publico
bono_." The Seneschal was in the secret, but, bound by his word of
honour, the old man kept silent as if under a spell.

After the conclusion of the agreement, Rykov left the room and Robak had
the warrior gentry called in, to whom the Chamberlain gravely discoursed
as follows:--

"Brothers, to-day God has favoured our arms, but I must confess to you in
plain terms that evil results will follow these untimely battles. We have
erred, and each one of us here is to some degree at fault: the Monk Robak,
for spreading tidings too zealously; the Warden and the gentry, for
completely misunderstanding them. The war with Russia will not begin for
some time; meanwhile, those who took the most active part in the battle
cannot without danger remain in Lithuania. So, gentlemen, you must flee to
the Grand Duchy of Warsaw; to be specific: Maciej, called Baptist,
Thaddeus, Bucket, and Razor must depart over the Niemen, where the hosts
of our nation await them. We will throw the whole blame on you who are
gone, and on Plut, and thus we shall save the rest of your kindred. I bid
you farewell, but not for long; there are sure hopes that in spring the
dawn of freedom will arise for us, and Lithuania, who now bids you
farewell as wanderers, will soon behold you again as her victorious
deliverers. The Judge is preparing everything needful for the journey,
and, so far as I am able, I will aid you with money."

The gentry felt that the Chamberlain counselled wisely. It is well known
that whoever has once quarrelled with the Russian Tsar, can never conclude
a lasting peace with him on this earth, and must either fight or rot in
Siberia. So, saying nothing, they looked gloomily at one another and
sighed; in token of agreement they nodded their heads.

The Pole, though famous among the nations because he loves his native land
more than life, is nevertheless always prepared to abandon it, and to
travel to the ends of the earth, to live long years in poverty and
contempt, struggling with men and with fate--so long as amid the storm
there shines upon him this hope, that he is serving the Fatherland.

They declared that they were ready to depart at once. However, this plan
did not meet with Pan Buchmann's approval: Buchmann, prudent man that he
was, had not meddled in the battle, but as soon as he heard that they were
having a consultation, he hastened to put in his word; he thought the
project good, but wanted to alter it, to develop it