CHAPTER X.
The swift boats bearing the knight and his fortunes shot down thecurrent with the speed of swallows. By reason of high water theCataracts presented no great danger. They passed Surski and Lokhanny; alucky wave threw them over the Voronoff bar; the boats grated a littleon the Knyaji and Streletski, but they were scratched, not broken. Atlength they beheld in the distance the foaming and whirling of theterrible Nenasytets. There they were obliged to land and drag the boatsalong the shore,--a tedious and difficult labor, usually occupying anentire day. Fortunately a great many blocks, apparently left byprevious travellers, lay along the whole way; these were placed underthe boats to ease them over the ground. In all the region about and onthe steppes not a living soul was to be seen, nor a single boat; fornone could sail to the Saitch excepting those alone whom Pan Grodzitskipermitted to pass Kudak, and Pan Grodzitski cut off the Zaporojie fromthe rest of the world on purpose. Only the splash of the waves on thecliff of Nenasytets broke the silence.
While the men were dragging the boats, Skshetuski examined this wonderof Nature. An awful sight met his eyes. Through the entire width of theriver extended crosswise seven rocky ridges, jutting out above thewater, black, rent by waves which broke through them gaps and passagesafter their fashion. The river pressed with the whole weight of itswaters against those ridges, and was broken on them; then wild andraging, lashed into white foaming pulp, it sought to spring over likean infuriated horse, but, pushed back again before it could sweepthrough the passage, it seemed to gnaw the rocks with its teeth, makingenormous circles in impotent wrath; it leaped up toward the sky, raginglike a monster, panting like a wild beast in pain. And then again aroar from it as from a hundred cannon, howls as from whole packs ofwolves, wheezing, struggling, and at every ridge the same conflict.Over the abyss were heard screams of birds, as if terrified by thesight. Between the ridges the gloomy shadows of the cliff quivered likespirits of evil.
The men, though accustomed to the place, crossed themselves devoutlywhile dragging the boats, warning the lieutenant not to approach toonear the shore; for there were traditions that whoever should gaze toolong on Nenasytets would at last see something at which his mind wouldbe disturbed. They asserted, also, that at times there rose from thewhirlpool long black hands which caught the unwary who approached toonear, and then terrible laughter was heard through the precipices. TheZaporojians did not dare to drag boats along in the night-time.
No man could be received into the Brotherhood of the Saitch who had notcrossed the Cataracts alone in a boat; but an exception was made ofNenasytets, since its rocks were never under water. Of Bogun aloneblind minstrels sang as if he had stolen through Nenasytets; stillbelief was not given to the song.
The transfer of the boats occupied nearly all the day, and the sun hadbegun to set when the lieutenant resumed his place in the boat. But tomake up for this the succeeding Cataracts were crossed with ease, forthe rocks were covered entirely, and after that they sailed out intothe quiet waters of the lower country.
Along the way Skshetuski saw on the field of Kuchkasi the enormousmound of white stone raised at command of Prince Yeremi as a memorialof his visit, and of which Pan Boguslav Mashkevich had spoken in Lubni.From there it was not far to the Saitch. But the lieutenant did notwish to enter the Chertomelik labyrinth in the dark; he determinedtherefore to pass the night at Hortitsa.
He wished to meet some Zaporojians and announce himself, so that itshould be known that an envoy and no one else was coming. Hortitsa,however, appeared to be empty; which surprised the lieutenant not alittle, for he had learned from Grodzitski that a Cossack garrison wasalways stationed there against Tartar attacks. He went himself withsome of the men a considerable distance from the shore to reconnoitre;but he could not go over the whole island, for it was more than fivemiles long, and the night was coming down dark and not very clear. Hereturned then to the boats, which meanwhile had been dragged up on thesand, and a fire had been made as protection against mosquitoes.
The greater part of the night passed quietly. The Cossacks and theguides slept by the fire. Only the guards were awake, and thelieutenant, who had been tormented by a terrible sleeplessness since heleft Kudak. He felt also that fever was wearing him. At times hefancied he heard steps approaching from the interior of the island,then again certain strange sounds like the distant bleating of goats.But he thought that his hearing deceived him. Suddenly, when it wasnear daybreak, a dark figure stood before him. It was a servant fromthe guard.
"People are coming!" said he, hastily.
"Who are they?"
"Undoubtedly Zaporojians. There are forty of them."
"Very well. That is not a great number. Rouse the men! Stir the fire!"
The Cossacks sprang to their feet at once. The replenished fire blazedhigh, and lighted the boats and the handful of soldiers under thelieutenant. The guards ran up also to the circle.
Meanwhile the irregular steps of a crowd became distinctly audible. Thesteps stopped at a certain distance. Immediately some voice inquired inthreatening accents,--
"Who is on shore?"
"And who are you?" answered the sergeant.
"Answer, son of the enemy! if not, we will inquire with a musket."
"His Highness, the envoy of Prince Yeremi Vishnyevetski, going to thekoshevoi ataman," said the sergeant, with emphasis.
The voices in the crowd were silent; evidently there was a shortconsultation.
"But come here yourself," cried the sergeant; "don't be afraid! Peopledo not fall upon envoys, and envoys do not attack."
Steps were heard again, and after a while a number of figures came outof the shadow. By the swarthy complexion, low stature, and skin coatswith wool outside, the lieutenant knew from the first glance that mostof them were Tartars; there were only a few Cossacks among them. Theidea flashed like lightning through Skshetuski's brain that if theTartars were in Hortitsa Hmelnitski had returned from the Crimea.
In front of the crowd stood an old Zaporojian of gigantic size, with awild and savage face. Approaching the fire, he asked,--
"Who is the envoy here?" A strong smell of spirits came from him; theZaporojian was evidently drunk. "Who is envoy here?" repeated he.
"I am," said Skshetuski, haughtily.
"Thou!"
"Am I a brother to thee that thou sayest 'Thou' to me?"
"Learn politeness, you ruffian!" interrupted the sergeant. "You mustsay, 'Serene great mighty lord envoy.'"
"Destruction to you, devils' sons! May the death of Serpyagoff strikeyou, serene great mighty sons! And what business have you with theataman?"
"It is not thy affair! Know only that thy life depends upon my reachingthe ataman as quickly as possible."
At that moment another Zaporojian came out from the crowd.
"We are here at the command of the ataman," said he, "on guard so thatno one from the Poles may approach; and if any man approaches, we areto bind him and deliver him bound, and we will do that."
"Whoever goes voluntarily, you will not bind."
"I will, for such is the order."
"Do you know, clown, what the person of an envoy means? Do you knowwhom I represent?"
Then the old giant interrupted: "We will lead in the envoy, but by thebeard,--in this fashion!"
Saying this, he reached his hand to the lieutenant's beard. But thatmoment he groaned, and as if struck by lightning dropped to the earth.The lieutenant had shivered his head with a battle-hammer.
"Slash! slash!" howled enraged voices from the crowd.
The Cossacks of the prince hurried to the rescue of their leader;muskets roared. "Slash! slash!" was mingled with the clash of steel. Aregular battle began. The fire, trampled in the disturbance, went out,and darkness surrounded the combatants. Soon both sides had grappledeach other so closely that there was no room for blows and knives;fists and teeth took the place of sabres.
All at once, in the interior of the island, were heard numerous fre
shshouts and cries. Aid was coming to the attacking party. Another momentand they would have come too late, for the disciplined Cossacks weregetting the upper hand of the crowd.
"To the boats!" cried the lieutenant, in a thundering voice.
The escort executed the command in a twinkle. Unfortunately the boatshad been dragged too far on the sand, and could not be pushed at onceinto the water. That moment the enemy sprang furiously toward theshore.
"Fire!" commanded Pan Yan.
A discharge of musketry restrained the assailants, who became confused,crowded together, and retreated in disorder, leaving a number of bodiesstretched upon the sand. Some of these bodies squirmed convulsively,like fish snatched from the water and thrown on shore.
The boatmen, assisted by a number of the Cossacks, planting their oarsin the ground, pushed with all their might to get the boats into thewater; but in vain.
The enemy began their attack from a distance. The splashing of balls onthe water was mingled with the whistling of arrows and the groans ofthe wounded. The Tartars, shouting "Allah!" with increased shrillness,urged one another on. The Cossack cries: "Cut! cut!" answered them; andthe calm voice of Skshetuski, repeating faster and faster the command,"Fire!"
The dawn was beginning to shine with pale light on the struggle. Fromthe land side was to be seen a crowd of Cossacks and Tartars, some withtheir muskets held ready to aim, others stooping in the rear anddrawing their bowstrings; from the side of the water two boats smokingand flashing with the continual discharges of musketry. Between themlay bodies stretched quietly on the sand.
In one of these boats stood Pan Yan, taller than the others, haughty,calm, with the lieutenant's staff in his hand and with uncoveredhead,--for a Tartar arrow had swept away his cap. The sergeantapproached him and whispered,--
"We cannot hold out; the crowd is too great!"
But the lieutenant's only thought was to seal his mission with hisblood, to prevent the disgrace of his office, and to perish not withoutglory. Therefore, when the Cossacks made a sort of breastwork forthemselves of the provision bags, from behind which they struck theenemy, he remained visible and exposed to attack.
"Good!" said he; "we will die to the last man."
"We will die, father!" cried the Cossacks.
"Fire!"
Again the boats smoked. From the interior of the island new crowdscame, armed with pikes and scythes. The assailants separated into twoparties. One party kept up the fire; the other, composed of more thantwo hundred Cossacks and Tartars, only waited the proper moment for ahand-to-hand encounter. At the same time from the reeds of the islandcame out four boats, which were to attack the lieutenant from the rearand from both sides.
It was clear daylight now. The smoke stretched out in long streaks inthe quiet air, and covered the scene of conflict.
The lieutenant commanded his twenty Cossacks to turn to the attackingboats, which, pushed with oars, moved on swiftly as birds over thequiet water of the river. The fire directed against the Tartars andCossacks approaching from the interior of the island, was notablyweakened on that account. They seemed, too, to expect this.
The sergeant approached the lieutenant again.
"The Tartars are taking their daggers between their teeth; they willrush on us this minute."
In fact, almost three hundred of the horde, with sabres in hand andknives in their teeth, prepared for the attack. They were accompaniedby some tens of Zaporojians armed with scythes.
The attack was to begin from every direction, for the assailing boatswere within gunshot; their sides were already covered with smoke.
Bullets began to fall like hail on the lieutenant's men. Both boatswere filled with groans. In a few moments half of the Cossacks weredown; the remainder still defended themselves desperately. Their faceswere black, their hands wearied, their sight dim, their eyes full ofblood; their gun-barrels began to burn their hands. Most of them werewounded.
At that moment a terrible cry and howl rent the air. The Tartars rushedto the attack.
The smoke, pushed by the movement of the mass of bodies, separatedsuddenly and left exposed to the eye the two boats of the lieutenantcovered with a dark crowd of Tartars, like two carcasses of horses tornby a pack of wolves. Some Cossacks resisted yet; and at the mast stoodPan Yan, with bleeding face and an arrow sunk to the shaft in his leftshoulder, but defending himself furiously. His form was like that of agiant in the crowd surrounding him. His sabre glittered like lightning;groans and howls responded to his blows. The sergeant, with anotherCossack, guarded him on both sides; and the crowd swayed back at timesin terror before those three, but, urged from behind, pushed on, anddied under the blows of the sabre.
"Take them alive to the ataman!" was called out in the crowd."Surrender!"
But Skshetuski was surrendering only to God; for he grew pale in amoment, tottered, and fell to the bottom of the boat.
"Farewell, father!" cried the sergeant, in despair.
But in a moment he fell also. The moving mass of assailants covered theboats completely.