Thus equipped, and sitting on a chestnut pony, swift and gentle as a deer, she seemed a hetman’s child, who, under guard of old warriors, was going to take the first lesson. They were astonished too at her figure. Pan Zagloba and Pan Mushalski nudged each other with their elbows, each kissing his hand from time to time, in sign of unusual homage for Basia; both of them, together with Pan Michael, allayed her fear as to their late departure.
“You do not know war,” said the little knight, “and therefore reproach us with wishing to take you to the place when the battle is over. Some squadrons go directly; others must make a detour, so as to cut off the roads, and then they will join the others in silence, taking the enemy in a trap. We shall be there in time, and without us nothing will begin, for every hour is reckoned.”
“But if the enemy takes alarm and escapes between the squadrons?”
“He is cunning and watchful, but such a war is no novelty to us.”
“Trust in Michael,” cried Zagloba; “for there is not a man of more practice than he. Their evil fate sent those bullock-drivers hither.”
“In Lubni I was a youth,” said Pan Michael; “and even then they committed such duties to me. Now, wishing to show you this spectacle, I have disposed everything with still greater care. The squadrons will appear before the enemy together, will shout together, and gallop against the robbers together, as if someone had cracked a whip.”
“I! I!” piped Basia, with delight; and standing in the stirrups, she caught the little knight by the neck. “But may I gallop, too? What, Michael, what?” asked she, with sparkling eyes.
“Into the throng I will not let you go, for in the throng an accident is easy, not to mention this—that your horse might stumble; but I have ordered to give rein to our horses immediately the band driven against us is scattered, and then you may cut down two or three men, and attack always on the left side, for in that way it will be awkward for the fugitive to strike across his horse at you, while you will have him under your hand.”
“Ho! ho! never fear. You said yourself that I work with the sabre far better than Uncle Makovetski; let no one give me advice!”
“Remember to hold the bridle firmly,” put in Zagloba. “They have their methods; and it may be that when you are chasing, the fugitive will turn his horse suddenly and stop, then before you can pass, he may strike you. A veteran never lets his horse out too much, but reins him in as he wishes.”
“And never raise your sabre too high, lest you be exposed to a thrust,” said Pan Mushalski.
“I shall be near her to guard against accident,” said the little knight. “You see, in battle the whole difficulty is in this, that you must think of all things at once—of your horse, of the enemy, of your bridle, the sabre, the blow, and the thrust, all at one time. For him who is trained this comes of itself; but at first even renowned fencers are frequently awkward, and any common fellow, if in practice, will unhorse a new man more skilled than himself. Therefore I will be at your side.”
“But do not rescue me, and give command to the men that no one is to rescue me without need.”
“Well, well! we shall see yet what your courage will be when it comes to a trial,” answered the little knight, laughing.
“Or if you will not seize one of us by the skirts,” finished Zagloba.
“We shall see!” said Basia, with indignation.
Thus conversing, they entered a place covered here and there with thicket. The hour was not far from daybreak, but it had become darker, for the moon had gone down. A light fog had begun to rise from the ground and conceal distant objects. In that light fog and gloom, the indistinct thickets at a distance took the forms of living creatures in the excited imagination of Basia. More than once it seemed to her that she saw men and horses clearly.
“Michael, what is that?” asked she, whispering, and pointing with her finger.
“Nothing; bushes.”
“I thought it was horsemen. Shall we be there soon?”
“The affair will begin in something like an hour and a half.”
“Ha!”
“Are you afraid?”
“No; but my heart beats with great desire. I, fear! Nothing and nothing! See, what hoarfrost lies there! It is visible in the dark.”
In fact, they were riding along a strip of country on which the long dry stems of steppe-grass were covered with hoarfrost. Pan Michael looked and said—
“Motovidlo has passed this way. He must be hidden not more than a couple of miles distant. It is dawning already!”
In fact, day was breaking. The gloom was decreasing. The sky and earth were becoming gray; the air was growing pale; the tops of the trees and the bushes were becoming covered, as it were, with silver. The farther clumps began to disclose themselves, as if someone were raising a curtain from before them one after another. Meanwhile from the next clump a horseman came out suddenly.
“From Pan Motovidlo?” asked Volodyovski, when the Cossack stopped right before them.
“Yes, your grace.”
“What is to be heard?”
“They crossed Sirotski Brod, turned toward the bellowing of the bullocks, and went in the direction of Kalusik. They took the cattle, and are at Yurgove Polye.”
“And where is Pan Motovidlo?”
“He has stopped near the hill, and Pan Mellehovich neat Kalusik. Where the other squadrons are I know not.”
“Well,” said Volodyovski, “I know. Hurry to Pan Motovidlo and carry the command to close in, and dispose men singly as far as halfway from Pan Mellehovich. Hurry!”
The Cossack bent in the saddle and shot forward, so that the
