"I understand what happened," remarked Pan Serafin.
"When we became sober there was still keener suffering; two horses were gone, and we had greater need of consolation."
"So ye consoled yourselves till the fourth horse was gone?"
"Till the fourth horse. We sinned, we sinned!" repeated the contrite brothers.
"But was that the end?" continued Pan Serafin.
"How the end, our father and special benefactor? We met a deceiver, one Poradski, who scoffed at us. 'So this is the way they shear fools!' says he. 'I will take you,' says he, 'as my serving men, for I am making the levy for a regiment.' Lukash cried out that the man was exposing us to ridicule, and when he would not stop Lukash slashed him on the snout with a sabre. Poradski's friends sprang to help him, and we to help Lukash, and we cut till the marshal's guard whirled in and went at us. And we yielded only when the others fell to shouting: 'Gracious gentlemen, they are attacking freedom, and injuring the Commonwealth in our persons.' That is how it happened, and God blessed us immediately, for we wounded eight attendants in a flash, and three of these mortally; the others were at our feet,--there were five of them."
Pan Serafin seized his head, and Marek continued,--
"Yes! Now we know all; God helped us till people shouted that the fight was near the king's palace, and a crime,--that we should die for it. We were frightened and ran. They tried to seize us, but when we, in old fashion, cut one on the face and another on the neck, they fled in a hurry. Stanislav saved us with the horses of his attendants, but even then we had to work hard to bring our heads with us; we were hunted to Senkotsin; if the horses had been slow our case would have ended. Our names were not known; that was lucky, and there will be no accusation against us."
Long silence followed.
"Where are those horses which Stanislav gave you?" asked Pan Serafin.