He put a question or two: how we lived in the village, whether we reared cattle and such like. By and by he addressed a few words to the officer, who then led me away. "Well?" I said, trembling with hope and fear, when the door had closed behind us. "Your wish is granted,"
replied he. "Be by the iron statue yonder at four to-morrow afternoon, where I shall join you to act as your interpreter with the Emperor.
"Why the man is of another planet," the Archduke said to me, "his confidence must not be shamed!" And he thinks the Emperor will like to see you, and that your Podolian garb will amuse him. He wishes you, therefore, to come in these same clothes to-morrow, and if you have anything in the way of weapons belonging to your dress to add it likewise." "For G.o.d"s sake, captain," I cried; "I am coming to plead for the right, and not to show my clothes!" "Yes, yes," he said; "but do as you are told," adding kindly, "you may thank your stars for this chance; and even if to-morrow"s audience will avail you nothing, you may find it useful to have obtained the Archduke"s interest." "I cannot understand that!" I cried. "Well, and I could scarcely explain it to you," said he, with a smile; "but it _is_ so." And so said Mr. Broza, to whom I now went as I had promised; so also said the innkeeper, to whom, with the aid of Frantisek, I had to give a minute account. They all agreed that I was fortunate."
"Why, a child could understand that," interposed Simeon. "The Emperor, no doubt, values his old uncle"s opinion."
"May be," said Taras, with a painful smile; "but they did not take it in that way, as I came to understand the following afternoon. You may imagine that I arrived by the iron statue a good while before the appointed time--it is a figure of the good Emperor Joseph. The officer walked up to me by the stroke of four, conducting me through the inner court to a splendid marble staircase, and through many pa.s.sages to a door blazing with gold and guarded by some of the redcoated halberdiers. We pa.s.sed a large ante-room, and entered a smaller one, where we were told to wait. The chamberlain in attendance, who looked vastly stupid, kept watching me with furtive sneers, but I did not care; my heart felt more solemnly uplifted than if I had been in a church. There was the sound of a little bell presently; the chamberlain glided in, and returning, he beckoned us to enter." Taras paused and drew a breath. "I think," he continued, slowly, "the look of that room, and of the two gentlemen in it, will be present with me to my dying hour: it was a large, splendid apartment, darkened with curtains, which left a half-light only, shutting out the sun; and at the table sat two officers--generals by their uniform. The one was that same old Ludwig, and in the other I recognised, when he rose, the Emperor! A feeble-bodied man of middle height, slightly stooping, with a good-natured face and blue eyes. He motioned me to come nearer, but I took a few steps only, and fell on my knees, holding up my pet.i.tion.
Oh! I did not kneel merely because it might be the custom, but urged by my own deepest need. For at that moment all the trouble I had battled with for months past surged up within me, and, do what I would, the tears rose from my heart...."
"And he?" cried a.n.u.sia.
"He came close to me, seemingly concerned at my emotion. Taking the pet.i.tion I held out to him, he gave it to the Archduke, and then he addressed a few hasty words to me. "He tells you to rise and dry your tears," the captain whispered to me. But I remained on my knees, not to move his feelings, but simply because it was the natural position for mine. "Thou Emperor," I cried, "have pity on me!" He plainly did not know what to say, and putting his hand into his pocket, drew forth a ducat, which he offered to me. "I want no money; I want justice," I cried. The Archduke stepped up now, whispering a few words to the Emperor, and then told the captain I was to rise, and that the Emperor would be sure to examine into my case carefully. I obeyed with an effort, but then I begged the captain to say that I would not hold myself a.s.sured till I had the Emperor"s promise from his own lips. "I cannot say that," whispered the captain, alarmed; "it would be most rude to the Archduke." Whereupon I repeated the words myself, looking intently in the Emperor"s face. Now the captain was obliged to translate, and thereupon the Emperor nodded to me, but burst out laughing at the same time, as though it were quite a joke. I am sure he did not mean to hurt me, for he looked kindness itself, and would not kill a fly if it annoyed him, but his laughter cut me to the heart; I keep hearing it still in my dreams.... No doubt the anguish of my soul was written in my face, but he took no notice. He walked round me, examining me curiously, and putting several questions--who had embroidered this fur of mine? whether I had many furs like that? and several pairs of these boots? did I polish them myself? and so forth. I answered his inquiries, but good G.o.d! they stunned my heart.... I think I would have given my life for his asking me a single question which did not refer to my clothes. But not he! And I daresay my fur and my boots would have interested him awhile yet, had not the Archduke again whispered some words to him. He left off questioning, and smiled at me once more with his good-natured smile, again offering me his ducat--not as a charity, as the captain had to tell me, but in memory of having seen him. Thereupon, I took it--this is it, bearing his likeness."
He drew the coin from his belt. They all were anxious to see it, and agreed that the Emperor had a pleasant, good-natured face. "And now you were ready to start for home?" they said.
"Oh, no," said Taras, with a sigh; "for though my object was accomplished, my heart was no wise at ease. I wanted to wait for the Emperor"s answer. My pet.i.tion prayed for a re-examination of the witnesses, and thus much the Emperor might command on the spot, I thought. Mr. Broza tried to dissuade me--it might be months before I should hear, he said, and it would be a waste of time and money. But I clung to my desire, entreating him till he pitied my distress and promised to inquire at the Imperial Chancery whether the Emperor"s decision had been received. It was a week after the private audience.
The reply was hopeless--not even the pet.i.tion itself had as yet been filed. "I must look up that Uncle Ludwig," I cried in my despair, and had some trouble in finding the captain who had acted as my interpreter--his name is Eugene Stanczuk, and his home is at Kossow, a few miles from Ridowa. I wanted him to take me once more to the Emperor"s uncle. "That is quite impossible," he said, "and moreover the Archduke has departed for his residence in Styria; he will not return here for months." When I heard this I knew that further waiting was vain. I strapped my bundle--honest Frantisek brushing my boots for the last time sadly, and I went to Mr. Broza to thank him for all his kindness and--should he trust me--to borrow some money of him, for I had only ten florins left. "That shall not trouble you," he said, counting out a hundred florins to me without even a witness, as though I were his brother. "Let us hope for a favourable answer in time," he added, "but if I have any claim on your grat.i.tude, as you say, promise me one thing--do not let it break your heart if it turns out a denial!"
Much as I owed him, this was more than I could promise; I had gone to Vienna with a hopeful mind, and was coming away now broken-hearted."
He ceased, the sadness gathering in his face.
"I do not see that!" cried Father Leo, "there is every room for hope since you have the Emperor"s own promise!"
"Have _you_ seen him?" said Taras, rising. "Have you been to Vienna?
You have heard my tale, but you have not been there to see!... It is getting late--it must be near midnight. Kind thanks to you, friends.
Come, wife, let us be gone!"
CHAPTER VIII.
DESPAIR.
The days followed one another, and winter was at hand; Taras, in silence, had taken up the old, changeless village life. He found plenty to do on his own farm in spite of the care bestowed upon it by Simeon during his absence; and, labouring with his men, the most diligent of them all, he could forget at times that one thought which kept burrowing in his brain. But for other reasons, too, it was well he was thoroughly occupied, for intercourse with the villagers could have comforted him little.
Ill-humour against him had risen to its height, since his journey to Vienna also had proved a fruitless errand. He had but two friends left besides the priest--his former colleagues, Simeon and Alexa. The others either openly hated him, or treated him with unkind pity as the fallen village king. As for his re-election to the judgeship, it was not so much as thought of. Simeon, true to his word, had resigned his vicarious honours at All Saints", rather expecting, however, the public confidence would turn to him; yet not even he was elected, but a certain Jewgeni Turenko.
The man thus chosen was a harmless individual, rather poor, who never could have aspired to such luck had the freaks of fortune not singled out his younger brother, Constantine, lifting him to the giddy height of a corporal in the Imperial army. It had never been dreamt of in the village, that any peasant lad of theirs could be more than a private, and now this hero of Zulawce had actually returned as a corporal, a live corporal, sporting the two white stars on his crimson collar. All the village felt itself honoured in this favoured soldier, entertaining the wildest hopes for his future. He has two years of service yet to come, they said; who knows but that he may be a sergeant before he has done? The young hero was ready enough to avail himself of the good opinions thus showered upon him. By his own account, he was one of the bravest of the brave, and as he could scarcely invent a great war as a background to his exploits, he devised some minor fancies, laying the scene in rebellious Lombardy--"Corpo di Bacco! where the heat of the weather is such that an ox in the fields is roasted alive in two hours." How could the good people of Zulawce have thought little of a man who, in such a temperature, had saved a province to the Emperor?
And more especially, how should their womankind not have admired a soldier who, to say nothing of his splendid moustache, had by his own showing been proof against the allurements of the very countesses in those parts--"devilishly handsome creatures, to be sure, but with the enemy"s females I have nothing to do!" It was a fact, then, that within a few weeks, Constantine Turenko had the upper hand in the village; and as he could not be judge himself, being only on furlough, he managed that his brother Jewgeni should be elected, while two other friends of his, equally humble as regarded their wealth and wit, were chosen as elders. Thus aristocracy was laid low, the middle cla.s.s rising.
Taras had not striven against it; he had voted for Simeon, but for the rest he let matters take their course. "The beggars will be the ruin of the village!" cried a.n.u.sia, in whom the pride of blood was strong. "It is atrocious that men like my Uncle Stephen, and you, and Simeon, should be succeeded by the rabble!"
But Taras took it quietly. "They are making their own bed," he said, "let them try it!"
"I wish you would not pretend such callousness," exclaimed a.n.u.sia, "there is no one who loves the village better than you do!"
"Perhaps not," said he, "but I cannot alter the state of things; besides, I have other cares now."
"Cares? What are they?" she cried. "Is not the farm as flourishing as ever?" To this he had no answer.
He did his work in those days with diligence and perseverance, as though he were not the richest peasant in the village, but a poor labourer merely, who had to gain his next day"s bread. And whereas formerly he had always been guided by his own opinion, he would consult his wife"s now, soliciting her advice. a.n.u.sia felt proud at this mark of confidence, till she discovered that he desired to hear her views in order to correct them. And as the question mostly referred to matters concerning which, capable as she was, she knew nothing, since, by the nature of them, they rather belonged to the husband"s sphere, she lost patience at last. "What have I to do with a.s.sessments and taxes?" she exclaimed.
"You must get to know about them," he replied, gently.
"But why? Is it not enough that you should know?"
"Yes, now; but the time may come when you will have to do without me."
These words did not frighten her, appearing too ludicrous. A strong, healthy man, not forty years old--how should she take alarm? "You croaker!" she said, "we"ll think about that fifty years hence."
"It is all as G.o.d may will," returned he solemnly; adding, "Do it to please me."
"Well, if it tends to your happiness, certainly," she said, good-naturedly, and did her best to understand what he explained to her concerning the taxes and imposts.
In the presence of his friend, the village priest, Taras never let fall such hints, meeting the good pope, on the contrary, with great reserve.
But Father Leo took no umbrage, redoubling his affection for the saddened man, and doing all in his power to counteract the low spirits to which evidently he was a prey. He even proposed to teach him reading and writing. "It is useful anyhow," he said, "and you could amuse yourself with entertaining books."
But Taras declined. "It is no use to me now," he said, "and will be still less presently. Besides, that which would rejoice my heart is not written in your books. Nor have I the needful leisure; these are busy days on the farm, and after Epiphany I mean to go hunting. I shall be gone a good while I think."
"Do, by all means," said good Father Leo approvingly, "it will cheer you. And there is the general hunt before Christmas. You will not miss that."
"I shall not take part," replied Taras, quietly, "even if they ask me, which I do not expect."
"Not ask you!" said Father Leo. "You the best bear-hunter born!"
But events proved that Taras had judged right. Constantine objected to his presence, so the people did without him. That warrior had contracted a real hatred of Taras for various reasons, mostly foolish, but in part spiteful. To begin with, the dethroned judge was the natural leader of the more wealthy of the community, which was bad; he was an "enemy of the Emperor," and that was worse; worse still, the community had suffered loss "through him, and him alone;" the worst of all being that Constantine still owed a certain florin to "this b.a.s.t.a.r.d who had sneaked his way into the affections of an heiress."
a.n.u.sia felt it a personal insult, shedding pa.s.sionate tears when the hunting party pa.s.sed the farm; but Taras did not move a feature, continuing quietly to fill the sacks of corn that were to be sold. One thing, however, he did when the last sound of the noisy party had died away. He entered the common sitting-room, calling upon his eldest boy Wa.s.silj. "My child," he said, "you are eight years old, and our little father Leo is instructing you well--do you know what an oath is?"
"Yes," said the little boy.
"And you understand what is being a judge?"
"Yes, it is what you were!"
"Well then, lift up your right hand and swear to me that never in your life you will offer yourself for the judgeship, nor accept it if they ask you. Will you do that, and never forget?"
"I will, and will not forget it," cried the little boy, earnestly lifting up his childish hand.
And Taras kissed him and returned to his work.
But Father Leo, on learning of the new insult offered to his friend, expressed his hearty sympathy.
"There is no need to trouble about it," said Taras; "you see I am quiet."
"And so you have every right to be!" cried the pope, warmly. "Have you not always done your duty, ay, and a great deal more! If sorrow is your part now, you can accept it with a strong heart, as of G.o.d Himself. He has been gracious to you, bringing you to this village and blessing you abundantly; and if He now chastises you, it surely is for your good in the end. The ways of G.o.d sometimes are dark."
Taras shook his head. "I don"t believe that," he said, curtly.