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All slept, the master of the house, the generals, and the

soldiers; the eyes of the Seneschal alone were not closed in

sweet slumber. For on the morrow the Seneschal had to arrange a

banquet by which he would fain make famous the house of the

Soplicas for ever and ever; a banquet worthy of guests so dear to

Polish hearts, and in keeping with the great solemnity of the

day, which was both a church holiday and a family holiday; on the

morrow the betrothals of three couples were to take place.

Moreover, General Dombrowski had made known that evening that he

wished to have a Polish dinner.