Page:Sienkiewicz - The knights of the cross.djvu/491

Rh "By God's wounds! let me speak to him, lord, for you do not think who he is!"

Then, without waiting for permission, he sprang to the old man. placed his hands on his shoulders, and inquired,—

"Are you coming from Schytno?"

The old man, as if struck by the sound of his voice, grew calm, and nodded in affirmation.

"And were you not looking for your child there?"

A dull groan was the only answer to that question.

Hlava grew somewhat pale, looked a moment longer with his wild-cat glance at the features of the old man, then said slowly and with emphasis,—

"You are Yurand of Spyhov!"

"Yurand!!" screamed Matsko.

But Yurand tottered at that moment and fainted. The tortures which he had passed through, the lack of food, the toils of the journey had thrown him off his feet. That was the tenth day on which he was going along feeling his way, wandering, and searching for the road in front of him with a stick, in hunger, in struggling, uncertain whither he was going. Unable to ask for the road in the daytime, he directed himself only by the heat of the sunrays; the nights he passed in ditches by the wayside. When he passed through a hamlet or a village, or when he met people going in the opposite direction, he begged alms with his one palm and the voice that was left him; but rarely did a compassionate hand give him aid, for generally he was looked on as a criminal whom the punishment of law and of justice had overtaken. For two days he had kept himself alive with the bark of trees and with leaves, and he was in doubt whether he should be able ever to reach Mazovia—when on a sudden compassionate, kindred hearts had encircled him, and kindred voices, one of which reminded him of the sweet voice of his daughter—and when at last even his own name was mentioned, the measure of emotions overflowed, the heart was straitened in his breast, thoughts went around in his head like a whirlwind, and he would have fallen with his face in the dust of the road if the strong arms of Hlava had not caught him.

Matsko sprang from his horse, then both took Yurand, carried him to the wagons and placed him on some hay in one of them. There Yagenka and Anulka revived the man, gave him food, gave him wine to drink, and Yagenka, seeing that he could not grasp the cup, held the drink herself to