Gendarmes search for Rocho as villagers help him escape

The search for Rocho becomes a test of whether Lipce will hand over a hunted man or protect him. Grzela warns Antek Boryna that Rocho may be in danger; Antek hides him in the rye and helps him evade a house-to-house search. After nightfall, Rocho leaves the cottage, gathers belongings at Dominikowa’s home, and sets out through the fields with Jagusia carrying his bundle toward the woods.

Warning and refuge

The danger reaches Antek while he is sitting on the porch, hammering a sickle on an anvil. Grzela has hurried through the gardens to warn him, and Antek leaps up when he learns what may be happening. Rocho has only just arrived. Rather than debate the risk, Antek quickly sends him beyond the hayrick into the rye, telling him to hide in a furrow until he is called. The route places Rocho close to the farm buildings but out of sight of anyone searching the cottage.

Rocho also gives papers to Józka, who is lying in bed, and asks her to hide them beneath her without speaking. Their contents are not disclosed, but the exchange makes the refuge more than a matter of shelter: evidence or documents associated with Rocho must be kept from the searchers as well. Rocho slips out without his cap or coat, crosses the orchard, and disappears into the rye. The swaying grain beyond the hayrick marks the concealed path by which he has escaped immediate discovery.

The cottage search

The gendarmes enter the cottage while guards go to inspect the orchard and outbuildings. Antek has to open the house and show them its contents. Hanka Borynowa sits by the window with her youngest child at her breast as the searchers examine every corner, including beneath the beds. Villagers have gathered in the road and watch in silence while the cottage is turned over. The search fails to find Rocho, but the authorities do not confine themselves to Antek’s home: they go among several cottages, looking around and questioning the people they encounter.

The search lasts until sunset. By then, herds are returning from pasture, and the gendarmes ride away without accomplishing their purpose. The villagers’ relief breaks into competing accounts of the visits to the Kłąb household, Grzela’s home, and Mateusz’s cottage. Each speaker claims to have had the best view and to have been least frightened, a burst of talk that follows the tense silence of the search. The episode shows the danger of sheltering Rocho while also revealing how many households are drawn into the authorities’ effort to find him.

Escape after dark

Antek waits until the roads empty and families settle down to supper. With the village occupied by its evening meal, he brings Rocho to Józka’s side of the cottage and does not allow the fire to be stoked. The small precautions preserve the cover of darkness and avoid drawing attention to the house. Rocho eats quickly and gathers his belongings before saying farewell to the women.

The departure is an intimate counterpoint to the public search. Hanka falls at Rocho’s feet, and Józka breaks into sobs. Rocho embraces them, kisses their heads, blesses the children and the house, crosses himself, and leaves by the stile at the hayrick. Antek hastens him onward; the escape is not a safe or ceremonial departure, but a hurried passage out of a house that has just been searched.

Rocho then makes his way stealthily to Dominikowa’s home to collect a few things, shutting himself in the storeroom. Jędrzych guards the road, while Jagusia watches in the yard and Dominikowa listens anxiously from the chamber. After Rocho has prayed, spoken briefly with Dominikowa, and slung his bundle over his back, Jagusia insists on carrying it at least as far as the wood. They leave through the orchard and cross the fields. The account ends with Rocho moving away under village protection, rather than with his destination or ultimate safety confirmed.

Collective resistance

The escape is made possible by coordinated acts rather than a single dramatic confrontation. Grzela brings the warning; Antek provides the hiding place and chooses when Rocho can move; Józka conceals the papers; and people at Dominikowa’s home guard the road and yard while Rocho collects his belongings. The gendarmes search openly and thoroughly, but villagers’ homes and watchfulness give him places to hide and time to get away.

The episode also distinguishes public exposure from private assistance. Half the village watches the cottage search, yet the searchers leave without finding their quarry; later, farewells and practical help happen within households and along concealed routes. Jagusia’s decision to carry Rocho’s bundle extends that protection beyond the immediate shelter of the cottage. The escape thus records a local community’s refusal, expressed through warnings, concealment, and escort, to make Rocho’s capture easy.