Part 12 (2/2)
Heaven prosper you!'
”My heart came into my mouth as the old man uttered these words I could not reply to his; I took his hand, I bathed it with tears I fell on his neck and wept He sa grateful I was; I would not have had him for a moment think me otherwise 'And a less sum than this would have purchased my Aneouta's freedo of h I did not in any possible way desire to withdraw it fro my parents from worse than slavery--a banishment to Siberia, or rather, a cruel death on the road
”'I think not,' answered my host to my last observation 'The brother of our Barin, the Count, ns Aneouta, is not likely to give her her freedoh the Emperor, alone can you hope to succeed with him He will not refuse to comply with any request made to him by the Czar; depend on that If you fail with the Emperor then come back to me, and ill try what money will do with the Barin I will offer to pay the irl's freedom, to adopt her We must let her know, in the meantime, that she has still friends in the world, and that she must keep up her spirits She ht of the Barin, her owner She ure her countenance, or refuse to work; a woh, what to do'
”'Oh, my father, o and see her; I will carry your advice to her It cannot be far out of the way; I will travel day and night not to cause any delay'
”'You may pass by the estate on your way,' answeredto speak to her is certain to be watched, and if you are captured, your punishment will be of the severest kind They will knout you till you are nearly dead, and you will then be sent off to work for the rest of your miserable life in the mines of Siberia' 'I know all that, but I will run every risk for Aneouta's sake,' I answered; and so it was settled In spite of the almost desperate state of my prospects, I feltthe difficulties which lay before me Soukhoroukof amply stocked my wallet with provisions, and before the end of another hour I had left e three versts behindth, I felt, would sustain me till I had seen her, and to see her I was determined at every risk I would entrust to no one our friend Soukhoroukof's e and advice The idea occurred to ht push on more rapidly than I possibly could on foot, but how to secure one was the difficulty To purchase one would require et one at the postmaster's without a pass I should instantly have been questioned, and iive an account ofbyroads, or no roads at all, across the country Morning was approaching, and I was getting very weary, for it must be remembered that I had taken but little rest the previous day, when I saw in the distance, reflected in the sky, a red gleae in that direction, but it appeared to e 'Soht fire,' I said to myself, as I pushed onward As I drew still nearer there seean to fear that an entire village, perhaps, was on fire I deterration before I stopped to rest I walked on, therefore, as fast as I could, and at length, having reached a slightly rising ground, I saw before ether, at a short distance froons Outside the waggons were tethered horses, and donkeys, and mules, and several head of cattle The whole encampment, even at that early hour, was astir: so round the fires which had at first attracted ; others were lashi+ng up packages, filling panniers with the contents of the tents; while young lads were carrying round fodder and water to the horses and cattle They oods brought fronised theipsies, probably bound in the sa period of s, and I ell acquainted with their habits Under certain restrictions from Government they rove about the country, and lead a free and independent life of a purely nomadic character They are not so wealthy as those who live in the towns, and sing on the stage and in public gardens; but they are more trustworthy, and have more rude virtues than their brethren of the city Oftentiether in their tents when they knew that they were running soht, perhaps, have obtained sotheo boldly as rushed out fro at ht out several of theat h the darkness
”'What do you want here?' asked one of thes
”'Shelter and assistance,' said I
”'You are not likely to find either one or the other here We are ers'
”'Lead me to your chief, then, and I will hear what he has to say,' I replied, in a confident voice
”'He is here,' said athe tents 'Tellin the appearance of the uish him as the chief, except that his voice was particularly clear and firm, and there was an air of authority in his manner, as if he was accustomed to command
”'You are known to be kind to the persecuted and to the friendless, and I a to seek your assistance'
”'You shall have what you require, ive it you,' he replied; 'but come in here, and let me know more particularly what it is you require'
”He took me by the hand, and led me in front of a tent, where he made me sit down on a bale, which had just been prepared for loading a horse
”'We have met before, father,' said I, as soon as I saw his features ht of the fire 'It was soh, yet you will remember the circumstance, I know The first snows of winter had just fallen, and a hard frost had set in, when one of your children strayed into the woods On, on she went, thinking she was approaching your enca farther froe anier An arht well have dreaded to encounter them alone I was, happily, in the wood, a houseless wanderer I beheld the scene from the entrance of a rude hut I had just constructed to shelter myself from the inclemency of the weather The sweet child stood petrified with terror--the savage beasts approached her---piece lay by est wolf to the ground Then loading as I went, I rushed forith a loud shout, which ave h the head; the third took to flight, but I killed hi the trees The little girl stood staring at me with amazement, then burst into tears I took her up in my arms, and wrapped a sheepskin round her She was a sweet little creature Her features and her dress told ed I had seen the enca; it wasand active, and I knew I could carry her as far She rested quietly in my arms, with all the beautiful confidence of childhood I took round In less than an hour I reached the encaratitude in the hearts of those to who for her in vain, and had already believed her a prey to wolves, which ion'
”'Ah, she was ipsy chief, looking at me earnestly 'Every circumstance you relate was told me then, I remember But was it you did that brave act? Was it you who saved my child? Pardon ed since then'
”'So I believe,' said I 'Toil and anxiety have done their work on lad of it in one respect, for though at tidiscovered by my enemies'
”'Ah, h,'
exclai his arms round my neck, while his countenance exhibited the deepest emotion 'Ah, my Azeota, my sweet flower! I have lost her; death has taken her frorateful to you for what you did for her, and I thank the fates who have sent you once ether of her But tell me, how is it that you come here to seek me?'
”On this I told hiht would afford hi to find Aneouta, and of going on afterwards to Nishni and Moscow
”'I will think over the ,' he replied; 'we shall soon be on thewith , probably Here, Kazan,' he cried, calling to a lad as passing; 'bring some provisions here iive them to you--the best she has, tell her Then saddlewith ipsy chief for his arrange could bein the very direction I wished to go, and though I could have performed the distance almost as quickly on foot, I should now be enabled to do it without fatigue I ate a hearty breakfast, and by the tiht tothe chief, I rode on to the head of the caravan As he passed along the line he issued his orders in a tone which showed that he was accustomed to be obeyed, and this increased my confidence that he would be enabled to assist me effectually There were nearly three hundred people, I calculated, altogether; quite a little arhtly clad, with sticks in their hands to drive the horses and cattle; others were on horseback, while some of the very old ons, which were driven by so preserved little Azeota froot about, and as I rode by, I was saluted with expressions of gratitude, which were very satisfactory I felt indeed thankful that I had again fallen a friends so well able to help me At the time to which I allude, I had reipsies on religious subjects, and, alas! Had found theirin a land at least called Christian, they knew nothing of that pure faith; they were almost destitute of any hope, any fear; this life was all they thought of The future, eternity, was totally beyond their comprehension They put their hands before their eyes as if to shut it out when I spoke of it Gradually I unfolded to thes; I spoke to therees they listened and were interested Finally, I believe that I made much impression on the ed to fly for ari whenever I had an opportunity, and never was otherwise than kindly received by them
But to return to my late adventure with theipsy chief had long been silent, when he turned to ht of a plan by which you may not only see your Aneouta, but you may, if she will consent, carry her away frouise yourself as a gipsy, and, acco woain access to her, under the pretence of telling fortunes If you can persuade her to fly from her persecutors, ill protect her No one will suspect that you have gone to the house for any other purpose than collecting a few kopecks, or stealing chickens, perhaps; and ill think of searching for her with us?'