Matthew uttered a curse, and would have flown at him; they held him back, but with difficulty. And then, it being late, they went each man to his own cabin. Antek was awaiting this moment, when the roads were deserted, and everybody was supping at home, and the scent of fried bacon was wafted abroad with the sound of merry talk and the tinkling of spoons in the dishes; then he brought Roch to the room where Yuzka lay; but he would not have a candle lit. The old man snatched a hasty meal, put on what clothes he had left in the hut, and said farewell to the women. Hanka fell at his feet, and Yuzka wept and wailed piteously. “God be with you! we may meet once more!” he said in a tearful voice, pressing them paternally to his breast, and kissing them on the forehead; but, Antek urging him to make haste, he once more blessed the women and children, crossed himself, and went out to the stile by the haystack. “The britzka is waiting at Simon’s hut in Podlesie, and Matthew will drive for you.” “But I must still pay a visit here in Lipka.—Where are we to meet?” “At the crucifix by the forest, whither we are going at once.” “That’s well, for I have yet many things to speak of with Gregory.” And presently he was unseen and inaudible. Antek put the horses to, placed a bushel of rye and a whole sack of potatoes in the britzka, conferred for some time apart with Vitek, and then said, for all to hear: “Vitek! drive over to Szymek’s hut with the cart, and then come back: do ye hear?” The lad’s eyes blazed, and he started off at such a pace that Antek called after him: “Slower, you rogue, or you’ll lame the horses!” Roch had meantime crept stealthily to Dominikova’s, where he had left a few things, and shut himself up in the inner room. Andrew was on the watch by the roadside, and Yagna every now and then looked out into the enclosure, while the old woman, sitting in the front room, listened, trembling all over. It took him some time before he came out to talk a little with Dominikova by herself; then he wanted to take up his bag and start off. But Yagna insisted on carrying it for him, at least to the forest. He agreed, and, taking leave of the others, went out into the fields, and slowly along the narrow pathways, with noiseless caution. The night was clear and starlit; the lands lay hushed in slumber, with only now and then a sound of fitful barking. They were nearing the forest, when Roch, coming to a standstill, took Yagna’s hand. “Hear me, Yagna,” he said in a kindly tone, “and take to heart what I am going to say.” She lent an ear, though agitated by an unpleasant sense of foreboding. Then, just as a priest might speak in confession, he talked to her of her doings ... with Antek ... with the Voyt ... and most of all with Yanek. She listened in deep humiliation, with averted face covered with blushes; but when he named Yanek, she raised her head defiantly. “With him I have done no evil whatsoever!”