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124 With this object they moved on during the whole night. Zbyshko sat in the wagon on the hay where the sick man was lying, and watched him till daybreak. From time to time he gave him wine, which the merchant Amyley had furnished for the road, and which the thirsty Matsko drank eagerly, for it brought him evident relief. When he had drunk a second quart he even recovered consciousness; after the third quart he fell asleep, so deeply that Zbyshko bent over him at moments to be sure that he was not dead.

At thought of this, great sorrow seized Zbyshko. Till the time of his imprisonment in Cracow he had not understood how he loved that "uncle," who in life had been to him father and mother. But now he knew well, and also he felt that after the death of that "uncle" he would be terribly alone in the world—without blood relations; save only the abbot who had Bogdanets in pledge, he would be without friends, without aid. At the same time it occurred to him that if Matsko died his death would come through Germans, through whom he himself had lacked little of losing his life, through whom all his family had perished, and Danusia's mother, and many, many blameless people whom he had known, or of whom he had heard from acquaintances; and at last wonder seized hold of him. "Is there," said he to himself, "in this whole kingdom a man who has not suffered injustice from Germans, and who is not thirsting for vengeance?" Here he remembered those with whom he had fought at Vilno, and he thought: "Even Tartars are surely not more cruel in war than the Germans, and of a certainty there is not another such nation on earth."

The dawn interrupted his meditation. The day rose clear, but cool. Matsko was evidently better, for he breathed evenly and quietly. He woke only when the sun had warmed the world well; he opened his eyes and said,—

"I feel better. Where are we?"

"We are entering Olkush. You know the place where they dig silver, and pay taxes to the treasury."

"Oh, to have what there is in the ground! Then we might build up Bogdanets."

"It is evident that you are better," said Zbyshko, smiling. "Hei! it would be enough to build a walled castle. But let us go to the priest's house, for there they will give us entertainment, and you will be able to confess. All is in God's hands, but it is better to have the conscience in order."