The Pobratim Part 76

"If you can't get me your brother's, then borrow or buy a suit for me; but go at once. You must get me a cap, and all that is required, but go at once."

"Very well; only, in the meantime, go to bed, take some broth, and wait till I return."

"But you promise to come back as quickly as you can?"

"Yes, if you are determined to put your life in danger, and----"

"And what?"

"If you don't care what people say."

"Frana, if ever you love a man as I love Uros, you will see that you will care very little for your own life, and still less for what people might say about you."

Frana helped Milena to go to bed again. She made her take a cup of broth, with the yolk of an egg beaten into it; placed, on a chair by her bed, a bowl of mulled wine, which she was to take so as to get up her strength; put away the long locks of hair lying on the table, and at last she went off.

Presently, Milenko's mother came to see Milena, and stayed with her till Frana returned, and then she was persuaded to go back home. When she had gone, Frana undid the bundle she had brought, took out a jacket, a pair of wide breeches and leggings, the _opanke_; lastly, the small black cap with its gold-embroidered crimson crown.

Frana helped Milena to dress, and, in her weak state, the operation almost exhausted her. The broad sash, tightly wound round her waist, served to keep her up, and, leaning on Frana's arm, she left the house.

"I have managed to find a cart for you, so we need not cross the town, but go round the walls, in order that you may not be seen; besides, the cart will take us to the foot of the mountain, not far from the convent."

"How shall I ever be able to thank you enough for what you have done for me, Frana?"

"By getting over your illness as quickly as possible, for if any harm should come of it my mother 'll never forgive me, and I don't blame her."

The sun was in the meridian when the cart arrived at the foot of the mountain and the two friends alighted. As they climbed the rough and uneven path leading up to the convent, Milena, though leaning on Frana's strong arm, had more than once to stop and rest, for at every step she made the pain in every joint, in every muscle, was most acute. It seemed as if all the ligaments that bind the bones of the skeleton together had snapped asunder, and that her body was about to fall to pieces. Then she felt a smarting, a fire that was burning within her bowels, and which increased at every effort she made; in fact, had it not been for the young girl, she would either have sunk by the roadside or crawled up--as she had said herself--on all-fours.

Her head also was aching dreadfully, her temples were throbbing, and she was parched with fever. Her limbs sank every now and then beneath her weight; still, her love and her courage kept her up, and she trudged along without uttering a word of complaint. At last they reached the convent. Then her strength gave way. Anxiety, pain and shame overpowered her, and she fell fainting on the threshold. Frana summoned help; but, before the monks came, Milena had recovered, and was sitting down on a bench to rest.

In the meanwhile Uros was lingering on--a kind of death in life; the vital flame was flickering, but not entirely extinguished; the ties that fastened the soul to life were still strong. Towards midnight he had sat up in his bed, and--as the monks thought--the Virgin and Christ had appeared to him, then he had, for some time, not given any further signs of consciousness. Nay, the monks were so sure the sufferer was pa.s.sing away, that they, in fact, began reciting the prayers for the dying. They did so with much fervour, regarding Uros almost as a saint, for never had mortal man been so highly favoured by the Deity. Little by little, however, life, instead of ebbing away, seemed to return; but the sufferer's mind was quite lost.

In the morning, first his father had come, together with his friend Janko, and a little while afterwards Mara came.

The monks related to the wondering parents how the Virgin had appeared, bringing with her the infant Christ for him to kiss.

Milenko, however, kept his peace, feeling sure that if he expressed an opinion as to the weird apparition, his words would be regarded as blasphemy.

Coming to himself, Uros recognised his parents, and as Mara bent upon him to kiss his brows:

"Milena," whispered Uros, almost inaudibly.

"Milenko," said the mother, "he wants you."

"No," said Milenko, softly to Mara, "it is not me he wants; he has been calling for Milena since he has been coming back to life. I am sure that her presence would quiet him, and, who knows? perhaps add to his recovery."

The poor mother said nothing; she only patted her boy's brown hand, which seemed to have got whiter and thinner in this short s.p.a.ce of time.

"I think it is so hard to refuse him a thing upon which he has set his heart," said Milenko, pleadingly.

Mara still gave no answer.

"Perhaps I am wrong in mentioning it--but you do not know how dearly he loved this cousin of his."

Mara's eyes filled with tears.

"Could these priests not be persuaded to let her come in just for a moment?"

"Milena is too ill to come here; in fact----"

"Is she dead?" asked the young man.

"No, not dead, but as ill as Uros himself is."

"What is the matter with her?" asked Milenko.

Mara whispered something in the young man's ear.

Danilo Kvekvic had left the sufferer to attend to his own duties. All the monks of the convent had, one by one, come to recite an orison by the bedside, as at some miraculous shrine; then Uros was left to the care of his parents; even the old monk, after administering to the young man's wants, had gone to take some rest.

For some time the room was perfectly quiet; Mara and Milenko were whispering together in subdued tones; the _pobratim_'s fathers stood outside.

After a little while Uros began to be delirious, and to speak about Radonic and Vranic, who were going to kill Milena.

"There, you see, she is dying; let me go to her. Why do you hold me here? Unhand me; you see she is alone--no one to attend upon her."

(The remainder of his words were unintelligible.)

The tears rolled down Mara's cheeks, for she thought that her son's words were but too true; at that moment Milena was probably dying.

"She came to me for help, and I----"

"Milenko," added the delirious man, "get the ship ready; let us take her away."

"Yes," said Milenko; "we have only to heave the anchor and be off."

Uros thereupon made an effort to get up, but the pain caused by his wound was so great that he fell fainting on his bed with a deep moan.

The two men standing at the door came to the sufferer's bedside. Mara herself bent over him to a.s.sist him. Just then Milenko was called out--someone was asking for him.

The fever-fit had subsided. The sufferer, falling back on his pillow, exhausted, seemed to be slowly breathing his last.

The tears were falling fast from Mara's eyes. The two men by the bed were twisting their bristling moustaches, looking helplessly forlorn.

Just then Milenko appeared on the threshold, followed by a wan and corpse-like boy. Bellacic frowned at the intruder. Mara, at the sight, started back, opening her eyes widely.

"You?" said she.

Milena's head drooped down. Milenko put his arm round her waist to keep her up.

"You here, my child?" added Mara, opening her arms and clasping the young woman within them.