Генрик Сенкевич
The Deluge. Vol. 2
"But where is Zagloba?"
"He remained with Sapyeha; for he fell into weeping and despair after Kovalski."
"Then has Kovalski fallen?"
Volodyovski pressed his lips. "Do you know who killed him?"
"Whence should I know? Tell me!"
"Prince Boguslav!"
Kmita turned in his place, as if thrust with a point, and began to draw in air with a hiss; at last he gritted his teeth, and casting himself on the bench, rested his head on his palms in silence.
Volodyovski clapped his hands, and ordered the attendant to bring drink; then he sat near Kmita, filled a cup for him, and began, —
"Ron Kovalski died such a cavalier's death that God grant any man of us to die no worse. It is enough to inform you that Karl Gustav himself after the battle celebrated his funeral, and a whole regiment of the guards fired a salute over his coffin."
"If only not at those hands, at those hellish hands!" exclaimed Kmita.
"Yes, at the hands of Boguslav; we know that from hussars who with their own eyes saw the sad end."
"Were you not there then?"
"In battle places are not chosen, but a man stands where he is ordered. If I had been there, either I should not be here now, or Boguslav would not be making trenches at Prostki."
"Tell me how it all happened. It will only increase the anger."
Pan Michael drank, wiped his yellow mustaches, and began: —
"Of a certainty you are not lacking in narratives of the Warsaw battle, for every one is speaking of it; therefore I shall not dwell on it too long. Our gracious lord – God give him health and long years! for under another king the country would have perished amid disasters – has shown himself a famous leader. Had there been such obedience as there was command, had we been worthy of the king, the chroniclers would have to describe a new Polish victory at Warsaw equal to those at Grünwald and Berestechko. Speaking briefly, on the first day we beat the Swedes; on the second, fortune inclined now to one, now to the other, but still we were uppermost. At that time the Lithuanian hussars, in which Kovalski served under Prince Polubinski, a great soldier, went to the attack. When they were passing I saw them as I see you this moment, for I was with the Lauda men on a height near the intrenchments. They were twelve hundred strong, – men and horses such as the world had not seen. They passed twenty rods distant from our flank; and I tell you that the earth trembled under them. We saw the Brandenburg infantry planting their pikes in the ground in a hurry, to meet the first onrush. Then began firing from muskets, till the smoke covered them entirely. We looked. The hussars had given rein to their horses. O God, what a sweep! They fell into the smoke, – disappeared! My soldiers began to shout, 'They will break them, they will break them!' For a while the hussars were invisible; then something thundered, and there was a sound as if in a thousand forges men were beating anvils with hammers. We look. Jesus! Mary! The elector's men are lying like stones on a street, like wheat through which a tempest has passed; and the hussars far away beyond, their streamers glittering. They are bearing down on the Swedes! They struck cavalry; the cavalry were down like a pavement! They struck a second regiment; they left that like a pavement! There was a roar, cannon were thundering; we saw them when the wind bore the smoke aside. They were smashing Swedish infantry. Everything was fleeing, rolling, opening; they went on as if over a highway. They had passed almost through the whole army, when they struck a regiment of the horse-guard, in which was Karl Gustav himself; and like a whirlwind they scattered the horse-guard."
Here Pan Michael stopped, for Kmita had closed his eyes with his fists and was exclaiming, —
"O Mother of God! To see such a thing once and then die!"
"Such an attack my eyes will never see again," continued the little knight. "We too were commanded to spring forward. I saw no more, but what I tell I heard from the mouth of a Swedish officer who was at the side of Karl and saw with his own eyes the end. That Forgell who fell into our hands afterward at Rava, rushed up to Karl. 'O King,' cried he, 'save Sweden! save yourself! Aside, aside! Nothing can stop them!' But Karl answered: 'No use to yield; we must meet them or perish.' Other generals rush up, implore, entreat, in vain. The king moved forward; they strike. The Swedes are broken more quickly than you can count ten. One fell, another was trampled, others were scattered like peas. The king defended himself single-handed. Kovalski rode up and knew Karl Gustav, for he had seen him twice before. A horseman shielded the king; but those who were present said that lightning does not kill more quickly than Kovalski cut him in two. Then the king rushed at Pan Roh."
Volodyovski again interrupted his narrative and breathed deeply; but Kmita cried at once, —
"Oh, finish, or the soul will go out of me!"
"They rushed at each other so that the breasts of the horses struck. They raged. 'I look,' said the officer; 'the king with his horse is on the ground.' He freed himself, touched the trigger of his pistol, missed. The king's hat had fallen. Roh then made for the head of Karl Gustav, – had his sword raised; the Swedes were weak from terror, for there was no time to save Karl, when Boguslav rose as if from under the earth, fired into the very ear of Kovalski, broke his head and his helmet."
"O my God! he had not time to bring down the sword?" screamed Pan Andrei, tearing his hair.
"God did not grant him that grace," said Pan Michael. "Zagloba and I talked of what had happened. The man had served with the Radzivills from years of youth; he considered them his masters, and at sight of Radzivill it must be that he was confused. Perhaps the thought had never come to his head to raise a hand on Radzivill. It happens that way! Well, he paid with his life. Zagloba is a wonderful man, for he is not Roh's uncle at all, and not his relative; still another man would not have been in such despair for a son. And, to tell the truth, there was no reason, for one might envy Kovalski such a glorious death; a noble and a soldier is born to give his life, if not on the present day then on the morrow; men will write of Kovalski, and posterity will celebrate his name."
Pan Michael was silent; after a while he made the sign of the cross and said, —
"Eternal rest give him, O Lord, and may light shine on him forever!"
"For the ages of ages!" said Kmita.
Both whispered prayers for a certain time, maybe asking for themselves a similar death, if only not at the hands of Prince Boguslav. At last Pan Michael said, —
"Father Pyekarski assured us that Roh went straight to heaven."
"Of course he did, and our prayers are not needed for him."
"Prayers are always needed; for they are inscribed to the credit of others, and maybe to our own."
"My hope is in the mercy of God," said Kmita, sighing. "I trust that for what I have done in Prussia, even a couple of years will be taken from me in purgatory."
"Everything there is reckoned. What a man works out here with his sabre, the heavenly secretary records."
"I too served with Radzivill," said Kmita, "but I shall not be confused at sight of Boguslav. My God, my God! Prostki is not far away! Remember, O Lord, that he is Thy enemy too, for he is a heretic who more than once has blasphemed Thy true faith."
"And is an enemy of the country," added Pan Michael. "We have hope that his end is approaching. Zagloba, speaking in grief and in tears and as if inspired, foretold the same after that attack of the hussars. He cursed Boguslav so that the hair stood on the head of every man listening. Prince Michael Radzivill, who is marching with us against him, saw also in a dream two golden trumpets, which the Radzivills have on their shield, gnawed by a bear, and he said at once next day, 'Misfortune will meet me or some other Radzivill.'"
"By a bear?" asked Kmita, growing pale.
"By a bear."
Pan Andrei's face became clear as if a gleam of the morning dawn had fallen on it; he raised his eyes, stretched his hands toward heaven and said with a solemn voice, —
"I have a bear on my shield. Praise to Thee, O Lord on high! Praise to Thee, Most Holy Mother! O Lord, O Lord! I am not worthy of this grace."
When he heard this Pan Michael was greatly moved, for he recognized at once that that was an omen from heaven.
"Yendrek!" cried he, "to make sure, press the feet of Christ before the battle; and I will implore him against Sakovich."
"Prostki! Prostki!" repeated Kmita, as in a fever. "When do we move?"
"Before day, and soon it will begin to dawn."
Kmita approached the broken window of the cottage and cried: "The stars are paling already. Ave, Maria."
Then came the distant crowing of a cock, and with it low trumpeting. A few "Our Fathers" later, movement began in the whole village. The clatter of steel was heard, and the snorting of horses. Dark masses of cavalry assembled on the highway.
The air began to be filled with light; a pale gleam was silvering the points of the spears, twinkling on the naked sabres, bringing out of the shade mustached threatening faces, helmets, kolpaks, Tartar sheepskin caps, fur cloaks, quivers. At last the advance with Kmita in the vanguard was moving toward Prostki; the troops stretched in a long line over the road, and marched quickly.
The horses in the first ranks fell to snorting greatly, after them others, as a good portent for the soldiers.
White mists hid the meadows yet, and the fields.
Round about was silence; only land-rails were playing in the grass, wet with dew.
CHAPTER LI
September 6, the Polish troops arrived at Vansosh and disposed themselves for rest, so that before battle horses and men might gain strength. Pan Gosyevski, the hetman, decided to halt there four or five days; but events interfered with his reckoning.
Babinich, as a man knowing the boundary well, was sent on a reconnoissance; he was given two light Lithuanian squadrons and a fresh chambul of Tartars, for his own Tartars were over-much wearied.
Gosyevski enjoined on him earnestly, before starting, to obtain an informant and not to return empty-handed. But Babinich merely laughed, thinking to himself that he needed no urging, and that he would bring prisoners, even if he had to find them in the intrenchments of Prostki.
In fact, he returned in forty-eight hours, bringing a number of Prussians and Swedes, and among them an officer of note, Von Rössel, captain in a Prussian regiment under Boguslav.
The party was received in the camp with great applause. There was no need of torturing the captain, for Babinich had already done that on the road by putting the sword-point to his throat. From his statements it transpired that not only the Prussian regiments of Count Waldeck were in Prostki, but also six Swedish regiments under command of Major-General Israel; of these, four were of cavalry under Peters, Frytjotson, Tauben, and Ammerstein, with two of infantry under the brothers Engel. Of Prussian regiments, which were very well equipped, besides that of Count Waldeck himself, there were four, – those of the Prince of Wismar, Bruntsl, Konnaberg, General Wahlrat, – with four squadrons of Boguslav's command, two being of Prussian nobles, and two of his own men.
Supreme command was held by Count Waldeck; in reality, however, he obeyed in everything Prince Boguslav, to whose influence the Swedish general Israel also yielded.
But the most important intelligence given by Rössel was this, – that two thousand chosen infantry of Pomerania were hastening from Elko to reinforce Prostki; but Count Waldeck, fearing lest these men might be taken by the horde, wished to leave the fortified camp, join the Pomeranians, and then make intrenchments a second time. Boguslav, according to Rössel, was so far rather strongly opposed to leaving Prostki, and only during the last days began to incline toward this action. Gosyevski on hearing this news was greatly rejoiced, for he was certain that victory would not miss him. The enemy might defend themselves for a long time in the intrenchments, but neither the Swedish nor the Prussian cavalry could resist the Poles in the open field.
Prince Boguslav seemed to understand this fact as well as Gosyevski, and for this special reason he did not much approve Waldeck's plans. But he was too vain not to yield before even the reproach of excessive caution. Besides, he was not distinguished for patience. It might be reckoned almost with certainty that he would grow weary of waiting in trenches, and would seek fame and victory in the open field. Gosyevski had simply to hasten his advance on the enemy at the moment when they were leaving the intrenchments.
So thought he; so thought other colonels, such as Hassan Bey, who led the horde; Voynillovich, who led the king's regiment; Korsak, a light-horse colonel; Volodyovski, Kotvich, and Babinich. All agreed on one point, – that it was necessary to give up further rest, and march in the night; that is, in a few hours. Meanwhile Korsak sent his banneret, Byeganski, to Prostki to inform the advancing army every hour of what was taking place in the camp. Volodyovski and Babinich took Rössel to their quarters to learn something more of Boguslav. The captain was greatly alarmed at first, for he felt still at his throat Kmita's sabre-point, but wine soon loosened his tongue. Since he had served once in the Commonwealth in a foreign command, he had learned Polish; therefore he was able to answer the questions of the little knight, who did not know German.
"Have you been long in the service of Prince Boguslav?" asked Volodyovski.
"I do not serve in his army," answered Rössel, "but in the elector's regiment, which was put under his command."
"Then do you know Pan Sakovich?"
"I have seen him in Königsberg."
"Is he with the prince?"
"He is not; he remained in Taurogi."
Volodyovski sighed and moved his mustaches. "I have no luck, as usual," said he.
"Be not grieved, Michael," said Babinich. "You will find him; if not, I shall."
Then he turned to Rössel: "You are an old soldier; you have seen both armies, and you know our cavalry of old: what do you think, – on whose side will be victory?"
"If they meet you outside the trenches, on yours; but you cannot take the trenches without infantry and cannon, especially since everything is done there with Radzivill's head."
"Then do you consider him such a great leader?"
"Not only is that my opinion, but it is the general opinion in both armies. They say that at Warsaw the Most Serene King of Sweden followed his advice, and therefore won a great battle. The prince, as a Pole, has a better knowledge of your method of warfare and can manage more quickly. I saw myself that the King of Sweden after the third day of battle embraced him in front of the army and kissed him. It is true that he owed his life to him; for had it not been for the shot of the prince – But it is a terror to think of it! He is besides an incomparable knight, whom no man can meet with any weapon."
"H'm!" said Volodyovski, "maybe there is such a man."
When he had said this, his mustaches trembled threateningly. Rössel looked at him, and grew suddenly red. For a time it seemed that either he would burst a blood-vessel or break into laughter; but at last he remembered that he was in captivity, and controlled himself quickly. But Kmita with his steel eyes looked at him steadily and said, —
"That will be shown to-morrow."
"But is Boguslav in good health?" asked Volodyovski; "for the fever shook him a long time, and must have weakened him."
"He is, and has been this long time, as healthy as a fish, and takes no medicine. The doctor at first wanted to give him many preservatives, but immediately after the first came a paroxysm. Prince Boguslav gave orders to toss that doctor up from sheets; and that helped him, for the doctor himself got a fever from fright."
"To toss him up from sheets?" asked Volodyovski.
"I saw it myself," answered Rössel. "Two sheets were placed one above the other, and the doctor put in the centre of them. Four strong soldiers took the sheets by the corners, and threw up the poor doctor. I tell you, gentlemen, that he went nearly ten ells into the air, and he had hardly come down when they hurled him up again. General Israel, Count Waldeck, and the prince were holding their sides from laughter. Many of the officers too were looking at the spectacle, till the doctor fainted. Then the prince was free of his fever, as if some hand had removed it."
Though Pan Michael and Babinich hated Boguslav, still they could not restrain themselves from laughter when they heard of this joke. Babinich struck his knees and cried, —
"Ah, the scoundrel! how he helped himself!"
"I must tell Zagloba of this medicine," said Pan Michael.
"It cured him of the fever," said Rössel; "but what is that, when the prince does not restrain sufficiently the impulses of his blood, and therefore will not live to ripe age?"
"I think so too," muttered Babinich. "Such as he do not live long."
"Does he give way to himself in the camp?" asked Pan Michael.
"Of course," answered Rössel. "Count Waldeck laughed, saying that his princely grace takes with him waiting-maids. I saw myself two handsome maidens; his attendants told me that they were there to iron his lace – but God knows."
Babinich, when he heard this, grew red and pale; then he sprang up, and seizing Rössel by the arm began to shake him violently.
"Are they Poles or Germans?"
"Not Poles," said the terrified Rössel. "One is a Prussian noblewoman; the other is a Swede, who formerly served the wife of General Israel."
Babinich looked at Pan Michael and drew a deep breath; the little knight was relieved too, and began to move his mustaches.
"Gentlemen, permit me to rest," said Rössel. "I am dreadfully tired, for the Tartar led me ten miles with a lariat."
Kmita clapped his hands for Soroka, and committed the prisoner to him; then he turned with quick step to Pan Michael.
"Enough of this!" said he. "I would rather perish a hundred times than live in this ceaseless alarm and uncertainty. When Rössel mentioned those women just now, I thought that some one was going at my temple with a club."
"It is time to finish!" said Volodyovski, shaking his sabre.
At that moment trumpets sounded at the hetman's quarters; soon trumpets answered in all the Lithuanian squadrons, and pipes in the chambuls.
The troops began to assemble, and an hour later were on the march.
Before they had gone five miles a messenger hurried up from Byeganski of Korsak's squadron, with intelligence for the hetman that a number of troopers had been seized from a considerable body occupied in collecting on that side of the river all the wagons and horses of the peasants. Interrogated on the spot, they acknowledged that the tabor of the whole army was to leave Prostki about eight o'clock in the morning, and that commands were issued already.
"Let us praise God and urge on our horses," said Gosyevski. "Before evening that army will be no longer in existence."
He sent the horde neck and head to push with utmost endeavor between Waldeck's troops and the Pomeranian infantry hastening to aid them. After the horde went Lithuanians; being mainly of the light squadrons, they came right after the horde.
Kmita was in the front rank of the Tartars, and urged on his men till the horses were steaming. On the road he bowed down on the saddle, struck his forehead on the neck of his horse, and prayed with all the powers of his soul, —
"Grant me, O Christ, to take vengeance, not for my own wrongs, but for the insults wrought on the country! I am a sinner; I am not worthy of Thy grace; but have mercy on me! Permit me to shed the blood of heretics, and for Thy praise I will fast and scourge myself every week on this day till the end of my life."
Then to the Most Holy Lady of Chenstohova, whom he had served with his blood, and to his own patron besides, did he commit himself; and strong with such protection, he felt straightway that an immense hope was entering his soul, that an uncommon power was penetrating his limbs, – a power before which everything must fall in the dust. It seemed to him that wings were growing from his shoulders; joy embraced him like a whirlwind, and he flew in front of his Tartars, so that sparks were scattered from under the hoofs of his steed. Thousands of wild warriors bent forward to the necks of their ponies, and shot along after him.
A river of pointed caps rose and fell with the rush of the horses; bows rattled behind the men's shoulders; in front went the sound from the tramp of iron hoofs; from behind flew the roar of the oncoming squadrons, like the deep roar of a great swollen river.
And thus they flew on in the rich starry night which covered the roads and the fields. They were like a mighty flock of ravening birds which had smelled blood in the distance. Fields, oak-groves, meadows, sped past, till at last the waning moon became pale and inclined in the west. Then they reined in their beasts, and halted for final refreshment. It was not farther now than two miles from Prostki.
The Tartars fed their horses with barley from their hands, so that the beasts might gain strength before battle; but Kmita sat on a fresh pony and rode farther to look at the camp of the enemy.
After half an hour's ride he found in the willows the light-horse party which Korsak had sent to reconnoitre.
"Well," asked Kmita, "what is to be heard?"
"They are not sleeping, they are bustling like bees in a hive," answered the banneret. "They would have started already, but have not wagons sufficient."
"Can the camp be seen from some point near at hand?"
"It can from that height which is covered with bushes. The camp lies over there in the valley of the river. Does your grace wish to see it?"
"Lead on."
The banneret put spurs to his horse, and they rode to the height. Day was already in the sky, and the air was filled with a golden light; but along the river on the opposite low bank there lay still a dense fog. Hidden in the bushes, they looked at that fog growing thinner and thinner.
At last about two furlongs distant a square earthwork was laid bare. Kmita's glance was fixed on it with eagerness; but at the first moment he saw only the misty outlines of tents and wagons standing in the centre along the intrenchments. The blaze of fires was not visible; he saw only smoke rising in lofty curls to the sky in sign of fine weather. But as the fog vanished Pan Andrei could distinguish through his field-glass blue Swedish and yellow Prussian banners planted on the intrenchments; then masses of soldiers, cannon, and horses.
Around there was silence, broken only by the rustle of bushes moved by the breeze, and the glad morning twitter of birds; but from the camp came a deep sound.
Evidently no one was sleeping, and they were preparing to march, for in the centre of the intrenchment was an unusual stir. Whole regiments were moving from place to place; some went out in front of the intrenchments; around the wagons there was a tremendous bustle. Cannon also were drawn from the trenches.
"It cannot be but they are preparing to march," said Kmita.
"All the prisoners said: 'They wish to make a junction with the infantry; and besides they do not think that the hetman can come up before evening; and even if he were to come up, they prefer a battle in the open field to yielding that infantry to the knife.'"
"About two hours will pass before they move, and at the end of two hours the hetman will be here."
"Praise be to God!" said the banneret.
"Send to tell our men not to feed too long."
"According to order."
"But have they not sent away parties to this side of the river?"
"To this side they have not sent one. But they have sent some to their infantry, marching from Elko."
"It is well!" said Kmita.
And he descended the height, and commanding the party to hide longer in the rushes, moved back himself with all the breath in his horse to the squadron.
Gosyevski was just mounting when Babinich arrived. The young knight told quickly what he had seen and what the position was; the hetman listened with great satisfaction, and urged forward the squadrons without delay.
Babinich's party went in advance; after it the Lithuanian squadrons; then that of Voynillovich, that of Lauda, the hetman's own, and others. The horde remained behind; for Hassan Bey begged for that with insistence, fearing that his men might not withstand the first onset of the heavy cavalry. He had also another reckoning.
He wished, when the Lithuanians struck the enemy's front, to seize the camp with his Tartars; in the camp he expected to find very rich plunder. The hetman permitted this, thinking justly that the Tartars would strike weakly on the cavalry, but would fall like madmen on the tabor and might raise a panic, especially since the Prussian horses were less accustomed to their terrible howling.
In two hours, as Kmita had predicted, they halted in front of that elevation from which the scouting-party had looked into the intrenchments, and which now concealed the march of all the troops. The banneret, seeing the troops approaching, sprang forward like lightning with intelligence that the enemy, having withdrawn the pickets from this side of the river, had already moved, and that the rear of the tabor was just leaving the intrenchments.
When he heard this, Gosyevski drew his baton from the holsters of the saddle, and said, —
"They cannot return now, for the wagons block the way. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! There is no reason to hide longer!"
He beckoned to the bunchuk-bearer; and he, raising the horse-tail standard aloft, waved it on every side. At this sign all the horse-tail standards began to wave, trumpets thundered, Tartar pipes squeaked, six thousand sabres were gleaming in the air, and six thousand throats shouted, —
"Jesus! Mary!"
"Allah uh Allah!"
Then squadron after squadron rose in a trot from behind the height. In Waldeck's camp they had not expected guests so soon, for a feverish movement set in. The drums rattled uninterruptedly; the regiments turned with front to the river.
It was possible to see with the naked eye generals and colonels flying between the regiments; they hurried to the centre with the cannon, so as to bring them forward to the river.
After a while both armies were not farther than a thousand yards from each other. They were divided only by a broad meadow, in the centre of which a river flowed. Another moment, and the first streak of white smoke bloomed out from the Prussian side toward the Poles.
The battle had begun.
The hetman himself sprang toward Kmita's troops, —
"Advance, Babinich! advance in God's name against that line!" And he pointed with his baton to the gleaming regiment of cavalry.
"Follow me!" commanded Pan Andrei. And pressing his horse with spurs, he moved at a gallop toward the river.
More swiftly than an arrow from a bow did they shoot forward. The horses had gained their highest speed, and were running with ears dropped back, and bodies stretched out like the bodies of hounds. The riders bent forward to the manes of their horses, and howling, lashed onward the beasts, which now did not seem to touch earth; they rushed with that impetus into the river. The water did not restrain them, for they came upon a broad ford, level and sandy; they reached the other bank, and sprang on in a body.
Seeing this, the regiment of armored cavalry moved toward them, first at a walk, then at a trot, and did not go faster; but when Kmita's front had come within twenty yards, the command "Fire!" was heard, and a thousand arms with pistols were stretched forward.
A line of smoke ran from one end of the rank to the other; then the two bodies struck each other with a crash. The horses reared at the first blow; over the heads of the combatants glittered sabres through the whole length of the line. A serpent as it were of lightning flew from end to end. The ominous clang of blades against helmets and breastplates was heard to the other side of the river. It seemed as if hammers were ringing in forges on plates of steel. The line bent in one moment into a crescent; for since the centre of the German cavalry yielded, pushed back by the first onset, the wings, against which less force was directed, kept their places. But the armored soldiers did not let the centre be broken, and a terrible slaughter began. On one side enormous men covered with armor resisted with the whole weight of horses; on the other the gray host of Tartars pushed with the force of accumulated impetus, cutting and thrusting with an inconceivable rapidity which only uncommon activity and ceaseless practice can give. As when a host of woodcutters rush at a forest of pine-trees there is heard only the sound of axes, and time after time some lofty tree falls to the ground with a fearful crash, so every moment some one of the cavalry bent his shining head and rolled under his horse. The sabres of Kmita's men glittered in their eyes, cut around their faces, eyes, hands. In vain does a sturdy soldier raise his heavy sword; before he can bring it down, he feels a cold point entering his body; then the sword drops from his hand, and he falls with bloody face on the neck of his horse. When a swarm of wasps attack in an orchard him who is shaking down fruit, vainly does the man ward them off with his hands, try to free himself, dodge aside; they reach his face skilfully, reach his neck, and each one drives into him a sharp sting. So did Kmita's raging men, trained in so many battles, rush forward, hew, cut, thrust, spread terror and death more and more stubbornly, surpassing their opponents as much as a skilful craftsman surpasses the sturdiest apprentice who is wanting in practice. Therefore the German cavalry began to fall more quickly; and the centre, against which Kmita himself was fighting, became so thin that it might break at any moment. Commands of officers, summoning soldiers to shattered places, were lost in the uproar and wild shouting; the line did not come together quickly enough, and Kmita pressed with increasing power. Wearing chain-mail, a gift from Sapyeha, he fought as a simple soldier, having with him the young Kyemliches and Soroka. Their office was to guard their master; and every moment some one of them turned to the right or the left, giving a terrible blow; but Kmita rushed on his chestnut horse to the thickest of the fight, and having all the secrets of Pan Michael, and gigantic strength, he quenched men's lives quickly. Sometimes he struck with his whole sabre; sometimes he barely reached with the point; sometimes he described a small circle merely, but quick as lightning, and a horseman flew head downward under his beast, as if a thunderbolt had hurled him from the saddle. Others withdrew before the terrible man.
