But Mateush reined in his horse, and he added,--
"I was sorry for her--such a dear little flower--and do ye remember what old Pan Serafin said?"
"What did he say?" inquired, with great curiosity, Lukash, Marek, and Yan, reining in their horses.
Mateush looked at them a while through his protruding eyes, then said as if in sorrow,--
"But if I have forgotten?"
Meanwhile not only Pan Gideon, but Pani Vinnitski, who generally knew very little of what was happening around her, turned attention to the changed face of the young lady.
"But what is the matter, Anulka? Art thou cold?"
"No," answered the girl, with a sort of sleepy voice which seemed not her own. "Nothing is the matter, only the air affects me strangely--so strangely."
Though her voice broke from moment to moment she had no tears in her eyes; on the contrary, in her dry pupils there glittered sparks peculiar, uncommon, and her face had grown older. Seeing this Pan Gideon said to himself,--
"Would it not be better to strike while the iron is hot?"