Page:Sienkiewicz - The knights of the cross.djvu/582

 144 the man with sudden joy. As God is dear to me there is nothing better to be done. Return; say that we have recovered Danusia and will come soon with her, and do thou take that poor girl and conduct her home."

The old knight sighed. In truth he was sorry for Yagenka, and those plans which he had cherished in his soul. After a while he said,—

"Thou art a man of wit, and thou art stalwart I know that, but wilt thou be able to guard her against wrong or accident? On the road the one or the other may happen."

"I shall be able, even were I to lay down my head. I can take a number of good men whom the master of Spyhov will not begrudge me, and conduct her safely to the end of the earth were it needed."

"Do not trust over much in thyself. Remember too that thou must have an eye on Vilk and Stan in Zgorzelitse—but I am not speaking to the point; we had need to watch them while there was another man in view, but as she has no hope now of Zbyshko she must marry some one."

"Still I shall guard the lady even from those two knights, for Pan Zbyshko's wife, the poor thing, is barely breathing—she is just as if dead!"

"True, as God is dear to me, the poor thing is barely living, she is as if dead."

"We must leave that to the Lord God; and now let us think only of the lady."

"In justice," said Matsko, "I ought to conduct her to her father's house. But the position is difficult. For various great reasons I cannot leave Zbyshko. Thou sawest how he gritted his teeth and rushed at that old comtur to stab him, as one would a wild boar. Should that girl die on the road, as thou sayest, I am not sure that even I could restrain him. Should I be absent nothing could hold him back, and infamy would fall on him and our whole family forever. God avert this, amen!"

"There is a simple method," said Hlava. "Give me Siegfried. I will not lose him, and only in Spyhov will I shake him out of the bag before Pan Yurand."

"God give thee health! Oh thou hast wit!" cried Matsko, delighted. "A simple thing! a simple thing! Take him, and if thou deliver him alive at Spyhov, do with him as thou choosest."