Mary Barton: An Historical Tale of Poland 1846

Mary Barton: An Historical Tale of Poland

By Henry Krasinski

Published by A.K. Newman and Co., 1846

 

One of the Colonel’s coachmen, a Carpathian mountaineer proposed to exhibit a performance common in his country. He was a man exceedingly tall and broad-chested, but appeared to possess singular activity. His brown hair, hanging down upon his back was curled at the end ; a kind of short tunic of grey cloth fitted close to his waist, shewing off his admirable shape ; a large white collar was turned down over his shoulders, and above this collar ran a cord decorated with several bows of ribbons, and on this cord were strung a row of ducats separated by the bows ; these coins jingled at theleast movement he made. His legs were confined in tight, cloth pantaloons, and he wore sandals. A broad, leathern belt was buckled round his loins, and to this belt was suspended a small axe of highly polished steel, and glittering like a mirror. The mountaineer, taking off his large, broad-brimmed hat, requested one of the lackeys to station himself with his back against a tree, and to hold up a lock of his hair between his finger and thumb close to the tree, and hardly an inch from his head. The lackey feeling assured that no harm would come to him in the presence of his master, complied without hesitation, being very curious to know what the mountaineer was about to do. The latter, fixing himself at about twenty-five paces from the man, and humming a Carpathian ditty, began to whirl round upon the spot where he stood with incredible quickness and dexterity. All at once, while performing this species of  dance, he laid hold of his axe, and shouting aloud hurled it with all his might. The weapon spun round several times, gleaming and whizzing in its course, and struck asunder, between the hand and the head of the lackey, the lock of hair that he was holding against the tree, in which it was half buried, to the great surprise of every one, and particularly of the lackey, who stood staring with open-mouthed amazement, aving little expected to be made the butt of so dangerous a diversion. Had the axe struck half an inch higher or lower, it would have infallibly cloven his hand or his head. The feat was performed so unexpectedly that no time was left for reflexion, or opposition.  Although the extraordinary address of the mountaineer was greatly admired, he nevertheless received a severe lecture for having carried his temerity so far. But to convince the company of the infallibility of his hand and eye, he pulled out the axe, withdrew to the distance of fifty paces, commenced the same whirling movement of his body, hurled the weapon again, and lodged it in the same spot of the tree, the poor astonished lackey, having taken particular care, by flying for refuge behind his master, not to be again exposed to similar danger.