CHAPTER XXXVI.
Pan Adam started for Rashkoff immediately after his betrothal, to findand furnish quarters for Pani and Panna Boski; two weeks after hisdeparture a whole caravan of Hreptyoff guests left the fortalice. Itwas composed of Naviragh, the two Anardrats, the Armenian women(Kyeremovich and Neresevich), Seferevich, Pani and Panna Boski, the twoPyotroviches, and old Pan Novoveski, without counting a number ofArmenians from Kamenyets, and numerous servants, as well as armedattendants to guard wagons, draft horses, and pack animals. ThePyotroviches and the delegation of the patriarch of Echmiadzin were torest simply at Rashkoff, receive news there concerning their journey,and move on toward the Crimea. The remainder of the company determinedto settle in Rashkoff for a time, and wait, at least till the firstthaws, for the return of the prisoners; namely, Boski, the youngerSeferevich, and the two merchants whose wives were long waiting insorrow.
That was a difficult road, for it lay through silent wastes and steepravines. Fortunately abundant but dry snow formed excellent sleighing;the presence of commands in Mohiloff, Yampol, and Rashkoff insuredsafety. Azba Bey was cut to pieces, the robbers either hanged ordispersed; and the Tartars in winter, through lack of grass, did not goout on the usual roads.
Finally, Pan Adam had promised to meet them with a few tens of horses,if he should receive permission from Pan Rushchyts. They went,therefore, briskly and willingly; Zosia was ready to go to the end ofthe world for Pan Adam. Pani Boski and the two Armenian women werehoping for the speedy return of their husbands. Rashkoff lay, it istrue, in terrible wilds on the border of Christendom; but still theywere not going there for a lifetime, nor for a long stay. In spring warwould come; war was mentioned on the borders everywhere. When theirloved ones were found, they must return with the first warm breeze tosave their heads from destruction.
Eva remained at Hreptyoff, detained by Pani Basia. Pan Novoveski didnot insist greatly on taking his daughter, especially as he was leavingher in the house of such worthy people.
"I will send her most safely, or I will take her myself," said Basia,"rather I will take her myself, for I should like to see once in mylife that whole terrible boundary of which I have heard so much fromchildhood. In spring, when the roads will be black from chambuls, myhusband would not let me go; but now, if Eva stays here, I shall have afair pretext. In a couple of weeks I shall begin to insist, and inthree I shall have permission surely."
"Your husband, I hope, will not let you go in winter unless with a goodescort."
"If he can go, he will go with me; if not, Azya will escort us with acouple of hundred or more horses, for I hear that he is to be sent toRashkoff in every case."
The conversation ended with this, and Eva remained in Hreptyoff. Basia,however, had other calculations besides the reasons given to PanNovoveski. She wished to lighten for Azya an approach to Eva, for theyoung Tartar was beginning to disquiet her. As often as he met Basia heanswered her queries, it is true, by saying that he loved Eva, that hisformer feeling had not died; but when he was with Eva he was silent.Meanwhile the girl had fallen in love with him to desperation in thatHreptyoff desert. His wild but splendid beauty, his childhood passedunder the strong hand of Novoveski, his princely descent, and thatprolonged mystery which had weighed upon him, finally his militaryfame, had enchanted her thoroughly. She was waiting merely for themoment to open to him her heart, burning as a flame, and to say to him,"Azya, I have loved thee from childhood," to fall into his arms and vowlove to him till death. Meanwhile he closed his teeth and was silent.
Eva herself thought at first that the presence of her father andbrother restrained Azya from a confession. Later, disquiet seized hertoo, for if obstacles arose unavoidably on the part of her father andbrother, especially before Azya had received naturalization, still hemight open his heart to her, and he was bound to do so the morespeedily and sincerely the more obstacles were rising on their road.
But he was silent.
Doubt crept at last into the maiden's heart, and she began to complainof her misfortune to Basia, who pacified her, saying:--
"I do not deny that he is a strange man, and wonderfully secretive; butI am certain that he loves you, for he has told me so frequently, andbesides he looks on you not as on others."
To this Eva, shaking her head, answered gloomily: "Differently, that iscertain; but I know not whether there is love or hatred in that gaze."
"Dear Eva, do not talk folly; why should he hate you?"
"But why should he love me?"
Here Basia began to pass her small hands over the maiden's face. "Butwhy does Michael love me? And why did your brother, when he had barelyseen Zosia, fall in love with her?"
"Adam has always been hasty."
"Azya is haughty, and dreads refusal, especially from your father; yourbrother, having been in love himself, would understand more quickly thetorture of that feeling. This is how it is. Be not foolish, Eva; haveno fear. I will stir up Azya well, and you'll see how courageous he'llbe."
In fact, Basia had an interview with Azya that very day, after whichshe rushed in great haste to Eva.
"It is all over!" cried she on the threshold.
"What?" asked Eva, flushing.
"Said I to him, 'What are you thinking of, to feed me with ingratitude?I have detained Eva purposely that you might take advantage of theoccasion; but if you do not, know that in two, or at furthest threeweeks, I will send her to Rashkoff. I may go myself with her, andyou'll be left in the lurch.' His face changed when he heard of thejourney to Rashkoff, and he began to beat with his forehead to my feet.I asked him then what he had on his mind, and he answered: 'On the roadI will confess what I have in my breast. On the road,' said he, 'willbe the best occasion; on the road will happen what is to happen, whatis predestined. I will confess all, I will disclose all, for I cannotlive longer in this torment.' His lips began to quiver, so anxious washe before, for he has received some unfavorable letters from Kamenyets.He told me that he must go to Rashkoff in every event, that there is anold command of the hetman to my husband touching that matter; but theperiod is not mentioned in the command, for it depends on negotiationswhich he is carrying on there with the captains. 'But now,' said he,'the time is approaching, and I must go to them beyond Rashkoff, sothat at the same time I can conduct your grace and Panna Eva.' I toldhim in answer that it was unknown whether I should go or not, for itwould depend on Michael's permission. When he heard this he wasfrightened greatly. Ai, you are a fool, Eva! You say that he doesn'tlove you, but he fell at my feet; and when he implored me to go, I tellyou he just whined, so that I had a mind to shed tears over him. Do youknow why he did that? He told me at once. 'I,' said he, 'will confesswhat I have in my heart; but without the prayers of your grace I shalldo nothing with the Novoveskis, I shall only rouse anger and hatred inthem against myself. My fate is in the hands of your grace, mysuffering, my salvation; for if your grace will not go, then betterthat the earth swallowed me, or that living fire burned me.' That ishow he loves you. Simply terrible to think of! And if you had seen howhe looked at that moment you would have been frightened."
"No, I am not afraid of him," answered Eva, and she began to kissBasia's hands. "Go with us; go with us!" repeated she, with emotion;"go with us! You alone can save us; you alone will not fear to tell myfather; you alone can effect something. Go with us! I will fall at thefeet of Pan Volodyovski to get leave for you. Without you, father andAzya will spring at each other with knives. Go with us; go with us!"And saying this, she dropped to Basia's knees and began to embrace themwith tears.
"God grant that I go!" said Basia. "I will lay all before Michael, andwill not cease to torment him. It is safe now to go even alone, andwhat will it be with such a numerous retinue! Maybe Michael himselfwill go; if not, he has a heart, and will give me permission. At firsthe will cry out against it; but just let me grow gloomy, he will beginto walk around me at once, look into my eyes, and give way. I shouldprefer to have him go too, for I shall be terribl
y lonely without him;but what is to be done? I will go anyhow to give you some solace. Inthis case it is not a question of my wishes, but of the fate of you andAzya. Michael loves you both,--he will consent."
After that interview with Basia, Azya flew to his own room, as full ofdelight and consolation as if he had gained health after a soreillness. A while before wild despair had been tearing his soul; thatvery morning he had received a dry and brief letter from Pan Bogush ofthe following contents:--
My beloved Azya,--I have halted in Kamenyets, and to Hreptyoff I willnot go this time; first, because fatigue has overcome me, and secondly,because I have no reason to go. I have been in Yavorov. The hetman notonly refuses to grant you permission by letter to cover your maddesigns with his dignity, but he commands you sternly, and under painof losing his favor, to drop them at once. I, too, have decided thatwhat you have told me is worthless. It would be a sin for a refined,Christian people to enter into such intrigues with Pagans; and it wouldbe a disgrace before the whole world to grant the privileges ofnobility to malefactors, robbers, and shedders of innocent blood.Moderate yourself in this matter, and do not think of the office ofhetman, since it is not for you, though you are Tugai Bey's son. But ifyou wish to re-establish promptly the favor of the hetman, be contentwith your office, and hasten especially that work with Krychinski,Adurovich, Tarasovski, and others, for thus you will render bestservice.
The hetman's statement of what you are to do, I send with this letter,and an official command to Pan Volodyovski, that there be no hindranceto you in going and coming with your men. You'll have to go on a suddento meet those captains, of course; only hurry, and report to mecarefully at Kamenyets, what you hear on the other bank. Commending youherewith to the favor of God, I remain, with unchanging good wishes,
Martsin Bogush of Zyemblyts, Under-Carver of Novgrod.
When the young Tartar received this letter, he fell into a terriblefury. First he crushed the letter in his hand into bits; then hestabbed the table time after time with his dagger; next he threatenedhis own life and that of the faithful Halim, who on his knees beggedhim to undertake nothing till he had recovered from rage and despair.That letter was a cruel blow to him. The edifices which his pride andambition had reared, were as if blown up with powder; his plans weredestroyed. He might have become the third hetman in the Commonwealth,and held its fate in his hand; and now he sees that he must remain anobscure officer, for whom the summit of ambition would benaturalization. In his fiery imagination he had seen crowds bowing downdaily before him; and now it will come to him to bow down beforeothers. It is no good for him either that he is the son of Tugai Bey,that the blood of reigning warriors flows in his veins, that greatthoughts are born in his soul--nothing--all nothing! He will liveunrecognized and die in some distant little fortalice forgotten. Oneword broke his wing; one "no" brought it about, that, henceforward, hewill not be free to soar like an eagle to the firmament, but must crawllike a worm on the ground.
But all this is nothing yet, in comparison with the happiness which hehas lost. She for the possession of whom he would have given blood andeternity; she for whom he was flaming like fire; she whom he loved witheyes, hearty soul, blood,--would never be his. That letter took fromhim her, as well as the baton of a hetman. Hmelnitski might carry offChaplinski's wife; Azya, a hetman, might carry off another man's wife,and defend himself even against the whole Commonwealth, but how couldthat Azya take her,--Azya, a lieutenant of Lithuanian Tartars, servingunder command of her husband?
When he thought of this, the world grew black before his eyes,--empty,gloomy; and the son of Tugai Bey was not sure but he would better die,than live without a reason to live, without happiness, without hope,without the woman he loved. This pressed him down the more terriblysince he had not looked for such a blow; nay, considering the conditionof the Commonwealth, he had become more convinced every day that thehetman would confirm those plans. Now his hopes were blown apart likemist before a whirlwind. What remained to him? To renounce glory,greatness, happiness; but he was not the man to do that. At the firstmoment the madness of anger and despair carried him away. Fire waspassing through his bones and burning him fiercely; hence he howled andgnashed his teeth, and thoughts equally fiery and vengeful were flyingthrough his head. He wanted revenge on the Commonwealth, on the hetman,on Pan Michael, even on Basia. He wanted to rouse his Tartars, cut downthe garrison, all the officers, all Hreptyoff, kill Pan Michael, carryoff Basia, go with her beyond the Moldavian boundary, and then down tothe Dobrudja, and farther on, even to Tsargrad itself, even to thedeserts of Asia.
But the faithful Halim watched over him, and he himself, when he hadrecovered from his first fury and despair, recognized all theimpossibility of those plans. Azya in this too resembled Hmelnitski; asin Hmelnitski, so in him, a lion and a serpent dwelt in company. Shouldhe attack Hreptyoff with his faithful Tartars, what would come of that?Would Pan Michael, who is as watchful as a stork, let himself besurprised; and even if he should, would that famous partisan lethimself be slaughtered, especially as he had at hand more and bettersoldiers? Finally, suppose that Azya should finish Volodyovski, whatwould he do then? If he moves along the river toward Yagorlik, he mustrub out the commands at Mohiloff, Yampol, and Rashkoff; if he crossesto the Moldavian bank, the perkulabs are there, friends of Volodyovski,and Habareskul of Hotin himself, his sworn friend. If he goes toDoroshenko, there are Polish commands at Bratslav; and the steppe, evenin winter, is full of scouts. In view of all this, Tugai Bey's son felthis helplessness, and his malign soul belched forth flames first, andthen buried itself in deep despair, as a wounded wild beast buriesitself in a dark den of a cliff, and remained quiet. And as uncommonpain kills itself and ends in torpidity, so he became torpid at last.
Just then it was announced to him that the wife of the commandantwished to speak to him.
Halim did not recognize Azya when he returned from that conversation.Torpor had vanished from the Tartar's face, his eyes danced like thoseof a wild-cat, his face was gleaming, and his white teeth glitteredfrom under his mustaches; in his wild beauty he was like the terribleTugai Bey.
"My lord," inquired Halim, "in what way has God comforted thy soul?"
"Halim," said Azya, "God forms bright day after dark night, andcommands the sun to rise out of the sea." Here he seized the old Tartarby the shoulders. "In a month she will be mine for the ages!"
And such a gleam issued from his dark face that he was beautiful, andHalim began to make obeisances.
"Oh, son of Tugai Bey, thou art great, mighty, and the malice of theunbeliever cannot overcome thee!"
"Listen!" said Azya.
"I am listening, son of Tugai Bey."
"I will go beyond the blue sea, where the snows lie only on themountains, and if I return again to these regions it will be at thehead of chambuls like the sands of the sea, as innumerable as theleaves in those wildernesses, and I will bring fire and sword. Butthou, Halim, son of Kurdluk, wilt take the road to-day, wilt findKrychinski, and tell him to hasten with his men to the opposite bankover against Rashkoff. And let Adurovich, Moravski, Aleksandrovich,Groholski, Tarasovski, with every man living of the Lithuanian Tartarsand Cheremis, threaten the troops. Let them notify the chambuls thatare in winter quarters with Doroshenko to cause great alarm from theside of Uman, so that the Polish commands may go far into the steppefrom Mohiloff, Yampol, and Rashkoff. Let there be no troops on thatroad over which I go, so that when I leave Rashkoff there will remainbehind me only ashes and burned ruins."
"God aid thee, my lord!" answered Halim.
And he began to make obeisances, and Tugai Bey's son bent over him andrepeated a number of times yet,--
"Hasten the messengers, hasten the messengers, for only a month's timeis left!"
He dismissed Halim then, and remaining alone began to pray, for he hada breast filled with happiness and gratitude to God.
And while praying he looked involuntarily through the win
dow at hismen, who were leading out their horses just then to water them at thewells; the square was black there was such a crowd. The Tartars, whilesinging their monotonous songs in a low voice, began to draw thesqueaking well-sweeps and to pour water into the trough. Steam rose intwo pillars from the nostrils of each horse and concealed his face. Allat once Pan Michael, in a sheepskin coat and cowhide boots, came out ofthe main building, and, approaching the men, began to say something.They listened to him, straightening themselves and removing their capsin contradiction to Eastern custom. At sight of him Azya ceasedpraying, and muttered,--
"You are a falcon, but you will not fly whither I fly; you will remainin Hreptyoff in grief and in sorrow."
After Pan Michael had spoken to the soldiers, he returned to thebuilding, and on the square was heard again the songs of Tartars, thesnorting of horses, and the plaintive and shrill sound of well-sweeps.