Page:Taras Bulba. A Tale of the Cossacks. 1916.djvu/169

Rh his vile brandy, I'll nail a pig's ear to his very forehead, the dog, and I'll hang him up by the feet! To work, my men, to work!"

Thus did the Koshevói issue his orders; and all did him reverence, bowing low, even to his girdle, and without putting on their caps, they set out for their transports and camps; and only after they had gone a considerable distance did they don their caps. All began to equip themselves; they tested their swords and cutlasses, poured powder from the sacks into their powder-flasks, rolled out and arranged the wagons, and picked out their horses.

On his way to his regiment Taras wondered, and could not explain to himself, what had become of Andríi; had he been captured and bound while asleep, with the others? But no, Andríi was not the man to go alive into captivity. And he was not to be seen among the slaughtered kazáks. Taras pondered deeply, and went past his regiment without being aware that some one had long been calling him by name.

"Who wants me?" he said, coming to himself at last. Before him stood the Jew Yankel.

"Sir Colonel, Sir Colonel!" said the Jew in a hurried, broken voice, as though desirous of revealing something not utterly useless. "I've been in the city, Sir Colonel!"