“I do not know how much, but the prior himself said that two good villages might be bought with it.”
Then Soroka drew near the table, and began to remove the belts from his body. “And the stones are in this canteen,” added he, putting the canteen near the belts.
Kmita made no reply, but shook in his hand some gold ducats without counting them, and said to the sergeant,—
“Take these!”
“I fall at the feet of your grace. Ei, if I had had on the road one such ducat!”
“How is that?”
“Because I am terribly weak. There are few places now where they will give one morsel of bread to a man, for all are afraid; and at last I barely dragged my feet forward from hunger.”
“By the dear God! but you had all this with you!”
“I dared not use it without leave.”
“Take this!” said Kmita, giving him another handful. Then he cried to the servants,—