had left only earth and water behind him.Awful things were related of the storm and taking of Pogrebische,--forit was a nest of the most stubborn murderers. The prince, it was said,told the soldiers: "Kill them so they will feel they are dying." Thesoldiers therefore allowed themselves the wildest excesses of cruelty.Out of the whole town not a single soul escaped. Seven hundredprisoners were hanged, two hundred seated on stakes. Mention is madealso of boring out eyes with augers and burning on slow fires. Therebellion was put down at once in the whole neighborhood. Theinhabitants either fled to Hmelnitski or received the lord of Lubni ontheir knees with bread and salt, howling for mercy. The smaller bandswere all rubbed out, and in the woods, as stated by fugitives fromSamorodka, Spichina, Pleskoff, Vakhnovka, there was not a tree on whicha Cossack was not hanging. And all this was done not far from BelayaTserkoff and the many-legioned armies of Hmelnitski.
So when Hmelnitski heard of this he began to roar like a woundedaurochs. On one side negotiations, on the other the sword. If hemarches against the prince, it will mean that he does not want thenegotiations proposed through Pan Kisel, the Lord of Brusiloff. Hisonly hope was in the Tartars. Hmelnitski jumped up and hurried to thequarters of Tugai Bey.
"Tugai Bey, my friend!" said he, after giving the usual salaams, "asyou saved me at Joltiya Vodi and Korsun, save me now! An envoy has comehere from the voevoda of Bratslav, with a letter, in which the voevodapromises satisfaction, and to the Zaporojian army the restoration ofits ancient freedom, on condition that I cease from war, which I mustdo to show my sincerity and good-will. At the same time news has comethat my enemy, Prince Vishnyevetski, has razed Pogrebische and left noman living. He is cutting down my warriors, empaling them, boring outtheir eyes with augers. I cannot move on him. To you I come, askingthat you move on your enemy and mine with your Tartars; otherwise hewill soon attack our camp here."
The murza, sitting on a pile of carpets taken at Korsun or stolen fromthe houses of nobles, swayed backward and forward some time, contractedhis eyes as if for closer thinking; at last he said,--
"Allah! I cannot do that."
"Why?" asked Hmelnitski.
"Because, as it is, I have lost for you beys and men enough at JoltiyaVodi and Korsun, why should I lose more? Yeremi is a great warrior! Iwill march against him if you march, but not alone. I am not such afool as to lose in one battle all that I have gained so far; bettersend out my detachments for booty and captives. I have done enough foryou unbelieving dogs. I will not go myself, and I will dissuade theKhan from going. I have spoken."
"You swore to give me aid."
"I did; but I swore to make war at your side, not instead of you. Goaway from here!"
"I let you take captives from my own people, gave you booty, gave youthe hetmans."
"Yes, for if you had not I should have given you to them."
"I will go to the Khan."
"Be off, I tell you!"
The pointed teeth of the murza had already begun to gleam from underhis mustache. Hmelnitski knew that he had nothing to get from him, andit was dangerous to stop longer; he rose therefore and went in fact tothe Khan.
But he got the same answer from the Khan. The Tartars had their ownminds and were looking for their own profit. Instead of venturing on ageneral battle against a leader who was considered invincible, theypreferred to send out plundering parties and enrich themselves withoutbloodshed.
Hmelnitski returned in a rage to his own quarters, and from despair wasgoing to the decanter again, when Vygovski took it away from him.
"You will not drink, worthy hetman!" said he. "There is an envoy, andyou must finish with him first."
Hmelnitski was furious. "I will have you and the envoy empaled!"
"I will not give you gorailka. Are you not ashamed, when fortune hasraised you so high, to fill yourself with gorailka, like a commonCossack? Pshaw! it must not be. News of the envoy's arrival has spreadabout the army, and the colonels want a council. It is not for you todrink now, but to forge the iron while it is hot; for now you canconclude peace and receive all you want; afterward it will be too late,and my life and yours are involved in this. You should send an envoy atonce to Warsaw, and ask the king for favor."
"You are a wise head," said Hmelnitski. "Command them to ring the bellfor council, and tell the colonels on the square that I shall come outdirectly."
Vygovski went out, and in a moment the bell was ringing for council. Atthe sound the Zaporojian army began to assemble immediately. Theleaders and colonels sat down,--the terrible Krivonos, Hmelnitski'sright hand; Krechovski, the sword of the Cossacks; the old andexperienced Filon Daidyalo, colonel of Kropivnik; Fedor Loboda, ofPereyaslav; the cruel Fedorenko, of Kalnik; the wild Pushkarenko, ofPoltava, whose command was composed of herdsmen alone; Shumeiko, ofNyejin; the fiery Chernota, of Gadyach; Yakubovich, of Chigirin;besides Nosach, Gladki, Adamovich, Glukh, Pulyan, Panich. Not all thecolonels were present; for some were on expeditions, and some were inthe other world,--sent there by Prince Yeremi.
The Tartars were not invited this time to the council. The Brotherhoodassembled on the square. The crowding multitudes were driven away withclubs and even with whirlbats, on which occasion cases of death werenot wanting.
Finally Hmelnitski himself appeared, dressed in red, wearing his cap,the baton in his hand. By his side walked the priest Patroni Lasko,white as a dove; and on the other side Vygovski, carrying papers.
Hmelnitski took a place among the colonels, and sat for a time insilence; then he removed his cap as a sign that the council was open.He rose and began to speak;--
"Gentlemen, colonels, and atamans! It is known to you how we wereforced to seize arms on account of the great injustices which wesuffered without cause, and with the aid of the most serene Tsar of theCrimea, demand from the Polish lords our ancient rights and privileges,taken from us without the will of his Majesty the King, whichundertaking God has blessed; and having sent a terror upon ourfaithless tyrants, altogether unusual to them, has punished theiruntruth and oppression, and rewarded us with signal victories, forwhich we should thank him with grateful hearts. Since, then, theirinsolence is punished, it is proper for us to think how the shedding ofChristian blood may be restrained, which the God of mercy and ourorthodox faith command; but not to let the sabres from our hands untilour ancient rights and privileges are restored in accordance with thewill of his most serene Majesty the King. The voevoda of Bratslavwrites me, therefore, that this may come to pass, which I too believe,for it is not we who have left obedience to his Majesty the King andthe Commonwealth, but the Pototskis, the Kalinovskis, theVishnyevetskis, the Konyetspolskis, whom we have punished; therefore aproper concession and reward is due to us from his Majesty and theestates. I beg you therefore, gentlemen, to read the letter of thevoevoda of Bratslav, sent to me through Father Patroni Lasko, a nobleof the orthodo
x faith, and to determine wisely whether the spilling ofChristian blood is to be restrained, and concessions and rewards madeto us for our obedience and loyalty to the Commonwealth."
Hmelnitski did not ask whether the war was to be discontinued, but heasked for a decision to suspend the war. Immediately, therefore,murmurs of discontent were raised, which soon changed into threateningshouts, directed mainly by Chernota of Gadyach.
Hmelnitski was silent, but noted carefully where the protests camefrom, and fixed firmly in his memory those who opposed him.
Vygovski then rose with the letter of Kisel in his hand. Zorko hadbrought a copy to be read to the Brotherhood. A deep silence followed.The voevoda began the letter in these words:--
"Chief of the Zaporojian Army of the Commonwealth.
"My old and dear Friend,--While there are many who understand you to bean enemy of the Commonwealth, I not only am thoroughly convinced myselfof your loyalty to the Commonwealth, but I convince other senators andcolleagues of mine of it. Three things are clear to me: First, thatthough the army of the Dnieper guards its glory and its freedom forcenturies, it maintains always its faith to the king, the lords, andthe Commonwealth; second, that our Russian people are so firm in theirorthodox faith that every one of us prefers to lay down his life ratherthan to violate that faith in any regard; third, that though there bevarious internal blood-spillings (as now has happened, God pity us!),still we have all one country in which we were born and use our rights,and there is not indeed in the whole world another such rule andanother such land as ours, with respect to rights and liberties.Therefore we are all of us in the same manner accustomed to guard thecrown of our mother; and though there be various circumstances (ashappens in the world), still reason commands us to consider that it iseasier in a free government to make known our injuries than having lostthat mother, not to find another such, either in a Christian or a paganworld."
Loboda of Pereyaslav interrupted the reading. "He tells the truth,"said he.
"He tells the truth," repeated other colonels.
"Not the truth! He lies, dog-believer!" screamed Chernota.
"Be silent! You are a dog-believer yourself!"
"You are traitors. Death to you!"
"Death to you!"
"Listen; wait awhile! Read! He is one of us. Listen, listen!"
The storm was gathering in good earnest, but Vygovski began to readagain. There was silence a second time.
The voevoda wrote, in continuation, that the Zaporojian army shouldhave confidence in him, for they knew well that he, being of the sameblood and faith, must wish it well. He wrote that in the unfortunateblood-spilling at Kumeiki and Starets, he had taken no part; then hecalled on Hmelnitski to put an end to the war, dismiss the Tartars orturn his arms against them, and remain faithful to the Commonwealth.Finally; the letter ended in the following words:--
"I promise you, since I am a son of the Church of God, and as my housecomes from the ancient blood of the Russian people, that I shall myselfaid in everything just. You know very well that upon me in thisCommonwealth (by the mercy of God) something depends, and without mewar cannot be declared, nor peace concluded, and that I first do notwish civil war," etc.
Now rose immediate tumult for and against; but on the whole the letterpleased the colonels, and even the Brotherhood. Nevertheless, in thefirst moment it was impossible to understand or hear anything onaccount of the fury with which the letter was discussed. TheBrotherhood, from a distance, seemed like a great vortex, in whichswarms of people were seething and boiling and roaring. The colonelsshook their batons, sprang at and thrust their fists in one another'seyes. There were purple faces, inflamed eyes, and foam on the mouth;and the leader of all who called for war was Chernota, who fell into areal frenzy. Hmelnitski too, while looking at his fury, was near anoutbreak, before which everything generally grew silent as before theroaring of a lion. But Krechovski, anticipating him, sprang on a bench,waved his baton, and cried with a voice of thunder,--
"Herding oxen is your work, not counselling, you outrageous slaves!"
"Silence! Krechovski wants to speak!" cried Chernota, first, who hopedthat the famous colonel would speak for war.
"Silence! silence!" shouted others.
Krechovski was respected beyond measure among the Cossacks, for theimportant services which he had rendered, for his great military brain,and wonderful to relate, because he was a noble. They were silent atonce, therefore, and all waited with curiosity for what he would say.Hmelnitski himself fixed an uneasy glance on him.
But Chernota was mistaken in supposing that the colonel would declarefor war. Krechovski, with his quick mind, understood that now or nevermight he obtain from the Commonwealth those starostaships and dignitiesof which he dreamed. He understood that at the pacification of theCossacks they would try to detach and satisfy him before many others,with which Pan Pototski, being in captivity, would not be able tointerfere. On this account he spoke as follows:--
"My calling is to give battle, not advice; but as we are in council, Ifeel impelled to give my present opinion, since I have earned yourfavor as well if not better than others. Why did we kindle war? Wekindled present war for the restoration of our liberties and rights,and the voevoda of Bratslav writes that this restoration will takeplace. Therefore, either it will, or it will not. If it will not, thenwar; if it will, peace! Why spill blood in vain? Let them pacify us,and we will pacify the crowd, and the war will stop. Our fatherHmelnitski has arranged and thought out all this wisely,--that we areon the side of his Majesty the King, who will give us a reward forthat; and if the lordlings will oppose, then he will let us have oursport with them, and we will have it. I should not advise to send theTartars off; let them arrange themselves in camps in the Wilderness,and stay till we have one thing or another."
Hmelnitski's face brightened when he heard these words; and now thecolonels in immense majority, began to call for a suspension of war andan embassy to Warsaw, to ask the Lord of Brusiloff to come in person tonegotiate. Chernota still shouted and protested; but the colonel fixedthreatening eyes on him and said,--
"You, Chernota, Colonel of Gadyach, call for war and bloodshed; butwhen the light cavalry of Dmukhovski advanced upon you at Korsun, yousquealed like a little pig, 'Oh, brothers, my own brothers, save me!'and you ran away in the face of your whole regiment."
"You lie!" roared Chernota. "I am not afraid of the Poles, nor of you."
Krechovski squeezed the baton in his hand and sprang toward Chernota;others began also to belabor the Gadyach colonel with their fists. Thetumult increased. On the square the Brotherhood bellowed like a herd ofwild bulls.
Then Hmelnitski himself rose a second time.
"Gentlemen, colonels, friends," said he, "you have decided to sendenvoys to Warsaw, to mention our faithful services to his most sereneMajesty the King, and to ask for a reward. But also whoever wishes warmay have it,--not with the king nor the Commonwealth, for we have nevercarried on war with either, but with our greatest enemy, who is now redwith Cossack blood, who at Starets bathed himself in it, and still doesnot cease to bathe himself, and continues in his hatred of theZaporojian armies; to whom I sent a letter and envoys asking him toabandon that hatred, but who cruelly murdered my envoys, gave no answerto me, not paying respect to your chief, through which he is guilty ofcontempt against the whole Zaporojian army. And now, having come fromthe Trans-Dnieper, he has destroyed Pogrebische, punishing innocentpeople, for whom I have shed bitter tears. From Pogrebische, as I wasinformed this morning, he marched to Nyemiroff, and left no personalive there. And since the Tartars from fear and terror will not marchagainst him, he will be seen soon on the way to destroy us here,innocent people, against the will of our affectionate king and thewhole Commonwealth; for in his insolence he regards no man, and as heis now rebelling, so is he always ready to rebel against the will ofhis Majesty the King."
It grew very still in the assembly; Hmelnitski drew breath and spokeon:--
"God has rewarded us wi
th a victory over the hetmans, but Yeremi isworse than the hetmans and all the kinglets,--a son of Satan, living bypure injustice. Against whom I should march myself were it not that inWarsaw he would begin to cry, through his friends, that I do not wantpeace, and blacken our innocence before the king. That this should nothappen, it is necessary that his Majesty the King and the wholeCommonwealth should know that I do not want war, that I am sitting herein quiet, and that he first comes on us with war. Therefore I am notable to move, I must remain for negotiations with the voevoda ofBratslav. That he, devil's son, should not break our power, it isnecessary to make a stand against him and destroy his power as we didthat of our enemies, those gentlemen, the hetmans at Joltiya Vodi andKorsun. Therefore I ask some of you to go against him of your own will,and I will write to the king that that took place aside from me, andfor our absolute defence against the hatred and attacks ofVishnyevetski."
Profound silence reigned in the assembly. Hmelnitski continued:--
"To whomsoever wishes to go on this undertaking I will give men enough,good men, and I will give cannon and artillerists, so that with God'said he may sweep aside our enemy and gain a victory over him."
But not one of the colonels stepped forward.
"Sixty thousand chosen men I will give," said crafty Hmelnitski.
Silence. And they were all fearless warriors, whose battle-shouts hadechoed more than once around the walls of Tsargrad.[12] And perhaps forthis very reason each one of them feared to lose the glory hepossessed, by meeting the terrible Yeremi.
Hmelnitski eyed the colonels, who under the influence of that glancelooked to the ground. The face of Vygovski put on a look of satanicmalice.
"I know a hero," said Hmelnitski, mournfully, "who would speak at thismoment, and not avoid this work, but he is not among us."
"Bogun!" exclaimed some voices.
"Yes. He has already swept away Yeremi's garrison at Vassilyevka; butthey wounded him in the engagement, and he lies now in Cherkasistruggling with Mother Death. And since he is not here, there is no onehere as I see. Where is Cossack renown? Where are the Pavlyuks, theNalivaikas, the Lobodas, and the Ostranitsas?"
A short, thick man, with a blue and gloomy face, and a mustache red asfire over a crooked mouth, and with green eyes, rose from the bench,pushed forward toward Hmelnitski, and said, "I will go." This wasMaksim Krivonos.
Shouts of "Glory to him!" rose in thunder; but he stood with his batonat his side, and spoke with a hoarse and halting voice,--
"Do not think, Hetman, that I feel fear. I should have stood up atfirst, but I thought, 'There are better than I!' But matters being asthey are, I will go. Who are you? [turning to the colonels]. You arethe heads and the hands; but I have no head, only hands and a sword.Once my mother bore me! War is my mother and my sister. Vishnyevetskislaughters, I will slaughter; he hangs, and I will hang. But you,Hetman, give me good warriors; for with a mob you can do nothing withVishnyevetski. And so I go to take castles, kill, slaughter, hang!Death to the white hands!"
Another ataman stepped forward. "I will go with you, Maksim." This wasPulyan.
"And Chernota of Gadyach, and Gladki of Mirgorod, and Nosach will gowith you," said Hmelnitski.
"We will," said they, in one voice; for the example of Krivonos rousedthem, and courage entered them.
"Against Yeremi, against Yeremi!" thundered shouts through theassembly. "Cut! slay!" repeated the Brotherhood; and after a time thecouncil became a carousal. The regiments assigned to Krivonos drankdeeply, for they were going to death. They knew this well themselves,but there was no fear in their hearts. "Once our mother bore us!"repeated they after their leader; and on this account they sparednothing on themselves, as is usual before death. Hmelnitski permittedand encouraged this; the crowd followed their example. The legionsbegan to sing songs in a hundred thousand voices. Horses let loose andprancing through the camp raised clouds of dust, and causedindescribable disorder. They were chased with cries and shouts andlaughter. Great crowds loitered along the river, fired muskets, crowdedand pushed to the quarters of the hetman himself, who finally orderedYakubovich to drive them away. Then began fighting and confusion, tilla drenching rain drove them all to the wagons and tents.
In the evening a storm burst forth in the sky. Thunder rolled from oneend of the clouds, to the other; lightning flashed through the wholecountry, now with white and now with ruddy blaze. In the light of theseflashes Krivonos marched out of camp at the head of sixty thousandmen,--some from the best warriors, the rest from the mob.
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