Page:Sienkiewicz - The knights of the cross.djvu/252

228 and this thought restrained in him an outburst of immediate anger.

"Think you not," said he to Matsko, "that the evil spirit has disturbed his reason? The devil may be sitting in his head, like a worm in a nut kernel, and may be ready in the night to jump out of him and into one of us. We ought to be careful."

Matsko opposed this, it is true, but still began to look with a certain dread at the Knight of Lorraine.

"Sometimes it happens," said he at last, "that a hundred and more of them are sitting in a possessed man, and if crowded they are glad to seek residence in another. The worst devil also is one sent in by a woman." Then he turned to the knight on a sudden. "Praised be Jesus Christ!" said he.

"I, too, praise Him," answered De Lorche, with astonishment.

Matsko was set at rest perfectly.

"Well, you see," said he, "if the evil one had been in him he would have foamed at the mouth right away, or the devil would have thrown him to the earth, for I broke out to him on a sudden. We may travel on."

So they moved forward without fear. From Tsehanov to Prasnysh was not very far; in summer a courier on a good horse might in two hours pass over the road between the two places. But they went much more slowly because of the night, the halts, and the snowdrifts in the forest; and since they had set out considerably after midnight, they arrived about daybreak at the prince's hunting house, which was beyond Prasnysh, on the brink of the forest. The house stood almost resting on the wilderness, strong, low, built of wood, but having glass panes in its windows. Before the house were two sheds for horses, and a well-sweep; around the house was a crowd of huts, made hastily from pine branches, and tents formed of skins. In the gray of dawn fires glittered brightly; in front of the tents, and around them, were huntsmen in sheepskin coats, the wool outside, in fox, wolf, and bear skin mantles. To De Lorche it seemed as if he were looking at savage beasts on two legs before the fire, for the greater number of those people wore caps made of skins from the heads of wild animals. Some were leaning on spears, others on crossbows; some were occupied in making enormous rope nets, others were turning over the coals immense quarters of bisons and elks, intended evidently for