"There is an old hat in the bottom of a trunk which my father took from a Swedish officer at Tremeshno--"
"Take it, and let us go."
Yatsek vanished and returned a little later wearing the yellow hat of a Swedish horseman, which was too large for him. Amused by the sight of it, the priest caught at his left side as if seeking his sabre.
"It is well," said he, "that it is not a Turkish turban. But this is a real carnival!"
Yatsek smiled in reply, and then added,--
"There are some stones in the buckle; they may be of value."
Then they took seats in the sleigh and moved forward. Immediately beyond the enclosure Belchantska and the mansion were as visible through leafless alders as something on one's hand. The priest looked carefully at Yatsek, who merely drew the big Swedish hat over his eyes and did not look, though something besides his Hungarian cap had been left in the mansion.
CHAPTER V
"He will not come back! All is lost!" exclaimed Panna Anulka to herself at the first moment.
And a marvellous thing! There were five men in that mansion, one of whom was young and presentable; and besides Pan Grothus, the starosta, Pan Serafin was expected. In a word, rarely had there been so many guests at Belchantska. Meanwhile it seemed to the young lady that a vacuum had surrounded her suddenly, and that some immense want had come with it; that the mansion was empty, the garden empty, and that she herself was as much alone as if in an unoccupied steppe land, and that she would continue to be thus forever.