The Deluge. Vol. 2

He had not finished speaking when to their ears flew the noise of men, the snorting of horses, and a number of dark figures appeared before the retinue.

"Halt, halt!" cried Tyzenhauz.

These figures halted, as if uncertain what to do farther.

"Who are you?" was asked from the retinue.

"Ours!" said a number of voices. "Ours! We are escaping with our lives from Jivyets. The Swedes are burning Jivyets, and murdering people."

"Stop, in God's name! What do you say? Whence have they come?"

"They were waiting for our king. There is a power of them, a power! May the Mother of God have the king in Her keeping!"

Tyzenhauz lost his head for a moment. "See what it is to go with a small party!" cried he to Kmita; "Would that you were killed for such counsel!"

Yan Kazimir began to inquire himself of the fugitives. "But where is the king?"

"The king has gone to the mountains with a great army. Two days ago he passed through Jivyets; they pursued him, and were fighting somewhere near Suha. We have not heard whether they took him or not; but to-day they returned to Jivyets, and are burning and murdering."

"Go with God!" said Yan Kazimir.

The fugitives shot past quickly.

"See what would have met us had we gone with the dragoons!" exclaimed Kmita.

"Gracious King!" said Father Gembitski, "the enemy is before us. What are we to do?"

All surrounded the monarch, as if wishing to protect him with their persons from sudden danger. The king gazed on that fire which was reflected in his eyes, and he was silent; no one advanced an opinion, so difficult was it to give good advice.

"When I was going out of the country a fire lighted me," said Yan Kazimir, at last; "and when I enter, another gives light."

Again silence, only still longer than before.

"Who has any advice?" inquired Father Gembitski, at last.

Then the voice of Tyzenhauz was heard, full of bitterness, and insult: "He who did not hesitate to expose the king's person to danger, who said that the king should go without a guard, let him now give advice."

At this moment a horseman pushed out of the circle. It was Kmita.

"Very well!" said he. And rising in the stirrups he shouted, turning to his attendants standing at some distance, "Kyemliches, after me!"

Then he urged his horse to a gallop, and after him shot the three horsemen with all the breath that was in the breasts of their horses.

A cry of despair came from Tyzenhauz: "That is a conspiracy!" said he. "These traitors will give us up surely. Gracious King, save yourself while there is time, for the enemy will soon close the pass! Gracious King, save yourself! Back! back!"

"Let us return, let us return!" cried the bishops and dignitaries, in one voice.

Yan Kazimir became impatient, lightnings flashed from his eyes; suddenly he drew his sword from its sheath and cried, —

"May God not grant me to leave my country a second time. Come what may, I have had enough of that!" And he put spurs to his horse to move forward; but the nuncio himself seized the reins.

"Your Royal Grace," said he, seriously, "you bear on your shoulders the fate of the Catholic Church and the country, therefore you are not free to expose your person."

"Not free," repeated the bishops.

"I will not return to Silesia, so help me the Holy Cross!" answered Yan Kazimir.

"Gracious Lord! listen to the prayers of your subjects," said the castellan of Sandomir. "If you do not wish to return to the emperor's territory, let us go at least from this place and turn toward the Hungarian boundary, or let us go back through this pass, so that our return be not intercepted. There we will wait. In case of an attack by the enemy, escape on horses will remain to us; but at least let them not enclose us as in a trap."

"Let it be even so," said the king. "I do not reject prudent counsel, but I will not go wandering a second time. If we cannot appear by this road, we will by another. But I think that you are alarmed in vain. Since the Swedes looked for us among the dragoons, as the people from Jivyets said, it is clear proof that they know nothing of us, and that there is no treason or conspiracy. Just consider; you are men of experience. The Swedes would not have attacked the dragoons, they would not have fired a gun at them if they know that we were following them. Be calm, gentlemen! Babinich has gone with his men for news, and he will return soon of a certainty."

When he had said this the king turned his horse toward the pass; after him his attendants. They halted on the spot where the first mountaineer had shown them the boundary.

A quarter of an hour passed, then a half-hour and an hour.

"Have you noticed, gentlemen," asked the voevoda of Lenchytsk on a sudden, "that the fire is decreasing?"

"It is going out, going out; you can almost see it die," said a number of voices.

"That is a good sign," said the king.

"I will go ahead with a few men," said Tyzenhauz. "We will halt about a furlong from here, and if the Swedes come we will detain them till we die. In every case there will be time to think of the safety of the king's person."

"Remain with the party; I forbid you to go!" said the king.

To which Tyzenhauz answered, —

"Gracious Lord, give command later to shoot me for disobedience, but now I will go, for now it is a question of you." And calling upon a number of soldiers in whom it was possible to trust in every emergency, he moved forward.

They halted at the other end of the defile which opened into the valley, and stood in silence, with muskets ready, holding their ears toward every sound. The silence lasted long; finally the sound of snow trampled by horses' feet came to them.

"They are coming!" whispered one of the soldiers.

"That is no party; only a few horses are to be heard," answered the other. "Pan Babinich is returning."

Meanwhile those approaching came in the darkness within a few tens of yards.

"Who is there?" cried Tyzenhauz.

"Ours! Do not fire there!" sounded the voice of Kmita.

At that moment he appeared before Tyzenhauz, and not knowing him in the darkness, inquired, —

"But where is the king?"

"At the end of the pass."

"Who is speaking, for I cannot see?"