Page:Sienkiewicz - The knights of the cross.djvu/348

324 enough!' but I did not obey; for that was not her voice."

"And what voice might it have been?" inquired Zbyshko, with alarm.

"I know not. Often in Spyhov some one speaks in the wall to me, and groans sometimes; for many of them have died in chains in the cellar."

"But what does the priest say?"

"The priest blessed the castle, and told me to stop taking vengeance; but that cannot be. I became too grievous to the Germans, and then they set out to take vengeance themselves. They formed ambushes and challenged me to the field. That was the case lately. Meinegger and De Bergov challenged me first."

"Have you ever taken ransom?"

"No. Of those whom I seized captive, De Bergov will be the first to go out alive."

The conversation stopped; for they turned from the broad highway to a narrow road, along which they advanced slowly; for it was steep, and in places changed into forest hollows full of snow-drifts difficult to cross. In spring or summer, in time of rains, this road must have been almost impassable.

"Are we near Spyhov now?" inquired Zbyshko.

"Yes," answered Yurand. "There is a large strip of pine wood yet, and then a swamp; in the midst of that swamp is my castle. Beyond are meadows and dry fields, but to the castle it is impossible to go except by a dam. More than once the Germans wanted to reach me, but they could not, and of their bones a great many are decaying along the forest edges."

"Then it is not easy to go there," said Zbyshko. "If the knights send people with letters, how will they find the way to you?"

"They send often; they have people who know the way."

"God grant us to meet them in Spyhov."

The wish was to be realized earlier than the young knight imagined; for when they had driven out of the wood to an open plain, on which stood Spyhov in the midst of a swamp, they saw two men on horseback, and a low sleigh, in which were sitting three dark figures. The night was very clear, so that on the white cover of snow they could see the whole company distinctly. The hearts of Yurand and Zbyshko beat more quickly at sight of it; for who