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GIFT OF 
 
 M, G. Luck 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/dayofwrathOOjkrich 
 
THE DAY OF WRATH 
 

 WORKS OF MAURUS JOKAI 
 
 HUNGARIAN EDITION 
 
 The 
 Day of Wrath 
 
 Translated from the Hungarian 
 
 By 
 
 R. NisBET Bain >^" 
 
 NEW YORK 
 DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 
 
Copyright, 1900, by 
 . ,.^ McCLURE, PHILIPS & CO. 
 
 « c « e « ! • • 
 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CRAPTBR 
 
 I. THE BIRD OF ILL-OMEN ••• ... ... II 
 
 II. THE headsman's FAMILY ... ... l8 
 
 III. A CHILDISH MALEFACTOR ... ... ... 44 
 
 IV. A DIVINE VISITATION ... ... ... 56 
 
 V. THE UNBELOVED SON ... ... ... 62 
 
 VI. TWO FAMOUS PiEDAGOGUES ... ... 71 
 
 VII. A MAN OF IRON ... ... ... ... 93 
 
 VIII. THE POLISH WOMAN ... ... ... 121 
 
 IX. THE PLAGUE ... ... ... ... I75 
 
 X. A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE ... ... 1 89 
 
 XI. THE FIRST SPARK ... ... ... ... 210 
 
 XII. IN THE MIDST OF THE FIRE ... ... 236 
 
 XIII. THE LEATHER-BELL ... ... ... 250 
 
 XIV. THE SENTENCE OF DEATH ... ... 264 
 
 XV. OIL UPON THE WATERS ... ... ... 277 
 
 XVI. 'tis well that the night IS BLACK ... 29I 
 
 XVII. THE VOICE OF THE LORD ... ... ... 326 
 
 XVIII. THE READY-DUG GRAVES ... ... 336 
 
 M41106 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 "SzomortJ Napok" was written in the darkest 
 days of Maurus J6kai*s life, and reflects the 
 depression of a naturally generous and sanguine 
 nature bowed down, for a time, beneath an almost 
 unendurable load of unmerited misfortune. The 
 story was written shortly after the collapse of the 
 Magyar Revolution of 1848-49, when Hungary lay 
 crushed and bleeding under the heel of triumphant 
 Austria and her Russian ally ; when, deprived of 
 all her ancient political rights and liberties, she 
 had been handed over to the domination of the 
 stranger, and saw her best and noblest sons either 
 voluntary exiles, or suspected rebels under police 
 surveillance. Jokai also was in the category of the 
 proscribed. He had played a conspicuous part in 
 the Revolution; he had served his country with 
 both pen and sword; and, now that the bloody 
 struggle was over, and the last Honved army had 
 surrendered to the Russians, J6kai, disillusioned and 
 broken-hearted, weis left to piece together again as 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 best he might, the shattered fragments of a ruined 
 career. 
 
 No wonder, then, if to the author of " Szomoni 
 Napok," the whole world seemed out of joint 
 The book itself is, primarily, a tale of suffering, 
 crime, and punishment; but it is also a bitter 
 satire on the crying abuses and anomalies due 
 to the semi-feudal condition of things which had 
 prevailed in Hungary for centiuries, the reformation 
 and correction of which had been the chief mission 
 of the Liberal Party in Hungary to which Jokai 
 belonged. The brutal ignorance of the common 
 people, the criminal neglect of the gentry which 
 made such ignorance possible, the imbecility of 
 mere mob-rule, and the mischievousness of dema- 
 gogic pedantry — these are the objects of the 
 author's satiric lash. 
 
 As literature, despite the occasional crudities and 
 extravagances of a too exuberant genius that has 
 yet to learn self-restraint, " Szomorii Napok " stands 
 very high. It is animated by a fine, contagious 
 indignation, and its vividly terrible episodes, which 
 appal while they fascinate the reader, seem to be 
 written in characters of blood and fire. The descrip- 
 tions of the plague-stricken land and the conflagra- 
 tion of the headsman's house must be numbered 
 among the finest passages that have ever flowed 
 from J6kai's pea But the mild, idyllic strain, so 
 characteristic of Jokai, who is nothing if not 
 romantic, runs through the sombre and lurid tableau 
 like a bright silver thread, and the denouement, in 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 which all enmities are reconciled, all evil-doers are 
 punished, and Gentleness and Heroism receive their 
 retributive crowns, is a singularly happy one. 
 
 Moreover, in " Szomoni Napok " will be found 
 some of Jokai's most original characters, notably, 
 the ludicrous, if infinitely mischievous, poHtical 
 crotcheteer, "Numa Pompilius; " the drunken can- 
 tor, Michael Korde, whose grotesque adventure in 
 the dog-kennel is a true Fantasiestiick d la C allot ; 
 the infra-human Mekipiros ; the half -crazy Leather- 
 bell ; and that fine, soldierly type, General Vertessy 
 
 R. NiSBET Bain. 
 October^ 190a 
 
THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE BIRD OF ILL-OMEN. ^^' ^ ' ^ 
 
 Whoever has traversed the long single street of 
 Hetfalu will have noticed three houses whose 
 exterior plainly shows that nobody dwells in them. 
 
 The first of these three houses is outside the 
 village on a great green hill, round which the herds 
 of the village peacefully crop the pasture. Only 
 now and then does one or other of these quiet beasts 
 start back when it suddenly comes upKjn a white 
 skeleton, or a bleached bullock-horn, in the thickest 
 patches of the high grass. The house itself has no 
 roof, and the soot with which years of heavy rains 
 have bedaubed the walls, points to the fact that once 
 upon a time the place was burnt out Now, dry 
 white stalks of straw wave upon the mouldering 
 balustrades. 
 
 The iron supports have been taken out of the 
 windows, on the threshold thorns and thistles grow 
 luxuriantly. There is no trace of a path — perhaps 
 there never was ona 
 
12 THE DAY OF WRATH, 
 
 The land surrounding this house is full of all 
 sorts of fragrant flowers. 
 
 The second house stands in the centre of the 
 village, and was the castle of the lord of the manor. 
 It is a dismal wilderness of a place. A stone wall, 
 long since fallen to pieces, separated it at one time 
 from the road. Now only a few fragments of this 
 y/zXl <5liill| ^t^d upright, and the wild jasmine creeps 
 ajil over.it,. cab ting down into the road its poisonous 
 'dark 'red clieiries. The door lolls against its pillars, 
 it looks as if it had once upon a time been torn 
 from its hinges and tlien left to take care of itself. 
 The house itself, indeed, is intact, only the windows 
 have been taken out and the empty spaces bricked 
 in. Every door, too, has been walled up, boards 
 have been nailed over the ventilators in the floor, 
 the white stone staircase leading up to the hall has 
 been broken off and propped up against the wall, 
 and the same fate has befallen a red marble bench 
 on the ground floor. 
 
 Here and there the cement has fallen away from 
 the front of the house, and layers of red bricks peep 
 through the gap. In other places large heaps of 
 white stone are piled up in front of the building. 
 In the rear of it, which used to look out upon a 
 garden, it is plain that a good many of the windows 
 have also been built in, and, to obliterate all trace 
 of them, the whole wall has been whitewashed. All 
 roimd jEibout many fruit-trees seem to have been 
 rooted up, and for three years running, the cater- 
 pillar-host has fallen upon the remnant; nobody 
 
THE BIRD OF ILL-OMEN. 13 
 
 looks after them, and they are left to perish one by 
 one, consumed by yellow mould 
 
 The third house is a little shanty at the far end 
 of the village, shoved away behind a large ugly 
 granary, with its little yard full of reeds, in the 
 midst of which is a crooked, dilapidated pump. 
 The panes of glass in the lead-encased frames have 
 been frosted over, the marl of the thatched chimney 
 is crumbling away, and the whole of the roof is of 
 a beautiful green, like velvet, due to the luxuriantly 
 spreading moss. 
 
 It is thirty yeajrs since these three houses were 
 inhabited. 
 
 In the little hut, on the reed-thatched roof of 
 which the screech-owl now lays its eggs, dwelt thirty 
 years ago, a crazy old woman, they called her 
 Magdolna. She must have been for a long time 
 out of her wits ; some said she had been bom so, 
 others maintained that the roof had fallen right 
 upon her head and injured her brain ; others again 
 affirmed that the marriage of her only daughter 
 with the hangman was the cause of her mental 
 aberration. There were some who even remem- 
 bered the time when this woman was rich and 
 respected, and then suddenly she had become a 
 beggar, and subsequently a crazy beggar. Be that 
 as it may, in those days this old woman exercised a 
 peculiar influence over the superstitious peasantry. 
 
 A sort of awe-inspiring exaltation seemed to take 
 possession of this creature whenever she stood at 
 the threshold of her hut, within the walls of which 
 
14 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 she usually remained in a brown study insensible 
 to her surroundings for days together. 
 
 When, at such times of exaltation, she stepped 
 forth into the street, all the dogs in the village 
 would fall a howling as they are wont to do when 
 the headsman goes his rounds. All who met her 
 timidly shrank aside, for, not infrequently, she 
 would foretell the hours of their death, and cases 
 were known in which her prophesies had come 
 true. She could tell at a single glance which of the 
 young unmarried women did honour to their 
 pdrtds* and which did not She could read in the 
 faces of the children the names of their parents, 
 and she often gave them names very different from 
 the names they bore. The maids and young married 
 women of the village therefore, not imnaturally, 
 trembled before her. 
 
 She recognised the stolen horse in front of the 
 cart, and shouted to the farmer who drove it : " You 
 stole that, and it will be stolen back again ! " 
 
 At other times she would sit in the church-door, 
 lay her cratch across the threshold, and wait to see 
 who would dare to step across it Woe then to 
 whomsoever had transgressed any of the command- 
 ments! All through the summer the zigue would 
 plague him, his oxen would die, the tares would 
 choke his corn, his limbs would be racked with 
 pleurisy, or he would be nearly mauled to death in 
 the village tavern. 
 
 Often she sat for hours at home, among hei 
 
 • /»((<r^<<— head-dress of the young peasant maids. 
 
THE BIRD OF ILL-OMEN. 15 
 
 thorns and thistles, sobbing and moaning, and at 
 such times the common folks believed that the 
 whole district would be visited by a hailstorm. 
 Sometimes she roamed about for weeks, nobody 
 knew where, nobody knew why, and during all that 
 time the hosts of grasshoppers, wood-lice, spiders, 
 caterpillars, and other Heaven-sent plagues, multi- 
 plied terribly throughout the land ; but the moment 
 the old woman returned they all disappeared again 
 in a day without leaving a trace behind them. 
 
 At one time they fancied she was at the point of 
 death. 
 
 She lay outside her hut close to the well and 
 drank incessantly of its water. At last she collapsed 
 altogether, she could not even lift her hands. The 
 passers-by perceived that she was parched with 
 thirst, was wrestling with death, and yet could not 
 die. If they had but given her a drink of cold 
 water, she would immediately have been freed from 
 the torments of life, but nobody durst approach to 
 give her to drink. On that same day the lightning 
 thrice struck the village, and such a deluge of rain 
 descended that the water flooded the roads and 
 invaded the houses. 
 
 The next day there was nothing at all the matter 
 with the old woman, but she went about bowed 
 down, shaking and leaning heavily on her crutch 
 as at other times. 
 
 When the spring of 1831 was passing away, all 
 sorts of terrible premonitory signs warned the 
 people of the frightful visitation which was about to 
 
x6 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 befall humanity. Nature herself made the people 
 anxious and imcomfortable. There were showers 
 of falling stars, it rained blood in various places, 
 death-headed moths flew about in the evenings, 
 wolves, tame and fawning like dogs, appeared 
 in the village and let themselves be beaten to death 
 before the thresholds of the houses. 
 
 What was going to happen? — ^nobody could telL 
 
 Everyone augured, feared, felt that mourning and 
 woe were close at hand ; yes, everyone. 
 
 The trees made haste to put forth their blossoms, 
 they made even greater haste to produce their 
 ripened fruit All nature knew not what to do, 
 man least of all. 
 
 In those days when a single good word spoken 
 in season, a single lucid idea might have meant the 
 saving of many lives, the sole prophet in the whole 
 country-side was this crazy old woman, who, in the 
 dolorous exaltation of her deranged mind, some- 
 times blindly blurted out things on which the 
 future was to impress the seal of truth. But, for the 
 most part, her multitudinous, ambiguous utterances 
 might be interpreted this way or that, according 
 to the liking of her hearers, and obscured rather 
 than revealed the future. 
 
 When the summer came, with its terribly hot 
 days, the woman's madness seemed to culminate 
 in downright frenzy, for whole nights together she 
 went shrieking through the village. The dogs crept 
 forth from under the gates to meet her, and she 
 sat down beside them, put her arms round their 
 
THE BIRD OF ILL-OMEN. 17 
 
 heads, and they would howl together in hideous 
 unison. Then she would go into the houses weeping 
 and moaning, and would ask for a glass of water, 
 and would moisten her hands and her eyes there- 
 with. In some of the houses she would simply say : 
 "Why don't you smoke the room out, there's a 
 vile odour of death in it ; in other places she 
 would ask for a Prayer Book, and would fold down 
 the page at the Office of Prayers for the Dead. Or 
 she would send messages to the other world through 
 people who were on their legs hale and hearty, and 
 would tell them not to forget these messages. 
 
 " Get a cross made for you ! " was her most usual 
 greeting. And woe betide the family into whose 
 windows she cried : " Get two crosses made ! Get 
 three made! One for yourself, one for your wife, 
 one for each of your sons and each of your 
 daughters ! " 
 
 The people lived in desperate expectation ; they 
 would have run away had they known whither to run. 
 
 And what then were the wise and learned doing 
 all this time, they who knew right well that a mortal 
 danger was approaching; for they had read of its 
 ravages, they had looked upon the very face of it 
 in pictures, they knew the pace at which it was 
 travelling day by day — ^what did they do to soothe 
 the anguish of the people, and inspire them with 
 confidence in the tender mercies of God? 
 
 All they did was to have a cemetery ready dug 
 for those who were to die in heaps in the course of 
 the year. 
 
 B 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 
 
 The house of the headsman is surrounded by a 
 stone wall, its door is studded with huge nails, acacia 
 trees rustle in front of it Its windows are hidden 
 by a high fence. On its roof from time to time 
 something flap-flaps like a black flag ; it is a raven 
 which has chosen the roof of that house as a refuge. 
 No other animal likes the hangman. The dogs 
 bay at him, the oxen run bellowing out of his way, 
 only the ravens acknowledge him as their host 
 They are his own birds. 
 
 It is late in the evening, the sun has long since 
 set, it may be about nine or ten o'clock, and yet the 
 sky is unusally bright Everywhere a strange 
 reflected glare torments the eye of man. Not a 
 cloud is visible ; there is not a star in the heavens, 
 yet a persistent, murky yellowness embraces the 
 whole sky like a shining mist, as if the night, instead 
 of putting on her usual cinder-grey garment, had 
 clothed herself in flame-coloured weeds. Any 
 sounds that may be audible seem as if they come 
 from an immeasurable distance, and are hollow and 
 awe-inspiring. 
 
 Close to the horizon the pointed steeples of 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY! 19 
 
 Hetfalu are visible, their black outlines stand out 
 in sharp contrast against the burning sky. 
 
 The whole district is empty and deserted. At 
 other times, in the summer evenings, one would 
 have seen tired yet boisterous groups of peasants 
 returning home from working in the fields and 
 hastening back to their respective villages. The 
 voice of the vesper bell would everywhere have been 
 resounding, the sweetly-sad songs of the good- 
 humoured peasant girls would have soothed the ear, 
 mingled with the jingle of the bells of the 
 homeing kine, and the joyous barking of the dogs 
 bounding on in front of their masters. Now every- 
 thing is dumb. The fields for the most part lie 
 fallow and overgrown by weeds and thistles, 
 never seen before. In other places the green wheat 
 crop, choked by tares> has already been mown down. 
 Means of communication have everywhere been 
 interrupted by the sanitary cordons. The high 
 road is covered with broad patches of grass on both 
 sidesu Men hold handkerchiefs to their mouths 
 and noses, and do not trust themselves to breathe. 
 The tongues of the bells have everywhere been 
 removed. At the end of every village stands a 
 good-sized four-cornered piece of ground surrounded 
 by a ditch, and within it, here and there, graves 
 have been dug well beforehand. 
 
 Throughout this lonely wilderness the furious 
 barking of a watch-dog suddenly resounds, to which 
 all the dogs in the distant village instantly begin 
 to respond. Two men are fumbling at the latch 
 
20 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 of the headsman's door, and the chained dog within 
 the courtyard, scenting a stranger, gives him a 
 hostile greeting. 
 
 "Who is there?" inquires from within an un- 
 pleasant, hoarsely screeching voice, the owner 
 whereof at the same time soothing the big dog 
 which, snarling fiercely, thrusts his nose between 
 the door and the lintel, and snaps from time to time 
 through the opening. 
 
 " Open the door, Mekipiros, and don't bawl ! " 
 answers one of the new arrivals, impatiently beating 
 with his fists upon the door. " There's no necessity 
 for closing the door either, for who is likely to come? 
 Even if you left it wide open, nobody would stray 
 in, I'll be bound, save your pal. Old Nick, and here 
 he is/* 
 
 At this well-known voice the wolf-hound ceased 
 to bark, and when the door was opened leaped 
 joyously upon the neck of the new-comer, whining 
 and sniffing. 
 
 " Send this filthy sea-bear to the deuce, Meki- 
 piros, can't you ? It's licking my very nose off." 
 
 The person so addressed was a curious sport of 
 nature. It was a square-set creature dressed com- 
 pletely in women's clothes. Its features were those 
 of a semi-bestial type. It had an immense round 
 head covered with short, tangled, luikempt hair, 
 a large broad mouth, a stumpy, wide-spreading 
 nose, a projecting forehead furrowed with deep 
 wrinkles, thick bushy eyebrows, and one half of 
 the homy-skinned face was covered by immature 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 21 
 
 furry whiskers. And this masculine creature wore 
 women's clothes! On perceiving the new-comer, 
 it seized the yelping dog, big as a calf though it was, 
 by the chain with a bony hand and hurled it back- 
 wards, grinning and grunting all the time without 
 any apparent cause. 
 
 " Come ! go in and don't stand staring aimlessly 
 about," said the new-comer turning to his comrade, 
 who was standing in melancholy amazement on the 
 threshold, wrapped up in a large mantle, with a 
 broad-brimmed hat on his head 
 
 The dog accompanied the guests as far as the 
 door of his kennel, sniffing all the time at the heels 
 of the stranger, whilst the gabbling Mekipiros 
 tugged away at its chain. A hideous moustache 
 had been painted on the monster's lip either with 
 blood or red chalk, and he tried to call attention 
 to it with extreme self-satisfaction. 
 
 "Is the master at home, or the missus^ eh! 
 Mekipiros?" inquired the first-comer. 
 
 "The master is singing and the mistress is 
 dancing," replied the half-man with a bestial 
 chuckle. 
 
 " Tell them that we have arrived, come ! off you 
 go, and look sharp about it," and with that he gave 
 a kick accompanied by a vigorous buffet to the 
 monster, who regarded him for a time with a broad 
 grin, as if expecting a repetition of the dose, and 
 then plunged clumsily through the kitchen door 
 bellowing with mirth. Meanwhile the two men 
 remained outside in the courtyard. 
 
22 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 On« of them was a tall fair youth clad from head 
 to foot in a greasy leather costume. He had round 
 washed-out features, a callous sort of apathy played 
 around his lips, and a cold indifference to suffering 
 was visible in his red-rimmed green eyes. What 
 struck one most about him was the furtive, prying 
 expression of his face ; he was evidently a spy by 
 nature, although he attempted to conceal his real 
 character beneath a mask of stupidity and absent- 
 mindedness. But he pricked up his ears at every 
 word spoken in his presence. He reminded one 
 of a snake which, when captured, stiffens itself out 
 and pretends to be dead, and will let itself be broken 
 in pieces before it will move. 
 
 The other youth was a pale-faced man, plainly a 
 prey to the most overwhelming depression. The 
 ends of his little black moustache straggled uncared 
 for about the corners of his mouth, his hat was 
 pressed right down over his eyes. You could see 
 at a glance that his mind and his body were wander- 
 ing miles apart from each otiier. 
 
 There they stood, then, in the courtyard of the 
 headsman's house. The appearance of this court- 
 yard formed an overwhelming contrast with the idea 
 one generally pictures to one's self of such a place. 
 A pretty green lawn covered the whole courtyard, 
 clinging to the walls were creeping fig and apricot 
 trees ; in the background was a pretty vine ; heart- 
 shaped flower-beds had been cut out of the lawn, 
 and they were full of fine wallflowers and the most 
 fragrant sylvan flowers of every species; further 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 23 
 
 away stood melon beds, sending their far-reaching 
 shoots in every direction, red currant bushes, a 
 weeping willow or two, yellow rose bushes, myriad 
 hued full-blown poppies — and little white red-eyed 
 rabbits were bounding all over the grass plot 
 
 And yet this is the dwelling of the headsman. 
 
 " You can come in ! " cried a strong, penetrating, 
 sonorous woman's voice from within, and the same 
 instant Mekipiros botmded through the door with 
 his huge shaggy head projecting far in front of 
 him. It was plain that he had not quitted the room 
 voluntarily, but in consequence of a vigorous impul- 
 sion from behind 
 
 The man in leather now shoved his melancholy 
 comrade on in front of him, and the headsman's 
 door closed behind them. 
 
 It was a kitchen into which they had entered, in no 
 way different from the hearth and home of ordinary 
 men. The plates and dishes shone with cleanliness, 
 everything was in apple-pie order, the lire flickered 
 merrily beneath the chimney, and yet — ^fancy was 
 continually finding something in every object remi- 
 niscent of blood-curdHng circumstances. That axe, 
 for instance, stuck in a block in front of the fire- 
 place ? Two years ago the executioner had beheaded 
 a parricide — ^perchance 'twas on that very block! 
 
 That rope, again, attached to that bucket, that 
 curved piece of iron glowing red in the fire, that 
 heavy chain dangling down from the chimney — 
 who knows of what accursed horrible scenes they 
 may not have been the witnesses at some time or 
 
34 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 other? Yet, perhaps, there may be nothing sinlstet 
 at all about them; perhaps they are employed for 
 quite simple, honest, culinary purposes. Still, this 
 is the headsman's house, remember ! 
 
 Here and there on the walls black spots are 
 visible. What are they? Blood, perhaps. One's 
 eye cannot tear itself away from them; again and 
 again it goes back to them, and the mind cannot 
 reconcile itself to the thought : perchance this may 
 be the blood of some beast, the blood of some 
 common fattened beast which man must kill that 
 he may eat and live — for is not this the dwelling 
 of the headsman? 
 
 A woman is roasting and frying over the hearth, 
 a tall, muscularly built virago, to whose sinewy 
 arms, dome-like breast, red shining cheeks, and 
 burning eyes, the flickering flames gave a savage, 
 imcanny look; her fine black locks are wound up 
 in a large knot at the back of her head, her large 
 eyebrows have grown together, and the upper 
 surface of her red, swollen lips are amber-coloured 
 with masculine down. 
 
 " Sit down! " she cries to the new arrivals with a 
 rough growling voice. "You are hungry, eh? 
 Well, soon you shall have something to eat. There's 
 the table" — and she went on cooking and piling 
 up the fire; as it roared up the chimney it gave 
 her red face an infernal expression. This was the 
 headsman's wife. 
 
 The melancholy youth sat down abstractedly at 
 the table, the other strode up to the hearth and 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. a 5 
 
 began whispering to the woman, whilst from time to 
 time they cast glances at the stranger-guest 
 
 The man's whispers were inaudible, but it was 
 possible to catch every word the woman said, for, 
 try as she might, she could not soften down her 
 thunderous voice into a whisper. 
 
 " I know him," said she, " he will soon get used 
 to this place . . . Nobody will look for him here 
 . . . Get away from here? How can he?" 
 
 Presently she placed a dish of boiled flesh before 
 her guests. The pale youth picked at his food 
 slowly and sadly, the other attacked it with ravenous 
 haste, throwing a word over his shoulder to the 
 woman the while, or urging his comrade to eat, 
 or flinging bones to the dog and kicking him 
 viciously in the ribs when he snapped them up. 
 
 " Can one have a word with the old man? " he 
 inquired of the woman. 
 
 " Let him bide, the old man is plagued with his 
 devils again. Don't you hear how he sings? Why, 
 he voices it as lustily as any Slovak student on 
 St Lucia's day." 
 
 And indeed from some room far away now came 
 this verse of a well-known hymn, sung in a deep 
 vibrating voice full of a woeful, contrite tremulous- 
 ness: 
 
 " Oh, Lord, the number of our sins 
 And vileness, who shall purge ? 
 Withhold the fury of Thy wrath, 
 Though we deserve its pouring forth, 
 And stay Thy chastening scourge 1 " 
 
96 THE DAY OF Vl^ATH. 
 
 Melancholy, heart-rending was the sense of peni- 
 tence conveyed by this deep, vibrating, bell-like 
 voice. A penitential hymn in the house of the 
 headsman ! 
 
 The sad-faced youth shivered at the sound of 
 this voice and seemed to awake suddenly from out 
 of a reverie. He passed his hand once or twice 
 across his forehead as if to rally his wits and re- 
 duce the chaos within and around him to some 
 sort of order, but gradually sank back again into 
 his former lethargy. 
 
 A short time afterwards the same hymn was 
 heard again ; but the voice of the singer this time 
 was not the sonorous, manly voice they had heard 
 before, it was a heavenly, pure, childlike voice 
 which now began to sing, full of the magic charm 
 and sweetness of a crystal harmonica : 
 
 •• Yet know we, Lord, whoso repents 
 
 And turns his heart to Thee, 
 Shall aye find favour in Thy sight ; 
 Nor wilt thou hide from him Thy light, 
 
 Thy mercy he shall see." 
 
 Angels in Heaven could not have sung more 
 sweetly than the voice that sang this verse. Who 
 could it be? An angel proclaiming remission of 
 sins in the house of the headsman ! 
 
 " So the old cut-throat still keeps the girl under 
 a glass case, eh?" 
 
 " He wants to bring her up as a saint on purpose 
 to aggravate me, for he knows very well that I never 
 could endure anything of the saintly sort" 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 2^ 
 
 "Apparently the old chap is stark staring mad." 
 
 " He is possessed by devils, I fancy. Last week 
 three of his 'prentices bolted because they could not 
 stand his sanctimoniousness any longer. Before 
 dinner he would insist on reading to them out of 
 the Bible for half an hour at a stretch, and if any 
 of them dared to laugh he flung him out of doors 
 like a puppy dog ; you may imagine what a pretty 
 figure a headsman cuts who is always preaching 
 about the other world, and proclaiming the word of 
 the Lord with his clenched fists." 
 
 "ni be bound to say he has even taught 
 Mekipiros to go down on his hams." 
 
 " Ho, ho, ho ! Call him in ! Come hither, Meki- 
 piros, you bear's cub, you ! " 
 
 Mekipiros came in. 
 
 " Come hither, I would box your chaps. There, 
 take that! What, still grinning, eh? There's 
 another then! Weep immediately, sirrah! can't 
 you! Pull a wry mug! So! Put your hands 
 together! Cast down your eyes! So! And now 
 fire away I " 
 
 And the monster did indeed begin to recite a 
 prayer. One might perhaps have expected him to 
 mumble something altogether imintelligible. But no ! 
 He recited it to the end with a solemn voice, and 
 his eyes remained cast down the whole time. His 
 face even began to assume a more human expression, 
 and when he came to the words which cinnounced 
 remission of sins to the truly penitent siimer, two 
 heavy tear-drops welled forth and ran down his 
 rough wrinkled face. 
 
tS THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 "* Ha, ha, ha ! " laughed the headsman's wife, and 
 she smacked the forehead of the suppliant re- 
 peatedly with the palm of her hand ; " a lot of good 
 may it do you ! " 
 
 Suddenly, like the rolling echo of a descending 
 thunderbolt, a song of praise uttered in an awe- 
 inspiring voice from the adjoining room cut short 
 this inhuman mockeiy. 
 
 •* Who thunders so loudly in the lurid heavens above? 
 What means this mighty quaking ? Why doth the round 
 earth move ? " 
 
 At the same instant the boiling water overflowed 
 from the caldron and put the fire out, and they 
 were all in darkness. There was a dead silence, 
 when suddenly a blast of wind caught the half-open 
 door and slammed it to violently, and in the dead 
 silence that followed could be heard something like 
 the cry of a bird of ill-omen or the yell of a maniac 
 flying from the pursuit of his own soul : " Death I 
 — a bloody death — a death of horror ! " 
 
 Gradually the last sounds of this voice died away 
 in the distance. The chained watch-dog sent a 
 dismal howl after it 
 
 And when the feeble light of the tallow candles 
 shone again through the darkness, it fell upon three 
 shapes which had sunk upon their knees in terror, 
 the two 'prentices of the headsman, and the monster. 
 But the proud, defiant virago turned towards the 
 elder of the 'prentices, and looked him up and down 
 contemptuously. 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 29 
 
 " Then you, too, are one of them, eh ? " cried she. 
 
 "Did you not hear the cry of the death-bird?" 
 stammered he. 
 
 "What are you afraid of? Tis only my half- 
 crazy old mother." 
 
 At night the headsman's apprentices sleep on the 
 floor of the loft The headsman himself has a room 
 overlooking the courtyard; Mekipiros slept in the 
 stable outside with the watch-dog. 
 
 All was silent Outside, the wind had died away, 
 not the leaf of a tree was stirring ; one could dis- 
 tinguish the deep breathing of the sleepers. 
 
 At such, times the lightest sound fills the sleepless 
 watcher with fear. Sometimes he fancies that a 
 man hidden beneath the bed is slowly raising his 
 head, or that someone is lifting a latch, or the 
 wind shakes the door as if someone were rattling 
 it from the outside. There is a humming and a 
 buzzing all around one. Night beetles have some- 
 how or other lit upon a piece of paper, and they 
 crinkle it so that it soxmds cls if someone were 
 writing in the dark. Out in the street men seem to 
 be running to and fro and muttering hoarsely in 
 each other's ears. The church clocks strike one 
 after another, thrice, four times — one cannot tell 
 how often. The time is horribly long and the 
 night is an abyss of blackness. 
 
 On a bed of straw, with a coarse coverlet thrown 
 
30 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 over ihem, the headsman's two apprentices sleep 
 side by side. Are they really asleep? Can they 
 sleep at all in such a place? Yet their eyes are 
 closed. No, one of them is not asleep. When he 
 perceives that his comrade does not move, he slowly 
 pushes the coverlet from off him and creeps on all 
 fours into the inner room; there he lies down flat 
 on his stomach and peeps through a crevice in the 
 rafters. Then he arises, creeps on tiptoe to the 
 chimney and knocks at the partition wall three 
 times, then he climbs down from his loft by means 
 of a ladder, withdraws the ladder from the opening, 
 and whistles to the watch-dog to come forth. One 
 can hear how the chained beast scratches his neck, 
 and growling and sniffing lies down before the 
 door of the loft 
 
 Meanwhile the other apprentice has been care- 
 fully observing every movement of his companion 
 with half-open eyes. Whenever the first riser turns 
 towards him he feigns to be asleep ; but as soon as 
 he takes his eyes off him he opens his own eyes 
 again and looks after him. 
 
 When the last sound has died away, he also 
 arises from his sleepless couch and looks through 
 that crevice mto the inner room through which his 
 comrade had looked before. It was easy to find, 
 the ray of a lamp pierced through the crevice in the 
 beam, and that ray comes from the hangman's 
 bedroom. 
 
 Carefully he bends down and looks through this 
 little peep-holc» 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 31 
 
 He sees before him a room furnished with the 
 most rigorous simplicity. Close to the wall stands 
 a black chest, fastened with three locks; in the 
 middle of the room is a strong wooden table; 
 further away are two beds, a large one and a small 
 one ; there are also two armless four-legged chairs ; 
 in the window recess are a few shabby books; 
 above the beds is a heavy blunderbuss. The pale 
 light of the lamp falls upon the table. Sitting 
 beside it is a child reading out of the Bible. At 
 the feet of the child lies a man with his face pressed 
 down to the ground. 
 
 The man is of mighty stature — a giant, and he 
 lays down his head, covered with a wildered shock 
 of grey hair, at the feet of a child whose beauty 
 rivets the eye and makes the heart stand still. 
 
 It is a pretty little light-haired angel, twelve or 
 thirteen years of age, her hair is of a silvery lightness, 
 like soft feather-grass or moonbeams, her face is 
 of a heavenly whiteness, she has the smile of an 
 angel. The smile of this white face is so unearthly, 
 that neither joy nor good-humour is reflected from 
 it, but something of a higher order, which the human 
 heart is not pure enough to comprehend. 
 
 The old man lies there on tlie ground, with his 
 fingers clutching his grey locks, and the ground on 
 which his face has rested is wet But the little 
 girl, with hair like soft feather-grass, reads with a 
 honey-sweet voice verses full of mercy and pardon 
 from the Holy Book. From time to time her little 
 fingers turn a leaf over, and whenever she comes to 
 
5i THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 the name of the Lord she raises gentle eyes full of 
 devout reverence. 
 
 " Pray, pray, my angel, go on praying ! God will 
 hear thy words. Oh ! thy father is indeed a sinner, 
 a great, great sinner ! " 
 
 The child leant over him, kissed his grey head, and 
 went on reading. 
 
 The old man fell a-weeping bitterly. 
 
 "Oh! thy father's hands are so bloody! Who 
 can ever wash them clean? I have killed so many 
 mett who never offended me, never did me any 
 harm. Oh! how they feared death! how sad they 
 were as they waited for me! how they looked and 
 looked to see whether a white flag would not be 
 hoisted after all! Oh! how they begged and 
 prayed, how they kissed my hands in order that J 
 might wait a moment, but one moment more — life 
 was so sweet to them, yes, so sweet! And yet I 
 had to kill them. I murdered them' — ^because the 
 law commanded it" 
 
 A deep and bitter sob choked the old man's 
 voice. 
 
 "Who will answer for me when God asks in a 
 voice of thunder : * Who has dared to deal out death 
 — ^the prerogative of God alone? * Who will answer 
 for me, who will defend me, when my judges will 
 be so many pale, cold shapes, me in whose hands 
 were Death and Terror? And if we meet together 
 above there — or, perchance, down below, we, the 
 executioner and the executed, and sit down at one 
 table 1 ohl those bloody souls! — ^moving about 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 33 
 
 headless, perchance, even in the other world, oh! 
 horrible, horrible ! To have to answer for the head 
 of a man ! And what if he were innocent besides, 
 what if the judge erred, and the blood of the con- 
 demned cries out to Heaven for vengeance? Alas! 
 oh, Mighty Heavenly Father I " 
 
 The grey-headed giant writhed on the ground 
 convulsively, and smote his bosom with his clenched 
 fists. One could now catch a glimpse of his face. 
 It was a hard, weather-beaten countenance, bronzed 
 by the suns of many a year, large patches of his 
 beard were grizzled, but his eyebrows were of a 
 deep black. He was quite beside himself, every 
 muscle writhed and quivered. 
 
 The Httle girl knelt down beside him and tenderly 
 stroked his sweat-covered forehead, took his head 
 into her lap, and did not seem to fear him terrible 
 as he looked — like one of the damned on the verge 
 of the grave. 
 
 The old man kissed the girl's hands and feet, 
 and timidly, tenderly embracing her with his large, 
 muscular, tremulous arms, bent over her, hid his face 
 in her lap, and sobbing and groaning, spoke in a 
 voice near to choking — it was as though his very 
 soul was bursting away from his bosom along with 
 these terrible wordsw 
 
 " Look, my little girl ! — once the judges con- 
 demned a young man to death — ^my God ! there was 
 no trace of a beard upon his face, so young was he. 
 For three days he was placed in the pillory, and 
 everybody wept who beheld himr— the youth was 
 
 C 
 
34 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 accused of having murdered his father. He could 
 not deny that he slept in the same room, and a 
 bloody knife was concealed in the bed. In vain 
 he said that he was innocent, in vain he called God 
 to witness — ^he must needs die. On the day when 
 he was beheaded, two women, weeping and wailing, 
 and dressed in deep mourning, ran beside the felon's 
 car to the place of execution. One was his dear 
 mother, the other his loving sister. In vain they 
 screamed that he was innocent, that he ought not 
 to die, and, even if he were guilty they forgave him 
 the mourning dresses they wore, though they were 
 the sufferers and had lost everything. It was use- 
 less, he must needs die. When he sat down in front 
 of me in the chair of death, and took off his clothes, 
 even then he turned to me and said : * Woe is me 
 that I must die, for I am innocent.' I bound up his 
 eyes. But my hand shook as I aimed the blow at 
 him, and the blood that spurted on to my hand 
 burnt like fire. Oh, my child! that blood was 
 innocent. A year ago I executed a notorious high- 
 wayman, and as I was ascending the ladder with 
 him, he turned and laughed in my face : * Ha, ha ! * 
 cried he, *it was in this very place that you be- 
 headed a fine young fellow whom they accused of 
 having murdered his father ; it was I who killed that 
 father of his and hid the knife in his bed, and now 
 hang me up and look sharp about it' Oh, my child, 
 thou fair angel, beseech God that Ke will let me 
 forget those words ! " 
 " Go to sleep, go to sleep, my good father. God 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 35 
 
 is good, God is wrath with no man. Why dost 
 thou weep? Thou art not a bad man, surely, else 
 thou wouldst not love me. Look now! Last 
 summer two children went from the village into the 
 woods to pluck flowers, there Heaven's warfare 
 overtook them, and when they sought a refuge 
 beneath a tree to avoid the rain, the lightning struck 
 both of them dead. Yet the lightning is God's own 
 weapon, and both the children were innocent God 
 knows wherefore He gives life and death, we dp not 
 Go to sleep, my good father! God is ever)rwhere 
 near us, and turns away from nobody who lifts up 
 his eyes towards Him. Look, I see Him every- 
 where. He watches over me when I sleep. He 
 holds me by the hand when I walk in the darkness ; 
 I see Him if I look up at the sky, I see Him when 
 I cast down my eyes. He abandons nobody. Kiss 
 me and go to sleep ! '* 
 
 The big muscular man slowly struggled to his 
 knees. He pressed the fair child to his bosom and 
 raised his hard rough face. He looked up, his lips 
 quivered, he seemed to be praying, and his tears 
 flowed apace. Then he stood up, and the little 
 girl embraced his arm, that huge arm of his like the 
 trunk of a tree. Fumbling his way along, he 
 allowed himself to be led to his bed, and plunged 
 down upon it fully dressed as he was. After turn- 
 ing about restlessly for a moment or two, a loud 
 snore like thunder, which made the whole room 
 vibrate, proclaimed that he had fallen asleep at 
 last But his slumbers were restless and uneasy. 
 
^6 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Frequently he would start and cry aloud as if in 
 agony, or utter broken unintelligible half sentences 
 and groan horribly. 
 
 But the fair little girl extinguished the lamp 
 before she got ready to lie down herself. The pale 
 light of the moon shone through the window and 
 made her face whiter, her hair more silvery than 
 ever, as if by enchantment It shone right upon her 
 snow-white bed. It shone upon her soft eyebrows, 
 her smiling face, upon her sweet lips as they tremu- 
 lously prayed. 
 
 So slumber came upon her in the shape of a 
 snow-white moonbeam. With a smiling face, hands 
 clasped together, and praying lips, she fell asleep — 
 and her guardian angel stood at the head of her 
 snow-white bed. 
 
 The youth had watched the whole scene through 
 the rift in the door with bated breath and great 
 amazement. When he rose to his feet, he remained 
 for a long time, rapt in a brown study, leaning 
 against the wall and staging blankly before him, 
 lost in wonder that two such different beings 
 should be slumbering together beneath the same 
 roof. 
 
 He sighed deeply. In the stillness of the night 
 it seemed to him as if he heard the echo of his own 
 sigh coming back to him in whispering words. He 
 listened attentively — ^he could plainly distinguish 
 the deep droning voice of the headsman*s wife, 
 which seemed to him to come from somewhere 
 below at the opposite end of the house. 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 37 
 
 He went in the direction of the voice, and when 
 he came to the place where his comrade had 
 knocked thrice on the boards near the chimney, he 
 distinctly heard two people talking to each other 
 in a low voice. It was the headsman's wife and 
 her lover. 
 
 The youth turned away full of loathing. Never- 
 theless, it soon occurred to him that this tempestuous 
 tke-a-tHe could have little to do with love. The 
 voice of the headsman's wife frequently arose in 
 anger. 
 
 " Let him go to hell ! " he heard her exclaim. 
 
 "Hush! hush!" murmured the young 'prentice, 
 * somebody might overhear us." 
 
 " Pooh ! God and men both slumber now." 
 
 What could they be talking about? Whom did 
 they want to harm ? Such folks had it not in them 
 to love anyone. Woe to those whom they had 
 cause to remember! 
 
 So he crept softly to the spot and listened. 
 
 **If these people should rise they will not leave 
 one stone upon another," the headsman's apprentice 
 was saying. 
 
 "And do you suppose they will rise up because 
 you tell them to?" 
 
 " I have thought the matter well out. The com- 
 mon folks about here do not love their masters, 
 there is no reason why they should. Their lords 
 have kicked and cuffed and spat upon them, and 
 treated them worse than dogs. You have but to 
 cast a burning fagot into the mass of discontent, 
 
38 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 and it will flcime up at once. Even the wisest 
 among them who do know something about it, are 
 the most narrow-minded. If there be two versions 
 of a matter they always believe the most absurd 
 one. I told them to be on their guaxd against 
 danger. I told them to look after their wells and 
 their granaries, as their masters wanted to poison 
 them. When they asked why? I told them that 
 the whole kingdom was surrounded on every side 
 by enemies, and the gentry wanted to raise a pesti- 
 lence in the kingdom to keep the enemy out of it 
 At my words the common people at once became 
 suspicious, for they have heard for a long time that 
 the gentry were expecting a pestilence, and as this 
 was the first explanation of the prophesied epidemic 
 that had come to their ears, they believed it at once. 
 Suspicion is contagious. And as the gentry have 
 since had the imprudence to order a separate grave- 
 yard to be dug for the corpses of those who may 
 die of the cholera (naturally in order to prevent 
 the dead bodies from spreading the contcigion), the 
 common folks have believed my words as if I were 
 a prophet, and quite expect that the gentry are 
 going to poison the poor people. The digging of 
 the churchyard they take to be a first move in that 
 direction." 
 " Devilish clever of you, Ivan, I must say." 
 " And then don't forget the announcement of the 
 Kassa doctors to the effect that if the common 
 folks will not take the salutajy bismuth powder 
 volimtarily, it must be forced upon them, thrown 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 39 
 
 into their wells and scattered about their bams. 
 It looks as if everyone was intent upon playing into 
 our hands." 
 
 "Does the young chap upstairs suspect ciny- 
 thing?" 
 
 " I don't think so, but let us speak in a lower tone. 
 I promised to hide him here. He fancies he has 
 shot his captain dead. He caught him with his 
 sweetheart and banged away at him; the man fell 
 to the ground, but he did not die. But the young 
 fellow ran away and deserted his colours. I have 
 been persuading him to desert for a long time, as 
 I had need of him. This, in fact, is the third time 
 he has deserted, and if they catch him now they 
 will undoubtedly string him up. Not a bad idea 
 for him to fly to the headsman's house, eh? They 
 will seek him everywhere but under the gallows- 
 tree. And if they find him here, they won't have 
 very much more trouble with him, that's all." 
 
 " Ho, ho, ho ! Suppose he were to hear you ? " 
 
 And he did hear! 
 
 " You see, this was my object all along. I shall 
 put his pursuers on his track in any case, and they 
 will capture him here and take him to Hetfalu, where 
 the court-martial will pronounce sentence of death, 
 and then have him exposed in the pillory. All the 
 common folk about Hetfalu love the youth as if he 
 was their own son, but they hate his father like the 
 devil It will be no very great masterpiece to stir 
 up the people in these troublous times, and when 
 they see the young fellow led out to be hanged the}' 
 
40 tKiE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 will be qtiite ready to seize their scythes and dung- 
 fdtksi set him free, raise him on their shoulders, and 
 rush with him to the castle of his father (who, hy 
 the way, has done his best to hound his son to 
 death), and level it with the ground, and there 
 you have a peasant revolt in full swing straight 
 oflF." 
 
 " But will the lad consent to be put at the head of 
 such an enterprise? " 
 
 " Never fear ! Death is an awful prospect There 
 is no road, however terrible, which a man will not 
 take in order to avoid it. Besides, at such times 
 d man is not himself, but does everything almost 
 Uhconsciously, and thus our names will not appear 
 in the business at all; and if it is put down, he 
 will be looked upon as the ringleader. Not the 
 shadow of a suspicion will fall upon us." 
 
 " Bravo, Ivan ! I could kiss you for this.** 
 
 " A mOre amazing popular rebellion than this will 
 be has never been known. From village to village 
 the rumour will fly that his own son has risen 
 against his poisoner of a father at the head of the 
 people, has cut to pieces every member of his 
 family, and levelled his ancestral halls to the ground. 
 He will be looked upon as a public avenger. 
 Horribly black rumours will be noised abroad all over 
 the kingdom, and at the tidings thereof the people 
 Will run downright mad with savage fury, and the 
 gentry will not know which way to turn to escape 
 the unforeseen danger which will suddenly break 
 out att their very doora** 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 41 
 
 **You are the Devil's own son, Ivan; come and 
 let me cuddle yott" 
 
 The youth rose from the chimney-place trembling 
 in every limb. He had heard every word they said 
 
 For an instant he remained standing there quite 
 beside himself, half mad, half senseless from sheer 
 terror and amazement Presently he began to gaze 
 about him with desperate alertness, like a wild 
 beast that has fallen into a trap and looks eagerly 
 for a way out of it, rallying all its powers for a final 
 struggle, becoming resourceful and inventive in pro- 
 portion to its peril, and forgetting the very instinct 
 of life in the longing for freedom, at last gets to 
 fear nobody and nothing. After fruitless struggles 
 it surrenders in despair, Hes down, closes its eyes, 
 and the next instant once more begins the hopeless 
 fight for liberty. 
 
 The youth looked down through the opening in 
 the floor. The ladder had been removed, and in 
 tlie courtyard below a big shaggy dog was slouch- 
 ing surlily about and shaking its collar^ and from 
 time to time it would tear at its skin with its teeth 
 dr worry its tail and bay at the moon. 
 
 And now there is a good sharp knife in the 
 youth's hands. He sticks it between his teeth and 
 looks carefully around him. In case of need he 
 would have risked a fight with the dog, and perhaps 
 killed it ; but this could not happen without a great 
 deal of noise, and he wished, at any price, to escape 
 unnoticed. 
 
 The fence, too, surrounding' the Cnclosvure, waa 
 
42 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 very high, how was he to get over it? Nowhere 
 could he see the ladder. 
 
 At the extreme end of the house, right opposite 
 the windows of the headsman^s bedroom, was a 
 large mulberry tree, whose wide-spreading branches 
 bent down over the roof of the house. With the 
 help of these branches one could easily get to the 
 fence, and then a bold leap down from the top of 
 it would do the rest 
 
 Like a panther escaping from its cage the young 
 man crept along the narrow window-ledge of the 
 garret with his knife between his teeth. Wriggling 
 along on his belly he clutched hold of the ridge of 
 the house, and crawled cautiously on till he came 
 to the branches of the mulberry-tree, then he seized 
 an overhanging branch, clambered up it and scram- 
 bled to the very end of it — and all so quietly, 
 without making the least noise. 
 
 From the extreme edge of the branch, however, 
 to the top of the fence he had to make a timely 
 spring, and in so doing overestimated the strength 
 of the branch on which he stood — ^with a great crash 
 it broke beneath him, and he remained clinging like 
 grim death to the fence half-way up. 
 
 At the sound of the snapping branch the watch- 
 dog became aware of the fugitive, and rushed 
 barking towards him ; and while he was struggling 
 with all his might to scramble up to the top of the 
 fence it seized him by one of the tails of his coat 
 and furiously tried to drag him down. 
 
 "Who is that?" a loud voice suddenly roared 
 
THE HEADSMAN'S FAMILY. 43 
 
 The headsman had been aroused by the noise 
 outside his window, and was now looking down 
 into the courtyard. He there perceived a man 
 quite unknown to him clambering up the fence, 
 while the dog was tugging away at him to bring 
 him down. " Ho, there ! stop, whoever you are ! " 
 he thundered, and mad with rage he seized the 
 musket and took aim at the fugitive. His eyes 
 were wild and bloodshot. 
 
 Then a white hand lowered the weapon, and a 
 clear ringing childish voice from behind him 
 exclaimed : 
 
 "Wilt thou slay yet again, oh, my father?" 
 The man's hand sank down. For a moment he 
 was motionless, and his face grew very pale. Then 
 the calm look of self-possession came back to him. 
 He embraced the child who had pushed the gun 
 aside. Then he took aim once more. There was 
 a loud report, and the watch-dog, without so much 
 as a yelp, fell to the ground stiff and stark. The 
 fugitive with a final effort leaped over the fence. 
 
CHAPTER IIL 
 
 A CHILDISH MALEFACTOR. 
 
 That house which stands all deserted in the middle 
 of Hetfalu was not always of such a doleful appear- 
 ance. 
 
 Its windows which are now nailed up or bricked 
 in were once full of flowers ; those trees which now 
 stand around it all dried up and withered as if in 
 mourning for their masters, and with no wish to 
 g^ow green again after the many horrors which have 
 taken place among them, those trees, I say, once 
 threw an opulent shade on the marble bench placed 
 beneath them^ where a grave old gentleman used to 
 sit of an evening and rejoice in the splendid wall- 
 flowers with which the courtyard abounded. 
 
 Yes, he could rejoice in the sweet flowers although 
 his own heart was full of thorns. 
 
 This old gentleman was Benjamin Hetfalusy. 
 
 In front of those two windows which look out 
 upon the garden, and which are now walled up, a 
 solitary vine had been planted, whose branches, 
 crowded with fruit, climbed up to the very roof of 
 
A CHILDISH MALEFACTOR, 45 
 
 the house. Now it lies all wildered on the ground, 
 and its immature berries twine themselves round 
 the nearest bushes. 
 
 Those windows were once thickly curtained 
 The yellow silk curtains inundated with a sickly 
 light a room where everything was so still, so sad. 
 
 There was an invalid in the house, little Neddy, 
 the son of Benjamin Hetfalusy's daughter, the son 
 of that once so haughty gentlewoman, Leonora 
 Hetfalusy. 
 
 This poor lady had been visited by many a 
 terrible calamity. After a youth passed amidst 
 feverish excitements, she had married Squire 
 Szephalmi, and there had been two children of this 
 marriage, a son and a daughter. Edward aind 
 Emma were their names. The children were con- 
 stantly bickering with each other, but this after all 
 is only what happens every day with brothers and 
 sisters. 
 
 One day the little girl disappeared, nobody knew 
 what had become of her. They searched for her in 
 the woods and in the fields, and in the pond close 
 by; they explored the whole country side, their 
 little pet daughter was nowhere to be found. 
 
 From that very day Neddy fell sick. He lost 
 his fresh ruddy colour. He could neither eat nor 
 sleep. They laid him on his bed, a fever tormented 
 hiro. At night he would wander in his speech, and 
 at such times he would constantly be calling for his 
 little sister Emma ; he would cry out and weep, and 
 his features would stiffen and his eyes would alniost 
 
46 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 start out of his head till he looked like one 
 possessed. 
 
 The doctors said that it was epilepsy. They 
 treated him in every possible way. It was all of 
 no avail. He grew worse from day to day, and his 
 father and mother stood and wept by his bed 
 morning after morning. 
 
 It was one of those evenings when the wind rages 
 outside and dashes rain mingled with hail against 
 the window-panes. The child was crying and 
 moaning in his bed, out of doors the dogs were 
 howling, the wind was whistling, and the freely- 
 swinging pump-handle creaked and groaned like a 
 shrieking ghost 
 
 " Ah ! " wailed the sick child in his sleep, half 
 rising up. " Emma ! Let in little Emma ! Don't 
 you hear how she is crying outside — she cannot 
 get through the door . . . she is shivering, she is 
 afraid of the dark ... go out and look . . . 1 " 
 
 "There is nobody outside, my darling, nobody, 
 my poor sick little soa" 
 
 " There is, there is. I hear someone scratching 
 at the door, fumbling at the latch ; she is stroking 
 the dogs ; don't you hear how she is moaning, dear, 
 dear mother, don't you hear it? " 
 
 " Go to sleep, my sick darling, nobody is coming 
 here, the whole house is locked up." 
 
 " She is dead, she is dead," whined the little boy 
 
A CHILDISH MALEFACTOR. 47 
 
 in his delirium. "Wicked men killed her when 
 she went into the woods to pluck flowers. They 
 tied a stone to her feet and sank her in the yellow 
 pond. Oh! oh! why don't you make haste? She 
 will be drowned directly. Oh ! oh ! how bloody her 
 forehead is ! " 
 
 In the comer of the room was the father on his 
 knees praying. The mother with tearful eyes kept 
 on spreading the bed-clothes over the sick child, 
 and the grey-headed grandfather stared stupidly 
 in front of him. 
 
 " Hark ! Don't you hear Kttle Emma weeping 
 there again? She has not been properly buried 
 beneath the ground, she wants to come out Hush ! 
 hush! Don't go, don't go, then perhaps she will 
 stop crying." 
 
 Outside the tempest was shaking the trees. 
 
 " Oh, oh ! There's a knocking at the door ! They 
 have come for me. They want to kill me. They 
 are bringing little Emma. Oh, do not let them in ! 
 Tell them that I am not here! Lock the door! 
 ^Father, father, don't leave me." 
 
 It was hideous to see the expression of despair 
 on the round childish face all covered with sweat. 
 They are wont to paint little children in the shape 
 of angels. If it should ever occur to a painter to 
 paint a four-year-old child as a devil, as a fallen 
 accursed spirit, it might be such a face as his was. 
 
 " Oh, God, have mercy upon him, and take him 
 to Thee," sobbed the grandfather, hiding his face 
 on the table. He could not endure to look upon 
 
48 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 the superhuipan torments of the child, while the 
 weak, helpless father cried in the bitterness of his 
 heart, "it is my only son, my dearest, fairest 
 hope." 
 
 Tbe child made as if it would fly or hide itself. 
 It leaped up in its bed incessantly, and saw hideous 
 shapes abound it gud raved about them, and writhed 
 and struggled like one attacked by a serpent. 
 
 " Come, my daughter, come, my son ! " sobbed 
 old Benjamin, going down upon his knees. " Kneel 
 beside me, let us pray for him ; if our sins are ripe 
 for punishment, let the pupishment fall upon our 
 heg.ds, not upon the child's." 
 
 And the three elders knelt down beside the bed, 
 and held each other by the hand and wept, and 
 called upon God, and prayed Him to heal the child. 
 
 At that moment three violent blows from a 
 clenched fist were heard upon the door. The dogs 
 ran howling to the other end of the courtyard, and 
 a shrill piping voice, uttered the words : 
 
 "Death! death!" 
 
 The old grandfather leaped up from his knees 
 like one beside himself with rage. Cursing aloud, 
 he snatched his gun from the wall, rushed into the 
 courtyard and looked about for whomsoever had 
 uttered that cry thpit he might shxx>t the wretch 
 down like a dog. 
 
 Perchance if that cry had come from Heaven he 
 would have fired up at Heaven itself! 
 
 What ! to cry out " Death " to the Amen of those 
 who \ve|re praying for life! 
 
A CHILDISH MALEFACTOR. 49 
 
 And again that ear-piercing voice cried t " Death, 
 death!" — it sounded like the whoop of a screech-owl. 
 
 The " death-bird," as they called her, was stand- 
 ing there in front of the trellised gate with her 
 eyes fixed on the windows, her face was as pale as 
 the face of a corpse, and her white hair was flutter- 
 ing in the tempestuous night 
 
 " It is thine own death thou hast prophesied, thou 
 crazy witch, thou ! " thundered old Benjamin, and 
 he fired his g^ at her at ten paces. 
 
 The " death-bird " stared at him without moving 
 a muscle. Old Benjamin, in a sort of stupor, let 
 the weapon fall out of his hand ; it never occurred 
 to him that he had extracted the bullet himself 
 beforehand lest in a moment of distraction he might 
 blow his own brains out 
 
 "What dost thou want, Benjamin?" asked the 
 old woman in a calm mocking voice. " Death 
 comes not from thee, but to thee. Nobody can 
 kill me. Death has passed me by, he does not 
 think of me, he does not trouble himiself about me, 
 he has turned me into a living spirit I am old and 
 ugly. Death cares not for such as I. He too has 
 a liking for youth and beauty, for pretty young 
 women like thy daughter, for strong gallant young 
 fellows like thy son-in-law, for tender, rosy chicks 
 like thy grandchildren, and for fat ripe corn like 
 thyself, saddled with more sins than the hairs of thy 
 head. Benjamin Hetfalusy, I have looked upon thee 
 as a young man, when thou didst chicane me put of 
 my house, and tear from my hands the dry crusts I 
 
so THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 lived upon. And thou hast grown fat upon it too. 
 But the bread that is wet with the tears of orjDhans 
 cries to Heaven for vengeance, the blessing of God 
 rests not upon it Thou art old and thou wilt die. 
 Thou shalt leave none behind thee, thou shalt bury 
 all whom thou didst ever love. But I shall remain 
 alive to see thy grave. I shall survive thee that 
 I may see everything that once belonged to thee lie 
 desolate. And this fine house of thine shall remain 
 empty — these trees shall fade away and wither one 
 by one — strangers shall divide thy lands among 
 them. And now go home, for thou shalt not dwell 
 there long. When thou liest outside I will come 
 and visit thee yonder ! " 
 
 The " death-bird " drew herself up straight at 
 these words, she seemed as big again as her usual old 
 shrunken self, and pointed towards the churchyard 
 with her crutch. 
 
 The dogs howled dismally behind the house and 
 durst not come forward 
 
 The old woman collapsed once nxore. Close 
 to the trellis gate stood a large heap of planks. She 
 reached out and tapped them with her crutch. 
 " Good timber here for ever so many nice coffins ! " 
 she mumbled to herself, and tripped away coughing 
 and wheezing, and leaning heavily on her crutch. 
 
 Benjamin Hetfalusy lay senseless in his own court- 
 yard, and when he came to himself he was unable 
 to utter a word. He had had a stroke, and his 
 tongue was tied 
 
 Early next morning, while the whole house was 
 
A CHILDISH MALEFACTOR, 51 
 
 still asleep, Mrs. Szephalmi, all alone, stealthily and 
 unobserved, quitted the house and made her way 
 across the park to old Magdolna's hut 
 
 This great lady, despite an outward show of 
 culture, believed in and made use of all sorts of 
 charms and quackeries, and it was not the first time, 
 so credulous was she, that she had turned to the 
 old woman for counsel She had made her tell her 
 her fortune by means of cards, predict the future, 
 brew potions for her which would make her husband 
 faithful, teach her spells which would cause flies 
 and other vermin to vanish, to concoct balsamic cakes 
 to keep the skin white — ^in fact, she hung upon 
 every word the old crone uttered 
 
 Magdolna kept her waiting for a long time in 
 the yard before she opened the door. She said, 
 by way of excuse, that she had been praying, then 
 she shut the door behind them. 
 
 The great lady sat down on a straw-covered 
 chair and began to weep. The old woman crouched 
 down upon a stool and cleansed some mushrooms 
 which she held in her lap. 
 
 "Dame Magdolna, can you not help my son?" 
 sobbed Mrs. Szephalmi 
 
 " No." 
 
 " I will give all I have to whomsoever can cure 
 him. Oh! if you could only see how much he 
 suffers, nobody ever suffered so much before." 
 
 " I know it, and he will suffer still more." 
 
 " The doctors cannot cure him." 
 
 ** No healing herb that ever grew in the field can 
 
5* THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 heal him ; it would be all one even if you bathed 
 him in balm." 
 
 "He will die?" 
 
 " Twould be good for his soul if he did die." 
 
 "What, is there then anything worse than death?" 
 
 " Yes, damnation ! " 
 
 "You are raving. A child who four years ago 
 was an angel in Heaven, a child only four years of 
 age — damned ! " 
 
 " It has sinned enough to suffice for a long life, 
 enough to merit damnation." 
 
 "Then for such a sin there is no name among men." 
 
 " There is a name for it, terrible and accursed- 
 the murder of a sister." 
 
 "Merciful God! — I will not hearken to you." 
 
 " Why do you ask me, then? I have told nobody. 
 Go home, my lady, you cannot buy the mercy of 
 God for money." 
 
 " And yet there must be something in it He is 
 repeatedly mentioning his sister's name. And — 
 oh ! what a look he has at such times ! " 
 
 " I know it. His groaning can be heard outside 
 in the street If a poor man's child wailed like 
 that they would pitch it down a well" 
 
 "Speak! How cind where did it take place?" 
 
 " The children were playing outside, close to the 
 pond, I was on the opposite side plucking healing 
 plants. Suddenly the two children caught sight 
 of a pretty flower on a high rock. They both 
 hastened to the spot to pluck it The girl was 
 the quicker, and got there first, and when she had 
 
A CHILDISH MALEFACTOR. $3 
 
 plucked the flower the lad began to quarrel with 
 her, and as they struggled the little girl fell off the 
 rock, her head struck against the hard root of a 
 tree, and she remained motionless on the spot All 
 pale and frightened little Cain stood beside her, 
 and gazed stupidly at the blood flowing from his 
 sister's forehead. He saw that he had killed his 
 sister, and in vain he begged and prayed her 
 to awake again, in vain he pulled her about Then 
 he began to cry like one who is desperate, and ran 
 towards the lake. I saw him gazing into the water, 
 and he gazed into it for a long time, perhaps he 
 thought of drowning himself. He shrank back 
 from the face that stared at him from the surface 
 of the water, his own distorted face. Slowly he 
 crept back again, his face was as white as death, 
 and his lips were blue. He gazed around him in 
 every direction to see if anybody was looking. 
 Then he suddenly put his arms round the lifeless 
 body, and with a strength incredible in one so 
 young he dragged it to a ditch which was thickly 
 overgrown with bushes, and covered it over with 
 leaves and branches. There was still some life in 
 the little girl, for when the lad began stamping down 
 the heaped-up leaves with his feet, she groaned 
 aloud and said : * Oh, Neddy, Neddy, don't bury 
 me. Emma won't cry. Emma won't tell 
 mamma! *" 
 
 " Oh ! my poor little girl ! " 
 
 " On hearing these words the boy took to his 
 heds — ^he ran and ran till he fell down senseless 
 
54 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 in the wood. There some swine-herds found him 
 as they were gathering beech-mast, and since then 
 he has been plagued by a burning fever-fit" 
 
 " It is Uke a frightful nightmare." 
 
 "I tell you the truth, and such a thing is only 
 what your family deserves — a murderer of his sister 
 only four years old! Sins like yours are enough 
 to hasten on the end of the world." 
 
 "And where, then, is the poor tiny little body 
 of my innocent child? " 
 
 ** I sought for it next day, but I qould not find it 
 On the very day of the evil deed I durst not go 
 there, for I was afraid they might think I killed 
 her. Here and there among the bushes were frag- 
 ments of a little pink frock. I also came across a 
 tiny red slipper with a golden butterfly on it, and 
 some gay ribbons which must have tied up her 
 hair. I have often heard the wolves howl at night 
 in that very place. They can tell perhaps where 
 she is." 
 
 "Would that my son might die also!" cried the 
 mother in the anguish of her despcur. 
 
 " He would die even if you did not wish it An 
 old man might live perhaps with such a mental 
 cancer, but it will destroy a child. Ah ! there is no 
 remedy against the worms that gnaw away at the 
 soul." 
 
 " Will he be tormented for long? " 
 
 " If you do not wish to see his torments, stand 
 by his bed when nobody else is by, cross yourself 
 thrice, and repeat the words which his dying sister 
 
A CHILDISH MALEFACTOR. 55 
 
 said to him : ^ * Don't bury me, Neddy ! Little 
 Emma won't cry ! '—and then he will die." 
 
 " How his father will weep ! It is his favourite 
 child — he loved him better than the little girl." 
 
 ** How his grandfather will weep ! For he loved 
 them both, and they were both his petSw" 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A DIVINE VISITATION. 
 
 The whole region was pitch black, half the night 
 was over, there was no sign of life anywhere. 
 
 But slumber was no dweller in that darkness, the 
 terrible voice of God drove it far away from the 
 eyes of men — Heaven was thundering as if it would 
 have smashed this nebulous star of ours here below 
 into fragments. Who could sleep at such a time? 
 
 One thunderbolt followed hard upon another. 
 Whenever the crashing uproar ceased for an instant 
 one could hear the ringing of bells, which the super- 
 stitious peasantry set a-going to charm away the 
 terrifying tempest 
 
 At such times every soul of man prays silently 
 in its quiet place of rest Not a single light is burn- 
 ing in any of the windows, the awakened sleeper lies 
 with fast-closed eyes beneath his coverlet, all his 
 sins rise up before him, all his sins and their punish- 
 ment — death ! 
 
 In one house, and one house only, nobody has 
 gone to rest Every living thing there is wakeful, 
 from the master of the house to the watch-dog. It 
 
A DIVINE VISITATION. 57 
 
 is the squire's house. All its windows are lit tip 
 and all its doors are locked. 
 
 In the room looking out upon the garden, the 
 mother is alone with the sick child. 
 
 The child is delirous, he is gabbling terrible 
 things, his features wear a different expression every 
 instant 
 
 And his mother understands every word of that 
 mortal fever-born nightmare ; she guesses at every 
 thought which underlies all those varying expres- 
 sions of countenance, the sight of whose horrible 
 contortions are enough to make even the heart of 
 a strong man break down. 
 
 How she must suffer! 
 
 He who takes poison dies a terrible death, his 
 veins burst asunder one by one, his nerves and 
 muscles strain and crack, his very marrow seems 
 to be on fire. But, oh! what is all that compared 
 to the death of a poisoned soul! A remedy may 
 be found perhaps for bodily venom, but there is 
 no remedy against spiritual venonL The grave may 
 close upon the former, but never upon the latter. 
 Both here and hereafter recollection and reproba- 
 tion wait upon it 
 
 God visits the sins of the fathers upon the 
 children even to the fourth generation. They graft 
 the evil qualities of their blood upon their sonsj 
 one generation passes on its wickedness to the 
 next ; man is vitiated when he is bom ; he sins as 
 soon as he is conscious of his existence and he dies 
 accursed. 
 
58 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 The sweat streamed from the child's temples ; for 
 the last three days he has had the mark of death 
 upon him. 
 
 The doctors say he may live, but if he lives he 
 will be weak-witted. 
 
 What a future for a four-year-old child! A 
 burden to the world, a burden to himself, to live on 
 for years after the mind is dead! To be an idiot 
 for ever ! It would be good for him if he could be 
 made away with, surely. 
 
 Will God take him? Or is it the Divine Will 
 that he should live on as an example of a living 
 curse, as a witness of the Almighty's chastising 
 arm? 
 
 Does he bear so much suffering by way of 
 ransom for the sins of his father, his mother, and 
 his grandfather? — or must the years of punishment 
 be as many as the years of sin? 
 
 Who will be merciful enough to put an end to his 
 sufferings? 
 
 His mother sits silent and watchful at the head of 
 the bed. 
 
 No, she cannot do it! 
 
 After all she is his mother. The roots of that 
 young flower are still but half detached from the 
 soil of her heart Death would be a benefit to him. 
 Perchance it might be easier to forget him if he were 
 under the sod. But man who does not endow with 
 life, must not distribute death. Man must wait till 
 the last of his allotted days has come. 
 
 And yet only a few words would bring it to pass. 
 
A DIVINE VISITATION. 59 
 
 The " death-bird " has whispered the magic spell, 
 and Death will obey the summons. 
 
 Yet she lacks the courage to summon him at a 
 time when the very foundations of the earth are 
 trembling at the voice of Heaven's thunder ! 
 
 Poor woman ! 
 
 It is a marvel that she also is not mad She 
 cannot even weep now though her bosom heaves 
 tumultuously — it were not good for a man to know 
 her secret thoughts at this moment 
 
 "They are calling me, they are calling me/* 
 stammers the child. ..." Men without heads 
 . . . they are running after me . . • the 
 black dog is scratching up the ground • • ,. the 
 hand of the dead body is sticking out • ■ . 
 Poor Emma ! " 
 
 The poor lady, all trembling, rose from her seat, 
 very softly lest she should make a noise, she gets 
 up, she cannot blow out the night lamp on the 
 table, her breath is too feeble for that, she puts it 
 out by casting it out of the room. 
 
 Then she approaches the window in the darkness 
 to see whether the curtains are closely drawn, or 
 whether anyone can look into the room from the 
 outside. What a flashing past there was of fiery 
 eyes amid the darkness of the night — ^Hah ! What 
 a blinding flash that was! — ^And then black dark 
 ness again. — No, nobody could see her — ^nobody — . 
 
 Can she make up her mind? 
 
 She goes slowly oack to the bed. The lad is 
 moaning fearfully. He is babbling dreadful words 
 
6o THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 and his throat rattles painfully. " How blue * . ■ 
 her mouth . . . how bloody ... her fore- 
 head .... poor little Eimna." 
 
 The lady bends down over the bed. The ghost 
 of a pale little face comes into sight now and then 
 as the lightning flashes quiver past the windows 
 
 Can she make up her mind? 
 
 ** Poor little Emma," wails the lad. 
 
 This last pathetic wail was too much for her. 
 The unhappy woman crossed herself three times 
 and, in a dry, half -suffocated voice exclaimed: 
 " Don't bury me, Neddy, little Emma won't cry ! " 
 
 The lad uttered a cry like the scream of a wild 
 bird when it is shot through the heart — then he 
 drew a long deep sigh and was quite still. 
 
 " Oh 1 " cried the desperate mother, as if suddenly 
 throwing off the oppressive influence of some magic 
 trance, "help, help!" and like a mad creature she 
 rushed towards the bell-rope which hung beside the 
 hearth. 
 
 She seized the golden tassel, the bell rang out 
 like a ghostly chime, when suddenly a fearful crash 
 was heard, a thunderbolt came down the chimney, 
 zig-zagging through the room like a fiery serpent, 
 fusing the metal of the bell in its passage and flash- 
 ing down the bell-rope to the golden tassel with a 
 blinding glare, finally vanishing with a dull crackling 
 sound 
 
 The whole family rushed at once to the scene of 
 this fearful crash. 
 
 With ghastly, frightened faces they came rushing 
 
A DIVINE VISITATION. 6i 
 
 in one by one, huddled up in sheets and counter- 
 panes or whatever else came first to hand, like so 
 many spectres in white mourning. 
 
 In the room lay two corpses, the mother and the 
 child 
 
 Bitter lamentations resounded through the house. 
 
 The father and the grandfather came hurrying 
 along. 
 
 Howling and screaming like some wild beast 
 never seen before, the father flung himself upon 
 his dead, turning frantically from the mother to 
 the child, and from the child to the mother, kissing 
 and squeezing them constantly. And then he 
 pressed them to his bosom and literally howled 
 like one beyond the reach of the mercy of God. 
 
 But the grandfather groped his way along in 
 silence, looking in his white nightdress and his 
 dishevelled silvery locks like some spectral thing. 
 
 He could not speak. His palsied tongue could 
 not utter a single cry for the relief of his agony. 
 He knelt down in front of the dead bodies and 
 raised his eyes aloft. Oh! how he strove to give 
 expression to his grief, to utter one word, if only 
 one, which might pierce Heaven itself. But he 
 could not He was dumb, his mouth moved as if 
 it would speak, but his tongue was tied. 
 
 Oh! how much this family must have sinned, to 
 suffer so much. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE UNBELOVED SON. 
 
 The day dawned slowly and, as it seemed, with 
 great difficulty. The morning was cold and cloudy 
 as is often the case after a tempestuous night 
 
 There was a great bustling about in the house 
 of mourning. A bier and a coffin had to be made;, 
 and the dead clothed in their funeral finery. The 
 old squire wished the funeral to be a splendid one. 
 
 The courtyard had been swept clean. Every 
 household tool and implement of labour had been 
 removed out of the way. They were preparing to 
 keep one of those days of sad and solemn observ- 
 ance which must befall every household at some 
 time or other. 
 
 At such times the street door is kept wide open. 
 Let the country folks come in and look upon the 
 dead, let them learn from the sight that Death is 
 the judge of the gentry as well as of the serfs ; let 
 them see how the rich can be splendid even after 
 death, how they embellish their coffins, how they 
 fasten them with golden nails, how they embroider 
 their palls with patterns of roses and gold filagree, 
 how they spread the bed of death itself with tlie 
 
THE UNBELOVED SON. 63 
 
 finest white watered silk and perfume it with the 
 most fragrant balm. 
 
 Yet that fragrant balm cannot stifle the smell of 
 the chamel house. Here, too, men must hold their 
 handkerchiefs to their mouths as they do before 
 the corpses of the poor. 
 
 For Death is a just judge. 
 
 A ragged man passes through the door. He is 
 soalced through and through with mud and dirt, it 
 was clear that no roof had covered his head during 
 last night's tempest His feet peeped from out of 
 his boots, his damp hair seemed glued to his 
 temples, his eyes were sunken, his cheeks . were 
 mere bone, his lips were blue and hollow. 
 
 He entered the courtyard falteringly like one who 
 would steal something but does not know how to set 
 about it, and there he stood at the entrance of the 
 hall, leaning against the lintel, with eyes cast down 
 upon the ground. 
 
 The dogs approached him, sniffed at his clothes 
 all round, and began to growl at him. 
 
 Only one dog, an old boar-hound, would not be 
 satisfied with sniffing impatiently among the others, 
 but rushed upon the stranger, placed its two front 
 paws upon him, licked his limp hand, and began 
 joyously barking at him. 
 
 At this the major-domo, a sunburnt old man with 
 a white moustache drew near, gave the speechless 
 stranger a large piece of bread, and bade him go 
 about his business. 
 
 " In God's name take yourself off," said he, " don't 
 
64 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 stand here in the way of everybody that comes out 
 or goes in." 
 
 The new-comer did not move, but kept on look- 
 ing straight in front of him, his chin and his hps 
 trembled as if he were keeping back by force a 
 torrent of tears. 
 
 The major-domo did not notice this, but the old 
 dog kept leaping up at the stranger's hand, and 
 yelped and yapped so persistently that it was plain 
 he wanted to say something. 
 
 " Come, stir your stumps and look sharp about it, 
 my good fellow, and don't set all our dogs barking 
 for nothing," said the major-domo, and with that 
 he seized the vagabond's hand and turned him 
 round. 
 
 And now he saw his face for the first time. 
 
 The tears streamed from the eyes of the ragged 
 man, sobbing and weeping he turned to the waH and 
 hid his face. 
 
 The old servant stood there dumbfounded. At 
 first he would not believe his eyes, then at last he 
 clapped his hands together and exclaimed : " Why, 
 if it is not young Master Imre himself. Good 
 Heaven ! " and deeply agitated he approached the 
 young man and began to soothe him, finally falling 
 upon his neck and weeping along with him. 
 
 "Nobody recognises me," sobbed the youth, 
 whose left hand was bleeding badly. He had hurt 
 himself somewhat severely when he leaped over the 
 fence of the headsman's house. 
 
 "Oh, why have you come home just at this 
 
THE UNBELOVED SON. 6$ 
 
 time?" lamented the old servant, "if only it had 
 been any other day in the whole year but this;! 
 this house is a sad dwelling-place just now, there 
 are two corpses in it" 
 
 "Who has died then?** 
 
 "Mistress Leonora and little Ned How they 
 are all weeping within there." 
 
 " I shall be the third." 
 
 The servant was silent Perhaps he thought to 
 himself : " Nobody will weep for yoa" 
 
 " I have deserted from my regiment a third tima*^ 
 
 "Oh dear, oh dear! And why have you come 
 home again ? " 
 
 " I wanted to speak to my father once f or alL" 
 
 "From henceforth yoiu: father will speak to 
 nobody but the Lord God." 
 
 " I don't ask him to be kind to me. I want to 
 tell him that Death is very near him, and he must 
 try to avoid it" 
 
 " Methinks the poor old man would rather seek 
 out death than fly from it; but you may be seen 
 and recognised here, young master, and taken 
 away — and then . . ." 
 
 "They will hang me up, ch? Don't be afraid. 
 The pistol with which I shot the captain is loaded, 
 one shot will be sufficient to save me from the 
 gallows-tree — show me where my father is." 
 
 " Go, then ! Where the mourning is loudest 
 there will you find him." 
 
 The youth went in the direction indicated and 
 entered the room. 
 
 ■ 
 
66 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 The room was wholly darkened, the mirrors and 
 pictures were draped in black; in the midst of it 
 stood two coffins, within which lay two pallid shapei 
 like wax figures. 
 
 It was impossible to recognise them. 
 
 On a candelabra beside the coffins burnt four 
 large wax candles, and a gilded crucifix had been 
 placed on a little table right opposite. 
 
 Kneeling at the foot of the dead was a white- 
 haired man. He glanced now at the one now at 
 the other of the departed, and from time to time 
 would press his clenched hands to his Hps and 
 moan softly like one in a troubled sleep. 
 
 It was a heart-breaking sight — this old white- 
 haired man crushed beneath the hand of God, moan- 
 ing like some wild beast dedicated to death, but 
 tmable to utter a word or shed a tear. 
 
 When God visits His people with affliction He 
 also gives them tears that they may weep out their 
 sorrow, and power of speech that they may talk of 
 their griefs and so find relief, but even these things 
 were denied to this old man. There he knelt; 
 scourged by the wrath of God, humbled to the very 
 earth, like a withered branch which stiffens into 
 dry lif elessness without complaint 
 
 The young man, groping his way along, with his 
 soul benumbed with sorrow, approached the old 
 man, and gently, noiselessly knelt down by his side. 
 
 The old man r^arded him stupidly, and for some 
 time seemed to be wandering who it was. He could 
 not speak, for, though still aiive^ Death had abready 
 
THE UNBELOVED SON. 67 
 
 mastered his tongue, and his son fancied he did not 
 recognise him. Perchance it was impossible to 
 recognise that haggard distorted face, that ragged 
 garb, those dishevelled locks. 
 
 " I am your son whom you drove away, and who 
 will soon be your dead son too," he exclaimed, with 
 deep emotion, trying to seize the old man's hand 
 that he might kiss it 
 
 But the old man drew back his hand with horror. 
 One could see loathing in the expression of his face, 
 just as if the Devil had extended his hcind to him in 
 the moment of his most sacred sorrow. 
 
 " I deserve your disgust, your repudiation. I 
 sinned grievously against you. You have grown 
 grey betimes because of me. But all this shall be 
 atoned for by a death, my death. You never loved 
 me, you drove me away from your house as you 
 would never have driven a dog, you let me perish 
 in want and wretchedness ; from my childish years 
 upwards I have never had a good word from you, 
 had it been otherwise things might have been very 
 different Those whom you loved God took away 
 from you, those you did not love you drove away 
 yourself, and now you are alone in the world." 
 
 The old man signified to him in dumb show that 
 he was to say no more. 
 
 " I have not come hither to ask anything of you, 
 so short will be the remaining period of my life that 
 I shall want no provision for the way. I only want 
 to reveal to you a horrible diabolical plot which 
 threatens your grey head, your family, and perhaps 
 
tt THE DAY OF WRATH- 
 
 your very house. My father, in ten minutes* time 
 I shall have ceased to live, and no more words of 
 mine will ever trouble your soul again, do not 
 repulse me in the very hour of my death ! " 
 
 The old man slowly rose from his knees, surveyed 
 
 his tatterdemaUon son from head to foot with 
 
 infinite contempt, and his lips moved and quivered 
 
 as if they would have said something, but not a 
 
 / word fell from them. 
 
 The son did not know that his father had had a 
 stroke and could not speak. 
 
 " Have you not one word for me ? — ^bad or good, 
 a curse or a blessing? Only a single word, father! 
 before you see me die ! " and he dragged himself 
 on his knees to the feet of the old man, who 
 supported himself tremulously against the altar that 
 had been placed opposite the two coffins, his hair 
 seemed to rise, his eyes started from his head 
 Then he seized the heavy gilded crucifix and slowly 
 raised it aloft in his right hand as if he would have 
 stricken to the earth with it his own son who knelt 
 there embracing his knees. 
 
 During this painful scene the door opened, the 
 clash of the butt ends of muskets brought sharply 
 to the ground was heard, and a corporal and three 
 soldiers appeared on the scene. 
 
 Imre looked round at this noise. For an instant 
 his face turned deadly pale ; behind the backs of the 
 soldiers he perceived the grinning face of his evil 
 angel, the headsman's 'prentice. He felt that he 
 was lost 
 
THE UNBELOVED SON. 69 
 
 He glanced around him. Whither should he flee 
 for refuge? Close beside him were two corpses 
 with cold imsympathetic faces — and there was also 
 a third, a living face, still colder, still more unsympa- 
 thetic than the faces of tlie dead, living and yet not 
 loving, the face of his own father who still stood 
 there with the large heavy crucifix in his uplifted 
 fist 
 
 The corporal approached the youth and seized 
 him by the collaj:. What did it matter to him that 
 the culprit was standing beside two corpses covered 
 with a fimeral pall? what did he care about the 
 painfulness of the scene? Naturally he only saw 
 before him a deserter, a deserter whom it was his 
 duty to arrest 
 
 At this the youth grew absolutely desperate, and 
 at the same time the instinct of self-preservation 
 arose within him. In one magical moment there 
 ficished through his mind all the horrors which the 
 future had in store for him — the cold dimgeon wall, 
 the narrow barred windows, the heavy rattling 
 chain, the court-martial, the reading of the sentence, 
 the pillory, the gaping crowd, the white shirt worn 
 by the condemned, the man of death, the execu- 
 tioner, with a Prayer Book in one hand and a cord 
 in the other, the ignominious death, the black 
 carrion crows 
 
 " Ah ! " he roared in despair, and with the iron 
 strength of frenzy he tore himself loose from the 
 grcLsp of the corporal who fell prone into the fire- 
 place with a feajful crash. 
 
7© THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " Whoever touches me is a dead man ! " screamed 
 Imr6, with a voice full of fury and defiance, and 
 tearing open his vest he drew forth with one hand 
 a dagger and with the other a large hussar pistol. 
 The broken-winged young eagle had turned upon 
 its pursuers, hacking at them with its wounded beak 
 and flapping its still uninjured pinion in their facesu 
 
 The soldiers began to fall back before the infuri- 
 ated youth, who, with bloodshot eyes and foaming 
 mouth, followed hard upon them, and either from 
 fear or compassion opened a way before him. 
 
 Then the white-headed old man seized from 
 behind the youth's murderous uplifted arms, and 
 held him back. 
 
 When the young man felt the touch of those cold 
 tremulous hands upon his arm, he let fall the 
 weapons from both his own hands, his arms fell 
 down benumbed by his side, his whole body 
 collapsed ; nerveless and swooning he sank in a heap 
 upon the ground. The soldiers lifted him upon 
 their shoulders, removed him from the room, put 
 fetters upon his hands and feet, and carried him 
 off. 
 
 The old man looked coldly after them When 
 they had gone, he a^in knelt down close to the two 
 coffins, his white locks falling about his face, raised 
 iiis clasped hands to his tremulous but impotent 
 lips, and kept gazing, gazing fixedly first at one of 
 his dear departed and then at the other. 
 
 Not a tear, not a single tear fell from his eye§^ 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 TWO FAMOUS PiEDAGOGUES, 
 
 The first of these famous paedagogues wai the 
 cantor, worthy Mr. Michael Korde. 
 
 The second was the rector, Thomas Bodza. 
 
 Apart from the fact that he had an extraordinary 
 liking for wine and never couJd quite distingui^ 
 the forenoon from the afternoon, Mr. Michael Kord6 
 was a man of refinement to the very tips of his toea 
 
 In his time he had worn out a great many stout 
 hazel switches, it being the custom of his establish- 
 ment to make each pupil provide his own rod This 
 was no doubt an extra item in the curriculum^ but, 
 on the other hand, there was something to show for 
 it; all those who passed through his hands when 
 they subsequently fell into the clutches of the Law 
 could endure as many as five-and-twenty strokes 
 from the hardest bludgeon without so much as 
 wincing. They had been case hardened by their 
 previous education^ 
 
 The schoolhouse was the vis-^-vis of Mr. Kord6's 
 own private dwelling. It had never once been 
 
7a THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 whitewashed since it was first built; but, on the 
 other hand, it was richly adorned outside with the 
 Christian names and the nicknames of all the 
 urchins who had ever been inside its walls, names 
 to which later generations of scholars had taken 
 good care to add such distinguishing epithets as 
 ass, swine, &c., &c. Those, moreover, who possessed 
 a taste for art did not omit to paint on the wall, with 
 red chalk, hussars, two-legged heads with six noses 
 and one eye, large meerschaum pipes, &c., &c. 
 Here and there, too, the remains of big black ink 
 blots and red splodges, like hideous bunches of 
 cherries, pointed to past combats in which inkpots 
 had been hurled and fists used freely; these pic- 
 torial devices, however, were but fragmentary, as the 
 various generations of students had from time to 
 time dug large bits of mortar out of the walls with 
 their nails to serve as sand for blotting their themes. 
 
 Inside the schoolroom the shapeless battered 
 benches were also carved all over with names and 
 emblems. The window panes had for the most part 
 been broken to bits, and the gaps stuffed with 
 closely written MS. torn out of old exercise books. 
 Layers of dust met the eye everywhere, and there 
 was a perfect network of dangling spiders' webs in 
 all the comers. 
 
 Such, in all its beauty, was the academical 
 emporiiun where Mr. Michael Korde for thirty years 
 had been in the habit of regularly dispensing science 
 and slaps — with what result we shall see later on. 
 
 Worthy Mr. Kord6 used r^^larly to return to 
 
TWO FAMOUS PiEDAGOGUES, 73 
 
 his own honourable dwelling from the pot-house just 
 when the night-watchmen were going home to sleep 
 and the cocks were crowing in the mom, and at such 
 times he would bellow forth ditties the whole way 
 at the top of his voice to the accompaniment of 
 the howling of all the watch-dogs in the village. 
 
 The object of this singing bout was to warn the 
 honest tutor's better half that her lord was approach- 
 ing, and give her time to open the street door for 
 him. 
 
 On safely reaching home he would first of all 
 knock his wife about a bit and break to pieces any 
 odd articles which might stray into his hands, 
 whereupon, after a little miscellaneous cursing and 
 swearing, he would fling himself down upon the 
 floor, light his pipe, fall asleep and snore like a wild 
 hog. 
 
 Heaven only knows how it was that he did not 
 bum his house ov^r his head every day. 
 
 The following morning when the children 
 assembled in the schoolhouse and began to kick up 
 a most fecirful din, the noble paedagogue would 
 scramble to his feet, shake the straw out of his hair, 
 smooth out his moustache, and gaze with a canniba- 
 listic expression out of the attic window, not recog- 
 nising for a moment exactly where he was. 
 
 After convincing himself by ocular demonstration 
 that the schoolhouse had not taken wings unto itself 
 and flown, but was still in the old place, he would 
 shamble downstairs, stick a couple of canes under 
 his arm, and go forth to teach. 
 
74 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 His pupils meanwhile were engaged in frightful 
 hand-to-hand combats ' with one another. There 
 were scratched faces and bloody noses everywhere, 
 and when the master entered he regularly found all 
 the benches upset and everybody's hands tugging 
 at his neighbour's hair. 
 
 The moment the facial portion of Mr. Michael 
 Korde stumbled against the door, the little rebels 
 instantly disentangled themselves from one another 
 and attempted to reach their proper places> whence 
 the grand inquisitor hooked them out one by one, 
 and thwacked the whole class in turn with his own 
 honourable hand 
 
 This little commotion used generally to chase 
 slxmiber somewhat from his eyes, and when the lads 
 had left off howling a bit, he would measure out 
 to each of them a big slice of catechism, or a similar 
 amount of Hubner's " Short questions in geogra- 
 I^y,*' to be repeated aloud till learnt by heart, 
 whilst he himself adjourned to the pot-house. From 
 this place of refuge he would send a message to 
 the urchins later in the afternoon that they might 
 go home. 
 
 Thereupon there was a general rush for the door 
 (just as when a herd of swine reaches home, and 
 every one tried to get through first) to an accom- 
 paniment of kicks, cuffs, and the tugging and teziring 
 of clothes. 
 
 On Simdays the lads did their best to ferret out 
 where the Lutheran children were playing balL 
 Then they all consulted together, and set off £o€ 
 
TWO FAMOUS PiEDAGOGUES. 75 
 
 the same place with stout sticks in their hands and 
 their pockets crammed full of stones^ and a battle 
 royal forthwith would ensue between the youths of 
 the rival creeds. When, then, Monday morning came 
 round again Mr. Korde conscientiously administered 
 a dose of birch, previously soaked in salt water, to 
 each one of his pupils who appeeured in class with a 
 swollen face or a damaged noddle. 
 
 On Sunday, moreover, he twice took them with 
 him to church where, during the sermon, they 
 either caught blue-bottles under the seats, or played 
 at knucklebones, or (but this was only when they 
 were particularly well behaved) lay down on the 
 floor of the pews and slept like Christians. 
 
 And when they grew up and became full-blown 
 louts, their actions still testified to the influence of 
 the school in which they had been reared. Who- 
 ever was the most skilful farmyard pilferer in the 
 village, whoever was the most thorough-paced loafer 
 in the county, could infallibly be regarded as an 
 ex-pupil of Mr. Korde's. 
 
 Whoever was regularly chucked out of the p'^t- 
 house every Sunday evening, whoever brought a 
 broken pate home with him the oftenest, whoever 
 spent most of his time in the village jail, would be 
 he, you might be quite sure of it, who had picked 
 up the rudiments of learning at the feet of Mr. 
 Korde. 
 
 Whoever lied and perjured himself most fre- 
 quently, whoever could swallow most brandy at a 
 gulp, whoever knocked his wife about the oftenest^ 
 
76 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 whoever turned his father and mother out of doors^ 
 whoever was most slothful in business^ whoever had 
 the filthiest house, whoever was cruel to his horse, 
 whoever sat in the stocks habitually, would be he, 
 you might safely rely upon it, who had learnt the 
 philosophy of life in the school of Mr. Kordd. 
 
 Thus for thirty years had he spread the blessings 
 of science in Hetfalu and its environs. 
 
 The second instructor of the people was Thomas 
 Bodza, a panslavist incarnate. 
 
 He had but little mind yet much leamii^. He 
 was one of those men who remembered all he read 
 without understanding it, a semi-savant and one of 
 the most dangerous specimens of that dangerous 
 class. Of him, I shall have occasion to speak 
 presently. 
 
 One day Mr. Korde had drunk himself into an 
 tmusual state of fuddle. 
 
 When I say unusual^ I mean, that as early as 
 midnight he did not know whether he Wcis boy or 
 girl, and took the starry firmament for a bass-vioL 
 
 He had made a Httle excursion with his friend 
 the magistrate, Mr. Martin Csicseri, to a little tavern 
 in the outlying vineyards to taste the new vintages^ 
 and there the two gentlemen got so drunk that they 
 would have found it difficult to explain in what 
 Iwiguage they were conversing. 
 
 Finally they set d& homewards^ leaning heavily 
 
TWO FAMOUS PiEDAGOGUES. . 77 
 
 for support on each other's shoulders. His honour, 
 Mr. Csicseri suddenly caught sight of a broad ditch 
 by the roadside. He swore by heaven cind earth 
 that it was a nicely quilted bed, and there and then 
 laid himself down in it and fell asleep. 
 
 For some time Mr. Korde kept on pulling and 
 tugging at him to get him out, first by an arm and 
 then by a leg. However, so far from giving his 
 friend any encouragement, Mr. Csicseri only rebuked 
 his wife for putting such a low pillow beneath his 
 head, and then, without pursuing the subject further, 
 went off as sound asleep as a humming top. 
 
 So the cantor found himself all alone in a strange 
 world. 
 
 In front of him lay the high road, and the village 
 was only three hundred yards further on ; but wine 
 is a bad compass in a man's noddle, and never points 
 north in the same direction two minutes together. 
 
 He resolved, therefore, to return to the inn among 
 the vineyards. Acting straightway upon this noble 
 resolve, he stumbled along totally unknown paths 
 up hill and down dale ; plunged through field after 
 field of Indian corn ; pursued his endless way 
 through hemp grounds and fallow lands ; scrambled 
 on all fours through hedges and ditches, and finally 
 forced his way through a vast morass in which he 
 wallowed freely. In a sober condition he would 
 have come to grief twenty times over, but Fate 
 always protects the toper. 
 
 Then he strayed into a vast forest; zig-zagged 
 through fens and coppices like an old dog-wolf ; 
 
78 . THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 tore himself almost to ribbons among the sloe and 
 blackberry bushes, and emerged at last at a ram- 
 shackle forest-keeper's hut, the door of which stood 
 wide open. 
 
 By this time he bore not the slightest resemblance 
 to man or beast 
 
 In the courtyard a big, shaggy, lazy mastiff was 
 shambling about, who, on perceiving a strange uo- 
 known four-legged animal (Mr. Korde had ceased 
 for a time to belong to the category: man) thus 
 approaching him, sidled up to him with incom- 
 parable phlegm, and began snifhng at him all 
 round. 
 
 Mr. Kord6 forthwith collared the neck of the 
 huge dog and b^^ kissing him all over. "Dear 
 friend, faithful old comrade," he cried, " what a long 
 time it is since last we met! What! don't you 
 recognise your old schoolfellow ? " — ^whereupon the 
 big dog in his extreme bewilderment sat down 
 beside the ex-cantor on his haimches and was so 
 astonished that he forgot to bark. 
 
 At this Mr. Korde was completely overcome. 
 Once more he warmly pressed the head of his so 
 imexpectedly recovered friend to his bosom, and 
 then shambled along with him into the courtyard. 
 He pathetically complained to him on the way that 
 he had been chucked out of his employment and 
 was now a fugitive on the face of the earth, where- 
 upon he fell to weeping bitterly and dried his tears 
 with the mastiffs bushy tail 
 
 The poor dog was so utterly taken aback that if 
 
TWO FAMOUS Pj^DAGOGUES. 79 
 
 could not recover from its astonishment Once or 
 twice it showed its white teeth and growled at the 
 stranger, but it did not venture to hurt him. No 
 doubt it thought that this strange animal might 
 perhaps be able to bite better than itself. 
 
 Thus the two quadrupeds strolled comfortably 
 together right into the courtyard. The dog stopped 
 before his three-cornered kennel which Mr. Kord6 
 interpreted cis an invitation on the part of his 
 respectful host for him to go in first, and, accepting 
 the offer in the spirit of true courtesy, and with the 
 deepest emotion, he squeezed himself into the 
 narrow dog-kennel, while the dispossessed bow-wow 
 squatted down at the entrance of his house with the 
 utmost astonishment, imable satisfactorily to explain 
 to himself by what right this strange wild beast 
 usurped his ajicestral holding. 
 
 Mr. Korde, however, soon began to snore inside 
 there so terrifically that the scared dog ran out into 
 the middle of the courtyard and fell a-barking with 
 all his might and main, as if he had been offered 
 pitch for supper instead of meat 
 
 As to what followed, it is extremely doubtful 
 whether Mr. Korde saw it all with his own eyes, or 
 whether it was the dream of a drunken brain im- 
 pressed so vividly on his memory by his imagina- 
 tion that subsequently he fancied it to be true. 
 
 The moon had gone down and there was a great 
 
8o THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 commotion in the courtyard surrounding the 
 forester^s hut 
 
 A lamp had been lit in the shelter of a shed, and 
 a group of men was standing round it — ^pale, sinister 
 figures, putting their heads closely together and 
 listening attentively to a lean, Ictnky man in a 
 cassock, who was reading a letter to them. 
 
 The reader was short-sighted, and as he spelt out 
 the letter he put his face so near it as to quite cover 
 his features. 
 
 " What? the deuce is all this about? " thought Mr. 
 Korde to himself as he peeped through the crevices 
 of the dog*s dwelling-place, " what is my colleague, 
 the myoptic schoolmaster doing here, and why is 
 he burying bis nose in that bit of paper? " 
 
 " I hasten to inform you," so read the man in the 
 cassock, " that the hostile armies are already on the 
 confines of the kingdom. What the object of the 
 enemy is you know right wclL He is coming to 
 ravage the realm, wipe out the landed gentry, and 
 divide th6ir estates among the peasantry. What 
 then shall we do? Our peasants are wrath with us 
 for we have treated them very badly, and you, sir, 
 in particular, have no cause to trust thenn When 
 you had your house built, as you well remember, 
 you made your serfs work three weeks running for 
 nothing. When you were a young man you ruined 
 the domestic happiness of many a married peasant ; 
 you appropriated the commxmal lands to your own 
 uses ; you never bestowed a thought upon the parish 
 
TWO FAMOUS PEDAGOGUES. 8i 
 
 church ; once you gave the priest a good cudgelling ;\ 
 you kept a poor fellow in jail for four or five years 
 and beat and shamefully treated him. When a 
 poor man wanted to build him a house, you never 
 gave him clay to make bricks with, nor rushes for 
 the thatching of his roof. When lots of planks 
 were rotting away in a corner of your courtyard, 
 and two poor young fellows stole just enough of 
 them to make a coffin for their father, you tied the 
 pair of them up tight in the burning sun and beat 
 their naked bodies with thorny sticks ; one of them 
 died a week afterwards of sun-stroke. On one 
 occasion you injured the thigh of a neat-herd on 
 your estate and he is a cripple to this day. When 
 your sheep died of the murrain you hung up their 
 hides to dry — ^in the schoolhouse. If all these 
 things should now recur to the minds of your 
 tenants, you will have;, I fancy, rather a bad time of 
 it But the rest of us are in the same boat We 
 never gave a thought to the education of our people. 
 They grew up, they grew old, and all they have 
 ever learnt to know of life is its wretchedness ; not 
 one of them therefore has any reason to love us 
 now. What can we do if it comes to an open 
 collision with them? Five hundred thousand gentry 
 against twenty times as many peasants! Why not 
 one of our heads would remain for long in the 
 place where God placed it We must defend our- 
 selves with the weapons of desperation. It is too 
 late now to try and entice the common folk over 
 to our tide^ as some of our set want to do who are 
 
 F 
 
H THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 now distributing no end of wine and com among 
 their underlings, building sick-houses for them, and 
 putting the priests up to preaching sobriety to them, 
 and the fear of God and due respect for the squire 
 and his family. It is too late now for all that I say. 
 We should only raise suspicions. We must sum- 
 mon Death to our assistance. In order to keep the 
 people down by terror, therefore, we have resolved, 
 in a secret conference, to establish cordons in the 
 various counties and send patrols of soldiers in every 
 direction to search and examine everybody passing 
 to and fro. In this way we shall prevent the people 
 from going from one village to another in large 
 bodies, in fact we must keep them down in every 
 possible way. I, therefore, send you by the bearer of 
 this letter, on whom I can thoroughly rely, a box of 
 powder which you are to scatter about in the bams, 
 the fields, the pastures where the cattle feed, and 
 especially in the wells from which the herdsmen 
 draw water. The county authorities will take care 
 that where this simple method does not do its work, 
 the parish doctor shall compel the peasants to take 
 this powder by force. At the same time we mean 
 to make a great fuss, and spread the rumour that the 
 plague is spreading from the neighbouring states, 
 and will be mortal to many. You, meanwhile, will 
 enclose a large plot of land on your estates, and 
 make a churchyard of it You may safely make 
 the peasants a present thereof, as it will be mostly 
 filled by them. Take out, by the way, the tongues 
 of all the church-bells, that the number of the dead 
 
TWO FAMOUS PiEDAGOGUES. 83 
 
 may not cause any commotion. You might also 
 have prayers said in the church to avert the 
 calamity, and at the same time scatter the powder 
 broadcast A separate cemetery must be dug lest 
 the plague spread among the gentry. In this way 
 we shall kill two birds with one stone : in the first 
 place the peasantry will be sensibly diminished, and, 
 taking the whole thing as a Divine visitation, will 
 not have the spirit to rise up ; and in the second 
 plax:e, the enemy hearing that the plague has broken 
 out among us will fear to pitch his camp here lest 
 it fare with him as it fared with King Sennacherib, 
 who lost his whole army in a single night, as the 
 Bible testifies. 
 
 " Believe me, my dear brother-in-law, 
 
 'Always aflFectionately yours, 
 
 * Ambrose Ligetl* 
 
 "The letter is addressed to the noble Benjamin 
 Hetfalusy." 
 
 " Horrible, horrible ! " cried two or three of the 
 men, while the rest remained speechless with amzize- 
 ment 
 
 " Softly, my friends ! " said the rector soothingly. 
 * We must do nothing hastily. So much is certain, 
 however: they have designs upon our lives, and 
 would wipe us clean out" 
 
 " Not a doubt of it, else why should they be so 
 friendly towards us? Why should they distribute 
 among us such a lot of food? We have never yet 
 asked an alms from our masters, and hitherto they 
 
Sf THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 have snatched the food from our very mouths. If 
 they caress us now it is because they fear us." 
 
 " Yes, they would destroy us. The other day they 
 gave me a glass of brandy to drink at the tavern. 
 I saw at once that it was not the usual sort of stuff, 
 and, to make certain, I dipped a bit of bread in it 
 and threw it to a dog, and he would not eat it" 
 
 " And why do the parsons preach so much about 
 the scourge of God, the pestilence? Why we have 
 never had a better promise of harvest than now. 
 How do they know when Death will come? Only 
 God can know beforehand whom He will destroy 
 and whom He will keep alive." 
 
 " Suspend your judgments, my good friends,** 
 resumed the rector, with an affectation of benevo- 
 lence, "yx>u can see that the hand of God is over 
 us alL He can work great wonders, and it is not 
 impossible that these wonders will come. You can 
 perceive from the signs of Heaven that great 
 changes are about to come on the earth. On Good 
 Friday a bloody rain fell near the hill of Madi; 
 not long ago a flaming sword was visible in the sky 
 three nights running ; everywhere about curious big 
 fungi have shot up from the ground, which turn 
 red or green immediately they are broken. Earth 
 and sky seem to feel that the hand of God is about 
 to press heavily upon us." 
 
 (" Deuce take this instructor of the people for 
 befooling them so 1 " thought Mr. Korde in his dog- 
 kennel.) 
 
 " Did you notice, my brothers, how the rats 
 
TWO FAMOUS PiEDAGOGUES. 85 
 
 roamed all about the roads in broad daylight a 
 fortnight ago, how they scuttled away from our 
 landlords' granaries, and set out for another village, 
 and how they stiffened and died in heaps on the 
 way?" 
 
 " There you are ! " shouted one wiseacre, " the 
 com in the granary was poisoned ! '* 
 
 (" Plague take thee, thou clodpole ! " growled the 
 cantor in his hiding-place; "it was the rats that 
 were poisoned, not the com.") 
 
 " And we borrowed of that very com a fortnight 
 ago to last us till harvest time." 
 
 " Then now we'll pay them back with interest ! * 
 bellowed one of the rustics, fiercely flourishing a 
 pitchfork. 
 
 ("I'll swear that's one of my pupils, he is so 
 pugnacious," thought the cantor to himself.) 
 
 "And I have already eaten bread made of that 
 very com, God help me ! " cried another ; " it is as 
 blue as a toadstool when you break it in two." 
 
 (" Lout ! Tares and other rubbish were mixed up 
 with it, and that made it look blue ! ") 
 
 " And after I had eaten it I felt like to bursting." 
 
 (" Naturally, for your wife did not bake it suffici- 
 ently, and you stuffed it into your greedy jaws while 
 it was still hot") 
 
 "Yes, not a doubt of it, we have all been 
 poisoned, we have eaten of Death." 
 
 " My friends, allow me to put in a word," said the 
 benign rector. "You know that I have always 
 desired your welfare; but look now! this mortal 
 
86 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 danger has appeared in other districts also, possib^ 
 it may be a Divine visitation. There are villages 
 in which two or three deaths have occurred in every 
 house, there are other places in which whole familiei 
 down to the very last poor member thereof have 
 followed one another to the grave. I know of a 
 man who a short time ago had nine sons, now he 
 has nine corpses with him in the house." 
 
 " The gentry have killed them also I'll be bound" 
 
 ** It is so ! What would God want with so many 
 dead men?" 
 
 "Have patience for a moment, my friends. I 
 don't want to defend the gentry, but I would not 
 condemn anyone unjustly. If there be any truth 
 in this fearful accusation, it will see the light of day 
 sooner or later, and then the arm of God will not 
 be straitened." 
 
 " Thanks for nothing, by that time the whole lot 
 of us will be under the sod." 
 
 " Produce the fellow who brought this letter ! " 
 
 Two stalwart rustics thereupon brought forward 
 upon their shoulders a young fellow, bound and 
 pinioned like a trapped wolf, and put him down in 
 the midst of the mob. 
 
 "This is the bird who was carrying about the 
 message of death ! " cried the rebels, surrounding 
 the poor wretch. And then one pulled his hair, 
 and another tugged at his ears, and a third tweaked 
 his nose, and everyone of them was dehghted ta 
 have foimd a fresh object od which to wreak their 
 furious cruelty. 
 
TWO FAMOUS PiEDAGOGUES. 87 
 
 And all the time the fellow ground his teeth 
 together and said nothing. 
 
 It was poor Mekipiros. It was his mauled and 
 bruised shape, his half-bestial face that they were 
 torturing and tormenting. There is no sight more 
 terrible than that of a tortured beast that cannot 
 speak. 
 
 One of those who had brought him thither was 
 the headsman's apprentice. 
 
 This fellow whispered some words in the ear of 
 the rector, and then placed himself behind the back 
 of the fettered monster. His face assumed cin ex- 
 pression of cold pitilessness, he bit his lips as if he 
 wanted blood, and screwed up his eyes. 
 
 " Harken now, my dear son ! " said the rector in 
 a gentle voice ; " don't fancy we want to do you any 
 harm, for of course how can you help what if 
 written in this letter ; but if you want to escape scot 
 free, answer truly and without compulsion to the 
 questions that I am about to put to you." 
 
 The headsman's 'prentice with twitching features 
 gazed fixedly at the interrogated wretch. 
 
 " Who gave you this letter? " asked the rector. 
 
 Mekipiros sat there tied with cords so as to be 
 almost bent double with his head between his knees, 
 and did not seem to be aware that he was spoken 
 ta 
 
 "Do you hear?" whispered the headsman's 
 apprentice hoarsely, at the same time giving him 
 a vicious pinch. 
 
 The monster set up a howl, which lasted only for 
 
8S THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 an instant, then he was silent again, and his face did 
 not change. 
 
 " Is it not true now, my dear son, that a gentleman 
 gave you this letter? " asked the rector, giving the 
 question another turn 
 
 Mekipiros made no reply. 
 
 " I'll make you speak ! " yelled his chief persecu- 
 tor with gnashing teeth, and seizing his head 
 between his muscular fists he shook it violently 
 backwards and forwards. "I'll bring you to 
 reason!" 
 
 The monster kept on howling so long as his hair 
 was being tugged ; his eyes vanished completely, hia 
 head seemed to have grown broader than it was 
 long ; but when they let his head go again he only 
 grinned derisively and said nothing. 
 
 " My son, bethink you that we do not want to do 
 you any harm if you confess everything, but, on the 
 other hand, we shall have to chastise you immerd- 
 fully, as you well deserve, if you stubbornly remain 
 silent — who gave you this letter? " 
 
 " Speak, you wretched dog ! What were you 
 told to say ? Who gave you this letter ? " hissed the 
 beadsman's apprentice in his ear. 
 
 " You gave it to me I " cried the wretch defiantly. 
 
 ** Scoimdrel I " thundered the other furiously, at 
 the same time giving the prisoner a kick ; " so yon 
 want to palm it off upon me, eh? Hie, there! — a 
 rope! " The fellow's face was as white as the wall, 
 perhaps with fear, perhaps with anger. The rectoc 
 also grew pale foe a moment 
 
TWO FAMOUS PEDAGOGUES. 89 
 
 * Yes, you put it into my hand and told me that I 
 was to " 
 
 "Hold your tongue, you wretched creature! 
 Here we have a peaszint cub just as ragged as any- 
 one of us, and yet he takes it upon himself to ruin 
 his own kith and kia I caught him in the act of 
 sprinkling a white powder in a well, and the water 
 of that well is still bubbling and boiling from the 
 virulence of the poison, and yet, as you see, he has 
 the face to deny it alL" 
 
 " It was you who put the powder in my pocket" 
 
 " Very good, I suppose you'll say next that I put 
 this purse of gold in your pocket also? You are 
 surprised, eh? You had better say you got it from 
 me, we shall all believe you, of course. Naturally 
 I have sacks and sacks of gold under my bed 
 The executioner pays his 'prentices with gold, of 
 course, of course." 
 
 " You accursed villain I " cried an old peasant; 
 "let him have the rope! String him up and let 
 him swing ! " 
 
 " No, my friends, we must not kill him, we have 
 need of him^ he must live because he knows so 
 much." 
 
 " Then let him out with it** 
 
 " Oh, he will talk presently," said the headsman's 
 'prentice, and folding his arms he stood right in 
 front of the defenceless wretch. " My lad," said he, 
 "you know, don't you, that I have been the 
 headsman's assistant these six years? You know, 
 don't you, that I am^ accustomed to torture 
 
90 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 and kill man and beast in cold blood? You 
 know the sort of smile with which I am wont to 
 reply to the agonised despair of my victim, and 
 the memory of it ought to make your brain freeze 
 in your skulL Very well! Let me tell you that 
 I am prepared to practice upon you all the rehne- 
 ments of my infernal handiwork if you do not say 
 all I want you to?" 
 
 "I know nothing* 
 
 "Nothing?" 
 
 ** I have forgotten all you taught me." 
 
 " You lying serpent ! Do you mean to say, then, 
 that I taught you anything? You can see, all of you, 
 that this ripe gallows-tree blossom is determined at 
 any cost to saddle me with his sins. I'll refreshen 
 your memory for you," murmured the headsman's 
 assistant, grinding his teeth. " Carry him over 
 yonder under that plank. You must put out the 
 lamp, for perchance anyone who caught sight of 
 his face might feel sorry for him. Lay him on that 
 block. Where is the rope? A bucket of water 
 here in case he faints . . ." 
 
 From that moment the cantor saw nothing for 
 the darkness, but all the more horrible, therefore, 
 were the pictures which his imagination painted 
 for bim as it laid hold of the fragments of words and 
 sounds which reached him at intervals from the 
 outhouse. 
 
 The cold-blooded murmuring of the headsman's 
 assistant 
 
 The inquisitorial procedure of the rector. 
 
TWO FAMOUS PEDAGOGUES. 91 
 
 The frantic cursing of the bystanders. 
 
 And from time to time a despairir^ howl uttered 
 by the tortured monster, a howl which set the 
 terrified dog a-barking, and made him scratch up the 
 ground beneath the gate in order to make his escape. 
 
 The cantor began to shiver as with ague. 
 
 " The horrible beast won't confess," he heard a 
 couple of furious voices say quite close to him. 
 
 " Don't howl like that, but answer my questions," 
 hissed the rector, evidently losing patience. 
 
 " The wretched creature tires me out," grunted 
 the executioner. " He bites his lips and smiles 
 right in my face when his very bones are cracking." 
 
 " Speak the truth, and you shall be free. We 
 will let you go." 
 
 " He's still laughing at me." 
 
 Then for some time could be heard a great bustle 
 and clatter in the shed out yonder. There were 
 sounds of hasty, yet cold-blooded preparations for 
 completing something which ought to have been 
 finished long before. There was a sound of running 
 to and fro, of panting and puffing and straining. 
 
 And all this time the monster kept on laughing 
 defiantly, though now and then he set up an un- 
 earthly howl, and then the whole assembly cursed 
 him for an obstinate gallows-bird. 
 
 " Red-hot irons here ! " yelled at last a voice of 
 maligncint fury, and immediately three of the boors 
 set off running towards the stable. A few minutes 
 later the cantor saw them hastening back to the 
 ^ed, carrying flaming red objects, which scattered 
 a long trail of sparks behind them. 
 
^ THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " Will you confess? " sounded from within. 
 
 The monster yelled in the most ghastly manner, 
 and then could be heard a savage gurgling sound 
 For a few seconds the people inside the shed were 
 silent, and then they could be heard whispering 
 to each other with mingled surprise and amaze- 
 ment t, "If the cub has not bitten his own tongue 
 outl'^ 
 
 The cantor took advantage of the general con- 
 sternation to crawl forth from his hiding-place in 
 the darkness, slipped out through the hole scratched 
 by the dog beneath the gate, and then set off running 
 like one who runs down a steep mountain-side ; he 
 can with his eyes fast closed, and early next morn- 
 ing he was found huddled up on the threshold of 
 his own house in a state of collapse. 
 
 When he came to himself he sent for some worthy 
 men of his acquaintance whom he could trust, and 
 told them privately what he had seen, frequently 
 hiding his face during his narration, as if to shut 
 out the spectacle of the monster's bloody face. 
 
 But his acquaintcuices, after Hstening to his tak^ 
 only shook their heads, and remarked to one another, 
 what a horrible thing it is when a man is so fond of 
 wine that it takes more than three days to make 
 him get sober again. 
 
 It occurred to nobody that there might be some 
 truth in the matter after alL It was not the first 
 time that Mr. Korde had had visions of copper-nosed 
 owls and other horrors. ' 
 
 **As if a man could beheve everything that Mck 
 Korde said ! * 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 
 ▲ MAN OF IRON4 
 
 General ViSrtessy had for many years been the 
 commandant of a military station in Hungary. 
 After such a long time as that, men get to be 
 acquainted with one another, and the soldier comes 
 to be regarded as quite a member of the family. 
 The townsfolk, too, begin to speak of him as a 
 member of the upper classes; no great entertain- 
 ment is considered complete without him, and 
 the ordinary civilian exchanges greetings with him 
 as a man and a brother in all places of public resort 
 The county makes him a magistrate on account of 
 his nimierous distinguished services; he receives 
 the freedom of the city for the same reason ; and, 
 finally, the only daughter of a most distinguished 
 patrician family, impressed by the gallant soldier's 
 noble quahties, consents to become his wife; and 
 thus the general, as citizen and roagistrate, as hus- 
 band and landlord, becomes rooted by the strongest 
 ties to the soil which it is his duty els a soldier to 
 defend 
 His acquaintances in general have the greatest 
 
94 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 confidence in him ; his tenants allude to him grate- 
 fully, for he deals mercifully with them ; the citizens 
 regard him with respectful astonishment when, on 
 the outbreak of a fire, he orders out his soldiers, 
 and is himself the first to clamber to the top of the 
 bummg roof, distributing his commands in the 
 midst of danger as if his life was worth no more 
 than the life of any broken-down, invalided old 
 soldier; the school children rejoice at the sight of 
 him, for he is always sure to be in his place on the 
 occasion of any public examination, to distribute 
 sixpences and shillings to those scholars who give 
 the best answers, and exhort them to hold up their 
 heads and stand upright like good little men! 
 When then, after this, they meet him in the street, 
 the little fellows throw back their heads and stick 
 out their chests so that it does you good to look at 
 them For the General dearly loves children. Very 
 frequently they break his windows with their tops 
 and balls, but he never scolds them for it, and 
 always gives them back their playthings. " They 
 are but children, let them play ! " says he. 
 
 In society, too, he is a most agreeable, amusing 
 man, polite and chivalrous towards ladies, and at 
 public entertainments he distinguishes himself by 
 his neat Httle speeches, which are always good- 
 natured, very much to the point, and seasoned with 
 attic salt of a piquant but not too pungent quality. 
 He is merciful to the absurdities of his fellow- 
 citizens; it is no business of his to impress them 
 with any affectation of soldierly gravity or stiffness ; 
 
A MAN OF IRON. 95 
 
 and if at first sight his stern, clean-shaven face — the 
 regulation countenance of soldiers of those days — 
 keeps a timid stranger somewhat at a distance, he 
 has only to open his mouth, and his beautifully pure 
 Magyar accent and intonation prove to demonstra- 
 tion that, soldier as he is, he has remained a true son 
 of his fatherland — and all hearts open to him at once. 
 
 But all this ceases at the gate of the barracksw 
 Within the barrack courtyard there is an end to all 
 friendship, kinsmanship, camaraderie, and patron- 
 age. He is no longer either a county magistrate or an 
 honorary citizen. He has done with all those quali- 
 ties which make up a man's social amiability. Here 
 V6rtessy is only a soldier, a rigorous, inexorable 
 commandant, who never overlooks a blimder, and 
 never leaves a fault unptmished. 
 
 As regards the good school children, you could 
 give them no better encouragement than to say to 
 them : " The General is coming and will pat you on 
 the shoulder ! " but there was nothing so terrible to 
 the bad school children as to be threatened with 
 the General if they did not learn their lessons. 
 "You'll be sent to the General, and he will tap 
 you from the shoulder to the heel and make another 
 man erf you in double-quick time," people used to 
 say to them. 
 
 At any rate, so much is certain : the most stub- 
 bom, pig-headed louts, whom no school would keep 
 at any price, when sent, despite the tesirs and pro- 
 tests of their fond mothers, to the General's estab- 
 lishment^ used to return from thence in a couple 
 
96 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 of years or so as if transformed. They had become 
 orderly, methodical, manly fellows, courteous, tract- 
 able, and as spick and span as if they had just been 
 taken out of a band-box. As to what exactly 
 happened to them during their manipulation in this 
 same military band-box not one of them was ever 
 known to allude in a boastful spirit; but the lay 
 mind had a very strong suspicion that not much' 
 time was wasted inside the barracks in fine talking. 
 
 Moreover, the General used to have guilty soldiers 
 tied up and well whipped without first stopping to 
 inquire who their fathers might be. With him 
 punishment was meted out with no regard for 
 persons. It was the uniform, not the man who 
 happened to be inside it, that he regarded Wh«i 
 his soldiers were drawn up in line he was quite 
 blind to the fact that this man perhaps was the 
 son of his old crony, or that man was the son of a 
 county magistrate — sergeants, corporals, ensigns, and 
 privates, these were the only distinctions he ever 
 made. And if anybody tried to distinguish him- 
 self by appearing on parade in a dirty jacket, he 
 had it well dusted for him there and then in a way 
 the individual concerned was not likely to forget 
 in a hurry. 
 
 Nor did the General ever allow anybody, no 
 matter whom, to be exempted from service. The 
 dear little gentlemen-cadets had to pace up and 
 down when on guard, with seven-pound muskets 
 across their shoulders, just like anybody else, though 
 the hearts of their distinguished mammas almost 
 
A MAN OF IRON, 97 
 
 broke at the sight, when they drove over in their fine 
 coaches to see their dsirlings. Malingerers^ again, 
 had a fearful time of it with him. Such young 
 gentlemen never wanted to go to the hospital more 
 than once. Their distinguished mammas would 
 scurry off to the General full of despair, and explcdn 
 to him with tears in their eyes that this or that 
 young exquisite lay mortally sick in the hospital, 
 would he allow them to take their poor darlings 
 home, or at least let them come to the hospital to 
 nurse the invalids there, or send them nice tempting 
 dishes from home, or tell the family doctor to call? 
 No^ nothing of the sort The General used to 
 receive them buttoned up to the chin, and nothing 
 on earth could move him. The proper place for 
 the fellow was the barrack-hospital, he would say, 
 there he would receive proper treatment like any 
 other of His Majesty's soldiers; the regimental 
 surgeons had quite sufficient science to cure him. 
 And it regularly happened that after a four or five 
 days' coiurse of a platter of coarse barley pottage, 
 and half an ounce of plain black commissariat bread, 
 the young gendeman was so completely cured of 
 every bodily ailment that he had never the faintest 
 wish ever afterwards to divert himself in the hospital, 
 but preferred instead to attend to his daily 
 duties. 
 
 Nor could his officers boast that he showed them 
 any special indulgence. It was really terrible how 
 he contrived to fill up their time all day long : in- 
 struction, r^^imental practice, writing, calculation, 
 
 G 
 
98 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 technical stuc^es filled up every hour of the day. 
 The smoking-rooms of the cafes and the dvic 
 promenades very rarely saw Vertessy*s officers 
 gathered together there. The officers had to know 
 everything which the General asked them about, 
 and were often obliged to work out for themselves, 
 with the aid of their mother wit, the details of their 
 extremely laconic instructions. Everyone knew, too, 
 that he could not endure the slightest suspicion of 
 cowardice; if an officer were insulted, he Mras 
 obliged to fight in defence of his honour, or the 
 regiment was made too hot to hold him. If, on the 
 other hand, the townsmen got to know anything of 
 the details of these duels, he would punish severely 
 all the officers concerned in the affair, for he placed 
 boastfulness on the same level as cowardice. Such 
 severity had this good effect however, that the 
 soldiers tried to live amicably with the townsmen 
 as they knew very well that it would be impossible 
 to keep dark a duel with any of the black-coated 
 gentry, such an event was certain to be an object of 
 common gossip in all four quarters of the town 
 within twenty-fotu: hours. 
 
 It was also a recognised fact throughout the 
 length and breadth of tiie kingdom that the officers 
 of Vertessy*s regiment were all well instructed, 
 orderly, serious men, and that this result was due 
 entirely to the initiative of " the iron man," for this 
 was the name most usually and vexy naturally 
 applied to him. 
 
 And his face, figur^ and cxpressioo^ oonespanded 
 
A MAN OF IRON. 99 
 
 with the name. He was of a tall, straight, weH-knit- 
 tc^ether habit of body, with broad shoulders and 
 a well-rounded chest His head seemed almost 
 too small for his extraordinary developed body, 
 especially as the chestnut-brown hair was clipped 
 quite short His face was of a deep red, and shaved 
 to Qie chin, but a pair of small well kept semi- 
 circular whiskers helped to give it character. His 
 nose was straight, his mouth small ; his eyes were 
 grey and piercing. And everything on this face: 
 nose, mouth, eyes, down to the smallest feature, 
 seemed one and all to be under the most rigorous 
 military discipline, not one of them Wcis suffered 
 to move without the General's command. When 
 once his features axe imder orders to be coldly 
 severe, the lips may not give expression to joy, 
 the eyes may not be clouded with sorrow, the 
 eyebrows may not contract with rage, or lead anyone 
 to suspect, by so much as a twitch or a jerk, that 
 anything in the world outside has the slightest 
 influence upon the business he may happen to have 
 on hand. 
 
 We may add that the General did not acquire 
 this honourable title in times of peace. Formerly, 
 beneath the walls of Dresden, when he was a lieu- 
 tenant scarcely five-and-twenty years old, he had 
 earned it by holding a position on the battle-field 
 as stubbornly as if he had really been made of 
 cast iron, whereby a totally defeated army corps was 
 saved from the annihilating pursuit of the tri- 
 tunphant foe. Even the enemy's general had 
 
100 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 inquired on this occasion : " Who is that man of iron 
 who will neither break nor bend?" That, then, 
 was how he had won the epithet " iron." 
 
 Subsequently the nickname was applied in jest 
 or flattery; you could take it as spite, fear, or 
 homage, according to the manner in which it was 
 pronounced, naturally always behind the GeneraFs 
 back, for it went very hard indeed with the man 
 who ventured to pick a quarrel with him, and still 
 harder, if possible, with anybody who tried to flatter 
 him. 
 
 In the ante-chamber of " the iron man " stood an 
 orderly with a big sealed dispatch in his hand, a 
 tall grenadier-sort of warrior, with two stiffly twisted 
 moustachios, the pointed ends of which projected 
 like a couple of fixed bayonets. A deep scar 
 furrowed each of his red cheeks from end to end, 
 a living testimony to the fact that this warrior was 
 no mere sucking soldier. His chin was planted 
 firmly on his stiff cravat and half hidden by the 
 broad loop of his shako. His jacket was as white 
 as chalk, and his buttons shone as if they were fresh 
 from the shop. On his bosom gleamed gloriously 
 the large copper medal of which the veterans of 
 former days used to be so proud. The warrior was 
 standing motionless behind the door, with the big 
 sealed dispatch in his bosom ; not a muscle of him 
 moves, his heels are pressed close together at atten- 
 tion, his eyes now and then glance furtively from side 
 to side, but his neck does not stir the least little bit 
 
A MAN OF IRON, loi 
 
 The oblique motion of his eyes, however, is 
 explicable by the fact that a trim little wench, ai 
 nursery-maid from some village hard by, with a 
 round radiant face, with her hair trailing down 
 her back in ribboned pigtails, is rummaging about 
 tiie room as if she had no end of work to do there; 
 casting furtive sheep's eyes from time to time at the 
 upright soldier, and looking as if she would very 
 much like to say to him : " Oh I how frightened I 
 am of you ! " 
 
 " Why don't you sit down, Mr. Soldier? " she says 
 at last ; " don't you see that chair there? And bene 
 have I been dusting it so nicely for you." 
 
 " A pretty thing for an orderly to sit down in the 
 General's ante-chamber," replies the defender of his 
 country. " Short irons would be very soon ready 
 for me, I can tell you." 
 
 " Then why are you here at all? ** 
 
 " That is not for your ears, my little sister." 
 
 "You are looking for the General, eh? Well, 
 he is inside that room there along with my lady, 
 his wife — ^why don't you go in? " 
 
 "You've a nice idea of manners^ I must say I 
 What! an orderly to maJ^e his way into the room 
 of the General's lady I" 
 
 " Then give the letter here and I'll take it in for 
 you." 
 
 "Now, my Httle sister, that's quite enough I 
 What! deliver a letter into the hands of anybody 
 but the person to whom it is addressed ! " 
 
 * Do you know how to write, Mr. Orderly? " 
 
jl03_' ' ;tj£E DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 "What a question! Ask me another! Why, if 
 I could write I should have become a sergeant long 
 ago. 
 
 " Why don't you take ofiF that shako? It's pretty 
 heavy, ain't it?" 
 
 "Now, my little wench, that's quite enough! 
 Right about turn, quick march! They are calling 
 you in the kitchen." 
 
 The nursery-maid scuttled off. The veteran was 
 getting quite angry at all these simple questions. 
 
 In no very long time, however, the neat little 
 wench came sidling back again. First she poked 
 her head through the kitchen door as if she wanted 
 to find out whether the big soldier there would bite 
 off her nose — ^which was a Uttle snub, and small 
 enough already. 
 
 " Mr. Orderly, the cook has sent you three hearth 
 cakes." 
 
 " Good." 
 
 "Take them then." This she said, still keeping 
 at a safe distance, and thrusting forward the nice 
 lard-made hearth cakes as if she were offering them 
 to some snappy, snarling watch-dog at the end of a 
 long chain. 
 
 " I can't" answered the gallant defender of his 
 country sturdily. 
 
 " Ain't you got hands, then? ** 
 
 " No, not for them. But if you like you can tuck 
 them into my cartridge-box behind there." 
 
 " What, in there ? " inquired snub-nose amazedl/t 
 * But ain't there gunpowder inside? " 
 
A MAN OF IRON. 149 
 
 " Shove 'em in, they won't hurt it* 
 
 "Won't it explode?" 
 
 " Not unless a spark from your eyes catches It*' 
 
 The nursery-maid timidly lifted the brightly- 
 polished lid of the cartridge-box, peeping half up 
 at the soldier to see if he meant to frighten her, and 
 at the same time gazing curiously at the many 
 funny round little things in the cartridge-box, at 
 which she pretended to be desperately afraid 
 
 The gallant soldier was in duty bound not to 
 move his hand, but he so far relaxed as to allow 
 the tips of two of his fingers to crook downwards 
 and give the plump round arm of the wench a good 
 tweak 
 
 " Be off with you, I'm afraid you're a bad man 
 after all, Mr. Soldier!" 
 
 " I fancy I am too, otherwise I suppose there 
 would not have been so much of me — little and 
 good you know ! " 
 
 " Do you know why the cook sent you those 
 cakes?" 
 
 " That I may eat them instead of you, I suppose." 
 
 " Go along, you naughty man ! You do say such 
 naughty things ! No, she sent them that you might 
 tell her when the next public whipping will take 
 place." 
 
 "Does the cook want to see it then? A nice 
 pastime, I must say. You don't want to see it too, 
 do you?" 
 
 " No, not I." 
 
 *' You ought to see it It is just the thing for 
 
Z04 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 wenches. There are always as many ladies present 
 on such occasions as if it was play-acting." 
 
 ** OU I should like to see it then, the sooner the 
 better. Will there be another soon? That's for 
 the General to decide, isn't it? If I were a General 
 I would order a flogging every morning, and make 
 the band play every evening.** 
 
 ** That would be very nice. Come hither, and I 
 will whisper it" 
 
 "Truly?** inquired the wench, half turning her 
 head round. " But don't shout in my ear ! ** 
 
 When she had got near enough to the soldier for 
 him to be able to whisper in her ear, he suddenly 
 planted a smacking kiss on her red cheek. 
 
 In her terror the wench gave a bound back to the 
 kitchen door, but there she remained standing, and 
 rubbed her face vigorously with her blue apron. 
 
 "Yes, you are indeed a bad man, Mr. Orderly. 
 And still you have not yet told me when the next 
 whipping will be.'* 
 
 " Don't fret, my little sister. The spectacle wiU 
 be better than you think. There will be a shootings- 
 to-death shortly.** 
 
 "A shooting-to-death! Oh! that will be nice! 
 And who is going to be shot? ** 
 
 *A soldier, my Httle sister.'* 
 
 ** And you'll have to shoot him, perhaps* eh? ' 
 
 • It is quite possible, my Httle sister.*' 
 
 *0h, Mr. Soldier, thafs too badl*' 
 
 The snub-nosed wench made haste to quit a room 
 io which stood a man heartless enough to shoot 
 
A MAN OF IRON. X05 
 
 down his living fellow-man, and outside in the 
 kitchen she had a long discussion with the cook 
 about it, and they came to the conclusion that it 
 must be a very fine entertainment to see a man shot 
 right through the head. First there would be the 
 getting up early, for such spectacles generally 
 take place at dawn, and it would never do to sleep 
 away such an opportunity as that, especially as it 
 was just as likely as not that the poor devil would 
 be placed in the piUory first What could he have 
 been doing? But suppose they were to pardoo 
 him? Oh, no! no chance of that, for the General 
 never pzirdons anybody; even if it were his own 
 SOD he would not pardon him if he were found 
 guilty, for he was " the iron man." 
 
 Meanwhile, inside there, " the uron man " is sitting 
 in his wife's room on a small embroidered armless 
 chair. Opposite to him on a large elevated divan 
 hes his wife, a tiny, elegant, transparent httle lady, 
 with a face of alabaster, and wee wee hands which a 
 child of two would not have known what to do with 
 if they had been doled out to her. Her small straw- 
 berry-like mouth scarcely seemed to have been made 
 for talking purposes ; all the more eloquent, on the 
 other hand, were her large dark-blue eyes, which 
 were saying at that moment that those who can 
 love are very, very happy. 
 
 The iron man was sitting in front of her with his 
 dbows planted on his knees and both his hands 
 
Xo6 THE DAY OF WRATIL 
 
 stretched forwards. Extended on these tvro hands 
 of his was a skein of thread, which the elegant Uttle 
 woman was winding with great rapidity. 
 
 He need only have stretched his arms a wee 
 bit more to burst the whole skein to pieces, but he 
 has learnt to watch very carefully lest the thread 
 gets entangled, and he laughs heartily every time he 
 moves his hands clumsily, at the same time begging 
 pardon and promising to do better in future. 
 
 " My darling, I have an old sword — ^it served me 
 well in the French war— do you think it would be 
 of any use to you ? " 
 
 The little lady laughed, and how charmingly she 
 could laugh; it sounded like the bells of a glass 
 harmonica striking against each other. 
 
 " I understand the allusion. If you can use the 
 owner of the sword for imwinding thread, you might 
 use his sword instead of scissors." 
 
 " I mean what I say." 
 
 " That doesn't matter a bit, you must wait till the 
 skein is unwound." 
 
 " Naturally that is as it should be, of course. Nor 
 would I suffer anybody else to take my place. To 
 hold a skein of thread requires g^eat strength of 
 mind, not every man is up to it A giddy head 
 would very soon give way beneath the task. It is 
 a science in itself. Besides, I swore before the 
 parson I would take you 'for better or worse.* 
 You see how I keep my word. Look there now! 
 The thread has tied itself into a knot again. Now, 
 if one of your parlour-maids had been holding it 
 
A MAN OF IRON. lof 
 
 you would have been angry with her, but as mj^ 
 darhng little wife it is not lawful for you to b« 
 angry. Do you hear me? It is not lawful for yoa 
 to be angry with me, I say." 
 
 The little lady imdid the knot again, and hcf 
 husband teiiderly kissed the Httle intervening hand 
 as it drew nearer; the little lady affected not to 
 have observed this, but she knew it well enough. 
 
 " Look now, my darling ! it is you who have 
 taught me to consider myself an extraordinary fine 
 fellow. Formerly, when people used to say: 
 General Vertessy is such and such a man, I only 
 used to hold my tongue and think to myself : Talk 
 away! talk away! 7 happen to know that V6rtessy 
 is as timid as a child, there is one thing he is as 
 much in dread of as any schoolgirl, and that is — 
 unravelling a skein of thread When I was a little 
 chap I twice ran away from home to avoid this 
 very thing. And now my dear little spouse has 
 made it quite clear to me that General Vertessy 
 is not afraid of it after alL Honour to whom honour 
 is due ! General Vertessy is a brave man." 
 
 " Naturally ; why the thirteenth labour of Hercules 
 brought him more fame than all the rest — don't yoa 
 remember how he held the skeins of Madame 
 Omphale?" 
 
 " That was the greatest of his heroic exploits, 
 certainly. You ladies cannot imagine what tyranny 
 you practice upon the masculine gender when yoo 
 constrain them to this terrible servitude. To wear 
 chains is a mere jest, but when you bind a man with 
 
la THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 a skein of thread, a mere gossamer, in fact, and then 
 tdl him he must not break it astmder, that is cruelty 
 indeed! Why don't the English invent a machine 
 for this sort of hard labour? They rack their 
 brains about steamboats, about woman's rights, and 
 the emancipation of the negro, but as to these, f etter% 
 these . . ." 
 
 " Come, come, attend to your skein ! ** 
 
 And indeed those dangerous fetters, as the 
 General called them, were themselves in great 
 danger, for the General in his ardour had made a 
 slight gesture which had almost ripped them 
 asunder. 
 
 " I'll take it away from you if you don't behave 
 yourself properly. Fancy making such lamentations 
 over a little skein-unravelling ! " 
 
 " Oh, I am not speaking of myself. I am used to 
 all sorts of hardships. I pity more particularly those 
 poor iimocent children who come to groan under 
 this unnatural yoke. Just picture to yourself, my 
 dear, one such innocent eight or nine years old, a 
 httle lad whose blood bubbles over like champagne, 
 who sees the sun shining through the windows, who 
 hears the boisterous mirth of his comrades outside 
 as they play at ball, and would give anything to run 
 away himself and romp and wrestle and turn somer- 
 saults ; fancy such a one obliged to remain shut up 
 in a room, fettered by a string of thread or cotton, 
 and made to move his hands up and down just as 
 if he were some stupid machine ; fancy him fidget- 
 ing first on one leg and then on another, and 
 waiting, waiting for the end of the interminable 
 
A MAN OF IRON. 109 
 
 skein 1 I wonder they don't become utter block- 
 heads beneath the strain. I wonder their teachers 
 don't forbid it If I had a child he should not be 
 allowed to hold a skein. No son of mine, I tell 
 you, should ever become a mere skein-xmwinding 
 machine . . ." 
 
 And it seemed somehow more than a jest, for the 
 gallant soldier now suddenly forgot all about the 
 skein entrusted to him, and with tender emotion 
 pressed his blushing little wife to his bosom. 
 
 The little lady with infinite patience slowly dis- 
 entangled the chaotic labyrinth of threads agaii^ 
 and then exclaimed with a deep sigh : 
 
 "Life and death lie between . . ." 
 
 They both knew the meaning of the allusion. 
 
 Then the uninterrupted labour proceeded agaliL 
 The iron man was now completely silent, but one 
 could observe from the unconsciously radiant ex- 
 pression of his face that his mind was occupied by 
 some very pleasing thought, and in the delightful 
 contemplation thereof he had no longer any idea 
 that he was holding a skein of thread. 
 
 Presently, however, he said : 
 
 " Let us begin another ! " 
 
 He must certainly have found it a very agreeable 
 pastime to say that 
 
 It was this time a skein of silk that the little lady 
 wanted to have unwound. This was a still higher 
 symbol of tenderness. Not in vain does the folk- 
 song sing of the captive of love being bound with 
 silken chainsn. 
 
9110 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " But, my dear, when I was a little boy, and had 
 to hold skeins, my sisters, by way of compensation, 
 used to tell me talesw" 
 
 "With all my heart** 
 
 • Fire away, then : once upon a time . . . ! " 
 
 " Once upon a time there was a girl who always 
 wanted to die." 
 
 ** Ah ! I scarcely bargained for that." 
 
 " She was constantly pale, and took it for a com- 
 pliment when people said to her that she was as 
 white as death." 
 
 "She must have eaten lots of raw coffee and 
 chalk, I'll be bound." 
 
 " Don't interrupt, I want to tell a tale, not circu- 
 late scandal." 
 
 " I am all attention." 
 
 " Sometimes she carried her bizarre ideas so far 
 as to appear at dances in a white dress trinmied with 
 black, and with a myrtle wreath on her head, just 
 as the dead are wont to be arrayed for the tomb. 
 By way of a breast-pin she used to wear a small 
 skeleton's head carved out of mother-o'-pearl, and 
 she bocLsted that her gloves had been taken out of 
 the coffin of a deceased friend." 
 
 "Shall I be very unfeeling if I allow myself to 
 smile?" 
 
 " Pray do nothing of the kind, or you'll be very 
 sorry in a moment" 
 
 "Ah, ha! I know a man who fell in love with 
 this girl" 
 
 " All the more reasoo to be serious.** 
 
A MAN OF IRON. iii 
 
 ** And subsequently that man got the better of his 
 passion altogether." 
 
 •Do not be too sura-' 
 
 "Too sure! Why, I have been stadying the 
 whole case these four years." 
 
 "As defendant?" 
 
 " Defendant, indeed ! I wanted to make that girl 
 my wife Oh! you were quite a little thing then, 
 a wee wee httle lass, scarcely so big as my finger. 
 You were learning to dance in those days and had 
 not yet appeared upon the scene." 
 
 "And you deserted that girl on the eve of tfao 
 wedding!" 
 
 "I had reasons for doing so, of which nobody, 
 I fancy, is aware" 
 
 " They said at the time that you found out that 
 Benjamin HetfaJusy, the girrs father, was over head 
 and ears in debt, and that you withdrew for that 
 reason." 
 
 "I did not take the trouble to contradict the 
 rumour, it was so like General V6rtessy to many 
 for money." 
 
 " And the HetfaJusy family became of course your 
 bitterest enemies ever afterwards?" 
 
 " They have insulted, but they cannot wound ma* 
 
 "And you forgave them for it?" 
 
 ** I never troubled my head about theia* 
 
 " Say that you forgive them." 
 
 *I don't want to flatter myself. I simply forgot 
 them." 
 
 "Very well, now let «s go otn with our stoiy^ 
 
Xl9 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 This poor family has had many heavy visitations of 
 late." 
 
 V6rtessy'9 face grew very grave 
 
 "My dear, I am afraid your skein of silk will 
 break asunder on my arms if you go on with such 
 stories. Don't speak to me of the calamities of the 
 H'6tfalusy family. I am not at all interested in the 
 happiness of these people, and if they are wretched 
 I don't want to hear anything about it They seem 
 to have always been bent upon tempting Fate, so 
 that it is not surprising if Fate at last has turned 
 upon them. But I don't want to know anything 
 about it I am not good enough to grieve with 
 them in their misfortunes, and I am not bad enough 
 to rejoice in their misery. Leave the subject alone, 
 my dear Cornelia." 
 
 Cornelia put down the httle ball of silk, relieved 
 her husband's arms of the skein, and then sitting 
 beside him on a little stool, kept on stroking him 
 with her tiny hands until she had quite smoothed 
 out all the angiy wrinkles on his face, and he had 
 brightened up again and declared, like a good little 
 boy, that he was not a bit put out and would listen 
 to the story again. 
 
 "Poor Leonora! her married life was veiy un- 
 happy." 
 
 " But she got what she wanted" 
 
 " It seems to me that you know more of my story 
 than I do myself." 
 
 "I only know the happy part of it Was not 
 her husband her youthful ideal? ** 
 
A MAN OF IRON. 113 
 
 "You amaze mc Whenever we used to meet 
 subsequently, she was always full of lamentations^ 
 and described herself as very unhappy. To my 
 mind she only took Sz^phalmi out of bravado, 
 because you deserted her." 
 
 " My dear, after that I must whisper in your ear 
 something which only one other soul in the world 
 but myself knows anything about I am sure you 
 will not say anything about it, because you are good, 
 and that other person will be silent because she is 
 afraid to speak That pale lady who was so fond 
 of thinking of death, who went to a ball in a myrtle 
 wreath and a white dress with a black fringe, used to 
 have assignations in the dilapidated hut of an old 
 village granny with a youth who was no other than 
 Szephalmi, her present husband The affair was 
 kept so secret that nobody knew anything about it 
 The old hag, why I know not, confided the secret 
 to me on the very day when I arrived at H6tfalu 
 Castle in readiness for the wedding. It was as I 
 have said. My pale moonbeam, when everybody 
 was asleep in the castle, used to put on a peasant 
 girl's garb, wrap her head in a flowered kerchief, 
 and glide all alone, along the garden paths, to the 
 old woman's hut at the end of the village, where the 
 youth, disguised as a shepherd, was waiting for her. 
 Oh! this intimacy was of long standing. I heard 
 them talking to each other. In my first mad 
 paroxysm of rage, I was for rushing out and killing 
 the pair of them on the spot ; but gradually I re- 
 covered my senses, and I asked myself whether it 
 
 H 
 
114 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 was not more shameful for me, a soldier, to 
 lave pried upon a woman than for that woman 
 to have deceived me. Besides, what was there to 
 be done if she loved another? She ought not, of 
 course, to have promised me her hand — a hand 
 without a heart must bring dishonour with it I 
 said nothing to anybody. I went back to the castle, 
 and the next day I had an interview with the girl's 
 father, and made pecuniary demands upon him, 
 which, in view of the shattered state of his finances^ 
 I knew it was impossible for him to comply with. 
 We split upon that very point There was no 
 marriage. The guests separated The world 
 laughed I was cried down as a money-grubber, 
 and for a long time I was in such bad odour, that 
 I'll wager anything that if I had sued for the 
 hand of any respectable girl her relations would 
 have shown me the door in double-quick time. My 
 darling little ComeHa certainly displayed great 
 strength of mind to accept a man who was notorious 
 for having jilted his bride." 
 
 " And you had to endure a whole heap of perse- 
 cutions in consequence." 
 
 " Yes, a great many. The Hetfalusys had power- 
 ful kinsfolk who did their utmost to make life in- 
 tolerable to me. A nephew of Benjamin's, who was 
 an officer in the g^£Lrds> inisulted me publicly in the 
 street The most damaging insinuations were made 
 against me in high places. All my measures were 
 openly and freely criticized They sought to embroil 
 me with the county authorities. I was persecuted 
 
A MAN OF IRON. 115 
 
 by high and low. I defended myself and held my 
 tongue. I fought duels, I had an answer for every- 
 one. I suffered in silence — but I never betrayed 
 that lady's secret Keep what I have told you in 
 the depths of your heart, my darling, as I have done 
 hitherto." 
 
 Cornelia kissed her husband's high open forehead, 
 
 " Yet poor Leonora had her punishment too," said 
 
 she; "he whom she longed after so much when 
 
 once she possessed him made her wretched* 
 
 Sz6phalrm was unfaithful to her." 
 
 " My dear Cornelia, you cannot have love 
 without respect Szephalmi only married his wife 
 because her desperation drove him to do so, I 
 have often heard people say that Leonora used to 
 dance at parties as if she wished to kill herself, and 
 would drink quantities of iced water when she was 
 in a most heated condition. It was no longer 
 a pretence with her. What scenes took place at 
 home between her mother and herself it was no 
 business of mine to pry into ; but this I know right 
 well that the girl one day went straight to Szephalmi 
 and threatened him there and then with something 
 terrible if he did not marry her. I will not tell you, 
 Leonora's former friend, the nature of this threat ; it 
 would revolt your pure mind too much, for a heart 
 like yours could form no idea of it ; but it is certain 
 that it was fear rather than love which induced 
 Szephalmi to lead her to the altar. I know, 
 hov/ever, that the marriage was not unblessed ; they 
 have two children." 
 
5K6 the day of wrath. 
 
 "They had*' 
 
 " What! are they dead then? " 
 
 **A terrible destiny seems to oppress the whole 
 family. The little girl, her father's darling, dis- 
 appeared one day without leaving a trace behind 
 her, and the other child Wcls struck dead by light- 
 ning while the mother was watching by its sick 
 bed ; the mother was killed at the same time." 
 
 The General was deeply affected by these words. 
 The heart of the iron man trembled. 
 
 "Merciful God . . .!" 
 
 " Old H6tfalusy had a stroke when the dreadful 
 tidings reajched him." 
 
 ** No, no! He did not deserve so much suffering. 
 Fate has been more rigorous towards him than he 
 deserved." 
 
 "And as if this were not enough — you knew 
 H6tfalusy's son who became a soldier? " 
 
 ** I knew him. He was a hot-blooded youth, war- 
 fare might have made a good soldier of him." 
 
 "Well, he quarrelled with his captain in Poland 
 and fired a pistol at hinL" 
 
 *A misfortune, a great misfortune," said the 
 General, pressing his fists so tightly together that 
 if there had been anything inside them it would have 
 been crushed to pieces. 
 
 " After this deed the youth fled" 
 
 * That is worse still," murmured the General, and 
 be pressed his iron fists still more violently together. 
 
 " And if I am not mistaken, this is the third time 
 tiiat he has run away,'- 
 
A MAN OF IRON. 1x7 
 
 There were now two beads oi sweat on Ae 
 General*s forehead ; he would have wiped it dry with 
 his hand, but he could not, for his &sts were firmly 
 clenched, and it never occurred to him to open 
 thfm. 
 
 " My dear Cornelia," said he, " if you know where 
 this young man now is, I implore you to tell me 
 nothing about it You know that I ought not to 
 hear it" 
 
 ** You very soon will know all about it ; the un- 
 happy youth appeared in his father's house on the 
 very day when his sister and her son lay in their 
 coffins." 
 
 "Then he has been arrested," cried the Greneral 
 qxiickly. 
 
 ** What makes you think that? * 
 
 * Because his own father would be the first persoQ 
 to dehver him up." 
 
 Cornelia regarded her husband with amazement 
 *Is it not so, I say?" he cried passionately, 
 
 springing from his seat " Hetfalusy has given up 
 
 his fugitive son, m swear he has, even if I had not 
 
 been told it beforehand." 
 
 ** So indeed it is," said Cornelia sadly* 
 
 "And how came you to know it before it has 
 
 been officially reported to me?" 
 
 * My xmcle is a magistrate there, and he told me. 
 He came from thence in his carriage, while the 
 prisoner was being brought along on foot" 
 
 "They are bringing him hither — thither to me,* 
 groaned the General impatiently and turning pale. 
 
ji8 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " They will hand him over to me, and I shall have 
 to pronounce judgment upon him,** 
 
 How he feared, how he shuddered at the thought ! 
 
 "You could not have told me a worse tale,** 
 resumed the General, turning to his wife, and 
 supporting her tender little head against his bosom. 
 " That is a sad, a very sad story." 
 
 " But the end has yet to come.** 
 
 "Yes, and the saddest part of it is that the end 
 of it is in my hands." 
 
 "And to my mind it could not be in better 
 hands." 
 
 "How can you say that? Is not every member 
 oi the Hetfalusy family my personal enemy? If I 
 could forget everything else, must I not remember 
 that they have insulted you ? Why, this very young 
 windbag actually insulted you, you my wife, at a 
 public assembly, and now Fate has cast him at my 
 feet, him the last scion of the family, and I must be 
 his judge and pronounce sentence of death upon 
 him! The whole world will believe that I have 
 gladly taken advantage of this grievous opportunity 
 of revenging myself in the most bloody, the most 
 exemplary manner upon my enemies! They will 
 fancy that I condemn the son of my bitterest enemy 
 to the gallows because I am thirsting for his blood 
 And you say it is well that it should be so ! " 
 
 " I said it and I will stick to it I am quite coi> 
 fident that you will save him.** 
 
 " I save him ? " cried the General, opening wide 
 his blue eyes with amazement ; " it is impossible" 
 
A MAN OF IRON. 119 
 
 "I believe that General V6rtessy, that rigorous, 
 inflexible man, whom his admirers and his detractors 
 alike called ' the man of iron,* who has never relaxed 
 the rule of discipline to favour friend or kinsman, 
 will do everything in his power to make an exception 
 for once in his life, and save the son of his enemy 
 from the rigour of the law. Oh ! I know this gen- 
 tleman 'right well, I am confident that so he will 
 act" 
 
 " It is impossible, impossible ; if he were my own 
 brother I would not save him in his tmfortunate 
 position." 
 
 " A brother you could not save, FU allow ; but this 
 youth— oh, yes ! I am persuaded that you will not 
 be satisfied till you have devised some method of 
 saving this unfortunate youth." 
 
 And in saying this, she knew right well how to 
 read the very depths of the heart and mind of the 
 man of iron. 
 
 The General impatiently quitted his wife's room, 
 but the moment he had crossed its threshold, there 
 was not a trace of impatience to be seen on his 
 face. 
 
 The orderly wcis still standing in the ante-chamber 
 and, turning on his heels in the direction of the 
 General, presented to him the sealed dispatch which 
 he had thrust into his bosom. 
 
 It was the official report of the arrest of the 
 deserter. 
 
 The General made a sign to the soldier that he 
 might depart 
 
i«o THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Then the General returned to the room he had 
 quitted, spread out the document in front of hha, 
 sat down over it supported his head in his handa^ 
 and for a long, long time Sniggled with Qppx&sivc 
 and wearying thoughtai 
 
CHAPTER Vm 
 
 THE POLISH WOMAH. 
 
 " Who is at home here? " inquired a strong sQnoroai 
 voice at the door of the headsman's dwelling, and 
 immediately afterwards a shape huddled up in % 
 grey mantle passed through the kitchen door. 
 
 By the hearth were sitting Ivan and the woman of 
 the house, it was a dark tempestuous night outside ;! 
 it might have been about ten o'clock and every door 
 was dosed. 
 
 The youth and the woman gazed stupidly at tiae 
 stranger and said nothing. 
 
 "Who is at home here?" repeated he, drawing^ 
 nearer to the fire, in whose flickering light his 
 smooth handsome yoimg face seemed transparent 
 with its sharply defined eyebrows, soft but masterful 
 lips and courageous eagle eyes which gazed fixedly 
 before them. 
 
 The youth and the woman exchanged glancea 
 Instead of answering, Ivan feU to questioning t 
 
 ** How could anyone possibly enter here? " 
 
 **I leaped over the fence," replied the stranger, 
 sitting down beside the fire without the least 
 
122 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 ceremony. "The door was bolted and barred; 
 twice, thrice did I knock, but nobody opened to me. 
 I was forced to get in somehow." 
 
 " How about the dog? " inquired the woman of 
 the house much perplexed. 
 
 " I didn't mind him. I know how to talk to dogs. 
 It is a way I have. There's a plag^ey bad tempest 
 roaring outside, the rain is falling in torrents. I 
 could not wait outside any longer." 
 
 "But what do you want here?" inquired the 
 woman, looking into the face of the stranger with 
 some timidity. 
 
 "That is just what I am going to tell you, my 
 dear! But first give me a glass of water, for I am 
 perishing with thirst." 
 
 The woman was involuntarily constrained to obey 
 without more ado. 
 
 "And you, my friend, spread out my mantle 
 before the fixe ! " said the stranger turning towards 
 Ivan, and stripping from his neck and shoulders the 
 heavy mantle which was dripping with rain. 
 
 The youth and the woman incontinently obeyed 
 his commands as if they were under a spelL 
 
 The mantle was removed, the slim, muscular 
 figure of the stranger was clearly visible, it seemed 
 too soft for a man's. His hands as they grasped 
 the beaker seemed white and delicate. 
 
 "That is certainly a woman," murmured the 
 headsman's wife to Ivan, staring suspiciously at the 
 stranger from beneath her thick contracted bushy 
 eyebrows. Then approaching him and looking him 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. itS 
 
 full in the face she said: "My Dovcy! It seems 
 to me that you are in no good way. Whom do yon 
 seek?" 
 
 " The master/' replied the stranger curtly, resting 
 his elbows on the hearth. 
 
 " Possibly you may suppose this house to be an 
 inn because it lies at the extreme end of the town? ** 
 
 " I think nothing of the sort, my pretty mistreaa. 
 I know that here dwells Master Zuddr, the worthy 
 ferry-master." 
 
 " Ferry-master? " 
 
 " Yes, ferry-master ! Does he not transport men 
 from this world to the next? " 
 
 " How come you to know the master? ** 
 
 " I have never seen him, yet I know him well i<x 
 all that It is not possible to speak to him now 
 because he is a-praying. He prays regularly for a 
 whole hour at a time, and then it is not well then to 
 disturb him. That is why you two are crouching in 
 the kitchen here. You, my pretty mistress, arc 
 Master Zudar's wife, and this young man is his 
 'prentice. I know you very well also." 
 
 " But who are you yourself then ? Speak ! What 
 do you want? " asked the woman much puzzled. 
 
 "I shall tell that to the master himself, inside 
 there, when he has quite finished his devotions. It 
 is his habit every night, before he Hes down, to 
 fire off his gun, then I will approach him. Mean- 
 while sit down beside me! Look ye, this bench 
 can very well hold the pair of us, let us have a little 
 talk together." 
 
K«4 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 The stranger thereupon doffed his little round 
 furred cap and his long black trussed-up locks fell 
 ID curling ringlets about his shoulders. 
 
 "Tis a woman, a woman indeed!" whispered 
 Ivan and the dame of the house to each other. 
 
 The latter now approached the enigmatical shape 
 a' little more boldly, and sitting down beside him, 
 opened a conversation with him. 
 
 * What; pray, is your business with my husband? * 
 
 *Come, come, my dear creature! You have no 
 right to put such questions to me. You ought 
 lather to ask me whether I am hungry and would 
 like some supper. You would not have to ask me 
 tibat twice I can assure you." 
 
 The woman, at this hint, arose sullenly and todc 
 feora a wainscot cupboard a plate of hearth cakes 
 which she set before the stranger. 
 
 "I suppose, sir, you don*t mind eating off the 
 lradsriian*s platter?" said she. 
 
 ** Stuff ! What if I am of the same profession! " 
 
 •Ob, of course! I can see that from those soft 
 white little hands of yours which are not such as the 
 hands of a man ought to be." 
 
 But the words were scarce out of her mouth v^ea 
 Ae virago uttered a loud scream, for the little white 
 paws she had just tapped suddenly pressed her huge 
 ilcshy palm so vigorously that every bone in it 
 jpacked. 
 
 " Satan take him ! — ^'tis a man, not a doubt of it ! * 
 whispered the woman to Ivan. "He has a kamdl 
 like an iron vice." 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. itS 
 
 The stranger had an excellent appetite. There 
 was absolutely nothing at the bottom of the platter 
 when he had finished eating, 
 
 " Pardon! " cried he at last, " perhaps L ought not 
 to have gobbled up everything. Perchance this was 
 set aside for someone who does not happen to be at 
 home just now." 
 
 " Oh, don't be uneasy on that score, we have all 
 had our suppers." 
 
 "But this is not the whole family I suppose? 
 Have you no children? " 
 
 " Yes," replied the woman, and as she spoke she 
 durst not lift her eyes to the stranger's face. "I 
 Ihave a daughter." 
 
 " Really your own child? " 
 
 The woman looked hesitatingly at thestranjg^er, 
 twice she attempted to speak and twice the wbrdi 
 seemed to stick in her throat 
 
 " Yes, my own child," she said at last 
 
 " And have you no other 'prentice but this brie, 
 Dame Zudar?" 
 
 "No, why should I ?•* 
 
 ** And are you two able to carry on the business? 
 !— for I suppose there are all sorts of things to be 
 done?" 
 
 " Good heart alive ! The less you say abotit the 
 headsman's trade the better." 
 
 "But why should I not talk about it? It ia a 
 regular profession, is it not, like any other? And 
 just as respectable too, eh? Nay, it is more profit- 
 able than most trades, because there "is less 6f 
 
U6 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 competition in it Now, as for me, I have a perfect 
 passion for it Why, the only reason why I am 
 here is to come to some arrangement with Master 
 Zuddr. I want to buy of him, my pretty dame^ 
 the business which you loathe so much." 
 
 The headsman's wife regarded the stranger with 
 eyes full of doubt and astonishment 
 
 "You are a very young man for the business," 
 said she suspiciously. 
 
 "Oh, as for that, my dear, pray don't imagine 
 that I am going to put up with all the disagreeables 
 of the profession for the fun of the thing. I meaui 
 to have lots of help I can tell you. I shall live in 
 town and frequent the best taverns and coffee 
 houses. I shall live like a gentleman and nobody 
 will know who I am. I shall only appear on the 
 scene officially when an execution worthy of my 
 skill awaits me — ^a nice beheading or something of 
 that scxtj you know. Oh! I shall have a fine time 
 of it I can tell you." 
 
 Dame Zudar felt a shudder run all down her 
 back. She durst not look again at the strsmger. 
 
 " Tt is a pity you have not more than one 'prentice 
 now. It looks as if you had very much neglected 
 the business. I am annoyed at that It will be 
 difficult to give it a fresh start Had you not more 
 than one apprentice a Httle time ago? ** 
 
 "Yes, there used to be another," stammered 
 Dame Z^ddr involuntarily. 
 
 "Then why did you pack him off?" inquired 
 die unknown, picking from the fire with his delicate 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 127 
 
 index-fcnger a burning ember, tossing it lightly oa 
 to his soft palm, and thence chucking it adroitly into 
 the bowl of his Httle pipe. 
 
 The woman and Ivan exchanged a look as if 
 deliberating together what answer they should give, 
 and then the woman hastily repUed : 
 
 " He went away of his own accord ; the busineaa 
 is a pretty one, but he got disgusted with it" 
 
 ** Oh — ^ho ! what a rum 'un the fellow must have 
 been. And has he a better time of it now? " 
 
 " I don't know," replied the virago defiantly. " It 
 is not my business to find out what has become of 
 my discharged apprentices. He got sick of this 
 trade and took to another — that is the whole thing." 
 
 " You cire quite right, my pretty dame, not every- 
 one is fit for this business. A man must have a 
 natural liking for it I, for instance, would never 
 take as an apprentice a man who had not spent 
 some time in a dungeon, or cooled his heels in jail 
 two or three times running in five or six years, for 
 all the others are for ever wishing themselves back 
 in polite society, and want to live in town. And 
 then, too, they are always sighing and groaning 
 and trying to make out that they are too good for 
 the business. I don't like such people myself. 
 Those who are likely to excel in this business show 
 their teeth betimes. Those children who put out the 
 eyes of birds, nail bats to bam doors, and love 
 to shoot at little dogs, those are the sort of fellows 
 from which apt pupils can be trained." 
 
 ** That is quite true. Why you, yourself, must be 
 
Ka8 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 the son of a headsman, or else you would not know 
 all the conditions of the trade so well" 
 
 " YouVe hit it, that is just what I am. My father 
 was an executioner and my grandfather before hin^ 
 the business has steadily descended from father to 
 son. 
 
 ** Where do you live then? " 
 
 " In Poland. Rochow is where my father dwells. 
 You must have guessed already from my accent that 
 I was a Pole." 
 " * Yes, and from your face too." 
 
 * My brother and I divided otur heritage between 
 US. He got the Rochow business and paid me out 
 in cash that I might set up for myself elsewhere. 
 I heard that the executioner of H^tfalu was getting 
 sick of his office;, for of course he is not growing 
 younger, is he? Come, now! you silly little thing, 
 you must not be angry with mc for sajnmg that! 
 You know very well that your husband is an old 
 man, and there are lots of old men who have pretty 
 young wives. There is no g^eat harm in that I 
 only asked you whether he was old, because in that 
 case he would be more likely to seek for repose." 
 
 " Yes, young sir, my husband loathes the business 
 with all his souL" 
 
 ** But there's a great deal of fun in it too^ if only 
 you look at it properly. I have often gone to 
 Lemberg togged up like a swell, with a fine jewfelled 
 pin in my scarf, a gold chain and a little whale- 
 bone stick in my hand I have turned the heads 
 <oi two or three hne ladies and insinuated myself 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 129 
 
 into the best society — ^and what a joke it was when 
 they found out who I really was. How pale they all 
 went, and how their hair stood on end. Ha, ha, 
 ha!" 
 
 "But didn't they make you pay for it after- 
 wards ? " 
 
 " Well, once I was called out by a young cadet 
 Officers of higher rank thought it beneath their 
 dignity to fight with me, the utmost they did was 
 to pitch me out of the window. The lad who 
 challenged me was a Hungarian, and I promised to 
 appear at the rendezvous. I am afraid, however, 
 that he waited for me a very long time. I like to 
 shed blood, but only when I run no risk myself." 
 
 All three laughed heartily at this witticism. 
 
 * But listen to the sequel of my story. My father 
 has an amiable whim of his own — ^he always prefers 
 to have deserters from the army as his assistants. 
 He is well aware that men of that kidney have 
 practically renounced the world. Now who do you 
 think rushed into his house one evening all ragged 
 and travel-stained? Why the very soldier-youngster 
 who had wanted to fight a duel with me! To 
 avenge his sweethecirt he had shot his captain and 
 bad to make a bolt of it" 
 
 The woman and Ivan involuntarily lodced at each 
 other with terror. 
 
 ** You may imagine how I laughed the poor youth 
 out of countenance when I recognised him Every 
 time I met him I used to say to him : * Well, what 
 do you say to our fighting our duel now?* He 
 
 I 
 
I30 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 could not stand such heckling long. On the third 
 day he skedaddled, and I don't know what became 
 of the poor fellow. I have little doubt, howerer, 
 that since then he has been shot dead" 
 
 "If they have not done it yet it won't be very 
 long before they do," observed Ivan. 
 
 "Hush!" — ^hissed the woman with a warning 
 gesture. 
 
 The unknown did not seem, however, to have 
 noticed this little piece of by-play. 
 
 At that moment the report of a gun was 
 heeird from the headsman's window. At night he 
 xised reguleirly to discharge his firearms and load 
 them again immediately afterwards. He was afraid 
 that someone might have got at them in the course 
 of the day and either extracted the bullets or 
 damped the powder. He did not feel himself safe 
 in his own house, and always locked the door of 
 his room before he lay down to sleep. 
 
 " Now you will be able to have a talk with him 
 if you like," said the virago. " The girl will come 
 down presently, as usual, to fetch him his water for 
 the night, you can let her know that you are here 
 and want to speak to him." 
 
 Shortly afterwards the door opened and, with a 
 lighted taper in one hand and a ewer in the other, 
 the moon-pale little maid entered the room. She 
 came very quietiy, as if afraid of making the 
 slightest noise. Her beautiful blonde locks had 
 been unloosed, for it was bedtime, and strayed 
 freely over her smooth snow-white shoulders, her 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 131 
 
 tiny bare feet seemed to kiss rather than touch the 
 ground 
 
 The stranger gazed at the gentle creature with 
 rapt delight She did not appear to notice him in 
 the semi-darkness, as she glided past him through 
 the vestibule on her way to the well 
 
 " Is that your own child, my fair dame? " asked 
 the unknown, flashing his eagle eyes full upon the 
 woman 
 
 " Yes, my own child ! ** 
 
 " How fair she is, and how pale ! * 
 
 The woman laughed 
 
 " While I am so brbwn and ruddy, eh? " 
 
 And again she laughed aloud 
 
 The fax:e of the imknown blushed deeply. One 
 could have sworn it was a woman. It was the blush 
 of shame that covered his face. 
 
 In a few moments the child returned with the 
 filled ewer in her hands. 
 
 " Come hither, my little girl 1 " said the stranger, 
 m a tender, affectionate voice. 
 
 The child started violently. 
 
 " Don't be alarmed ! " growled the virago. 
 " Don't you heeu: that this gentleman wants to speak 
 to you? Are you afraid he will bite your nose 
 off?" 
 
 And with these words she seized the child's hand 
 roughly and pushed her towards the stranger. 
 
 The stranger softly patted the child's little head 
 
 " Don't be afraid of me, my little girl ! You have 
 no reason to fear me. What is your name? ** 
 
I5« THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 ** Betsey ! " replied the virago. 
 
 * Ah, why Betsey ? Such a coarse, common name 
 for such a tender child! I would call her Elisc, 
 that is far prettier. Besides, the two names mean 
 one and the same thing." 
 
 "Nay, nay, you will spoil the child, sir. As if 
 she was not spoilt enough by her father already. 
 Peasant folks call their daughters Betsey or Polly ; 
 Elise and Lisetta are the names of gentlefolks* 
 children. You must not listen to such nonsense, 
 child; but go and tell your father that there is a 
 gentleman here from Poland who wants to speak 
 to him immediately before he lies f^own." 
 
 The child timidly withdrew her little hand from 
 the stranger's, who seemed very disinclined to let 
 it go, and hastened to her father's room. 
 
 The stranger thereupon tidied up his clothing, 
 smoothed back his hair on both sides of his fore- 
 head, thereby giving to his features a gentle amiable 
 expression, and softly tapped at the headsman's 
 door. 
 
 " Come in ! " resoimded a deep melancholy voice 
 from within. 
 
 The unknown youth entered and carefully closed 
 the door behind him 
 
 The moment he was well within the room, the 
 smile of frivolous braggadocio he had lately 
 assumed entirely disappeared from his face; the 
 defiantly thrown back head bent meekly down; a 
 look of devout inspiration was visible on the thin 
 lips and in the veiled eyes ; the whole figure of the 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 133 
 
 man seemed to have g^own smaller, the shoulders 
 contracted, the breast receded; he had now the 
 air of a g^cious and benignant missionary. 
 
 And a benignant missionary indeed it was who 
 now stood face to face with the headsman. 
 
 The herculean figure of the headsman arose 
 slowly and tremulously, and while his hand with 
 furtive anxiety sought the hand of the little girl, he 
 asked the stranger in a scarcely audible voice what 
 he required of him. Perchance the latter did not 
 catch what he said, he spoke so low. 
 
 " Peace and blessing be upon this house ! " said 
 the unknown in a voice full of tender unction. 
 
 " Amen, amen ! " the headsman hastened to reply. 
 
 " Heaven's blessing descend upon thy heart, my 
 son ! " said the youth to the old man raising his 
 hand in blessing. 
 
 " He is a pastor, a priest," said the headsman to 
 himself, " he has all the appearance of it" 
 
 Peter Zudar stooped down towards the youth's 
 hand and kissed it He durst not touch it with his 
 own hand but with his lips only. 
 
 "A priest in my house, forsooth! My child! 
 take the gentleman by the hand and lead him to 
 the arm-chair, make him sit down ! Thy hands are 
 clean, they may touch him. Oh ! a man of God in 
 my house! I never dared to hope so much." 
 
 "I come from afar," said the unknown youth, 
 sitting down in the arm-chair provided for him, while 
 the old executioner stood before him bare-headed, 
 with his large muscular arms folded across his 
 
3134 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 bosom. The little girl woirnd her hands round his 
 aim and stood beside him. 
 
 **I come from afar, I say. I do not belong to 
 your nation, though I imderstand your language 
 well enough to be able to converse in it intelligibly. 
 In olden times the Apostles of our Holy Faith 
 received direct from Heaven the gift of tongues, 
 we, their unworthy successors, must, with great 
 labour and weariness, acquire the languages of those 
 to whom we have to preach the Gospel I am the 
 member of an English religious society whose 
 mission it is to seek out those who are suffering, in 
 whatever rank of life they may be, and endeavour 
 to administer to them, so far as we are able, those 
 divine consolations which God so freely distributes 
 to the broken-hearted. We have our special 
 missionaries for every section of humanity, and we 
 send them forth continually to minister to their 
 sufferings, and bring them peace and healing. 
 Some of us are sent to the palaces of the mighty, 
 others to the hovels of the poor. For everyone on 
 earth has his own particular sorrow, and everyone 
 finds his own sorrow very hard to bear. Some of 
 us have chosen the dungeons and jails as our spheres 
 of consolation, others prefer to comfort the secret 
 woes of family life, others again visit the needy 
 m as ses of the work-people. To me has been 
 assigned the task of ministering to those tenx)rs 
 .of evil doers, the public executioners." 
 
 At these words the youth looked steadily at the 
 face of the man, who was standing there before hiix^ 
 with downcast eyes and quivering lipsw 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. iss 
 
 •• For the last nine years I have been going about 
 in this strange world of mine," continued the youth. 
 "I have Icamt something of the deepest wounds 
 and of the sublimest woe. All the suffering in this 
 depcirtment of sorrow is very much alike. Some 
 can hide their woimds better than others — ^that is 
 the sole difference. There are amongst these heads- 
 men cold impenetrable natures, hearts closed against 
 the world, whom it is very difficult to get at And 
 then agciin there are devil-may-care, extravagant, 
 passionate dispositions who fancy they can find 
 oblivion in wine, excitement, and other external 
 delights. And then, too, there are defiant, haughty 
 souls, who mock and jeer at those things which 
 ordinary people are afraid of — ^but at the bottom of 
 all their hearts it is the same worm that is ever 
 gnaw-gnawing. Some of them die young, others 
 grow grey, and have a late old age before thenx 
 And it is the selfsame worm which kills the one and 
 will not let the other die. I have known among 
 them men who, drink as they would, could never get 
 drunk. I have known others who loathed the sight 
 of wine and yet have been haunted by phantoms in 
 broad daylight The evil was always one and the 
 same. Yes, and the mercy of God is always one 
 and the same likewise." 
 
 " God's mercy is indeed over all ! " stammered 
 the headsman. 
 
 "And if this endless mercy did not cover the 
 earth what could defend all living beings from 
 judgment? If the Lord were one day to proclaim? 
 
iSfi THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 * Let Justice prevail in the world instead of Mercy ! ' 
 must not we all be instantly consumed by tlw; divine 
 vengeance? The Lord does not look at the out- 
 ward appearance of men but at their hearts. He 
 judges him who charitably distributes alms at the 
 church door to make up for the secret sins that he 
 has carefully concealed at the bottom of his heart, 
 and raises once more the broken-hearted sinner who 
 has fallen beneath the stress of temptation." 
 
 The headsman slowly sank down upon his knees 
 before the chair of the unknown, and rested his 
 folded arms against it 
 
 "What are we after all? Impotent tools in the 
 hands of all creative Power. Greater in the eyes 
 of God is humble weakness than haughty strength ; 
 dearer to Him is the repentant sinner than the 
 man who boasts of his virtues. All that is power 
 is His gift, and His gift must needs return to Him 
 again. Streng^ will turn to dust, merit will become 
 but as an empty sound, God's mercy alone will 
 endure for ever. Heaven is always open to him 
 who seeks it" 
 
 The youth tenderly stroked the old man's hands 
 whilst he tried, tremulously, to draw them away. 
 
 " Oh, sir, touch not my hands ! " 
 
 The youth seized one of the executioner's hands 
 by force and drew it towards him, looking as he did 
 so, now at the old man's hand and now at his face 
 Then with his delicate index-finger he pointed at 
 the headsman's forehead. 
 
 * I see here a whole network of wrinklesi" said 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 137 
 
 he, "and this cross of ill-omen here betokens the 
 anguish of a heavy heart Thy hand trembles in 
 mine because it feels upon it spots of innocent 
 blood." 
 
 " True, true ! " groaned the strong man, hiding 
 his face in his hands. 
 
 "Thou hast executed a death sentence upon a 
 man whose innocence shortly afterwards became as 
 clear as noonday." 
 
 " So it is. You can read right into my heart 
 It is even as you say." 
 
 "This thought haunts thy mind continually and 
 the mark of it is on thy forehead." 
 
 And at that moment could be plainly seen on 
 the old man's forehead the deep cruciform mark 
 of the intersecting furrows. 
 
 The youth laid his fresh cold hand on the man's 
 forehead. 
 
 " Who can tell why the Lord hath ordered it so? 
 Who can tell whether the blindly executed convict 
 did not deserve his punishment after all? Who 
 knows whether he was not worse at heart than he 
 who actually committed the bloody deed? What if 
 he wished his father's death, and therefore was 
 guiltier than he who carried out that wish? A wise 
 monarch in the East once himg up twelve robbers 
 by the roadside, and placed watchers there at night 
 to guard the bodies. While the watchers slept, the 
 comrades of the robbers cut down the body of their 
 leader and made off with it The awakened 
 watchers, full of the fear of punishment, hung up 
 
138 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 a wayfaring peasant in the place of the missing 
 body. An innocent man! — ^And behold when they 
 searched the baggage of the peasants mule they 
 found the bloody limbs of a freshly murdered 
 traveller! *Twas the judgment of God. But sup- 
 pose that the youth whom thou didst execute was 
 really innocent? Who shall dare to say, even then, 
 that Heaven distributes death by way of punish- 
 ment? What if it were sent as a favour, as a 
 reward? — Once, in the olden times, a God-fearing 
 couple prayed Heaven to bestow its greatest reward 
 upon their twin sons for their filial piety, and next 
 morning they were found dead. — ^Who knows from 
 what calcunity Heaven may have saved him by 
 deahng him that blow? Might he not have grown 
 base and vile had he been spared? Might he not 
 have been plunged in misery and ruin? Might he 
 not have become a murderer or a suicide? Might 
 he not ultimately have come to die on the selfsame 
 scaffold, aye, and deserved it too ? Only He is able 
 to answer all these questions before Whom the 
 future lies clear and open. We can only see 
 through a glass darkly ; we do not even know when 
 we ought to laugh or when we ought to weep." 
 
 The youth removed his hand from the old man's 
 forehead, and, lo! that ugly wrinkle had been 
 smoothed away, and the headsman could raise aloft 
 eyes full of comfort, and folding his hands across his 
 huge heaving breast, he began to stammer softly : 
 "Our Father ... !" 
 
 When he had pronounced the "Amenl" the 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 139 
 
 unknown youth raised him tenderly from his knees, 
 and the pale little girl embraced the old man's arm 
 and leaned her head against it 
 
 " Hast thou not always had about thee here 
 Heaven's messenger of mercy?" said the youth, 
 pointing to the fair child " Has not Heaven sent 
 her to thee without any effort or foreknowledge on 
 thy part, so that even to this day thou canst not tell 
 from whence she came? " 
 
 The man tapped his bosom : 
 
 ** Sir," said he, " read into my heart You know 
 cvciything." 
 
 The stranger thereupon turned to the little girl 
 and addressed her in a gentle tone which instantly 
 inspired confidence. 
 
 " My good little child, go downstairs and tell them 
 to put my horse, which I have left standing outside 
 the gate, under cover, lest it be drenched by the 
 storm." 
 
 "I myself will lead it to the stable and give it 
 food and water." 
 
 " Thank you, my little girL" 
 
 Little Elise sought for something in the ward- 
 robe, and, concealing it in her apron, went out 
 
 The stranger looked after her till she had closed 
 the door behind her. A solemn silence then pre- 
 vailed in the room, the youth looked at the old man 
 in silence as if he expected him to speak. 
 
 In a short time Peter Zuddr approached the 
 door and opened it — in the kitchen all was now 
 dark. 
 
140 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 "They are asleep now," he muttered, partly 
 speaking to himself, pcirtly addressing his words to 
 the stranger. " The woman has gone to rest, the 
 lad is with the horses, the child will remain in the 
 kitchen, she has something to do there I know. 
 This, my good sir, is the time for us to talk. Out- 
 side there is nought but storm and darkness, I can- 
 not let you go further on your way while it is like 
 this." 
 
 It was only after much persuasion that the old 
 man consented to sit down beside the youth and 
 began to speak. 
 
 " I am an old man, sir, my hoary hair speaks the 
 truth I have gone through a great deal My 
 father also was an- executioner, and my grandfather 
 before him. I inherited ' the business ' so to speak. 
 In my younger years I was wild and frivolous. I 
 loved raclcet, wine, and boisterous mirth A sort 
 of heavy indescribable load oppressed my heart 
 continually, a sort of blinding darkness enveloped 
 me which I would gladly have chased away had 
 I only known how. This heavy mental oppression, 
 this black weariness tortured me more and more, 
 according as my sad reminiscences multiplied with 
 my advancing, years, and I drank more and more 
 wine; and plunged all the more recklessly into vile 
 debauchery in order that I might not hear all round 
 me those faint sighs cind moans which troubled and 
 terrified me most when there was not a sound in my 
 room, and I was all alone. My acquaintances used 
 to laugh at me because I sat all alone drinking 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 14Z 
 
 silently till far into the night, just as they used to 
 laugh at me afterwards for sitting by myself and 
 singing hymns." 
 
 The fellow sighed deeply and was silent for a 
 time, as if he were trying to gather up again the 
 threads of his scattering thoughts. 
 
 " You may perhaps have noticed a woman outside 
 there. That is my wife. I married because I 
 fancied that I should thereby find rest for my souL 
 I imagined how happy I should be if I were to have 
 a child. I should then have something to knit me 
 to life, to the world again. No, I said to myself, 
 he shall not inherit the curse of my abhorred exis- 
 tence. I will choose for him a career in which he 
 will be happy, honoured, and respected. I will 
 provide him with, a comfortable maintenance and 
 have him educated far from me and my house. I 
 will make a worthy, honest, sensible man of him. 
 For two years I comforted myself with such visions 
 and was happy. My mind shook off its horrors 
 and became bright and cheerful And then — then I 
 b^an drinking heavily again. Evil memories com- 
 menced assailing me worse than ever, and my fair 
 hopes abandoned me — ^for life and death, sir, are 
 both lodged in a woman's heart, and some find the 
 one cind some the other. Once more I was visited 
 by that midnight sighing, by that speechless moan- 
 ing, by those voices that terrified my solitude and 
 pursued me sleeping and waking, and I began to 
 drink and run riot again once more." 
 
 The man hid his drooping head in his hands. 
 
I4S THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Even now those dreadful memories weighed him 
 down when he thought upon them. 
 
 "Suddenly I began to be deaf. A continuous 
 humming sounded in my ears which kept me in a 
 perpetual whirl. I did not understand a single 
 word unless I looked at the lips of the speaker. I 
 never noticed anyone coming into my room tmtil I 
 suddenly caught sight of him. Oh! deafness is 
 indeed a horrible torture. The deaf man is far 
 more completely shut off from the world than the 
 blind. At first I hid my wretchedness lest they 
 should make sport of me. Nobody is merciful to 
 the deaf. Whenever two people talked to each 
 other in my presence I fancied they were plotting 
 against me. I feared to go to sleep lest I should 
 be murdered without hearing my door burst open. 
 And then, too, in the night, in the darkness, in my 
 lonely deafness, I had an ear all the keener for 
 those sighs and moans which nobody could hear but 
 myself. And in vain I drank, in vain I sang 
 riotously. After every bumper of wine it seemed 
 to me as if I was plunged more and more deeply 
 into a roaring bottomless sea, and at last I could 
 not even hear my own howling. Then my soul 
 died away within me, I cast myself despairingly on 
 my bed, and then for the first time in my life it 
 occurred to me to pray. The only thing I could 
 think of to say was : * My God ! my God ! * as I 
 wrung my hands, and the tears ran down my cheeks.** 
 
 And at these words tears stood once more in the 
 beadsman's eyes. 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 14$ 
 
 "That night I slept quietly, nothing disturbed 
 me. Thus I slumbered for many hours like one 
 dead, and W2is only awakened at last by a feeling 
 of moisture all over my face. I had been lying face 
 downwards, and a rush of blood had come through 
 my nose and mouth and wetted my couch. I arose, 
 douched my face in a large tub of water, and felt 
 that my head was very much relieved I no longer 
 heard that roaring sound as of a deep sea roUir^ 
 over me ; there was no more whispering and moan- 
 ing aroimd me ; but, instead of that, I heard through 
 the deep stillness of the night the crying of a child. 
 The crying of a child in my own house! I fancied 
 it was but a dream-voice — ^for was I not deaf? — 
 and that instead of a pursuing, the voice of an 
 enticing spectre was now sounding in my ear. But 
 again the crying of a child penetrated to me from 
 the room where my wife usually slept What could 
 it be? I walked thither, and lo! I could hear the 
 soft pattering of my own footsteps I must walk 
 more softly, thought I. And I did walk more softly, 
 and then I also heard distinctly the light cracking 
 of the boards beneath my feet And through it all 
 the weeping of that child soimded continuously. 
 The door was only closed by a bolt I slipped it 
 softly aside so that not a sound should be heard. 
 Softly I opened the door. And behold! on the 
 table in the middle of the room was a tiny babe. 
 The night-lamp flung a flickering flame across its 
 face, it could not have been more than a couple of 
 months old. It was wrapped up in fine swaddling 
 
144 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 clothes, a tiny embroidered chemise covered its 
 little body, and its wee round head was covered by 
 a deep cap triramed with pearls, from underneath 
 which welled forth tiny little ringlets like fine gold 
 thread. Just like those Httle painted angels of 
 whom you only see the heads peeping out of the 
 sky." 
 
 The unknown smiled so sympathetically at the 
 childish simile of the old headsman. 
 
 Then Peter Zudar*s face again grew clouded, he 
 drew his chair closer to his guest's and thus con- 
 tinued : 
 
 "My wife was not in the room. Her bed was 
 empty and I could see through the door, which she 
 had left open behind her, that a large fire was 
 flickering in the kitchen. My wife was busy with 
 something at the hearth and with her was her 
 mother, a sly, wicked old woman, whom all the 
 people hereabouts look upon as a witch. What 
 were they doing there so late at night I asked 
 myself? The younger womcin was holding a pan 
 over the fire and the elder was casting into it all 
 sorts of herbs. There was nothing to be afraid 
 of, and yet they were speaking to each other in 
 whispers and peering timorously aroimd. I know 
 not how the thought occurred to me, but I suddenly 
 thrust into my bosom the Uttle suckling lying on the 
 table and carried it off into my own room. There 
 I laid it down upon my bed and put into its hand* 
 again its plaything of Httle bells which it had 
 dropped, whereupon it ceased to cry. Then I 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 145 
 
 returned to watch and see what the two women 
 would do next The contents of the pan were 
 already frizzling. Now and then it boiled over into 
 the fire and the flames shot up all round it Then 
 the old woman would skim it carefully with a spoon. 
 And all the time they were muttering together: 
 
 " * Are you sure nobody is awake? * 
 
 * ' No, everyone is asleep.* 
 
 • * How about the old Knacker? ' 
 
 * * He is drunk by this time and so deaf besfdes 
 that he could not even hear the blast of a trumpet' 
 
 "At last they finished what they were about, 
 poured the mess into a large dish, and the pair of 
 them came back again into the room. And there 
 was I standing in the midst of it ! It had the effect 
 upon them of a thimderbolt The old woman let 
 fall the dish and the yoimg one rushed at me like a 
 maniac : 
 
 " ' You deaf hog, you ! what have you done with 
 the child?' 
 
 " ' Don't bawl so loudly, my good woman,* I said. 
 * I can hear you just as well if you speak softly.* 
 
 " ' What have you done with the child? * 
 
 " * Don't be xmeasy about it, it is in a safe place.* 
 
 " * You old fool, you ; you will bring the whole 
 lot of us to ruin. Do you know what you are 
 doing?* 
 
 ** * I know this much, that however you may have 
 got hold of the child it shall not fadl into your hands 
 again. I will take it and care for it myself, and 
 whoever dares to come into my room after it shall 
 
 K 
 
146 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 have good cause to remember that I am the public 
 executioner ! ' 
 
 " And with that I went into my room and locked 
 it behind me. The women cursed aloud and 
 hammered at my door, and the old witch threatened 
 to imdo me in all sorts of ways ; but I quietly and 
 comfortably got out my milk-warming machine and 
 heated a mash of breadcrumbs and milk over my 
 spirit lamp. When it was ready I took the little 
 child upon my lap and fed it nicely myself. Then 
 I made a cradle for it out of my coverlet, which I 
 slimg upon a beam, and rocked it to sleep, and 
 when I looked at it in the morning it was still 
 slumbering." 
 
 After saying these words the headsman took out 
 of a little cabinet a small bundle, carefully wrapped 
 up in paper, and, unwinding it gradually from its 
 manifold wrappings, set out its contents before the 
 stranger. 
 
 In the parcel was a dainty Httle child's smock, a 
 pair of socks, and a baby's cap trimmed with pearls. 
 Everyone of these items was marked with a red 
 " E." 
 
 " I keep these things as souvenirs," he continued. 
 "This crisp little smock, this baby's bonnet em- 
 broidered with rosebuds and forget-me-nots, are 
 more precious to me than all the treasures erf 
 life, for to them I owe the soothing moments which 
 poured balm into my soul. It was by the side of 
 this child, sir, that I learnt to pray. Something 
 whiq>ered to me that this child was sent to me from 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 147 
 
 Heaven. And so it must have been. Nobody- 
 tinder heaven loves me save she, and I love 
 nobody, nothing else in the world. I have never 
 tried to find out who the child might be, nay, rather 
 I have trembled lest she might one day be dis- 
 covered and demanded back from me. But all 
 these years nobody has inquired after her. I fancy 
 she must have had a bad mother whom they told 
 she was dead, and she was glad to hear it Perhaps 
 she even wished it to be killed. Ah ! sir, there are 
 those born outside the headsman's house who ought 
 to end their Hves on the headsman's threshold. 
 Never for one hour's time have I quitted that child. 
 I taught her to walk, to talk, I prepared all her 
 food for her, and now she prepares mine for me. I 
 have eaten no cooked food which her hand has not 
 made ready. While she was still but a wee thing 
 I watched by her bed while she slept, now she 
 watches over me while I sleep. When I go a 
 journey she comes with me, I never leave her 
 behind. Only one thing troubles me when I think 
 of her : What will become of her when I die? what 
 will become of her when she grows up? " 
 
 The youth tenderly pressed the old mzm's hand, 
 land said to him with a voice betraying some 
 emotioo : 
 
 " Don't be uneasy ! Thou hast been a good father 
 to the child, if thou shouldst die I will find a good 
 mother for her. Make a note of this name and 
 address: 'Maria Kamienszka, Lemberg.* When- 
 ever thou dost write to the above address on this 
 
Z48 THE DAY OF WRATEL 
 
 subject thou shalt receive an answer with full infor- 
 mation. Nay, perhaps thou mayest hear sooner 
 from that quarter than thou desirest" 
 
 The old man kissed the youth's hand and stam- 
 mered some unintelligible words of blessing. 
 
 At that moment the door opened, and little Eliae 
 came in with two glasses oi wine-soup on a platter 
 from the kitchen. 
 
 She placed the fragrant steaming drink on the 
 table, spread beneath it a snow-white diaper, and 
 with her sweet gracious voice invited the stranger 
 to partake thereof, as it would warm and comfort 
 
 The stranger gently stroked her sweet pretty 
 lace, kissed her fair head, and touching glasses with 
 his host, emptied his own at one manly gulp. 
 
 *And right good it is, my little hostess! It has 
 floade quite a man of me." 
 
 The old man needed fax more pressing. The 
 little girl had to taste it first to put him in the 
 humour for it It was quite clear that this adopted 
 father ran a great risk of being spoiled. 
 
 Peter Zuddr^s face was now quite bright and 
 cheerful 
 
 " Ah, sir I " said he to the stranger, * I have never 
 fdt before as I feel now. My heart feels as li^t 
 as if no load had ever lain upon it I fed myself 
 a man. How long will you remain with mo? I 
 hope it will be for a long time." 
 
 "It cannot be, my worthy fellow, my vocation 
 •ammons me elsewhere. By the way, hast thou angr 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 149 
 
 apprentices or assistants who require spiritual con- 
 •olations?" 
 
 Peter Zuddr*s face grew dark at these words. 
 
 * I have only one 'prentice," said he at last, *' and, 
 sir, waste not any words of the Lord upon him — 
 one must not cast bread before dogs." 
 
 "Hast thou no other?" 
 
 " Not long ago this 'prentice of mine brought a 
 stranger to my house. Early next morning, before 
 I could see him, he escaped through the loft and 
 over the fence, why or whither I know not to this 
 day. This was not the first case of the kind." 
 
 ** Then my mission to this house is ended," said 
 the stranger, sighing involimtarily. "Accept from 
 me this little Prayer Book as a souvenir ; as often as 
 thou dost read it thou wilt find consolation. On its 
 cover is the name of that lady whom thou must not 
 foi^et" 
 
 The old man pressed the little boc^ to his lips 
 and concealed it in his coffer. 
 
 ** And I, what shall I give, what can I give to you, 
 my spiritual benefactor, and, after God, my regene- 
 rator, as a token of my gratitude ; what can I give 
 you, I say?" 
 
 The stranger hastily replied: 
 
 " If I might be so bold as to ask for somethings 
 five me the half of thy treasures, the little em- 
 broidered bab/s cap." 
 
 For a moment the headsman was overpowered 
 with astonishment, then he quickly undid once more 
 the httle bundle of clothes^ drew forth the pearl- 
 
I5D THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 trimmed cap, regarded it steadily, and a tear fcH 
 from his eye as he did so, then he kissed it, and 
 handed it to the stranger without a word. 
 
 " If thou dost find it so hard to part with it I will 
 not take it" 
 
 " Nay, it will be well disposed of," whispered the 
 old man, and he pressed it into the hand of the 
 youth, who thrust the Httle relic into his bosom. 
 
 "And now God be with thee, and go and lie 
 dovjm, for it is late. As for me, I have a long 
 journey to make before daybreak. 
 
 The headsman would have gone with him to help 
 him to saddle his horse, but the stranger restrained 
 
 him 
 
 " I will arouse thy lad," said he, " I have a word 
 for his ear." 
 
 " But the watdbrdogs are vicious." 
 
 "They will do me no harm." 
 
 The stranger would not be persuaded On reach- 
 ing the kitchen he wrapped himself in his mantlev 
 and after inquiring whereabouts near the stables 
 the 'prentice usually slept, took a lighted lamp in 
 his hand and went forth into the courtyard. 
 
 The mastiffs when they beheld him slunk away, 
 growling timidly and imeasily, and only began to 
 bark with all their throats when they found them- 
 selves safely behind the house. Those strange eyes 
 had the effect of a spell on man and beast Mean- 
 while the headsman could be heard singing within 
 his room the hymn: 
 
 " Ere slumber fall upon mine eyes." 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 151 
 
 The youth hastened towards the night-quarteri 
 6t the headsman's 'prentice. On the way thither 
 he encountered the young woman. He pinched her 
 ear and tapped her on the shoulder. 
 
 ** Get along with yoo, you naughty boy ! " said 
 she. 
 
 And then the virago sauntered back into the 
 kitchen, leaving her guest to go where he liked 
 
 His quest was an easy one now. He had only to 
 proceed in the direction from whence the woman 
 had come. Ivan feigned to be asleep. 
 
 "Hie! my little brother! up! up!** cried the 
 sfenger, and tugged at the fellow's hair till he 
 opened his eyes in terror. 
 
 "Well! what's the row? what do you want with 
 me?^ 
 
 ** What do I want? I'll very soon let you know, 
 yoo rascal, get up, I say ! " 
 
 Ivan made no very great hciste to obqr. 
 
 The stranger wasted no more words upon him 
 but began buffeting him right and left, till his head 
 waggled on his shoulders. 
 
 Full of fury Ivan started up from his couch and 
 fell upon his tormentor ; but the latter, with serpen- 
 tine agility, clutched the fellow's throat tighdy with 
 his right hand and pressed his head against the wall, 
 while with his left he held a large pistol in front of 
 his nose. 
 
 " You dare to move, you rogues that's all, and III 
 spread you out over the wail like a painted 
 picture." 
 
X5t THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 The lad was awed by the unexpected strength 
 of that fist and the threatening proximity of the 
 pistol. 
 
 " But, sir, what in heaven's name have I done? " 
 he babbled. " Who are you, and what do you want 
 of me?" 
 
 "Who am I, eh? I am a police-sergeant, you 
 rascal. I am pursuing a deserter, whom you have 
 concealed. Come, speak, what have you done with 
 him?" 
 
 Ivan had already begun to recover himself a little. 
 
 " ril tell you the truth, I will indeed, only let me 
 ga It is true that I enticed a deserter hither, but 
 it was not to conceal him." 
 
 "You did not bring him hither to conceal him, 
 eh? You lie, you dog. Another falsehood, and Til 
 tie you to my horse's tail and drag you all the way 
 to Dukla. What did you do with him? " 
 
 " ni tell you everything, Mr. Sergeant, I am a 
 man of my word. It is true that I enticed a yoimg 
 gentleman here, at one time I was his lackey. 
 Later on we became soldiers together. I was 
 subsequently discharged because I was growing 
 blind. I am speaking the truth, I was blind then. 
 The young man had confidence in me, and one 
 day, when he saw me in the street at Dukla, he 
 implored me to hide him." 
 
 " What were you doing in Galicia? " 
 
 " My master sent me to buy horses, but I could 
 not get any fit for us. I am speaking the truth, I 
 assure you I am." 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 153 
 
 ** Do you know why that man deserted? *' 
 
 * Yes, he shot his captain because of a woman.* 
 
 " Did you hear the woman's name? *' 
 
 " I heard it, but I have forgotten it" 
 
 " You lie. You know it now. Come, out with it ! * 
 
 "I'll say it then— Oh! my throat!— the Countess 
 
 Kamienszka," 
 " Did you hear it from him? ** 
 " No, it is my own idea, for he wrote her a letter 
 
 while about to fly and sent me to the post with it, 
 
 that is what put them on his track, I should think.*' 
 " That is none of your business, where is the man 
 
 now? Don't lie! I shall know if you do, and in 
 
 that case I will make an end of you at once." 
 "He is safe enough now, Mr. Officer, I assure 
 
 you. He escaped before daybreak, but I denounced 
 
 him, and he was arrested at the house of his own 
 
 father." 
 
 The stranger dashed the fellow's head furiously 
 
 against the wall, then flung him on the floor and 
 
 kicked him. 
 
 "You denounced him, eh? Oh! you detestable 
 
 dog!" 
 
 " But what is the matter, sir? Why do you strike 
 
 me again ? Surely I did right ? I had him arrested, 
 
 and they locked him up. He is in the pillory 
 
 already, I daresay. What harm have I done? " 
 The stranger made an effort to master his passion^ 
 
 and, controUing his rage, answered coldly, 
 
 " What harm have you done, you fool ! Haven't 
 
 you made me take all my trouble in vain, and done 
 
154 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 me out of the promised reward to those who ferret 
 otit and hand over deserters. You dare to meddle 
 with my afiFairs again, that's all ! *' 
 
 Gnashing his teeth, he kept his pistol grasped 
 finnly in his hand ; he would very much have liked 
 to have beaten the fellow's shaggy poll about with 
 the butt end of it 
 
 ** Go and saddle my horse this instant ! " 
 
 Ivan was only too delighted to get clear of the 
 narrow little room where he was so close to this 
 dangerous visitor's muscular fists, and went to saddle 
 the horse. While so employed, he could not help 
 reflecting that the nag was just a trifle too good to 
 be bestridden by a secret police-agent 
 
 The stranger did not wait till he was ready, but 
 harried after him. Then he quickly moimted his 
 horse, and presented something to Ivan. 
 
 "Here, take that!" 
 
 The fellow dodged his head, thinking he was 
 about to get another buflfet Then the stranger 
 flung a thaler at his feet 
 
 "Take that, you dog, for your trouble. And 
 now open the gate ! " 
 
 The horse splashed the 'prentice's eyes and mouth 
 foil of mud as the stranger galloped away. 
 
 At the sound of the rapidly retreating hoofs the 
 headsman thought to himself : " That was Heaven's 
 own gracious messenger." The headsman's young 
 wife, however, sighed : " Ah I that was a gay gentle- 
 man." But the 'prentice growled furiously r * It was 
 old Nick himself/* 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 1$$ 
 
 And with that he picked up the thaler, wiped the 
 mud off it, put it in his pocket, and then turned 
 furiously upon the watch-dog and kicked out one 
 of its teeth. 
 
 " Take that for not barking! " cried he: 
 
 The whole house of Hetfdu was still in mourn- 
 ing. The doctor from town looked in every day. 
 There were two invalids to be seen to. Young 
 Szephalmi was able indeed to go about, but he was 
 like a worm-eaten plant, there seemed to be but 
 httle life within him. Old Hetfalusy, on the other 
 hand, had altogether succim[ibed to his woe, he had 
 taken to his bed, and was frequently tormented by 
 epileptic hts. 
 
 The doctor, worthy Mr. Laurence Scurkanty^ 
 regularly every day deposited his rotmd-headed 
 bamboo cane in the doorway, rubbed his short- 
 cropped grey hair all over with his jxxJset hand- 
 kerchief for a minute or two, felt the respective 
 pulses, wrote out prescnptions for unguents and 
 syruj)s; ordered baths, blisters, clysters, and cold 
 douches — and all to no purpose, as both patients 
 seemed to dwindle away more and m6re day by 
 day. The only really doubtful point seemed to be, 
 which erf the two would bury the other? 
 
 One day, when Dr. Sarkantyus was superintend- 
 ing the preparation of a hot bath, a light chaise 
 drove into the courtyard of the castle, from which 
 our unknown friend descended, dressed in a stylish 
 
%S6 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 black frock coat, and shod with elegant calfskin 
 shoes. His long hciir was combed back and 
 smoothed down behind his ears on both sides, and 
 he had an eyeglass cocked knowingly in one eye. 
 Altogether he looked very different from what he 
 was when we last saw him. His characteristic sang 
 froidy that pecuKar rigidity of the lips, that faint 
 farrow in the middle of the forehead between the 
 eyebrows> and the gravity of the somewhat languid 
 face, made the metamorphosis complete. A savant, 
 a. scholar of practical experience, a cosmopolitan 
 physician stands before us. 
 
 He inquired for Mr. Szephalmi. The servants at 
 once announced his arrival, and presently a broken- 
 down, prematurely aged man appeared, with sunken 
 cheeks^ pale withered lips, and staring eyes starting 
 from their sockets, and with but the ghost of their 
 former brilliance and expressiveness. 
 
 After the first greetings the stranger handed 
 him a letter. Szephalmi broke it op>en and read it 
 with an apology for so doing, and all the time his 
 hands trembled 
 
 The letter was from his friend, Ambrose Ligety, 
 who infonned him that the bearer of the letter was 
 a famous physician, who had just come from France, 
 and cured maladies by means of magnetism. 
 Would he allow this doctor to make experiments 
 upon the old squire? He had reason to believe 
 tiiat such experiments would not be thrown away. 
 
 Szephalmi sighed deeply, and conducted the 
 stranger into the parlour where he beckoned him 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. isy 
 
 to take a seat As yet they had not exchanged a 
 single word professionally. 
 
 Then Szephalmi went into an adjoining chamber, 
 where he encountered Dr. Sarkantyiis, and showed 
 him the letter. 
 
 Dr. Sarkantyiis thereupon told him that his 
 honour, Judge Ligety, was a big donkey, that the 
 French doctor was a still bigger one, but that the 
 old gentleman would be the biggest one of all if he 
 allowed himself to be meddled with. Let them try 
 it, however, by all means, if they choose, he added. 
 
 Nevertheless, he could not help going out to have 
 a look at this miraculous Scarabceus that professed 
 to be able to cure men with the tips of its antennae. 
 
 The yoimg man greeted him with refined courtesy, 
 and the Doctor anxious to show him that he under- 
 stood French, addressed him in what he supposed 
 to be that language, a smattering of which he had 
 picked up as far back as the time of the Emperor 
 Napoleon L 
 
 **Vooz-ate oon medesen, monshoo?* 
 
 ** Oui, monsieur, mon collegue." 
 
 " The Devil is your collegue, I am not ! — ^VocMt- 
 ate oon magnetizoor, monshoo?" 
 
 " Oui mon cher bonhomme." 
 
 " Zate— oon — ^sharlatanery, mohshoo ! * 
 
 " Coiome toute la medecine, monsieur." 
 
 Dr. Sarkantyiis put both hands behind his back, 
 measiured the young man first from head to foot, 
 and then from foot to head, scratched his own head 
 violently, and retreated precipitately. 
 
958 THE DAY OF WRATH, 
 
 And now Szephalmi rejoined the stranger, and 
 begged him to come in and see the invalid. 
 
 In the adjoining chamber where old H6tfalusy 
 was lying, the curtains were drawn and the floor 
 was covered with carpets, so that no light and no 
 noise should disturb the sufferer. 
 
 On the lofty bed lay a motionless figure, with 
 dosed eyes and hands folded across his breast, a 
 motionless, helpless bit of earth, worse off indeed 
 than other bits of earth, because it had the con- 
 sciousness of existence. 
 
 The stranger approached the bed, seized one of 
 the cold bony hands, tested the pulse and laid his 
 liand on the invalid's forehead. It might have been 
 a corpse that lay there. The eyes did not open, the 
 blood scarce seemed to flow through the veins, the 
 respiration was hardly perceptible. 
 
 ** He lies like that all day long," said Sz6phalmi 
 to the stranger. 
 
 The youth took his rings from his hands, asked 
 for a glass of water, and drew the tips of his fingers 
 first round the rim of the glass and then along the 
 eyeballs and the temples of the old man in a down- 
 ward direction. 
 
 Szephalmi stood beside him with a dubious 
 expression* The young man at once observed 
 it 
 
 *You, sir, are also a sufferer," said he; "my 
 method can ciure you also." 
 
 Szephalmi smiled bitterly — galvanised corpses 
 xnay srcdle in the same way. 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 159 
 
 •The balm that is to cure me does not eiist»" 
 said he. 
 
 "My method does not depend on material sub- 
 stances. You shall see. In an hour's time you shall 
 have actual experience of my treatment Your cases 
 are very much alike." 
 
 "How so?" 
 
 "They are due to the same cause. The hidden 
 seat of the evil in both your cases is the mind, both 
 ci you are suffering from terrible bereavementsj, you 
 have lost your wife and two children, the old man 
 his daughter and two grandchildren." 
 
 The sick old man drew a long and deep sigh at 
 these words, but his eyes still remained closed 
 Szephalmi sat down on a chair beside him, hid his 
 face in his hands, and fell a weeping. 
 
 The yoimg unknown continued to draw his fingers 
 sofdy round the rim of the glass, producing a ghostly 
 sort of low wailing sound. 
 
 "The water will become magnetic before long," 
 said he, " and then we shall see." 
 
 "Yet," pursued he, "there is an even more evil 
 malady than the sorrow of bereavement, and that 
 is— remorse. You are both troubled by the bitter 
 memories of an irrevocable past You did not 
 always love your children, your grandchildren^ as 
 you do now that they are both dead — ^and this is the 
 greatest affliction of alL" 
 
 At these words the sick H6tfalusy opened his 
 eyes and gazed at the speaker in astonishment 
 
 Szephalmi stammered scorowf ully t 
 
l6o THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " Oh, sir ! why do you torture us with these 
 words? They make the poor old man's heart 
 bleed." 
 
 "I see. Already he begins to revive. The 
 medicine is a violent one, no doubt, but for that very 
 reason all the more efficacious. Suffering super- 
 venes^ and in suffering lies the very crisis of the 
 malady. But a few more drops of this water. So ! 
 The reaction will be still more violent presently, as 
 you shall see. The sick man will groan and have 
 convulsions. Cold drops of sweat will exude from 
 his temples. After that, however, he will grow 
 calmer, and the cure will be complete if God help 
 us." 
 
 The youth continued to magnetise the water. 
 
 " The sick man's greatest pain proceeds from the 
 recollection of those years when first you made the 
 acquaintance of his recently deceased daughter." 
 
 " What do you know, sir, of those years ? " stam- 
 mered Szephalmi, much surprised. 
 
 "As much as a doctor ought to know whose 
 business it is to cure the hearts of his patients. He 
 strongly opposed the marriage of the girl with you. 
 H^ was wrong in so doing. True affection when 
 •xcluded from the right road seeks out secret paths 
 for itself. You discovered for yourselves some such 
 secret path." 
 
 "Sir!" 
 
 "Hush! The patient is groaning. The cure is 
 operating. These secret relations had consequences 
 which could not be hidden. Your wife became a 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. i6i 
 
 mother before she was yet your wife. Pardon me, 
 sir, but it is as a doctor that I address yon." 
 
 " How do you come to know all this? " faltered 
 Szdphalmi, in a scarcely audible voice. " And when 
 it was kept so secret too ! " he thought to himself. 
 The same instant the old man made a violent effort 
 to rise from his bed and compel the speaker to be 
 silent 
 
 " It is having a strong effect, a very strong effect," 
 said the youth, feeling the sick man's pulse. " His 
 pulse is beating ten strikes more a minute that it 
 did just now. Squire Hetfalusy," he resumed, " on 
 hearing these evil tidings flew into a violent temper ; 
 he was always a very passionate man. He told his 
 daughter that if she did not kill her child, he himself 
 would kill the pair of them. He would have married 
 her to someone else, to a rich man of high nink. 
 This unlucky accident must be kept secret The 
 girl WcLs very miserable. Her brother stood forth 
 m her defence, and took her part against his own 
 father, and his father cursed him in consequence, 
 expelled him from the house, and forbade him ever 
 to show his face there again. And the uninvited 
 guest, the little suckling who had no right to be 
 bom, cJso atoned for its fault ; they said that it was 
 dead. Oh, how the sick man is pressing my hand 
 with his cramped fingers! This method of treat- 
 ment is working wonders." 
 
 Szephalmi sank back into the depths of his arm- 
 chair and shivered as if with an ague fit 
 
 "The rich man, however, abandoned the bride 
 
 L 
 
X6tf THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 on the very day of the wedding, and in that same 
 year the elder Hetfalusy suddenly grew grey. You 
 see, sir, I am well informed. A doctor ought to 
 know every little detail relating to a case if he is 
 to cure the patient. The father was now ready to 
 let his daughter marry her former lover, but you 
 were no longer inclined for such a marriage. One 
 day, however, the girl went to you of her own accord, 
 with the face of a limatic, and threatened . . ." 
 
 ** Hush, sir ! for Heaven's sake ! " 
 
 "Ah! how much more rapidly his blood is circu- 
 lating. His muscles are twitching, his lips are 
 convulsed, his arteries begin to throb — the girl 
 threatened to reveal the fact that she had killed her 
 child and so mount the scaffold, unless you made 
 her your wife." 
 
 The sick man began to throw about his arms, 
 and cold drops of sweat, like transparent pearls, 
 welled forth from his forehead. Szephalmi arose 
 and walked about the room wringing his hands. 
 
 "Who told you that?" he asked the stranger, 
 suddenly planting himself right in front of him. 
 
 " Softly, sir, you are disturbing me. The patient 
 is about to take a favourable turn, look how he is 
 sweating. His sufferings are violent, and I am glad 
 to see them, it shows that his vital energy is return- 
 ing. Repose is a symptom of death, pain is a sign 
 of life. Let us go on with our magnetising. These 
 long passes from the temples to the shoulders work 
 wonders. The whole soul of the sick man now 
 clings to the thought that just because he himself 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 163 
 
 cast forth his first grandchild, which he hated, there- 
 fore God took from him the other two which he 
 loved. Notice, sir! that heaving bosom, those fiery 
 red eyes, those swelling lips — all of them are in 
 tlieir way the interpreters of that one thought 
 God has punished him and you, the father and the 
 grandfather ; He has removed from you the blessing 
 which you rejected of your own accord, and now 
 you stand by yourselves in the world, so lonely, 
 so comfortless, joined to each other by nothing 
 but the recollection of a terrible loss." 
 
 Szephalmi buried his head among the pillows of 
 the speechless invalid and sobbed bitterly. 
 
 Then the youth arose and took the old man's 
 haiKi in his hand, gazed steadily into his burning 
 eyes with his eyes, and with a voice of exaltation 
 thus addressed the unhappy wretch, who seemed 
 to be bearing in his bosom all the torments of Hell : 
 
 " Suppose someone were to come here to you now 
 and say, * Behold! that outcast child, whom you 
 wished to think of as dea.d, nay, or murdered ! whose 
 birth you cursed, and whose death you prayed for, 
 I now give her back to you ! * — ^how would you 
 feel?" 
 
 The sick man there and then drew the youth's 
 hand up to his lips, and with an effort raised himself 
 up in his bed. His lips were wide open, his tongue 
 babbled something imintelligible, while Szephalmi 
 r^arded him with amazement, and tugged away at 
 his own hair like one possessed. 
 
 The youth put his hand into his bosom and drew 
 
x64 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 forth tbe little baby's cap embroidered with rose- 
 buds and forget-me-nots, and held it up before the 
 two men. 
 
 "What if someone were to restore to you the 
 darling wearer of that little cap? What if I were to 
 tell you that a single consolation still remained to 
 you, an angel sent from Heaven in whom you could 
 learn to rejoice once more? What if I were to 
 tell you that she had grown up as gentle aiid as 
 beautiful as those angels who are permitted to 
 minister to the earth? " 
 
 At these words the father knelt down at the 
 stranger's feet and kissed his hands in a transpwDrt 
 of joy, while old Hetfalusy, in a sort of paroxysm 
 threw himself off the bed, made a snatch at the 
 little pearl-embroidered cap, and exclaimed in a 
 piercing voice : 
 
 "Elise!" 
 
 The remedy had indeed been efficacious. The 
 old man was actually sitting up and had recovered 
 the use of his tongue. 
 
 The broken-down old man, who had been in a 
 state of collapse, now violently seized the youth's 
 arm with his still tremulous hand, and groped his 
 way along it till he Wcis able to touch the Uttle cap 
 with his lips. 
 
 "Elise, Elise, wore that! How beautiful she 
 was ! " he cried. 
 
 "Where is she?" sobbed Szephalmi, hiding his 
 face in his hands. 
 
 " N.0W she is indeed beautiful . She is in safe 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 165 
 
 hands too. She has found a loving father who 
 g^uards her as the apple of his eye. And she is 
 wise as well as beautiful Her glorious eyes are as 
 blue as the expanse of heaven, and radiant with 
 innocence and goodness. Her lips are cis small as 
 wild strawberries, and when she smiles her pretty 
 Httle face is full of dimples." 
 
 " Yes, yes, she promised to be like that ! " stam- 
 mered Szephalmi, pressing the stranger's hand to his 
 heart 
 
 But old Hetfalusy was sitting up in bed and 
 insisted upon getting up. 
 
 " I am going. I am going for her. Lead me to 
 her. I will fetch her." 
 
 " Softly, softly, sir. Lie down again 1 Remember 
 that I am a doctor, and I have still to cure you. You 
 must continue to lie in bed for some time, and 
 cannot yet see your grandchild. The girl is with 
 folks who love her. Her adopted father is all love, 
 you have been all hatred You must first be cured 
 of that evil sickness." 
 
 " Of what sickness? I am no longer sick. I am 
 quite cured." 
 
 " Of hatred. You have a cast-off son who perhaps 
 at this very moment is standing on the threshold of 
 destruction. You have no thought for him. You 
 have still some hard stones in your heart Those 
 stones must first of all be pulverized and dissolved. 
 Now if this son of yours were standing here, and you 
 were to stretch out your arms to him and say, * My 
 child!' then you would be cured, then you might 
 very well say, * I am no longer sick.' " 
 
166 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 "And shall I not see my child till then? " wailed 
 Szephalmi. 
 
 " Sir, you kre very exacting." 
 
 ** Ask of me what you will, I place all my property 
 at your disposal. If you will not bring my child 
 hither, at least take me where I may see her. You 
 need not tell her I am her father, I only want to' 
 exchange a word or two with her. Whatever price 
 you may put on such a service I shall not consider 
 it too great" 
 
 " Sir, I am no impostor who wants to make money 
 out of you. The only recompense I claim for restor* 
 ing to you your lost child is that you welcome back 
 the youth who was driven from this home. I have 
 odd desires sometimes, but I stick to them." 
 
 The young man shrugged his shoulders, refolded 
 tiie little pearl-trimmed cap,, thrust it into his bosom 
 again, and coldly replied : 
 
 "And if we cannot save this yoimg man? " 
 
 " Then I shall keep my secret and you will never 
 know where the girl is." 
 
 Old Hetfalusy sighed deeply. 
 
 " Bring me pen and paper," said he to his son-ia- 
 law. 
 
 The latter looked at him as if he did not under- 
 stand. 
 
 The old man insisted impatiently. 
 
 "Place the table here and give me writing- 
 inaterials^ I say." 
 
 When he had got what he wanted he beckonedl 
 to the stranger. 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. i6y 
 
 "Listen, sir, to what I write," said he. 
 Then he cirose from his bed, t(X)k up the pen, and 
 wrote with a trembling hand the following letter :i 
 
 •*To General V^rtessy, 
 
 " Sir, — By a divine miracle I have recovered 
 within the last hour my power of speech, and the 
 use of my fingers. The very first word I am able 
 to speak and to write I address to you who have 
 such good cause to hate me, and that word is — 
 mercy! I ask of you mercy towards that son of 
 mine to whom I myself have never shown mercy. 
 I ask for mercy from you who in yoiu: judicial 
 capacity have never shown mercy to anyone. You 
 know full well that all the faults of this child of 
 mine are due entirely to me. You know that my 
 cruelty has made life a wilderness to him and filled 
 him with cynical bitterness — ^he who was always so 
 tender-hearted that even an angry look was pain 
 to him. Behold, sir ! the one man who could venture 
 to insult you with impunity now lies in the dust 
 before you, and begs for your compassion- And in 
 order that such compassion may not appear as rust 
 on your iron character, show this letter to the world 
 and say: 'My mortal enemy has wept before me 
 in the dust in order that I might condescend to 
 stoop down cind rciise him up.' Your humbled, 
 eternally faithful servant, 
 
 "Benjamin Hetfalusy." 
 
 "Would you look at this letter, sir? " asked the 
 
l68 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 old man, turning towards the stranger— cod 
 were tears in his tyes. 
 
 " I thank you," faltered the strainer, and he kb^ 
 self hastened to fold up the letter and seal it 
 " Sz6phalmi will deliver it" 
 " Nay, sir, I will see to that myself ." 
 " You will? But who, then, are you? " 
 " That I will tell you — perhaps— some day.* 
 The old man took the youth's hand in both hit» 
 and pressing them warmly, said in a Toioe that 
 trembled with emotion : 
 "God help you!" 
 
 At that moment Dr. Sarkantyds peeped in at 
 the door, and was amazed to see the old man talking 
 and writing the address on a letter with his own 
 right hand, while his whole countenance was warm 
 with feeling. This magnetic cure was truly mar- 
 vellous. 
 
 He approached the youth and, bowing respect- 
 fully, remarked, 
 " Mossoo! vooz ate oon anshantoor ! " 
 "Possibly, but why should we not speak Hun- 
 garian? " replied the other smiling. 
 
 "Then you are not French?" asked the dum- 
 foxmded doctor. 
 
 "Why should I be? It does not follow because 
 a person may have just come from France that 
 therefore he is a Frenchman, does it? " 
 
 "All the better pleased, I am sure, my dear 
 colleague! " — and then it suddenly occurred to him 
 that only a short time ago he had said to him in 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 169 
 
 Htingariani "The Devil may be your ooUeague, 
 I'm not!" 
 
 " All you have to do now is to give the patient 
 tonics; that won't interfere with my cure. I shall 
 come back again in a few days, and by that time I 
 hope he will be quite strong. Till then, let us trust 
 in God!" 
 
 The yoxmg unknown then hastened to his 
 carriage, Szephalmi accompanying him the whole 
 way. 
 
 Everyone who had recently seen the old man 
 apparently on the verge of the grave, and now 
 beheld him completely changed, going about with 
 a lively irritable temper and rosy cheeks^ were 
 amazed at this' wonder-doctor who could perform 
 cures by the mere touch of his finger-tips. 
 
 • He must be a magician 1 " said they. 
 
 The unknown next presented himself at the 
 residence of General V6rtessy. 
 
 They told him this was not the official hour for 
 being received ; at such times the General was wont 
 to be with his wife. He replied : 
 
 ** So much the better ; what I have to tell him 
 will be better told in the presence of his wife." 
 
 The General was informed of this odd wish, and 
 took to the idea so kindly that he ordered the young 
 man to be instantly admitted. 
 
 And, in a few moments, a handsome, courtly youth 
 stood before him, who greeted the General frankly 
 
tyo THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 and the General's wife ceremoniously. In his hands 
 he carried a small forage-cap with a border of thin 
 gold thread round it, and his whole style and bear- 
 ing testified to the fact that, somewhere or other, 
 he had been brought up as a soldier. 
 
 " I beg your pardon, General, for disturbing you 
 so tmconscionably, and robbing you of your most 
 precious moments, but the business on which I have 
 come admits of no delay. My name is Count 
 Kamienszky, I come from Poland, and I bring 3. 
 petition in favour of young Hetfalusy, who deserted 
 in the belief that he had shot his captain" 
 
 The General's face grew suddenly cold. He had 
 become a cast-iron statue, just as he was wont to be 
 when on parade. 
 
 " From whom is your petition? " 
 
 ** From the very officer for whom his bullet was 
 intended. That bullet did not strike home, but 
 stuck fast in his laced jacket ; yet it was well aimed 
 too at thirty paces, just in the middle of the heart" 
 
 ** And what does the officer want? " 
 
 "Pardon for the deserter. He admits that he 
 was in the wrong. He insulted a woman — I speak 
 with absolute certainty, for I am that woman's 
 relation — and he would now make good his fault 
 by imploring pcirdon for the man who stood forth 
 to wipe out that insult" 
 
 ** To implore pardon is not enough. What can 
 he say in the man's defence? " 
 
 "He certifies that the youth Wcis a pattern of 
 soldierly honour, valour, and discipline, that his 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. i|t 
 
 comrades idolized him, his superiors liked him, and 
 they now unanimously unite in this petition for hia 
 pardon. I have brought letters with me to prove 
 all that I say ; be so good as to peruse them! " 
 
 The General took the letters and read them 
 through. He discovered more than one old oomr 
 rade, more than one dear friend among the names 
 written there. The young man had spoken the 
 truth. But what was the use of it; all. The daimai 
 of duty only became the more urgent. 
 
 " Sir," said the General coldly, folding up the 
 letters again and placing them on the table, "I 
 gather from your manner and bearing that you 
 were brought up as a soldier." 
 
 ** You are right. General. I passed the years of 
 my childhood at a military institution, and a Httle 
 time ago I was a soldier myself." 
 
 " In that case you must have some notion of the 
 absolute necessity of the strictest discipline so long 
 as the soldier is imder arms." 
 
 " I am well aware of it, and it was not that which 
 made me abandon a military career. If he whom 
 I am now addressing were to say to me, * I stand 
 here as a judge,' I should simply withdraw, knowingi 
 that my cause was lost But, sir, I am now address- 
 ing the man that is in you, a man with a heart, a< 
 being blessed with human feeling, 'tis to him that I 
 would speak." 
 
 And the large black eyes of the stranger had sudii 
 a heart-searching expression in them that tfaii 
 General turned away from him» 
 
a;* THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Then, as if still in search of hope and confidence, 
 the youth glanced in the direction of the General's 
 wife, and her bright eyes gave him in return such a 
 look of encouragement, as if to bid him not to 
 fear, for they two were certainly at one in the 
 matter. 
 
 But now the General turned sharply round upon 
 the stranger again. 
 
 " Do you know what I am commonly called, 
 whether from fear, or fun, or respect, I will not say, 
 that is all one to me, but do you know what they 
 commonly call me?" 
 
 "Yes, they call you *the man of iron,* yet even 
 iron melts in a smelting-furnace." 
 
 "Do you fancy there in such a smelting-furnace 
 in the world? " 
 
 " I hope so. I have got one more letter for you. 
 I ought to have given it to you first of all, but I have 
 kept it till last The handwriting will be familiar 
 to you. Take it and read it through." 
 
 The General was dumfounded when he recog- 
 nised the handwriting in which the address was 
 written. The hand which had penned those lines 
 had been somewhat tremulous, that was plain from 
 the irregularity oi the script, but he recognised it 
 perfectly all the same. 
 
 As he regarded it he grew a shade paler. 
 
 He evened the letter, and his eyes remained 
 riveted on the very first line as if he were too 
 astonished to proceed any further. 
 
 "Read on. General, I b^. Read it out aloud," 
 
THE POLISH WOMAN. 173 
 
 munmired the youth; "we shall see whether the 
 iron will melt or not" 
 
 The General stared stiffly for a time at the young 
 man, then he read the letter through in silence, 
 finally refolding it and thrusting it into his breast- 
 pocket 
 
 Then he turned to the window, and remained for 
 a long time in a brown study. 
 
 Suddenly he turned once more towards the youth 
 and said : 
 
 " Sir, devise some means whereby I may save this 
 man Find, I say, some way or mode of salvation 
 compatible with soldierly honour, and I will pursue 
 it" 
 
 The youth, surprised, overcome, rushed towards 
 the General, seized his muscular hand, and would 
 certainly have kissed it had not the General drawn 
 it back 
 
 Vertessy was very near losing his composure. 
 
 " Stay here ! " said he. " There you have," point- 
 ing at Cornelia, "a confederate who would also 
 take the stronghold by assault Deliberate together, 
 and devise some expedient I leave you to your- 
 selves." 
 
 And with that he quitted the room^ leaving the 
 young man alone with his wife. 
 
 And when he had gone, when the door had closed 
 to behind him, the figure of the strange youth lost 
 its soldierly bearing, and his limbs with a painful 
 spasm subsided into that picturesque pose in which 
 artists generally represent Niobe, or the Daughters 
 
■74 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 of Sion mourning by the willows of Babylon. Every 
 trace of energy and vigour vanished from his face, 
 his eyelids closed over his tea^ul eyes, and his lips 
 parted with an expression of the deepest emotion. 
 Once more he raised his languishing head to show 
 his strength of mind, but the effort was useless. In- 
 the presence of a woman such affectation was no 
 longer possible, and when his eyes met those of 
 Cornelia, he suddenly burst into tears, fell sobbing 
 on his knees before her, seized her hand, pressed it 
 convulsively to his breast, and trembling and gasp- 
 ing, said to her in a voice full of agony : 
 
 " Oh, madame, by the tender mercies of God, I 
 implore you to help me and not forsake me" 
 
 Cornelia regarded him with wondering eyes, her 
 shrewd intellect had already deciphered the enigma^ 
 but her eyes still looked doubtful 
 
 " Who are you? " she asked. 
 
 The stranger covered his blushing face with both 
 hands and sobbed forth : 
 
 "A woman, an imhappy woman, who loves, who 
 is beside herself, who is ready to die for him fh^ 
 lovea.** 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE PLAGUE. 
 
 There is a mighty Potentate among us here below, 
 the secrets of whose existence axe still unknown to 
 our wise men, although they have a lot to tell us 
 about her power ; a Potentate whom they have not 
 yet taught us to fear, or else everybody would not 
 still be turning to her full of hope. 
 
 This Potentate is not Hell, but the Earth. 
 
 Yes, the good, the blessed, the peaceful Earth. 
 She is not violent like the other elements, fire, water, 
 and air. She calmly allows herself to be trampled 
 underfoot ; lets us make great wounds in her ; lets 
 us load her broad back with cities and towns ; crush 
 her bones by driving deep mining-shafts into her— 
 and for all that she allows us who plague her so, 
 to live and multiply in the midst of her dust 
 
 Has anyone ever inquired of her: Oh, my 
 sovereign mistress! thou good and blessed Earth! 
 art thou pleased with the deeds we do upon thee? 
 Can it please thee, perchance; to see us root up thy 
 beauteous fresh woods from off thee, leaving tl^ 
 tormented body all naked in the bkze of the Sun?^ 
 
176 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Can it please thee to see us constrain thy flowing 
 rivers within narrow basins, dry up thy lakes and 
 leave thee athirst? Can it please thee to see us 
 tear open thy body, break it up into little fragments^ 
 and compel these fragments to produce meat and 
 drink for us? Can it please thee to see us drench 
 thy flowery meads with blood and hide away thes 
 bones of our dead in thy bosom? Can it please 
 thee that we live upon thee here, and bless and 
 curse thee that t|iou mayest nourish us^ and rack 
 our brains as to how we may best multiply our 
 species in those portions of the earth where men 
 are still but few? 
 
 Nevertheless, the Earth patiently endures all this 
 ill-treatment Only now and then does she tremble 
 with a fleeting horror, and then the palaces heaped' 
 upctti her totter to their very foundations. Yet arc' 
 there any among us who imderstcind the hint? 
 
 And then for centuries afterwards she gives not 
 a single sign of life. She puts up with her naughty 
 children as every good mother does. She overlooks 
 and hides away their faults and endures in their 
 stead the visitations of Heaven. She is never angry 
 with them, she never punishes them. She cherishes 
 and nourishes them, and expects no gratitude in 
 return. She only pines and pines, she only frets 
 within herself, she only grieves and is anxious about 
 the fate of her children, her selfish, heartless 
 children: grief and an^ish, the nastiness and the 
 wickedness of man slowly undermine her strength 
 and suddenly the Earth sickena 
 
THE PLAGUE. 177 
 
 Oh! how man falls down and perishes when the 
 earth is sick! — like the parasitical aphis-grub from 
 the jaundiced leaves ! 
 
 New sorts of death for which there is no name 
 appear in the midst of the terrified peoples, and a 
 breath of air carries off the bravest and the 
 strongest In vain they shut themselves up within 
 stone walls, anoint their bodies with salutary balms, 
 and hold their very breath. Death invisible stalks 
 through the fast-closed doors and seeks out them 
 that fear him. No vitiated air, no contagion is 
 necessary ; men have but to hear the name of this 
 •trange death and they tremble and die. 
 
 This is no mere mortal malady, the Earth, the 
 lEarth herself is sick. 
 
 And how comical too this terror is ! 
 
 I remember those times. I was only a child then, 
 1 fancy, and the general terror affected me but little ; 
 nay, the novelty of the situation rather diverted me. 
 We were not allowed to go to school, we had a 
 vacation for an indefinite period at which I was 
 much delighted I must confess. Our towns were 
 separated from each other by military cordons, and 
 all strangers passing to and fro were rigorously 
 examined. My good father, whose gentle, serious 
 face is one of my most pleasant memories, buckled 
 on his silver-hilted sword and went off himself to 
 mount guard somewhere. I had greater confidence 
 in that sword than in the whole English navy. My 
 
 M 
 
178 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 blessed, thoughtful, mother hung round each of our 
 necks little bags with large bits of camphor in 
 them, in the beneficial effects of which we believed 
 absolutely, and strictly forbade us to eat melons 
 and peaches. And we were good dutiful children 
 and strictly obeyed her commands. And yet in that 
 very year, just as if Nature had resolved to be 
 satirical at our expense, our gardens and orchards 
 overflowed with an abundance of magnificent fruit 
 And there we allowed them all to rot. We had a 
 doctor in those days, a fine old fellow, who, when 
 the danger was at its height, went fearlessly from 
 house to house. He had wliite hair, rosy cheeks, 
 and a slim, erect figure, and was always cracking 
 jokes with us. He used to say : " No funk, no risk 
 of Death ! " and would pick up the beautiful golden 
 melons before our eyes and eat them with the best 
 appetite in the world, and he took no harm from 
 them, for he feared no danger. You had only to live 
 regularly and trust in God, he used to say. He 
 would laugh when we asked him : " Is it true that 
 the air is full of tiny scarce visible insects, the in- 
 haling of which brings about the disease? " " If you 
 believe in these insects you had better keep your 
 mouths shut lest they fly into them while you are 
 talking," he would say. And subsequently when 
 we heard the drowsy monotonous tolling of the bells 
 and the funeral dirges sung day after day, morning 
 and evening, beneath our windows, and saw orphans 
 following in the track of the lumbering corpse- 
 carts; when they told us that everyone in the 
 
THE PLAGUE. 179 
 
 neighbotiring houses had died off in two days, and 
 we saw all the windows of the house opposite fast- 
 closed, and not a soul looking through them; at 
 such a time it was good to fold one's hands in 
 prayer and reflect that we were still all together, 
 and that not one of us had been taken away, but 
 God had preserved us from all calamity. Our hope 
 was weak, for there was no foundation for it to 
 build upon, but our faith was strong and all- 
 sufficing. 
 
 Such is the sole impression I have retained of 
 that memorable year. 
 
 Ah! elsewhere that same year was not content 
 with embroidering its mourning robe with mere 
 tears, it used blood also, and taught the land a two- 
 fold lesson at a heavy cost 
 
 The circular letters issued by the comity authori- 
 ties flew from village to village, informing the local 
 sages of the approaching peril of which even the 
 well-formed knew no more than they had known 
 ten years before, no more than they actually know 
 now. 
 
 The local sages, that is to say the justices and the 
 schoolmasters, were directed to explain to the 
 ignorant people the contents of these circular 
 letters. 
 
 Explain indeed! Men whose own knowledge 
 was of the most elementary description, men who 
 looked for supernatural causes in the most natural 
 
x8o THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 phenomeaia, were to explain what was still a pro- 
 found mystery to the collective wisdom of the world I 
 
 Mr. Kord6, whom we remember as one of the two 
 schoolmasters of Hetfalu, accordingly, by dint of 
 bellowing, gathered all his subjects around him. 
 It was the day before breaking up for the hoHdays, 
 and drawing from his pocket the folded and 
 corded vellimi document, he gave them to understand 
 that he was going to explain it to them. They, in 
 their turn, were to explain it when they got home 
 to their dear parents. 
 
 " Blockheads ! " this was his usual mode of 
 addressing his jeunesse doree — "blockheads! you 
 see here before you the letter patent of His 
 Honour, the magistrate, signifying that all the 
 schools are to be shut up, and the whole village is 
 to be on the alert, inasmuch as a terrible disease, 
 called the * morbus,' is about to enter the kingdom. 
 When the morbus lays hold of anybody the indi- 
 vidual in question has not even time to look over 
 his shoulder, but falls down dead on the spot 
 Down he drops, and there he stays. 
 
 " The morbus begins in this way. The gall over- 
 flows into the vital essences, and becomes gall-fever 
 or cholera, consequently take care you don't aggra- 
 yate me. 
 
 ** Moreover, the morbus in question is to be found 
 inside this year's melons, apricots, and all sorts of 
 fruit; so every man jack of you who doesn't want 
 to be a dead 'un mustn't go guzzling berries and 
 such like," 
 
THE PLAGUE. i8i 
 
 Here a couple of Scythians from the northern 
 counties began squabbling loudly on the back 
 benches. 
 
 "Hie, there, you blockhead! Mike Turlyik, I 
 know it is you — ^what was I talking about? " 
 
 "You was saying that — ^that — that — ^no more 
 apricots were to be sneaked from his reverence's 
 garden," 
 
 " Come out here, my son, wilt thou ? IVe a word 
 to say in thine ear ! " 
 
 And he leathered the unfortunate Mike soundly. 
 Yet the lad after all had reasoned not illogically, 
 for he had started from the assumption that the 
 prohibition in question had been inserted in the 
 letter patent for the express purpose of scaring the 
 people away from the priest's orchard, his reverence 
 being the only man in the village who cultivated 
 fruit-trees. 
 
 "And now let us return to the matter in hand 
 Listen now, you addlepates! 
 
 " Bathing, too, is very dangerous just now, and, 
 in fact, every sort of washing with cold water, for 
 thereby the vital essence within a man is easily up- 
 set On the other hand, brandy-drinking is very 
 wholesome, for thereby the volume of spiritual 
 essence in man is at any rate increased. Work on 
 an empty stomach is also dangerous, as also are 
 too much reflection and brain-racking. On the 
 other hand the eating of roast meat and as 
 little walking about in the sun as possible are very 
 profitable." 
 
<X8« THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 This passage delighted the addlepates immensely. 
 
 ** Inasmuch, however, as it is quite possible that 
 a man from a neighbouring village might ezisily 
 convey to us in his jacket or knapsack this morbus^ 
 which, by the way, is as catching as sheep-ticks; 
 therefore it is ordered that nobody is to quit his 
 own village, either by cart or on foot, and no 
 stranger is to be admitted from without Should 
 anyone require, however, to pass through the district, 
 he must first of all be locked securely in a cowshed 
 beyond the limits of the village, and there his 
 cbthes must be well smoked (' fumigated * they call 
 it), eind he himself well doused in a ducking-tub, and 
 if he has any coin about him it must be rubbed with 
 ashes, which life-imperilling occupation will be duly 
 attended to by the local gipsies." 
 
 After a pause, Mr. Korde resumed his learned 
 instructions as follows : 
 
 "If, nevertheless, anyone, despite these wise 
 regulations, should catch the morbus, there is only 
 one antidote, the name whereof is Vismuthimi. 
 Vismuthum, vismuthi, neuter gender, second deden- 
 sion. In Hungarian viszmuta, in Slovak visnm- 
 thium, in EngHsh bismuth." 
 
 At this point the worthy preceptor was overcome 
 by a violent fit of coughing, for he was now bound 
 by his directions to explain the properties of this 
 mysterious substance whose name he himself had 
 JBBt that moment learnt for the first time from his 
 letter patent 
 
 " Well, now I listen all of you, for I shall examixw 
 
THE PLAGUE. 183 
 
 you presently upon all that I have been telling you. 
 Vismuthum is a powder, or rather a fluid, or per- 
 haps 'twere better to say a powder of a — a quite 
 indefinable colour. It is prepared in all sorts of 
 ways, and has no particular odour, and in substance 
 much resembles piskotum.* Everyone who par- 
 takes of it instantly becomes quite well again. First 
 of all it is to be taken in a coffee spoon (his reverence 
 will supply the spoon gratis), and then, if that has 
 no effect, in a tablespoon. If that also has no effect, 
 then two tablespoons must be taken, and so on in 
 increasing doses, until the morbus leaves the patient 
 altogether. It is to be had in the apothecary's shop 
 at Kassa, so whoever does not go and get some has 
 only himself to blame if he dies. Poor men will 
 receive it gratis from Dr. Sarkantyus, and those who 
 won't take it willingly will have it crammed down 
 their throats by force, and it will be also sprinkled 
 in aU the wells of drinking water that the people 
 may get some of it that way. It will therefore be 
 much better to make the acquaintance of vismuthtun 
 in a friendly manner, than go to the devil one way 
 or other for not taking it" 
 
 The young people appreciated this last witticism 
 and roared with laughter. 
 
 One of Mr. Korde's cubs took the liberty, how- 
 ever, of stretching out two fingers, which signified 
 that he had a question to ask. 
 
 • Well, Slipik, out with itl *" 
 
 • Antimony, 
 
94y| THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 •Mr. Rector, is the stuff sweetish like? " 
 
 *Aiine! have I not told you what it was? You 
 have not been attending ; hold out your paw 1 * 
 
 The urchin got a smart rap on the palm of his 
 band with the ruler. 
 
 " And now the other ! ** 
 
 And so both hands smarted instead of his ears. 
 
 " And now, Guszti Klimpa, stand out and repeat 
 to these blockheads what I have been saying." 
 
 Guszti Klimpa was the head boy, because his 
 father rented the village pot-house, and he himself 
 wore the best jacket of them all, so he was the 
 master's favourite The urchin hastily pocketed the 
 pen-knife with which he had hitherto been carving 
 his bench, blushed deeply in his embarrassment, 
 and his eyes almost started from his head in his 
 endeavours to find an answer to the question put to 
 him. 
 
 " Well, my son, come, what did I say now ? " 
 
 The lad took a plunge at random. 
 
 "Nixnus is a fluid which becomes a powder, 
 which can be made from anything, and very much 
 resembles a piskota."* 
 
 " Bene^ proestanter^ eminentissime. Only not pis- 
 kota hxxt piskotum\\ not feminine, you know, but 
 neuter gender, second declension." 
 
 So Guszti Klimpa returned to his seat very well 
 satisfied with himself. 
 
 " Moreover, this I must add — ^and mind you tell 
 
 • Biscuit. f Antimony. 
 
THE PLAGUK 1S5 
 
 it to your parents when you get home — that nothing 
 is so good in these dangerous times as to drink one 
 glass of brandy in the early morning on an empty 
 stomach, another in the afternoon, a third on lying 
 down, and as many times more as one feels einy 
 foreign substance in the stomach. That is the best 
 remedy of alL And, Guszti Klimpa! mind you 
 don't forget to inform your dear father that your 
 schoolmaster, the rector, is very much afraid of the 
 morbus, and that my spirit flask is still with you.** 
 
 Guszti Klimpa's face assumed a pious expression' 
 at "this reminder, and shoving beneath his hymn- 
 book the shaft of his quill pen out of which he was 
 manufacturing a pocket pistol, he promised to 
 deliver the message at home. 
 
 " And now let us sing a hymn and say a prayer. 
 And after that there will be no more school till the 
 morbus has departed." 
 
 Great was the joy of the promising youths at 
 these words. Guszti Klimpa fired off his impro- 
 vised pistol underneath the bench, and the pellet 
 hit Mr. Korde full on the nose, whereupon he well 
 trounced J6ska Slipik, though he knew very well 
 that he was not the culprit 
 
 Whilst the wrongfully flogged urchin was still 
 howling, the others began singing the hymn. So 
 long as the low notes predominated Mr. Kord^'s 
 voice was done audible, but at the crescendoes the 
 youthful believers had it all their own way, and 
 shrieked till the windows rattled, the rector beat- 
 ing time the while by lightly tapping the heads of 
 
x86 THE DAY OF WRATH, 
 
 the Faithful with his ruler whenever they departed 
 from the impracticable melody. 
 
 After tliat, Guszti Klimpa grappled with a prayer, 
 and recited the morning devotions instead of the 
 crvening devotions by mistake, a lapse of which the 
 lector, however, took no notice. The Amen was 
 XM> sooner uttered than the yoxmgsters, with a wild 
 yeil, made a solid rush for the door, bearing in 
 mind Mr. Korde's laudable habit on such occasions 
 of lambing it into the hinder most by way of prc^- 
 testing against the general uproar. When the whole 
 dass was fairly out in the street again, its delight 
 at being released from school for some time to come 
 was too much for it, and in the exuberance of its 
 high spirits it fell tooth and nail upon the Lutheran 
 lads who were playing at ball in front of their own 
 dmrch, broke a couple of their heads, scribbled: 
 **Vivat vacatio" on the walls of every house they 
 came to, slammed to every gate they passed, and 
 loused every dog in the village to fury pitch — ^thus 
 giving the whole world to imderstand that the 
 rector, Mr. Michael Korde, had given his promis- 
 ing pupils an extraordinary holiday, because the 
 morbus was coming, and it was not good for people 
 to congregate together at such times. 
 
 And now the village ancients and the women 
 were trooping home from chiurch. 
 
 Every face was dominated by an expression of 
 dumb terror. 
 
THE PLAGUE. i8y 
 
 In the church the priest also had read aloud the 
 letter from the county authorities, adding a short 
 discourse of his own to the effect that a calm con- 
 fidence in the providence of God and a clear 
 Christian conscience were worth far more than all 
 the medicaments, cordons, and bismuth powder in 
 the world. 
 
 " We are all, however, in the hands of God," he 
 laid, "and if we live well we shall die well A 
 righteous man need never fear Death." 
 
 The old hag, "the death-bird," was crouching 
 there on the church steps with a bundle of healing 
 herbs in her lap, and her crutch under her armpits, 
 and with her chin resting on her knee. She kept 
 counting all who came out of the church: "One! 
 two ! three ! " Every time she came to three she 
 began all over again — every third person was 
 superfluous. 
 
 And now all had gone, only she remained behind, 
 she and shaggy Hanak, the bellringer. 
 
 After the departure of the people a little white 
 dog came running along, and, as often happens^ 
 peeped into the church. 
 
 " Clear out of that ! " cried the sexton, flingii^ 
 the large church door key after him. 
 
 The aged sybil lifted a skinny finger and shook it 
 menacingly at the sexton. 
 
 " Hanak ! shaggy Hanak ! Why dost thou drive 
 away the dog? I tell thee, and I tell thee the truth, 
 that it were better for thee, aye ! and for others also, 
 if they could be as such dc^s instead of the two- 
 
188 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 l^ged beasts they really are, for ere long we shall 
 be in a world where not the voice of thy bell, but 
 the howling of dogs will accompany the dead to 
 their last resting-place. Therefore trouble not thy- 
 self about the dogs, Handk, shaggy Handk." 
 
 The bellringer durst not reply. He closed the 
 chturdi door softly, got out of the woman's way, 
 and while he hastened off, it seemed to him as if 
 his head was dizzy from some cause or othei; and 
 his feet were tottering beneath him. 
 
 When he handed the church door key over to the 
 priest, his reverence gave him to understand that by 
 order of the authorities the church, bells were not 
 to be tolled for the dead during the outbreak of the 
 ptdLgae to avoid alarming the people. 
 
 As he went home that evening shaggy Handle's 
 head waggled from side to side, as if every hair upon 
 it was a heavy debt As he went along he heard 
 an the dogs howling. Well, henceforth tAey vyrould 
 have to follow the dead to their graves. 
 
 After that Hanak had not the heart to go home, 
 but sought comfort in the p>ot-house, where the 
 village sages were already sitting in council together 
 and discussing the problems of the Futuxa 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE, 
 
 The other rector, Mr. Thomas Bodza, had read a 
 lot of things in the course of his life. 
 
 He had read the history of Themistocles who, 
 with a handful of Greeks, converted milUons of 
 Persians into rubbish heaps; he had read of the 
 exploits of the valiant Marahas, who, when one of 
 their warriors flung his sandal into the air and uttered 
 thrice the word : " Marha, Marha, Marha ! " swept 
 the Roman legions from the face of Pannonia ; he 
 had learnt from the Spanish historian all about 
 Ferdinand VII., who chased the Moors from the 
 Alhambra where they had held sway for htmdreds 
 of years; he had read of the Scythian Bertezena, 
 who, starting in life as a simple smith had delivered 
 his race from the grinding yoke of the Geougs ;— 
 and finally he had not only read but learnt by heart 
 all the great works of our savcints in which it is 
 demonstrated with the most exact scholarship and 
 the most inflexible logic, that the Greeks, the 
 Marahas, the Spaniards, the Scythians, and, in fact, 
 all the most famous nations of the earth have 
 
190 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Qiig^ated from a single powerful race which num- 
 bers among its chiefest branches, such noble nations 
 as the Russians, the Poles, the Bohemians, and the 
 Croats, &c, inasmuch as the languages of all these 
 various nations are so crammed with original 
 Slavonic words, that if these words were suddenly 
 demanded back from them by their rightful owners, 
 any sort of verbal intercourse amongst the nations 
 in question would be henceforth impossible. 
 
 All this Thomas Bodza had read and crammed 
 into his head. Once he had even written a disserta^- 
 tion in which, with astonishing profundity and 
 ingenuity, he had demonstrated the striking resem- 
 blance and the identical significance of the Greek 
 ov and the Slavonic /w^/, which dissertation was 
 received with general applause in the local mutual 
 improvement society where he recited it 
 
 In his library were to be foimd all those learned 
 tomes which do our dear native land the honour of 
 only noticing her in order to disparage her, attribu- 
 ting inter alia a Slavonic origin to all our chief 
 towns, and forcing upon us the crushing conviction 
 that we Hungarians cannot even call a single water- 
 course our own, inasmuch as all our rivers rise 
 in other countries— certainly a most depressing, 
 poverty-stricken state of things, especially as regards 
 our cattle dealers and boatmen, who, of course, can 
 do so little without water. 
 
 After long-continued scientific investigations, 
 materially assisted by a vigorous imagination, 
 Thomas Bodza had constructed a map of his own^ 
 
A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE. 191 
 
 m which the various countries appeared in a shape 
 diverging essentially from that which they actually 
 occupy, and indeed only the fig^e of the virg^ 
 Europa, and the outlines of the unchangeable 
 water-courses made one suspect that it was a repre- 
 sentation of the old world at aJL Not only did the 
 boundaries of the realm suffer strange permutations, 
 but the classical termination " grad,"* imusual and 
 unnatural as it seemed to all but the initiated, was 
 tacked on pretty frequently to the names of purely 
 Hungarian towns both small and great ; and there 
 was cdso noticeable this slight and fanciful deviation 
 from the strict truth, to wit, that whereas cities of 
 unappropriatable Asiatic origin like Debreczen, 
 Kecskemet, Nagy-Koros, and others, appeared 
 degraded into insignificant villages by being marked 
 with tiny points, every little twopenny-halfpenny 
 Slavonic village in the Carpathians was magnified 
 into a cathedral city, or starred to represent a for- 
 midable fortress. 
 
 The worthy paedagogue used to sit brooding over 
 this map for hours. He would draw his boimdaries 
 with a pair of compasses, construct imaginary roads 
 from town to town, and reconstruct a fortress from 
 the imposing ruins in the bed of the River Waag. 
 Nay, he even ventured upon the audacious experi- 
 ment of cutting through the mountain chain separa- 
 ting the River Hemdd from the River Poprad, and 
 uniting these two rivers (in a state of nature they 
 
 * The Slavonic word for ** town," thus Constantinople is Tsa^rad. 
 
192 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 flow in diametrically opposite directions) into one 
 broad continuous water-course, thus bringing to- 
 gether all the various branches of that scattered 
 family of kindred nations which dwells between the 
 White Sea and the Black. 
 
 In those days very little was known among us of 
 railways beyond the rumour (the newspapers 
 mentioned it as a sort of curiosity) that a certain 
 Englishman, called William Griffiths, wanted to 
 make a wheel-track of iron. Thomas Bodza's idea 
 therefore of a continuous European waterway almost 
 deserved to be called sublime. 
 
 Such exaltation is innocent enough in itself. It 
 is found, more or less, in every race, and is especially 
 vigorous wherever an impoverished, orphaned stock 
 is aware of the existence of a powerful, dominating, 
 gigantic kinsman beyond a moimtain range.* Un- 
 fortunately, however, this exaltation did not remain 
 an empty pK>etical dream in the bosom of our 
 village paedaigogue. 
 
 Even as a student his heart was full of a bitter 
 hatred of everything Hungarian. He went to school 
 at Pressburg, that peculiar town where the traders 
 are German, the gentry Himgarian, and the poor 
 Slavonic. The traders pick holes in the gentry and 
 the poor folks hate them both. He saw the heady 
 young squires of the Alfdld'\ idle away their time 
 at school in unedifying contrast to the diligent 
 
 • B^,i The Slovaks in north Hungary, who know that Russia 
 lies beyond the Carpathians, 
 t The great Hungarian plain. 
 
A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE. 193 
 
 sober conduct of himself and his friends, and yet 
 the masters treated them with the greatest distinc- 
 tion. Some of them scarcely attended the lectures 
 at all, and yet they sat on the front benches. They 
 were able to have private lessons, and thus easily 
 outstripped the poor scholars who had to slave night 
 and day to keep pace with them. They marched 
 about in fine clothes and got their poorer fellow- 
 students to copy out their exercises for them. At the 
 public examinations they declaimed Hungarian 
 verses with such emphcisis, with such a fire of en- 
 thusiasm, that even that portion of the audience 
 which did not understand a word of their fulmina- 
 ting periods cheered them vociferously, whereas he, 
 Thomas Bodza, recited the affected, pedestrian, 
 poetic effusions of the Slavonic School of self- 
 improvement without the slightest effect. Even in 
 the rude arena of material strength the Asiatic race 
 showed a determination to be paramount The 
 youths of the Alf'dld were the better wrestlers, 
 more skilful in gymnastic exercises, and in all serious 
 encoimters asserted themselves with more self- 
 confidence and greater enthusiasm; they boasted 
 ostentatiously of their nationality, and scornfully 
 looked down upon his. 
 
 And then, too, during the sessions of the Diet, 
 when the haughty Hungarian gentry flocked to the 
 capital from every qucirter of the realm with extra- 
 ordinary pomp cind splendour, a new and clamorous 
 life filled all the streets, and the brilliant visitors 
 monopolized every yard of free space. It frequently 
 
 N 
 
194 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 happened, in the evenings, that a dozen or so of 
 high-spirited jurati would join hand to hand, 
 occupy the whole road, and squeeze against the wall 
 any shabby-coated alienist who happened to come 
 in their way. The poor devil might be carrying 
 Ihome his meagre jusculum* under his mantle in a 
 coarse unvarnished pot, with a piece of brown bread 
 stuck into it, revolving in his mind the whole time 
 the story of another poor scholar in days gone by 
 who, once upon a time, used, in the same way, to 
 carry home his humble mess of pottage in jtwt 
 such another coarse earthenware pot, and who^ 
 nevertheless, came to be one of the princes, one of 
 the great men of Hungary, with a great big coat 
 of arms, and castles to dwell in. He forgot, however, 
 to reflect that he, with whom he compsured his own 
 fate, was gifted at the outset with intellect and 
 virile courage, qualities with which he himself had 
 only been very modestly equipped by nature ; their 
 common misery in early life was the sole point of 
 resemblance between them. 
 
 These first bitter impressions never left his mind. 
 He registered the disfavour of fortune and the 
 fruits of his own limited capacity among the griev- 
 ances of the oppressed nationality to which he 
 belonged Years of want, his little dilapidated 
 dwelling — granted him in his capacity of village 
 teacher but shoved away into an obscure comer of 
 H6tfalu — ^his meagre barley-bread, his sordid irock- 
 
 * PotUgCb 
 
A LEADER OF THE PEOPLK 195 
 
 coat — all these things aggravated the anguish of 
 his souL 
 
 His occasional intercourse with the lord of the 
 manor, the arrogant and pretentious H6tfalusy, was 
 not calculated to reconcile him with his destiny. 
 Hetfalusy regarded as a profitless loafer every man 
 who did not seek his bread with spade and hoe, 
 unless, of course, he happened to be a gentleman by 
 birth. He applied this theory to the schoolmaster 
 race especially, whom he conceived to have been 
 invented for the express purpose of eternally hound- 
 ing on the common folks against their lawful 
 masters, the gentry. As if the world could not go 
 on comfortably without the peasant learning his 
 letters ! What he heard in church was quite enough 
 for him surely! On one occasion, when mention 
 was made in his presence of a village shepherd who 
 had forged a bank-note, he observed that if the 
 fellow had not learnt to write he would never have 
 gone astray. The national school teachers, he said, 
 were the natural attorneys of the agricultural popu- 
 lation as against the landlords. And H6tfalusy 
 gave practical expression to his belief whenever he 
 had the chance. The com he was bound to supply 
 to the schoolmaster was always measured out to 
 him from the bottom of the sieve; he seized the 
 courtyard of the school for his threshers, so that 
 during school-time not a word of the lessons could 
 be heard for the racket; he never repaired the 
 building set apart for the cultivation of the muses, 
 but looked on while the schoolmaster himself 
 
t96 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 patched up the holes in his wall with balls of clay 
 borrowed from his own garden, and re-thatched the 
 dilapidated rush-roof with his own hand. Fre- 
 quently he would rate the schoolmaster in the public 
 thoroughfare, in the presence of the gaping rustics> 
 on the flimsiest pretext, and bully him as if he were 
 the lowest of his menials. 
 
 Thomas Bodza totted up all these outrages on the 
 back of his map, and whenever he was immersed in 
 that odd production, his eyes always fastened them- 
 selves on three red crosses which he had marked 
 over the little town which indicated Hetfalu ; and 
 at all such times he would heave a deep sigh, as if 
 he found this long waiting for tlie day of retribution 
 almost too much for his patience. 
 
 For that a day of retribution would arrive sooner 
 or later was his strong belief. 
 
 Frequently, on popular festivals, you might notice 
 on his index-finger a rude iron ring (the handiwork 
 of a blacksmith rather than of a jeweller, from the 
 look of it), the seal of which was engraved with the 
 three letters : U. S. S. On such occasions, anyone 
 observing him closely could have remarked that 
 he carried his head higher than usual, and whenever 
 he was asked what these initial letters signified, he 
 would simply shrug his shoulders and say that he 
 had got the ring from a comrade in his student days, 
 and really did not know w/iat the letters meant 
 
 Diuing vacation time he would regularly xmder- 
 take long journeys on foot into distant parts of the 
 land, traversing no end of mountains and valleys, 
 
A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE. 197 
 
 and always returning home more surlily disposed 
 towards the lord of the manor than ever, at the 
 same time dropping mysterious hints in the presence 
 of his confidants, and talking darkly of old expecta- 
 tions being realised, of extraordinary forthcoming 
 events, and of important changes in the general 
 order of things here below. 
 
 Nowadays people will scarcely believe that there 
 are men whose whole course of life is determined 
 by such baseless and centrifugal ideas. Such a 
 species of human ambition is certainly a great rarity. 
 It resembles that cryptogram which goes by the 
 name of " star-ashes>" whose tremulous spray-Kke 
 masses only appear in rare seasons and odd places 
 after the warm summer rains. No ordinary soil 
 is good enough for them. 
 
 At any rate, Mr. Thomas Bodza would have acted 
 more wisely if he had endeavoured to inoculate 
 the minds of the faithful committed to his charge 
 with a little reading, a little writing, and some slight 
 knowledge of geography, ethnology, natural history, 
 and fruit cultivation, instead of assembling round 
 him all the loafers of the district in the pot-house, 
 the meeting-house, at the hut of the forest rangers, 
 or in some imderground cellar outside the village;, 
 and there putting into their heads ideas which, 
 interpreted by their ignorant fanaticism, could only 
 be productive of infinite mischief. 
 
 He had in all the villages round about personal 
 acquaintances, whom he was wont to visit succes- 
 sively in the course of every year, and whose 
 
198 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 fantastic aspirations he constantly did his best to 
 keep aJive. 
 
 And at last the opportunity had presented itself 
 for beginning his great work. 
 
 Being a very well-read man himself, he had been 
 the first to learn from the newspapers of the 
 approach of that dangerous contagious sickness, the 
 antidotes against which were still unknown. 
 
 Suddenly a mysterious rumour began to spread 
 through the villages that a powerful foreign nation 
 was about to invade the kingdom for the purpose of 
 reconquering for the descendants of the Quadi and 
 the Marahanas the Paimonian provinces that they 
 had held centuries before. 
 
 The country folk could see for themselves the 
 soldiery hastening on its way through the land to 
 the frontiers; every carter, tramp, and traveller, 
 brought news of the military cordons which were 
 drawn far and wide, from town to town, and re- 
 quired every person passing to and fro to show 
 his passport, a very unusual institution in those days. 
 
 The wiser and better informed persons quieted 
 the whisperers by explaining that these measures 
 were not adopted against any foreign foe, but were 
 simply taken to prevent the spread of the terrible 
 pestilence which was already raging beyond the 
 limits of the kingdom. 
 
 And then a still more terrible rumour b^an to 
 raise aloft its dragon-like head- 
 It was generally said, muttered, whispered, and 
 at last proclaimed aloud, that it was no pestilence 
 
) 
 
 A LEADER QF THE PEOPLE. 199 
 
 the people had to fear, but that the gentry them- 
 selves who had resolved to exterminate the common- 
 folks! 
 
 They had determined to exterminate them in an 
 execrable horrible way — ^by poison! They were 
 casting into the bamsi, the wells, and the vats of 
 the pot-house a deadly poison of swift operation — 
 that was the way in which they meant to destroy 
 the people. 
 
 The doctors, apothecaries, and innkeepers had all 
 been corrupted ; everyone with short cropped hair ; 
 everyone who wore a clothe coat was to be regarded 
 as an enemy; nobody was to be trusted! 
 
 Who spread this terrible rumour? — spread it 
 fint of all in secret, in mysterious whispers from 
 house to house, but presently proclaimed it in the 
 public thoroughfares with a loud voice and amidst 
 the clash of arms? Ahi! who can say? So much 
 only is certain that the tissues of this network of 
 calumny spread far and wide. It is possible to make 
 human weakness, ignorance, and rustic stupidity 
 believe almost anything. The severity of the 
 gentry in the past had, no doubt, contributed some- 
 thing to this end ; but certainly not much, for, as a 
 matter of fact, the common people raged most 
 furiously against those of the gentry who had done 
 them most good; it was their benefactors they 
 treated the most savagely. And then, too, the usual 
 vices of every conmiunity, the love of loot, the 
 thirst for vengeance, blind fury, anger of heart, low 
 greed, were so many additional predisposing causes 
 of the horrors that followed. 
 
ioo THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Yet a red thread ran all through this woof of 
 sorrow and mourning ; " blind destiny," upon whom 
 man so cheerfully casts the burden of his sins, had 
 but little to do with it at alL 
 
 It was after vespers, and Thomas Bodza was 
 taking a walk across the fields. This was his usual 
 promenade. Sometimes he went as far as the 
 boimdaries of the neighbouring village with a little 
 book imder his arm which he perused with philo- 
 sophic tranquility. 
 
 It was the works of Horace, all of whose verses he 
 knew by heart; for, inasmuch as it had once been 
 very wisely observed in his presence by some dis- 
 tinguished scholar that no other human lute-strum- 
 mer had ever sung so beautifully and so grandly 
 as Horace, it thenceforth became a point of honour 
 with Mr. Bodza to read nothing else ; so he never 
 troubled his head about any other poet or poets, 
 whatever language they wrote in. He made an 
 exception in favour of himself indeed, for he also 
 had his moments of inspiration, but even his poems 
 were not quite as good as those of Horace. 
 
 And now also he was reading over again those 
 lines he already knew so well He had sat down 
 to rest beneath a large poplar tree on a big roimd 
 stone that had often served him as a seat before, 
 and he had just come to the verses, b^pnning with 
 the beautiful words: 
 
A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE. toz 
 
 •* Nunc est bibendum I Nunc pede libero, 
 Pulsando tellus ....•• 
 
 when the sound of approaching footsteps disturbed 
 his tranquil enjoyment 
 
 " I have been awaiting you, Ivan," said the master, 
 thrusting his httle book beneath his arm again, but 
 not before he had carefully turned down the leaf 
 at the place where he had stopped reading, lest he 
 should forget where he had left off. 
 
 " I could only get off lat& The old man would 
 not let me go till vespers." 
 
 " Ivan, the long expected signal has at last been 
 given." 
 
 ** How so? " inquired the fellow, amazed. 
 
 " It has been announced in every church, in every 
 school ; it has been nailed in printed form on every 
 wall, on every post The county itself has given the 
 signal. That about which the people were still in 
 doubt, that which it refused to believe, it believes 
 now, for it has been officially proclaimed. Death 
 is approaching, and woe to him who fears it I fear 
 it not Do you?" 
 
 The fellow shuddered, yet he replied, 
 
 "Not I." 
 
 " The plague will break out suddenly in varioua 
 places, and wherever there are dead bodies, there 
 the living will fly to arms, and seek out those on 
 whom they would wreak their vengeance." 
 
 Ivan's face turned a pale green, but he stifled his 
 inward terror. It was indeed a terrible time that 
 was coming. 
 
203 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " In the town there is a great commotion, but that 
 does not amount to much. I know the Hetfalu 
 folks. They are cowards and only half ours so far. 
 There aire many strangers, many traitors among 
 them. Even when their fury is at the highest point, 
 a gentleman with silver buttons has only to come 
 among them with honied words, or a heyduke has 
 only to appear among them with a stick, or, at the 
 most, a couple of gamekeej>ers with loaded muskets, 
 and they scatter and fly in all directions like startled 
 game. It is useless; they are a race of cowards. 
 They are a mongrel set after all. Yet here must be 
 our starting point We must compel the folks here 
 to tackle to the business — a petty village cannot take 
 the initiative without some stimulus from without." 
 
 Ivan listened to the master's words admiringly; 
 he began to have the strong conviction that Bodza 
 possessed the qualifications of a great general. 
 
 " We must bring in the folks from some neighbour- 
 ing village just to stir them up. The people of the 
 Tribo district are best suited for that I should think 
 Many of them are shepherds and herdsmen ; men 
 who lie in the fields, who can be brought together 
 in the night time, without anyone observing it 
 There is a distillery in the village too, and he who 
 says that poison is concocted there does not lie in 
 the least In general, every village should choose 
 its leaders from some other village, so that the local 
 gentry may not recognise the strange faces. Some 
 men are easily put out if people, when they begin 
 to supplicate, call them by their name.*' 
 
A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE. 103 
 
 Ivan nodded his head approvingly at these sage 
 suggestions. Bodza will certainly deserve a plume 
 of feathers in his cap, thought he. 
 
 "You will go at night to all the shepherds, one 
 after the other, cind bring them together in front of 
 the lonely inn near the main-road. I will not tell 
 }'ou what you are to do, you must be guided by your 
 own common-sense. You must not all remain on 
 the high road however, some of you must march 
 towards the village." 
 
 "The best hiding-place will be the headsman's 
 dwelling." 
 
 " Will not the Zuddr woman betray us? " 
 
 "Not till she has burnt down the castle of 
 Hetfalusy, at any rate." 
 
 " Does she hate them then as much as her mother, 
 the old crone?" 
 
 " As much ! far more. The old crone is all talk.** 
 
 " I have often heard her say that Hetfalusy seized 
 her property, but one can't go by what she says. 
 She says that one wing of the castle is built upcoi 
 her land." 
 
 " It was like this. Dame Anna's husband was a 
 poor gentleman who had a little plot of land in 
 the neighbourhood of the castle, which was the 
 occasion of an eternal squabble between him and the 
 lord of the manor. One day, Hetfalusy — ^you know 
 how overbearing these great gentlemen are! — 
 suddenly fell upon this poor gentleman as he was 
 walking on this httle plot of land of his and gave 
 him a sound drubbing. The result was a great law- 
 
«o^ THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 suit Hetfalusy questioned Dudok/s gentility, and 
 the latter coxild not make good his claim to be 
 regzurded as an armiger. He lost his case in the 
 local coxirt, and the suit dragged on for years. The 
 heavy law costs soon swallowed up all the appellant's 
 means, till at last his little property was put up to 
 auction to defray his expensea Hetfalusy acquired 
 it for a mere song, and even while the suit was pro- 
 ceeding, he revenged himself on his adversary by 
 building a new wing to his house on the very plot 
 of land the ownership of which was still a matter of 
 dispute. Then Dudoky had an apoplectic stroke 
 which carried him off. His orphan daughter took 
 service for a time in town. Thence she got into a 
 house of no very extraordinary reputation where 
 somebody suddenly found her and offered her his 
 hand in marriage. The wretched woman agreed 
 and accepted him. And who, you will ask, was the 
 luckless creature who sought out a wife in such 
 a place? She only discovered it on the wedding- 
 day. It was the headsman of Hetfalusy. Thus 
 Barbara Dudoky became the headsman's bride. 
 If old Dame Anna became mad, her daughter 
 was partly the cause of it This also they 
 put down to the account of the Hetfalusies. 
 Since then Dame Anna has frequently sought 
 opportunities for revenging herself on the Hetfalusy 
 family — ^'the snail-brood,' as Barbara is wont to 
 call them. The old night-owl loves to torment the 
 souls of those who anger her; she loves to fill 
 the ixmer rooms of the ^lendid Hetfalusy castle 
 
A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE. 205 
 
 with tears and groaning; she loves to see her 
 haughty enemy grow grey beneath his load of sin 
 and sorrow; she rejoices at the spectacle of his 
 shame and remorse and agony of mind, for the old 
 hag knows how to concoct the sort of venom that 
 corrodes the heart Now Barbara is not like that 
 Whenever that woman speaks of the H6tfalusies, 
 her downy lips swell out, her cheeks flush, her black 
 eyes cast forth sparks like a crackling fire, and if at 
 such times she has a knife in her hands, it is not well 
 to approach her. She longs to taste the blood of 
 her enemy, and smack her lips over it ; she longs 
 to see his haughty castle in a blaze. I have often 
 heard her say so, and then add, 'After that they 
 may kill me if they like, I don't care.' Oh! that is 
 indeed a terrible woman, you ought to see her." 
 
 " A veritable Libussa ! " cried Thomas raptur- 
 ously. " If we win, a great destiny awaits her. Are 
 you in love with her? " 
 
 " Perhaps it is more correct to say she loves me. 
 I am very comfortable with her, anyway. The old 
 inan does not mind a bit" 
 
 " He must be got out of the way." 
 
 "We'U take care of that" 
 
 " All the exits from the place must be seized after 
 nightfall, and a band of our bravest lads must make 
 a dash for the town hall. Take care that no close- 
 cropped head* escapes from the place, even if he 
 be dressed as a peasant The rest shall be my 
 
 care.'* 
 
 * No gentleman. 
 
3o6 THE DAY OF WEATH. 
 
 "All right, master." 
 
 "Then we must have Mekipiros ready in front 
 of the forester's hut" 
 
 "Why that, master? The fellow is dumb and 
 foolish. You know that he bit out his tongue under 
 torture." 
 
 " So much the better. He cannot talk. He must 
 have brandy, and lots of it" 
 
 " When he drinks brandy he becomes like a wild 
 beast He can bite and scratch now, but when he 
 is drunk you can make him worry people like a 
 dog." 
 
 "That is just what we want There may be 
 things to be done which a man would willingly keep 
 out of and yet have done all the same. Do you 
 take me ? " 
 
 " Yes, perfectly, you are worthy of all admiration, 
 master. We can let loose this wild beast in cases 
 where we don't want our own hands to be soiled. 
 When he has lots of brandy he would shoot his 
 own father if you put a gun in his hands. And if 
 anything goes wrong we can lay all the blame on 
 him." 
 
 The master regarded his pupil with a look <rf 
 solemn reproach. 
 
 "And you are capable," said he, "capable of 
 saying in cold blood, 'if anything goes wrong*? 
 Ivan, you are not a true believer. Ivan, you are a 
 worthless fellow." 
 
 The youth was greatly taken aback at these 
 words, and made a feeble attempt to defend himself. 
 
A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE. 207 
 
 * Ivan, you are a worthless fellow, I say. I regret 
 that I chose you out to take part in this great work." 
 
 Ivan grew angry. 
 
 " What ! you chose me ! Why, it was I who chose 
 you! Am I not the head of the conspiracy? " 
 
 " And am I not its soul ? " 
 
 "What! with those weak pipe-stem arms of 
 yours ! Look at my arms ! Look ! " said Ivan, 
 turning up his shirt sleeves and exposing his fleshy 
 arms. " I could do more with one of my arms than 
 you could with your whole body." 
 
 " And yet you are a coward if you ask, shall we 
 succeed ? " 
 
 "I'll show what I am when I am on the spot,** 
 said Ivan, sticking out his brawny chest and boast- 
 fully thumping it with his clenched fist ; at that 
 moment he wore the expression of a savage proud 
 of his bones and sinews. 
 
 " Till then, however, let there be peace between 
 us,** said Bodza, extending his dry and skinny hand 
 towards Ivan in token of reconciliation, and Ivan 
 squeezed the hand with aU his might, not so much 
 to convince the master of the firmness of his friend- 
 ship as to give him some idea of the expressive 
 vigour of his grip. 
 
 Bodza did not move a muscle of his face during 
 this violent tension; but, all at once, Ivan began 
 writhing, his features contracted with pain, and he 
 placed one hand on his stomach. 
 
 ** Well, what is the matter? " inquired Bodza. 
 
 The fellow doubled up with pain. 
 
«o8 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " I have a sudden stitch in the side." 
 
 " What ! is that all ? and you make so much fusi 
 over it! I didn't flinch just now, when you nearly 
 crushed my fingers, did I ? " 
 
 " But this is horrible — such spasms " 
 
 "Perchance, Ivan, you too have been poisoned" 
 
 " Oh, don't joke like that" said the fellow with 
 a pale and agitated face. 
 
 "Why you know the whole thing to be a 
 fable." 
 
 Ivan gave a great sigh with an air of relief. 
 
 " It has gone now. I felt so odd. It is a fable, 
 of course. But what a peculiar pain it was ! " 
 
 "Drive the idea out oi your head and swallow 
 some comforting cordial And now go and look 
 after our confidants." 
 
 Ivan was still a little pale, and it seemed to him 
 as if the master's face also was of an odd ydlow 
 colour. 
 
 " How yellow the sky is ! " said he, looking up, 
 " not a ^eck of blue anywhere. And what a long 
 black doud is rising up from the horizon — ^just like 
 a large black bird." 
 
 " Gape not at the sky, Ivan, but make haste and 
 have everything ready against the night" 
 
 "You can look right into the sun, there's not a 
 bit of light in it when it goes down," murmured he 
 —and his head felt strangely dizzy. 
 
 " What have you got to do with the sky, or the 
 sun, or the douds? " inquired the master sarcastic- 
 ally. 
 
A LEADER OF THE PEOPLE. 209 
 
 "Nothing, I suppose, nor with what is beyond 
 them either. Good night, my master," he cried 
 after a pause, and turned truculently away. 
 
 " A happy and peaceful good night ! " said the 
 other with an ironical smile. 
 
 "Pleasant dreams." 
 
 "And a joyful awakening." 
 
 And with that they parted The master returned 
 towards the village, reading the immortal verses of 
 Horace all the way along. But Ivan hastened 
 towards the lonely forest hut, looking up from time 
 to time at the yellow sky, the faded sun^ and the 
 long black cloud, and then glcincing around him 
 horror-stricken, to perceive that he cast no shadow 
 either before or behind. 
 
 That sombre yellow light, how odd it was! — 
 and then, too, that brown, copper-coloured cloud, 
 which was gradually covering the whole earth, and 
 enveloping the whole horizon with its broad sluggish 
 wings like some huge bat-like monster of the Nether 
 World! And the little black letters in the master's 
 open book seemed to be dancing together in long 
 dizzying row^ and this is what he readt 
 
 "... Pallida Mors 
 Aequo pede pulsat 
 Pauperum tabemas 
 Regomque torres • • • ** 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE FIRST SPARK. 
 
 Maru Kamienszka talked for tlie whole of a long 
 hour with the General's wife. 
 
 She told her all she knew of that unhappy family, 
 whose fate was bound up with the General's by such 
 tragic memories. 
 
 She had learnt to know the disowned and rejected 
 son as a gallant young officer in Galicia, and the 
 relations which had sprung up between them were 
 the tenderest imaginable. 
 
 The calamity which compelled the youth to fly 
 had profoundly affected but not overwhelmed her, for 
 Maria, with that virile determination which has so 
 frequently distinguished the Polish women, had 
 followed up the track of the vanished youth step 
 by step, and when, at last, she had discovered him, 
 she had devoted all the ingenuity of a loving heart 
 to the desperate task of saving him. 
 
 The enthusiastic words of the girl had electrified 
 Comeha Vertessy ; indeed, she, the gentler, calmer 
 of the two, was quite cetrried away by Maria's 
 courage^ energy, readiness of resource and impulsiw 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. sii 
 
 enthusiasm, so that she considered the most fan- 
 tastic projects which the Polish lady elaborated on 
 the spur of the moment with the rapidity of cloud 
 formation, as perfectly natural and feasible. 
 
 They agreed between them that old Hetfalusy 
 and his son-in-law should be brought together to the 
 General's, that Cornelia, at the same time, should 
 present to them the child who was believed to have 
 perished, Maria xmdertaking to get it from its 
 adopted father. They argued that the scene which 
 would ensue, when the father and grandfather recog- 
 nised the child they so ardently longed to see could 
 not fail to touch the heart of the General, who at 
 the same instant, when the grandfather recovered 
 his grandchild, would complete the old man's joy 
 by presenting him with his son also. 
 
 The dear conspirators had calculated all con- 
 tingencies, and the whole thing seemed to them as 
 feasible as it was romantic, and therefore bound to 
 succeed . . . but they forgot that Fate was, after 
 all, mine host, and that the reckoning was in mine 
 host's own hands and not in theirs. 
 
 Nevertheless^ Maria, dressed in her masculine 
 attire, which best suited her present purpose, 
 moimted her nag again, and hastened ofiF towards 
 Hetfalu. On her way she posted a letter in which 
 she instructed old Hetfalusy to get into his carriage 
 and hasten to town as soon as possible, she herself 
 meant to go straight to the headsman's dwelling. 
 
 It was already late when she turned into the 
 main-road. The sun had already sunk, and there 
 
3ZJ THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 was in the sky that red glare, so trying to the eyes^ 
 which envelops every object in a yellow light and 
 obliterates every shadow. In the western sky blood- 
 red rays, like the spokes of a wheel, cut up the oddly- 
 coloured sky into segments ; while in the opposite, 
 eastern firmament, solar rays of a similar description 
 rose brown and lofty, like the horns of the crown of 
 an avenging angeL 
 
 There was a sombre air of homelessness about the 
 whole region. Not a bird was flying in the air, no 
 cattle were grazing in the fields, even the merry 
 chirp of the crickets was no longer to be heard in 
 the wayside ditches. The road itself was overgrown 
 with grass on both sides, scarce leaving room for a 
 little winding ribbon of a track in the centre, and 
 even there the ruts, which the last luckless cart had 
 left behind it, were hidden by weeds. It was weeks 
 since anybody had passed that way, for every village 
 was afraid of the village next to it, every man avoided 
 his neighbour, and feared to look upon his face. 
 
 The lanes and byeways had been quite aban- 
 doned, they were only distinguishable by the 
 luxuriant crop of weeds which covered them — 
 weeds more rampant and of darker colour than were 
 to be found elsewhere. The whole land looked 
 just as it used to look in the olden times after a 
 Tartar invasion. 
 
 The horse trotted cdong all alone, before and 
 behind him there was no trace either of man or 
 beast, the rider looked round about her with a 
 melancholy eye. 
 
THE FIRST SPARK, 113 
 
 Here and there on both sides of the road crooked 
 trees were tottering to their fall They had been 
 stripped bare by the devastating army of caterpillars, 
 and instead of their beautiful green leaves they were 
 clothed with the rags of dusty spider-webs ; further 
 away the fruitless orchards looked as if they had 
 been burnt with fire, and, stretching to the horizon, 
 as far as the eye could reach, the arid corn-fields had 
 the appearance of being covered with i^othing but 
 scrappy stubble. 
 
 The atmosphere was oppressive and lay like a 
 stifling weight on the breast of man ; and if, now and 
 then, a faint breath of air flitted languidly over the 
 country, it was as burning hot as if it had just come 
 out of the mouth of a blast-furnace, and only in- 
 creased the exhausting sensation of oppression. 
 
 Then slowly, very slowly, it began to grow dark. 
 There was a long black stripe all along the edge 
 of the sky, which gradually bulged out into a sort 
 of black veil, and as the infrequent stars twinkled 
 forth in the pallid sky, this dark veil blotted them 
 out one by one; it was just as if some mighty 
 spirit-hand had drawn a crape curtain across a 
 funeral vault bright with glittering lamps. 
 
 It was already midnight when Maria Kamienszka 
 perceived the first roadside csdrda* which, according 
 to her calculations, lay midway between the county- 
 town and Hetfalu. In the midnight gloom and 
 silence it was easier to distinguish distant sounds 
 than to clearly recognise near objects 
 
 • Idq. 
 
3X4 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 It seemed to Maria as if she heard a medley of 
 despairing yells and savage maledictions, and dimly 
 discernible masses of men were moving up and 
 down all round the house. 
 
 Instinctively she felt for the pistols in her saddle 
 bow — there they were in their proper place. 
 
 In a few moments she was close up to the house 
 and perceived clearly at last, with a tremor of horror, 
 the spectacle that had long been engaging her atten- 
 tion. 
 
 Some hundreds of peasants, the dregs of the 
 agricultural population, were swarming in and out 
 of the csdrda door, savagely singing and shouting. 
 Two large casks had been planted in front of the 
 house, their bottoms had been stoved in, and those 
 of the mob who had got near enough were ladling 
 out the brandy they contained in their hats. Some 
 of these gentlemen could only keep their legs at all 
 by leaning upon the object nearest to them. A 
 white-bearded Jew had been tied to the leg of a 
 chair placed between the two casks. The drunken 
 mob was bestowing most of its attention upon him, 
 and pulling out his beard hair by hair as they 
 cross-examined him. The tortured victim was 
 howling horribly, but would give his tormentors no 
 answer, only from time to time he implored them 
 to spare his innocent daughter. A childish shape, 
 evidently a woman's, was lying across the threshold, 
 and everyone going in and out of the door gave it 
 a kick as he passed through. Fortunately she felt 
 nothing more now. 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. 215 
 
 Maria, full of indignation, spurred her horse right 
 into the midst of the mob that was tormenting the 
 old innkeeper, and exclaimed in a voice of virile 
 assurance : 
 
 "What are you all doing here?" 
 
 The mob only first perceived the horse when it 
 was right amongst them. 
 
 A young lout with a stumpy nose, which had 
 evidently been broken some time or other, a bare 
 breast, and a shock of ragged hair covering hi» 
 face, answered the question, 
 
 " We are paying off a poisoner, young sir, if you 
 must know." 
 
 " What poisoner do you mean ? " inquired Maria, 
 who had not the remotest idea what the fellow Weis 
 driving at 
 
 "What!" cried the stripling defiantly, "do you 
 mean to say you don't know? Why, haven't the 
 gentry got the Jews to put poison in the brandy! 
 Why, everyone knows that." 
 
 Maria was so dumfoimded that she had not a 
 word to say in reply. 
 
 " Look I how he pretends to know nothing about 
 it But we cure up to them. They may weave their 
 plans as artfully as they like, we've got eyes in our 
 heads all the same. All is betrayed. Come, thou 
 Jew ! confess that there is poison in that cask 1 " 
 
 And yet they all went on drinking out of the 
 barrel as if they had made up their minds to dis- 
 cover what poison really tasted like. 
 
 The lout of a spokesman now filled his hat with 
 
sz6 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 brandy up to the brim, and held it out towards 
 MaricL 
 
 " Come, young sir," said he, " if you don*t believe 
 that there's! poison in it, just taste for yourself and 
 see. 
 
 Maria, full of loathing, pushed aside the dirty hat- 
 full of nauseous fluid. 
 
 " You see ! he won't drink it I he knows there is 
 poison in it" 
 
 " Pull him off his horse ! ** cried a voice from the 
 midst of the crowd. 
 
 We ought to hang him up where the Hetfalusy 
 squires are going to be hung ! " roared the others. 
 
 The dirty lout, who had offered her brandy, 
 quickly seized the horse's bridle, and several of the 
 mob stretched out their hands towards Maria. 
 
 These savage menaces acted like a stimulant upon 
 the Polish lady, she recovered her presence of mind 
 instantly. She brought down the round knob of her 
 riding-whip like lightning on the head of the fellow 
 who was trying to hold her horse back, and he fell 
 like a log prone to the ground. Then giving her 
 good steed the spur she leaped clear of the en- 
 circling mob. A bludgeon came whizzing after her 
 just above her head, and the belated sweeping 
 strokes of a couple of scythes just missed her. One 
 or two agile young ruffians even set off after her, and 
 as two large waggons lay right across her path a little 
 further on, they made sure of overtaking her there. 
 But the lady, with a single boimd, leaped over the 
 obstacle, whereupon her pursuers remained behind. 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. axy 
 
 but as she turned her back upon them they sent 
 after her a horrible yell of laughter. " That's right, 
 go on ! " she hecurd them cry, " you are going to 
 a good place, where you'll be well looked after— 
 ha, ha, ha!" 
 
 Maria had only proceeded a few himdred paces 
 when she was thunderstruck to perceive that her 
 horse was beginning to limp. More than once it 
 stumbled heavily, and suddenly it went dead lame. 
 
 The good steed, when it leaped the obstruction^ 
 must assuredly have sprained its front leg. 
 
 Presently it could scarce put one foot before the 
 other, and Maria was obliged to tighten the reins 
 continually to relieve the poor beast and prevent it 
 from stumbling as much as possible. It was as well 
 that her pursuers had abandoned the chase, for she 
 could scarce have hoped to escape from them 
 now. 
 
 But what sort of disorderly mob could this be? 
 Maria, now growing thoroughly alarmed, began to 
 ask herself; a mob which had the audacity to in- 
 dulge in such excesses in the midst of a civilised, 
 constitutional state, in despite of all law and order? 
 She had not the remotest idea that it was a wide- 
 spread rebellion of the most horrible description. 
 
 Meanwhile, that black curtain had been drawn 
 right across the sky, the whole region was in pitch- 
 black darkness, one stzir after another had been 
 blotted out, the horse hung its head and frequently 
 whinnied, Maria felt that she could no longer 
 remain safely in her saddle, fearing as she did that 
 
2i8 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 the horse might at any moment fall head foremost 
 So she dismounted, and letting the reins hang over 
 her cirm, led the horse along beside her. 
 
 It was hard to discern the grass-grown path in 
 the darkness, and Maria immediately directed her 
 footsteps towards a bright light in front of her a 
 long way off, which seemed to proceed from the 
 windows of some wayside house. 
 
 As she drew nearer to this house it seemed to her 
 as if masses of men were flitting backwards and 
 forwards, and the din of many voices struck upon 
 her ear. 
 
 And now it suddenly dawned upon her why her 
 pursuers had laughed so loudly when they saw her 
 take refuge in this direction, here also the road was 
 barred. 
 
 For an instant she stopped short Feminine 
 weakness for a moment took possession of her hearti 
 and a shudder ran suddenly through her whole 
 body; it was one of those instinctive feelings of 
 panic which we cannot explain to ourselves. Where 
 can I take refuge? she thought Shall I forsake 
 the road and venture amidst the strange woods 
 beyond? Then she bethought her on what errand 
 she had come, and she trembled no longer, but 
 drew forth her pistols from her holsters, looked well 
 to their priming, placed one under her arm, took 
 the other in her hand, and tying the horse to a tree 
 by the roadside (for, indeed, of what further use was 
 he now?), resolutely directed her steps tow^ds the 
 noisy mob. 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. 1x9 
 
 It was now so dcirk that it would have been easy 
 to have avoided them altogether by making a short 
 circuit, but that sort of perilous curiosity which often 
 urges men to thrust themselves into the very situa- 
 tions from which they instinctively shrink, would not 
 mow permit her to turn from her purpose of pene- 
 trating those howling masses there and then. 
 
 Only when she was already in the midst of them 
 did they become aware of her. 
 
 " Stop ! " resounded on every side of her, and tiie 
 point of a scythe pressed against the breast of the 
 intruder. 
 
 In the moment of danger Maria recovered in an 
 instant all her presence of mind. 
 
 " Give me room ! two paces at the least ! " she 
 cried with a clarion-like voice. " A step nearer and 
 I shoot! What do you. want here?" 
 
 At the sight of the pistol the sordid mob drew 
 back. If she had wished to proceed the path now 
 lay clear and imobstructed before her. 
 
 But now she had changed her mind. This 
 nocturnal spectacle had put it into her head that 
 here was some evil plot afoot against the Hetfalusy 
 family. She must find out what it was, and if 
 possible defeat it So she repeated her question : 
 
 "What are you doing here?" 
 
 At that moment the door of the wayside house 
 opened, and out came Thomas Bodza with a lamp 
 in his hand. 
 
 "Who is talking here?" he asked, peering all 
 around him into the darkness. 
 
sio THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Some timorous peasant lads behind the doof 
 pointed out to him the new arrival, at the same time 
 calling his attention to the fact that the stranger 
 had a pistol in his hand, and it was therefore not 
 advisable to go near him. 
 
 The master, however, boldly advanced towards 
 Maria, and held the lamp high above his head the 
 better to read the intruder's face. 
 
 "What a fine head that young squire has," 
 growled shaggy Hanak behind his back, " it would 
 look very well on the point of my scythe." 
 
 " Hush ! " said the master. " I want to speak to 
 him! Who are you, sir, and what do you want? " 
 
 "That is what I don't mean to tell to the first 
 blockhead I meet. First of all I should like to; 
 know who you are. If you are robbers I shall 
 defend myself against you to the best of my ability ;) 
 if you are fools I shall try to enlighten you ; if you 
 are brave and honest men I will shake hands with 
 you." 
 
 The last idea only occurred to Maria when she 
 caught sight of Bodza's face. She had encountered 
 such enthusiasts before now, and had had oppor- 
 tunities of studying them. 
 
 Bodza's eyes sparkled. 
 
 " We are neither robbers, nor fools, but brave men 
 in very deed, who are battling for one great brother- 
 hood, from the icy sea to the warm sea."* 
 
 Maria at once stuck her pistol into her breasU 
 
 * /.«.. From the White Sea to the Black Sea ; he meant the SUv» 
 
THE FIRST SPARK, aai 
 
 pocket and confidentially extended her hand to the 
 master. 
 
 " Then I greet thee, my brother, I have just come 
 from Russia," 
 
 Thomas Bodza squinted suspiciously at Maria, 
 and holding the iron ring on his little finger right in 
 front of her eyes, inquired : 
 
 " Dost thou then know the meaning of these 
 three letters : U. S. S. ? " 
 
 Maria answered with a smile t 
 
 " Ud slovenske siridnosce''* 
 
 Then the master did indeed press the hand 
 offered to him. 
 
 " Come inside ! " said he, himself escortmg the 
 stranger, whilst the peasants, obsequiously raising 
 their caps, made a way for them right up to the 
 door. 
 
 The master dismissed everyone from the room, 
 and when they two were alone asked excitedly in 
 Russian : 
 
 "You come from Russia, you say? From what 
 part of Russia?" 
 
 "From the eternal city where stand the golden 
 gates of the Kremlin," answered Maria, also in the 
 Russian tongue. 
 
 All Bodza's doubts instantly disappeared. 
 
 "What news in the Empire since the death of 
 Romulus?" 
 
 Maria knew very well whom was meant by 
 
 * *< Member of the Slavonic League ; " the language is Slovak. 
 
922 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Romulus. It was none other than Muravlev, who 
 was to be the builder of the walls of the new Rome, 
 which was ere long to be the Lord of the whole earth. 
 
 Maria was no proselyte of this extravagant con- 
 federacy, but, living, as she did, nearer to the main 
 source of it all, she was better able, with the assist- 
 ance of current rumours and her own lively imagina- 
 tion, to amuse Thomas Bodza with more fables than 
 he could have told her. 
 
 "Romulus is not dead, Romulus is still alive,* 
 whispered she to the interrogator mysteriously. 
 
 "How so?" asked Bodza, much surprised;' 
 "where is he then? " 
 
 " He has disappeared — like Romulus. The Gods 
 have taken him ! " — and Maria smiled enigmatically, 
 as if she could reveal a great deal more if she only 
 chose. 
 
 Bodza seized her hand violently. 
 
 " And in his own time he will appear again, eh? * 
 
 The only answer Maria gave was to press his 
 hand significantly. 
 
 "Then it is true that they have not beheaded 
 him? " continued the master excitedly, " and one of 
 his good spiritual brethren sacrificed himself in his 
 stead?" 
 
 "It was my own brother," said Maria, covering 
 her eyes with her hands. Then she suddenly 
 placed her hand on the master's shoulder. " Weep 
 not for him ! " she cried, " Look ! I do not weep, 
 and yet he was my brother. Romulus still lives 
 and demands sacrifice and obedience from us all." 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. 923 
 
 The master pressed Maria's hand still more 
 Weurmly. 
 
 " What is thy name, my beloved brother? ** 
 
 " My name is Fabius Cimctator ! " said Maria, 
 well aware of the weakness of these visionaries for 
 classical names. 
 
 ''My name is Numa Pompilius," said Bodza, 
 tossing back his head with proud self -consciousness. 
 " Numa Pompilius, ever true to the good cause, 
 fervent in action, lucid in cotmsel, pitiless in execu- 
 tion, and fearless in peril" 
 
 And again they pressed each other's hands in a 
 fiery masonic grip, and all the while Maria was 
 thinking : how I long to seize the dry skinny throat 
 of this fervent, pitiless, and fearless man while he 
 is spouting his finest, and throttle him. on the 
 spot 
 
 " So you have raised the standard of revolt, eh? " 
 inquired Maria of the valicint Numa Pompilius, 
 ** who gave you the signal? " 
 
 "Heaven and Earth," replied the master. 
 ** Heaven which sends death down upon the pe(^le, 
 and Earth whfch opens her mouth to receive their 
 dead bodies. Never was there a better opportunity 
 than now. The terrible destroying cingel is going 
 from house to house, and striding from village to 
 village, bringing with him wherever he goes sorrow 
 and terror. Men perceive that life is cheap and 
 that it can't last long. Desperation has severed 
 every bond between masters and servants, creditors 
 and debtors, superiors and inferiors. It needs but 
 
M24t THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 one spark to ignite the whole mass. That spark 
 has already been kindled" 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "A blind rumour has begun to circulate among 
 the masses to the effect that the gentry are about 
 to poison their peasants en masse" 
 
 Maria looked at the master in amazement 
 
 ** But is there anyone who believes such a thing? " 
 
 ** The tales of wayfarers first spread the rumour, 
 the thoughtless speech of a drunken apothecary's 
 assistant established it, intercepted letters written by 
 the gentry to one another served as confirmatory 
 testimony." 
 
 "And the gentry actually wrote to each other 
 that they were about to poison the peasants? " 
 
 " No, but those who read out these letters to the 
 people, took care to find therein things that had 
 never been written down." 
 
 In her horror and disgust Maria had been on the 
 point of betraying herself. 
 
 " Oh ! I see. You read out forged letters to the 
 illiterate people. A very judicious expedient, I 
 must say. Village folks can be got to believe any- 
 thing. But how about the townsfolk? " 
 
 " Oh! in the towns there is even more fear than 
 in the cotmtry, and more terrifying rumoiurs too. 
 But one loud cry and the walls of Jericho will fall 
 down— -fall down where nobody expected it" 
 
 An idea suddenly flashed like lightning through 
 Maria s braiiL 
 
 *'Have our brethren who dwell on the banks oi 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. 225 
 
 the Drave* and among the mountains of Chema- 
 goraf been informed of this movement ? " she asked. 
 
 The master, somewhat confused, replied that they 
 had not. 
 
 " Then all our fine preparations will lead to noth- 
 ing," rejoined Maria, with self -assumed despondency. 
 ** While you are awake in one place they are asleep 
 in another; in one spot the flames are bursting 
 forth, in another they are being extinguished. 
 Why, they ought to have flashed forth everywhere 
 at once. Have you issued proclamations? " 
 
 " No," replied Bodza shamefacedly. 
 
 " Then, Numa Pompilius, you know not what you 
 are about," cried Maria. " Why, that was the first, 
 the one absolutely indispensable thing to be done. 
 You should have sent proclaunations in every direc- 
 tion, you should have kept the local leaders fully 
 informed of what was going on, you should have 
 concentrated the whole force of the movement, 
 you should have thoroughly systematized the whole 
 concern. Ah ! Numa, I see you are but a neophyte 
 after all. Why did you begin without inviting the 
 aid of the Poles? This is just the sort of thing a 
 Pole would imderstand ! Have you writing materials 
 handy?" 
 
 Startled into obsequiousness, Bodza produced ink 
 and paper from some secret receptacle. He was 
 himably silent now. He felt himself in the presence 
 of a man wiser than himself. 
 
 * And now sit down and write ! " 
 
 * The Ccoato and Serbs. f The Montenegrins. 
 
 P 
 
226 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Bodza obeyed medianically. Maria dictated to 
 him what he was to write, while she herself, at the 
 same time, was writing something else on another 
 piece of paper. 
 
 " Brethren ! 
 
 "The long expected hour has at length 
 struck. The flag is unfurled. The gentry want to 
 extirpate us by means of poison, we will extirpate 
 them with fire and sword. The brave shall live, 
 the cowards shall die. Ye, who see your children, 
 your parents tormented and grovelling in the dust, 
 snatch up your arms and avenge them. Fear not 
 the soldiers, they also will be on our side. Let 
 none go who has short-cropped hair. Two deputies 
 must proceed forthwith from every village to Het- 
 falu, which is to be the centre of our operations, and 
 there await our further instructions. Valoiu: and 
 concord. 
 
 " Given at our headquarters near H6tfalu.'* 
 
 " Write your name beneath it : * Numa Pompilius, 
 praetor of Upper Pannonia.' " 
 
 Thomas Bodza, with a spasmodic grin, accepted 
 this title of distinction, and added his sprawling 
 signatiure to the dangerous document 
 
 Then Maria snatched up a pen, and subscribed 
 it with the name: Fabius Cunctator, quaestor of 
 Volhynia. 
 
 Then both documents were sealed with the 
 famous signet ring, bearing the three mysterious 
 lettersj, and also with Mcuria's family seal 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. 127 
 
 " And now send one of the documents by a rapid 
 hbrseman to the Nyitra district, while I hasten with 
 the other towards Slavonia. Meanwhile, you will 
 organize here a standing army. You have already 
 arranged, I suppose, to procure provisions and 
 uniforms? " 
 
 Thomas Bodza confessed with a blush that he 
 had not taken thought for these things. 
 
 " Well, write as soon as possible an open order to 
 the presidents of the Tailor and Cobbler Guilds of 
 Kassa and Rozsny6, commanding each of them to 
 provide, without fail, within ten days four thousand 
 pairs of boots and just as many dolmans and sziirs,* 
 and send them in carts to Hetfalu, otherwise you 
 will levy upon them a grievous contribution." 
 
 This letter also Thomas Bodza wrote as he had 
 been told. "These Poles have had such lots of 
 practice in such matters," thought he to himself. 
 
 " And now despatch one of these open orders by 
 a swift courier to Rozsnyo, and the other I will take 
 charge of. Do not forget to have numerous copies 
 made of these proclamations for instant distribution 
 throughout the length and breadth of the kingdom." 
 
 Bodza promised to make his pupils copy out the 
 documents in question early on the following morn- 
 ing. 
 
 " And now, my brave Numa, don't forget that our 
 watchword is : * Valour and Concord ! ' Of valour 
 we have no lack, but as regards concord I would first 
 
 * A sz&r is a sheepskin mantle such as the peasants wear. 
 
S38 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 of all have you know why they call me Fabius 
 Cimctator. My principle is : judicious procrastina- 
 tion! It was a premature signal, you will remem- 
 ber, which ruined the plots of Romulus H. If only 
 he had waited for another half day, for another six 
 hours, his enterprise would have been a triumphant 
 success. Only over-hastiness ruined us then. Lest 
 a similar risk should befall us now, I would 
 strongly advise you to postpone the general rising 
 till to-morrow afternoon. To-morrow afternoon all 
 the soldiery will quit Kassa for Eperies, and they 
 will not be relieved for two whole days. You will 
 now imderstand therefore why I want the rising 
 postponed till to-morrow afternoon." 
 
 The master turned very pale 
 
 " Too late now ! " said he. 
 
 " How so? " exclaimed Maria confounded. 
 
 " All my orders have been distributed already.** 
 
 " Then they must be recalled." 
 
 "It's impossible, impossible," cried the master, 
 wringing his hands ; and he glanced anxiously, from 
 time to time, through the window, through which a 
 far distant reddish light was beginning to illuminate 
 the room. "They have already fired the house of 
 the headsman." 
 
 " What ! " cried Maria beside herself. 
 
 " That was to be the beginning of it It is im- 
 possible now to hold them back any longer." 
 
 " Oh, fools and madmen ! " hissed the lady. Her 
 immediate impulse was to rush from the room. At 
 the door, however, she recovered her sang froid^ and. 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. aa9 
 
 turning back, clutched Bodza by the ann and 
 
 whispered in his ear : 
 
 " There is now only one remaining way of gain- 
 ing a complete victory." 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 "We must revolt the county-town also. If we 
 succeed we shall have the General as a hostage, if 
 we do not, at least we shall give the soldiers some- 
 thing to do." 
 
 Thomas Bodza, with his teeth all chattering, 
 approved of this project. He would, however, have 
 very much liked to know who would xmdertalce this 
 dangerous enterprise. 
 
 Never had Msuria had to exercise such self-control 
 as now, when, gazing through the window into the 
 night, she watched with the utmost sang froid the 
 distant conflagration which was lighting up the 
 room. 
 
 For an instant the thought of what was happen- 
 ing there and what might be happening elsewhere 
 flashed through her brain. She saw vividly before 
 her all those midnight horrors, and all the time she 
 had to affect an enthusiastic interest in the affair. 
 
 "Numa Pompilius, we must make haste! Have 
 you a good steed handy here? Mine I have left 
 behind on the road, it was no longer of any service 
 tome." 
 
 " Be it so, Fabius ! It was my first care to seize 
 all the post-horses in order that the authorities 
 should not send forth couriers for assistance. You 
 see that I am provident Choose the best horse for 
 
230 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 yourself and hasten whither you would. I entrust 
 this province to you." 
 
 Bodza was magnanimous. The department of 
 greatest danger and the glory of conquest he en- 
 trusted to another. 
 
 "I will hasten," cried Maria, flinging open the 
 door — and for some moments she remained stand- 
 ing on the threshold. " Numa ! " she cried at last, 
 " you would let me depsirt alone? " 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " You are making a mistaJce. The popular leaders 
 might be suspicious. Suppose they took me for a 
 spy or a traitor? Never put your whole confidence 
 in a single person. Always send forth your emissa- 
 ries in couples, that one of them may be a check 
 upon the other. That is a general rule. I am 
 surprised that you have not learnt it hitherto." 
 
 Thomas Bodza admitted his mistake, but of 
 course Fabius had had so much more experience 
 in these matters. An escort he must have certainly. 
 
 Maria, on the other hand, required an escort in 
 order to avoid being again detained by the mobs 
 of rustics encamped in front of the csdrda. 
 
 " Bring hither two good horses ! " cried Bodza to 
 the boor mounting guard in the corridor, and with 
 that the pair of them stepped forth amidst the 
 peasant host 
 
 The peasants were scattered about in groups. 
 Here and there some of them were engaged in 
 sharpening their scythes. Others were standing 
 round excited stmnp-orators, or making a frightful 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. 231 
 
 uproar over a few pence which they had found upon 
 some poor Jewish tramp and would not divide fairly. 
 
 " My friends ! " cried Maria, stepping into the 
 midst of them, and speaking in a friendly confident 
 tone, "can I find among you half a dozen stout- 
 hearted dare-devils who are ready, if necessary, to 
 go through fire and water? " 
 
 The gaping rioters did not respond very willingly 
 at first, but when Thomas Bodza assured them that 
 they now saw before them one of the most powerful 
 leaders of the movement, ten or twenty of them 
 forced their way to the front, boasting loudly that 
 they were prepared to face any danger. 
 
 " Remember this is no joke, my sons," continued 
 Maria. "Are you ready to adventure yourselves 
 with me in the coimty-town, read the' proclamation 
 in the streets, stir up the people there, provide your- 
 selves with weapons and powder, and seize all the 
 bigwigs at one stroke like a pack of wolves in a 
 spiimey ? " 
 
 This little speech somewhat abated the ardour of 
 the more clamorous heroes, yet two or three youths, 
 well soaked with brandy, still persisted in beating 
 their breasts with their fists, and declared that they 
 were men enough for einything. 
 
 Maria selected from among them shaggy Handk. 
 The fellow had a face as broad as it was long, one 
 half of which was covered with hair, the other with 
 bristles ; it was impossible not to take to him at once. 
 
 " You shall come with me. Moimt on the other 
 horse." 
 
9$2 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Shaggy Hanak did not wait for a second invita* 
 tion. He managed somehow to scramble on to the . 
 horse's back, and could not help smiling with joy 
 at the thought that at last he had a good steed 
 beneath him. 
 
 Maria leaped lightly on to the second horse. It 
 was a somewhat lean and bony beast of great 
 powers of endurance. 
 
 "To-morrow about this time you shall hear of 
 us," she said, addressing herself to Bodza. "Till 
 then avoid every decisive step. Whomsoever you 
 may capture keep a strict watch upon them, and 
 see that no harm befall them. Do you take me? 
 It is possible that the captives may attempt to put 
 an end to their own lives. But we shall require 
 them all on accoimt of their confessions. There- 
 fore take care of their lives. We must judge each 
 one of them separately. Numa! take care to be 
 ubiquitous. Valour and vigilance ! " 
 
 Then, after pressing Thomas Bodza's hand once 
 more, Maria put spurs to her horse and galloped 
 bri^ly along the high road. As for the horse of 
 her comrade it had to be almost dragged out of 
 the courtyard, as it showed a disposition to force its 
 rider to return to the stable. Only with the utmost 
 difficulty did Handk succeed in overtaking Maria, 
 pmrsued by the yells of encouragement and exulta- 
 tion of the mob he had left behind him. 
 
 Maria pounded along the highway, glancing aside 
 from time to time in the direction of the burning 
 house, the conflagration of which lit up the overcast 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. 933 
 
 sky, tingring the clouds with an angry purple. The 
 wind drove the lurid smoke hither and thither. 
 There was as steady a glare as if a whole village 
 was in flames. As they sped further and further 
 away the flames lit up the road and the wayside 
 trees, and the towering masses of clouds ever 
 less and less. At last all that was to be seen was 
 a large blood-red star rising from the plain, a mere 
 point of light far, far away. Then even that vanished. 
 Soon afterwards day began to dawn. The cinder- 
 grey sky reduced the nightly glare to ashes, and a 
 dark grey column of smoke, standing out against 
 the pale yellow horizon, was the only sign left of the 
 conflagration. 
 
 On approaching the next csdrda, Maria allowed 
 Hanak to draw nearer to her; her escort had to 
 explain to the mob of peasants drinking in front of 
 the door on what errand they were speeding. He 
 did so in his usual boisterous bombastic fashion. 
 
 " We are going to town," bawled he. " We are going 
 to read the proclamation cind collar the soldiers 
 and the bigwigs, and bring back with us guns and 
 gunpowder, and lots of money. This is the courier." 
 
 Hoarsely bellowed " Eljens ! " greeted this mag- 
 nanimous resolution. A guffawing scytheman, 
 moreover, pressed with his horny palm the hand of 
 Maria, for whom shaggy Hanak, in the fervour of 
 his enthusiasm, could find no more important title 
 than that of " courier." 
 
 As the day slowly began to dawn, the sobering 
 breath of the fresh morning breeze blew full in the 
 
«54 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 faces of the horsemen, and the towers of the county- 
 town stood out plainly before them in the distance. 
 And now Maria began to observe that her com- 
 panion was lagging behind her at a considerable dis- 
 tance. More than once she had to shout back to him : 
 
 ** My brother ! don't drop behind so ! " 
 
 "My horse is tired out," stammered Handk, and he 
 kept on mopping up the sweat from his tow;fled poll. 
 
 " Give him the spur, then ! " 
 
 "I would if I had 'em." 
 
 " Then ride in front of me, and I'll whip him up 
 from behind." 
 
 And so they went along pretty well for some time, 
 but when the towers and steeples of the county-town 
 drew very much nearer, shaggy Hanak began to 
 complain that his saddle was nearly falling j)ff. 
 
 " Dismount, then, and fix it tighter ! " 
 
 The fellow dismounted accordingly, but he was 
 fumbling about with it such a long time that Maria, 
 growing impatient, herself leaped to the groimd and 
 tightened his saddle-girths. 
 
 " And now up you get and off again ! " 
 
 Shaggy Hanak stuck all five fingers into his hairy 
 poll and scratched his head all round beneath his 
 cap, then suddenly, with an artful grin, he turned 
 his face towards Maria. 
 
 " Hark ye ! Are we really going into the town ? " 
 
 " Of course we are." 
 
 " And you really intend to read out the proclama- 
 tion, to seize the General, take away the guns, and 
 capture the barrack? " 
 
THE FIRST SPARK. 9$S 
 
 ** Yes, and much more besides, when the business 
 has been fairly begun." 
 
 Shaggy Hanak began to scratch his head still 
 harder, and seemed to have a thousand and one 
 things to put to rights in the horse's trappings. At 
 ]ast he came out with the following proposition : 
 
 " Listen, comrade ! Don't you think it would be 
 better if, when you went into the town, I remained 
 outside and read the proclamation to all the people 
 coming to market ? " 
 
 "You can read then?" 
 
 " Read ! A pretty sort of sexton I should be if 
 I couldn't read!" 
 
 " Very well, I rather like your idea ; " whereupon 
 Maria drew from her side-pocket a couple of cigars 
 wrapped up in part of an odd number of the Leut- 
 schau county newspaper, and gave the sheet to her 
 valiant comrade, who glanced over it with the air of 
 a connoisseur, and, after declaring aloud that he 
 quite grasped its meaning, folded it neatly up, and 
 stuck it in the braiding of his cap. 
 
 ** m read it in my best style," said he, " and will 
 come to your assistance at the head of a fresh band 
 of them." 
 
 Maria approved of his design, and, whipping up 
 her horse, galloped towards the town at such a 
 rate that shaggy Hanak felt constrained to pray 
 Heaven that his comrade might not break his neck 
 before he got there. 
 
CHAPTER XLl. 
 
 IN THE MIDST OF THE FIRE. 
 
 /.UdAsl was to-night more anxious than at other 
 times. He had put up the iron shutters in front of 
 his windows immediately after dusk, and had gone 
 to bed much earlier than usual 
 
 The evening prayer of the httle girl soothed him 
 for a while. " Amen ! Amen ! " he kept repeating 
 after her, laying stress upon the word — ^and then 
 something began agitating him again strangely. 
 
 " An evil foreboding, an evil foreboding," he kept 
 on murmuring; "some great calamity is about to 
 befall me." 
 
 "You have caught cold, my good father," said 
 the little giri soothingly, stroking the old man's fore- 
 head with her tiny hand ; " your hand is trembling, 
 your head is burning . . ." 
 
 " I am all shivering inside," said the old man ; " a 
 sort of deadly coldness seems to come from within 
 me. Don't you hear a noise in the courtyard? *' 
 
 " There is nothing, my father. Only the horses 
 are stamping in the stable." 
 
 " But don't you hear talking, whispering beneath 
 
IN THE MIDST OF THE FIRE. 137 
 
 the windows, just as if someone was digging at the 
 wall below?" 
 
 " The dog is settling down for the night ; 'tis he 
 who is scratching down below there. Go to restj 
 my good father ! " 
 
 " I will lie down, but I shall not be able to slecpt 
 Put my musket at the head of my bed." 
 
 Elise took the gun down from the wall, examined 
 it carefully to make sure that it was in perfect order, 
 and then leaned it against the bed 
 
 Then they both lay down. 
 
 Zudar kept conversing for a long time with Elise 
 in the darkness, and assuring her that he should 
 never go to sleep — ^nevertheless, suddenly, there was 
 a deep silence, followed presently by a deep^ 
 thunderous snore, only interrupted from time to 
 time by cries of terror, as if the sleeper were 
 tormented by evil dreams, and at such times he 
 would fling himself violently against the sides of the 
 bed 
 
 The child did not sleep. Resting on her elbows 
 she lay there listening and gazing steadily into the 
 vision-haunted darkness. 
 
 Presently it seemed to her also as if a large con- 
 course of people was moving backwards and 
 forwards along the wall outside, and a great deal of 
 whispering appeared to come from the kitchen. 
 
 Suddenly she heard a soft knocking at the door, 
 and the voice of Dame Zudar inquired : 
 
 " I say, Betsey ! is your father asleep ? ** 
 
 *Yes," stammered the little girl 
 
138 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " Some people have come hither from Kassa, they 
 don't understand German, come out and speak to 
 them!" 
 
 The Httle maid hastily put on her clothes and, 
 opening the fast-locked door, went out into the 
 kitchen. 
 
 Peter Zudar was continually tormented by evil 
 dreams. Danger to Elise was the ever-recurring 
 subject of his nightmares. Now he saw her wan- 
 dering among rocks overhanging dizzy abysses, and 
 would have stretched out his hand to lay hold of 
 her and draw her back, but his hand could not reach 
 her. Now a fierce wolf was pursuing the child, and 
 he would have run after it with a gun, but his legs 
 refused their service, or he forgot where the gun 
 was, or it refused to go off. 
 
 Suddenly a shrill scream sounded in his ear. 
 
 "Father!" 
 
 Up he jumped. That cry had pierced through 
 his heart, through every fibre of his body. It was 
 Elise who was calling. 
 
 "Elise! Elise, my child! are you asleep? Were 
 you calling just now ? " he inquired softly. 
 
 Receiving no aoiswer he turned towards the child's 
 bed, which lay at the foot of his own, and sought 
 for her little head on the pillow with his hand. 
 
 She was not there. 
 
 The same instant he heard the key of his room- 
 door turning in the lock outside. 
 
IN THE MIDST OF THE FIRE. 239 
 
 With one bound he was at the door. Not a word 
 did he say, but he shook the door till it trembled 
 on its hinges. 
 
 At that moment he heard hcisty footsteps quitting 
 the kitchen and the hall, and once more imagined 
 he could distinguish Elise*s stifled moans. 
 
 Redoubled fury lent gigantic strength to his 
 Sampsonian frame. The door burst into two pieces 
 beneath the pressure of his hands, and the upper 
 portion containing the lock remained in his clenched 
 fist 
 
 He roared aloud for the first time as he rushed 
 into the kitchen. It was no human voice, no itt- 
 telligible soimd, but the roar of a savage lion whose 
 den has been broken into, and who scents the flesh 
 of the huntsman. 
 
 And in response to this savage roar there arose 
 from the courtyard the mocking yell of hundreds 
 and hundreds of human voices, intermingled with 
 laughter, curses, and threats. 
 
 For a moment he remained tiaere dumf ounded. 
 What could it be? Surely not a band o£ robbers 
 in collusion with his wife? 
 
 "Look out!" cried the shrill voice of Dame 
 Zuddr rising above the din outside, " the old carrion 
 has a loaded musket, and would shoot at you if there 
 were a thousand of you." 
 
 But Zuddr did not even require the help of a 
 loaded musket, he would have rushed out among 
 them with his bare fists, but the kitchen door was 
 barred and bolted, and barricaded with all sorts of 
 heavy obstacles. 
 
ijo THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Panting hard, Zudar rushed back into his room* 
 sought out a heavy axe, and rushed back to the 
 kitchen door. At the first vigorous strokes the 
 joints of the door began to crack. 
 
 "Quick! throw the bundles of faggots in front 
 of the door!" shrieked the savage virago outside, 
 " and set it alight at once I Don't you see the door 
 is giving way?" 
 
 The courtyard was crowded with a mob of louts, 
 armed with scythes and pitchforks, among whom 
 stood Dame Zuddr, with dishevelled hair and 
 flaming eyes* like the very Fury of Revolt 
 
 The peasant host quickly got together a heap of 
 faggots, and carrying them to the door, literally 
 buried it beneath them. 
 
 "And now a match! Let him bum in his own 
 den!" 
 
 It was Zuddr*s own wife who thus exclaimed. 
 
 The boor who tried to kindle the fire WcLS such a 
 long time about it, owing to the damp tinder, that 
 Dame Zuddr impatiently snatched the flint and steel 
 out of his hands, struck away at it till she had 
 ignited the tinder, then thrust it with her own hand 
 in the midst of the straw surrounding the faggots, 
 fanned it with her apron till it burst into a vivid 
 fl2une, and then ran across the courtyard to the 
 other side of the faggot heap to set it alight there 
 also. Her wild and tangled tresses fluttered in the 
 tempest 
 
 ** My father, oh ! my good father ! " wailed a scarce 
 audible voice from tiie bottom of the reed-covered 
 
IN THE MIDST OF THE FIRE. 241 
 
 waggon to which the headsman's horses had been 
 attached. 
 
 The dry bunches of twigs and fire-wood suddenly 
 began spluttering and crackling, and burst into a 
 flame. The windows of the house were also 
 crammed full with straw and sticks, and each heap 
 of combustibles was ignited one by one. Soon 
 something very like a big bonfire was blazing merrily 
 all round the house. 
 
 The man imprisoned within there thundered away 
 at the door with all his might, and at each terrible 
 blow the besiegers laughed derisively. 
 
 "Bravo, fire away! Frizzle away in your own 
 den, old Bruin ! " 
 
 The thuds against the door had ceased; the 
 flames were already leaping above the roof of the 
 house ; the whole building was burning with a 
 steady glare, casting forth showers of sparks upwards 
 towards the sky. And long, long after that, when 
 the flames were towering upwards in each other^s 
 embrace above the ruins of the house, it seemed 
 to many as if they heard, arising from the deepest 
 depths of this furnace of blazing embers, the half- 
 smothered soimd of a deep sonorous voice intoning 
 the vesper hymn. Perchance it was only imagina- 
 tion, only a delusion of the senses. Nobody could 
 be singing there now, except it were the soul of the 
 headsman. In a short half-hour the roof collapsed 
 between the four walls, burying in a burning tomb 
 
 Q 
 
94^ THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 all that lay beneath it, and millions of sparks rose 
 straight up into the air. 
 
 " So there we have settled your account for you I " 
 cried Dame Zudar, as the hellish glare of the fire lit 
 up her passion-distorted face. "And now comes 
 the turn of the castle! " 
 
 " Oh, my father ! my poor father ! " wailed the 
 child, who lay fast bound at the bottom of the cart 
 beneath a covering of rushes. 
 
 The furious virago gazed at her with gnaslung 
 teeth- 
 
 "Your father indeed! Your real father's turn 
 will come later, my chicken. And now, my lads, 
 let*s be up and doing elsewhere ! " 
 
 And, with that, she leaped upon the car, seized the 
 reins in her hands and whipped up the horses, and 
 before and behind her tore the savage, bloodthirsty 
 mob with torches and pitchforks. There she stood 
 in the midst of them with dishevelled, storm-tossed 
 tresses like the Genius of War and Devastation rapt 
 along on frantic steeds, with coiling snakes for hair, 
 a terrible escort of evil beasts and semi-bestial men, 
 and ruin and malediction before and behind her. 
 
 Zuddr, as soon as he had guessed the hellish 
 design of his enemies, hastily abcindoned all 
 attempts to stave in the door, and rushed to the rear- 
 most room of the house with the intention o£ 
 escaping into the garden through the window. 
 
IN THE MIDST OF THE FIRE, 243 
 
 But what was his horror when he perceived that 
 here also the windows were covered with a fence 
 of dry reeds and faggots, through which the hissing 
 flames were already beginning to wriggle like fiery 
 serpents — clouds of smoke were already coming 
 through the shattered windows. 
 
 Back again he hastened into the front room, the 
 windows of which were guarded by iron shutters, 
 which stopped the intrusion of the flames. Outside 
 resoimded the furious howling of the rioters, and 
 all round about him too was to be heard the soft 
 hissing fizz of the burning reeds and the licking of 
 the flames, and the loud crackling of the dry beams 
 — all around him and above his head also. 
 
 The iron shutters over the windows were gradu- 
 ally becoming red-hot, and, like transparent panes 
 of glass, admitted the rays of the fiery sea beyond 
 them, spreading a horrible scarlet glare through the 
 room which coloured every object, every shadow, 
 blood-red. 
 
 The imprisoned wretch kept nmning frantically 
 up and down the room Kke a wild beast caught in 
 a trap, striking the walls with his fist and hacking 
 at the beams with his axe. 
 
 In vain, in vain, slash away as you will, neither 
 on the right hand nor on the left, neither from 
 above nor from below, is there any way of deliver- 
 ance! 
 
 At last, in his despair, he began to sing the hymn :i 
 
 " On Sion's HiU the Lord is God • . l" 
 
944 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 and collapsed upon his knees in the midst of the 
 room. 
 
 And lo! the Lord answered the man who cried 
 out to Him in his dire extremity. The boards re- 
 sounding beneath him suddenly gave him a bright 
 idea of deliverance. Above and around there was 
 no place of safety, but might there not be a refuge 
 below — down in the cellar? 
 
 The entrance into the cellar was from the outside 
 by an iron door ; but if the vault beneath the room 
 where he was, the ceiling of which had resounded 
 so loudly beneath his footsteps, if this vault were 
 broken open, it would be possible to get down into 
 it that way. 
 
 Ah ! how nice and cool it would be down there. 
 The atmosphere of the room was now burning hot 
 Terror and exertion had bathed every limb of the 
 headsman with sweat ; the glare of the iron windows 
 was merging into a dazzling white, and radiated a 
 heat that burnt the eye that looked upon it. There 
 was no time to be lost 
 
 Zudar hastily broke up the floor with his axe, it 
 w^ould not be difficult for him to find the key-stone 
 of the cellar beneath it 
 
 Nevertheless, he had to be careful lest he should 
 stave in the whole vault, and thus open a way 
 therein after himself for the fire. He must 
 cautiously pick out the mortar from the interstices 
 with a knife, and lift up the bricks one by one. 
 
 And, now and then, in the midst of his work, he 
 would stop and Hsten. 
 
IN THE MIDST OF THE FIRE. 145 
 
 And then he would hear on every side of him a 
 hubbub of wild voices, hissing, shrieking, savage 
 dance-music, and bloodthirsty harangues. 
 
 Or WcLS it, after all, but the many-voiced gabble 
 of the flames above his head? 
 
 And on he went — digging, digging, digging. 
 
 The first layer of bricks over the vault was 
 followed by a second This cellar vault had been 
 very strongly built, it was well lined with a double 
 row of bricks. And he had to pick out each brick 
 of the second layer as carefully as he had done 
 with the first 
 
 Meanwhile, in the roof above him, a rafter here 
 and there was gaping open, and fiery monsters, with 
 blood-red eyes, were peeping down at him and puff- 
 ing clouds of blue smoke through the interstices. 
 Thousands and thousands of voices were bickering 
 and chattering with each other, the voices of the 
 fire-spirit's little ones quarrelling with each other 
 over every little bit of rafter till their old mother, 
 the evil flame, burst roaring through a huge tough 
 beam and frightened them into silence. And, all 
 the time, something was humming and crooning 
 like a witch hushing little children to sleep; and 
 in the midst of the charred and smouldering embers 
 a buzzing and a fizzing was going on continually, 
 like the noise made by an imprisoned bee ; and the 
 pent-up blast howled dismally down the chimney : 
 Hoo! hoo! boo! 
 
 " They are dancing and singing outside there ! * 
 murmured the headsman to himself. 
 
a46 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 And now the second layer of bricks was also 
 pierced, and up through the rift, Uke a blast of wind, 
 rushed the cold air of the cellar. Peter Zudar bent 
 low over the gap and filled his lungs with a good 
 draught of the life-giving air. He regularly in- 
 toxicated himself with it 
 
 The gap was just big enough to enable him to 
 squeeze through it. 
 
 First, however, with perilous curiosity, he cast 
 a look round the room he was about to leave. The 
 principal girder of the ceiling was bent in the middle 
 from the intense heat, smoke was pouring into the 
 room through every crack and crevice, and filled it 
 already to the height of a man's stature; it was 
 slowly descending in regular layers, lower and lower, 
 like a gradually falling cloud. 
 
 Little fluttering fiery threads were darting hither 
 and thither, in the grey cloud, like tiny flashing 
 birds. The fiery spectre, peeping through the rent 
 in the roof, was already laughing a thunderous " ha I 
 ha ! ha ! '* Peter Zudar laughed back at it, 
 
 " If thou dost laugh, I can laugh too, so the pair 
 of us may laugh together ! " 
 
 Already he had crept half through the opening, 
 whence he observed how the beams were curving 
 above his head, how they were bursting and 
 charring. 
 
 All at once he recollected something. 
 
 Hastily he scrambled out of the hole again. To 
 walk upright in that room was impossible, for the 
 clouds of smoke were now only three feet from 
 
IN THE MIDST OF THE FIRE. »47 
 
 the ground. He crept along the floor on all fours 
 to his oaken chest, opened it, snd drew forth there- 
 from a little Prayer Book and a couple of ribbons, 
 which he thrust into his bosom. 
 
 Then he also drew forth a long leather bag which 
 was fastened at each end by a clasp. These clasps 
 he opened, one by one, with the utmost composure. 
 Inside lay the fallosy* that bright, two-edged 
 implement which flashes at the command of the 
 criminal law, the weapon of Justice. 
 
 When Peter Zudar felt it in his hand, his gigantic 
 figure suddenly arose bolt upright, and there he 
 stood amidst the smoke, amidst the flames, like an 
 avenging demon, slashing about him with his 
 sparkling blade as if he would say to the smoke and 
 the flames, " Fear me ! I am the headsman ! " 
 
 At that moment a thundering crash resounded 
 behind him. His gun, which had been leaning up 
 against the wall, suddenly exploded by reason of 
 the intense heat, and the bullets penetrated the wall 
 
 The shock recalled Zudar, whom a sort of frenzy 
 had seized for a moment, to his senses, and quickly 
 crouching down upon the floor, he tore a cushion 
 from the bed and dragging it after him, crept 
 towards the gaping hole in the floor. The cushion 
 he flimg'down before him and then leaped carefully 
 after it 
 
 The cool air of the cellar gradually restored him 
 Id himself again ; the oppression of the fierce heat 
 
 * The sword of the public executioner. 
 
9i$ THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 no longer tortured his brain, the semi-darkness was 
 so grateful to his eyes, already half-blinded by the 
 flames, a semi-darkness but faintly illuminated by 
 the gleam of the fiery-world above shining through 
 the gap. 
 
 Then it occurred to him that this very gap was 
 now superfluous. 
 
 In the stands of the cellar were several casks, 
 large and small, either empty or full of beer and 
 wine. 
 
 He rolled one of the empty casks below the hole 
 in the ceiling, and tinned it upside down. Then he 
 stove in the top of a beer-cask and dipped into it 
 the cushion, allowing the beer to well soak through 
 it Then he moimted on the top of the empty 
 cask and thrust the saturated cushion into the hole 
 above. 
 
 It was now quite dark in the cellar, but Peter 
 Zuddr knew his way about there all the same. He 
 was well aware of the exact locality of the best cask 
 of beer, and lost no time in staving in tjbe top of 
 it, found a pitcher in a niche close at hand, fllled il 
 with fresh beer, sat him down by the side of the 
 barrel, and took a monstrously long pull at his 
 pitcher. After that he moistened well his head 
 and face, and then he replenished his pitcher and 
 took another long draught 
 
 Above his head there the roof now fell in with 
 a loud loar and a crash, and the whole tribe of 
 flames laughed and roared in their joy at having 
 done their work so well 
 
IN THE MIDST OF THE FIRE. 349 
 
 " We have roasted his goose for him, anyhow 1 " 
 cried Dame Zuddr outside, and her band of rogues 
 and scoundrels laughed and bounded for joy. 
 
 But down in his undergroimd asylum the old 
 headsman sang from the depths of a fervent heart 1 
 
 •• To thee, O Lord 1 on Sion's Hill, 
 All praise and glory be." 
 
 And he drew his fingers along the double edge 
 of the sword — right well had it been sharpened^ 
 nowhere was there the trace of a notch, nowhere. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE LEATHER-BELL. 
 
 We Magyars are very liberal in the distribution of 
 nicknames, in this respect, indeed, our fancy out- 
 runs that of the Princes of the Orient, and the titles 
 we bestow are even more appropriate than theirs. 
 
 In Hetfalu " Leather-bell " was the nickname of 
 a peculiar man, whose real name had quite slipped 
 out of everybody's memory. This derisive epithet 
 was given to him by the housewives to whom he 
 used to convey all the local gossip, to wit: who it 
 was who died to-day, where he was going to be 
 buried, whose turn it was to work for the castle this 
 day or that, who was doing the rector's cooking 
 for him, &c., &c., &c. This was the name he went 
 by throughout the parish when he went about telling 
 everybody in which, house there was going to be 
 a birth, a marriage, or a funeral ; who was in need 
 of the last sacraments, or how much wine the 
 squire gave for the use of the Lord's Table. This 
 was the title by which he was greeted at the castle, 
 where he religiously presented himself to inform 
 the good folks there where serviceable domestics 
 could be got, or where anything was to be sold, or 
 
THE LEATHER-BELL. 251 
 
 what were the current prices of corn and poultry. 
 He himself was half the servant of the gentry, and 
 half the servant of the community ; nay, he belonged 
 somewhat to the village priest cdso, and indeed to 
 any good fellow who had a glass of beer to offer 
 him. He was perpetually scurrying from house to 
 house, from the local magistrate's residence to the 
 market-place, from the market-place to the castle, 
 from the castle to the parsonage, from the parson- 
 age to the miller's, the pot-house, and the tavern, 
 thence into the fields, and thence again into the 
 courtyards. He would pick up something here and 
 something there, something he might, perhaps, have 
 heard at the church porch or up in the belfry; 
 or something would catch his ear as he was 
 dawdling among the wziggons on a market-day, 
 and he would immediately run and repeat it at the 
 miller's. By the time he had reached the pot-house 
 he would hear his own invention, already well 
 amplified and nicely embellished, circulating from 
 mouth to mouth as an absolute fact Whereupon 
 he would dash off with this enlarged edition of it 
 to the castle, stopping, however, to tell it to every 
 Uving soul he met on the way with all the variations 
 which struck him as most appropriate on the spur 
 of the moment, so that he really well-earned the 
 epithet of ** Leather-bell," inasmuch as he was per- 
 forming all the functions of a bell, and, nevertheless^ 
 was covered with a coat of skin or leather.* 
 
 * The HungariaD word " bor " means both skin and leather. 
 
059 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 On this particular momentous evening, the 
 Leather-bell, all hurry-scurry, rushed into the porch 
 of the castle, where the old lord of the manor was 
 nursing his invalided limbs in an ample easy chair, 
 having so disposed himself as to be able to conmiand 
 a view of the western sky, still lit up by the faint 
 hues of sunset 
 
 Once upon a time the Leather-bell must have been 
 a tall man, but excessive salutations had so bent his 
 back, and an incessant to-ing and fro-ing had given 
 his head such a forward inclination, that whoever 
 beheld him now for the first time must needs have 
 suspected him of an intention to run straight tmder 
 the table incontinently. He was the very image 
 of obsequiousness, and he presented his back to 
 the world as though he would say : " Smite away 
 at it whoever has a mind to." 
 
 Old Hetfalusy liked to see the man. He had 
 leave to come and go whenever he chose. He was 
 free to relate serious matters with a smiling face, 
 and amusing incidents in a whining voice, especially 
 as the points of all the jokes generally turned 
 against himself. 
 
 "I kiss your honour's hand," said the Leather- 
 bell, depositing his hat and stick in the doorway. 
 "I kiss yotir hand (and kiss it he did there and 
 then). How frightfully hot it is outside, and oh! 
 what a lot of dust Those boors are always routing 
 it up with their ox-waggons. They make all the 
 dust, I do believe. My throat is full of it, and it lies 
 heavy on my chest Oh no! I humbly thank your 
 
THE LEATHER-BELL. »$$ 
 
 honour ! Don't put yourself about ! Til not have a 
 drink. Yes, I really mean it I didn't say I was 
 thirsty on that account Wine does not suit my 
 constitution at this time of day. Besides, to tell you 
 the truth, I have had some already. For how else 
 could I endure this terrible heat and this horrible 
 dust It weighed so upon my chest that I was 
 obliged to look in at Samsi's tavern for an instant 
 Oh no! I assure you I did not go there on that 
 account I only wanted to have a word or two with 
 my good friend the mzigistrate. He was not there^ 
 it is true, but instead of him I found the sworn 
 jurors, Spletyko and Hamza, and a couple of 
 peasants, who thereupon seized and offered me 
 some brandy to drink. Your honour will graciously 
 undersfcind that I don't like brandy very much, my 
 constitution won't stand it/- and then it was only the 
 afternoon, anci it is not wholesome to drink so early. 
 So, says I, thank you, but I won't take any, where- 
 upon every man jack of them fell fiercely upon me. 
 * Oh, ho ! ' they cried, ' so you too have already been 
 primed what to drink and what not to drink, eh? 
 So they have told you that the brandy has been 
 poisoned, eh?* 
 
 " ' What do you mean? * I cried. 
 
 "'The brandy is poisoned* 
 
 " * Who has poisoned it? * 
 
 ** ' Whjo but the bigwigs themselves.' 
 
 " ' Fire and flames ! here goes ! * I shouted in my 
 horror, and forthwith, just to show my indignation, 
 I seized and emptied every glass I could get hold 
 of one after the other. 
 
154 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " * Poison, eh ! * says I, ' poison ! how can it be 
 poison if I drink it? Tm as alive as ever I was, 
 ain't I?' 
 
 "'Well/ says that squinting blockhead Hamza, 
 *if there's no poison in that cask there is in the 
 other, so draw us some out of that, Samsi ! * 
 
 "But Samsi durst not leave the room, he made 
 out that an ague was shaking him, so his wife 
 went instead of him down into the cellar in the 
 presence of the two sworn jurors, and brought a 
 sample for tasting out of every cask. I assure your 
 honour it was very hard upon me, for brandy does 
 not suit me at sdl, yet, out of gratitude to your 
 honour, I drank all this new stuff likewise. It is a 
 marvel to me that I didn't grovel on the ground and 
 root up the earth with my nose, so much did I drink. 
 
 ***Well,' cried I, 'should I not be dead by this 
 time if there was really poison in it? * 
 
 ** All that squinting Hamza could say in reply was : 
 
 "'Well, if there's none in to-day there will be 
 some in to-morrow.' 
 
 ** ' Very well,' says I, * I will come to-morrow also^ 
 and the day after to-morrow likewise ; and, in fact, 
 every day, and Til taste every one of your drinks, 
 one after the other, and show you that Fm none the 
 worse.' 
 
 " Those were my very words. And I'll do it too, 
 your honour, that I wiU, although it will be very hard 
 upon me, for I can't abide spirits. But I won't allow 
 your honour's noble family, to whom I owe so much, 
 to be maligned by any pack of boors in the world.** 
 
THE LEATHER-BELL. 255 
 
 Old H^tfalusy let the Leather-bell rattle on, per- 
 haps he did not even listen to him. He paid as 
 little attention to the tongue of the Leather-bell as 
 he did to the clapper of the bell that hung in the 
 church tower, perhaps less. For, indeed, in the 
 solemn sonorous ding-dong, ding-dong of the church 
 bell, those who have ears to hear, and still preserve 
 memories of the past, may recognise the voices of 
 the dead telling them all manner of mysterious 
 thmgs. 
 
 The brilliant exposition of the Leather-bell was 
 interrupted by the arrival of Dr. Sarkantyiis, who 
 drove into the courtyaird in a wretched chaise, 
 dragged along by a couple of rustic nags, and im- 
 mediately hastened up to the Squire. 
 
 The Leather-bell hastened forthwith to the chaise 
 in order to take out the doctor's things, and as it 
 was his ambition to load himself with as many boxes 
 and packages as he could seize upon before the 
 arrival of the domestic heydukes, he managed in his 
 excess of zeal to drop three of the parcels on to 
 the ground, one of which immediately burst asunder, 
 and a stream of whitish powder poured forth upon 
 the marble floor. 
 
 The doctor turned upon him furiously. 
 
 " Am I not always telling you not to load yoturself 
 so much ? You see the result, all my bismuth powder 
 wasted" 
 
 Til soon pick it all up again," said the Leather- 
 bell submissively, and going down on his ham- 
 bones he began sweeping into the palm of his hand 
 
256 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 what had been spilt and putting it back with the 
 rest 
 
 At this the doctor was ready to thrash him on 
 the spot 
 
 " What ! mix what is all full of dust with what is 
 still pure — go to the devil ! " 
 
 " I humbly ciave your pardon, doctor, but wouldn't 
 it do for the cattle? " asked the mischief-maker with 
 an obsequious smile. 
 
 " Cattle indeed ! Does the fellow suppose I cany 
 about drugs for pigs and oxen." 
 
 " I mean there's so much of it" 
 
 " None too much for such cattle as you, but now 
 what has been spilt must be swept away." 
 
 And the doctor snatched the damaged box from 
 the fellow's hands, and hastened into the house with 
 it 
 
 The Leather-bell remained kneeling on the 
 ground, staring amazedly with foolish, wide-open 
 eyes at the spilt powder. Then he moistened the 
 tip of his index-finger in his mouth, and dipping it 
 gingerly in the powder, transferred a tiny morsel 
 thereof to the tip of his tongue, and instantly fell 
 expectorating in every direction. At last he franti- 
 cally scraped a good bit of it together, drew 
 his handkerchief from his breast-pocket, shovelled 
 a portion of the suspicious substance into it, 
 looking round cautiously all the time in case any- 
 one should see him, then shuffled out of the hall, 
 departed from the courtyard by way of the garden, 
 and, once free of the house, set off running rapidly 
 
THE LEATHER-BELL. 257 
 
 towards the inn on the outskirts of the village, as 
 if the most fleet-footed of horrors were behind him, 
 his head, as usual, being a good yard or so in 
 advance of his feet 
 
 When he entered the tavern it never once struck 
 him how very calm and peaceful it happened to 
 be there at that particular moment Mr. Mzirtin 
 Csicseri, the village justice, was sitting at the head 
 of the table, and before him on the table lay his 
 long hazel stick. 
 
 " I wish you a very good evening, my dear Mr. 
 Justice and good Mr. Comrade, if I may make so 
 free. *Tis a good job you are here. And where 
 may Hamza and Spletyko be ? " 
 
 The village justice regcirded him angrily. 
 
 " They are in a very good place where they will 
 do no mischief — ^the stocks." 
 
 " Really? Well, they will certainly be well looked 
 after there. All the same it is a great shame they 
 are not here just now." Then, lowering his voice 
 mysteriously, he added : " Well, my honoured com- 
 rade, I myself can now say that it is all up with 
 
 US. 
 
 "How is it all up with us?" inquired Martin 
 Csicseri, leaning both elbows heavily on the table. 
 
 "Oh, ifs all up with us in every way, all up, 
 all up ! " wailed the Leather-bell, rapidly pacing up 
 and down the room, cind pressing his head betwixt 
 his hands. " It is all up with the whole village." 
 
 " Will you tell me how it is all up with us, you 
 old woman, you. Are you aware that this stick has 
 
 R 
 
aSS THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 an end to it, and I am very much inclined to give it 
 some work to do on your back this instant? " 
 
 The fellow made as if he would simply answer the 
 justice's question, yet all the while he kept glancing 
 about him timidly, till five or six inquisitive rustics 
 had also gathered around him, only then did he 
 exclaim in a strident whisper: "The poison has 
 already arrived ! " 
 
 " You're a fool ! " cried the justice, starting back 
 as he spoke. 
 
 " I am not I have seen and tasted it, and I have 
 brought some of it with me. The doctor himself 
 admitted that the coimty authorities had sent a 
 large tnmk of poison hither, and were going to 
 make us drink it The box was in my hand. I lifted 
 it down from the carriage. Divine Providence so 
 ordered that it fell from my hands, and a whitish 
 powder poured out of it. The whole box was full 
 of that powder. The doctor was horribly fright- 
 ened, and swore at me like anything for my clumsi- 
 ness. I saw him, I tell you, he grew quite yellow. 
 I merely asked whether this medicine might not be 
 for the cattle, but he savagely snatched it from my 
 hand, and said he would make our heads ache with 
 it" 
 
 "Is that true?" asked a terrified boor on the 
 other side of the table. 
 
 "As true as Tm alive. The doctor immediately 
 ordered the domestics to sweep the spilt powder 
 away lest one of the animals should taste it and 
 .perish instantly ; but I managed to scrape together 
 
THE LEATHER-BELL. 159 
 
 a little of it first, and here it is in the comer of my 
 handkerchief." 
 
 And the Leather-bell undid his handkerchief and 
 poured the powder out upon the table. 
 
 The boors, with the fearful inquisitiveness of pro- 
 fessed connoisseurs, carefully regarded the strange 
 awe-inspiring powder from every side — so this was 
 the murderous instrument of extirpation. 
 
 Some of them had heard, somewhere or other, 
 that it was usual to make preliminary experiments 
 with such poisons on the brute-beasts. One of 
 them accordingly smeared a piece of bread with the 
 powder, and offered it to a large shepherd's dog 
 extended at his ease beneath the table. The dog 
 snififed at the morsel but would not touch it 
 
 "Poison! poison! " cried those who stood around 
 full of horror. 
 
 "Didn't I say so!" cried the Leather-bell, with 
 a radiant face; but his joyful triumph was very 
 speedily embittered, for when he least expected such 
 a distinction, he became sensible that the long hazel 
 cudgel of the village justice was unmercifully 
 belabouring his back and shoulders. 
 
 " You good-for-nothing, lying wind-bag you, how 
 dare you calumniate your own landlord? You 
 hound of the whole village, you ! that barks at every 
 man behind his back, and licks his hand when he 
 faces you. You dare to come hither with such idle 
 stories at a time when there's already far too much 
 discord among the people! You good-for-nothing 
 vagabond! What! I suppose you want the peascint 
 
26o THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 folks to beat the landlords to death, burn their 
 castles to the ground, and rob them of everything? 
 Coward and rebel as you are, the gallows-tree is 
 far too good for yoiL I tell you what it is. I'll put 
 you in irons and send you to the county jail, and 
 there you may sit till your turn comes to stand 
 before the judges. You incendiary, you ! " 
 
 The Leather-bell was thoroughly scaxed, he 
 began to hedge. 
 
 "Alas! my dear sweet Mr. Justice, and my good 
 friend, don't be angry! God bless me! Why 
 should I wish our landlord beaten to death? God 
 preserve us from anything so dreadful." 
 
 " Who are you aiming at then? " 
 
 " I ? Nobody at all. Not for all the world would 
 I injure anyone. Oh, dear no! I only opened my 
 mouth in order that every poor mother's son of us 
 might look out for himself and guard himself, that's 
 alL" 
 
 " Guard himself ! — from what? " 
 
 " From danger." 
 
 "And who told you there was any danger here? 
 Don't you know that the doctor has a long way to 
 go, and many people to cure, and must therefore 
 carry a great many drugs along with him? And 
 you, you senseless ass ! dropped one of his medicine 
 boxes, spilt the contents, and instantly jumped at 
 the conclusion that it was poison! Poison! your 
 grandmother ! It is true, no doubt, that if a man in 
 health takes medicine he will have stomach-ache 
 for his pains, but if he be sick the same medicine 
 
THE LEATHER-BELL. 261 
 
 will cure him. Every fool knows that Drugs are 
 not good to eat" 
 
 A couple of the more sensible peasants murmured 
 approvingly behind him. The Leather-bell stood 
 confounded before the magistrate, and made a sort 
 of downward movement with his hat, as if he would 
 have liked to scatter to the winds the little bit of 
 powder still lying on the table. 
 
 "And now tell me, you seditious idiot, what 
 might not have happened if these honest men here 
 had not had their wits about them? What if they 
 had believed the horrible accusation spread by you 
 and a few more vagabond busybodies of the same 
 kidney? What if in their mad terror they had 
 fallen foul of your young landlord, who has done 
 you so much good, and shot him dead before your 
 eyes? What if they had dragged his father, the 
 old squire, out of bed in his nightshirt, and burnt 
 him to death? What would you have done then, 
 you good-for-nothing? I suppose you would have 
 sharpened the knife that cut their throats? " 
 
 The knees of the Leather-bell smote together; 
 he stammered piteously that he had had no idea that 
 such horrible things would follow from what he said, 
 that he had, in fact, not been thinking at all of 
 what he was saying. 
 
 "Well, you will have plenty of time to think it 
 over when you are sitting in the county jail." 
 
 The Leather-bell begged and prayed that he 
 might not be sent there, rather shove him in the 
 stocks alongside Hamza. He admitted that he 
 
a6a THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 deserved it; but if they liked to give him twenty 
 or thirty blows with a stick instead, he would take 
 it kindly of them. He had meant no harm, and he 
 would never spread any more such rumours. 
 
 Meanwhile, no one had remarked that the tap- 
 room had gradually been filling with silent, savage- 
 looking forms, one of whom^ while listening atten- 
 tively to the conversation, began sweeping the 
 suspicious-looking powder into the palm of his hand 
 
 Mr. Martin Csicseri was so far moved by the 
 piteous lamentations of the Leather-bell as to 
 promise not to cast him into irons and send him to 
 the county jail as a fomenter of sedition. 
 
 " But you shall, at any rate, sit in the stocks till 
 morning, my friend ! " added he. " Hie, you sworn 
 jurymen, come forward and convey him thither." 
 
 "Nay, not that man!" cried a voice from the 
 crowd, and the magistrate beheld Thomas Bodza 
 advancing towards him — ^by the side of the long 
 table. 
 
 " Whom then? " cried he. 
 
 "Whom but yourself!" exclaimed Numa Pom- 
 pilius, accompanying his words with the gesture of 
 a Roman Senator. 
 
 For the moment it occurred to the magistrate that 
 the worthy rector who was not, as a rule, addicted 
 to strong drink, had actually, for once, taken more 
 of the noble juice of the grape than was quite good 
 for him, so he simply laughed at him. All the more 
 astonished, therefore, was he when, at a sign from 
 the master, two strange men rushed upon him and 
 seized his hands fast 
 
THE LEATHER-BELL. 263 
 
 He had never seen their faces before, they were 
 men who did not belong to the village. 
 
 " What's the meaning of this, eh? " he thimdered, 
 giving one of them a rattling box on the ear and 
 knocking the other down. It was of no use. Ten 
 at least instantly threw themselves up>on him, seized 
 his hands and feet, threw him to the ground and 
 bound him fast One or two of his acquaintances 
 tried to defend him but were thrust aside. 
 
 So long as the tussle lasted, Thomas Bodza stood 
 upon the table with the pose of a capitoline statue^. 
 whence he exclaimed in a dictatorial voice : 
 
 " It is now for me to command." 
 
 The pinioned magistrate continued to curse and 
 swear, and threaten the rioters till they shoved a 
 gag into his mouth. As for the Leather-bell, he hid 
 himself behind the fireplace partly to avoid blows, 
 partly from a fear that this business would have 
 unpleasant consequences, and he might be called 
 upon to give evidence. He wanted neither to hear 
 nor see anything more. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE SENTENCE OF DEATa 
 
 The candles were burning on the table though it 
 was broad daylight, the bells were tolling though 
 nobody was sick, the coffin had also been made 
 ready though nobody was dead. 
 
 The hard sentence had been pronounced over the 
 poor sinner, he must die. The law demanded his 
 head. If his dear father and mother and all his 
 brothers and sisters were to plead for him all day 
 long they could not wash away the strict letter of 
 the law with their tears. 
 
 All those who sat by the long table, the captains^ 
 lieutenants, and common soldiers, all of them wished, 
 longed, to avoid uttering the fatal word. The 
 General himself covered his face with his hands as 
 he uttered the words : 
 
 " With God there is mercy ! " 
 
 In his hand he held a httle staff, a httle white 
 staff. From time to time he glances at it, it is 
 still whole, still smooth and unbroken. 
 
 The old sergeant-major approaches him, his shako 
 on his head, his storm-belt strapped down over his 
 
THE SENTENCE OF DEATH. 265 
 
 shoulder, one hand by his side, the other touchin|^ 
 the band of his shako. 
 
 "Mercy, General, for the poor condemned 
 prisoner ! " 
 
 " With God only there is mercy." 
 
 Again the sergeant-major raises the tip of his 
 palm to the cord of his shako and makes his 
 petition. 
 
 "Mercy, General, for the poor condemned 
 criminal ! " 
 
 A third time he utters his appeal. 
 
 " With God only there is mercy," is the General's 
 reply. 
 
 The little white staff falls to the gromid broken 
 in two. The condemned man gives a sigh of relief, 
 thanks the gentlemen present for the trouble they 
 have taken, the good sergeant-major for interceding 
 on his behalf, and the rigorous judge for pro- 
 nouncing over him the sentence of the law. 
 
 Then they take him away to the house of mourn- 
 ing, give him a white imiform to put on, and set 
 meat and drink before him that he may eat and 
 drink for the last time. 
 
 That day the iron man was afrciid to go to his 
 own quarters. 
 
 Suppose Cornelia were to ask him what sentence 
 he had pronounced upon the son of his enemy? 
 
 He durst not go home, he was actually afraid. 
 
 He was still brooding there when the gaoler came 
 to tell him that the condemned man wished to say 
 a few words to the General privately. 
 
266 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Vertessy hastened to him at once. 
 
 " You defended yourself badly," said he reproach- 
 fully on entering, "you made it impossible for us 
 to pronounce any other sentence." 
 
 "I know that, I wished it so," replied the youth 
 with a bright, calm countenance. " That is all over 
 now, General ; it was a soldier's duty to condemn me. 
 In three days* time I am to die. Take it as if I was 
 very sick, and the doctors had told you beforehand 
 that I had only three more days to live." 
 
 ** I will send the sentence to His Majesty." 
 
 ** It would be useless. Why, even you can advance 
 nothing in my defence, and I have myself nothing 
 to allege in mitigation of my sentence." 
 
 " But I know everything. Others have come 
 forward to defend you, and if you had not cut the 
 groimd from under my feet by your defiant answers 
 before the court-martial, I might have devised some 
 means of saving you." 
 
 * I am surprised that anyone should have defended 
 me. I know of none who might bear me in mind" 
 
 ** Indeed yes. First of all there was my wife." 
 
 "Ah! General, such knowledge will make my 
 death the easier." 
 
 "Then there was the man you fired at in your 
 stupid jealousy." 
 
 "Then he did not die after all?" exclaimed the 
 youth joyfully. " It does me good to hear that" 
 
 " That's all one so far as you are concerned. You 
 have in any case committed a capital offence." 
 
 "But my heart is the easier, nevertheless. A 
 
THE SENTENCE OF DEATH. 267 
 
 load has been removed from it I thank you. 
 What you have said will shorten my last moments." 
 
 " Your third advocate was your father." 
 
 "What?" stammered the youth with trembling 
 lips — " my father, did you say? — my own father? " 
 
 "Your own dear father. He wrote to me with 
 those trembling hands of his, those hands which 
 have barely recovered from a paralytic stroke. He 
 wrote to me himself — do you realise what that 
 means?" 
 
 " He wrote on my account ! " whispered the con- 
 demned man, clasping his manacled hands together 
 and closing his heavy eyelashes over his moist eyes. 
 
 "Your fourth advocate was Count Kamienszki, 
 whose sister you will doubtless remember." 
 
 The youth looked up in astonishment 
 
 "I have no recollection of such a person. She 
 had no brother." 
 
 Vertessy shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "He himself told me so, he was with me here 
 to-day." 
 
 A struggle with a torturing suspicion seemed to 
 be going on in the young soldier's troubled mind ; 
 presently, however, he turned to the General with 
 a radiant countenance and said to him with a smile : 
 
 "All these thingsi. General, will alleviate my 
 chastisement, and I thank you for telling them to 
 me. I regret that my misfortime will cause others 
 to shed tears which I did not expect, which I do 
 not desire ; still, they will greatly ease my affliction. 
 I am sure that you too^ at the bottom of your heart, 
 
268 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 forgive me and my poor family — ^you do forgive us, 
 General, do you not? Will you not even go further 
 and protect that poor old man who has now got 
 nobody to stand by him? — ^will you not be his pro- 
 tector if any danger, yes, any great danger should 
 threaten him?" 
 
 The General pressed the young man's extended 
 hand — ^the chains rattled on the hand that he held 
 in his. 
 
 " And now, General, may I speak to you of a very 
 serious matter? Would you be so good as to hear 
 me out?" 
 
 "Say on." 
 
 " And you will not take what I am about to tell 
 you as the mere ravings of a disordered brain? 
 Many men's brains grow disordered at the approach 
 of death I know ; you will not imagine that I am 
 simply delirious, will you? You will believe that 
 I am well and with all my wits, sound both in heart 
 and mind, will you not? " 
 
 The General nodded. 
 
 " First of all I would beg you not to postpone my 
 execution for the usual three days. Let it take 
 place sooner. I do not ask this for my own sake. 
 I am as good as dead already, my time has run." 
 
 " Why do you make this request? " 
 
 **I will tdl you presently. Then I would beg 
 you not to conduct me outside the town ; the execu- 
 tion could take place just as well inside the court- 
 yard of the barracks." 
 
 "Very well, I will promise you that* 
 
THE SENTENCE OF DEATH. 269 
 
 "And, finally, announce the execution for the 
 afternoon and have it carried out in the morning, 
 early, at break of day, before anyone is awake." 
 
 "What are your reasons for so extraordinary a 
 request? " 
 
 "I will tell you, General. You know right well 
 what terrifying rumours have been circulating 
 through the land in consequence of the extra- 
 ordinary, unprecedented epidemic now raging there. 
 I had an opportunity of discovering, involuntarily, 
 the designs of sundry malevolent persons who looked 
 upon this terrible time as an excellent occasion for 
 carrying out their nefarious designs. The dregs 
 of the population have been roused to action, cind 
 only await the signal to pour their ignorant, brutal 
 herds all over the kingdom. This is no idle tale I 
 am telling you. General I have heard their seditious 
 mutterings, I have read their letters, I have seen the 
 lists of the names of those who are to fall the first 
 victima My father's name stands at the very top 
 of the list His peasants have always hated him as 
 much as they have loved me. One of the leaders 
 of these secret conspirators was formerly a fellow- 
 soldier with, me, since then he has been compelled 
 to quit the service. I accidentally met him in 
 Galicia, where he was pursuing his secret plans. 
 He promised to hide me away, and, immediately 
 afterwards, went and denounced me. It is part of 
 his infernal plan, when I am led outside the town 
 and a large crowd of people have come together to 
 see the execution, to incite the mob to riot, over- 
 
2^o THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 power the little band of soldiers guarding me, 
 release me, proclaim me far and wide as a hero, and 
 use my name as the means of provoking a general 
 rising. You can see, General, with what horror I 
 so much as mention this affair, you can see that I 
 have neither dreamt nor imagined it, but shudder 
 at it, and for that very reason would hasten on my 
 exit from this world." 
 
 The General really did believe that the youth was 
 not quite in his right mind. 
 
 The young man perceived the cold smile on the 
 General's face, and convulsively grasping his hand 
 with his own manacled hands, exclaimed despair- 
 ingly: 
 
 "General! they would murder my father, they 
 would destroy my house, my nation ! " 
 
 " Who forsooth ? " inquired the General with an 
 expression of unutterable contempt " These skulk- 
 ing loafers, eh? I will not presume to deny that 
 they may, perhaps, intend to do what you say, such 
 ideas may and do occur at times to some blockhead 
 or other. But I do not believe that the time will 
 ever come for the realisation of such projects. But 
 if anybody should attempt to move in the matter, 
 I solemnly assure you that at the very first outcry 
 he will be a dead man ! " 
 
 And he tapped his sword with proud self -con- 
 sciousness. 
 
 At that moment an adjutant hastily entered the 
 room and announced that there were suspicious 
 gatherings of the people in the market-place cind 
 
THE SENTENCE OF DEATH. ayi 
 
 the streets of the town. They were exclaiming 
 loudly against the gentry and the soldiers, and were 
 goading one another on with incendiary speeches. 
 It had been found necessary to bar the gates of the 
 town hall against them, and the windows of an 
 apothecary's shop had already been smashed 
 Apparently they meant to give most of their atten- 
 tion to the barracks and the town hall. 
 
 The General had no sooner hastened out of the 
 corridor than he already heard in the adjacent 
 streets, that vague hubbub whose chaotic voice 
 sounds so terrifying in the ears of the 'faint-hearted, 
 who know not whether it is an alcurm of fire or a hue 
 and cry, after a murderer. 
 
 On the present occasion, however, there was both 
 fire and murder in the sound — it was a riot 
 
 In a distant part of the town some over-zealous 
 guardians of public order had set ringing the alarm- 
 bells, whose strident semi-tones rose above the low 
 hideous murmur of the mob. 
 
 The General hastened into the courtyard. The 
 soldiers v/ere already standing there under arms. 
 
 There was scarcely more than two hundred men 
 there, the rest were a long way off, formii^ part 
 of the far-stretching military cordon. 
 
 This, however, was quite enough for Vertessy*s 
 purpose. 
 
 What had he to fear? It was impossible to 
 conceive that the honest scythe and saddle makers 
 of the town, the peaceful citizens who had only to 
 do with planes and awls and shuttles^ would dare to 
 
212 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 attack him forcibly and compel him to retire before 
 them. 
 
 Swiftly, but with the utmost sang froid, he made 
 his preparations. 
 
 Half a battalion took up a position outside the 
 gate guarding every approach, the rest remained 
 within the courtyard. 
 
 The rifles of the soldiers outside the gate 
 remained unloaded. 
 
 At three rolls of a drum the remaining column 
 also marched out into the street 
 
 A single word of conmiand would suffice for 
 subsequent tactics. 
 
 It was also considered necessary to close the gates 
 of the neighbouring house, and two sentries were 
 posted outside it with loaded muskets. 
 
 All this was done in the most perfect order, there 
 was no hurry, no bustle. 
 
 In that house opposite dwelt the General's wife ; 
 one could reach it from the barracks across a 
 garden. 
 
 Vertessy had just completed his preparations 
 when Cornelia's maid came hastening up to him 
 and whispered something in his ear. 
 
 For a moment a smile of delight flashed across 
 the General's face, which immediately afterwards, 
 however, formed into still darker folds than before. 
 
 Hastily transferring the command to his first 
 lieutenant, he hastened to his dwelling, promising 
 to be back in a moment 
 
 It must indeed have been a matter of importance 
 
THE SENTENCE OF DEATH. 273 
 
 to have constrained V^rtessy to quit the post be- 
 coming a soldier at such a moment 
 
 He hastened as fast as he could go to his wife's 
 bedchamber. 
 
 The curtains had been let down, in the semi- 
 obscure alcove lay a pale woman, seemingly a corpse 
 which, nevertheless, was suffering the torments of 
 life. 
 
 Domestics were gathered rotmd the bed, at a 
 table sat the doctor writing something. 
 
 V^rtessy had already unfastened his sword outside 
 so as to avoid making a clatter. He now rushed 
 to Cornelia's side, seized her trembling, sweat- 
 covered hand, and, pressing it to his lips, inquired : 
 
 "How do you feel?" 
 
 * On the threshold of death," answered the lady, 
 and with her other arm she drew down her husband's 
 head towcirds her that she might kiss it Her whole 
 face was as white as marble, and the cold sweat 
 stood out upon her forehead like pearly beads. 
 
 "The coming hour has secrets of its own, 
 V6rtessy," lisped the lady, pressing Vertessy*s hand 
 in her own, "whether it be good or evil, joy or 
 death." 
 
 Vertessy*s eyes interrogated the doctor as if he 
 hoped for some comforting recissurance from him. 
 
 The doctor beckoned him aside. 
 
 "She is suffering tortures," he whispered, "but 
 ihe would hide it from you." 
 
 " She may hide it in her voice, but I can tell it is 
 so from her breathing. Is the danger great? " 
 
 S 
 
a7d|j THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 The doctor shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " Pretty much as usual She is very nervous, and 
 besides that, there is something on her mind." 
 
 "What can it be?" 
 
 " It would be as well, General, if you ascertained. 
 At such a time peace of mind is a matter of life or 
 death, and fear or any feeling of anxiety might 
 have a bad effect upon — a new life." 
 
 At the words "a new life" that invoiuntar/ 
 gleam of joy flashed across Vertessy's lips once 
 more. He went back to his wife and knelt down on 
 her tapestried cushion. 
 
 " Cornelia, how are you? " 
 
 " In God's hands," whispered the lady, raising her 
 glorious eyes. " God chastises and is merciful as 
 it seemeth Him good." 
 
 Her convulsive pressure showed Vertessy what 
 she must be suffering. 
 
 " There is mercy with God," faintly murmured the 
 lady once more. 
 
 Vertessy felt his heart tremble at these words. 
 An hour before he also had said : " With God there 
 is mercy," and that to a man who had promised himr 
 self a long life. 
 
 The lady turned towards him with a languid look, 
 pressed both her husband's hands to her breast, and 
 looking long and painfully into his eyes, she 
 asked : 
 
 " Will God be merciful to me? " 
 
 ** To thee, my angel? — yes ! — oh yes ! " stammered 
 the General 
 
THE SENTENCE OF DEATH. 275 
 
 "And have you also been merciful to him v/ho 
 begged you for mercy ? " 
 
 V^rtessy could not meet that look, he could find 
 no words to answer that question. 
 
 "Vertessy! One death demands another, judg- 
 ment is requited with judgment. I am standing 
 on the edge of the grave, do not let me die." 
 
 "What am I doing, what can I do?" said her 
 husband with a faltering voice 
 
 "You see," replied his wife, winding her ami 
 round his like a tender creeping plant round a 
 sturdy oalc, " it you slay, I must die also. What the 
 condemned man in the neighbouring house suffers 
 that I also must endure — his terror, his despair, his 
 death-struggle. Oh! my husband, have pity upon 
 me Be merciful now to him who has offended, that 
 I also may find mercy with God ! " 
 
 Vertessy's mind was much disturbed. And now 
 the doctor approached him and solemnly observed : 
 
 " General, I fancy it would not be the first instance 
 of a capitally condemned felon being pardoned on 
 the plea of such a sufferer." 
 
 Vertessy regarded him abstractedly as if to beg 
 him to proceed. 
 
 " I knew of a similar case when I was in service 
 at the fortress of Comorn, when a youth, who had 
 thrice deserted the ranks, was pardoned in con- 
 sequence of a similar petition." 
 
 " And do you believe that it would do good ? " 
 
 "My dear sir, when the exaltation of the nerves 
 has reached such a degree as this> the imagination 
 
2y6 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 is omnipotent, good news may give life, bad news 
 death. A soothing thought in such cases is worth 
 all the drugs in the world. 
 
 Vertessy kissed the forehead of his pale, suffering 
 weU-beloved, and cried with a manly emphasis, 
 which instantly inspired self-confidence: 
 
 "I will save him!" 
 
 The lady raised her trembling hands and her pale 
 features to Heaven, her eyes slowly closed, and a 
 imile of joy passed over her white face. 
 
 Outside resounded the threefold roll of the drums. 
 
 The General arose, hastened to the door, tied on 
 his sword, cind rushed towards the barracks. 
 
 The noise, the hubbub, was now quite cJose at 
 hand, and he fell a-thinking how he could best, with 
 fair words, persuade these turbulent citizens to go 
 back to their homes and begin weaving linen and 
 stitching boots again^ though he longed all the time 
 to storm forth amongst them and like a tempeaik 
 scatter them in every direction. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 OIL UPON THE WATERS. 
 
 The whole of the broad street was entirely covered 
 with caps. 
 
 It was impossible to see anything but caps. Here 
 and there a scythe or a pitchfork projected from 
 the midst of the throng, but the larger portion of the 
 mob was xmarmed, unless slender canes, of which 
 there were a great number, be accounted weapons. 
 
 Here and there in the midst of the surging crowd 
 might be distinguished simdry honest citizens still 
 IB plain clothes indeed, but carrying along with them 
 bayonetted muskets, thereby inspiring the rabble 
 with peculiar valour> the common people always 
 imagining in such cases that the national guard with 
 its bayonets is quite equal to the military. 
 
 " Halt! " a voice rung out in front of the crowding 
 mass. 
 
 At the sound of that voice the hubbub for an 
 instant grew stilL The mob stopped short 
 
 " Load your muskets ! " 
 
 The soldiers, like a single, many-handed machine^ 
 iD!R*;9^iy brought down their weapons to their sidet 
 
278 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 with a clash, and the clatter of the loading-sticks in 
 the barrels of the muskets was distinctly audible. 
 Then there was another clatter, and every musket 
 was instantly pointed 
 
 The rioters began to look at one another, and 
 those in front envied the position of those in the 
 rear, who could freely use their lungs without the 
 slightest risk. 
 
 And now the General rode along in front of the 
 noisy mob and shouted to them in a hard, stem 
 voice : 
 
 "What do you want? What is the matter with 
 you ? Why are you obstructing the street ? " 
 
 The fellows kept elbowing each other forward, 
 and, at last, one of them exclaimed : 
 
 " Here is Master Matthias I Let Master Matthias 
 speak ! " 
 
 " Bravo, Master Matthias! " 
 
 And suddenly from the midst of the mob arose 
 the form of a citizen in a leather apron, with a shalco 
 on his head, and a musket with a bayonet attached 
 thereto in his hand. He was passed along over the 
 heads of the crowd, from shoulder to shoulder, and 
 finally planted on his feet right in front of the 
 General This was Master Matthias. 
 
 Even if his hands, the knuckles whereof were 
 unwashably embalmed with pitch, had not of them- 
 selves betrayed the fact, the awl hanging beside his 
 leather apron, and evidently left there by accident, 
 would have declared that the individual in question 
 belonged to that estimable section of the community 
 
OIL UPON THE WATERS. 279 
 
 wiiose business in life it is to provide humanity with 
 corns. His moustache was twisted with seven-and- 
 seventy ringlets, and he had the habit every time 
 he opened his mouth of violently shaking his head 
 and shrugging his shoulders by way of making his 
 words the more emphatic 
 
 Master Matthias was a famous orator of the 
 market-place, a toast-master of the city guilds, a 
 finished wedding-feast chaimmn, and a recognised 
 champion swine-slayer, he was consequently re- 
 nowned throughout the town. 
 
 Nor was he the least afraid of the town, or the 
 county either, or even of the General himself, as he 
 now intended to show him. 
 
 So there he stood manfully in front of V6rtessy, 
 twirling his crooked moustache from end to end, and 
 banging his musket on the ground as violently as 
 if he meant to smash its butt end to pieces. Then 
 he cleared his throat, and in a hoarsely strident 
 voice gave expression to the following sentiments : 
 
 " My Lord General, whereas it has happened, so 
 to Sf)eak, that our human masses in this comitavus* 
 have attained to extraordinary dimensions, and inas- 
 much as the honourable imposteratusf has decided 
 in consequence thereof that this is not a right state 
 of things at all, far from it, and right they are too^ 
 say I, for the members of the city guilds have far too 
 many qualifications; but, on the other hand, they 
 
 • /.«., **Comitatus" county. 
 
 t /.'., " Compossessoratus,' a local committee of landed pro* 
 prietors for assessing taxation, &e> 
 
sSo THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 are quite wrong, inasmuch as our journeymen are in 
 coimtlessly small number therein, therefore we have 
 resolved that as everyone is talking about it, so it 
 must be, and not otherwise. For great is the desire 
 of the enemy to make an impulse in this kingdom. 
 Moreover, as for the avoidcince and confirmation 
 thereof, the plenipotentiaries have furthermore re- 
 solved that the 'pothecaries are concocting a certain 
 miasma, by which decree we men are to be kept 
 within salutary boundaries. Such finally being the 
 case, and the people having cognisance thereof, the 
 secular inhabitants of the neighbouring districts and 
 sequestrations have arisen, and want to know what 
 it is all about and wherefore. I myself am not able 
 to say a word there anent, inasmuch as I wish not 
 to apprehend it ; but so much I can say for certain, 
 that one of my journeymen on his way to the fail 
 had his feet twisted double with cramp, and I know 
 what I know. If, therefore, my Lord General so 
 wishes it, and considers it seasonable that men foi 
 the common good of the kingdom should make a 
 revolution, therefore we most humbly and respect- 
 fully petition for the same. And we are not foola 
 eitiber." 
 
 During this brilliant and particularly ludd 
 haxangue, the bolder masses of the mob had pushed 
 right forward, and it seemed highly probable that 
 within the next few moments the arguments of the 
 great popular orator would be emphasized by fist- 
 law. V6rtessy, on the other hand, quite apart from 
 general feelings of humanity and patriotism, had t 
 
OIL UPON THE WATERS. aSi 
 
 still stronger reason for avoiding tumult and blood- 
 shed At that very moment his sick wife lay at the 
 threshold of death. A mere volley, a single hour of 
 street-fighting, might perhaps be the death of her. 
 
 In this agonising situation a horseman was seen 
 approaching from the opposite side of the road 
 Only with the utmost difficulty could he force his 
 way through the densely packed mob. Indeed, they 
 would not have stirred a stump had he not kept on 
 waving in his hand a piece of paper, and shouting 
 incessantly that this was a proclamation addressed 
 to the people, and he wanted to speak with their 
 leader. 
 
 "Who is the worthy leader of these patriots?* 
 he exclaimed 
 
 Vertessy recognised in the horseman that mys- 
 terious Pole whom the condemned man could not 
 recollect, and by this time he was a trifle suspicious 
 of the fellow himself. After all, he began to think, 
 there might be some coherency in the words of the 
 prisoner, though only an hour ago he had looked 
 upon them as the mere ravings of a lunatic 
 
 "Where is the leader of the people?" cried 
 Kamienszka, urging on the sweating horse towards 
 the nearest open space. 
 
 Master Matthias proudly pointed to the wann 
 swelling bosom which lay beneath his leather apron, 
 by way of indicating that he was the man. 
 
 With an air of pathetic dignity Kamienszka 
 handed to the worthy patriot the proclamation of 
 Numa Pompilius, in which that worthy confided to 
 
»83 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 the tailors, cobblers, and bakers of the city ^e 
 honourable task of making, stitching, and baking 
 some thousands of boots, hose, and rolls for head- 
 quarters to be delivered immediately. 
 
 "What are you doing?" cried the General in 
 French. ** At the very first movement I shall scatter 
 these men.** 
 
 " I am pouring oil upon the waters," replied the 
 young horseman in the same language. "Within 
 an hour every man of them will go home." 
 
 Master Matthias seized the document with both 
 hands, pressed his musket betwixt his knees, and 
 read the proclamation attentively from beginning 
 to end. 
 
 The impression it made upon him could be 
 imagined from the conduct of his moustache, which 
 gradually lost its martial fierceness, and at last hung 
 meekly down. 
 
 " Six thousand pairs of boots — ^whew ! " 
 
 Meantime, a skinny fellow-citizen, buttoned up 
 to the chin, kept on stretching his scraggy neck a 
 monstrous distance across the heads of three rows 
 of other burghers standing in front of him, with his 
 eyes glued all the time upon the distant document 
 in Master Matthias* hands. This was Master 
 Csihos, known by the token over his shop as a 
 member of the honourable guild of tailors. 
 
 " There it is ! — ^read it for yourself ! " cried Master 
 Matthias. 
 
 The long arm stretched all the way across thiee 
 rows of fellow-dtizens standing in front of it, and 
 
OIL UPON THE WATERS. aSj 
 
 a little group of tailors having put their heads 
 together around the master-tailor, he read out the 
 proclamation in a loud voice. 
 
 " Three thousand pairs of trousers I " 
 
 The head of the guild of bakers had not heard 
 all that had been said, but the words " bread " and 
 " rolls " had tickled his ears uncomfortably. 
 
 The fatal prockmatian had in a few moments 
 made the round of the assembly, gradually disap- 
 pearing among the back rows of the mob. And, 
 wherever it passed, it left behind it long faces and 
 gaping, speechless mouths ; the tumult subsided into 
 a low murmur and an imeasy whispering. Master 
 Matthias, Master Csihos, and the chief of the 
 Guild of Bakers held counsel together cheek by 
 jowl. Those in the rear began to edge away along 
 the wall as if it was no concern of theirs. 
 
 At last Master Matthias leaned his musket against 
 the back of a friend, took off his cap, smoothed out 
 his moustache, and approached the General with a 
 very dubious expression of coimtenance, at the same 
 time violently scratching the back of his neck. 
 
 " Your pardon, my Lord General I " cried he;, 
 " possibly your honour did not quite understand me. 
 Although I never said that things were this or that, 
 neither did I mean the other thing, whether more or 
 less. Nevertheless, and be this as it may, and withr 
 out prejudice, I am well aware, as also are all my 
 friends, that it is not for us to sit in judgment on 
 tlie coimty tribunals or on you, my Lord General-— 
 very much, the other way in fact ; and if impudent 
 
tS4 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 disturbers of the public peace are carrying on their 
 games amongst us, such are to be regarded as the 
 dregs of humanity, cind we on the contrary see our- 
 selves obliged to turn to the worshipful coxmty 
 magistrates and to your honour that ye may deign 
 to have these evil-minded rioters who approach our 
 peaceful towns with firearms and pitchforks kept 
 far away therefrom, whereunto we also and the 
 trainbands of this town volunteer our services, 
 giving it to be and understood that, at my Lord 
 General's command, we shall be found ready to pour 
 out our life-blood in defence of our coimtry, our 
 town, our county, and our prince. To the gallow% 
 say I, with all who demand of us six thousand pairs 
 of boots ! Your poor humble servant ! " 
 
 Vertessy could not forbear from quietly smiling at 
 this discreet coat-turning rhetoric. With his drawn 
 sword he motioned to his soldiers to lower their 
 weapons, and return to the barracks, simply leaving 
 the usual sentries at their posts. 
 
 The noisy eissembly then gave one long cheer for 
 the General, and after threatening every sort of 
 distant object with their sticks and clenched fists, 
 tumultously dispersed. 
 
 Kamienszka, after the odd dispersal of the rioters, 
 trotted alongside the General into the courtyard o£ 
 the barracks, where they both dismounted and 
 hastened into the waiting room. Each of them 
 had something urgent to say to the other which 
 could not be expressed in public 
 
 "Sir," the General hastened to say, he was 
 
OIL UPON THE WATERS. 185 
 
 determined to have the first word — "whoever you 
 are, you have rendered me a very important service 
 which I hope to be able to repay." 
 
 " I come from the midst of danger, General," 
 replied the heroic lady very quickly, like one 
 anxious to economize his moments and count his 
 words; "a dangerous rebellion has broken out in 
 the midst of the county, anJ by mere accident I 
 have got the leading strings of it in my hands. For 
 a moment, however, I ran the risk of being strung 
 up myself. The visitation of this strange epidemic 
 has afforded a band of desperate fanatics with the 
 opportimity of accomplishing a long-cherished 
 design. Here is the proclamation which in a few 
 days will fly over the whole realm." 
 
 The General read through the document hzinded 
 to him with the utmost astonishment. 
 
 ** Love of loot, revenge, popular stupidity, will be 
 powerful allies in such a frantic enterprise, which, if 
 it but gain the upper hand, will, in a few weeks, 
 change the whole appearance of the map of Europe. 
 At present the flame is but a tiny one. It has only 
 burst forth in a few villages. To-night they are 
 going to attack the Castle of Hetfalu. That will be 
 the beginning of it" 
 
 The General's face quivered. So the words of 
 the condemned man had been true ! 
 
 "There they will murder both master and 
 servants. Murdered they must be in order that 
 the participators in the outbreak may find retreat 
 impossible. This will be the beginning of a desper- 
 ate struggle." 
 
»B6 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 « 
 
 The General rang a bell. He whispered a few 
 words in the ear of the adjutant who answered the 
 siimmons, and then sat down and began writing 
 very rapidly, at the same time beckoning to Kami- 
 enszka to go on. 
 
 "General, at present the conflagration may be 
 stamped out by a single effort A bold hand, which 
 does not shrink from a bad bum, may cover up the' 
 mouth of the volcano if instant action be taken. 
 But not a day, not an hour, not a moment, should be 
 lost. The thing must be done at once. In a day, 
 an hour, a moment, things might happen which 
 could never be made good again." 
 
 A rattle of chains was audible at the door, two 
 sentries were bringing in the prisoner, behind them 
 came the provost-martiaL 
 
 The General, who never ceased writing, thus 
 addressed him : 
 
 "Young man! have those chains taken off your 
 bands, ask my adjutant for a sword, and gird it 
 on!'* 
 
 Young Hetfalusy opened his eyes wide with 
 astonishment He allowed them to take the chains 
 ofiE his hands, and gird a sword to his side, and did 
 not at once observe that a couple of yards away 
 from him stood a strange youth, who found it very 
 hard not to burst into tears, and fall upon his neck 
 at the sight of him, so miserable did he look. 
 
 The General had at last finished his correspon- 
 dence, and gave his whole attention to young 
 H6tfalusy. 
 
OIL UPON THE WATERS. t87 
 
 •Now listen patiently to all that I am going to 
 say. Take these letters, choose the best horse from 
 my stables, and hasten to the leaders of the military 
 cordons one after the other. Each one of them 
 will place at the disposal of the captain accompany- 
 ing you one half of his effective strength. As soon 
 as you have gathered together half a battalion, 
 hasten with them to Hetfalu, as to the rest that will 
 be provided for by written instructions. Your own 
 heart will tell you what you ought to do. You 
 are going to rescue and defend your family. There 
 the hand of God will be over you. If it please 
 Him to carry your sentence into execution His will 
 be done, if you return alive the past shall be for- 
 gottea" 
 
 The youth did not know what to answer, his voice 
 died away in his throat All he could do was to 
 sink down in silence by the GeneraFs side, press his 
 hand to his lips, and shed tearsw 
 
 " Get up, get up, and be off! You have not to 
 thank me for this. You must thank God and this 
 worthy gentiejnan who has dared so much for your 
 sake." 
 
 Only then did the youth cast a glance upon 
 Kamienszkaj and it seemed to him as if he dimly 
 saw, conjured up before him, through the misty veil 
 of his tears, the vision of a form from other days. 
 
 The Polish lady hastened up to him, pressed his 
 hand, and whispered in his ear : 
 
 " Not a word now 1 We shall have plenty of time 
 presentiy,** 
 
988 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 "Then you do know each other? " said Vertessy. 
 •* What could the youth be dreaming of to deny his 
 friend a Httle while ago? " 
 
 And with that he gave the heroine's hand a 
 vigorous grip, for he had every reason to still call 
 her a man. 
 
 " Sir," said he, " I fancy I am not making you a 
 bad offer if I ask you to come and have a hast}^ 
 breakfast with me and your young friend, and then 
 choose one of my horses and buckle on one of my 
 swords. You are not the man I take you for if you 
 do not feel inclined to follow your comrade and 
 share his danger." 
 
 Hetfalusy, with an expression of alarm, would 
 have interrupted him ; but the girl thrust him aside, 
 and her flashing eyes seemed to impose silence upon 
 him. 
 
 " Thank you, General," she manfully replied. " I 
 anticipated that offer, and I accept it As for our 
 breakfast we can have that in our saddles. We 
 have no time to stay." 
 
 " You are right," said Vertessy, squeezing the soft 
 downy hand whose steel-like muscles did not betray 
 the woman, " you must hasten. This mad rebellion 
 must be overthrown as rapidly as it has arisen. 
 Should the movement extend to other parts of the 
 county you will not fend me unprepared" 
 
 Meanwhile the steeds were led out below the 
 gate. The attendant captain rushed out, half 
 dressed, bringing a sword with him for Kamienszka, 
 which she hastily buckled on like a man. 
 
OIL UPON THE WATERS. tSg 
 
 The General escorted them down to the horses, 
 and the three cavaliers swung themselves into their 
 saddles. Vertessy pressed once more the heroine's 
 hand, and said to her with soldierly frankness : 
 
 "Mr. Kamienszki, I have a great regard for 
 you!" 
 
 " Not Kamienszki but Kamienszka ! " murmtired 
 the lady softly, and with that she spurred her horse 
 and galloped after her comrades. 
 
 And now for the first time a light dawned in 
 V6rtessy's mind, and he understood it all. 
 
 " A marvellous woman ! " he muttered, gazing 
 after her till the distance hid her from his eyes. 
 
 The streets were quite quiet, nobody was about, 
 the General's own heart was afflicted by the stillness. 
 A beneficent calm, so often the reaction from ex- 
 treme excitement, came over him. 
 
 And now he had time to hasten back to the 
 peaceful house opposite. 
 
 His heart beat so violently with joyful anticipa- 
 tion, the pulses of his hands and temples throbbed 
 so tumultuously as he strode through the quiet 
 rooms. 
 
 In the ante-chamber he encountered the doctor, 
 who advanced towards him with a smile and 
 stretched out his hand. 
 
 " You have a joyful house now," said he. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " exclaimed Vertessy, 
 stammering with delight ; he knew very well, all the 
 time, what the doctor meant 
 
 *A wee, wee cherub has arrived," whi^)ered the 
 
 T 
 
spo THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 doctor — ** and *tis a boy cherub too," be added with 
 a still broader smile. 
 
 The next moment Vertessy was kneeling down 
 before his wife, and pressing her hands hundreds 
 and hundreds of times to his burning lips. 
 
 And the wife, with a sweet and blissful smile, 
 looked down upon her husband like one of those 
 whom the prayers of their beloved have called back 
 from the world beyond the grave. 
 
 "With God there is mercy!" was all that she 
 could say. 
 
CHAPTER XVL 
 
 •nS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 
 
 At the Castle of Hetfalu everyone was quietly 
 sleeping. None had any thought of that black 
 spectre which is the enemy of all living creatures, 
 which constrains the huge watch-dog to dig up. 
 graves with his hind feet, which bids the night owl. 
 utter her dismal notes on the housetop alongside 
 of the creaking weather-cock, which sends into the 
 vestibules and corridors its living visiting-cards in 
 the shape of those large, black, night-moths with 
 pale skull-like effigies painted on their backs as 
 upon tombs, beneath whose feet the furniture creaks 
 and crackles, which makes that tiny invisible beetle 
 hidden between the boards of the beds begin tick- 
 tick-ticking like a fairy watch, eleven times in 
 succession, by way of showing that the witching 
 hour of night is close at hand 
 
 Oh ! there is such a great imanimity among these 
 dumb creatures of the night and darkness. 
 
 The wind blew gloomy-looking clouds before it 
 across the sky, clouds which hastened away from 
 that district^ which jostled one another as th^ 
 
99a THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 scudded along, some high, some low, and kept on 
 changing their shapes as if they feared lest some- 
 thing might catch them there. Some of them had 
 blood-red linings from the flames of distant con- 
 flagrations, and these flew rapidly along, trying to 
 force their way through in advance of the rest ; but 
 these others sped along still faster, lest they, too, 
 should be enkindled. 
 
 And in the darkness disorderly masses of men 
 might have been dimly seen assembling in the roads 
 and stealthily proceeding towards the castle. In 
 the tap-room of the csdrda evil counsellors are dis- 
 cussing the destruction of all the dwellers in the 
 castle. 
 
 Three separate opinions are fighting for the 
 supremacy. Numa Pompilius is in favour of an 
 open, heroic attack, as became the epigoni of the 
 valiant Sarmatians; with battering-rams, ballistas, 
 and other classical instruments of weirfare, he would 
 have fought breast to breast, eye to eye with the 
 foe. 
 
 Ivan, on the other hand, is more practical. He 
 knows his own people better, and anticipates much 
 greater success from an insidious surprise in which 
 the warriors shall stealthily crawl over walls and' 
 through windows upon the unguarded and imsus- 
 pecting garrison, and massacre them in their 
 dreams. 
 
 The wife of the headsman sits on the table 
 opposite the two commanders-in-chief with a mock- 
 ing smile upon her lips, and her huge muscular arms 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 293 
 
 crossed over her bosom. From time to time she 
 utters a scornful laugh and grunts disapprovingly. 
 
 " Do what you like," she said at last, " neither of 
 you knows anything about it The buffalo-catcher 
 would proceed cautiously and the cripple would run 
 like a ' bull ' at the gate." 
 
 " And what would you do, I should like to know," 
 snarled Ivan. 
 
 " I know something, and I know how to keep it 
 to myself. When you two have made a mess of it, 
 then I shall come forward." 
 
 The commanders began to be jealous of her 
 influence. The first success always wins the heart of 
 the mob, they must make sure of that anyhow." 
 
 " Call in the Leather-bell," cried Ivan to the door- 
 keepers. 
 
 The old fellow was shoved in. 
 
 "The castle watch-dogs know you, don't they?** 
 he was asked. 
 
 "Know me? of course they do," replied the 
 worthy man. "Why, I brought up Tisza and 
 Farkas myself. 1 give them bread every day. 
 Why, they sniff my pockets even now whenever I 
 go along there." 
 
 "They know you still better, you knacker you, 
 ril be bound," said Dame Zudar to Ivan derisively. 
 
 Ivan caught up a knife from the table and would 
 have stuck the woman with it had not Thomas 
 Bodza stayed his hand. He did not like these 
 squabbles at all. 
 
 " This is not the time for wrangling," said he. 
 
S94 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Only very reluctantly did Ivan allow himself to 
 be pacified and induced to continue the conversa- 
 tioiL 
 
 "Here in this handkerchief are some pieces of 
 meat, do you think you can get the dogs to take 
 them with soft words? " 
 
 "Why not? I have only to call them by name, 
 and they will come to the doors of their kennels 
 and eat it out of my very hands." 
 
 " Then look sharp and set about it'* 
 
 The Leather-bell was such a good fellow that he 
 was never able to resist the slightest command. He 
 accepted the commission, although he knew very 
 well that the dogs would be poisoned He consoled 
 himself with the reflection, however, that nobody 
 had told him so beforehand 
 
 "But look here, gentlemen, you don't want to 
 do his honour, the squire, any harm?" he inquired 
 of Ivcin, with a foolishly smiling face. 
 
 "No, old'un, na" 
 
 " Nor the young squire either? " 
 
 " No, nor him either, not for all the world" . 
 
 "Nor the hey duke? He is my godson, yon 
 know." 
 
 " No, nor him either, old 'un, but do look sharp." 
 
 "You only want to find out whether there is 
 poison in the castle or not, don't you? " 
 
 "Yes, yes. Devil take the fellow! Be off, 
 or I'll knock some of your teeth down your 
 throat." 
 
 And the poor Leather-bell scuttled ofL 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 295 
 
 " And now bring Mekipiros hither ! " 
 
 They dragged the poor half-idiotic creature into 
 the room. His thick, bristly hair hung right over 
 his eyes. He was grinning and evidently in a good 
 humour. But he could speak no longer, of course, 
 ^ince he had lost his tongue; whatever they said 
 to him he could only reply : " Hamamama ! " 
 
 This with him was the expression of happiness 
 and contentment, both question and answer. 
 
 '* Mekipiros ! come hither and drink," cried Ivan, 
 holding to his mouth a straw-covered pitcher full 
 of spirit, which he to whom it was offered did not 
 remove from his lips till it was quite empty. Then 
 he returned it to Ivan with a joyful " Hamamama ! " 
 
 "Look now, blockhead! You can climb up a 
 rope anywhere, can't you? " 
 
 " Hamamamama ! " 
 
 " All right, Tm not deaf! You can scale the roof 
 of a house by means of a rope then? " 
 
 The hideous monster rubbed his hands with joy 
 at the proposal 
 
 "And then you will drag me up after you by 
 means of the same rope, do you imderstand? " 
 
 The dwarfish abortion rushed with a howl of joy 
 at Ivan, caught the fellow round the knee, raised 
 him high in the air, and leapt up and down with 
 him, by way of showii^ that he was as light as a 
 bag of feathers, till Ivan, by dint of shouting and 
 pummeUing, contrived to free himself from the 
 creature's grasp. 
 
 ** The fellow has the strength of an ox," said ho 
 
2^6 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 to Thomas Bodza, seizing the thick-set creature by 
 the hair, and lugging him hither and thither, 
 which appeared to infinitely delight the speechless 
 monster. Whenever he succeeded in getting hold 
 of one of Ivan's hands he covered it with kisses, 
 whereupon the other, with an air of disgust, kept 
 rubbing them on the tails of his coat, as if he could 
 not wipe them sufficiently. 
 
 "He will do very well as food for their gfuns," 
 whispered Ivan. " If the people in the castle hear 
 a noise, and guess our subterfuge, they will shoot 
 Mekipiros, for we will send him on in front Why, 
 even with a couple of bullets in his body the fellow 
 will be able to scramble up the walL He's like a' 
 toad." 
 
 Meanwhile the Leather -bell returned and 
 announced that the dogs had gobbled up all the 
 meat thrown to thenL 
 
 " Oh, they made no bones about it," cried he. 
 
 "Then we can go," said Ivan, thrusting a rusty 
 military pistol into his breast-pocket 
 
 Dame Zudar hastened towards her matted 
 waggon and leaped upon the box-seat For a 
 moment a long, sharp knife flashed betwixt her 
 hands, and she peered at it closely to make sure that 
 its edge was all rigfht, immediately afterwards it 
 vanished again nobody knew whither. Then she 
 laid hold of her whip and lashed up the horses. 
 
 The road they followed passed by the hut of the 
 Death-Bird. The old witch was huddled up in her 
 doorway, and began counting those who passed. 
 
'TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. «^ 
 
 marking them off one by one, with her crutch: 
 *' One, two, three — One, two, three." 
 
 She never went beyond three, therefore every 
 third was a marked man. 
 
 When her daughter passed by with the rector 
 and Ivan she laughed aloud. 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha! A splendid company truly! A 
 schoolmaster, a headsman's apprentice, and a nice 
 young bride! Whither are you going such a dark 
 night? A splendidly dark night! Just the night 
 for thieves and murderers ; just the night for those 
 intent on rapine and burning! On you go! On 
 you go! Worry the great gentry, root out your 
 landlords, and after that fall yourselves into the 
 hands of the headsman ! The less people there are 
 in the world the nicer it will be." 
 
 None of the rioters durst molest her though she 
 stood right in their way, and spoke so that everyone 
 could hear her. They all took care to give her a 
 wide berth. 
 
 Thomas Bodza distributed his people along the 
 road, and occupied every exit from the castle. One 
 detachment he hid behind a haystack, with another 
 he seized the beehives, and with a third the 
 distillery. The servants who lived outside he over- 
 came after a short resistance, and then boimd them 
 tightly and locked them up. 
 
 Inside the casde nobody was yet aware of what 
 was going on outside Not a single servcint slept 
 there. The young squire, in his terror of the 
 epidemic, would not suffer one of them to sleep in 
 
fpS THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 the castle, the only people inside there besides him- 
 self were old Hetfalusy and the doctor. 
 
 Ivan then chose out six of the bravest of his 
 followers, amongst them the watchman in whose 
 sylvan hut they had held their secret meetings, 
 Hamza, the sexton, and Mekipiros, whose mouth 
 they had to gag, to prevent him from uttering his 
 eternal " Hamamama ! " 
 
 Poor Mekipiros ! A little while ago he was able 
 to pray, now he could not utter an intelligible 
 word! 
 
 It was not difficult to get into the courtyard. The 
 Leather-bell opened the gate for them. Inside the 
 dogs were lying near the well stiff and stark, noth-i 
 ii^ had betrayed the venture. 
 
 And now Ivan produced a long strong rope, and 
 tied on to it a lot of pack-thread, at the end of which 
 a heavy piece of lead was fastened. Round the roof 
 of the castle ran a metal gutter, which terminated 
 at the comers m old-fashioned dolphins. On to one 
 <rf sudi dolphins Ivan threw the pack-thread noose, 
 and seizing hold of the re-descending lead plummet, 
 hoisted up the rope likewise It was really a capital 
 idea. Mekipiros was to clamber up the rope, he 
 knew the trick of it He was to be the anima vilis 
 by means of whom they were to find out whether 
 the folks in the castle were asleep or not 
 
 When he got to the top he was to pull up Ivan 
 after him, and then the united strength of the 
 pair of them would do the same by the others. 
 They would then creep into the castle through the 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK, 299 
 
 attics and open the doors, which were locked on the 
 inside, to admit their comrades. 
 
 Nothing could have been more circumspectly con- 
 ceived. 
 
 When the rope was firmly fastened to the top of 
 the gutter Ivan hurried up Mekipiros and shoved 
 the free end of the rope into his hand. 
 
 The little monster did not trust himself to shout* 
 but expressed his satisfaction in a lowly murmured 
 " Hamamamama ! " 
 
 The next moment he was clambering up the rope 
 like a strange sort of huge spider, climbing rapidly 
 higher and higher with agile hands and feet, 
 .occasionally he evei^ helped himself along with his 
 teeth. In a few moments he was sitting on the 
 back of the copper dolphin, delighted to have found 
 a steed in a monster similar to himself, and from 
 thence he shouted : " Hu, hu, hu ! " like an owL 
 
 " Will you shut up ! " called Ivan, in a voice of 
 suppressed fury. ** The beast will betray us 1 Haul 
 up, can't you?" 
 
 Ivan clutched hold of tbe rope with both hands. 
 
 Mekipiros with vigorous tugs hoisted him up- 
 wards, hauling up the rope with his short cirms as 
 easily as if there were no weight attached to it 
 
 " How I wish he would let him fall," murmured 
 Dame Zuddr to herself. 
 
 Thomas Bodza had much the same sort of wisU' 
 in his own heart Each of them had his or hec* 
 particular reasons for wishing Ivan's plan to fail 
 
 But Mekipiros did not let him drop. He hoisted 
 
300 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 him up right on to the roof and helped him to climb 
 up on to the metal gutter. 
 
 Ivan scarce felt his feet once more, however, 
 when, instead of expressing his gratitude, he ex- 
 pended his pent-up rage on his companion. 
 
 "You mad bullock, you, why did you roar out 
 just now, eh?" he whispered in the ear of Meki- 
 piros, and he viciously tugged at the stunted 
 monster's bristly hair with one hand, at the same 
 time holding his other hand before his mouth to 
 prevent him from screaming out. 
 
 At that same instant Mekipiros turned upon Ivan 
 with flashing eyes, seized him round the thighs and 
 holding him fast embraced, hauled him along the 
 roof. For a second the pair of them tottered on 
 the very edge of the gutter, but then Ivan clutched 
 the metal cornice and held on to it convulsively 
 with both hands. 
 
 " Hamama, hamama, hamama ! " howled the 
 enraged monster. Like a heavy load of sin, he 
 hung on to the legs of his prey, squeezing his knees 
 together in an iron embrace, worrying his enemy's 
 calves with his teeth, kicking and cuflang him, and 
 striving to hurl him into the abyss below. 
 
 Ivan was fairly mad with terror. 
 
 " Help ! " he roared, in a voice capable of arousing 
 the Seven Sleepers, " help ! He is killing me ! " 
 
 " I knew what would be the end of it ! " cried 
 Dame Zudar, gnashing her teeth. " The poltroon is 
 betraying us himself. Let him perish if he does not 
 know how to live." 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 301 
 
 "Scoundrel!" Bodza shouted to him. "What! 
 cannot you die speechless like a Julius Caesar? And 
 when the common cause demands that you should 
 keep silence too ! Fie upon you, I say ! " 
 
 Ivan, in his desperation, writhed over the gult 
 beneath him, and forgetting everything but the 
 horrible death awaiting him, bellowed hoarsely to 
 those standing below : 
 
 " Help, for the love of Christ Men, I say ! do 
 not let me perish! I am falling! I am dying. 
 Woe is me! Spread straw imderneath, can't you? 
 Hold a carpet below me ! Mercy, mercy ! Let me 
 go, Mekipiros! I beseech you, for God's sake, let 
 me go ! " 
 
 But it was no part of Mekipiros' plan to plunge 
 down to the ground all by himself. For the last 
 hour or so he had been joyfully awaiting this sweet 
 moment, for this he had laughed, for this he had 
 frisked about so uproariously. He was unable to 
 conceal his delight If only he could be alone with 
 his tormentor at that giddy height, suddenly seize 
 him, and hurl him down with himself from the roof, 
 fly for a few seconds through the air, and then lie 
 stretched upon the earth in a smashed and broken 
 mass, so that it would be impossible to distinguish 
 the one from the other — ^ah! then how happy he 
 would be ! 
 
 And — better than that even — ^his victim had 
 clutched hold of something in the very act of falling, 
 and so the delicious moment was indefinitely pro- 
 longed! He heard how his prey roared for help, 
 
302 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 saw how he writhed convulsively in the desperate 
 hope of saving himself, how half out of his mind 
 he even begged him, Mekipiros! for life: "Meki- 
 piros, dear good Mekipiros, let me go, and plunge' 
 down alone ! " 
 
 " Hamamama ! hamamama ! " gurgled the mons- 
 ter with a grim cruel voice, and he kicked the wall 
 with his feet to make Ivan let go the quicker, and 
 buried his scanty teeth in the fleshy legs of his 
 victim, and worried him like a dog. 
 
 "Mercy, mercy! Help! I can hold out na 
 longer ! " gasped Ivan, his sinews beginning to 
 stretch beneath the pressure of the double load. 
 No help was possible. Those standing below cursed 
 him for rousing the castle with his shouts. The 
 narrow edge of the gutter was gradually slipping, 
 through his nerveless fingers. And now one hand 
 relaxed its hold, and only by a last convulsive effort 
 did he manage to hold on for a few seconds by the 
 other. 
 
 " Hamamama ! " screeched the monster, and then 
 a yell, as of the lost, resounded from height to depth, 
 and a huge round, black, writhing, coil came bound- 
 ing rapidly to the ground, and there, the next 
 instant, lay a mangled mass of flesh, in which per- 
 ihaps at one time two souls had dwelt. 
 
 "And now let us see what the next can do," 
 growled Dame Zuddr, leaning nonchalantly back in 
 her waggon, and crossing her arms over her breast 
 like an impatient singer at a concert who waits for 
 \j^ turn in the programme to come while his 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 303 
 
 colleagues are boring the public to death with their 
 dismal performances. 
 
 At Ivan's first howl two lights had become visible 
 in the two comer chambers of the castle, and 
 presently both of these lights were observed hasten- 
 ing to the central hall only, a few moments later, to 
 be extinguished. Then the iron shutters were 
 banged down with a crash, only one square piece in 
 the middle still remained raised. 
 
 The besieged were on their guard 
 
 Now, Numa Pompilius, you have a fine field 
 before you for the race of glory. Advance! put 
 your ladders to the walls, hurl your beams against 
 the foe, sling your stones against the roof, begin 
 the struggle, and inspire the combatants with martial 
 fury! Let shouts and yells and curses supply 
 the place of thundering artillery! The enemy i3 
 aroused and expectant ! 
 
 " Forward, ye heroes ! The hour of the red dawn 
 of our day of triumph is at hand. Victory to the 
 valiant!" 
 
 The excited mob heard not a word of this 
 classical appeal, its ears were too full of its own 
 bowlings, as it pressed into the courtyard 
 
 Then from that window square, which had 
 remained uncovered by the shutter, a shot 
 resounded, at whose sharp report the hideous hub- 
 bub suddenly grew dumb, and during the lull a 
 strong manly voice addressed the rioters : 
 
 "That was only a blank shot If you do not 
 instantly leave the courtyard we will fire amoi^ you 
 with bullets" 
 
304 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 "Let us depart hence, my noble patriots, let xm 
 depart ! " stammered the Leather-bell. " It is Squire 
 Sz6phalmi who commands it It is not well to play- 
 games with him. He has a lot of six-barrelled fire- 
 arms inside with three bullets in each barrel A 
 mischief may befall some of us else. We have 
 wives and children at home. Let us go home, my 
 dear fellow patriots. Early to-morrow morning we 
 will send a deputation." 
 
 The greater part of the mob shared this good 
 opinion, and began to show their respect for fire^ 
 arms by clearing out of the courtyard. 
 
 But Numa Pompilius, full of the fury of despair, 
 barred the way against his retreating host 
 
 "Miserable, cowardly deserters! What! a single 
 blank shot is sufficient to turn you back! Holus- 
 bolus, ' sicut examen apum,' ye decamp at the word 
 of a single foe! Fie, fie upon you, ye dregs, ye 
 sweepii^ of humanity ! " 
 
 The bellicose commcLnder spat in his disgust at 
 the fugitives again, and again, and overwhelmed 
 them with all sorts of choice epithets. Finally he 
 snatched up an axe, and declared that if nobody else 
 stirred he would go and batter down the door of the 
 castle single-handed 
 
 But the Leather-bell threw his arms round the 
 body of the enthusiastic hero lest he should hazard 
 his life in so perilous an enterprise. Nay, he would 
 not even let him enter the courtyard, but went so 
 far as to seize the axe he held in his hand regardless 
 of the kicks and cuffs he received during the struggle 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 305 
 
 Dame Zudir laughed scornfully at this tragi- 
 comical scene. 
 
 " Why don't some other of you fellows hold him 
 back too ? " she cried. " He likes nothing better than 
 not to be let go. Don't you see what a business he 
 makes of it to rid himself of that feeble old man, 
 whom he could throw to the ground with half a 
 hand if he had a mind to. Get out of my way, will 
 you? Men are out of place in a joke of this sort 
 My mother was a witch and I'm one also. Do you 
 know that I can open every door before you with a 
 single word All you have got to do is to sharpen 
 your knives." 
 
 And with that she opened the wicker covering of 
 her waggon, which hitherto had been kept tightly 
 closed, and as easily, as if she only held a down 
 cushion in her hand, she hauled forth little Elise. 
 
 The child's hands were tied in front of her, and 
 her head was completely enveloped in a thick 
 woollen wrapper so that she could neither see nor 
 cry out 
 
 Dajne Zuddr removed the wrapper from the Kttle 
 girl's head, and ordered her to stand upright 
 
 Then she produced a half burnt wax taper, the 
 relic of some past funeral, lit it, and placed it 
 between the child's fettered fingers. 
 
 " The woman is not quite light," growled shaggy- 
 headed Hanak. " She lights a candle so that they 
 may be better able to fire among us." 
 
 " Have no fear, shaggy pate. They will not fire 
 at you. Go and huddle bdiind the doorpost if you 
 
 U 
 
$o6 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 like. 1 mean to go alone into the courtyard, and 
 will draw the snake out of its hole with my bare 
 hand" 
 
 The besiegers did not need much persuasion to 
 hide themselves. When Dame Zudar passed 
 through fhe gate with the child, everyone, not 
 exceptii^ Thomas Bodza, hastened to make himself 
 scarce. 
 
 The child she sent on in front with the lighted 
 taper sticking between its fettered fingers. She fol- 
 lowed close behind. She had no fear of bullets now. 
 
 When they came in front of the open square in 
 the shutter, she made the child stop, and bade it 
 kneel down. 
 
 Then with a loud resounding voice she shouted 
 up at the windows : 
 
 "Old Hetfcdusy, are you there? Yoimg Sze- 
 phalmi, are you there? " 
 
 There was no answer. 
 
 " It is of no use denying yourselves. I am here 
 to carry on my process against you. It is the old, 
 old suit in which my father lost his life and my 
 mother her reasoa I have also brought along with 
 me a tribunal which cannot be corrupted. I am now 
 the stronger party." 
 
 " Take yourself off ! " a hoarse, broken voice 
 suddenly cried from the window; it very much 
 resembled old Hetfalusy's. 
 
 " Oh, I'm to take myself off, eh ! " cried the virago 
 defiantly. "Am I not standing then on my own 
 ground? Is ^ not this comer of the house whose 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 307 
 
 windows I am now rattling, built on the plot 
 of ground belonging to my forefathers? Is not 
 this ground my own? Are not these very stones, 
 these very blades of grass on which I now trample, 
 mine, mine, mine ? " 
 
 **It may very easily be yours for ever, you 
 wretched creature," said another voice, the voice of 
 the younger squire. " If you do not go away, yoa 
 shall die on the very spot" 
 
 The barrel of a gun flashed between the shutters, 
 and the headsman's wife could see that it was 
 pointed straight at her heart. 
 
 Quickly she pulled the littlegirl towards her. 
 
 " Aim away, Szephalmi ! " she cried " I have 
 even taken the trouble to bring a light that you may 
 see to aim straight" 
 
 And with that she snatched the candle from 
 between the child's fingers, and held it so that it 
 lit up her feice. 
 
 "Look now! A pretty child, ain't she? Those 
 blue cyeSy those soft lipPs resemble someone you 
 loved very much at one time, don't they? It would 
 be a shame, wouldn't it, to make this tender, slender 
 shape a target for bullets, wouldn't it? " 
 
 The barrel of the gun sank slowly down. 
 
 "How do you suppose now, Szephalmi," con- 
 tinued the virago, her face radiant with infernal 
 malice, " how do you suppose now that the heads- 
 man's wife managed to get hold of this gentle 
 cherub, who is as much like her as an ^nge\ is to a 
 devU?'^ 
 
3o8 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " Woman ! " hissed someone from within, though 
 whether it was the old man or the young it was 
 impossible to say. 
 
 Dame Zudar drew nearer, she now went right up 
 to the window. 
 
 " You would like me to speak in a lower key, no 
 doubt? Well, I may do that You see how close 
 I am standing to you, you could touch my body 
 with the barrel of your musket But you wor^t 
 touch me, I know, for now it is I who am the 
 destroyer." 
 
 And with that she laid her large, broad, muscular 
 palm on the Httle girl's tender shoulder. 
 
 "This child is now eight years old. When she 
 was bom her father cursed her, her mother kicked 
 her out, and her nurse confided her to a she-wolf 
 that she might either kill it or bring it up along 
 with her own whelps — which is much about the 
 same thing. It is the foolish old story, the old grey 
 wolf carried off the brat and brought it up ; the old 
 headsman nourished the innocent little girl, and 
 defended her against all the wild beasts of the 
 forest Do I make the fable quite clear to you? " 
 
 A stifled moan was the sole reply. 
 
 "And then Heaven's lightning descended upon 
 your house, misfortune was a constant visitor upon 
 you, you soon had a pair of corpses under your 
 roof, and there was no end to your affliction. Now 
 I should say that that looked very much like a 
 corse upon you. 
 
 "Yes, a curse pursued your family. When you 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 309 
 
 had securely fastened the door behind you, you used 
 to weep and wail like any beggar; yes, and no 
 beggar at your door would have thanked you for 
 the chance of exchanging his lot with yours." 
 
 To this there was no reply from behind the window. 
 
 The defiant features of the virago were illumina- 
 ted by the candle which the child now held again 
 in her hand. She seemed to cast a dark shadow 
 upon the very night around her — the darkest of 
 dark shadows. 
 
 And now she went right up to the window s6 that 
 she could actually whisper through it. 
 
 " Come, throw down your weapons, ye great and 
 haughty gentlemen, for they are no longer a defence 
 to you. Something very evil is going to happen 
 to-night, for I have not come to you for nothing, I 
 can tell you." 
 
 And with that she drew from beneath the kerchief 
 covering her breast the knife sharpened to a keen 
 point, whose edge she had tested so carefully a short 
 time before. 
 
 " Do you see my key? " cried she. " This is the 
 key to your hearts, this is the key to the doors of 
 your palaces. This knife will pare down your pride 
 and humble you to the dust beneath my feet You 
 could shoot me dead as I stand here I know, though 
 that would be no very great master-stroke. But the 
 same instant in which I fell, my mother, the old 
 witch, would stand behind my back and would shout 
 to the infuriated mob with all the force of her lungs, 
 and tell them whose this child is, and then do you 
 
320 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 know in whose he<irt this knife would be plunged 
 first of all?'' 
 
 A sort of painful wail came from below the dark 
 window, like the sounds that are heard in a deserted, 
 dilapidated old fortress where the whole building 
 is ever sighing and moaning, and none can tell 
 whence the noise comes. 
 
 During the virago's muttered discourse the bolder 
 spirits among the mob had gradually flitted back 
 again into the courtyard. They perceived that the 
 headsman's wife was not afraid, and this of itself 
 gave them courage. Some of them even drew near 
 to the threshold of the house, where they pricked 
 up their ears and did their best to catch something 
 of what the woman was talking about so mysteri- 
 ously. It might be worth their while to hear. 
 
 Dame Zudar began sharpening the knife against 
 the stone ledge of the castle window. 
 
 " I give you three minutes to think it over," she 
 now exclaimed aloud. " If you then say : let there 
 be bloodshed ! bloodshed there shall be." 
 
 And with that she turned back to the child. 
 
 There she stood in front of the castle threshold, 
 with the heavenly resignation of a martyr on her 
 pale, innocent face. She appeared to be quite 
 undisturbed by the dreadful scene before her. The 
 thought that she was now about to die absorbed all 
 her faculties. 
 
 *' Kneel down ! " cried the virago coldly. 
 
 The child took her at her word, and knelt dowB 
 on the lowest of the flight of steps. 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 311 
 
 * Pray, if you have a mind that way." 
 The child devoutly raised her eyes to Heaven, 
 and holding the lighted candle in front of her in her 
 tiny hands, began to sing this verse of a hymn : 
 
 " The Lord my God, I praise and bless, 
 For He hath heard my soul's distress, 
 And hath inclined His ear to me 
 Who love Him through eternity." 
 
 To many it seemed, while the child's quavering 
 ▼oice was intoning the sad melody, as if, either 
 hoai the midst of the crowd, or from some comer 
 dose at hand, a man's voice was accompanying the 
 tune in a subdued voice, dweUing upon the final 
 notes, as they do in church. 
 
 Who could it be? 
 
 None could say whence the accompanying voice 
 proceeded 
 
 A cold shudder ran down Dame Zuddr's back. 
 It was the voice of the headsman ! 
 
 But what a mad idea ! Men no longer come forth 
 unhurt from the midst of the fire, as did the three 
 holy children in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 So she strengthened her heart, marched up to the 
 door, and began thundering upon it with her fists. 
 
 " The three minutes for consideration is now up. 
 My old enemy and my young enemy, you must now 
 open the door and come forth." 
 
 The crowd waited in hushed suspense for what 
 would come next. 
 
 Why did not the people inside fire beneath the 
 
$U THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 sure protection of their stronghold? What spell 
 had this woman cast over them? Had she really 
 the power, then, to break through bolts and bars 
 with a mere word, a mere look? 
 
 "One, two, three!" 
 
 Still not a sound. 
 
 Then the virago, with a haughty look, turned 
 towards the people, and addressed them with a 
 penetrating voice : 
 
 "If they won't speak I will. Friends and com- 
 rades, these bigwigs here have sworn our ruin. 
 They want to root out the whole lot of us, why» 
 then, should we have mercy on them? Now, how- 
 ever, it is not we who are in their power, but th^ 
 who are in ours. Their own sins have delivered 
 them into my hands. You know, and the whole 
 world knows, that that stuck-up gentleman yonder, 
 Szephalmi, Esq., once upon a time exposed his first- 
 born child. He cast it forth in the wilderness, cast 
 it forth among the wild beasts, because he feared 
 the shame of it forsooth ! — ^ha, ha, ha ! Has a poor 
 man ever done the like of that? Aye, and it was 
 a poor man who found the child, it was a poor man 
 who had compassion on the little outcast thrown 
 in his way, it was a poor man who brought it up as 
 if it were his own child. And now, if you please^ 
 these high and noble gentlemen cast poison into 
 the wells of the poor man that they may destroy 
 him, root and branch." 
 
 The mob listened to these murderous words with 
 ever increasing eagerness. 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 313 
 
 At the same time it did not escape Dame Zudir's 
 attention that a key had been put into the iron door 
 of the castle from the inside, and that it was being 
 turned softly. 
 
 So now she fell a-shouting more noisily than ever. 
 
 "Before you kneels the foster-daughter of the 
 headsman's wife. Who was that child's mother? 
 who gave her to the headsman's wife? Her mother, 
 I tell you, was a great lady, none other than Ben- 
 jamin Hetfalusy's daughter, whom the wrath of God 
 smote down together with that little murderer, her 
 infant son. I nourished and brought up that child) 
 and what thanks did I get for it? Only this : that 
 these bigwigs have determined to kill us all by 
 poisoning our meat and drink, that they may there- 
 by bury their shameful secret But I declare their 
 design aloud, so that every man may know it. This 
 girl is Hetfalusy's grand-daughter. This girl is in 
 our power, and if these fine gentlemen so much as 
 crumple a single hair of any of your heads, I will 
 plunge this knife into the child's heart." 
 
 A confused, savage murmur ran through the mob 
 at these grim words, which seemed to intoxicate the 
 hearts of all who heard them with a fiendish cruelty. 
 
 And Dame Zudar, listening attentively, heard the 
 key turn in the door a second time. 
 
 She was well prepared for what would follow. 
 
 She now stepped behind the child, woimd its 
 beautiful blonde tresses round her left hand, and 
 with her right grasped the handle of the knife 
 convulsively. 
 
$1^ THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 ** Oh, God, my God! " cried Elise's bell-like voice. 
 
 At that same instant the iron door opened wide, 
 
 and between its receding wings stood a spectre— 
 
 a spectre Wcis the only name for it, as it had no 
 
 resemblance to anything human. 
 
 A pale face, like the face of one arisen from the 
 tomb, white dishevelled hair clinging round his 
 temples and hanging over his bloodshot eyes. He 
 had wrapped a long mantle over his white night-dress 
 which fluttered about him like the wings of a bat 
 It was old Hetfalusy. 
 
 In each hand he held a loaded pistol, and as the 
 c^>ening door groaned on its hinges he cried in a 
 hoarse voice : 
 
 "Here I am, but whoever dares to lay a hand 
 upon the girl, him will I shoot first and the girl 
 afterwards." 
 
 But it was a threat which excited little terror, 
 his hands trembled so and his eyes were scarce able 
 to see what was before them. 
 
 Nobody followed him He passed through the 
 door alone. 
 
 The Leather-bell, however, was so terrified lest 
 he should carry out his threat that he threw himself 
 at the old man's feet, and embracing his knees, 
 piteously besought him : 
 
 " Master, master, oh, my dear master ! don't fire^ 
 for God's sake ! Lay down your pistols. I assure 
 you that nobody here will hurt you." 
 
 " Will ye swear, then, that you will do the child 
 no iKirm? " gasped old Hetfalusy. 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 315 
 
 " Put down your weapons ! " cried the rioters. 
 
 " Swear that you will not harm her in any way, 
 and then I will put them down." 
 
 " Very well, we swear ! " cried some in the rear 
 of the crowd. 
 
 " Let that woman swear too," said H^tfalusy, 
 pointing at Dame Zuddr with a shaking hand. 
 None of them did he hold in such horror as her. 
 
 The virago smiled and twiddled the knife 
 between her fingers. Craftily lowering her eyes, 
 and casting a side-long glance at the old man, she 
 replied : 
 
 " And by whom, then, am I to swear? " 
 
 " By the name of God, the living God" 
 
 " But what shall I swear? " 
 
 " Swear that neither you yourself, nor any of your 
 companions, will do this child any harm, whosoever 
 child she is, and whether what you allege concern- 
 ing her be true or not" 
 
 "Nothing else?" 
 
 "Nothing." 
 
 " Would you not save your own grey hairs from 
 being crumpled then? " 
 
 " May the Almighty dispose of me as it seemeth 
 Him good." 
 
 "Then I will take the oath," cried the virago, 
 and, raising her muscular right arm heavenwcurds, 
 she cried : 
 
 "No harm shall come to the child, so help me, 
 God!" 
 
 Then Hetfalusy calmly surrendered his jHstols to 
 
3i6 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 the Leather-bell, who politely kissed his hand for 
 so doing, and straightway fired the pistols off in the 
 air, so that they might do no harm to anyone. 
 
 The same instant the blaspheming mob fell upon 
 the defenceless squire, tore at his grey locks and 
 impotent limbs, and hurled him to the ground. 
 
 " Smash him, kill him, the poison-mixer ! ** 
 resounded from every side, and the bloodthirsty 
 cowards rushed furiously from their hiding-places 
 with cudgels and flails, to the spot where the 
 defenceless old squire was lying. 
 
 The worthy Leather-bell had not another word 
 to say, but he cast himself at full length upon the 
 prostrate gentleman, and, tightly embracing his frail 
 figure, defended him with his own body from the 
 first onset of the raging mob. 
 
 In vain they pummelled, in vain they kicked him, 
 his self-sacrificing back endured everything, and 
 patiendy received the beating intended for his 
 master. 
 
 The poor fellow, after all, would really have been 
 m very good man if only he had not been so very 
 simple. 
 
 " Clear out, will you ! " cried Dame Zuddr and 
 Thomas Bodza simultaneously, "we must not kill 
 him. We want to get something out of him, so he 
 must live. Let no one hurt him, then, till he has 
 received his sentence." 
 
 At last the two ringleaders succeeded in clearing 
 away the furious mob from the mauled and trampled 
 body of the squire. Then they raised him from 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 317 
 
 the ground, tied his hands together, and fastened 
 him tightly by one lean arm to the trellised gate of 
 the castle. Blood oozed from the old man's limbs 
 beneath the pressure of the rough cord, yet, with 
 not so much as a groan did Benjamin Hetfalusy 
 betray the torture he was suffering. 
 
 And thou, oh, man, in thy fiery pit, art thou still 
 singing thy hymns below there, art thou still testing 
 the edge of thy sword with the tips of thy fingers, 
 just as if it were the string of some sad and delicate 
 musical instrument, which can give forth but one 
 voice, and that the voice of a sad, sad song? 
 
 The heat of the collapsed dwelling was now 
 penetrating to the cellar below, and the straitened 
 prisoner began to bethink him of some other place 
 of refuge. 
 
 Instead of the fierce crackle of the flames which 
 had met his ear hitherto, he now could only hear a 
 monotonous flickering as of expiring embers, and 
 this lasted for a long time, when suddenly a fresh 
 noise attracted his attention. 
 
 Not far from his hiding-place something began 
 to sound like the voice of a wind-clapper. At first 
 it went clap ! clap ! clap ! very rapidly, but gradually 
 the strokes grew slower and slower, tapering down 
 at last to single beats at long intervals. 
 
 Whoever has attentively watched the doors of a 
 metal furnace, will know at once how that sound 
 
3x8 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 arises. When the heat of the fire which has ex- 
 panded the metal begins to decrease, the expanded 
 fibres of the metal suddenly begin to contract and 
 give forth a snapping sound as of metal strings 
 violently torn asunder. 
 
 The iron door of the cellar was, in fact, loudly 
 calling the attention of the master of the house to 
 the fact that the fire had reduced all the brushwood 
 piled round the house into red-hot embers, and it 
 was therefore high time for him to seek another 
 asylum. 
 
 Peter Zuddr seized a large measure of beer, 
 approached the door, and flung the malt liquid all 
 over it 
 
 Ha! how loudly the glowing metal hissed and 
 spluttered at the contact of the cold fluid, as if 
 laughing with joy at the artful scheme which it 
 and the master together had devised for the latter*s 
 deliverance. 
 
 The iron door was far too burning hot to be 
 opened with the naked hcind, but the blood-red 
 glare visible behind it made it pretty certain that 
 the lead soldering had long ago melted away, and 
 it therefore only needed a vigorous kick to wrench 
 it off its hinges. 
 
 Peter Zudar listened attentively. Not a soul was 
 stirring. There was indeed no reason why anyone 
 should linger any longer in that wretched place. 
 
 Impatience spurred him on to action. He began 
 to lift the door from its hinges with the help of a 
 heavy crowbar. It gave way sooner than he had 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 319 
 
 anticipated, and fell at full length on the smoking 
 embers in front of it, bridging over the fiery stream 
 from one bank to the other. 
 
 With a single bound Peter Zuddr leaped over the 
 door, and sped away from the burning house like 
 a madman. 
 
 It was dark, nobody saw him. In his way stood 
 huge thistles, prickly-headed vegetable monsters, 
 and Peter Zudar mowed them all down with his 
 headsman's sword just as if they had been so many 
 condemned malefactors, or as if he were a froHc- 
 some lad waging fierce war with a wooden sword 
 against the whole evil host of weeds. Anybody who 
 had seen him would have taken him for a lunatic. 
 
 He only came to himself when the barking of a 
 dog struck upon his ear ; he knew then that he was 
 on the borders of the village, and close to the 
 nearest houses. 
 
 Then he began slowly to compose himself, the 
 cool night air was soothing his troubled brain. He 
 now commenced to recollect what held happened to 
 him during the last few hours. The riot, the seizure 
 of the child, the house burnt over his head, the 
 agony he had endured in the cellar — ^all these things 
 flashed like vivid pictures before his mind again. 
 
 But what had become of the child? What did 
 they want to do with her? To kill her perhaps?— 
 these were his first thoughts. Then he began to 
 consider how he might discover her whereabouts 
 and rescue her. Vengeance was the last thing be 
 thought of. 
 
320 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 He had no suspicion as to whom the raging mob 
 had risen against He fancied that the child was 
 the pivot of the whole ghastly affair. He was 
 persuaded all along that they had sought her death, 
 and would murder her, and the idea of such a thing 
 was all the more terrible to him because he did not 
 know the reason why. So much, however, he did 
 know, that his own wife was the person most to be 
 feared. 
 
 He was fully sensible that there was no time to 
 lodge a complaint with the magistrate, the priest, 
 or the local court, and await a heavy sentence. This 
 was a peculiar case in which the headsman himself 
 must investigate, condemn, and execute the sentence 
 — and was not the sword of Justice already in his 
 hands? 
 
 And as he stood there, leaning against a fences 
 in a brown study, it seemed to him as if he heard 
 from the midst of the village the very hymn which 
 he had sui^ so often with his darling before their 
 evening repose : 
 
 " The Lord, my God, I praise and bless." 
 
 He listened attentively. It was no delusioa 
 They were really the words of the hymn, the child's 
 voice was really singing them. 
 
 At first he fancied that his darling was in some 
 other world, and was speaking to him from the 
 Kingdom of Heaven, and he lifted up his voice like- 
 wise, and sang back again, his deep sonorous voice 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACKL sai 
 
 sounding like a magnified echo of the bell-like 
 childish voice. 
 
 Subsequently, however, it occurred to him that 
 perhaps the child was locked up somewhere, and 
 wanted to let him know where she was by singing 
 the hymn. 
 
 Suddenly there arose a hideous shout from the 
 courtyard of the castle, the inarticulate roar of 
 hundreds and hundreds of savage men, whose very 
 throats seemed to thirst for blood 
 
 At that same instant H6tfalusy had surrendered 
 his arms to his assailants. 
 
 Peter Zuddr lost not another instant in reflection, 
 but turned up his shirt-sleeves, smoothed away his 
 hair from his eyes, and rushed towards the castle. 
 
 A long lane separated him from the residential 
 paxt of the mansion, but not choosing to follow it 
 along its whole length, he waited till he saw the 
 pinnacles of the castle, and then took a short cut 
 over hedge and ditch, dashing along straight before 
 him heedless of everything. 
 
 The infuriated mob which, after being cowed by 
 the mere show of resistance, beccime all the more 
 brutal at the first symptom of surrender, after 
 Hetfalusy had laid down his arms, was able to glut 
 its brutal ra^e, at will, on the old gentleman who had 
 thus become its victim. 
 
 But it was lost labour. 
 
 X 
 
$22 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 What satisfaction can there be in the torturing 
 of a withered stump which is dumb to all outrage? 
 — ^it is as fruitless a business as flogging a corpse! 
 
 The old squire did not demean himself by a single 
 outcry of pain. 
 
 When they wanted him to confess that the gentry 
 had banded together to extirpate the peasantry, he 
 coldly replied : 
 
 " That is not true." 
 
 Every denial on his part was followed by inhuman 
 tortures. But they were but tormenting a frigid 
 skeleton insensible to pain, who only replied, again 
 and again : 
 
 "That is not true!" 
 
 The invading mob, after breaking everything in 
 the castle it could lay its hands upon, began search- 
 ing for young Szephalmi and the doctor. 
 
 They must have hidden well, for nowhere could 
 they be found. The mob turned all the rooms 
 upside down, and yet it could not find them. 
 
 The old man must certainly know where they 
 were stowed away. 
 
 But H'6tfalusy would not betray his son-in-law or 
 the doctor. 
 
 Amongst his executioners shaggy Handk particu- 
 larly distinguished himself by his fiendish ingenuity, 
 but the squire only remarked to him in a gentle 
 voice : 
 
 " Do you recollect, Handk, how last year, you 
 were bedridden, and I supported your whole family? 
 And when your biggest lad was taken by the 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 333 
 
 recruiting sergeant, did I not buy him out? And 
 when the hail destroyed your crops, did I not give 
 you the com on which you and your whole family 
 lived comfortably during the winter ? " 
 
 But at this mild reproach, stubbly Handk only 
 wiped his bloody mouth, and bellowed with bestial 
 pride : 
 
 " There's no Handk here ! Vm Hanik no longer. 
 I'm a rebel patriot, that's what I am ! " 
 
 The poor Leather-bell was quite imable to help 
 his master. He could only implore the rioters to 
 torture him if they liked rather than H6tfalusy. 
 He knew he was the cause of it all because he had 
 talked about the poison. He wished now that he 
 had eaten of the poison and died 
 
 Dame Zuddr, meanwhile, had been regarding the 
 sufferings of her mortal foe with devilish enjoy- 
 ment 
 
 There she stood, her arms folded across her 
 breast, facing her enemy, whose warm blood 
 frequently spurted over her face. 
 
 "*Tis no good hiurting him that way," she 
 murmured to herself. "A boor howls if you nip 
 him, this sort only holds his tongue just as if he 
 had a soul different from the others. . . .** 
 
 "This was the very spot where you made my 
 father bleed," she cried " Do you recollect 
 Dudoky, eh? There he lay, where you lie now, 
 and you stood beside him, as I now stand beside 
 you, and revelled in it But my father wept and 
 howled beneath his torments while you only keep 
 
$24^ THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 silent I could not bear to look on, I ran away 
 and hid myself in my room, but there also I kept 
 on hearing his shrieks. I heard them through two 
 thick walls. Twenty years have passed since then, 
 and through those twenty years I still hear him. 
 I want to hear you weep too, and not mock your 
 executioners by putting on a stone-cold face hke 
 that. Yes, you shall weep, you shall entreat I will 
 not be happy till I see your eyes full of tears." 
 
 Hetfalusy regarded the fury contemptuously, and 
 knitted his lips. 
 
 And then he called her a name, a low, degrading 
 name, the worst of all names that a man can call 
 a woman. 
 
 With a hiss of rage the virago rushed upon him 
 with the frantic idea of plimging her knife in his 
 haert. 
 
 But nay, not so. 
 
 Her face was white with fury, her whole frame 
 trembled. 
 
 " I became that all through you ! " she gasped 
 with husky rage. " But you will not mock me for 
 it much longer. Do you see your grandchild here 
 in my power?" 
 
 " You swore you would not hurt her.'* 
 
 " I swore I would not kill her, but I will make her 
 what I was. By Heaven and Earth and all the 
 torments of Hell, I swear I will do it" 
 
 " Woman ! " stammered Hetfalusy, and his face 
 lost at last its expression of stony endurance. 
 
 " Hla4ik! " criieil the virago, with a lat^h like the 
 
TIS WELL THAT THE NIGHT IS BLACK. 325 
 
 howl of a wild beast " The last scion of the house 
 of H6tfalusy will do credit to a house of ill-fame. 
 Look how lovely she is! Look at her face, her 
 figure, her eyes! As innocent as an angel too! 
 Ah! you are weeping now, are you? But you will 
 have to weep tears of blood, you accursed old 
 wretch, for what I say I mean to do ! " 
 
 " Wonmi, if you believe in God " began the 
 
 old man, writhing to free himself from his bonds. 
 
 " I don't ! " the woman yelled back defiantly. 
 ** There is no God ! " 
 
 At that same instant her head leaped so suddenly 
 into the ak that her body remained standing up- 
 right, three long jets of blood at the same time 
 shooting up from between her vacant shoulders. 
 Her two hands still fumbled about in the air as if 
 they would have drawn back the uttered blasphemy 
 and defended her against this terrible judgment, 
 and then the whole figure collapsed in the direction 
 of the fallen head, which lay with its face turned 
 heavenwards, and its mouth gaping open, as if 
 longing to speak, whilst the tongue still moved, 
 perchance, asking mercy or pardon from Heaven. 
 Too late, too late ! There was no longer any power 
 of utterance there. Once or twice there was a 
 twitching of the eyelids over the stiffening staring 
 eyes, till at last they closed painfully in the dream 
 of death. 
 
 And above the condemned sinner towered the 
 form of the avenger of sin — ^the headsman- 
 
CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 THE VOICE OF THE LORD. 
 
 During the blasphemous speech of the frantic 
 virago nobody had observed that Peter Zuddr had 
 reached the courtyard of the castle. In the dark- 
 ness and prevailing confusion he had been able to 
 creep up to the wretched woman unobserved 
 
 He had heard to the end her furious outburst, her 
 horrible menace. He had seen the convulsions of 
 the stony-hearted squire in the midst of his fetters, 
 he had seen the tender child collapse beneath the 
 touch of the horrible virago, and he had fulfilled 
 his mission. 
 
 The people, who in that awful moment had seen 
 his bright sword flash forth like Heaven's lightning, 
 who had seen the monstrously mutilated body of the 
 woman totter in their midst, and spurt blood on all 
 the bystanders, who had seen the awe-inspiring 
 figure of the headsman close to them all, him whom 
 they had fancied dead and buried, him whom their 
 own eyes had seen burnt to ashes — ^all these people 
 stood for a moment as if turned to stone, as if their 
 souls had left their bodies. 
 
 This brief interval of petrified astonishment was 
 
THE VOICE OF THE LORD. 327 
 
 sufficient for Peter Zuddr to snatch up the sorrowing 
 child with one hand, while with the other he whirled 
 his bloody sword above his head, and opened a way 
 for himself to the gate. 
 
 Then, when the rioters saw him escaping, they 
 came to themselves again. 
 
 " After him ! " cried Hanak, catching hold of his 
 scythe. 
 
 ** After him ! " roared the Leather-bell, grasping 
 a torch, and bounding on in front, and so skilfully 
 did he scatter the sparks in the eyes of the pursuers, 
 that their dazzled eyes could see absolutely nothing. 
 When, at last, he came to a narrow bridge over a 
 stream which they had to cross, he stumbled so 
 suddenly that those coming immediately behind 
 tumbled over him, and the torch was extinguished 
 in the water. Zudar, meanwhile, had had time to 
 conceal himself and the girl in the bushes on the 
 banks of the stream. Nobody had observed him 
 except the Leather-bell, and as soon as that worthy 
 could gain his legs again he fell a-bellowing with 
 all his might : 
 
 " On, on! there he goes! catch him, seize him! * 
 
 And off he went at full tilt, as if a high price had 
 been set upon the head of the pursued, and he was 
 determined to win it, whilst Zuddr, snug in his 
 hiding-place, listened to the hundreds and hundreds 
 of pattering feet that made the bridge creak over 
 his head, and to the hundreds and hundreds of 
 hoarse voices clamouring for his blood Presently 
 he heard them all come panting back again, cursing 
 
328 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 and swearing and consoling one another with the! 
 assurance that although they had not caught him 
 now, he would not be able to escape them for long. 
 
 " Yes," he thought to himself, " a time is coming 
 when you will find me without having sought me." 
 
 And now the pursuing band^ full of fresh fury, 
 stormed back to the castle. The Leather-bell 
 cursed them for not following up the trail when 
 they were already hot upon it He had had, he 
 maintained, the tail of the fugitive's coat in his 
 very hand, but had been obliged to leave go because 
 they had not helped him to hold on, and so the 
 headsman had fled away among the maize-fields. 
 
 The sky was now growing grey, the dawn was not 
 far off ; but the folks had forgotten to ring in the 
 morning, for the bell-ringers had something better 
 to do. 
 
 At Thomas Bodza*s command they carried the 
 corpses aside out of the courtyard, the corpses of 
 Ivan, Dame Zuddr, and poor Mekipiros. They 
 conveyed them to a large ditch at the bcick of the 
 house, so that none might see their remains. 
 
 The surviving ringleader felt a secret satisfaction 
 when his collea.gues had thus perished by his side. 
 He alone remained upon the field, and he flattered 
 himself that Fate was on his side, and by thus 
 putting the leading threads of the whole movement 
 into his hands, meant to emphasize the fact that 
 mind was the true motive-power — ^his own mind 
 naturally — and therefore it ^ was for him, and him 
 alone, to hold sway. 
 
THE VOICE OF THE LORD 329 
 
 The mob must be impressed, of course, by some 
 great never-to-be-forgotten scene, which would give 
 a touch of sublimity to its hitherto low and common 
 rioting. 
 
 So Thomas Bodza ascended to the highest step 
 of the castle staircase, from whence he declared to 
 the mob that as the champions of justice they had 
 prevailed 
 
 "And now," continued he, "we will pronounce 
 judgment on the poison-mixers according to the 
 good old Greek custom. Let the people take pot- 
 sherds in their hands. In front of the hall stand 
 two urns. In one is life, in the other death. Let 
 each one of you cast his vote into which urn he 
 pleases. This, my friends, is the ostracism of 
 classical times. You are the archons who shall give 
 judgment, and the whole world will thus see that 
 we exercise according to law and order the authority 
 which we have won with our arms. Sit around 
 me, therefore, oh, citizens, and let the accused be 
 brought forth!" 
 
 The gaping mob was delighted with this new 
 diversion. 
 
 Hitherto the only occasion on which they had had 
 an opportunity of seeing a court of justice was when 
 they had been led in chains, for some crime or 
 other, before the green table of the district court, 
 where great gentlemen pronounced sentences upon 
 them out of big thick books. And now one of 
 these very great gentlemen was, in his turn, to 
 stand before a tribunal, and the tribimal consisted 
 
330 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 of nothing but peasants, whose hair had never been 
 clipped, who had never worn linen, who could 
 neither read nor write, and yet who now had the 
 power of passing upon him whatever sentence they 
 chose. So they all applauded Bodza's proposition 
 loudly, whilst he himself, with an air of ineffable 
 importance, sat down on the topmost step of the 
 staircase, and beckoned to his subordinates to lead 
 forth the old squire. 
 
 He gave very little trouble, it was not even 
 necessary to fetter him, for the moment he was 
 untied from the doorpost he simply collapsed and 
 remained lying where he had fallen. 
 
 Then they put him on an ambulance car, ctnd thus 
 conveyed him before the Areopagus. 
 
 One worthy peasant had compassion on the old 
 man lying there in his shirt exposed to the cold 
 morning air, and covered him with his guba* yet 
 this very man voted for his death a few moments 
 later. 
 
 Meanwhile, stubbly Hanak had placed behind the 
 old man's back a gipsy brickmaker to keep an eye 
 on him, and touch him up with a whip if he refused 
 to confess. 
 
 Thomas Bodza now produced the box of bismuth 
 that had been found in the castle, and, cautiously 
 opening it, placed it in front of the old squire. 
 
 " You old sinner," said he, " answer my questions 
 truly. Why did they send you so much poison? " 
 
 * A sha^^ woollen mantle worn by the Hungarian peasants. 
 
THE VOICE OF THE LORD. 331 
 
 The old gentleman remained silent 
 
 The gipsy savagely belaboured his dove-white 
 head with the heavy whip. 
 
 At the sound of the blows, an angry voice 
 suddenly resounded from behind the master's back. 
 
 "Hold hard, hold hard! you blockheads, you 
 brutes, you stupid numbskulls ! " 
 
 Bodza, in his terror, sprang from his seat, and the 
 astonished multitude beheld Dr. Sarkantyus running 
 hastily towards them along the hall. 
 
 The worthy man had been well concealed with 
 young Sz6phalmi in a blind niche, in the chimney 
 comer, whence he had listened to the whole horrible 
 tragedy ; but when it came to accusing someone of 
 poisoning j>eople with his drugs, he could stand it 
 no longer, but kicked open the tapestried door, and 
 rushed out among the rioters. 
 
 Young Szephalmi swooned with terror when his 
 hiding-place was discovered, so that they had to 
 drag him out by the feet. 
 
 The unexpected joy of laying hands upon a 
 couple of fresh victims whom they had long sought 
 in vain, whetted the appetite of the mob for more 
 blood. They kept pummelling Szephalmi till he 
 came to again, and tied the physician back to back 
 with H6tfalusy. 
 
 Throughout the whole tussle Dr. Sarkantyus 
 never ceased blackguarding the rioters for their 
 imbecile suspicion of medical science, and tried to 
 explain to Thomas Bodza how very much in error 
 he was as to the contents of the box. 
 
33« THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Only Szephalmi displayed an utter want of 
 dignity. He wept, he implored, he fell on his knees^ 
 and promised to confess everything if only they 
 would not hurt him, if only they would not kill him. 
 lie was not guilty, he said, and he cursed the doctor 
 for bringing all this mischief on the house with his 
 abominable drugs and betraying their hiding-place 
 so madly. 
 
 "Mr. Szephalmi," retorted Dr. Sarkantyus, "all 
 my life long I have taken you for a poor creature, 
 and in that belief I shall for ever remain. If you 
 could remain quietly in your hiding-place when they 
 were talking of your only daughter, if you could 
 hold your breath and your ears and tremble in every 
 limb when they were torturing your father-in-law — 
 well, that's your look out. As for me, if only I can 
 unmask a downright lie, I am quite content to look 
 death itself between the eyes immediately after. 
 Ever since you fainted at the prick of a leech, and 
 were not ashamed to burst into tears when I cut 
 out one of your warts, I knew you to be a coward. 
 Yes, a coward you are, and a very poor creature to 
 boot ; but whatever else I am, I am not that Twice 
 have I broken the bone of my own leg because it 
 was improperly set, and I am ready to have my 
 neck broken into the bargain if only I may bear 
 witness to fhe truth. Those, sir, are my sentiments. 
 And now is there anybody here with whom a man 
 can talk common-sense? " 
 
 Boimd and helpless as he was, the doctor still 
 seemed to have made some impression on the mob. 
 
THE VOICE OF THE LORD. 333 
 
 Thomas Bodza, therefore, hastened to cut him 
 short. 
 
 " Then you maintain," he began, " that the gentry 
 have not poisoned the peasants? " 
 
 "A man must be mad to even ask such a 
 question." 
 
 "Then why are so many people now dying all 
 over the kingdom ? " 
 
 "Because of their sins. They are dying of a 
 terrible plague which is in the air, in the earth, in 
 the very meat and drink which God has given us, 
 in the heat of the day, and in the chill of night — 
 a plague which is no respecter of persons, but slays 
 lord and serf, rich and poor alike ; which will visit 
 you, too, if not to-day then to-morrow, which will 
 destroy a tenth part of your households, which will 
 search you out wherever you are, in the forest, in 
 the fields, within your cottages, though you were to 
 slay instantly everj'^ gentleman in the coimty. You 
 will, therefore, do well to untie my hands, and let 
 me distribute amongst you the blessed antidote, by 
 means of which, with God's assistance, we may be 
 able to prevent this terrible calamity." 
 
 Thomas Bodza felt something of the paralysis of 
 extreme terror when he saw the impression made 
 by these words upon the mob, which evidently 
 already began to waver. So he hastily threw him- 
 self into the attitude of a Roman statue, and 
 exclaimed with a loud voice : 
 
 " Doctor I I tell you you are lying. Let nobody 
 touch that white powder, fdr there is death in it 
 
334 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 If you maintain that this powder is not poison, take 
 some yourself ! " 
 
 This proposal met with universal approbation. 
 
 "Yes, yes! let him swallow some of the stuff he 
 has brought if it is not poison." 
 
 The doctor did not at all relish the idea of taking 
 his own drugs, but he was careful not to betray his 
 dislike, for he was in a decidedly ticklish position. 
 
 "Death comes from above," he calmJy observed 
 to the master. "Medicaments are no food for a 
 healthy man, but, all the same, I will willingly take 
 some of that bismuth powder to convince you all 
 of the truth of my statement" 
 
 Then Thomas Bodza proceeded to pour a paper 
 full of the stuff down the throat of the pinioned 
 doctor. 
 
 The bystcinders thronged around and gaped 
 curiously at him, expecting every moment to see 
 him drop down dead. 
 
 " Look how green his face is ! " said Bodza, work- 
 ing with evil intent on the excited imagination of 
 the mob. "Look how his eyes are staring, and 
 how ghastly pale he is ! " 
 
 "It is not my eyes that are staring, my worthy 
 master, but your own," replied the doctor calmly. 
 "Your face is pale, you are trembling. I tell you 
 death comes from above and not from my powders." 
 
 Thomas Bodza felt so dizzy that he had to clutch 
 hold of the arm of shaggy Hanak, who was stand- 
 ing by his side. Quite early that very morning 
 he had felt a sort of numbing paralysis in all his 
 
THE VOICE OF THE LORD. 335 
 
 limbs, a sort of griping cramp convulsing his inner 
 parts, and an unspeakable fear had arisen within 
 his soul, but the feeling had passed over, and he 
 had put the thought of it away from him. 
 
 And now, again, that panic fear, which has no 
 name, but beneath whose influence the bravest of 
 men become pale, shaking spectres, overcame him, 
 and he felt like one who is sensible of the approach 
 of that one enemy against whom there is no defence. 
 
 The physician was the first to detect in the face 
 of his tormentor that terrible phenomenon, fades 
 Hypocraticay and when he said to him : " Your face 
 is deathly pale," he as irrecoverably plimged him 
 into the grave that was gaping open for him, as if 
 he had plunged a knife into his heart 
 
 The horror-stricken rioters gazed at their master 
 who, for some moments, stood gaping at them with 
 a terribly distorted face. There were two coloured 
 rings roimd his glassy eyes, his cheeks had fallen 
 in, his lips were turning yellow, the whole man 
 seemed to be a hideous personification of mortal 
 dread. Then, suddenly with a loud yell, he rolled 
 down the steps, and collapsing with hideous con- 
 vulsions at the doctor's feet, yelled in the midst of 
 his racking torments : 
 
 " God of mercy, have compassion upon me ! 
 « • , Doctor, help me 1 I am dying I ** 
 
CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 THE READY-DUG GRAVES. 
 
 Imr£ H£tfalusy, hastening with all his might; 
 reached at last the officer in command of the cordon, 
 and delivered the General's command. The officer 
 at once placed four-and-twenty soldiers at the dis- 
 posal of the General's adjutant More he could not 
 spare, as his assistance might be wanted elsewhere. 
 
 Imr6 lost no more time in going to the next 
 cordon-commander, but marched straight off to 
 Hetfalu with his four-and-twenty warriors. 
 
 Only tibree of them were mounted, the General's 
 adjutant, Kamienszka, and himself, all the rest were 
 on foot Even with the utmost exertion it would 
 take at least four hours to reach Hetfalu. 
 
 During the long journey Maria told Imre every- 
 thing she knew about his family. Nobody disturbed 
 their conversation, the road was empty and noise- 
 less. 
 
 When they reached the first csdrda that also was 
 silent The doors and windows had been torn from 
 their places, the road was strewn with the debris of 
 casks, bottles, and flasks. Here and there, amidst 
 the ruins, were little pools of blood in which some- 
 
THE READY-DUG GRAVES. 337 
 
 body had stood, leaving a bloody trail behind 
 them. . . . 
 
 The little band went further on their way in 
 silence. 
 
 Two hours later they perceived in the wayside 
 woods, concealed among the bushes, three figures 
 which rose to their feet on perceiving the soldiers, 
 and one of them came rapidly towards them, and 
 was so out of breath when he reached them that 
 he could not speak a word, and would have fallen 
 if Imr6 had not supported him against his saddle. 
 
 Then Imre recognised the worthy Leather-bell. 
 
 " What's the matter, old man? " he inquired com- 
 passionately. 
 
 "Alas, alas! my young master, a terrible thing 
 has happened. I cannot describe it in words. I'm 
 only glad that we have saved this innocent creature." 
 
 "What innocent creature? " 
 
 " This child, the squire's grandchild, whom Zuddr 
 brought up in secret, and the headsman's wife 
 betrayed But she has paid for it dearly now. 
 They had condemned the child to death. I hid 
 them here beneath the bridge, and gave them 
 peasant's clothes to put on, and helped them to 
 scurry through the woods." 
 
 At these words Kamienszka leaped from her horse, 
 and ran to the child who was quite worn out Her 
 little feet were all wounded and bloody, it was only 
 by leaning on the arm of Zudar that she was able 
 to walk at alL 
 
 The headsman recognised at once the youth who 
 
538 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 had brought a blessing on his house, although he 
 had now quite another figure. Now he had come to 
 fight ^udclr stooped down and kissed his hand. 
 He said, too, that his own hands were now pure, 
 for he had washed them in blood, the shedding 
 whereof was pleasing to God. 
 
 The officer in command had a rough litter made 
 from the branches of trees, on which they placed 
 the exhausted little girl. Four soldiers were then 
 told off to carry it, and then the little band resumed 
 its march. Elise could not have been in a place of 
 greater safety. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Leather-bell was giving a full 
 account of the horrors that had taken place around 
 the castle from the evening to the morning. He 
 had left the place just as Szephalmi and the doctor 
 had fallen into the hands of the mob. 
 
 Imre was beside himself with horror. 
 
 "I must hasten to save my father or die with 
 him," he murmured bitterly. 
 
 The officer wanted him to wait so that they 
 might all reach the castle together, but he would 
 not listen. He was quite ready to face the danger 
 single-handed. But indeed he was not alone. He 
 had beside him his valiant comrade, in love a true 
 woman, in trouble a true man, and she would not 
 be pcurted from him. 
 
 " Courage and hope ! " she cried, pressing his 
 hand, and with that the heroic couple spurred their 
 horses along the grass-grown road 
 
THE READY-DUG GRAVES. 339 
 
 With the fall of Numa Pompilius the last vestige 
 of discipline disappeared from the ranks of the 
 rioters. The loss of their leader, so far from bring- 
 ing them to reason, only made them desperate. 
 Bodza had died at their very feet after half an hour 
 of the most excruciating torments, and, meanwhile, 
 there mingled with the crowd numbers of wailing 
 women, each of whom already had their dead at 
 home, and spread sorrow and confusion wherever 
 they went Then everybody lost his head, and was 
 frightened into bestial ferocity. The dying lay 
 about in the road with none to care for them. 
 Fathers no longer owned their sons, brother had no 
 compassion for brother. And the gentry had to pay 
 for all this panic terror. 
 
 The people had been brought up in such a way 
 that its first thought on breaking out of its cage was 
 to tear its masters in pieces. 
 
 It listened no longer to any word of command, 
 only the latest whim obtained a hearing. 
 
 Stubbly Hanak hit upon a hideous idea. 
 
 "What are those three bigwigs lounging about 
 here for, eh?" he cried "Let them go and dig 
 graves, let them dig their own graves ! " 
 
 And with that he untied their bonds, placed 
 spades and shovels in their hands, and pointed out 
 to them the exact spots in the courtyard of the 
 castle where they were to dig their own graves, and 
 nice, picturesque spots they were too, beneath the 
 shade of wide-spreading chestnut trees. 
 
 Old H^tfalusy had no longer the physical 
 
S40 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 strength for such work, and Dr. Sarkantyus declared 
 categorically that anybody who was fool enough 
 to kill him might do so if he chose, but that he was 
 not such a fool as to dig his own grave, and nobody 
 should make him do it either. 
 
 Only Szephalmi took them at their word. On 
 his knees he implored them not to torture him, 
 and he would willingly dig not only his own grave, 
 but the graves of his comrades also. 
 
 The rioters thrust a spade into his hand, and, 
 grinning with delight, instructed him how to throw 
 aside the earth out of the furrow, and then they 
 made him lie down in it in order to take his proper 
 measure. 
 
 And how boisterously they laughed at the fun of it 
 
 Suddenly there was a soimd of pattering hoofs, 
 and two horsemen, with drawn swords in their 
 right hands, galloped into the courtyard. 
 
 ThiTy came so unexpectedly that only the shrieks 
 of the women wailing at the gate told the frantic 
 mob of their arrival 
 
 " My son ! " cried the old squire, painfully raising 
 himself from the ground with a supreme effort 
 
 " My father, my father ! " wailed the youth, and 
 with that he cut his way through the thickest of the 
 crowd, distributing vigorous blows, right and left, 
 till he had forced his way up to his father's tortured 
 body, and forgetting everything at that moment, 
 he flung himself from his saddle, fell upon his 
 father's neck, and embraced and sobbed over him. 
 
 The brutal mob instantly rushed upon him with a 
 
THE READY-DUG GRAVES. 34« 
 
 savage yell, when, suddenly, a couple of shots 
 resounded, and two of the assailants fell dead close 
 beside the father and son. It was Maria who had 
 fired these shots, and now, leaping from her steed, 
 she shook Imr6 violently. 
 
 "You must fight for your life now, and leave 
 weeping for another time, my boy ! " cried she. 
 
 The youth quickly recovered himself and drew 
 his sword, and then the pair of them turned upon 
 the cowardly mob, and, by sheer dint of hard fight- 
 ing, began driving them out of the doorway of the 
 castle. 
 
 In no very long time there were three of them, 
 for the doctor had had his weather-eye open, and, 
 when the general attention was distracted, he 
 snatched up the spade assigned to him, and there- 
 with dealt a lanky lout beside him such a blow at 
 the back of the neck that he immediately fell down 
 and never spoke agaia 
 
 " Come along with us, Mr. Szephalmi, come 
 along ! " cried the doctor, as he joined the com- 
 batants, but Szephalmi paid no heed. He fell down 
 on the edge of the freshly-dug grave at the feet of 
 his jailors, and declared, sobbing and moaning, that 
 he would hurt nobody if nobody hurt him. The 
 only answer they gave him was a smashing blow on 
 the head with a large hammer, and he fell back into 
 the grave and expired on the spot 
 
 A vigorous slash with which Imr6 severed the arm 
 of the most powerful of the peasants, clean off at the 
 elbow, somewhat damped the fighting ardour of the 
 
34a THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 crowd, which drew back to curse and swear at a 
 distance. The respite thus gained was sufficient to 
 enable the little group of gentlemen to reach the 
 door of the castle, and bolt and bar it behind them, 
 after having first of all rescued old Hetfalusy from 
 the hands of his murderers. 
 
 Fortunately not one of the rioters remained in 
 the castle, indeed there was nothing else for them 
 to do there. Everything had been eviscerated, torn 
 to atoms, reduced to powder. A large portion of 
 the mob was down in the cellars dead drunk. 
 
 Imre Hetfalusy who, all this time, had held his 
 father closely embraced, now deposited him on a 
 torn and ragged hair mattress, and then they both 
 embraced each other again, and neither could speak 
 a word. It was both joy and anguish, it was some- 
 thing which words could not describe. 
 
 And now for the defence ! 
 
 The three of them could not, of course, defend 
 the whole castle against the furious mob whenever 
 it should return. For return it certainly would, and 
 if it could not get through the door, it was at least 
 able to climb through the windows. The best plan, 
 therefore, was to confine the defence to a single 
 room, and the most convenient stronghold was the 
 family library, the door of which was strengthened 
 by iron fastenings. 
 
 The sole object of the besieged was to keep the 
 mob at bay till the arrived of the soldiery. 
 
 In a few moments the roar of the rioters advanc- 
 ing to the attack was again audible. Stones flew 
 
THE READY-DUG GRAVES. 343 
 
 through the windows, and angry fists thundered at 
 the door. Curses and savage threats resounded in 
 the passages. The mob, swarming in the courtyard, 
 were carrying about on their shoulders the dead 
 bodies of the two peasants that had been shot, two 
 or three men with bloody faces were exhibiting their 
 wounds, the widow of one of the fallen held up her 
 weeping children in her arms, and hounded the mob 
 on to vengeance with her frantic bitterness. 
 
 The room to be defended had a window looking 
 out upon the courtyard, and a door opening upon 
 the passage. Maria was to be the defender of the 
 window, Imre the defender. of the door. The doctor, 
 meanwhile, with the nonchalance becoming his pro- 
 fession, was binding up old Hetfalusy's wounds, 
 tearing off portions of his own shirt to serve as 
 bandages. 
 
 The rioters had now occupied the hall, they had 
 crept into the castle through tl:ie rearward windows, 
 the walls and arches rang with their triumphant 
 shouting. 
 
 " Imre I " said the old squire to his son, " come 
 nearer to me ! " 
 
 The youth approached his suffering father and 
 knelt down before him. 
 
 " It may be God's will," murmxured the aged man, 
 " that within an hour both of us may stand before 
 His Judgment Seat Promise me that you will 
 never accuse me of being a hard father, that you 
 will never say that I hunted you to death. Promise 
 me that, my son I " 
 
344 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 "I have always loved you, and I will love yoti 
 still," sobbed the youth, kissing the shaking 
 hand, 
 
 " Let us not part from each other in tears," con- 
 tinued the old man, " let us rejoice as they rejoice 
 who have found again those whom they fancied 
 they had lost, and now let me bless you as a father 
 may bless his son when he is about to imdertake a 
 long journey." 
 
 And then he placed his trembling hands on his 
 son's head, while his eyes looked up to Heaven, 
 and his dumb lips murmured an inaudible prayer 
 to the Lord of life and death. 
 
 "And now, my son, brace yourself up for your 
 long journey ! " 
 
 But Maria came rushing towards them. 
 
 " To work, my friend ! bear a hand ! The evil 
 game has begun. Let us but gain half an hour and 
 all our lives will be saved." 
 
 "Who is that apparition," whispered old Het- 
 falusy to his son, "who has twice descended from 
 Heaven to save us? " 
 
 Imr6 looked with some hesitation at Maria, the 
 girl gazed back at him encouragingly. 
 
 "Yes, tell him! Why not? I am your wife, the 
 famous Maria Kamienszka, and this is not the first 
 time I have been in the midst of a scrimmage. 
 Courage, my father, your son is now in your 
 embrace, and in half an hour your grand-daughter 
 will be there also. Trust in God and be not faint- 
 hearted I" 
 
THE READY-DUG GRAVES. 345 
 
 ** Ah, yes ! " whispered the old man, with a trans- 
 figured countenance and a voice full of enthusiasm, 
 " this cannot be the hour of my death, no, my God ! 
 it cannot, cannot be ! " 
 
 The youth and the valiant young woman then 
 warmly pressed each other's hands, and hastened 
 back to their posts. It was indeed high time. 
 
 The besiegers, after swarming all over the castle, 
 had come at last upon the barred and bolted door, 
 and with the bloodthirsty howl of ravening beasts, 
 had rushed upon it with their iron bars, while 
 another band began wrenching out the iron fasten- 
 ings of the windows with their sharp csakanyas* 
 
 The besieged had to economize their shots, for 
 th^ had only four charges left Their means of 
 defence had to be reserved till the very last instant, 
 they could not afford to simply destroy the first 
 stupid bumpkin who might happen to come in their 
 way. 
 
 The fear of death no longer terrified the 
 besiegers. Several times Maria held the barrel of 
 her pistol close to the temples of the peasant who 
 was busy with the iron fastenings of the window, 
 and he did not so much as move his head. Many 
 of the howling mob were so drunk that they no 
 longer knew what fear was. They thrust their 
 hands through the glass to open the window 
 sashes, and Majria sliced away with her sword at the 
 intruding hands, and a few minutes afterwards the 
 
 • Hooked 
 
34« THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 same bloody hands would re-appear with stunted 
 fingers. Wounds no longer hurt them. 
 
 The time had come when the besieged could 
 coimt the minutes which they had still to live, the 
 blows given and received were like so much money 
 paid for life, whosoever stock failed first would be 
 utterly ruined. 
 
 Maria was able to defend the window longer 
 than Imr6 could defend the door, one of whose 
 panels was suddenly burst in with a loud crash, 
 opening a breach to the besiegers outside, whose 
 sudden rush to the gap made it impossible for the 
 youth, despite the most frantic efforts, to defend 
 the crazy door much longer. 
 
 Maria heard Imre's cry of despair, and, forgetting 
 the same instant her own danger, quitted the 
 window, and sped to the help of her beloved. 
 
 For a few moments the besiegers made a frantic 
 effort to force their way through the door, but at 
 length the two swords, swift as lightning flashes, 
 beat down the brutal preponderance of the mob. 
 The two defenders held their places, held them, at 
 any rate, till the besiegers should stream through the 
 window or shoot them down from behind 
 
 Either of these eventualities might be expected 
 at any moment 
 
 " Keep your shots to the very last," whispered 
 
 Maria to Imre. " Reserve one of them for the 
 
 enemy, and the other for me. I must not fall into 
 
 their hands alive." 
 
 Nevertheless, there was an unaccountable tardiness 
 
THE READY-DUG GRAVES. 347 
 
 among the besiegers of the window, and the 
 assailants of the door also began thinning down, 
 and everyone noticed with surprise that the deafen- 
 ing din had abated, and a momentary suspension of 
 hostilities had taken place. 
 
 " Our rescuers are at hand ! " cried Maria, and the 
 same instant they could hear the soxmd of rolling 
 drums drawing nearer and nearer to the castle. 
 
 The rebels had quitted the besieged window and 
 were scampering towards the gate. 
 
 The last beat of the drum indicated that the 
 soldiers had arrived in front of the castle. 
 
 There were only five-and-twenty, most of them 
 young fellows, mere lads, and opposed to them 
 stood a savage multitude, armed with all sorts of 
 hastily appropriated weapons, and with bloodthirsti- 
 ness enough for a whole army. 
 
 The young officer in command stood at the head 
 of his little company, and when he saw the headless, 
 savage mob surging all around him, he exhorted 
 them, in e bold, manly voice, to return to their 
 homes, respect the laws, and give up their captives 
 and their ringleaders. 
 
 Shaggy Hanak took it upon himself to respond 
 to this invitation : 
 
 "We will not return to our homes," he shouted, 
 "so long as a single castle in the kingdom is still 
 standing. We will make whatever laws we like. 
 We will give up the captive gentry when they are 
 stone dead, and as for our ringleader you may have 
 him if you can catch him." 
 
348 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 To still further emphasize his words, shaggy 
 Handk whirled his knobby bludgeon above his head, 
 and shied it frantically at the officer, who warded 
 off the blow with his sword, and the same instant 
 a young private transfixed the braggart so vigor- 
 ously that the end of his bayonet stuck in the 
 ground behind 
 
 This unexpected scene served as a signal for the 
 little band of soldiers, and they there and then fired 
 into the thickest of the crowd. 
 
 And with that the whole horrible tragedy came 
 to Bii end 
 
 A single volley dispersed the whole ragged host 
 The corpses remained on the ground naturally, but 
 all the rest fled without another word, fled incon- 
 tinently over pillar and post, rushed straight home, 
 hid themselves away, put on their simplest air, 
 washed the blood from their hands, and held their 
 tongues. 
 
 The rescued welcomed their deliverers with open 
 arms. But another quarter of an hour and very 
 sorry remnants of them would have been found at 
 H6tfalu. 
 
 Meanwhile, out came Dr. Sarkantytis, and a very 
 great pother he made, insisting that the whole com- 
 pany should instantly hasten back to town, as if 
 they remained there the pale death would speedily 
 overtake them, and it would therefore boot them 
 little to have escaped from the red death. And 
 indeed the plague was raging fearfully in that 
 district, and dying wretches were writhmg con- 
 
THE READY-DUG GRAVES. 349 
 
 v.clsively in the streets outside. He himself must 
 remain on the spot He was bound by his official 
 duties to visit the very houses of these persons 
 who, half an hour ago, had combined to torture him, 
 and whose families were now themselves suffering 
 torments in the grip of this unknown disease. 
 Nevertheless, he required the escort of two armed 
 men, for, as he jocosely observed, "The Deuce is 
 ba it when patients would compel the doctor to 
 drink his own drugs." 
 
 H^tfalusy had the felicity of embracing his long- 
 lost grandchild before he died The child accepted 
 him as her grandpapa, but begged that she might 
 have as her dear papa besides, good old Zuddr, 
 who had loved her so much. 
 
 Hetfalusy nodded his consent, and pressed the 
 coarse palm of the headsman with his own gentle- 
 manly hand Nobody told the child that she had 
 a perfect right to call Zuddr her father, inasmuch as 
 her real father, who had cast her from him, now lay 
 frightfully disfigured in a grave he had dug with his 
 own hand. 
 
 Hetfalusy indeed never mentioned the name of 
 his son-in-law again. 
 
 Then they laid him in the carriage already pre- 
 pared for him, and little Elise sat beside him and 
 nursed his head in her lap. Oh, by this time, she 
 was very well used to nursing old people. 
 
350 THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 Maria and Imre accompanied the carriage on foot 
 all the way to town. Yet, once again, they were 
 forced to fight their way through armed bands of 
 rebels, but after that they reached the town peace- 
 ably enough- 
 
 The General had g^ven orders that Hetfalusy 
 should be conducted straight to his house as soon 
 as the old man arrived. 
 
 Boundless was the joy of the worthy General to 
 welcome in his home as a guest the man who, once 
 upon a time, had been his mortal foe. 
 
 Now indeed they could pardon each other every- 
 thing. 
 
 Hetfalusy knew, at last, why the General had 
 abandoned his girl so suddenly, and how could the 
 iron man help forgiving him who had sinned 
 greatly against him it is true, but, at the same time, 
 had suffered so terribly for it. 
 
 It was only mental excitement which still kept 
 the life in the old man's shattered body. He 
 survived for another six months. His bodily wounds 
 healed but slowly, and still more slowly the wounds 
 of the spirit. He saw his only son happy in the 
 love of the noblest, the rarest of women ; he saw his 
 little grandchild growing up full of beauty, wisdom, 
 and amiability; and it did him good to rejoice in 
 the domestic happiness of his former enemy, and 
 oftentimes he would call Cornelia his darling 
 daughter. And she was worthy of the name. 
 
 A beneficent stroke of apoplexy called him home 
 to his dead in the family vault at Hetfala 
 
THE READY-DUG GRAVES. 351 
 
 Imr6 remained no longer in those parts. He 
 settled down on his wife's property with little Elise, 
 and left for ever the place which had such melan- 
 choly associations for him. 
 
 And Peter Zudar went with them. He pursued 
 no more his grim profession. After that last master- 
 stroke of his, he never grasped the headsman's sword 
 again. He had wielded it for the last time at God's 
 command, he was not going to play the part of 
 death's scytheman any more at the bidding of man. 
 
 Close to the Kamienszki estates he rented a little 
 plot of land where he grew flowers and melons, 
 sported with white doves and little rabbits, and 
 sang in the church choir every day. It never 
 
 occurred to anyone that he Had once been ^but no 
 
 matter. 
 
 And the three houses at H^tfalu were abandoned 
 to desolatioa 
 
 The gutted dwelling-house was never re-built 
 The castle was never re-inhabited, people avoided 
 it as a spectre-stricken dwelling. Its windows were 
 bricked up, its garden became a wilderness of weeds, 
 its steps and staircases fell to pieces. Ruin wrought 
 her work upon it. 
 
 The hut, with the moss-covered roof, endured the 
 longest The old night-owl, who now could scarce 
 use her limbs, would, nevertheless, totter of an even- 
 ing to the place where stood the vast family vault 
 of the Hetfalusies, sit down there, opposite to the 
 iron gate, and talk all sorts of nonsense to some 
 imaginary interlocutor. 
 
3Sa THE DAY OF WRATH. 
 
 " Eh! eh! old Hetfalusy ! who was right after all? 
 Didn't I say you would be the first to go? What 
 a little room satisfies you now ! what a quiet, peace- 
 able man you are now 1 You have got earth enough 
 at last, yet you were always hungering after more 
 while you were yet alive! You would be at rest 
 now if I would let you alone, eh? Or are you 
 sorry that we cannot go on with our wrangling? 
 Well, well, if I should discover the door by which 
 you made your exit, we will begin it all over 
 again. . . ." 
 
 For hours at a stretch she would pour forth these 
 vain mad words, unanswered, imheeded. What had 
 once been dust now lay at rest, what had once been 
 a human spirit now abode in Heaven, there was 
 none to answer her. 
 
 The mossy roof grew more and more ruinous, 
 and at last one day the old night-owl had quitted 
 her nest and was gone. Nobody mourned for her. 
 Who takes any count of the birds of the field or tlic 
 beasts of the forest 1 
 
 !IHS SHDi 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
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