«Brothers!» said the hetman, «Prince Boguslav reports to me that those men who have chosen to form a confederation rather than march against the enemy at Vilna, are ravaging at this moment my villages in Podlyasye. It is easier of course to wage war with peasant women in villages. Worthy knights, there is no denying that!--Never mind! Their reward will not miss them.»
Then he took the second letter, but had barely cast his eyes on it when his face brightened with a smile of triumph and delight,--
«The province of Syeradz has yielded to the Swedes!» cried he, «and following Great Poland, has accepted the protection of Karl Gustav.»
And after a while another,--
«This is the latest dispatch. Good for us, worthy gentlemen, Yan Kazimir is beaten at Vidava and Jarnov. The army is leaving him
