For the Right Part 40

Herr von Bauer, too, grew faint, catching at a chair-back for support.

At that moment he experienced that most painful of all bodily sensations, which, though common enough as a figure of speech, is rare in actual fact, and not likely to be forgotten by the luckless mortal that ever underwent it! The poor old governor felt his scalp contract with an icy coldness, every single root of hair p.r.i.c.king into it like a red-hot needle--_his hair standing on end!_

For a while these two men continued facing each other, terror-struck and unable to speak, till the governor's lady came rus.h.i.+ng in to inquire into the reason of this late disturbance. Her coming was opportune, for the governor was obliged to rouse himself to bid her retire; and turning to the clerk, he said, "Tell me."

At which the latter drew himself up straight and saluted his superior.

And then followed his tale: "There was much to be done at Jablonow," he said, "and it was eight o'clock before we could set out on the journey back. Both in front and behind us the dragoons were trotting, quite carelessly, and Herr von Hohenau was even merry-hearted, conversing pleasantly to pa.s.s the time. And he fell talking about Taras, saying--'Do you know, Dorn, I should rather like to see him; one would like to have a talk with the man--he is quite a colleague of ours, a criminal judge if ever there was one; and I will even maintain he is possessed of all the true instincts of the profession, knowing how to discriminate between a rascal and an honest man--between right and wrong. I am sure of it!' 'Begging your pardon, sir,' I replied, 'but he is just a black-dyed villain, and G.o.d Almighty keep us from falling in with him.' 'Well,' owned he, 'I don't say I am anxious to meet him, say, on this journey, although I should not give him credit for any desire of harming us. You misjudge the fellow, Dorn; I have carefully followed his so-called judgments, and I will say this for him, he is a man still and no fiend.' The word was scarcely out of his mouth--we had just arrived by the little bridge leading over the Krasnik--when all of a sudden the reeds on both sides of the brook seemed alive with highwaymen. I am an old soldier, sir, and it is a dead mystery to me how it could happen so quickly, but in less than three minutes all our men were clean overpowered. I should think the bandits were at least five to one of ourselves, but I will say this for them, they did behave decently, and whoever was willing to accept quarter, was merely disarmed and pinioned; they killed only those who stubbornly resisted.

Herr von Hohenau remarked it also, and whispered to me: 'Never fear, Dorn, he won't harm us,' And for a while it seemed so. For the bandits who had surrounded the vehicle, levelling their pistols at our faces, now drew off, and one of their number--a Jew, by the face of him--said almost politely: 'Please to get out, sirs, and speak to the avenger.'

We stepped to the ground, they closed in a circle, and Taras himself stood before us. Now I had often seen him--why, it is barely two years since--when he used to call here on account of that law-suit of his, a fair-haired, strong-built, ruddy man, with a glow of health about him; but I certainly should not have known him again, hollow-cheeked, worn, and grey as he is now, with deep furrows about his face, and almost trembling as he looked at us. He kept silent rather long, I thought, and there seemed more pity than wrath in his eyes, and he spoke gently when he began, turning to me first. 'It is not you I require, you are but a clerk of theirs, and are bound to write whatever they tell you.

You had better go your way at once--that is, if this man here has not some last message he would like to entrust to you.' I shook from head to foot at this announcement, and the gentleman, too, grew white, catching hold of my arm as if to steady himself; yet he was able to say--'I am Carl von Hohenau, a magistrate; every man in this neighbourhood knows me, and can tell you that no crime lies at my door.

What is it you accuse me of, Taras?' 'Unheard-of violence and cowardly wrong,' he said. 'My wife and my children are detained in your gaol.'

At which Herr von Hohenau drew himself up, saying solemnly: 'Taras, you will believe my word of honour, that they have not been arrested at our instigation, but against our every protest. The governor has been forced to yield to the authorities at Lemberg, our superiors,' At which Taras scanned his face attentively, saying, after a pause: 'I am unwilling to believe you are speaking falsely; but I have had information on solemn oath. Was it not by your orders that Kap.r.o.nski, on the Wednesday after Easter, threatened my wife with arrest?'

'No--certainly not! Did he? Oh--the rascal! Why, he came back a.s.suring us that only by means of his taking it upon himself thus to threaten you had you been prevailed upon to spare his life,' 'He lied,' said Taras. 'I charged him to tell you that I should consider your lives forfeited if you countenanced such wrong--did he tell you that?' 'No, on the contrary, he advised it as the only expedient; and the Provincial Governor, in issuing his orders to us, has acted on his suggestions without a doubt.' The poor gentleman was not a little excited, but had sufficient power over himself to state plainly that repeated efforts were made by the magistrates of this district to reason with the authorities at Lemberg, and that they obeyed orders in the end under protest only, because there was no help for it. Taras listened quietly, and then, bending his head, he stood motionless, like one lost in thought, a shudder ever and anon quivering through his limbs.... And I believed there was ground for hope; but, alas, I was mistaken. Pulling himself up suddenly, he said: 'I will accept your account, every word as you have told it. But how is it that you yielded in the end, knowing that which was demanded of you was an act of violence?' 'We were driven to it,' 'I do not understand that,' said Taras, slowly; 'a soldier has no will of his own, and must obey his superiors, or he will be shot; but I never heard it is so with the Emperor's magistrates!' 'It is not; and yet we should have been punished--ignominiously dismissed in all probability, which is no light thing for a man to face. Some of us have wives and children,' 'So it is just this: you preferred your position, and perhaps daily bread for yourselves and your families, to the integrity of your conscience! And you are judges, who have sworn an oath before the Almighty, to further the right!' The terrible man said this in the same quiet tone and very slowly, but his pa.s.sion now broke forth: 'No,' he cried, 'judges who are capable of that, who have yielded to the wrong, have forfeited their lives! Prepare yourself for death.... I cannot spare you!' But I fell on my knees. 'Taras!' I cried, 'for mercy's sake, forbear killing this man!' Herr von Hohenau, however, ordered me to rise, preserving his composure like a hero to the end. 'I have nearly reached my three score and ten,' he said, 'and have striven after righteousness all my days, to the best of my knowledge. I am ready to give up my account to Him who is Judge over all, and my days at best are numbered. And I leave neither wife nor child behind me. It is, therefore, not the fear of death, man, which prompts me to say that you must not kill me, unless you would burden your conscience with a deed of common murder, in the blind fury of revenge. So far as your deeds are known to me, this would be the first act of yours that must be called criminal and nothing else,' The bandits growled, but Taras, beckoning them to be quiet, stood motionless, with bowed head, and lost in thought, as before. Those were terrible moments, I cannot tell how long it lasted, but it seemed an eternity. At last one of Taras's men--that Jew--went up to him, addressing him gently. I could not understand his words, but saw from the expression of his face that he was pleading for mercy.

That it was so grew evident from Taras's answer, who, lifting up his hand, said hoa.r.s.ely, and trembling as though it went hard with him: 'G.o.d help me and him, and if I am judging wrongfully I may suffer for it on the gallows, but there is no help for it--he must die! He and his fellow magistrates have set aside their sacred oath for the sake of earthly advantage, and in the fear of man; theirs is the power to protect the holiest of causes, to see the Right carried out, and they have misused the power entrusted to them. That is a fearful evil; and where shall wrong end if it begins with them? Hitherto I have tried to believe that it was their mistake, or at worst their carelessness, at times, which rendered them liable to judge falsely; and though combating the wrong I have so far not declared war against the men of the law themselves. But now I have proof that these judges, these guardians of the Right, have actually been able, against their own better knowledge, to concur in a wrongful deed! I can no longer, then, be satisfied with merely stopping the course of this or that muddy stream, as it were, but am bound to close up the spring-head itself. I grieve, indeed, that I must make the beginning with this old man, who I daresay is one of the best of them, but there is no help for it--may G.o.d be merciful to him and to me!' Herr von Hohenau was going to speak yet again, but Taras cut him short, saying: 'It is useless, you must see I cannot help you!' and when I clasped his feet, he freed himself, and fell back behind some of his men. But Herr von Hohenau stood erect, saying with a loud voice, 'Get up, Dorn, it is not meet for honest men to kneel to such a one! Get me a piece of paper and a pencil!' He wrote a few lines, commended himself to the Almighty, and--and----"

The old clerk was shaken with sobs, his eyes were tearless, but the lips quivered, and his breast heaved convulsively.

"They--shot--him?"

The man nodded, and, fumbling in his pocket with trembling hand, produced a sc.r.a.p of paper. But the governor saw nothing; he, too, was leaning against the wall now, unable to stand. His eyes were closed, but two large drops hung quivering at his lashes, and fell over the furrowed face. "Peace, peace be with thee!" he murmured, "thou best of friends!"

There was a long silence, but the clerk at last ventured to break it: "This bit of writing," he said, falteringly. The governor took it and read:--

"Farewell, my Ferdinand, we have been friends this many a year; do not grieve for me, but have a care for yourself and the others. Let Kap.r.o.nski meet with his deserts if you can! What money I leave behind me I want your eldest boy to have; just take it, with my love. I do not die willingly, but with an easy mind.--Yours in death,

"Carl von Hohenau."

Herr von Bauer folded the letter, placing it in his note-book. "Where is the body, Dorn?" he inquired, presently.

"Lying by the bridge; and so are the shackled dragoons. The monster himself cried after me, 'You had better send for them,' He had ordered some of his men to take me within sight of the town, where they left me."

Before daybreak even, the brave old governor, together with the general and a sufficient body of men, had started for the scene of death. It was an unspeakably sad journey through the mellow summer night. About half-way they came upon the greater number of the dragoons. None of these had been hurt, they had only been overpowered and bound with ropes. One of them had succeeded in slipping his fetters, and had thus been enabled to set the others free. They confirmed the statement that the band appeared to have no other object than to compa.s.s the magistrate's death, vanis.h.i.+ng almost directly after he had fallen, pierced by their bullets.

They reached the bridge in the grey of the morning, and found only a few wounded soldiers and the corpse. And the men, bending over it, were filled with a holy awe on beholding the expression of a restful, even proud calm, that had settled on the dead man's face; never had the majesty of death spoken louder than here. And even the old general felt an unwonted p.r.i.c.king about his eyelids when the governor knelt by the dead body of his friend. He insisted on lifting it himself, barely allowing Dorn to lend him a helping hand.

When the mournful procession had returned to the town, the district governor lost no time in calling at the prison, in order to see a.n.u.sia.

But only a single question he asked of her--"Did Kap.r.o.nski offer you any threats?"--"Yes," she replied, unhesitatingly, repeating his words.

The governor nodded, as though it were just the information he had expected; and not wasting another word he went his way to the district-board office. As he entered the building the secretary came rus.h.i.+ng down to meet him---a messenger had just arrived from Lemberg with a writ from the Provincial Governor, and was to wait for an answer. "Let him wait," said the district governor, bitterly. "I daresay they have come to see the propriety of our remonstrances and rescind their orders."

The contents of the writ, indeed, somewhat verified these surmises, stating that, having referred the matter to Vienna, instructions had been received to take no measures against the family of Taras; to which the Provincial Governor nevertheless added, as his own opinion, that, had the arrest been effected already, he should not deem it advisable to countermand it, lest the dangerous bandit should draw strength from their yielding. But more than this, the Viennese Government requested that every authentic information concerning Taras, beginning with the records of his law-suit in behalf of the community of Zulawce, should be forwarded without delay. And the attention of the Provincial authorities was directed to the advisability of endeavouring to reclaim, the rebel by peaceful means, since both his character and his history, so far as known in Vienna, appeared to warrant this as the best solution of the difficulty. Not that his submission should be bargained for under promise of absolute immunity, or any other inexpedient concession, but rather by rectifying certain unfortunate mistakes, which no doubt might be done without lowering the dignity of the law or that of its guardians. With regard to this, however, the opinion of the local authorities was invited. In the meantime, and until further notice, all action against Taras should be strictly on the defensive, certain contingencies excepted.

This official communication was accompanied by a private note of the Provincial Governor's, which said: "I have certain information that His Imperial Highness, the Archduke Ludwig, is at the bottom of these instructions. Send me your records at once, and it is to be hoped everything is in plain order. For you know that if the Archduke once inquires into a cause, he will have it thoroughly sifted. It is a positive riddle to me how this wretched cut-throat, Taras, should have come to rouse interest in such high quarters. Concerning the 'peaceful means,' however, about which we are to give our opinion, I desire nowise to influence your own ideas, but it seems to me we should be handed down to posterity as fools if we recommended them. The commissioner, Kap.r.o.nski, whom I have every reason to believe a thoroughly honest and trustworthy man, quite shares my view, deprecating the proposal in the strongest terms, and I should say he is not without experience of his own. He a.s.sures me, and I daresay he is right, that any leniency shown to Taras would rouse his insolent opposition to the fullest. I wish to suggest this view to you, but of course you should judge for yourself."

Having read this, the district governor at once issued notices for a meeting of the Board, submitting to the magistrates not only the official doc.u.ment, but the private communication as well. "His excellency, the Provincial Governor, and myself, are not in the habit of having secrets with each other," he said, grimly. The Board, after a short debate, was unanimous in its opinion that peaceful means were not likely to avail in the present extremity, and the following despatch was drawn up: "We fully agree that Taras, terrible as his crimes are, cannot be designated as a bandit and cut-throat in the ordinary sense; it might seem a natural hope, therefore, to lead him back to paths of rect.i.tude by appealing to his sense of honour and justice. Nor do we fear that such an attempt would increase his temerity. But we feel bound to deprecate such a plan, not only because of its utter uselessness as regards the man himself, but even more on account of the hurtful effect it would certainly produce on the people, who would see in it a confession of weakness. As for Taras himself, it is evident that he is acting under the pressure of a belief stronger than his will, imagining that the duty has devolved on him to exterminate every 'wrong' he obtains cognisance of, to punish every deed of injustice, nay, the very omission of doing right. And this idea has so eaten itself into his heart, that no concession to any lawful, or for the matter of that even to unlawful demands, or any other 'peaceful means'

will dissuade him from it. He will continue his 'judgments' till they are rendered impossible by force." The Board, however, strongly recommended the setting at liberty of his innocent family; "not for fear of his revenge, but as a matter of conscience, and in the fear of the Judge above." And in conclusion, having reported the murder of their colleague, Hohenau, and a.n.u.sia's declaration, they requested that the commissioner Kap.r.o.nski should be sent back without delay, that he might be brought to the bar of his immediate superiors. With which reply, and a bulky bundle of papers, the messenger returned to Lemberg.

Upon this the Provincial Government wrapped itself in silence save on one point; they had been loth, these authorities stated, to set full value on the commissioner's complaints concerning the ill-will of his colleagues, much as they trusted his veracity on all other heads. But now the Board of Colomea had given tangible proof of its unworthy animosity, actually suggesting proceedings against a respectable servant of the law upon no evidence whatever, save the declaration of a bandit and his imprisoned wife. This appeared unjustifiable spite, and the Provincial Government not only must refuse to give up the innocent commissioner, but felt obliged to censure the magistracy sharply. In answer to which the whole Board of Colomea once more, and in stronger terms, submitted their request for dismissal, but neither on this matter nor concerning Taras did anything farther reach them. There was a dead silence for several weeks.

Thus the district governor's position had come to be no bed of roses, when suddenly it seemed as though having reached the worst, matters would mend. It had been observed that Taras's 'judgments' grew fewer, and during the first fortnight in August not a single act of his was heard of at Colomea. It was as though the 'avenger' and his band had suddenly disappeared from the earth. This silence was as mysterious as his terrible doings had been. It could not be any fear of punishment which bound his hands; for if the General now kept his forces together in stockades between Kossowince and Zulawce, this centre of defence, however formidable, could not prevent the bandits from carrying on their work wherever they pleased, any more than the flying columns had been able to stop it. And since no other explanation offered, the Board lent a willing ear to the report which arose, dimly at first, though it soon gained ground, that by far the larger number of the hajdamaks had fallen out with their leader, and that it was inward dissension which had stopped the activity of the band.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE APPROACHING DOOM.

The valley of the "black Czeremosz"!... When the great Emperor Joseph, a hundred years ago, put forth his hand to lay hold of the lonely tracts overlooked by the Carpathians, he sent thither a brave old colonel, George Wetzler by name, a man reared on the sunny banks of the Neckar, to take possession of the district in the monarch's name, and to make suggestions for the improvement of the newly-acquired territory. No easy matter! but the old colonel was a Swabian born--stout of heart and tenacious of purpose--and, moreover, he was honest. So his efforts prospered, and some of the good inst.i.tutions of his planting are growing still. Never at a loss to make the best of things, he was the very man for his work; but after inspecting this valley the old colonel's patience appears to have been fairly exhausted, as may be gathered from his report to Vienna--a witness of his disappointment to this day. "This valley of the black 'Tshermosh',"

he bluntly declared, "must be Old Nick's own presence chamber, and what human creatures are to be found here, are a pack of senseless knaves.

There is nothing to be got out of them, nor into them, and this wretched valley will always belong to him of the cloven foot, and never to the Emperor's Majesty."

In one point this judgment proved true, for the people or Zabie and Reza to this day own the supremacy of the State only in a loose and distant sort of way; but in other respects the plain-spoken colonel's picture certainly is overdrawn. It cannot be said that the inhabitants of the valley in question are either more senseless or more knavish than the rest of the Huzuls, though they may be even more shy of the world, more rude of habit--creatures of the forest, both hardy and daring, as men will become whose life is a constant warfare with the sterner forces of nature. But "Old Nick's presence chamber" itself, in sooth, is one of the most glorious, if wildest regions of this mountain chain, "raised by the devil and beautified by the Christ." It would seem as if this valley, which forces its way eastward in a zigzag line between the towering peaks in the southern-most part of Galicia, had indeed been something like an apple of contention for evil or for good.

But if it was the devil who made the frowning mountains and strewed the valley with weird-shaped rocks, the imagination may fitly dwell on the redeeming fancy that the gracious Christ has clothed the heights with those splendid firwoods, and called forth flowers and shrubs about the boulders, sweeter and fairer than one would look for at such a height; and if it was the great adversary who made of the Czeremosz a roaring and dangerous torrent, it must have been the Friend of man who formed its banks, so rich and lovely, to hold in the turbulent stream. It fact the traveller, once acquainted with the fanciful legend, will remember it at every turn; and the higher he climbs, up towards the giant-keeper of the Hungarian frontier, the towering Black Mountain (the Czernahora), the more it will appear to him as though a contest between opposing forces had verily taken place; the upper valley certainly is one of the wildest and fairest spots on earth. It narrows perceptibly to the west, ending in a circular hollow, in the centre of which there is a small deep lake, whose waters appear black, partly on account of the dark-coloured strata of rock which form the sides of the basin, and partly because of its lying within the far-stretching shadow of that great frontier peak. At noon only is the silent mirror of the Black Water smiled upon by a pa.s.sing sunbeam.

On the sh.o.r.e of this lake there is one of the largest settlements within the mountains--cottages, sheepfolds, barns in great number, and closed in with a thorn-hedge; it is the home of Clan Rosenko, numbering about three hundred souls, dwelling here and ruled over by no man save their own patriarch, feared for their valour and duly respected as the wealthiest tribe of the Carpathians. The patriarch of this settlement, in peace or war, is lord paramount within a territory as large as any English county, and wields an influence the strength of which rests in its tradition rather than upon any personal qualities. But never had the clan possessed greater power than when ruled over by the friend and ally of the avenger, the venerable Hilarion, surnamed the Just. There was not a man of Pokutia or the Bukowina who did not bow to him, and none so great nor yet so humble but he would obey his warning and accept his will.

In this man's close proximity Taras had arrived early in August, 1839, encamping with his much-lessened band on an open s.p.a.ce within the Dembronia forest, about a mile from the Black Water. Not for fear of the military operations had he withdrawn from the plain and broken up his camp by the Crystal Springs; still less had he done so of his free choice, but yielding to necessity, and hoping thereby to avert worse things. For the report which had reached Colomea was only too well founded. Taras no longer had absolute power over the minds of his men, whose dissatisfaction had grown to bitterness and resentment, breaking out into open rebellion at last. Just that had happened which Nashko, with the clear discernment of his race, had foreseen and foretold, the catastrophe occurring in the last days of July.

"There are too many of them," Taras had said, sorrowfully, to the Jew.

"I cannot now, as I used to, impress every individual man with the sacredness of the cause he is serving." But he was mistaken; the band never numbered more than about two hundred, and Taras knew each and all personally; the men, in their turn, being fully aware of his ideas concerning the work they were engaged in. Nor could explanation be sought in the suggestion that even his rigorous care could not suffice for keeping the band pure, and that some ill-disposed fellows, no doubt, were leavening the rest. No; the true reason was this, which Nashko and Jemilian failed not to point out to their beloved leader, saying, "You could never hope for anything better, unless the Almighty had lent you his own avenging angels for the work. These men are but human, and unwilling to stake their lives day after day for no advantage they can see; they look for some reward, some personal gain, for the constant danger they run. You think that the sacred cause of justice should be as dear to them as it is to you; perhaps it should, but for a fact it is not. And if you expect of these men to understand your way of thinking, you should, in your turn, try to enter into their views, less elevated though they be."

But, in truth, neither party could comprehend the other; and with a great number of the men the good-will even was wanting. Their wonderful success, and the fame attending it, had intoxicated them at first; but the novelty wore off, and they began to resent their hetman's folly which forbade plundering and expected them to do the work merely for the benefit of others. It was unheard-of severity, and most unjust, they considered. Among the Huzuls, too, a spirit of discontent was abroad. These wild, lawless men had joined the avenger because they hated the authorities, together with the Polish landlords and the thriving inhabitants of the plains, feeling attracted, moreover, by the prospect of plenty of fighting. It was not reward or booty they craved; but, unused to obedience or self-restraint of any kind, they writhed under the consciousness of being mere instruments of another man's will. They wished to have a voice in the matter before being ordered to this or that work, and did not see by what right they should be interfered with if at any time they preferred to please themselves after their own fas.h.i.+on. But there was yet another and an equally-numerous set of discontented ones, whose spokesman was the whilom choir leader, Sophron Hlinkowski--men of honest and respectable antecedents, who had gathered to Taras's standard either for pure love of his cause, or had been driven to it by cruel oppression.

But the scenes of bloodshed almost daily enacted, and in which they must take their part, filled them with horror and disgust. They trembled at the thought of what punishment they incurred at the hands, even, of earthly law, and they feared the judgment of G.o.d. Hitherto, though with a sore conscience, they had obeyed every behest of their leader, whom at first they so fondly adored; but their helpless regret, ending in despair, looked upon Taras now in the light of a cut-throat who forced them on to every fresh deed of iniquity. That his own soul suffered and bled more than theirs they never suspected; for the iron-willed man, worn and wan though he looked, never once quailed before his terrible purpose. They had come to look upon him as the destroyer, not only of their earthly, but even of their eternal hopes, and they were the first of his followers to unburden their minds.

The band had been on a raid as far as the river Sereth, and was returning in forced rides under cover of the night, taking their rest during the day in their various hiding-places, and once more was encamped now by the Crystal Springs.

But before the first day was out Taras rea.s.sembled his men, announcing that they must be ready to start at sundown for Ispas, and thence to the southern Bukowina, because several Roumanian communities had sent him their grievous complaints.

The information was received with a growl of disapproval, and a voice was heard, "What, already, before we are half rested?" Another following it up with a plain "We refuse!" While yet another added, "We sha'n't move a step, unless we see what we shall gain by it!" But these cries were half smothered in the swelling surf of a general discontent.

Taras's friends pressed round him--those few in number who in life or death would be true to him--Nashko, the faithful Jemilian and his fellow-servant Sefko, the youths Wa.s.silj and Lazarko, and several others. They had caught up their muskets in real alarm, prepared to stand by him to the end; and to judge from the increasing uproar, violence indeed seemed imminent. The mutinous band pressed closer and closer to the captain.

But he stood motionless, with eyes bent on the ground, and his face wore the expression of stern, unflinching resolve, which had grown habitual with him. "Speak to them," whispered Jemilian, hoa.r.s.ely.

"Speak, or you are lost!" But he shook his head. Presently, however, he drew himself up, fixing a penetrating glance upon the foremost of the heaving crowd, and such was the power of his eye that they fell back cowed and confounded.

He lifted his hand. "Silence!" he cried, continuing, with a voice not over loud, but wonderfully impressive, "If you have aught to say, or to ask of me, here I am! But I will not brook disorder! Who is to be spokesman for the rest? Let him step forth."

There was but a low murmuring now, like rumbling thunder, ceasing gradually as the men fell to debating more quietly among themselves.

The Huzuls gathered round the Royal Eagle, urging him evidently to inform the hetman of their wishes. Others again, the worst of the lot, pressed round a herculean fellow of the name of Iwon Pistak, who had been in the service of one of the victims of Taras's judgments, and had joined the band but recently. A third body in the background was seen cl.u.s.tering round Sophron, the former choir-leader; and while the others kept muttering with wrathful or threatening faces, these latter seemed to cling together for mutual support, requiring no words in their trouble.

An expression of disappointment, deep and bitter, pa.s.sed over Taras's features. He had refused to believe what Nashko and Jemilian had told him concerning the splitting up of the band into factions--he could see it now distinctly for himself. Alas! how far matters must have gone already, how often the men must have consulted among themselves, and how fully their minds must have been made up, if at this moment of excitement the division could take place thus easily and naturally.

"Who is to be spokesman?" he repeated, expecting Iwon Pistak to step forth with an insolent demand. But he was mistaken--this man of might shrugged his shoulders, refusing the honour. Taras could hear him say with a loud whisper, "You see, he is sure to shoot down the first that dares tell him. Of course he will then be shot in his turn; still I decline to be that first one!"

Taras was on the point of yielding to his indignation, when his attention was diverted from that miserable wretch; for suddenly there stood before him, pale and trembling, one of those from whom he scarcely would have expected the spirit of resistance--it was the late choir-leader, Sophron.