The Deluge. Vol. 2

"Pan Babinich," answered a number of voices.

The king clapped his hands. "He must be first everywhere! Worthy General, I know him. He is a terribly stubborn cavalier, and will not let himself be smoked out."

"It would be a mistake beyond forgiveness, Gracious Lord, if we should permit that. I have already sent him infantry and small cannon; for that they will try to smoke him out is certain. It is a question of Warsaw! That cavalier is worth his weight in gold."

"He is worth more; for this is not his first, and not his tenth achievement," said the king.

Then Yan Kazimir gave orders to bring quickly a horse and a field-glass, and he rode out to look at the earthwork. But it was not to be seen from behind the smoke, for a number of forty-eight-pounders were blowing on it with ceaseless fire; they hurled long balls, bombs, and grape-shot. Still the intrenchment was so near the gate that musket-balls almost reached it; the bomb-shells could be seen perfectly when they flew up like cloudlets, and, describing a closely bent bow, fell into that cloud of smoke, bursting with terrible explosion. Many fell beyond the intrenchment, and they prevented the approach of reinforcements.

"In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!" said the king. "Tyzenhauz, look! A pile of torn earth is all that remains. Tyzenhauz, do you know who is there?"

"Gracious King, Babinich is there. If he comes out living, he will be able to say that he was in hell during life."

"We must send him fresh men. Worthy General – "

"The orders are already given, but it is difficult for them to go, since bombs pass over and fall very thickly on this side of the fort."

"Turn all the guns on the walls so as to make a diversion," said the king.

Grodzitski put spurs to his horse and galloped to the trenches. After a while cannonading was heard on the whole line, and somewhat later it was seen that a fresh division of Mazovian infantry went out of the nearest trenches, and on a run to the mole-hill.

The king stood there, looking continually. At last he cried: "Babinich should be relieved in the command. And who, gentlemen, will volunteer to take his place?"

Neither Pan Yan, Pan Stanislav, nor Volodyovski was near the king, therefore a moment of silence followed.

"I!" said suddenly Pan Topor Grylevski, an officer of the light squadron of the primate.

"I!" said Tyzenhauz.

"I! I! I!" called at once a number of voices.

"Let the man go who offered himself first," said the king.

Pan Topor Grylevski made the sign of the cross, raised the canteen to his mouth, then galloped away.

The king remained looking at the cloud of smoke with which the mole-hill was covered, and the smoke rose above it like a bridge up to the very wall. Since the fort was near the Vistula, the walls of the city towered above it, and therefore the fire was terrible.

Meanwhile the thunder of cannon decreased somewhat, though the balls did not cease to describe arcs, and a rattle of musketry was given out as if thousands of men were beating threshing-floors with flails.

"It is evident that they are going to the attack again," said Tyzenhauz. "If there were less smoke, we should see the infantry."

"Let us approach a little," said the king, urging his horse.

After him others moved on, and riding along the bank of the Vistula from Uyazdov they approached almost to the Solets itself; and since the gardens of the palaces and the cloisters coming down to the Vistula had been cleared by the Swedes in the winter for fuel, trees did not cover the view, they could see even without field-glasses that the Swedes were really moving again to the storm.

"I would rather lose that position," said the king all at once, "than that Babinich should die."

"God will defend him!" said the priest Tsyetsishovski.

"And Pan Grodzitski will not fail to send him reinforcements," added Tyzenhauz.

Further conversation was interrupted by some horseman who was approaching from the direction of the city at all speed. Tyzenhauz, having such sight that he saw better with the naked eye than others through field-glasses, caught his head at sight of him, and said, —

"Grylevski is returning! It must be that Kmita has fallen, and the fort is captured."

The king shaded his eyes with his hands. Grylevski rushed up, reined in his horse, and, panting for breath, exclaimed, —

"Gracious Lord!"

"What has happened? Is he killed?" asked the king.

"Pan Babinich says that he is well, and does not wish any one to take his place; he begs only to send him food, for he has had nothing to eat since morning."

"Is he alive then?" cried the king.

"He says that he is comfortable there!" repeated Grylevski.

But others, catching breath from wonder, began to cry: "That is courage! He is a soldier!"

"But it was necessary to stay there and relieve him absolutely," said the king to Grylevski. "Is it not a shame to come back? Were you afraid, or what? It would have been better not to go."

"Gracious Lord," answered Grylevski, "whoso calls me a coward, him I will correct on any field, but before majesty I must justify myself. I was in the ant-hill itself, but Babinich flew into my face because of my errand: 'Go,' said he, 'to the hangman! I am at work here, I am almost creeping out of my skin, and I have no time to talk, but I will not share either my glory or command with any man. I am well here and I will stay here, but I'll give orders to take you outside the trench! I wish you were killed!' said he. 'We want to eat, and they send us a commandant instead of food!' What had I to do, Gracious Lord? I do not wonder at his temper, for their hands are dropping from toil."

"And how is it?" asked the king; "is he holding the place?"

"Desperately. What would he not hold? I forgot to tell besides that he shouted to me when I was going: 'I'll stay here a week and will not surrender, if I have something to eat!'"

"Is it possible to hold out there?"

"There, Gracious Lord, is the genuine day of judgment! Bomb is falling after bomb; pieces of shells are whistling, like devils, around the ear; the earth is dug out into ditches; it is impossible to speak from smoke. The balls hurl around sand and earth, so that every moment a man must shake himself to avoid being buried. Many have fallen, but those who are living lie in furrows in the intrenchments, and have made defences before their heads of stakes strengthened with earth. The Swedes constructed the place carefully, and now it serves against them. While I was there, infantry came from Grodzitski, and now there is fighting again."

"Since we cannot attack the walls until a breach is made," said the king, "we will strike the palace on the Cracow suburbs to-day; that will be the best diversion."

"The palace is wonderfully strengthened, almost changed into a fortress," remarked Tyzenhauz.

"But they will not hurry from the city to give aid, for all their fury will be turned on Babinich," said the king. "So will it be, as I am here alive, so will it be! I will order the storm at once; but first I will bless Babinich."

Then the king took from the priest a golden crucifix in which were splinters of the true cross, and raising it on high he began to bless the distant mound, covered with fire and smoke, saying, —

"O God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have mercy on Thy people, and give salvation to the dying! Amen! amen! amen!"

CHAPTER XXXIX

A bloody storm followed from the side of the Novy Svyat against the Cracow suburbs, not over-successful, but in so far effective that it turned the attention of the Swedes from the intrenchment defended by Kmita, and permitted the garrison enclosed in it to rest somewhat. The Poles pushed forward however, to the Kazimirovski Palace, but they could not hold that point.

On the other side they stormed up to the Danillovich Palace and to Dantzig House, equally without result. A number of hundreds of people fell again. The king, however, had this consolation: he saw that even the general militia rushed to the walls with the greatest daring and devotion, and that after those attempts, more or less unsuccessful, their courage not only had not fallen, but on the contrary assurance of victory was growing strong in the army.

The most fortunate event of the day was the arrival of Pan Yan Zamoyski and Pan Charnyetski. The first brought very excellent infantry and guns from Zamost, so heavy that the Swedes had nothing like them in Warsaw. The second, in agreement with Sapyeha, having besieged Douglas, and with some Lithuanian troops and the general militia of Podlyasye, under command of Pan Yan, had come to Warsaw to take part in the general storm. It was hoped by Charnyetski as well as others that this would be the last storm.