A
quarter of an hour afterwards we were entering Fort Belogorsk.
quarter of an hour afterwards we were entering Fort Belogorsk.
Pushkin - Daughter of the Commandant
I have little freedom of action.
My
fellows don't obey me--they are marauders. I have to keep a sharp look
out--at the first reverse they would save their necks with my head. "
"Well," I said to Pugatchef, "would it not be better to forsake them
yourself, ere it be too late, and throw yourself on the mercy of the
Tzarina? "
Pugatchef smiled bitterly.
"No," said he, "the day of repentance is past and gone; they will not
give me grace. I must go on as I have begun. Who knows? It may be.
Grischka Otrepieff certainly became Tzar at Moscow. "
"But do you know his end? He was cast out of a window, he was massacred,
burnt, and his ashes blown abroad at the cannon's mouth, to the four
winds of heaven. "
The Tartar began to hum a plaintive song; Saveliitch, fast asleep,
oscillated from one side to the other. Our "_kibitka_" was passing
quickly over the wintry road. All at once I saw a little village I knew
well, with a palisade and a belfry, on the rugged bank of the Yaik.
A
quarter of an hour afterwards we were entering Fort Belogorsk.
CHAPTER XII.
THE ORPHAN.
The "_kibitka"_ stopped before the door of the Commandant's house. The
inhabitants had recognized the little bell of Pugatchef's team, and had
assembled in a crowd. Chvabrine came to meet the usurper; he was dressed
as a Cossack, and had allowed his beard to grow.
The traitor helped Pugatchef to get out of the carriage, expressing by
obsequious words his zeal and joy.
Seeing me he became uneasy, but soon recovered himself.
"You are one of us," said he; "it should have been long ago. "
I turned away my head without answering him. My heart failed me when we
entered the little room I knew so well, where could still be seen on the
wall the commission of the late deceased Commandant, as a sad memorial.
Pugatchef sat down on the same sofa where ofttimes Ivan Kouzmitch had
dozed to the sound of his wife's scolding.
Chvabrine himself brought brandy to his chief. Pugatchef drank a glass
of it, and said to him, pointing to me--
"Offer one to his lordship. "
Chvabrine approached me with his tray. I turned away my head for the
second time.
fellows don't obey me--they are marauders. I have to keep a sharp look
out--at the first reverse they would save their necks with my head. "
"Well," I said to Pugatchef, "would it not be better to forsake them
yourself, ere it be too late, and throw yourself on the mercy of the
Tzarina? "
Pugatchef smiled bitterly.
"No," said he, "the day of repentance is past and gone; they will not
give me grace. I must go on as I have begun. Who knows? It may be.
Grischka Otrepieff certainly became Tzar at Moscow. "
"But do you know his end? He was cast out of a window, he was massacred,
burnt, and his ashes blown abroad at the cannon's mouth, to the four
winds of heaven. "
The Tartar began to hum a plaintive song; Saveliitch, fast asleep,
oscillated from one side to the other. Our "_kibitka_" was passing
quickly over the wintry road. All at once I saw a little village I knew
well, with a palisade and a belfry, on the rugged bank of the Yaik.
A
quarter of an hour afterwards we were entering Fort Belogorsk.
CHAPTER XII.
THE ORPHAN.
The "_kibitka"_ stopped before the door of the Commandant's house. The
inhabitants had recognized the little bell of Pugatchef's team, and had
assembled in a crowd. Chvabrine came to meet the usurper; he was dressed
as a Cossack, and had allowed his beard to grow.
The traitor helped Pugatchef to get out of the carriage, expressing by
obsequious words his zeal and joy.
Seeing me he became uneasy, but soon recovered himself.
"You are one of us," said he; "it should have been long ago. "
I turned away my head without answering him. My heart failed me when we
entered the little room I knew so well, where could still be seen on the
wall the commission of the late deceased Commandant, as a sad memorial.
Pugatchef sat down on the same sofa where ofttimes Ivan Kouzmitch had
dozed to the sound of his wife's scolding.
Chvabrine himself brought brandy to his chief. Pugatchef drank a glass
of it, and said to him, pointing to me--
"Offer one to his lordship. "
Chvabrine approached me with his tray. I turned away my head for the
second time.
