Page:The Writings of Prosper Merimee-Volume 5.djvu/42

24 and colour; their priests' vestments are ornamented with rubies.

"'The third shall cross the Niemen with Skirghello, On the other side he will find base implements of toil. He must choose good lances and strong bucklers to oppose them, and he will bear away a daughter-in-law.

"'The women of Poland, my sons, are the most beautiful of all our captives — sportive as kittens and as white as cream. Under their black brows their eyes sparkle like stars. When I was young, half a century ago, I brought away captive from Poland a beautiful girl who became my wife. She has long been dead, but I can never look at her side of the hearth without remembering her.'

"He blessed the youths, who already were armed and in the saddle. They set out. Autumn came, then winter . . . but they did not come back, and the old Boudrys believed them to be dead.

"There came a snowstorm, and a horseman drew near, who bore under his black bourka a precious burden.

"'Is it a sackful of roubles from Novgorod? ' asked Boudrys.

"'No, father. I am bringing you a daughter-in-law from Poland.'