"Almost midnight," answered Radzeyovski.
"I will not sleep to-night. I will go around the camp, and do you go with me. Where are Ubald and Artsishevski?"
"In the camp. I will go and order the horses," answered the starosta.
He approached the door. At that moment there was some movement in the antechamber; a lively conversation was audible, the sound of hurried steps; then the doors opened half-way, and Tyzenhauz, the personal attendant of the king, rushed in panting.
"Your Majesty," cried he, "an officer has come from Zbaraj!"
The king sprang from his chair; the chancellor rose too, and from the mouths of both came the cry: "Impossible!"
"Yes, he is standing in the antechamber."
"Bring him here!" cried the king, clapping his hands. "Let him end our anxiety. This way with him, in the name of the Most Holy Mother!"
Tyzenhauz vanished through the door, and after a moment there appeared instead of him some tall, unknown form.
"Nearer!" cried the king, "nearer! We are glad to see you."
The officer pushed up to the table; and at sight of him, the king, the chancellor, and the starosta of Lomjin drew back in astonishment.
Before them stood a kind of frightful-looking man, or rather an apparition. Rags torn to shreds barely covered his emaciated body; his face was blue, covered with mud and blood, his eyes burning with feverish light; his black tangled beard fell toward his breast; the odor of corpses went forth from him round about, and his legs trembled to such a degree that he was forced to lean on the table.
The king and the two dignitaries looked on him with staring eyes. At that moment the doors opened and a crowd of dignitaries, military and civil, came in; and among them, the generals Ubald and Artsishevski, with Sapieha, vice-chancellor of Lithuania. All stood behind the king, looking at the newly arrived.
The king asked: "Who are you?"
[Ill.u.s.tration: "Before them stood a kind of frightful-looking man, or rather an apparition."]
Copyright, 1898, by Little, Brown, and Company.
The miserable-looking man tried to speak, but a spasm seized his jaw; his beard began to tremble, and he was able only to whisper: "From--Zbaraj!"
"Give him wine!" said a voice.
In the twinkle of an eye a goblet was filled; he drank it with difficulty. By this time the chancellor had taken off his own cloak and covered the man"s shoulders with it.
"Can you speak now?" inquired the king after a time.
"I can," he answered, with a voice of more confidence.
"Who are you?"
"Yan Skshetuski, colonel of hussars."
"In whose service?"
"The voevoda of Rus."
A murmur spread through the hall.
"What news have you, what news have you?" asked the king, feverishly.
"Suffering--hunger--the grave--"
The king covered his eyes. "Jesus of Nazareth! Jesus of Nazareth!" said he in a low voice. After a while he asked again: "Can you hold out long?"
"There is lack of powder. The enemy is on the ramparts."
"In force?"
"Hmelnitski--the Khan with all his hordes."
"Is the Khan there?"
"He is."
Deep silence followed. Those present looked at one another; uncertainty was on every face.
"How could you hold out?" asked the chancellor, with an accent of doubt.
At these words Skshetuski raised his head, as if new power entered him.
A flash of pride pa.s.sed over his face, and he answered with a voice strong beyond expectation: "Twenty a.s.saults repulsed, sixteen battles in the field won, seventy-five sallies."
Again silence followed.
Then the king straightened himself, shook his wig as a lion would his mane, on his sallow face came out a blush, and his eyes flashed. "As G.o.d lives!" cried he, "I"ve enough of these councils, of this halting, of this delay! Whether the Khan is there or not, whether the general militia has come or not, I have enough of this! We will move to-day on Zbaraj."
"To Zbaraj! to Zbaraj!" was repeated by a number of powerful voices.
The face of the newly arrived brightened like the dawn. "Your Majesty, we will live and die with you."
At these words the n.o.ble heart of the king grew soft as wax, and without regarding the repulsive appearance of the knight, he pressed his head with his hands and said: "You are dearer to me than others in satin. By the Most Holy Mother, men for less service are rewarded with starostaships. But what you have done will not pa.s.s unrewarded. I am your debtor."
Others began immediately to call out after the king: "There has been no greater knight!" "He is the first among the men of Zbaraj!" "You have won immortal glory!"
"And how did you push through the Cossacks and Tartars?"
"I hid in the swamp, the reeds, went through the woods--got astray--ate nothing--"
"Give him to eat!" cried the king.
"To eat!" repeated others.
"Clothe him!"
"They will give you horses and clothing to-morrow," said the king again. "You shall want for nothing."
All, following the king, surpa.s.sed one another in praises of the knight. Then they began again to hurl questions at him, to which he answered with the greatest difficulty, for growing weakness had seized him; he was barely half-conscious. Meanwhile they brought him refreshments; and at the same time entered the priest Tsetsishovski, the chaplain of the king.