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The Russian army contains the best and the worst in the world, but a worse than Major Sergine of the Dragoons of Kieff I have never seen in any force outside of the guerillas of the Peninsula. He was a man of great stature, with a fierce, hard face and a bristling black beard, which fell over his cuirass.
The old priest, her father, looked at me with an insolent face and made insulting remarks at my expense, pointing at me with his lean and grimy hand. His fair daughter Sophie looked at me also, but she said nothing, and I could read her tender pity in her dark eyes. At last she turned to Major Sergine and said something to him in Russian, on which he frowned and shook his head impatiently.
My left arm was tied with a thong which was fastened to the stirrup-iron of a sergeant of Dragoons. So in most sorry plight I and the remnant of my men set forth from Minsk. Never have I met such a brute as this man Sergine, who commanded the escort.
A bottle of wine projected from under his arm, and he carried a great plate of hot stew in front of him. "Hush!" said he; "not a word! Keep up your heart! I cannot stop to explain, for Sergine is still with us. Keep awake and ready!" With these hurried words he laid down the welcome food and ran out of the room. "Keep awake and ready!" The words rang in my ears.
"I give you nothing," said I. "Colonel Gerard," cried Sophie, turning to me with a coaxing smile, "you will give me your parole, will you not?" "To you, mademoiselle, I can refuse nothing. I will give you my parole, with pleasure." "There, Major Sergine," cried Sophie, in triumph, "that is surely sufficient. You have heard him say that he gives me his parole. I will be answerable for his safety."
I had refused to give my parole to Sergine. I owed him no duty. If she relieved me from my promise my honour was clear. I took the key from her hand. "You will find Captain Barakoff at the end of the village street," said she. "We of the North never forget either an injury or a kindness. He has your mare and your sword waiting for you. Do not delay an instant, for in two hours it will be dawn."
"I will take no favour from you," said I. "You may do what you like, but I will never give you my parole." The Russian shrugged his great shoulders, and turned away as if the matter were ended. "Very well, my fine fellow, so much the worse for your fingers and toes. We shall see how you are in the morning after a night in the snow." "One moment, Major Sergine," cried Sophie.
Major Sergine smiled as he took this down, and swung it round so as to throw its light into every corner of that dreary chamber. "How do you like our Russian hotels, monsieur?" he asked, with his hateful sneer. "They are not very grand, but they are the best that we can give you.