Goring his horse with the spurs, he sprang from the ranks, as the roar of a thousand voices ascended from them, on witnessing this act of justice; together we dashed at a furious pace towards the nearest mountains, and had already placed a deep and rapid torrent between us and the Russians, before they had recovered from their astonishment, or made proper arrangements for a pursuit.
The most accomplished rider in Europe is acknowledged to sit his horse like a clown when contrasted with a Circassian cavalier; and fortunate it was for Karolyi and me, that we—both men and horses—were bred and reared on the slopes of the Caucasus; as we were hotly and fiercely pursued by relays of mounted men despatched fresh and lightly accoutred from the innumerable military posts we passed. The wild Tchernemorski Cossacks, with their long lances, and wiry little horses; the Tenginski and Paulowna Hussars, and even the heavy, helmeted, breast-plated and jack-booted Olga cuirassiers spurred after us; but among the deep rocky gorges, the tangled brakes, the shifting mosses, and the fordless rivers, we soon rid ourselves of the latter, and most of the others, save the Cossacks, who followed us like spirits of evil, unrelenting and unwearying, for many a day and many a night.
In desperate hope to reach the Prussian frontier, we had already crossed the Dnieper, and traversed the palatinate of Minsk, where for days we rode over a flat country, of which we were ignorant, and where, in despair, we were frequently about to abandon the hope of escape, when we found ourselves involved in the mazes of a wild forest and dreary morass that lie on the banks of its rivers. But our native hardihood preserved us; for a cleft in a rock, or the branch of a tree with a sword for a pillow, is home enough at any time for a Tcherkesse warrior.
However, we now began to experience a serious difficulty in procuring a knowledge of the route to be pursued. We knew little of the language; our aspect was jaded, wan, and terrible; our uniform hung about us in rags; our horses were sinking, and that we were deserters was evident to every observer. And now the people of Lithuania joined in the pursuit, and one evening, just as we were about to cross a river named the Swislocz, our Tchernemorski Cossacks came upon us, and their wild shout of joy at the termination of that flight, which to them had been a long and exciting chase, rang in the air above us, as they reined up their horses on the rocks that overhung the stream, and brandished their spears.
We were about to plunge in, when one more bold or more freshly mounted than his comrades, wounded Karolyi by a lance thrust.
"May demons defile thy beard, and their plagues fall on thee and thine!" exclaimed my brother in a gust of fury; but now he had dropped or broken every weapon save his dagger, so with that quickness which is peculiar to the Circassian, he dismounted, rushed upon the Cossack's horse, drove the weapon into its breast, and bearing it back at the same time by the bridle, he hurled the snorting steed over upon its rider, and crushed him to death in an instant.
Vaulting again into his own well-worn saddle, he plunged with me into the stream, and gallantly we breasted it—while the carbines of the Tchememorski Cossacks—the only soldiers in the Russian service who can at all compete with our people—rang on every side, as they commenced a simultaneous discharge upon us, and their bullets flattened on the rocks, or raised incessant water-spouts around us.
Suddenly I heard a low cry and a choking gurgle that filled my heart with misery. I looked back; Karolyi, struck by a bullet, had sunk from his saddle, and a spurred boot alone was visible, as horse and rider was swept over a cataract, and borne away towards the Dnieper.
So perished my second brother!
Forcing Zupi up a bank where the reeds grew at least twelve feet high, I still rode recklessly on; but brave as they were, not one of the Cossacks dared to cross that foaming torrent in pursuit. Night came down to shroud my flight; there was no moon. I reached a wood, and flung myself down exhausted in mind and body. I was now dead to the fear of discovery, and I cared not for wolves, or other wild animals.