Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-01-29


He was from homeland / hno,o
nhere, If it please God, his time is
come" says Tchlstarenko, with the stern
triumph of Puritan cuirassier about to
charge the " goddess horsemen Of Luns'
ford and Goring
Why, Zacharr Timopheievitch, ask
|, fairly puzzled, what on earth has
Goorko to do with these man.wolves of
yours ?''
Haven't you guessed it, then7 Ostap
Goorko is the Vov-kulak !"
The day which followed the strange rev.
elatlon narrated above, gave me an oppor-
tunity of observing what always interests
me in the highest degree-the dcmeanor
of brave man about to encounter deadly
peril. have myself, in the course of an
adventurous life, had my nerves tried by
every kind Of pressure. | have gone
bird's-nesting on the worst precipices of
the Arctic Sea, and waited twenty minutes
in dentists anteroom | have walked
unarmed and alone through mob oil Arab
fanatics, and been examined for classical
honors at Oxford; but [ question very
much whether, in all that constitutes true
courage, this rude, untraveled, ignorant,
semi-savage with whom found myself SO
strangely associated, was not far my supe-
rior. We Western Europeans, enlightened
to the verge Of scept;csm, with tn e weird
shadows Of medieval superstition lying
ages behind US, naturally fnd it hard to
see any heroism in confronting an imagna-
ry peril but, looked at from his own point
of view, the risk which Tchistarenko was
about to run, might have put to shame
many feat that has earned its place in
history. According to his own belief, he
was about to do battle with monster of
preternatural strength and ferocty, gifted
with unlimited capacities of evil, and sup
ported by the manifest power of Satan
himself; yet he was ready to 60 forth
against it, and fight with it, even to his
own destruction, II only he might save
those Of his village from harm" " This
is man worth knowing" thought | to
myself, as | looked at the Cossack's set
lips and knitted brow and tried TO imagine
his feelings at the prospect of what lay
before him.
\ Il that day Tchistarenko was very
quiet-going through his ordinary work
as methodically as ever, but upon whose
mind grave interests are weighing. 1t
: was characteristic of the man that he never
thought Of asking whether | still intended
to accompany hlm-teeling certain that,
having once undertaken the adventure, |
could have no thought of drawing back
Nor. indeed, had but, despite my utter
disbelief in the mythical " Vov-kulak," |
began to feel strangely excited towards
evening, as though the contagion Of Tchis-
tarenko's grim superstition had infected
!, me in spite of myself Far down in the
secret soul of the hardest and most practi
cal man alive deny it as he will, there is
still hidden fund Of superstition, lurk-
ing sympathy with the unseen and un-
known; and many Of the strangest anoma-
lies recorded in history are traceable to
, the sudden awakening of this feeling after
years of torpor 1t was not without Sc
cret thrill that, turning round from the
window, through which [ had been recon-
noiteriDg the state Of the snow, | saw my
4 companion take down his long gun, and
70 begin TO load it.
Surely it's not time to start yet, Zac-
harr Timopheievitch ~
% Not for three hours and more-but |
= like to have all ready
, We relapsed into silence The pale
! gray light Of the short winter day was dy-
ing away from the great waste outside, and
a ghostly dimness began to creep over it.
+ Night drew on-cold, dreary, dismal; an
utter desolation, an immense silence, as if
the world itself were dead, and only we
two kept living, living on. And there was
i something in this blank, overwhelming
d stiffness infinitely more weird and ghastIy
than all the uproar of the preceding night.
. Our game will be abroad toni ght
= never fear" said Tchlstarenko, in hoarse
: whisper. "Folks say the devil loves c
:. storm-but that is not true it is when al
is calm, and men are not expecting h i'm
4 that he pounces upon them ~
= Our evening meal was dispatched il
IS utter silence ; and the moment we had fin
r ished, the Cossack stuck his knife in hi
$ belt, slung his gun over his shoulders, bow
Il ed his head toward the little picture of hi:
It patron saint with few muttered words Of
d said simply " [ am ready :"
e We sailed forth in silence BY thi
time it was so dark that had to grope M,
s way but to the unerring instincts of ny
n companion, night and day were alike. Bid
l. ding me keep fast hold of his shoulder
IS strap he went on swiftly and surely as
bloodhound, through the silent village
Of ,rrhf . h.
II windows of hut flashed into momentar,
relief the skeleton limbs of frozen trees
k starting up from the snow, and huge drift
m hanging over us as it already topping t.
e. crush US in their fall F.; and the utter 81
n lence and desoation of this dreary marct
as through the darkness, the grim taciturnity
Or Of my guide, the mysterious horror Of tn,
le work that lay before US, began to weigE
10 upon me like nightmare, At length, a
,e we left the last hut behind us, and reached
y. the border of the vast trackless waste be
yond, pale shadowy gleam, struggling
through the great mass of blackness tha
K lowered overhead, betokened the rising 0
e the moon.
le See y cried the devout Russian, in
s tone of stern triumph, God has lit hi
Us candle for US, that we may overthrow th
n, spirits of darkness Now, Pan, this i
,If the place you get behind that stone, AM
er I'll get behind this one and then let
I'D be as God wills This is an accurse'
in place, and the evil creature will be sure t
r. pass through it"
is, looked round with j start of suddel
ss recognition, and could not but admire tn
to stubborn bravery which had prompted thi
iron man to select deliberately for hi
On place Of ambush spot which must hav