There was one large stone house in the centre of the village, and to this I rode. It was the house of the priest –a snuffy and ill-favoured old man who had not a civil answer to any of our questions. An uglier fellow I never met, but, my faith, it was very different with his only daughter, who kept house for him. She was a brunette, a rare thing in Russia, with creamy skin, raven hair, and a pair of the most glorious dark eyes that ever kindled at the sight of a Hussar. From the first glance I saw that she was mine. It was no time for love-making when a soldier&csq;s duty had to be done, but still, as I took the simple meal which they laid before me, I chatted lightly with the lady, and we were the best of friends before an hour had passed. Sophie was her first name, her second I never knew. I taught her to call me Etienne, and I tried to cheer her up, for her sweet face was sad and there were tears in her beautiful dark eyes. I pressed her to tell me what it was which was grieving her.
“How can I be otherwise,” said she, speaking French with a most adorable lisp, “when one of my poor countrymen is a prisoner in your hands? I saw him between two of your Hussars as you rode into the village.”
“It is the fortune of war,” said I. “His turn to-day; mine, perhaps, to-morrow.”
“But consider, Monsieur–” said she.
“Etienne,” said I.
“Oh, Monsieur—-”
“Etienne,” said I.
“Well, then,” she cried, beautifully flushed and desperate, “consider, Etienne, that this young officer will be taken back to your army and will be starved or frozen, for if, as I hear, your own soldiers have a hard march, what will be the lot of a prisoner?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“You have a kind face, Etienne,” said she; “you would not condemn this poor man to certain death. I entreat you to let him go.”
Her delicate hand rested upon my sleeve, her dark eyes looked imploringly into mine.
A sudden thought passed through my mind. I would grant her request, but I would demand a favour in return. At my order the prisoner was brought up into the room.
“Captain Barakoff,” said I, “this young lady has begged me to release you, and I am inclined to do so. I would ask you to give your parole that you will remain in this dwelling for twenty-four hours, and take no steps to inform anyone of our movements.”
“I will do so,” said he.
“Then I trust in your honour. One man more or less can make no difference in a struggle between great armies, and to take you back as a prisoner would be to condemn you to death. Depart, sir, and show your gratitude not to me, but to the first French officer who falls into your hands.”
When he was gone I drew my paper from my pocket.
“Now, Sophie,” said I, “I have done what you asked me, and all that I ask in return is that you will give me a lesson in Russian.”
“With all my heart,” said she.
“Let us begin on this,” said I, spreading out the paper before her. “Let us take it word for word and see what it means.”
She looked at the writing with some surprise. “It means,” said she, “if the French come to Minsk all is lost.” Suddenly a look of consternation passed over her beautiful face. “Great Heavens!” she cried, “what is it that I have done? I have betrayed my country! Oh, Etienne, your eyes are the last for whom this message is meant. How could you be so cunning as to make a poor, simple-minded, and unsuspecting girl betray the cause of her country?”
I consoled my poor Sophie as best I might, and I assured her that it was no reproach to her that she should be outwitted by so old a campaigner and so shrewd a man as myself. But it was no time now for talk. This message made it clear that the corn was indeed at Minsk, and that there were no troops there to defend it. I gave a hurried order from the window, the trumpeter blew the assembly, and in ten minutes we had left the village behind us and were riding hard for the city, the gilded domes and minarets of which glimmered above the snow of the horizon. Higher they rose and higher, until at last, as the sun sank toward the west, we were in the broad main street, and galloped up it amid the shouts of the moujiks and the cries of frightened women until we found ourselves in front of the great town-hall. My cavalry I drew up in the square, and I, with my two sergeants, Oudin and Papilette, rushed into the building.