"Are you aware that this is a terribly dangerous expedi-
tion?" asked Zatsvilikhovski. "Even here the people are
so excited that it is difficult for them to keep still. Were
it not for the nearness of the army of the crown, the mob
would rush upon us. But there you are going into the
dragon's mouth."

"Jonah was in the whale's belly, not his mouth, and with
God's aid he came out in safety."

"Go, then! I applaud your courage. You can go to
Kudak in safety, and there you will see what is to be done
further. Grodzitski is an old soldier; he will give you the
best of advice. And I will go to the prince without fail.
If I have to fight in my old age, I would rather fight under
him than any one else. Meanwhile I will get boats for you,
and guides who will take you to Kudak."

Skahetuski slipped out, and went straight to his quarters
on the square, in the prince's house, to make his final prepa-
rations. In spite of the dangers of the journey mentioned
by Zatsvilikhovski, the lieutenant thought of it not without
a certain satisfaction. He was going to behold the Dnieper
in its whole length, almost to the lower country and the
Cataracts; and for the warrior of that time it was a sort of
enchanted and mysterious land, to which every adventurous
spirit was drawn. Many a man had passed his whole life
in the Ukraine, and still was unable to say that he had seen
the Saitch,--unless he wished to join the Brotherhood, and
there were fewer volunteers among the nobility than for-
merly. The times of Samek Zborovski had passed never
to return. The break between the Saitch and the Common-
wealth which began in the time of Nalivaika and Pavlyuk
had not lessened, but, on the contrary, had increased con-
tinually; and the concourse of people of family, not only
Polish, but Russian, differing from the men of the lower
country neither in speech nor faith, had greatly decreased.
Such persons as the Bulygi Kurtsevichi did not find many
imitators. In general, nobles were forced into the Brother-
hood at that time either by misfortune or outlawry, --- in a
word, by offences which were inconvenient for repentance.
Therefore a certain mystery, impenetrable as the fogs of the
Dnieper, surrounded the predatory republic of the lower
country. Concerning it men related wonders, which Pan
Yan was curious to see with his own eyes. To tell the
truth, he expected to come out of it safely; for an envoy
is an envoy, especially from Prince Yeremi.