Geriyiko Şemız was in his eighties.  But yet he was incredibly energetic.  He had greater stamina than Pşımef, who was at least fifteen years younger to him.  He neither  lamented over the dead nor took pride in achievements.  His only obsession was to uproot the Russian fortresses and strongholds in Caucasia.

            He had been in a state of constant move during the winter of 1839-1840, in which period he was seldom in his own house. Most of the time he had been shuttling between the north and the south.  No one could knew his whereabouts at a given time. 

            In fact all the leaders were in a state of flex at that time.  They had been lecturing the people to rise against enemy, each working in a specified area.  Şemız has been there like the rallying banner, rushing from one place to the other. 

            Havuduko Mansur and Şurukyiko Duğuj together razed to the ground the four fortresses , which General Radyef had proudly built between Anapa and the River Kuban.  Hacı Huzbek attacked Fort Abın.  Zaziyiko Mehmet encircled  Fort Şepsin, and the Abhaz leaders besieged Forts Vaye and Tuaps. 

            In Fort Tuaps there was a strong garrison equipped with a large number of guns.  The Ubıh and Abhaz leaders had marched on the fort with a seven thousand strong force. 

            The Caucasian army managed to scale the walls in no time.  A fierce hand to hand fight that ensued inside the fort lasted for several hours.  The gunpowder stock accidentally exploded in the mean time, killing approximately five hundred men from both sides.

            The fall of Fort Tuaps was a serious setback to the Russians.  Half of the twenty-five hundred strong garrison was sworded, and rest was taken prisoner. 

            As the news of triumph at one battles ground reached to other scenes of battle, the fighters were  ever more exuberated.  The onslaughts were  incessantly sustained.   The Forts Ardler, Marya and Nicholayev fell to the Adğe forces one after the other. 

            By the end of April 1840 the Adiğe forces had successfully hit all the designated targets.  All the fortresses the Russians had built during the last decade had been destroyed, with the exception of Fort Anapa and Genlincik. 

            Russia, nevertheless was capable of rebuilding what had been destroyed.  Early in summer the Russian Navy reappeared in the Caucasian waters.  The Russian army in Caucasia received an eighty-thousand strong reinforcement from Eastern Europe.  To begin with Fort Tuaps, all the fortresses were recaptured and rebuilt one after the other.

            Bastiko Pşımef had  not been stationary at Tsemez all that time.  At most of the instances he was in the company of Geriyiko Şemız.  He had regretted at the sight of the bloody battles, and rejoiced over the victories achieved. 

            The farsighted Basti estimated that the victories achieved would be short-lived.  He was not at all surprised to see the Russian returning.  He forecast that the situation would worsen. 

            Old Geriyiko was mad at the what followed.  He could not stand the recapture by the Russians of the strongholds liberated after so much of strife and at the cost of so many loss of life.  He was not prepared to consider the views expressed by Pşımef. 

            Once he shouted at Pşımef,

            -  Don’t mention about the God damn Russians to me!  Sort of the army of the Satan!  You kill a hundred, there come a hundred-thousand in their place!

            The year 1841 had been a desperate year, fraught with death, starvation, misery and fear of insecurity.

            By the end of the year the tide of devastation of the plague epidemic subsided. No one however, was yet willing to go out of his secure environment.  Neither the Russians came out of their forts, nor the local people left their villages and farms. 

            Bastiko Pşımef was taken ill in January 1842.  The people in Tsemez once again were scared of a possible epidemic.  As a precaution he was isolated.  Only his wife Şayze was allowed to enter his room.

            Geriyiko Şemız quelled the fear by visiting Pşımef. With is candid manners, and with his usual jokes he raised the spirit of the household. 

            Incidentally, old Geriyiko could not help teasing the famous Basti.  The two had visited a century old Trah together many years ago. With reference to the event Şemız asked Pşımef,

            -  Tell me!  Do the princes of Basti descent always die of plague? 

            Pşımef sadly smiled.  Moments later her replied:

            - For whole of my life I have envied you!  You are not perturbed even if it were the end of the world!

            Şemız maintained his joke saying, “Take it so!”, and did not neglect winking at the others in the room. 

            -  No one knows the Prince of Tsemez better than  I do.  When it suits him he would pretend indisposed.  He is fond of stewed chicken and lamb roast.  Feed him well!  He would be up again in a couple of days!

            The situation was not as simple as Şemız had prescribed.  The miserable plight of his people had  consumed Pşımef.  His lungs emitted weak rattles, and continually discharged phlegm.  On the fifth day of his confinement to bed, he asked his wife to call in every one in the household to his bedside. 

            Natho Melah and Koce Eşav were the first to appear.  Others stepped in one by one.  The elders stood nearer to him while the younger ones lined up in the doorway.  Şayze was the only female present in the room. 

            Pşımef gesticulated with his finger to his wife, meaning that he wished to sit up.  Natho Melah and Koce Eşav preceded Şayze to rush to help him sit up and to support his back with pillows. 

            Old Basti was too feeble.  He could hardly breathe. 

            For a while he gazed at those sitting in the room, and then he slowly began to speak,

            -  I am not going to tell you anything new.  I just wanted to see you once again! 

            Nogay Ali Mirza held Pşımef at high esteem.  He too had grown very old, and sentimental.  He could hardly suppress his emotion.  His eyes were full with tears. 

            Pşımef had detected the state of the old Nogay.  He cast a