“And when all the others had been back a long time, the Hawk was still far away. So they thought he must have been either slain or taken captive by the Turks; moreover, the _Dziads_ and wanderers who passed by said secretly much that made them think so. “At length, at the end of the third year, he came back one day in early spring; but all alone, without henchmen or horses or chariots, in great poverty, and bearing a staff like a beggar. “He knelt down before the statue of the Blessed Virgin, thanking her for his return to his own country; then he made for the village, walking with swift steps. “But none welcomed him, none knew who he was; and the dogs attacked him, and he drove them off. “He arrived at his home ... rubbed his eyes ... crossed himself ... and knew not what it meant. “Jesu Maria!—No granaries, no orchards, no hedges even! and of live stock, not a single head.—Of his cabin, there remained only the scorched and ruined walls.—No children either! All was utterly destroyed. His wife rose at his approach from a pallet of straw where she lay sick and in pain, and she burst into most bitter tears! “He stood thunderstruck. “It had come to pass, while he was fighting and putting to flight the enemies of the Lord, that the plague had entered his cabin, and cut off all his children, and the lightning had struck it and burned it down, and the wolves had eaten his cattle. Then his neighbours seized upon his lands, the corn had perished by drought, the rest of the crops by hailstorms: and naught remained to him. “Down he dropped on the threshold, ghastly as one dead. But when evening fell, and the bell rang for the Angelus, he started up, and began to curse and blaspheme in an awful voice! “‘Had he shed his blood in God’s service for this? for this defended God’s churches?’ “In vain his wife tried to calm him; in vain she fell at his feet and entreated him: he continued to curse and blaspheme. “‘What! had he suffered wounds, and hunger, and been honest and pious for this? No matter what he had been, the Lord God had forsaken him, and decreed he should lose all!’ “Most foully did he curse the name of God, and cry that now he would give himself to Satan, who alone did not forsake the wretches that call upon him. “At those words, behold, Satan appeared before him! “The Hawk, being very wroth, was now reckless, and cried out: “‘O devil, if you can help me, do; for I have been dealt with most grievously!’ “Fool that he was, and unable to understand that this was all but a trial, whereby our Lord would prove him! “‘I will aid you,’ Satan hissed; ‘but will you give up your soul to me?’ “‘I will—this instant!’ “So a compact was written, and signed with Casimir’s blood.