r youth and
of their loves of long ago: so almost with tears they gathered around the
table and gazed eagerly upon her. Some asked Zosia to raise her head and
show her eyes; others begged her to be so kind as to turn around--the
bashful girl turned around, but covered her eyes with her hands. Thaddeus
looked on gaily and rubbed his hands.

Whether some one had counselled Zosia to make her appearance in such
garments, or whether she knew by instinct (for a girl always guesses by
instinct what is becoming to her), suffice it to say that this morning for
the first time in her life Zosia had been scolded for obstinacy by
Telimena, since she had refused to put on fashionable attire: at last by
her tears she had prevailed on them to let her remain in this village
costume.

She wore a long white underskirt and a short gown of green camlet with a
pink border; the bodice was also of green, laced crosswise with pink
ribbons from the waist to the neck; under it her bosom took refuge like a
bud beneath leaves. On her shoulders shone the full white sleeves of the
shirt, like the wings of a butterfly stretched for flight; at the wrist
they were gathered and fastened with a ribbon; her throat was also
encircled by the close-fitting shirt, the collar of which was fastened
with a pink knot. Her earrings were artistically carved out of cherry
stones; in their making Buzzard Dobrzynski had taken huge pride; they
represented two hearts with dart and flame, and had been a present to
Zosia when Buzzard was paying his court to her. About her collar hung two
strings of amber beads, and on her temples was a wreath of green rosemary;
the ribbons that decked her tresses Zosia had thrown back over her
shoulders. On her brow, as is the custom with reapers, she had fastened a
curved sickle, freshly polished by cutting grasses, bright as the new moon
above the brow of Diana.

All admired and clapped their hands. One of the officers took from his
pocket a portfolio containing bundles of papers; he undid them, sharpened
his pencil, moistened it with his lips, gazed at Zosia, and began to draw.
Hardly had the Judge beheld the papers and pencils, when he recognised the
artist, though he had been greatly changed by his colonel's uniform, his
rich epaulets, his truly uhlan-like bearing, his blackened mustache, and a
small Spanish beard. The Judge recognised the Count: "How are you, Your
Excellency? So you keep a travelling painter's kit even in your cart