But it was clear that the old man was in terrible subjection to the boys, for neither had the least fear of his threats; on the contrary, Yaremka, the elder, began to pull the boot-leg still harder, bracing his feet and repeating,-- "Oh, Grandfather, be Bogun and steal away Longinek." "Be off, thou beetle, I say, thou rogue, thou cheese-roll!" "Oh, Grandfather, be Bogun!" "I'll give thee Bogun; wait till I call thy mother!" Yaremka looked toward the door leading from the house to the garden, but finding it closed, and seeing no sign of his mother, he repeated the third time, pouting, "Grandfather, be Bogun!" "Ah, they will kill me, the rogues; it cannot be otherwise. Well, I'll be Bogun, but only once. Oh, it is a punishment of God! Mind ye do not plague me again!" When he had said this, the old man groaned a little, raised himself from the bench, then suddenly grabbed little Longinek, and giving out loud shouts, began to carry him off in the direction of the pond. Longinek, however, had a valiant defender in his brother, who on such occasions did not call himself Yaremka, but Pan Michael Volodyovski, captain of dragoons. Pan Michael, then, armed with a basswood club, which took the place of a sabre in this sudden emergency, ran swiftly after the bulky Bogun, soon caught up with him, and began to beat him on the legs without mercy. Longinek, playing the rôle of his mamma, made an uproar, Bogun made an uproar, Yaremka-Volodyovski made an uproar; but valor at last overcame even Bogun, who, dropping his victim, began to make his way back to the linden-tree. At last he reached the bench, fell upon it, panting terribly and repeating,-- "Ah, ye little stumps! It will be a wonder if I do not suffocate." But the end of his torment had not come yet, for a moment later Yaremka stood before him with a ruddy face, floating hair, and distended nostrils, like a brisk young falcon, and began to repeat with greater energy,-- "Grandfather, be Bogun!" After much teasing and a solemn promise given to the two boys that this would surely be the last time, the story was repeated in all its details; then they sat three in a row on the bench and Yaremka began,-- "Oh, Grandfather, tell who was the bravest." "Thou, thou!" said the old man. "And shall I grow up to be a knight?" "Surely thou wilt, for there is good soldier blood in thee. God grant thee to be like thy father; for if brave thou wilt not tease so much--understand me?" "Tell how many men has Papa killed?" "It's little if I have told thee a hundred times! Easier for thee to count the leaves on this linden-tree than all the enemies which thy father and I have destroyed. If I had as many hairs on my head as I myself have put down, the barbers in Lukovsk would make fortunes just in shaving my temples. I am a rogue if I li--"