by Mór Jókai
CHAPTER XIII
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT
When she again lifted up her face, her eyes were like a somnambulist'sgazing fixedly in the moonlight. They appeared absolutely dark-blue, somuch were the irises distended. Her voice was quite low.
"The whole picture is still vividly before my eyes. The greater part ofthe town was in flames. It must have been evening. The sound of theclock in the Calvinist church tower mingled with the peal of thealarm-bells. The clock struck eight, the alarm-bells five. The peoplecounted the strokes: exactly thirteen. The sun shone no longer, but thewhole vault of heaven was alight; the fiery reflection of the thickclouds of smoke made a hellish daylight, and in the midst of thisterrible illumination, like some dread idol, rose the tower of theCalvinist church, with its large copper roof, and its spire with thegreat gold ball and star. Star and ball glowed like phantoms from theworld beyond the grave. The crackling of the fire roared down thehowling of the beasts and the cries of ten thousand terrified men. Inthat part of the town where the carters dwelt, carts, horses and oxen,and their owners were all huddled together in one dense mass. To movewas an impossibility. Then upon this howling, cursing, blasphemingmultitude came pouring that mass of men which had fought its way fromthe banks of the Danube through the burning town, with the terrifyingcry, 'The enemy has attacked the town!' By this time the alarming rumourhad gained such proportions that there were those who said they hadactually seen the enemy's soldiers entering the town. 'They are burning,they are plundering--fly! fly!' Some even exclaimed, 'They are about tobombard the captured town from the fortress!' All at once the wholestreet, as far as the Waag bridge, was filled with flying vehicles. Inmy terror I had clutched hold of the mud-splasher of one of thesevehicles as it came tearing along, and ran along after it till there wasscarcely a breath left in my body. My light buskins were completely wornoff my feet and full of gravel. I had no time to stop and empty them.This particular carriage had excellent horses in it, and the coachmandid not spare his whip. Two women, dressed in peasants' hoods, weresitting in this carriage. I was astonished that they should wrapthemselves up so closely in their hoods, and cover their heads with bigkerchiefs, when such an infernal heat was blazing all around us, fromthe earth, from the sky, and from every side of us.
"The coachman reached the Waag bridge safely before the other fugitivecarriages had blocked up the way. At the entrance they had to stop, forthere the custom-house officers demanded the bridge-tolls. That thewhole town was in flames mattered not a button to them, all they wantedwas their tolls. One of the women handed them an Austrian bank-note for100 florins. The toll-collector could not give change. A queer sort ofpeasant woman, truly, who had no smaller change than a bank-note for 100florins! While they were haggling about it, it occurred to me that I wasnow wearing my genteel clothes, and that in the pockets there was sureto be a silver _tizes_[76] for any beggar I might chance to meet on myway. So I went up and said to the peasant women: 'I've got a _tizes_which I'll give to the toll-collector; all that I ask is that you willtake me in your carriage--there's room for me beside the coachman. Idon't mind where you take me.' At this, one of the women called to thecoachman: 'Don't let that girl get up, we won't have her.' Then theytold the toll-collector that he might keep the 100-florin note if hecouldn't give them change, if only he would let their coachman go on. Iwas horrified at such inhumanity. What a heartless woman it must be who,in such a time of peril, could refuse a fugitive girl a place in hercarriage, and who, rather than do so, preferred to sacrifice a bank-notefor 100 florins, peasant though she was! In my indignation I tore thebig muffling clout from the head of the peasant woman and discovered herface. And now my blood froze to ice. I recognised my own mother!'Mother, dear mother!' I cried, 'don't you know me? I am your own littlegirl, Bessy!' Then my mother, pulling up the collar of her mantle overher face, said, in a simulated peasant voice: 'Be off! Don't bother us!I don't know the girl. I'm not your mother. Let go my kerchief!'
[Footnote 76: The tenth part of a florin.]
"I thought I was going mad. My own mother wouldn't know me! She wouldn'tlet me get into her carriage. Like lightning the thought flashed throughmy mind that she it was whom the people were cursing so. No doubt theywere cursing her unjustly, but in such times as these that matteredlittle. Whomsoever the popular fury points out is condemned already. Icould not betray my own mother. I hastily threw my silver coin to thetoll-collector that they might let the carriage go on. I thought that ifonce we got beyond the bridge, and my mother had no further fear ofpursuit, she would take me into the carriage. So catching hold of theback part of the vehicle, I ran on beside the carriage till we had gotbeyond the trenches of the fortress and out upon the highway. Then Iagain began to supplicate, so far as my gasping voice would allow me:'Mother, dear, good mother! take me into the carriage; I am dropping. Ican go no farther.' They would not hear me. They only cursed andscolded: 'Be off! Decamp!' And when I still persisted in clinging on,they at last seized my fingers, which were still clutching the splasher,violently wrenched them off, and gave me a rough push so that I fell atfull length into the highway. Then the carriage rolled on farther.
"I had held out till then, but now my strength failed me. I trembled sothat I could no longer stand upon my legs. Utterly crushed in mind andbody by the sufferings of that terrible day, I dragged myself on myknees to the edge of the wayside ditch. My instinctive fear of deathtold me that I must avoid the middle of the road if I didn't want to betrampled to death. There then I lay clinging to a roadside poplar,gazing apathetically at the dreadful scene. The fugitive vehicles dashedmadly along the highway in threes and fours, colliding every moment. Thecursing and swearing were something awful. Every now and then oneconveyance overturned another into the ditch, and the women who weresitting in them screamed and cried most piteously. One coachman hit uponthe foolhardy idea of forcing his way through the ditch into the openfield, and others followed his example. They came so close to me as toall but run over me, and I had not sufficient strength left to draw upmy legs out of reach of their revolving wheels.
"Then the blast of trumpets mingled with the hurly-burly. A regiment ofHussars was trying to cut its way through the fugitive carriages with aconvoy of hay-waggons, which, as was explained to me later on, theCommandant of the fortress was transferring from the burning town to thevillage of Izsa across the Waag. The commanding officer was cursing andswearing, and striking all the coachmen he met with the flat of hissword for stopping his soldiers' way. 'Damned rascals! instead ofputting out the fire, you all take to your heels. What the devil is thematter with you? There's no enemy behind you! Would that the souls ofyour ancestors could revivify you!'
"The voice seemed familiar to me, but the face I had never seen before.A spiral moustache, a French beard, a Hussar uniform, and a plumedhat--I had never seen _that_ figure before.
"Thus he appeared before me like the dragon-slaying hero of a fairytale.
"Hitherto, of all those who scurried past me, not one had noticed thewretched creature lying in the ditch. Some girl or other quite pasthelp, they thought, perhaps. Nobody took any notice of me.
"This officer _did_ notice me. In the midst of the greatest turmoil heperceived a woman lying beneath his horse's feet. He hastily reined inhis charger, and called me by my name. 'My lady Elizabeth! how ever didyou come here? In Heaven's name, what has befallen you?'
"I recognised him by his mode of addressing me. There was only one manwho used to address me in this way, the man who taught me my _role_ atthose famous amateur theatricals that you remember.
"'Mr. Balvanyossi! Mr. Director!' I stammered, in my joy.
"'No, no! Captain Rengetegi is my name. Why, where is your mother? Runaway? She did well. Get up, my lady, into my carriage, and I'll take younow to a place of safety.'
"'I cannot get up.'
"Then he hastily dismounted from his horse, gave his bridle to hisorderly, went up to me, raised me in his arms, carried me to hiscarriage, and laid me down there among s
weet-smelling hay.
"I felt just as if I had been placed in Paradise.
"Then he threw his mantle over me. It was cold outside now, and a strongwind was blowing.
"But his care for me went even further than that.
"'There is food in my knapsack, lady Elizabeth. I suppose you have hadno supper to-day? Take whatever you find there. There's some drink, too,in my flask. It will do you good. You have nothing more to fear. Thefinger-pointing virgin still stands there on the bastions of ourfortress.'
"Then he mounted his horse again, and continued commanding his menloudly and authoritatively to force their way through the crush of cartsand carriages with their convoy of hay. I fancied that I saw before mean archangel.
"I didn't wait to be asked twice. As soon as I was able to get hold ofthe knapsack of victuals, I stuffed myself indiscriminately with all itcontained--ham, cake, rolls. I gorged like a wild beast broken loosefrom a menagerie. I verily believe that if my bliss in Heaven haddepended upon it, I would have renounced it for that couch of soft strawand those greedily devoured delicacies.
"When I had satisfied my appetite as I had never done before, Iunscrewed the top of the flask and put it to my mouth. I didn't tastewhat was in it, but I gulped and gulped so long as I had any breath inmy body, as much as my thirst craved. I fancy it must have been brandy.When I couldn't drink any more I looked all about me. The burning townwas a grand illumination; in the midst of it was the Calvinist churchtower--only it was now not one tower, but three. The silly thing wasdancing a _pas seul_, and wagging its head now to the right, and now tothe left, and all the people, and the horses, and the coachmen, and thehay-carts were leaping and dancing, like wedding-guests considerably theworse for liquor.
"When next day I awoke out of a twenty-hours' sleep, I found myself inthe room of a peasant's house. Two men were holding a consultation overme--the camp-surgeon and 'he.' 'How do you find yourself, ladyElizabeth? You are in my little room.'
"So ever since then I have been the lady Elizabeth."
With these words Bessy rushed to the edge of the steep rock, crossedher two hands over her breast, and looked over her shoulder at me.
"I have now told you everything, and you must judge me. You have no needto push me. Give but a signal with your finger and I'll put an end tomyself!"
Horrified, I grasped her hand, and snatched her away from the dizzyingrocky ledge.
"Do not tempt God! Be reasonable!" And, not without some little force, Imade her sit down by the hot embers.
"But do you call this _life_?"
"Come, come, calm yourself! Look, these armed men are close upon us!"
They were not gendarmes. They were two worthy foresters belonging to thedomain of the Forests of Diosgyor--a grey-bearded old man with ayouthful assistant.
No hostile intentions had brought them thither. They could see, too,that our picnic beside the fire was a very innocent diversion. In thealbum left upon the rock was my unfinished landscape.
They greeted us cordially, and I returned their greeting in like manner.I asked the elder man whether I was injuring any one's proprietorialrights by making a fire with other people's wood. If so, I said, I wouldmake good the trespass. To which the old man replied that he had noquarrel with me on that score. The stuff was there for the poor man togather, and he cited the classical German ballad in which theevil-minded forester robbed the peasant of his bundle of faggots. Hemust needs be a lover of letters, then!
Then he told us why they had come.
"We perceived the smoke from below, and knew, therefore, that there werevisitors on the Precipice Stone. We thought it our duty to come up.Wolves are about in the forest. We wished to tell you so."
"I thank you for your great kindness; but, from what I am told, wolveswill not attack a man."
"But they've become very aggressive since they discovered that theGovernment has confiscated all muskets, leaving only a pair or two withus. They avoid men in the day time, I know; but at dark or in asnowstorm they are very impudent."
"We do not intend to remain here till evening. I only wanted to finishthe drawing, for the sake of which I scrambled up hither."
"But I would call your attention, sir, to the fact that we shall have afall of snow here before night. I know the signs of the weather. Whensuch a vast mist lies over the country in the morning, and then risessuddenly, and is quickly followed by darkness, then we may expect asnowstorm the same day. That is an old experience of mine."
"We will hasten home."
"Do you live at Tordona, or at Malyinka?"
"I live at Tordona."
"God bless you, sir. I know every one there."
He didn't ask who I was. We shook hands, and with that the pair of themwent on their way.
"Was it worth while creeping into the cave for this?" said Bessy, whenthe foresters had withdrawn.
"There are men who can face a great danger and hide away from a littleone."
"And you think, then, that our friend there is a fire-eater?--I thoughtso too for a long time. It was no unexampled thing in thoseextraordinary times for men to become suddenly transformed. Those whowere looked upon as mere carpet knights became veritable heroes; lawyersbecame colonels: war has an ennobling influence on so many types ofcharacter. I really believed that Rengetegi had changed his whole naturewith his name. When others had to be aroused, there was no such oratoras he. I was absolutely proud that we belonged to each other. When theAustrian troops invested the fortress, and hurled the first bomb intothe market-place, the whole of our social life was suddenly turnedupside down. There was now no such thing as etiquette. The families ofgreat magnates left their houses (those, that is, whose houses were notburnt down already), pitched their tents in the Gipsy-field and dweltthere. The guns of the Monostor batteries did not carry so far as that.In the barracks, moral law disappeared. An officer was a great personagethen, and to walk about the streets leaning on his arm was amuch-coveted glory. Whether the lady on his arm was his wife was notthe question--he was a fine fellow, a gallant fellow. That was the mainthing. And if I met an acquaintance I introduced Rengetegi as my futurehusband. Every one knew that I had begun a suit against Muki Bagotay.But where were the courts, the advocates, the judges?--every one waseither wearing a sword or serving a gun. When people asked me where Ilived, I said 'in the fortress!' To dwell in the fortress was anenviable position. The rooms there were fire-proof. I really think thatthere were more who envied than pitied my fate. I also got familiar withthe ways of a soldier's life. They gave concerts, and I fiddled whileRengetegi declaimed. When the enemy was hurling away his bombs at thefortress, we took our band out on the ramparts, and there, with a greatflourish of trumpets, we danced _csardases_. How that did aggravate theGermans! I had a great reputation as a _raketas_[77] dancer."
[Footnote 77: Rocket-dance.]
I must frankly admit that I was not much edified by this turn in theconversation.
Bessy perceived that I was not well pleased with her doings in camp.
"Ah, my dear friend!" she said, "don't fancy by any means that thisepisode of my life consisted entirely of rioting and revelry, there wasa little intermezzo in it also. You know, of course, that, during thewinter, things at Comorn were very bad indeed. The Commandant had notthe capacity for the problem before him, which included the defence ofsuch an important fortress. The garrison was lazy and mutinous. Whispersof treachery arose, and the chief of the artillery was deprived of hispost. It was necessary to inform the Hungarian Government at Debreczinof the dangerous state of things at Comorn, and to beg for a newCommandant who should be a distinguished officer. But how was itpossible to carry a message from Comorn to Debreczin? Who wouldundertake the risky enterprise of carrying the despatch from Comorn,through so many hostile armies, and bringing back the reply to it again?They had sent one messenger already, but he had been unable to get back.It was a joke which might cost a man his head.
"One evening, Rengetegi came to my little room in the barracks, andsai
d: 'Elizabeth, the hour has come for us to part!'
"I immediately thought that he was tipsy.
"'You haven't played me away at cards, I hope?'
"'It is not you, but my own head that I have lost. I have accepted themission to Debreczin. I've run my head against a wall, I know. It's neckor nothing now. And they've pressed a thousand florins into my hand tomake the way before me quite secure.'
"'And you have lost it all at cards this evening?'
"'How did you find that out?'
"'I have made it my study. I know well those Hippocratic countenances.Well, and what are you going to do now?'
"'Save my honour! I'll go on my way without money.'
"'Listen to me! I believe that you would be very glad to get out of thisbombarded fortress--but I've no very ardent belief that you'll ever comeback again. I tell you what: give me the official despatch which has tobe taken, and I'll take care that it reaches the hands of theGovernment.'
"'But how?' inquired Rengetegi, immensely delighted.
"'That I shall not tell you. I've been turning the matter over for sometime. You have only a passive part to play here. You hide yourself inthe village of Izsa, which the enemy has not occupied, because it lieswithin the range of the guns of the fortress, and wait for me there tillI return from Debreczin with the answer of the Government.'"
"And Rengetegi actually accepted the proposal?" I inquired. I now beganto admire this woman.
"He jumped at it. He gave me soul-stirring examples of the heroic womenof history, who had gone to the wars along with their husbands.... Hevowed that if I ever returned in safety from my mission he wouldhenceforth call me 'Queen Zenobia.'
"By the evening of the same day I was ready for the enterprise. I madeRengetegi dye his hair, moustache, and beard black, so that it wasalmost impossible to recognise him."
"So that was your idea!" I cried.
"Then I stowed him away in a peasant's hut at Heteny, with strictinstructions not to emerge from his prison till I tapped at the door.Next I set to work to thoroughly disguise my own person. I was to be theleader of a gipsy band. Ah! if you could only have painted my portrait!Then, indeed, I really was lovely! I smeared my face with the juice ofgreen walnut-shells till it was so black that I could pass for a gipsyamong the gipsies themselves; I clipped my hair till it only reacheddown to my shoulders; I put on a jacket which some gentleman or otherhad worn threadbare before giving it away; hose that certainly werenever intended for me, and a shirt that had never been washed: and so Itransformed myself into as filthy a shape as ever led a wandering gipsyband."
Here I could not forbear from pressing her hand. What sacrifices willnot a woman make for her country and for her lover!
"But all this was a mere joke to what followed. I now had to gettogether a band. If they catch a gipsy alone they arrest him as a spy;but if he be one of a quartet he may go on his way rejoicing. I providedmyself with a violoncellist, a clarinet-player, and a contra-bass. Itwas easy to persuade them to quit the bombarded town, into which thegentry who had robbed them of their poor hovels had forced them to go.Bread and meat were getting dearer and dearer, and there was nothing tobe earned. Who had the heart to pay for music amidst such a frightfulcarnival?
"Thus, with my little band of three, I set out upon my long anduncertain journey on foot. Gipsies only ride in sledges when a magnatesends for them, and there was no such magnate in the whole district. Ifon our way we fell in with a cart laden with dried reeds taken out ofthe swamps for firewood, we would ask for a lift in it. But our legsnearly froze there, and we were glad to get down again and walk.
"In the very first village we came to, O-Gyalla, we fell in with adivision of the Austrian investing army, German cuirassiers. The patrolbrought us to the major in command. He was indeed a merciless personage.He roared at us, and asked us how we dared to leave the town. Wenaturally did not understand a word of German, and all four of us, intrue gipsy fashion, began to raise objections at the same time: we couldnot remain in the town, the Honveds posted us right in front of thebombs, and made us play music at the very top of the bastions; all thecannons had fired at us, and that was a thing that gipsies couldn'tstand. '_Was sagen die Spitzbuben?_' inquired the major of his auditor.The auditor understood Hungarian, and expounded unto him: 'Nix da, yourascals! You are spies, and must be searched. Come! you must undress.'I was not a little alarmed, I can tell you. Not on account of thedespatches I had with me, I had put them in a place where they couldn'tbe found; but they would discover that I was a woman, and that while myface and hands were gipsy, the rest of me was European--and then Ishould be lost. I hastily said something to the gipsies, and in aninstant they out with their instruments and rattled off _con fuoco_ thefine hymn '_Gott erhalte!_' At this the frosty face of the old martinetthawed somewhat. 'Well, well, you rascals,' said he, 'as you know what'sproper and decent, I won't have you flogged this time, but be off atonce and don't remain in the village here. You mustn't play here foranybody. Whoever has an itch for dancing just let him tell me, and I'llgive him dancing enough. There's the whipping-post!' Now theclarinet-player was a merry wag, and could not hide his light. 'Devilbless your honour,' said he, 'you pay with big bank-notes.' '_Was sagtder Karl?_' asked the major. He says, 'Gott soll segnen den grossenHerren, der zahlt mit grossen _Bank_[78]-noten!' At this his honour alsolaughed. 'But for all that you must pack yourselves off at once. Youmustn't stop till you reach Ersekuvar, but there you may play as long asyou like.' We kissed his hands and feet, and asked him to let us staythe night there. We were half frozen, we said. We had not a morsel inour stomachs: for a whole week we had only eaten ice and drunk water.But he knew no pity. They blindfolded us, packed us into a sledge, and apatrol of horse escorted us out of the village. Now, of course, it wasmy very dearest desire to get as soon as possible beyond the iron girdleby which the besieged fortress was girt about. If only he can get outinto the wide world, the gipsy has no fear of going astray. He canfiddle his way through the whole of Europe if only he gives his mind toit. And so we made our way along the Danube, from one town to the other,and enjoyed to the full all the romantic adventures of a wanderinggipsy's life which abound in winter especially."
[Footnote 78: "God bless the great gentleman, he pays with big_bang_-notes!"--a poor jest.]
"But," interrupted I, "didn't you come across Gorgey's Hungarian army,under whose protection you might have continued your journey?"
"Of course I did, but my instructions were to deliver my despatches tothe head of the Hungarian Government, and nobody else, not even to ageneral. It is true that I might have gone on farther with the gallantMagyar army, where gipsy-music is always heartily welcomed. The Honveds,too, never lose their good humour; but, on the other hand, the mainMagyar army was going towards Slavonia, whereas it was my object to getto Debreczin as soon as possible. So there was nothing for it but to gostraight through the enemy's lines till we reached the banks of theTheiss, when we could be once more in a friendly world."
"But where did you conceal the despatches?" I asked.
"I stuck them inside the belly of my fiddle. Who would break the fiddleof a poor gipsy with which he earns his daily bread? The money we earnedin one town was sufficient to hire a sledge to convey us to the next.Gipsies dwell on the skirts of every town. We made ourselves at homethere, and they never asked us whence we came; but if we werecross-examined at any place, then we lied to such a degree that thedifficulty was to find anybody to believe us. You recollect what aterrible winter it was last year?"
"I remember it very well. I was out all through it with my wife," Isaid.
"How fine it would have been had we run across each other unexpectedly.I would have played a nocturne beneath your window. Ha, ha, ha!--Thebitterest stage of the journey was from Kecskemet to the Theiss. Therelay Jellachich,[79] with all his army, occupying the towns of the greatHungarian plain one after the other. Here we had to creep through asbest we could. As for me, I had the good fortune to play every eveningbefore his Exce
llency the valiant Ban. He was very pleased with me. Withmy little band I managed to play the famous Croatian march, '_Szlava,szlava, mu, mu, mu, Jelacsicsu nas omu_,' in quite a superior manner. Ialso knew the tune of the fine 'Kolo' dance, and absolutely won hisExcellency's heart with the melodious 'Fanny Schneider' polka. I mightsay that I was really quite spoiled. There was plenty of money and wine,and, despite my black face and my predominating odour of garlic, theenthusiasm rose so high that all the officers kissed me one after theother."
[Footnote 79: The Ban of Croatia, who sided with the Austrians againstHungary.--TR.]
Bessy had no sooner uttered these words than she buried her face in herhands. Again I came to her rescue.
"Those kisses don't count; you were a man then."
"It was quite a gipsy paradise, but the mischief was we did not know howto escape from it. The chivalrous Ban told us not to try to run away,for in that case he would court-martial and shoot the lot of us. Atnight, when our duties were done, he locked us up in a little out-house,and placed an armed sentry before the door.
"One night we escaped up the chimney and over the roof of theneighbouring house; that is to say, three of us managed to get away, Iand the clarinet-player and the contra-bass. The violoncello, however,could not be got out of the chimney, and the violoncellist declared thathe would rather be stretched on the rack than leave his instrument inthe lurch. So there we left him--to pay the piper. Besides, I had nownot much need of my band; the Theiss was only a four hours' journeyoff.
"I had heard from the officers that in the willow woods of the Theiss,in the neighbourhood of the 'Szikra' inn, some Hungarian guerillas wereencamping. If only we could get among them!
"It was a good thing for us that sentinel duty was very laxly ordered inthe camp of the Ban of Croatia. At the end of the town was a _putri_, orsemi-subterranean clay hut of the kind in which field-labourers pass thenight during the summer. The soldiers who had been sent out on forepostduty were sitting in this hut, and their muskets were all leaningagainst the door. One of the gipsies said: 'Let us steal the muskets!'The other said: 'Steal your grandfather; I play with clarinets, not withmuskets.' I urged them to press forward. We were near to the sand-hills.Before us lay a savage, rugged plain, where one sand-hill followed hardupon another. Some of these hills were half hollowed out by the wind,and the hollows between them sparsely dotted with dwarf fir-trees. Aghostly region. The sides of these sand-hills were white, and thesnow-fall on the top of them was still whiter; and every tree-trunkthere is also white with its pendant branches[80] bending down beneaththe hoar-frost. We dodged up and down among these sand-hills, turningaside from the regular high road so that we might crouch down in casewe were pursued. Along the whole length of the plain the broom of thewind swept our footprints over with snow.
[Footnote 80: To-day this former waste of shifting sand-hills has beenconverted into a splendid vineyard, which the Hungarian Government hasplanted with vines from America proof against the _Phylloxera_.--JOKAI.]
"'If only we don't come across wolves!' said the contra-bass, withchattering teeth.
"'How can they be here when so many soldiers are about?' said I, by wayof encouragement.
"'Nay, but they like to prowl about camps, because carrion is always tobe found there.'
"Where the sand-hills ended, a far-extending flat began, and in thedistance was a direful-looking object, resembling a ruin. A light mistcovered the whole district, in which mist every object seemed as largeagain; the full moon shone wanly, like a huge broad halo in the mistyheavens."
Here I explained to Bessy that this district was the famous plain ofAlpar, where the ancient Magyars fought the decisive battle againstZalan, which gave them possession of the land; the ruin was the wall ofthe desert church of St. Laurence.
"Indeed! and I may add that this desert is memorable to me also. Whilewe were waddling along as fast as we could, with our short mantlesturned against the wind, the contra-bass, who was going on leisurely infront, exclaimed:
"'Devil take all these crows! Why don't they all go to sleep in thetower of the Calvinist church?'
"I inquired why the crows ought to go to sleep on the top of theCalvinist church of all places in the world.
"'Let the Calvinist crow stick to the top of the Calvinist church, andthe Papist crow to the top of the Papist church, as is meet and right,'he explained.
"I did not understand this sectarian distinction among crows, but thegipsy made it quite plain to me.
"'One sort of crow is ashen grey, another sort black. The grey sort eatsno flesh, but only grain; that is the Papist crow. The black sort liveson flesh, whether it be earthworms or fallen horse; that is theCalvinist crow, for it keeps no fast-days.'
"Then he called my attention to the fact that on the hill there straightbefore us, a whole army of crows was making a great commotion. At onemoment they rose high into the air with loud croakings, at another theydescended upon the self-same spot from which they had risen. 'There mustbe carrion,' he said.
"When we got to the top of the hill, we saw, to our great consternation,that the evil foreboding of the gipsy was correct.
"On the highway below, by the side of the ditch, lay a big black mass,the carcase of a fallen horse, and fighting over what remained of it wasa whole army of crows and ravens and five large _wolves_.
"We were about five hundred paces from the terrible beasts.
"They immediately perceived us, and, leaving the carcase, forthwithbegan scudding towards us, spurring each other on with their nasty shortsharp yelps.
"'Alas, alas! It is all up with us now!' wailed the contra-bass. 'Thewolves will eat us up.'
"Even in that hour of mortal peril the clarinetist was true to his gipsyhumour. 'Then we shall have a very queer shape at the resurrection,'said he.
"I bade them leave off wailing, and hasten to clamber up into awillow-tree, whither the monsters could not follow us.
"It was an old pollard willow, the branches of which were cut off everyyear, so that only the crown of it remained, surrounded by young shoots.I, who had never learnt the art of tree-climbing, was hoisted up by thegipsies first of all, and then they hastily scrambled up after me.
"When we had got to the top of the tree we discovered that in the middleof it was a large hole--the whole inside of the tree was hollow, andcould contain a man.
"'Leader,' said the contra-bass, 'your loss would be most serious, creepdown into that hole.' I took him at his word, and glided down from thecrown of the tree into the deep hollow trunk. First of all, however, Itied my long cotton neckerchief to a little branch, that I might be ableto hoist myself up again in case of need, for the hole in the willowwent right down to its very roots. At the side of the tree, too, closeto an old branch, there was an orifice as large as one's fist, throughwhich one could look as through an attic window.
"The five wolves were not long in arriving.
"They did not come quite near at first, but reconnoitred. Whenever oneof them sneaked up a little nearer, the clarinet-player aimed at it withhis instrument, which the wolf took for a musket. Then the beast wouldback a little and scratch up the snow with his hind legs. They say thecreature is wont to do this when he sees a man stand on the defensive;he tries to blind him with snow.
"When, however, the wolves at last discovered that we had no fire-arms,they sent up the ugliest howls, and began the siege of the willow. Theytook tremendous leaps in the air to reach the crown of the tree, but itwas too high for them.
"Then it occurred to the gipsies that they had often heard that wolveshad a strong penchant for music, and they began giving them a clarinetand fiddle concert.
"It is true that the nasty brutes left off the siege, sat round thewillow, and began to howl in concert with the music, at the same timeraising their horrid jaws towards the moon, and lashing their sides withtheir ragged brush-like tails; and for a short time I was quite amusedat the scene. But suddenly our double danger occurred to my mind.
"'Hey! gipsies
. Stop, I say! Is the devil in you? Your music will bringthe pickets of the Croats upon us, and they will flay us alive.'
"At this they stopped their music.
"This appeared to make the wolves still more savage, and now they trieda fresh stratagem.
"They had found out that the willow leaned a little to one side, andrushing at it from a little distance, they attempted to scale thesloping side of the tree. This manoeuvre was likely to have succeeded. Itwas then that I saw what a powerful beast the wolf really is, and howmuch more cunning than any species of dog. Scrambling up at full tilt,they managed to reach the crown of the willow, but there the bravecontra-bass was awaiting them, and gave them such a kick on the snoutwith his iron-heeled boots that the attacking beasts fell head overheels backwards.
"This they repeated ten or twelve times.
"And there was this remarkable circumstance about it, that every time anattacking wolf was prostrated by a kick from the gipsy, the othersrushed upon him as he fell, and worried him as if to punish him for hisfailure.
"Suddenly they left off, and went and sat down in a heap just in frontof my window. Their tongues lolled out of their panting mouths; theirhot, bestial breath rose into the cold air before me. They appeared tobe taking counsel together. The biggest of them seemed to be theirleader. If one of the younger ones yelped too much, he would snap at hisneck as if to say 'shut up!'
"At last they appeared to have hatched their stratagem. The whole lotof them got up and shuffled farther off, squinting over their shouldersall the time towards the willow-tree.
"My gipsies fancied they were saved.
"'You shall have no roast gipsy this time!' bawled the clarinet-playerafter them derisively from his sure stronghold, as he fancied it.
"All at once the wolves returned and stormed onwards like race-horses,each one being about a wolf's tail ahead of the other.
"The first of them rushed straight up the tree, and while thecontra-bass was kicking him in the head, the second wolf leaped acrossthe first wolf's back and seized the man's leg.
"I heard a despairing shriek:
"'Don't let me go, comrade!'
"The second musician tried to free his down-falling friend from the jawsof the wild beast, and in doing so lost his balance, and the pair ofthem fell down from the tree.
"What happened after that is more than I can tell you. It is enough thatI should have had to live through that mortal struggle of the twoluckless victims with those filthy brutes. How many times have I notdreamt it all over again! I believe that even if I had committed all theseven deadly sins, I should have more than expiated them all in thatawful hour. I hid my face in the crumbling rottenness of the hollowtree, that I might hear and see nothing. It seemed an eternity to mewhile the bestial howling lasted which the wolves made as they sharedtogether their accursed banquet in my very presence.
"I dared not stir, lest they might find out that I also was there. GreatHeaven! What horrors I had to endure!
"Suddenly a sort of growling and snarling began close beside me. The oldwolf was running sniffing round the hollow tree. He had discovered thatthere was still booty inside it.
"He began to scrape the earth at the root of the tree. He evidentlymeant to dig a hole beneath the tree through which he might get at me.Fortunately for me, it was not sandy soil, but stony, hard-frozen turf.He could not succeed that way.
"Then he caught sight of the hole in the side of the tree. At one time,perhaps, a branch had been sawed off at this spot, and the bark hadrotted away. The wolf began to enlarge this opening, tore it with hisclaws, and gnawed and worried the rotten wood with his grinders. He hadsoon so far enlarged the hole as to be able to stick his head into it. Isaw the green glare of his fiery eyes; I felt his stinking breath; Iheard the gnashing of his teeth. Then despair made me foolhardy. I drewmy crooked knife out of the leg of my boot, with the other hand I seizedthe wolf by the ear, and cut it off at a single twirl.
"At this the beast, with a furious howl, drew back his head from thehole, and began to howl and run away like a whipped cur. The othersfollowed after him. With the wolf's ear remaining in my hand as atrophy, I sank back against the hollow trunk; I could not sink rightdown, because the hollow space was too narrow."
I felt a cold shudder run all over me at this ghastly narrative. Bessyherself was quite exhausted.
"Alas! I am quite worn out. I tremble at the very thought of it. You arethe second person to whom I have told it. But how pale you are all atonce!"
I suppose I _had_ turned very pallid. It had suddenly flashed through mybrain that just at that very time my wife was on her journey through anuninhabited valley, and the foresters told me that wolves strayed aboutthere.
Bessy sighed deeply, raised her drooping head, and then continued herstory:--
"Thus I had freed myself from the wolves; but I was not left very longin the belief that shame at my depriving their leader of one of his earswas the cause of it. No! Wolves are not so shamefaced as all that. Atroop of horsemen was approaching from behind the sand-hills. There weresix men on horseback and one man on assback.
"One terror had been supplanted by another.
"Peering through the hole in the tree, I recognised the uniforms of thehorsemen by the light of the moon--they were Jellachich's hussars. Andthat there might be no doubt about their coming after us, I recognisedas they came near the face of the ass-rider. It was my bass-violplayer, whom I had left behind me.
"It was very easy to see what had happened. The gipsy, to save his ownskin, or, perhaps, at the flogging-post itself, had confessed that theband had come from Comorn, and was hired by me to go as far asDebreczin. Hence it was not very difficult to conclude that I was only afalse gipsy, who was carrying despatches from the beleaguered fortressto the Hungarian Government.
"The horsemen had brought the gipsy with them that he might put them onmy track. Once discovered, and I was lost.
"On the snow field, lit up by the moonlight, the scene of the hideousstruggle was plain to the newcomers. The long lines of blood, fragmentsof torn garments, a foot sticking out of a boot in the snow--Ugh! May Inever see such a sight again!
"The horsemen galloped quickly up over the crackling snow.
"The violoncellist had to dismount from his ass.
"The good creature howled and groaned from the bottom of his throat,bewailing his comrades in the gipsy tongue, and cursing the monsters whohad devoured them.
"The leader of the patrol was a sergeant. He ordered the gipsy about inCroatian, and the gipsy has the peculiar virtue of understanding what issaid to him in a language of which he is perfectly ignorant. He repliedin Hungarian.
"'Oh, woe, woe! Those accursed wolves have devoured our leader! There'shis boot! They've only left his boot. I recognise it well. He bought itonly last week at Czegled. He gave six florins for it. A brand-new boot!And this is his foot.'
"It was plain to me that the gipsy had guessed that I was hiddensomewhere, and there was enough of the gipsy in him, even amidst thegreatest horrors, to induce him to make fools of my pursuers. Hebetrayed me first of all because he couldn't help it; he saved mefinally because he _could_. He knew very well that I had given my newboots to the contra-bass. My boots were of Russian leather.
"'Look there!' cried the sergeant, and he pointed with his finger.'_Jeden, dwa! Jak sza tri?_'[81]
[Footnote 81: Croatian--"One, two! Where's the third?"]
"The gipsy swore by all that was holy that that was the third.
"'Then where's the first?'
"'That's the first, of course!'
"There was no dinning into his head the arithmetical truism that if youtake two from three one remains.
"The sergeant thereupon ordered one of the hussars to dismount from hishorse, at the same time pointing at the willow-tree with his sword,whence I concluded that he was about to examine the tree to see ifanybody was hidden in its hollow trunk.
"I now veritably believed that the time had come for me to turn mycrooked
knife against my own throat.
"All at once a crackle of musketry resounded from the brushwood, and acompany of guerilla horse dashed out, crying, 'Forward, Magyars!' TheJellachich hussars didn't see the joke of this at all, hastily turnedtheir horses' heads and galloped off in the direction of the town. Thevioloncellist also mounted his long-eared beast, and ambled gently offin a third direction midway between the two belligerents. He had nodesire to take any part in the struggle.
"The guerillas, who were numerous, sent a few volleys after the enemy,but from such a distance that the bullets couldn't possibly hit thefugitives, and then returned in triumph. Then I, hearing them speakHungarian, quickly hoisted myself up out of the hole into the top of thetree, and began so far as my hoarse voice would allow me, to give themindications of my existence.
"The gallant warriors immediately hastened to the willow-tree and helpedme down from my dangerous perch. Their leader, a handsome,chivalrous-looking young man, with a true Hungarian face, began tocross-question me, and asked me whence I came and whither I was going.Perceiving that I was among Hungarian soldiers, I frankly told them thatI had come from Comorn, and had been sent to Debreczin with despatchesfor the Hungarian Government.
"The guerilla captain was a suspicious man.
"'Oho! I daresay! That's easily said, but difficult to believe. What!confide such a mission to a gipsy! A likely tale!'
"I told him that I was no gipsy, though my face was painted so, but thatI lived at Comorn and belonged to the place.
"'Then, if you are an inhabitant, tell me if you know one Maurus Jokaithere--and what you know of him?'
"I was very pleased to answer such a question. 'I know him very well,' Isaid, 'and I can tell you this much about him, that he went to the HighSchool at Kecskemet, where he completed his legal studies--or ratherlearnt how to paint in oils from a worthy comrade of his there.'
"Without more ado he clapped his hand in mine: 'That worthy comrade ofhis was no other than myself.'
"So you see," she said, turning towards me, "you were of assistance tome, even here."
"Wasn't that old schoolfellow of mine called Jansci?" I asked.
"Yes, that's what they called him. With him was another young man, withquite a girlish face, and him they called Jozsi; he inquired about youmost particularly. When you gave your artistic representations atKecskemet, he used to play the girl's parts."
"Quite true," I said, "so it was."
"So you see I must have been there or I should have known nothing aboutthese things. The guerillas told me all about it as they took me withthem. They were very attentive. One of them gave me his mantle, anotherlet me mount his nag, and so they took me to the 'Szikra' inn, wherethey made me drink punch with them, regaled me with veal, and then mademe a bed on the straw with their mantles that I might sleep off myexhaustion. The Jellachich hussars gave us no trouble. They could notcome back till morning, when the whole regiment would doubtless turn outto capture the guerillas, who would, by that time, be on the other sideof the Theiss. The sledges were all ready to start, and would scour backacross the frozen river at the first signal to Czibakhaza, where werethe foreposts of the Hungarian army under Damjanich.
"But for a long time I could not sleep. Constantly before my eyesflitted the horrible death-struggle between the two unhappy men and thewild beasts, and amidst the howling and shrieking resounded the gay songof the guerillas:
'The hut's ablaze, the rush-roof crackles, Press thy brown maid to thy breast!'
In my dream this tune was mingled with the howling of the wolves, and atone moment the wolves were singing, 'The hut's ablaze,' and at anotherthe Croats were howling at the gipsies sitting on the branch. Towardsmorning I was awakened by two cannon-shots. I rejoiced to be deliveredfrom my spectres. The lieutenant of the guerillas hurried me into thesledge, as a regiment of hostile horse was approaching from Kecskemet.
"It took us ten minutes to dash across the frozen Theiss. On theopposite bank the foreposts of the Honveds were encamping. The businessof the guerillas was to harass the enemy, capture their forage waggons,and then bring word of their movements to the main army.
"They took me straight to General Damjanich.[82]
[Footnote 82: Made Commander-in-chief of the 3rd Hungarian Army Corps inconsequence of his brilliant exploits at Alibunar and Lagerdorf; heannihilated Karger's brigade at the great battle of Szolnok, and waselected to represent that town in the Hungarian Diet. After freshexploits he was made War Minister, and, after the war, wascourt-marshalled at Arad by the Austrians and shot. He had not themilitary genius of Gorgey perhaps, but as a general of division wasadmirable.--TR.]
"I was now no longer obliged to keep my despatch hidden, so I split upmy fiddle, took out of it the documents that were gummed to it, andtheir production was my best credentials.
"The approving, smiling glance of the powerful, heroic-looking General Ishall never forget. At the sight of him I quite forgot that I waspersonating a man, and would have liked to have fallen down before himand kissed his hand. Indeed, I was so agitated that I could not utter aword.
"The General filled a little glass full of _szilvorium_.[83] 'Drink, myson!' said he, 'it will loosen your throat.'
[Footnote 83: A spirit made from plums.]
"My throat was hoarse; I had a voice as deep as a man's. I told him Ihad come from Comorn, and I was sent to Lazar Meszaros, the WarMinister.
"'You will seek old Koficz[84] in vain at Debreczin, my son, he commandsthere no more. So you Comorn folks don't know what's going on outside,eh? Another is at the head of the War Department now. I will give you aletter of introduction to him.'
[Footnote 84: This Hungarian War Minister had said in one of his reportsthat the motions of the Opposition in the Diet would turn to nothing but_Koficz_ (_i.e._, water-gruel). The name stuck to him everafter.--JOKAI.]
"Then he sat down and wrote me a couple of lines to a General with aGerman name, which is expressed in Hungarian by the word _Bacsi_.[85]
[Footnote 85: Cousin.--Vetter was the General in question.]
"He said, while he was writing this letter, that this General with aGerman name was the life and soul of our military organization.
"Then, by the General's command, I received a nice clean Honved uniform(I had to retain my brown countenance for some time longer), and besidesthat I had an open passport enjoining upon all to give me every facilityto reach Debreczin as quickly as possible.
"On the evening of the following day I arrived at Debreczin, and ondescending from my sledge, proceeded at once to the General's. He was amild, soft-featured gentleman, with a close-clipped beard andmoustache. He didn't even wear a General's uniform. Nobody would haveguessed his rank from the look of him. After reading through my letterof introduction, he looked me straight and sharply in the face.
"'You are Captain Tihamer Rengetegi, eh?'
"If I had only been intent on my own interest, I might have told himquite frankly that I had no right either to the name or the uniform of asoldier; but how could I betray my faithful consort who was smuggledaway in the hovel at Heteny?
"'Yes, General, I am.'
"'Who made you captain?'
"'The War Minister.'
"'For deeds of valour?'
"'During the siege of Vienna I twice carried despatches through thebesieging camp from the Hungarian Government to General Bem.'"
Here I intervened: "That is not true; I know very well through whom theHungarian Government got those despatches."
"Anyhow, my friend boasted of it as his own deed," said Bessy; afterwhich she resumed her narration.
"'Good!' said the General; 'now give me the despatch.'
"The information was written in a secret cipher.
"'I must decipher this first. There will be a meeting to-night of theCommittee of National Defence. Early to-morrow morning you will appearbefore me. Now go to the "White Horse." Speak to nobody. Keep yourroom!'
"Nevertheless, an hour afterwards he sent for me.
"He led me into his inner room, for he allowed himself the luxury of adouble-roomed apartment at Debreczin. Two other ministers, Paul Nyaryand Joseph Patay, were not so fortunate. They had to be content with adouble room between them.
"The General was now very gentle with me. He made me sit down at table,and poured me out some tea. He offered me a cigar too, and although Iought not to have done so, I lighted it. It nipped my tongue a gooddeal, but I had to show them that I was a man.
"Then he made me tell them how I had got out of the fortress, and how Ihad forced my way through the hostile camp. My relation made a greatimpression. When I was dismissed, they pressed my hand and assured methat my good and boldly executed service should be rewarded. Theyfurther commanded me to come to them early the next day.
"I appeared next day at his headquarters in full parade, and theyadmitted me before any one else.
"Again they made me sit down in the inner apartment, and drew the boltbefore the door of the outer room.
"Stretched out on the table was a large military map which embracedUpper Hungary and Galicia. 'You have brought very important informationwith you from Comorn,' said he, in a low voice. 'Considering the timewhen you set out, you have arrived here with astonishing rapidity. Youmust now take the reply back, which will contain the directions of theCouncil of War and the appointment of the new Commandant, who will begazetted to-night. Can you make your way back to the fortress with thisdespatch?'
"'I'll try.'
"'You must get back without fail. What's your plan?'
"'To go back by the same road in the same manner and the same disguiseis impossible. The wolves tore two of my comrades to pieces, the Croatscaptured the third, and as he may have confessed everything, they wouldrecognise me at once if I appeared before their eyes as I am now.Besides, there is no conceivable reason why gipsies should wish to leavethe open plain in order to get into a bombarded town. This despatch canonly be conveyed to Comorn by a woman who is _obliged_ to go there onsome unimpeachable business, and is provided with an Austriansafe-conduct.'
"The General clapped his hands together in amazement.
"'And do you know of any woman who would undertake such a thing?'
"'Certainly I do.'
"'Where? What's her name?'
"'That's my secret, General. The difficulty of getting into the fortressis also very much increased by the fact that the appointment of RichardGuyon as the new Commandant has already become generally known.'
"The General leaped furiously from his seat.
"'Who, then, has made this public?'
"'It is here in the official gazette,' I replied, drawing out of mypocket that morning's issue of the _Kozlony_.
"The General tugged his short moustache still shorter.
"'Well, well! I see that we Magyars have yet to learn the art of keepinga secret. The enemy knows it now, but the Comorn folks do _not_ knowit.'
"'I have already hit upon a good idea of enabling the mandate of theCouncil of War to reach their hands.'
"'By a carrier-pigeon or a balloon, I suppose?'
"'A foreign passport is necessary for my plan.'
"'That you shall have--an English passport _vised_ by the Embassy. Inwhose name?'
"'In the lady's.'
"'Then you must give us the lady's name.'
"Then I gave him my real name as the lawful wife of Muki Bagotay.
"'And you? Will you get into the fortress?'
"'Possibly, as that lady's coachman--possibly not at all; but thedespatch will get in, anyhow.'
"'And how will this lady of yours manage to hide the despatch? I cantell you beforehand, that even if your lady were provided with asafe-conduct from the Princess Windischgratz[86] herself, and so gotright through the hostile camp into the invested fortress, the Austrianswould indeed welcome her most courteously; but they would at the sametime say to her: "Would your little ladyship be so good as to step intothat side-chamber; there you will find a complete set of lady's clothes,would you be so kind as to put them on--if they are a little moreabundant than your own, that doesn't matter? The toilet you have broughtwith you may remain here, down even to the shoes and stockings; wheneveryou like to come back again, you can re-exchange your clothes." For theyknow that it is possible to write on chemises with invisible ink andreproduce the writing by means of chemical re-agents. It is alsopossible for the heels of your boots to have secret openings, in which aletter written on straw-paper might be inserted. They might also retainthe comb with which you fasten up your hair, for a valuable messagemight be written thereupon in microscopic letters.'
[Footnote 86: The wife of the Austrian Commander-in-chief.--TR.]
"'All this they may do if they like, and yet this lady of mine willconvey the despatch into the fortress.'
"'I should like to know her secret.'
"''Tis a very simple one. She will learn the whole despatch by heartfrom beginning to end.'
"The General began to laugh.
"'Oho ho! My dear friend, you don't suppose that we would entrust ourcouriers with a despatch in good Hungarian for the enemy to snap it upon the way, and thus learn all about our military operations. It mayalso be deliberately betrayed. In the times in which we now live men arequick enough to discover excuses for _changing their saddles_. Thisdespatch contains all our secrets: where we are strong, where we areweak, where we want to assume the offensive, where we are obliged tostand on the defensive. Such a despatch would be worth 200,000 florinsto the enemy at the very least.'
"'I can assure you, General, that neither I nor this lady will betrayit.'
"'You couldn't if you would, for the whole despatch is in cipher. Takeit, and look at it. Do you understand a word of it? Can any one possiblylearn it by heart?'
"The writing which he placed in my hand was composed of a jumble ofletters grouped into words--characters whose contents could scarcely becalled language at all. I nevertheless assured the General that thislady of mine would learn the despatch off by heart all the same.
"''Tis impossible.'
"'Nothing is impossible. Once, when we were actors ...'
"'Then you were actors? And this lady was an actress too, eh?'
"'Yes. Once our whole company went to Eszek, and there we acted a wholepiece in the Croatian tongue without understanding a word of itsmeaning. A man is like a starling. If he repeats a thing a hundred timesit remains in his head although he does not understand it.'
"'Look here, then! Read but two lines of this despatch a hundred timesover, half an hour will do, and see if it remains in your head.'
"I consented. A quarter of an hour had not yet elapsed when I said thatI was ready. I gave the General the despatch back again, and asked forink and paper. And then slowly, meditatively, I wrote down the contentsof those two lines letter by letter.
"'You've got a marvellous headpiece,' said the General, in amazement.'And has that lady of yours just such a marvellously retentive capacityas you have?'
"'Just the same.'
"'Then I consider the stratagem as feasible.'"
Here I could not help leaping to my feet. "What!" cried I, "you actuallyundertook to learn by heart a whole despatch written in cipher?"
"No, my sweet friend! I won't deceive you as I deceived that other man.The whole thing was a delusion. The cryptograms which reached theCommandant of the fortress were entrusted to Rengetegi, that he mightunpod them with a secret key. He communicated this key to me. One hadonly to know a single word whose consecutive letters repeat all thecharacters of the alphabet in different series. The whole thing onlyrequired a little calculation; there was no need to rack one's brainsabout it. With the assistance of the secret key I first of alldeciphered the cipher, and then I retransferred it into its originalrigmarole."
"But are you aware," I interrupted, "that if the General had found youout, he would have had you shot on the spot?"
"I suspected as much. But he suspected nothing. He was really a good,worthy man. He said that things
being as they were, he could safelyconfide the despatch to my hands.
"After that he pointed out to me on the military map the route I oughtto take through Galicia, by which I should possibly avoid falling inwith the enemy's squadrons. My passport in the name of Madame JanosBagotay he filled up with his own hand. I begged him to leave a blankspace for the personal description of my travelling companion.
"When this was ready he gave me a portfolio full of Austrian bank-notes,besides a hundred louis d'ors and a handful of silver money.
"Then he pressed my hand, and said: 'The last line of this despatchannounces the promotion of Captain Rengetegi to the rank of major.'"
At this both Bessy and I laughed heartily, and then she merrily resumedher story as follows:--
"My return journey was in a much more lordly fashion. Everywhere relayswere waiting for me. In a couple of days I reached Vienna. While stillin Comorn, I had learnt that my mother had gone there for refuge, andstill kept up her intimacy with a certain high official in the Imperialarmy. He was in the service of the War Minister there. It was notdifficult to find him. I will leave you to picture to yourself the sceneof our meeting. My mother loves acting, but she is a bad player, shenever knows her part. She would have liked to have cried and faintedwhen I came rushing in, but she got no further than sobbing. I was allthe better able to play my part. I hastened to excuse her for herbehaviour at our last meeting. I took all the blame on myself. I oughtto have remembered, I said, that it was not the proper thing to cling onto my mother's carriage when the infuriated populace was seeking herlife. Then I went on to the motive of my coming there. The HungarianGovernmental Commission at Comorn had ordered that every Austrianbank-note which could be laid hands upon was to be burnt in the middleof the market-place. My mother had 40,000 florins in bank-notes, whichthe Orphanage Fund had retained from my patrimony. This amount had beenlent out to various persons at interest. These persons, as soon as theyheard of the order of the Governmental Commission, had hastened todeposit their German bank-notes--not in the fortress, but in the townbank, that they might at least get back their securities; and thus itwas _our_ money that would be burnt. That was why I had come at such abreak-neck pace, I said. If my mother would give me a power of attorneyfor the purpose, I would immediately return, and as I had greatinfluence with the Commandant, I would so manage that our money insteadof being burnt should be handed over to me. After that I would settlewith my mother. She also had money locked up there which I would gethanded over to me.
"This proposition made an impression.
"I had already informed my mother by letter of all this whencommunications were freer than now, but she, as all nervous people dowith their letters, the moment she recognised my handwriting in theaddress, put it away without opening it. She fancied it was full ofmaudlin penitence. Now, however, when I called her attention to thisletter, she took it out and opened it, and almost fainted with terrorwhen she saw the annexed official communication of the GovernmentalCommission, and learnt therefrom that the term fixed for the bonfire ofthe Austrian bank-notes would be reached in three days.
"Then there was such a scampering to her good friend the high official,and to all sorts of high commanding officers, in order to procure for mea safe-conduct; then she got me a power of attorney neatly written out,by means of which I could reclaim her money, and then she said: 'Now,don't wait a moment, my darling girl, but jump into a fiacre and gallopoff to Comorn.'
"I found my journey back much freer from obstacles than my coming away.The self-same major of cuirassiers who would have had me flogged as agipsy leader was now full of courtesy towards me. After reading myletter of introduction, in which the object of my journey was mentioned,he could not have the slightest doubt that I was about purely privatebusiness which was very pressing. He did not even have me searched. Icould have smuggled into the fortress anything I liked.
"When I had passed through the besieging lines, I turned off from thehighway in the direction of Heteny, that I might seek out my captive.
"After the first delights of meeting each other again were over, I toldhim the whole story which I have just been telling you. I must say thatI had a much more appreciative audience than you are. At the sensationalscenes, he flung himself on the ground ... and with folded, upliftedhands implored the wolves not to devour me. He swore that if he caughtthe Ban of Croatia he would dance the life out of him for making mefiddle so unmercifully. When I dictated to him the despatch I had learntby heart, by means of the secret key, the last lines of which containedhis promotion to the rank of major, he exclaimed, with an irresistibleburst of grateful emotion: 'My Queen! my Zenobia!' I had made him amajor; he made me a queen. We were quits.
"'And now let us hasten to the fortress,' I said, 'for I have urgentbusiness there. I want to save my property. Our house has been burntalready; if our money is burnt too, we shall be beggars.' This made himhasten.
"'I must, however,' said he, 'devise something to round off myexpedition, something of the quality of a heroic deed.'
"And by the time we reached the fortress he _had_ devised something.
"The return of the courier with the despatch of the HungarianCommander-in-chief created an extraordinary sensation in the fortressand spread even to the town. The Commandant immediately proclaimed thatCaptain Tihamer Rengetegi had been promoted to the rank of Major by theHungarian War Minister for extraordinary services.
"A banquet in honour of the returning hero followed. All the officerswere present. The ladies also took part in it. I was there too. Neverhad I seen Balvanyossi (I beg his pardon, Rengetegi) play his part in somasterly a manner as on that evening. He was the gipsy leader who, withthree others, fiddled his way right through every hostile camp. And whatamusing adventures befell him on the road! I believe he laid undercontribution every book of gipsy anecdote that was ever published. Andwhen he came to that ghastly scene with the wolves--that was indeed adrastic description. The reality was nothing like so horrible as hisaccount of it. The ladies swooned, the men were horror-stricken, only Iwas inclined to laugh. And when the guerillas turned up, how valiant myRengetegi became all at once! He took horse and started off in pursuitof the cuirassiers. (To him they were cuirassiers!) It would have beenbeneath his dignity to have chased mere hussars.... By way of climaxcame the splendid description of how he cut his way through thebesieging host. In the dark night, amidst a blinding blackness ofmidnight snow-storm, he cut his way on horseback through the Austrianforeposts, leaping over trenches and earth-works, with the bulletsskimming about his ears right and left. His horse was shot dead beneathhim, but ever equal to the occasion, he hastily fastened on his skates,and skated with the rapidity of lightning over the frozen Zsitva and theCsiliz, and two other rivers the names of which I never heard of before.Thus at last he reached the fortress. Every one was enchanted with thenarration. The ladies rose _en masse_ and kissed him, and improvised alaurel-wreath for his brows out of muscatel leaves.
"To save appearances, I also went up to him that I might condole withand congratulate him upon all the exploits and sufferings he had gonethrough, when all at once my friend turned quite stiff and rigid, gaveme a cold bow, pursed his lips, and turned up the whites of his eyes.
"'Madame!' said he, 'I have a word or two to say to you also. Wherewere you, may I ask, while I was jeopardizing my life a hundred timesevery day for my country? Can you tell me how you were occupying yourdays all this while?'
"I was confounded. Language died away on my lips. The blood rushed to myface. I felt that every one was now looking at me. Naturally nobody inComorn had seen me all this time.
"'If what the world whispers turns out to be true, and you have in themeantime been to Vienna--but no! I will not believe it.'
"His magnanimity offended me even more than his indictment.
"'What is it to you whence I come or whither I go?' I replied, turningmy back upon him and beginning to talk to the young officers, like onewho has nothing to be ashamed of.
"Shor
tly afterwards I quitted the banqueting-room. I hadn't reached theend of the long pavilion corridor in the fortress when Rengetegi camerunning after me.
"'What on earth possessed you to calumniate and accuse me before thewhole company,' I said to him, 'just as if I were a traitor, or I don'tknow what?'
"'Tsitt! Zenobia, my Queen. Let us understand each other. It was in yourown interest that I had to feign jealousy and rage. Let us go into myroom and I'll explain everything.'
"When we were alone together he locked the door and then explainedthings nicely.
"'It concerns your money.'
"'Aha!'
"'Amidst all this laudation, appreciation, and ovation, and all theother flummery, I did not lose sight of the _main chance_. I told theGovernor privately that if he wished to reward me in any way, he mightdo me the favour not to give to the flames the property deposited in thebank to the credit of the damsel who was so near to my heart, but allowme to bring it back to her. The austere patriot was as inexorable asBrutus. "Never!" said he. "We will burn what we have laid hands upon,even though it were the property of my own father. We can make noexception. What would those poor devils say whose paltry ten or twentyflorins we surrender to the flames of the _auto-da-fe_ if we allowed theforty or fifty thousand florins of the rich to fly away? Burn theyshall!" This he said with a very wrathful voice. Then he added in amilder tone: "However, I'll confide the burning of them to you."'
"Now I began to understand.
"'A quarrel between us therefore has become an absolute necessity. Wemust fly into a rage with each other. The _auto-da-fe_ will take placein a couple of days. The bonfire will be in the centre of the publicsquare. I shall throw the bundles of bank-notes one by one among thespluttering faggots. You must be close by the booths of thebread-sellers, and break out into curses. You remember the cursingscene from _Deborah_? Very well, it may be useful. After the_auto-da-fe_ there must be a lively scene between us. We must cast ourmutual souvenirs at each other's feet. I'll throw at you the embroideredcushion which you worked for my birthday, and inside it will be themoney belonging to you and your mamma which I have rescued. Then be offas quick as you can to Vienna.'
"'But how about the packet that you have to burn?'
"'Leave that to me; a few copies of the _Comorn News_ will give everybit as brisk a flame.'
"Everything happened according to his instructions. I saved ourproperty, and you must admit that my friend and I displayed considerableprudence on this occasion. We did nobody any wrong: I only recoveredwhat was my own.
"Then we fell out together publicly, as preconcerted. My friendRengetegi played Othello in a masterly manner. Then as our acquaintancescould not succeed in reconciling us, we solemnly separated and I wentback to Vienna.
"On the way back I again fell in with the Austrian major. I showed himthe money I brought with me, naturally without letting him know how Icame by it. He became so friendly as even to entrust me with a letter toan old acquaintance of his in Vienna, who was none other than mymother's colonel....
"You may imagine the friendly reception which awaited me when Ireturned to Vienna and gave my mother her money. She folded me in herarms, covered me with kisses, bedewed me with tears, and called me herdarling child. What still remained to me of my patrimony, about 40,000florins, I placed in the Vienna savings-bank. The rest of my dower wasin the hands of Muki Bagotay, with the exception of what we spent whilewe lived together. This also I contrived to get back again--but how?
"In the spring, when the fortune of the war changed, Comorn wasrelieved, and I hastened off home again. I told my mother that I wasurgently bent upon building up again our burnt house--only the roof hadbeen burnt off, the walls remained standing. She approved of myresolution, and was very proud of having such a sensible andenterprising daughter. I immediately set about rebuilding our house,taking advantage of the time which elapsed from the raising of the firstto the beginning of the second siege. During my stay at Vienna I movedcontinually in military circles, and I saw quite plainly what wascoming. But why reopen my wounds? All my illusions were over. I hadlearnt to know my hero at close quarters, behind the scenes, I mightsay. This 'lord of creation' used to whine before his tailor for arespite with his account till next pay-day, and immediately afterwardswould ascend his triumphal car drawn by captive kings and declaim to thepopulace of conquered Constantinople. But in one particular thing MajorRengetegi really extorted my admiration, I mean by his strategicalscience."
"Ah!" cried I.
"You may well say 'ah!' I have read the campaigns of Napoleon I., I haveread the campaigns of Charles XII., but in none of them could I discoverso many ruses of war as my hero invented in order to triumphantly solvethe problem--how a man in his capacity of superior officer mayconstantly be taking part in the most ticklish skirmishes withoutallowing his person to get into the way of any wandering bullet. Healways knew how to hit upon some mission whereby he might manage toskedaddle out of danger. And if I now and then fluttered the red rag of_self-esteem_ before his eyes, he would reply: 'I have duties towardsart; if they shoot away half my leg, how shall I be able to act on thestage again?' Yet, when the battle was over, who so great a hero as he!Others only mowed down the enemy, he thrashed them afterwards with aflail. 'Tis a dreadful thing when a woman discovers that her hero is ahabitual liar, lying with the fiery burning conviction that no man willdare to doubt him, so that she has to make him swear to the truth ofevery word he utters.
"Meanwhile, I continued my house-building. Every sort of buildingmaterial was very dear, and there was plenty of money too. Whence didall this money come? I'll tell you. The Russian hosts had alreadyinvaded the kingdom. The speculator-species perceived that the nationalcause was declining. The Hungarian armies were everywhere falling back.Then Klapka, by a brilliant victory, raised the second siege of Comornand was within an ace of capturing the besieging host. The region wasinstantly alive with people, and a whole series of triumphs followed oneafter another. And now there flocked to Comorn from every part of thekingdom quite a tribe of panic-stricken speculators and jobbers, withbags full of Hungarian bank-notes, and bought everything that was forsale, at whatever price the sellers liked to ask. My Muki also tookadvantage of this lucky period to regulate his finances. He sold hisherds at four times their real value, and paid the price, in Hungarianbank-notes, into the deposit bank at Comorn. It was my dowry paid back,he said. The bank hastened to place the amount in my hands; and Ihastened to satisfy therewith my architects and builders, who did notlet the money stick to their hands.
"Doesn't this remind you of the round game we used to play as children,when we lit a straw, and, sitting in a circle, passed it round from handto hand; whoever was the last to hold it till the fire burned his hands,him we used to thump unmercifully--that was the forfeit? Just such aburning straw was the dowry paid back to me by my husband. The roof ofmy father's house was the straw end which remained in my hands. Theamount which I deposited in the Vienna bank is all I have left in theworld--except Tihamer Rengetegi. But not even he has remained mine, forhe has changed into Balvanyossi. And now here we are together. Theplaying of a common part unites us. From morn to eve every word we sayto one another is a lie. It is not even true that any one is pursuingRengetegi, for at the capitulation of Comorn he received hissafe-conduct which guarantees his life and liberty. That is not whatdistresses him. But he wishes to deny the whole part he played duringthe Revolution, that as Balvanyossi, the theatre-director, he may getthe necessary concession. He is continually urging me to go to Miskolczto the Government Commissioner and settle the business for him."
"I understand."
"No, you don't. It is none of those interventions which we see inromances and dramas, when a pretty woman goes to move a mighty tyrantwith her tears, and sacrifice her charms to him as the price of the lifeand liberty of her persecuted husband. Oh no! my hero is no plagiarist!His ideas are all original. He wants me to go to the mighty gentlemanand tell him that the Debreczin expedition, which has giv
en rise to thewhole of this heroic poem, is not his '_crime_,' but mine. I was thegipsy leader who played before the Ban Jellachich, and then escaped. Itwas I who carried the despatch to the Hungarian Government. In a word: Iam to sacrifice myself on his account!"
"Fie! fie! And still you love this man!"
"What am I to do? I have nobody but him in the wide world; and besides,he is such a droll, amusing character. All day long we are eitherfighting or frolicking, and it is this variation which makes life socharming."
But for all that, she flung herself on the ground and hid her face inthe green moss. She was in such a good humour!
"Sha'n't we give our friend a signal to come out of his hole?"
"He is quite comfortable--don't disturb him."
"I wonder you don't hit upon the very obvious idea of putting an end tothis pantomimic game of hide and seek. You have a foreign passport. Youcould enter your friend in it under some such description as major-domoor travelling companion. You could take him with you to Naples or toParis, and you could live without care on the interest of the funddeposited at the Vienna bank."
"I know that."
"Then why not do it?"
"Because I don't choose."
And as she said this she looked strangely at me with her enigmaticallymysterious eyes, in which heaven and hell were blended together likestarlight in darkness!