Kmita punched his companion in the side with his fist. “Let us go, Kokoshko, some time in the evening,—pretend we are astray,—shall we?”
“But your reputation?”
“Oh, to the Devil! Shut your mouth! Go alone, if that is the way; but better drop the matter. It would not pass without talk, and I want to live in peace with the nobles here, for the late under-chamberlain made them Olenka’s guardians.”
“You have spoken of that, but I would not believe it. How did he have such intimacy with homespuns?”
“Because he went with them to war, and I heard of this in Orsha, when he said that there was honorable blood in those Lauda men. But to tell the truth, Kokoshko, it was an immediate wonder to me, for it is as if he had made them guards over me.”
“You will yield to them and bow to your boots before dish-cloths.”
“First may the pestilence choke them! Be quiet, for I am angry! They will bow to me and serve me. Their quota is ready at every call.”
“Some one else will command this quota. Zend says that there is a colonel here among them—I forget his name—Volodyovski or something? He led them at Shklov. They fought well, it appears, but were combed out there.”
“I have heard of a Volodyovski, a famous warrior—But here is Vodokty in sight.”
“Hei, it is well for people in Jmud; for there is stern order. The old man must have been a born manager. And the house,—I see how it looks. The enemy brought fire here seldom, and the people could build.”