788ページ中453ページ

Thaddeus waited a moment, before he jingled at the latch; when

the door was opened he went in quietly and bowed low.

"My dear uncle," he said, "I have spent here but a few days, and

the days have passed like a flash. I have not yet had time to

enjoy fully your house and your own company, but I must depart, I

must hasten away at once; to-day, uncle, or to-morrow at the

latest. You remember that we have challenged the Count; to fight

him is my affair, and I have sent a challenge. Since duelling is

prohibited in Lithuania, I am going to the borders of the Grand

Duchy of Warsaw; the Count, of course, is a braggart, but he does

not lack courage, and will appear without fail at the appointed

place. We will settle accounts; and, if God grants me his

blessing, I will punish him, and then will swim over the Lososna,

where the ranks of my brothers await me. I have heard that my

father in his will bade me enter the army, and I have not heard

that that will has been cancelled."