"He told me that trusty friends near the Georgian capital had informed him that the early summer heat had made the city in the deep hollow by the river almost unbearable for ladies of the north; and therefore the wives and daughters of the principal Russian officers, together with the noblest of the Georgian women, had been sent to a cooler spot among the hills in the healthy district of Kahiti, celebrated for its vineyards. Little expecting any danger there so far from the Lesghian outposts, they were lodged in a pleasant place under canvas, guarded by a scanty detachment of Cossacks, most of whom had been invalided from the war. Pounce upon them suddenly, and what could they do but scream? Even this they would not do very long, according to Shamyl's opinion, but soon be happy when they found themselves made much of, and enjoy the romance of the situation, and the high price put upon them. This prediction, to my surprise, proved wonderfully correct; for many of the younger ladies permanently added to the beauty of our country and the quality of its inhabitants; while those who preferred restoration declared that they would have no higgling about them,—if their husbands attempted to cheapen their price, let them even remain among the gallant men who put them at a higher figure. But this is a later matter, and I only mention it to show the good feeling we created.
"Litters, and light carts, and other conveyances were sent in advance of us over the worst places, with orders to wait in a valley we described; and with all the best horses we could procure, we set forth at sunrise one summer morning, so as to traverse the most dangerous part of the journey in good daylight. We rode very leisurely to keep our horses fresh, until in the afternoon of the second day, we halted in a hollow of the lower mountains to make a good meal, and learn more exactly where the encampment of the ladies was. Here were a hundred of us, all good horsemen, and accustomed to despise the enemy,—not for want of courage, but for want of wit. In courage they were quite our equals, for they never seemed to care much about their lives; but when briskness and readiness turned the issue, the vigour of the free man could upset the bulk of serfs. This we had proved a hundred times against the weight of numbers.
"Being in command of this dainty enterprise, and having to prove that I was not too young, which always puts a youth upon his very finest mettle, I took all the precautions of an old commander. Ordering all the others to keep close, and having only Stepan and the best of our guides with me, I proceeded very carefully afoot along the course of a stream from the hills, which had worn a deep channel. We knew where the ladies ought to be; and though a man must not rely too much on that, sure enough there they were by the dozen. Their encampment was pitched upon a very pretty knoll, not more than a long eyeshot from the nearest bend of the watercourse we crouched in. I put my red plume between my knees, and watched them, being surprised at the beauty of their dress, and the far greater beauty of their figures. The proudest radiance of the Russian Court was there, and the softer charms of Georgia; and I was glad not to see those lovely faces, which it would be my duty to bedew with tears so soon.
"Having counted their tents, three of which were royal, and made myself sure of their position, I left all those beauties at their tea outside, with the sunset casting their shadows down the slope, and saying to myself, 'Where will you have your breakfasts, Mesdames?' stole back with my two comrades, to make ready for this prize. Stepan, who was always full of strong ideas, and never confined them to himself, did his utmost to convince me that the wisest plan was to let all these houris go snugly to bed, and then catch them up as they were in their first slumber, and whirl them away on our saddles. But I could not bear to think of this outrage on their modesty; and one figure in a silver pink dress was in my mind,—the youngest and the loveliest of all I had descried. Therefore I made ready to descend upon these ladies before they should begin to retire for the night, which they would not do until they had supped well and probably played their games of cards.
"We had little fear of sentries, for there were not more than a dozen, and no sign of any horse-patrol about; and even of the few fellows lounging round the tents, and ordered to keep at a proper distance from them, we got rid by the old device of sending a boy on a donkey with a flagon of vodka on either side. They showed their alacrity by robbing him of these, and then retiring to their hut, with the officer on duty to take first pull. When the moon was up, and we rode softly over the sod of alluvial ground, the only challenge we received was the screech of a Russian drinking-chorus round the corner of the trees. Without firing a shot, or disturbing a dog, we surrounded the camp of the fair ones, and called upon them to surrender. At the same time we entreated them to prepare in silence for their departure with us, if they valued the lives of their guardians.
"This exhortation was of no effect. Amazement and terror quite overcame their natural discretion, and we found it impossible to parley with them. So great was the outcry that we stood aghast, till those faithful Cossacks came running, or rather staggering to the rescue, which restored our power of action. We bound them in couples to convenient trees with some ropes we had brought for the purpose; and then as the ladies still declined to join us, we wrapped all the most important of them in their cloaks, and placed them on our horses. In this they assisted us to some extent, by kindly disclosing the rank of each other. Thus we obtained all who were of any value from a financial point of view, twenty-two of sterling substance; and at their entreaty and assurance of amendment we took a domestic for each of them, and turned our horses' heads towards the glen where the vehicles awaited us.
"My instructions were to leave no room for doubt as to our possession of six Princesses, whose names I will not give, because most of them, I trust, are still alive, and none the worse for their captivity. Enough that they were of exalted rank, and in command—as the Russian ladies contrive to be—of the Commanders of the army opposed to us. Therefore, before we started, I stood upon the terrace in front of the tents, with our horses pawing the turf, which was almost a novel treat to them, and the white moon making a picture of us. And there with great deference and courtesy, I called over from the list provided me the names of their incomparable Highnesses, the Princess O——, and the Princess D——, &c.; and each of them made answer according to temperament, and sense of resignation to the will of Heaven. Then I gave the word to start, and remained the last, to bring up the rear as in duty I was bound.
"But suddenly a slender and timid figure came gliding, as if in the haste of despair, from the shadow of a tent, and stood close to me. It was the lovely maiden in the silver-pink attire, and she drew her veil partly aside, and glanced in the clear moonlight at my face, and then dropped her dark eyes, and then lifted them again with quivering tears like a suppliant—'Oh, Captain, am I to be left behind?'
"'Lady, have no fear,' I said very gently, and half afraid to look again at her; 'you shall not be left unguarded. But tell me who you are, the fairest and the youngest of so many.'