Part 13 (1/2)
”I saw at once the advantages of the plan proposed by the Zingari chief, and yet I tre his people; not that I doubted they would protect her to the utht suffer from the hardshi+ps to which she would be inevitably exposed Still I felt that I must wait to decide till I had seen reater ease than I had been accustomed to, so that at the end of the tier than when I fell in with the enca history, and I a for me, is completely out of breath”
Mr Allwick smiled as he said this
”Oh, no, no,” exclaireen, in a breath ”We are very o on We would rather hear his adventures than see all the sights in the place”
The stranger bowed, and continued his narrative
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Disguised as a Zingari--Start on the Expedition--Minetta's Fortune-telling--Communicative Serfs--A tyrant Land-steward--Outbreak of Peasants--Dreadful Result--Old Scratchichna--Discovery of Aneouta-- Their Flight--Stratageari Chief--Aneouta left in the Gipsy Encae to Nishni--Conclusion of History--Cousin Giles proipsy tents were pitched on a wild moor, surrounded by low, barren hills, about three versts distant fro Barin Peoter Petrovitch, the owner of ipsy cast, and any one exa theari, yet by dressing carefully in their style, and by having my countenance doubly dyed, and ht hope to be taken for one by the casual passer-by
”The chief hiement of my costume He was a er, and childless, but he had a niece, the child of a brother, wholadly undertook to be my companion; indeed Minetta--that was her na It was arranged, also, that a little lad, her brother, should accoht know her at once should they meet her My countenance had been so altered by the dye and paint that I looked quite an old nise ari, they may be safely trusted with the secrets coh every one in the enca betrayed
”Many a good as uttered as we three set off together on horseback
The chief had furnished , active steed, which would carry Aneouta as well as me, should I be so fortunate as to be able to bear her off unperceived We rode on till we came to a copse, a quarter of a verst or so fro Barin
”Minetta and I then dise of her brother, and sauntering along in an unconcerned e approached the house I had agreed to feign to be dumb, lest the tone of my voice should betray me Thus I knew I should be perfectly safe from detection, and even Aneouta would not know erly I castthe work-people in the fields, but nowhere did she appear Minetta had a good excuse to go airls their fortunes They were not unaccustohed as she talked to theht read their fate by the marks on their pale and appearance of each, and seeained their confidence, she began to put questions to the to reply First she spoke to one; then to another a little way off; and what the first told her sheinformed of it, to draw inforerness to all that was said to her, but for a long tiive ot nearer to the subject
”'Surely all the girls of the estate are not in the fields to-day?' she said 'Not long ago I heard weeping and , long way through the air, even to where I then was standing, irls looked at each other
”'Yes, you are right,' said one 'It was a ht herself free, but she wasall his people about hiht back Poor thing, she was very unhappy, for she was taken from all her friends; but she will be better by and by She willmen, and then she will make new friends, and be reconciled to her fate'
”'Ah, let any one beho marries her,' exclaimed Minetta, promptly
'I have read his destiny in the stars He will speedily die Let hiirls looked at each other with horror, resolved to warn all the young ht expect if they wished to marry the new-comer
”'Then she has not yet been sent out into the fields to labour?' she continued 'I thought not'
”'Oh, no, she is still in the overseer's house,' answered one of the girls; 'she has plenty of work there, for he is a hard man, and not likely to excuse her because she is weak or ill For my part, I would rather be in the fields, where at least we have freedo asas the land-steward keeps away frorave If we talk, he thinks we are plottingat him He is miserable himself, and he wants to make everybody miserable also'
”'Why is that?' asked Minetta 'He is well-to-do in the world--a good house, and plenty to eat and drink'
”'Ah, but he is always in terror of his life,' answered the girl
'Before he came here he was steward of an estate owned by a Barin and his wife, ere thecouple in all the country round
They starved their house serfs, and ground every moment of work out of the peasants that the laould allow No other man but Gavrillo, our land-steward, would have lived with such people, I verily believe The ruht theer A bad season ca, and when they coround more and more; so they rose up with ar, just before daylight, and the Barin put his head out of the , and they shot him, and he fell down into the road; and when his wife looked out to see what had become of her lord, they shot her too When they were certain that they were both dead they went off to the house of Gavrillo, intending to shoot hi wrong was happening, and, o The mujicks saw him, and followed They thirsted for his blood; and as they well knew that no mercy would be shown them, they were determined to have it They followed him across fields, and there they kept up with him Then he reached a plain, a wild heath, and he distanced them, but at the other side of the heath was a wood--he h it, and they rapidly gained on hiain They noere alot to the farther edge of the wood they saw hi, his horse all foam, and his clothes in shreds, and his hat knocked off, a quarter of a verst or less before them Shots were fired at him, but the bullets ht that they should now certainly overtake hie secure, when he reached the bank He hesitated not a moment He heard the infuriated e and fierce threats--and saw the broad rapid streaht float hi and fearless Bravely it swaed by its master's voice Shot after shot was fired at hi the one bank when his pursuers reached the other, uttering cries of disappointed hate He shook his clenched fist at thealloped on He did not stop nor think hiave notice of what had occurred, and the governor sent off for troops to punish the rebels The eance, went back to his house His wife and children ithin, and a hoard of his ill-gotten gold They could not fly He had had no ti, and closed the doors that no one ots, dried branches, logs of wood They were brought, they were piled up round the house, and a fire was kindled on every side It blazed up fiercely It crackled, and hissed, and roared There was a strong wind: the cries of the inmates were overcome Soon the smoke stifled them; and Gavrillo, when he returned with the troopsbut a heap of ashes where his house had been
The mujicks then burnt down the house of their lord and eranaries, and then dispersed in every direction Not an inhabitant was left in the place Even the old men and the women and children were carried off Some of the latter, alas! Were soon captured and cruelly treated, but many of thetheether, robbed and plundered all they could venture to attack That is the reason that Gavrillo is so h to ain? Who takes care of his house?'
”'Oh, no, he has taken no second wife I should pity the woman to whom should fall such a fate He has a blind and deaf old woman who takes care of his house, and I suppose he thinks if his house was again burnt there would be no great loss if she was burnt too She is as sweet tempered as he is A pretty life poor Aneouta will have with her'