by Mór Jókai
THE TWO BRIDES.
Some years ago, there lived in Szolnok a widow with her two daughters.It was a long time since the lady had been made a widow, and yet shestill wore her weeds; and every year she grew paler and weaker, as shedrew nearer to her husband's grave. But two sweet buds still blossomedbeside the withered stem; and Ilka and Aniko grew more and more lovelyas their bridal-day approached,--for they each wore betrothal rings,and their young bridegrooms were noble, handsome, and generous youths.They were both in the army; and though far from their native land,every month brought a letter from each, full of affection and of hope.It was now two months, however, since news had come. "They are surelycoming home themselves," said Ilka and Aniko, and there was comfort inthe thought.
* * * * *
It was the last day of the year--that day of thanksgiving for thepast, and hope for the future, which we love to pass in the midst offriends and family, while many a national song and warm greeting areexchanged, as the bowl passes round the hospitable board.
But the last day of 1848 saw no wassail bowl in Szolnok, no hospitablemeetings to hail the new-born year.
All day and through the night the whistle of the train was heard, asit came and went incessantly; and the arrivals and departures beingat uncertain hours, the terminus was crowded with people wearinggloomy and anxious countenances, while the new-comers gazed perplexedaround them, ignorant whither to turn in the confused and unknowntown.
Beyond the terminus, heavy baggage-carts had overturned numerousunclaimed wares; while, farther off, uncovered waggons stood about,and great guns, chests bearing the Government seal, arms, vessels, andarticles of clothing, lay strewn unheeded all around.
Again the train came in with cold and anxious passengers, while outerspressed into the vacant seats; and many who had waited all day invain, finding no places, were obliged once more to return weary anddisconsolate.
Armed and official men alighted from the nearest coaches, and againthe terminus was crowded. Women closely veiled and muffled, paletrembling girls, and little children were there also, taking a hurriedfarewell, or waiting anxiously for expected friends and relatives; andmany were the unheeded inquiries--an hundred questions put for everyanswer.
And now the train was filled with military, whose wild songs chimedstrangely with the noise of the machinery.
Meanwhile, all was hurry and confusion within the town: eachindividual seeming occupied by his especial grievances--each feltalone among the thousands who surrounded them. The new-comers wentfrom house to house, asking lodgings and warmth from inmates morewretched than themselves. Powerful magnates, whose palaces had beenscarcely large enough for their numerous guests and retinues, wereglad to find shelter on the earthen floor of a reed cottage; whileancient enemies, whose feuds had made a kingdom too small to containthem, now shared their broken fortunes in one room; and high-bornmaidens, accustomed to every refinement, received with thankfulnessthe benches proffered by strangers, who found a scarcely harder bedupon the earthen floor.
On the other side of Szolnok, numerous vehicles pursued their coursein long unbroken lines, moving with difficulty on the frozen unevenroads, and filled with men, women, and children--cold and anxietydepicted in every countenance. Whole caravans passed on foot, inmiserable clothing, carrying empty sacks, and followed by carts loadedwith iron machines and broken weapons, on the tops of which women andchildren lay huddled together in blankets and rugs. One or twonoblemen's caleches, with the windows drawn up, were obliged to followslowly in the rear of these creaking machines, which the badness ofthe roads, or the steep banks, made it impossible to pass.
Thus closed the last day of the old year, and the first day of the newwas a weary repetition of similar scenes.
The trains moved again all day and all night, bringing more anxiousand gloomy countenances, baggage, coaches, and cannon. Those who hadarrived yesterday hastened on to-day, while the fresh comers againsought shelter from house to house, and the lingerers still awaitedthe next coaches--searching in vain for relatives, or friends, ortrunks.
On the opposite side of the Theiss, the carriages of the fugitivesseemed to have no end. Here and there a few mat-covered vehicles mightbe seen, where a mother, hastening to join her husband's flight, hadbrought her infant in its cradle; but the rest being mostly uncovered,were exposed to the chill blast and the drifting snow, which seemed toturn every face to stone.
Travellers were seen crossing the inhospitable waste from morning tillnight, and all night again till morning; while the little inns, at thedistance of a day's journey on the puszta, were empty and deserted.
Troops of riders, and heavy cannon, pursued their doubtful path amongthe hills, or, stopped up by the snow, were obliged to remainstationary till chance should bring them assistance, or they shouldperish in the cold.
And so it continued on the second, third, fourth, fifth day; on thesixth the movement ceased, and all was silent. The train brought onlyone or two passengers--taciturn and moody, like the rest. Clerks andofficials left their places and retired; the lingerers took theirlonely and sad way home; and the cannon, chests, and baggage, whichhad not hitherto been removed, were left on the roads to the care offate.
* * * * *
The last fugitives had left the town with break of day: all was calm,silently awaiting the mysterious future.
Towards noon, the beating of drums and the sound of the trumpetannounced the entrance of the Hungarian army. The troops had an hour'srest, and received a hearty welcome from citizens who willingly sharedtheir last morsel with the national guards, after their manyvicissitudes, and days and nights of hardship and privation.
A hussar officer rode up to the widow's house. He was a handsome,slender youth, whose raven hair and moustache formed a strikingcontrast to the olive paleness of his complexion. He wore a doublegold cord on his crimson csako, and his breast was already decorated.As he entered the house his dark eye flashed with pleasure, and allhis efforts to be serious could ill restrain a smile.
That smile betrayed him!
"Gejza!" exclaimed the widow and her daughters together; and thenthere was a rush, and a mutual embrace--the first affectionate, thenext playful, and the last long and warm.
"I knew you would come," whispered Ilka, as he pressed her again andagain to his heart. "How long will you stay with us?"
"As long as we remain in Szolnok."
"And how long will that be?"
"Perhaps an hour."
"Only one hour! And when will you return?"
"Perhaps soon, perhaps--never."
Ilka clung weeping to her lover's neck, who drew her still closer tohis heart.
The other sister now approached, and gently chiding Ilka's tears, sheasked in a low, tremulous voice: "Where is Laszlo?"
"He will be here this evening, I believe."
"Why did he not come with you?"
The hussar hesitated. "I am retreating, but he is pursuing."
The colour left the young girl's cheek.
"He joined the cuirassiers," continued Gejza, "about two months ago,and now--we are in opposite ranks."
The sisters looked at each other in consternation.
"_You_ fight against each other!" exclaimed Ilka; "my bridegroomagainst my sister's!--O merciful Heaven!"
"And did you not think of us, then?" said Aniko.
"It is the soldier's fate, my friends: he may love, and be happy; butwhen the trumpet sounds he must forget love and happiness, and thinkonly of stern duty."
"Ah, Gejza! you must not fight against each other; we must gain one ofyou over to join the other."
"It cannot be, my friends; I know Laszlo well, and he is what I am. Asoldier's place is beside his standard: whereever that leads he mustfollow--be it to death, or against his own brother."
"And if you should meet upon the field?"
"It nearly happened a short time ago. In the skirmish of Teteny wewere scarcely fifty paces apart, when
we recognised each other. Hesuddenly turned his horse's head, I did the same--we both soughtanother enemy; and when the battle was over, both our swords were red.It is the soldier's fate!"
"And could you have killed him?"
"Far rather die myself; and therefore I do not love the sword--I likethe cannon much better. Those soldiers are far happier; they never seethe faces of those they kill, or hear their dying groans. More thanonce, when the madness of glory has made my brain giddy, I have heardmy name repeated by the enemy I had cut down--calling to me, 'Thanks,comrade!' as he fell from his horse; and I have recognised some oldschool-fellow, or some officer who had left our own regiment. Andthen, when I am alone, that 'Thanks, comrade' always"--
The trumpet sounded before the window. It was the call to march.
The hussar took leave: a short word, a long kiss, a tear hastilybrushed aside, and the next moment he was on his impatient charger,and neither the tear nor the kiss were to be traced on his calmcountenance.
Again the trumpet sounded--the troop marched forward, whitehandkerchiefs waved from the widow's window--an hour afterwards,Szolnok was once more deserted and silent.
Towards evening, the sound of martial music was again heard; helmetsand cuirasses gleamed in the setting sun. It was the imperial army,well clothed and mounted, and in perfect order. Their troops formed astriking contrast to those which had passed in the morning, who weredejected by want and suffering.
A young cuirassier had quartered himself in the widow's house; he wasthe gayest officer in his regiment, and more particularly now, as thebridegroom of one of the two fair sisters.
Unlike the young hussar, there was no sadness in his tone; and when hecould think of aught but Aniko's bright eyes, victory shone in hisglance--for he loved his profession, and was ready to shed his bloodor win laurels of glory for it.
"Do not fear, sweet friend!" he exclaimed, seeing Ilka turn away withtearful eyes to weep alone; "I will bring back your bridegroom fromthe first battle to pass his captivity with you."
But the jest pained Ilka.
She replied with pride: "Gejza will sooner die than be takenprisoner."
Weeks and months passed away, and Laszlo's bride was soon to be hiswife.
"The first victory," he said, "shall celebrate our marriage!"
"The first victory," sighed Ilka, "will be _his_ defeat!" and then shewept bitterly. But when the sisters were together, each restrained hersmiles and her tears so as not to grieve the other.
One day Laszlo whispered gravely to Aniko, "This day week there willbe a battle!" and the warm pressure of his hand seemed to say, "andour victory;" while the deep blush on the bride's cheek seemed toreply, "And our wedding!"
Both girls prepared a dress in secret for that day. Aniko's was whiteembroidery, as for a bridal; Ilka's was simple black!
* * * * *
The imperial troops remained several months in Szolnok, during whichtime they had raised strong fortifications.
An extensive redoubt guarded the _tete de pont_ on the opposite sideof the Theiss. Palisades were constructed to screen the _tirailleurs_between the entrenchments, before which a little willow thicketconcealed a battery of field-pieces.
Within the fortifications was the pontoon bridge, which the imperialarmy had formed after having burnt the great bridge in January.
Before the bridge could be taken, the enemy had first to drive thetroops from their strong entrenchments, and should they even effectthis, they would still be exposed to the cross fire of the redoubt andthe battery concealed in the thicket, and it was impossible to make acircuit, for the Theiss surrounds two-thirds of the place.
Szolnok is built on the opposite side, and was protected on one sideby the river Zagyva and the impassable morasses of the Theiss, and onthe other by strong ramparts and entrenchments. Within the _tete depont_ there were three half-moon bastions, well fortified, andprotecting each other.
The terminus, which lay within gun-shot of a bastion running along theTheiss, was also strongly fortified by moats and artillery, whose gunscommanded all the defiles leading to it; to the west stood a chapel,built on a knoll--the only elevated position near the place.
An assault from this side was almost impracticable, according to therules of tactics, for these bastions could only be taken by a largeforce, with guns of great calibre; and, in case of a repulse, thebesiegers would be cut off from all retreat, and exposed to the wholeconcentrated main body of the imperial forces in Pesth.
The Zagyva morasses alone remained partly unprotected, an attack fromthat side being considered impracticable.
Patrols were stationed along the right bank of the Theiss, as far asCzibakhaza, which served as a point of passage to the Hungarians,though, according to the information of spies, there were no forcesthere at present, excepting a few reserve corps, the two Hungarian_corps d'armee_ having united at Torokszentmiklos, under Vecsey andDamjanics.
The attack was consequently expected from that quarter; and, accordingto the spies' reports, the day was fixed, and the station appointed onthe opposite side of the Theiss.
* * * * *
There is a ferry between Szolnok and Czibakhaza, and the boat isguided by the simple means of a rope drawn across the river.
The boat was now on the opposite side, some persons having justcrossed with the permission of the imperial party, who kept a patrolto guard the passage.
On the evening of the expected day, two hussars rode up to the ferryfrom the opposite side.
"Do you see that boat?" cried the elder of the two, as they reachedthe bank.
"I see it, corporal," replied the other, who appeared to be a recruit.
"Whether you see it or not, we must cross there."
"Very well, corporal."
"Don't argue with me when the order is to cross; we _must_ cross, werea thousand fiery devils on the other side!--Hej! come out, thou slug!"he continued, knocking at the door of the boatman's hut.
"_Thou_, indeed!" grumbled a voice from within; "I'll hear somethingmore civil first!"
"No arguing, nephew, but turn out, unless you wish your house turnedupside down, and yourself left under the clear sky!"
An old grayheaded man appeared. "It is a long time since I was called'nephew,'" he murmured.
"How old are you?" asked the hussar.
"Some sixty years."
"Pooh! thou art a boy, nephew! I am five years thy senior;forward!--march!"
As the boat put off with the hussars, a _chasseur_, who was observingtheir motions from the other side, called across the water in German.
"Cannot you see that we are hussars?" was the reply, in Hungarian.
The soldier levelled his musket and fired, and the ball went throughthe old hussar's csako. He turned impatiently to the recruit, who hadmoved his head as the ball whistled past his ear.
"Why do you bend your head?--the balls must fall on one side or on theother; and thou, nephew, get from under my horse, and pull away by therope."
The peasant, who was lying on his face at the bottom of the boat,never felt less inclined to obey in his life, especially as fifty orsixty grenadiers appeared from behind the entrenchments, and beganfiring on the hussars.
"Dismount and guide the boat," said the old hussar, turning to therecruit.
The _chasseur_, seeing that the balls had no effect, ran down to therope, which he cut with his sword, as the hussars reached the middleof the stream, and the boat was consequently borne back again by thecurrent. The old hussar, swearing that he was not done with them yet,gloomily reascended the bank with his companion, and galloping back tohis troop, which was concealed in a wood at a little distance, hereported himself to the captain.
"What news, Gergo?" asked Gejza--for it was he.
"It would not do, captain, as I said before; they did not like our_numbers_, so they cut the rope when we were half over; they mighthave allowed me to cross if I had been alone."
"Never m
ind, Gergo--how did we get over the water before boats weremade?"
"Ah, I thought of that, captain dear; but it is my duty to obey, andnot to argue."
"Now, lads, whoever likes a bath may follow me!" cried the youngsoldier, and, spurring his horse, he galloped towards the riverfollowed by his troop.
It was a beautiful sight to see the hundred and fifty hussars gothrough the water, like a flock of wild birds through the air--onlytheir horses' heads above the foam, and the breeze tossing about theplumes of their red csakos.
The grenadiers having fired one volley with little or no effect,suddenly retired, and were at some distance when the hussars reachedthe opposite bank.
By this manoeuvre the patrol of the Czibakhaza ferry was cut off fromSzolnok, while Damjanics was meanwhile rapidly advancing towards theTheiss.
The hussars took prisoners all the couriers and passengers upon theroad; and late at night the _avant-garde_ crossed at Czibakhaza, andpressed forward on Szolnok, a reconnoitring party sustaining a briskfire all the way to Kecskemet.
The same night, Damjanics reached the Theiss at Czibakhaza with hiswhole army, and advanced by forced marches on Szolnok, before theGeneral of the district had been apprised of his approach.
* * * * *
It was a beautiful evening in spring. The sisters sat side by side atthe window of their little chamber, silently watching the stars asthey twinkled into light. Neither spoke, for each feared to grieve theother by expressing her hopes or fears; but their tears mingled asthey sat clinging to one another, each pale face seeking comfort fromthe other--their hands clasped, and their hearts raised in prayer.
To-morrow, one may return triumphant from the battle to lay hislaurels at his bride's feet. And the other--what may be his fate?
Sleep at last brought rest to the weary eyes, and gave back itsrestrained feelings to each beating heart, and they appeared again indreams. And one spoke, not of war, nor of his country, but of lovealone, eternal and unchangeable; but the other only came to bidfarewell, silently and sadly. And then again she saw him; but his darkeyes were closed, and the pale moonbeams bathed his dying brow.
Their mother heard them murmuring in sleep, and stole to theirbedsides.
Tears rolled down one pale sleeper's face; while a bright smile wasplaying on the other's, and illumined its sweet repose.
* * * * *
Damjanics' army halted opposite Szolnok during the night, after twohours' march, and awaited in battle order, and without watch-fires,the signal to resume the march.
The roar of cannon on the opposite side of the Theiss was the expectedsignal.
The Hungarian General had seen several campaigns. Whenever he came upwith the enemy, his quick glance discovered as if by instinct theirstrongest point, and there he directed all his force, crying, at thehead of his troops, "Follow me!"
His system, however, was not generally approved of in the army. Manyof the Generals affirmed that it was not enough to gain a battle:attention must be paid to the rules of war, various obligationsattended to for which every General is responsible, proclamationsissued, harangues made, &c.--with all of which Damjanics dispensed. Hewas neither a statesman nor a student--he was simply a soldier.
On quitting the Banat, however, he issued the following proclamationto his enemies:--
"Dogs!
"I retire at present, but I will return.
"If in the meantime you dare stir, I will sweep you from off the faceof the earth, and then shoot myself through the head as the lastRaczien, that no remnant of our race may be left!"[59]
[Footnote 59: Damjanics was by birth a Racz or Raczien, who were thebitterest enemies of the Hungarians, and committed many excesses andcruelties during the rebellion of 1848-9. The proclamation is heretranslated word for word.]
The results of this first attempt so much encouraged the General, thathe determined, of the many necessary things required of him, toharangue his troops before the next action, and actually made a vow tothat effect.
* * * * *
It was the night before the battle of Szolnok.
"Singular!" muttered the General, as he paced up and down his tent;"my spirits were wont to rise before a battle, and now I feel asanxious as if the thought of to-morrow were unwelcome!" And he stroveto solve in his own mind the cause of such unusual gloom.
Some time after, an _officier de corps_ remarked within the General'shearing, that to-morrow they should have the famous harangue.
"The tartar take it!" exclaimed the General; "it was that made me feelas if I could creep out of my skin. But never fear--they shall haveit, and the enemy shall pay for it!"
The General had finished his plans of battle in a quarter of anhour;--the speech was not ready late in the morning.
Having arranged his troops in order, he rode out before them. They allknew that he was to harangue them that day, and they knew that it wasas great a sacrifice on his part as if he were to deliver up hisbattery to a parliamentary tribunal for half a day.
Halting before the standard of the ninth battalion, he lifted hiscsako, grew very pale, and began:--
"Comrades!"
At that instant, the guns thundered across the Theiss.
The General's countenance suddenly brightened--diction and phraseologywere forgotten; and drawing his sword, he cried in a voice ofthunder,--"There is the enemy! Follow me!" which was answered by atremendous cheer, while the whole army dashed after their gallantleader towards the cannon's roar.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, Vecsey's _corps d'armee_ stormed the ramparts on theopposite side of the Theiss.
The attack, however, was only apparent: the manoeuvre of either partyfrustrated the other.
The imperial troops endeavoured to entice the enemy within their crossfire by charges of cavalry and feint retreats; while the hussars,seeing the cuirassiers turn in good order, gave the command "rightabout," and quietly returned to their stations.
And now the Hungarians prepared to storm the entrenchments; and whenthe battalions were almost within gunshot, they advanced their cannon,and without any impediment poured a vigorous fire on theramparts--appearing to expend their whole strength before the enemy,while their real aim was totally different.
They were only answered here and there by a gun from the ramparts; butthe battery concealed in the wood did not give the slightestintimation of its existence, it being expected that the enemy wouldmake an attack, as the place was apparently feebly defended, and theimperialists engaged on all sides, and, purposely, giving them everyadvantage.
But the attack was not made. This continued till about noon. Thedistant spectator could observe nothing but the continual motion ofregular masses. One or two troops of heavy cavalry marched quietly upto the field of action, their helmets gleaming in the bright sun of acloudless day. A division of hussars galloped by with drawn swords:long lines of infantry suddenly formed into squares, and fired on thepassing cavalry. At another point, the treacherous gleam of bayonetsin the moat betrayed the stealthy approach of troops, upon which theadjacent battery suddenly galloped to a little eminence, from whencethey began to fire. But no regular engagement had taken place; the"On, Magyar! on!" and the hussars' "Ha! on!" were not yet heard. Thewhole was a mere animated play of arms. Trumpets sounded, drums beat,cannon fired; but they were unaccompanied by battle-cries or dyinggroans--death still greedily awaited the onset.
* * * * *
Suddenly the great guns thundered across the Theiss.
Swift and unexpected, like the descent of lightning from heaven, wasDamjanics' appearance at Szolnok, and it was hailed by a tremendouscheer from the besieging party--life announcing death! Again thecannon roared.
The besiegers did not find the imperial army unprepared, although thisattack was unexpected; but there were not many troops on that side ofthe ramparts, which was principally protected
by cannon.
The Hungarians advanced in a semicircle, the Szeged battalion in thecentre, composed chiefly of recruits armed with scythes, on the rightthe red-caps, and the hussars on the left.
The enemy's guns opened a deadly fire from every side, and yet theyadvanced like the tempest-cloud through which the lightning passes,changing its form without impeding its course. The balls made fearfulinroads among them--they fell right and left, covering the place withthe dead and wounded; and many a dying soldier, raising his head forthe last time, gazed long and earnestly after his standard, till itdisappeared amidst the fire of the enemy--when, cheering yet again, hesank to rise no more.
The Szeged battalion came up first with the foe, rushing impetuouslyon--for their arms were useless till face to face with their enemy.They stormed the battery of the terminus, from which the cannon firedincessantly--one ball sweeping off fourteen at a time; but they onlyhastened the more furiously over the dead bodies of their comrades.One moment more--several guns opened at once, and a hundred mangledbodies and headless trunks rolled in the dust and smoke. The nextinstant, the troops which guarded the battery were scattered on everyside: the artillery stood valiantly by their guns to the last man. Asthe besiegers advanced, they were assailed by a hot fire from thewindows of the houses, and from behind the barricades. The conflictwas long and desperate. At last, the tricoloured banner waving fromthe windows announced that the besiegers were victorious.
This was the first action in which the Szeged battalion had beenengaged, and for numbers among them it was the last.
Meanwhile the red-caps marched steadily on to the flying bastions.Unlike the young corps, these troops knew how to give place to theenemy's balls, and never fired in vain; nor did they cover their eyesfrom the fearful carnage around them, as most of the young troops did,for death was familiar to them in all its forms. This was theirseventeenth engagement, and in each they had been foremost in theattack.
The entrenchments were guarded by a body of _chasseurs_, who kept up aconstant harassing fire on the advancing troops.
The latter quickly thinned their lines, and forming into chain, rushedon the entrenchments, heedless of the musket fire--theirstandard-bearer foremost in the attack. A musket ball cut the staff ofthe standard in two, and the soldier, placing the colours on hissword, rushed on as before--another ball, and the standard-bearer fellmortally wounded, holding up the colours with his last strength, tilla comrade received it on the point of his bayonet.
They reached the bulwarks, and, climbing on each other's shoulders,their bayonets soon clashed with those of the enemy. An hour later,they were in possession of the ramparts. The _chasseurs_, repulsed bytheir desperate attack, retreated to the _tete de pont_, where theyrallied, under cover of some troops which had come to theirassistance. The red-caps were soon engaged with these fresh troops,and their battle-cry was heard on the opposite side.
Meanwhile Vecsey's troops advanced impetuously to the redoubt, part ofthe garrison of which had hurried towards Szolnok, where the actionhad begun; but the most desperate engagement was below the chapel. Aregiment of _chasseurs_ were drawn up _en carre_ on the plain, andwere twice charged by the hussars, and twice repulsed; the third timethey succeeded in breaking the square, the horses dashing in among thebayonets, and in an instant all was confusion. The _chasseurs_retreated to the chapel bulwarks, where they endeavoured to rally, butwere pursued by the artillery, and, cut off from all possible retreatto the town, they fled in disorder, and were pursued to the Zagyva;there, although the most desperate once more made a stand, the restwere driven into the stream, and many an empty csako was borne downthe blood-stained water.
Suddenly a cuirassier regiment was seen galloping from the oppositeside, towards the scene of action, their helmets and swords gleamingthrough clouds of dust. The hussars quickly formed to receive the newenemy, and, without waiting for their attack, dashed forward to theencounter.
It was like the meeting of two hurricanes: one a mighty, movingbastion, advancing in such exact order, it seemed as if the thousandmen and steeds had but one pulse; the other troops, light and swift asthe wind, their spirited little horses neighing and dashing on before,as if each wished to be first in the encounter; the various colouredpelisses and plumes of their riders tossed about in the wind, andtheir swords flashing over their heads.
"Hurrah! hurrah!--Rajta! rajta!"
The mutual collision broke the order at once. The troops on eitherside divided into parties, fighting man to man; here a cuirassier wassurrounded by the hussars, and there a hussar in the midst ofcuirassiers; the attacking party now advancing, now retreating, as theantagonists on either side gained strength.
For some time only the two standards waving high above, and here andthere a soldier's face, and the gleam of straight and curved swords,were seen through the smoke and dust; and now the wind blew the dustaside, and exposed the bright helmets, the excited countenances, themaddened horses, many of which galloped about with empty saddles,while their riders lay trodden on the field.
The clash of swords resounded on all sides, mingled with cries ofvictory and the groans of death.
A tall and powerful cuirassier galloped about like the genius ofbattle--death seemed in each flash of his sword; he rode his thirdhorse, two having already been shot under him.
Clouds of dust and smoke again veiled the combatants, and nothingcould be seen but the two banners--now pressing forward, now retarded,but slowly approaching, and cutting a deadly passage towards eachother.
Old Gergo was engaged with two cuirassiers, his ardour unmingled withthe impetuosity of youth; and even in the midst of the fray he foundtime to instruct the young recruit, illustrating his theory by many aprompt example.
A troop of hussars now dashed forward and were met by an equal numberof cuirassiers; their leaders, being on the right of their troops, hadnot yet met face to face, but, foremost to the charge, they showed agood example, while each man fought as if he alone were responsiblefor the honour of his party. The right flank on either side pressingback the foe's left, they both turned round the centre, like a stiffaxle--the hussars occupying the place of the cuirassiers, and thelatter that of the hussars.
In the heat of the action, their leaders recognised each other--Laszloand Gejza! But the discovery produced no wavering--both weredetermined to conquer or to die.
Meanwhile another troop came up to the assistance of the cuirassiers,and the hussar captain was obliged to cut his way out from between twofires, and thus came face to face with his antagonist.
"Surrender, comrade!" cried Laszlo.
"Never!" cried the hussar, as he galloped to the charge.
The sword of death was raised in either hand, their glances dartedfire; for a moment they remained motionless, as if spell-bound, theirswords still raised--the next both turned with one accord upon thenearest foes. Laszlo's sword pierced the heart of a hussar, whileGejza dealt such a blow on a cuirassier's helmet that he fell withouta groan, and then, without turning, he cut his way through the enemy'sranks--"Hurrah! hurrah!--rajta!" And the battle-cry mingled with theclash of swords and the groans of the dying.
Meanwhile a division of cuirassiers marched rapidly through Szolnok totake the hussars in the rear.
Suddenly, at the turn of a street, two hundred red-caps stood beforethem. Both parties were taken by surprise at the unexpected encounter.It was but a moment. The next, an engagement took place of which wefind few instances in history, namely, infantry attacking cavalry. Thetwo hundred red-caps suddenly fired on the cuirassiers, and then,shouting wildly, rushed upon them with their bayonets; and the veterantroops, who had stood so many fires, whose valour alone had turned theday at Mor, were obliged to retreat before the fearful attack.
This circumstance occurred but twice during the whole campaign.
Goergei was the first who attempted it, with the Inczed battalion, atthe time of his first retreat; that same battalion (eleventh) which sogallantly defended the bridge of Piski,[60] where more than h
alf theirnumber fell.
[Footnote 60: In Transylvania.]
An old Polish soldier who witnessed the combat, made the followingremark:--"I have seen the battles of the _ancienne garde_, and foughtwith the Polish legion, but I never saw men fight like the red-caps!"
By this attack the cuirassiers were cut off from their head forces,and, pressed by Vecsey on the opposite side, they retreated hastily,without having time to save their cannon or destroy the bridge afterthem.
The imperial forces, thus pressed between two fires, were obliged toevacuate Szolnok, and retreat among the Zagyva morasses.
After their desperate conflict with the red-caps, the cuirassierswere again routed by a fresh regiment of hussars, and driven into theZagyva; but few of the weary horses had strength to struggle throughthe water, and their heavy armour prevented the men from swimming:thus many sank in the stream.
* * * * *
It was evening when the battle was over. Horses without riders weregalloping about the plain, while here and there a wounded steedneighed mournfully, as if searching for his master. Powder-waggons andcannon lay overturned on the field, which was strewed with the deadand dying.
The trumpet sounded the retreat, and the hussars assembled from everyside, their horses rearing and prancing as if they had come out forthe first time that day.
An hour afterwards, the sound of music was heard in every_guinguette_, and the hussars' spurs clinked to the gay cymbal andclarionet. The battle was forgotten; it was now the time for mirth.
Old Gergo treated his comrades. He was rich enough--for he had killedan officer of rank; and though his pupil the recruit could scarcelykeep his feet, he continued to treat him in spite of his resistance.
"But if we drink it all now, corporal, we shall have nothing left forto-morrow."
"Don't argue with me, but drink; that's the order now, and to-morrowwill take care of itself;" and the soldiers drank on, while theircompanions danced and shouted to the gay sounds. All was feasting andrevelry within the town.
But without, upon the battle-field, what painful sounds hailed thefall of evening?--it was the fearful groans of the dying! What sadthoughts called forth those sighs from the parting spirit! Home,glory, mother, and beloved ones,--never to meet again! The eveningbreeze bears them away: whither?
An officer of hussars went over the field with a military surgeon,while his soldiers bore the wounded away on their arms.
The young officer turned mournfully from one sad spectacle to another.Here lay a young soldier in the bloom of youth, the point of a swordhad pierced through his cuirass and come out behind; and from whosehand had that thrust come? a little farther, lay another, whose facewas so cut, and disfigured by the dust, that none could haverecognised it! and now his eye rested on a young hussar who lay on hisback, his outstretched arm still grasping his sword, over which thefingers were closed so stiffly that it was impossible to release it;near him an old soldier had died, with his arm around the neck of hishorse, which had been killed along with him, like two old comradeswhom death could not part.
The young officer carefully surveyed the field, and his quick eyepassed none over. He had reached a little knoll, where, half concealedamong some bushes, a white form seemed to move. It was a youngcuirassier officer, who lay with his face buried in the long grass.
The hussar knelt down to raise his head, and called for assistance.
"Thanks, comrade!" said the dying youth faintly, as he turned his facetowards him.
The last rays of the setting sun shone on the handsome, palecountenance, the closing eyes, and the deep wound just below theheart.
"Laszlo!" groaned the hussar, "is it thus we meet?"
"Lay me on the grass, brother; I am dying," said the cuirassierfaintly. "Alas! my bride will wait in vain!"
The surgeons examined the wound, and pronounced it mortal; he had buta few moments to live.
"Tell my bride," said the young man, in scarcely audible accents,"that my last thought was of her--and bury me where she may comeand"--
The young hussar sobbed bitterly beside his dying friend. "Alas! thatwe must part--that one of us must die!"
"God bless you, brother--be happy!" murmured Laszlo, convulsivelygrasping Gejza's hand; "poor Aniko!" and his head sank on hiscomrade's breast.
The sun's last rays had set, and the pale moon rose, shedding herquiet beams on the closed eyes and silent lips!
The long-looked-for day had come and gone; that day so full of hopeand fear for the young sisters.
It had brought grief and joy; but the joy was not for the hopeful, northe tear for the trembling heart, though one stood at the altar, andthe other at the lonely grave; and one indeed wore the white and theother the black dress, but neither wore that which she had prepared.