"I stamped my foot impatiently, and bawled at him to come away from the door and let me go my way.
"Then it was that Peter showed his true colours.
""My lady, this cannot be! The good and worthy squire, when he gave me the ten oxen to take back my wife, said this to me: "Well! Peter Gyuricza, if you bring my wife home also, ten young calves shan"t stand between us.""
(The rocks and woods re-echoed with my laughter. I couldn"t keep it back.)
"Then my fury boiled over. You know that when I fly into a rage I am a perfect lioness, don"t you? I s.n.a.t.c.hed the stick from Peter Gyuricza"s hand. "Lubber, lout! I"ll give you your ten young calves! There you are, take them!" I don"t know whether I gave him exactly ten blows. I didn"t count them. And the big lout of a man turned tail, rushed into the room, dodged round the table, and roared like a hippopotamus, while I broke the stick over his shoulders. His consort thought it best not to interfere, but leaped upon the bench and looked on. It was a real luxury for her to meet with some one who could thoroughly trounce her tyrant.
"I only wish my previous journey had not fatigued me so much.
"I began to recover a little when I found myself out in the fields, and the breeze blew the heat out of my head. My idyll had come to a pretty end. What was I to do now? One thing was certain, I could not return to Muki Bagotay.
"But whither was I to go, then?
"Before me lay the beautiful Danube. The road by the dam ran all the way along it. From time to time I leaned against an old willow-tree and looked at the great living-water. Now and then a fish would leap up into the air with a loud splash. I was not afraid of the water, but of the fishes I was afraid. I could not kill myself. I should have rejoiced, if that had been true with which they used to frighten us in our childish days when we leaned over the bank and looked into the water: Beware of the devil who lurks behind you and will push you in! But he didn"t push me in. The devil can do nothing now. He cannot compete at all with the sons of men. But was it really worth while to kill myself for the sake of two such men as Muki Bagotay and Peter Gyuricza? No, my death would then have been as ridiculous as my life!
"I thought I would go home to my mother. She couldn"t exactly turn me out of doors. Let her punish me as she will--I"ll humble myself; I"ll bow down before her; I"ll endure her wrath. After all, is she not my mother, and am I not her only child? She cannot but love her little one.
From any one else I could not expect to find pity or love. Why, I even hated myself!
"With these thoughts I set off towards the town.
"It was baking hot. A strong south wind was blowing, as dry and burning as if it had come out of a stove. Clouds of sand covered the whole region, and whenever a gust came, I had to take refuge under a willow-tree, lest I should be hurled into the dam. I can"t say what time of the day it was, but I know that it was the forenoon to me, for I had eaten nothing yet that day. The Gyuriczas had forgotten to invite me to sit down to their dumplings.... To quench my thirst, I descended once or twice to the Danube and drank some water out of the palm of my hand. On the road-side I found a flower which I thought was a cheese-poppy. I tasted it, but it was very nasty. Weary as I was, I must hasten to get to the town as soon as possible. I should have been glad even of such a piece of bread as I used to distribute to the beggars at home on Friday.
"I was hastening on towards the town, when suddenly a kind of darkness rose up before me in the sky, and on looking at it more attentively, I was horrified to observe that in the town a fire had broken out, the black smoke of which was rolling up into the dust-clouded sky.
"The burning simoon blew back the black smoke upon the town. Great Heaven! the whole town will be reduced to ashes.
"And now I began to run. I forgot that I was weary, I forgot that I was hungry. Fear lent me fresh strength. The nearer I got to the town the higher the smoke rolled up. Now, however, it was not black, but red.
Millions of sparks shot flashing upwards, and huge fragments of flaming roofs were to be seen flying in the midst of them. When a tiled house caught fire, the burning tiles shivered like fiery rockets in every direction. A whole street was already in flames when I reached the town.
Howling heaps of men, carts and carriages in full career, wailing women, children half crushed and suffocated, and in the midst of them all lowing kine and oxen wildly struggling back into their dark stables at the sight of the conflagration--the whole ma.s.s was rushing backwards and forwards in aimless confusion. I forced my way into a side street, lest I should be crushed to death, with the intention of getting home that way. Everywhere I encountered lamenting crowds attempting to drag along the streets the things they had saved from their houses. n.o.body thought of extinguishing the flames. The burning embers fell in torrents. When I got to my mother"s house I found it already wrapped in flames. It was the highest house in the street. A handful of Honveds were attempting to extinguish the flames. Others had mounted on the roof, and were throwing the furniture out of the windows. I saw a gold-framed picture flying through the air--it was the portrait of my poor father. Oh! he indeed used to love me. If he had only lived, I should not be what I am now.
There were none but strange faces around me. In vain I asked them where my mother was. They had not heard of her. All at once a white-collared officer, some major or other I suppose, came up and cried to the fire-extinguishing Honveds, "Why are you putting out that fire? It doesn"t deserve it. It was there that the colonel lodged who set the town on fire! Leave the cursed hole alone, and go and protect the hospital!" I knew not whether I had gone mad or not. Why did they curse our house? The Honveds began execrating the name of a colonel who had often come to our _soirees_. If they recognise me, I thought, perhaps they"ll pitch me into the fire also. One heavy cart after another rattled over my poor father"s portrait. I couldn"t even save that. I was aroused from my benumbing stupor by a frightful yell, the shout of thousands and thousands of men: "Saint Andrew"s Church is burning!" One of the slender towers of that vast cathedral was already in flames, while in the other the alarm-bells were ringing furiously. The mob carried me with it. Every one hastened along to save the church. But it was already too late. The other tower had also caught fire, the bells were silenced, the roof of the church was also ablaze. The beautiful church banners, which the guildsmen used to carry all round the town with great pomp on Corpus Christi day, were dragged out half charred amidst the falling firebrands. The heat was so terrible that one could not remain in the market-place. "The whole town"s done for!" cried the men. "Let us fly to the island!" And with that the human flood poured through the narrow streets towards the Danube. The thought occurred to me that _there_ was a little villa which belonged to us. Happy thought!
Perhaps I might find my mother there: she might have fled there for refuge. So I went along with the human torrent. By the time we got to the island drawbridge, it was impossible to get any farther through the densely packed crowd. Why were they coming back? Because the drawbridge was also burning. It was a terrible spectacle. The whole Danube sh.o.r.e was in flames, and the drawbridge leading to the island carried the conflagration still farther. The Danube was hissing with falling red-hot beams. Corn-ships, windmills, swam blazing along, and dashed against the ice-breakers. A band of armed Honveds posted by the custom-house kept the people back from rushing upon the burning bridge. They told us what had happened. There was a greater danger even than fire. An Imperial regiment had tried to creep quietly into the town. They were already at Tata. The citizens, however, had found it out, and raised the drawbridge against them. The troops, enraged at the failure of their stratagem, had set the town on fire. What a cursing there was! I heard one particular name branded again and again, the name of the colonel who was to have married my mother if the revolution had not intervened."
I could not go on with my drawing. The mist no longer lay upon the landscape, but upon my eyes.
The young lady continued circ.u.mstantially the history of those horrors:--
"Then three cannon-shots thundered from the fortress. No doubt it was only a signal which the troops often give in times of fire. But at this roaring of guns the fear of the people became still greater. "The enemy is storming the town!" At this the whole crowd, which had hitherto entirely covered the Danube"s bank, immediately rushed back again into the burning town, through the flaming streets and the burning rafters.
"To the Waag, to the Waag!"[75] everybody cried. In that direction there was a hope of deliverance. I am only amazed that I was not crushed to death. In my terror I seized hold of a boatman"s arm, and the worthy man, whom I had never seen before, allowed me to cling on to him like grim death; a.s.sured me that he would take care I was not left behind, and dragged me along with him over the backs of the struggling mob."
[Footnote 75: A confluent of the Danube.]
Here she had to pause. The recollections of these horrors stopped her breath. Pearls of sweat stood upon her forehead. It was only after a very long pause that she was able to resume.
"I shall never forget that day. The alarm-bells were still pealing from a single tower, the tower of the Calvinist church. All the other church towers were in ashes, this one alone remained. The wind was blowing in a contrary direction. The fire had not yet extended to that part of the town. Every one hastened in the direction of the Calvinist church tower.
The streets in the vicinity of the fortress were barred against the flying crowd by the Honved regiments; the only street by which it was possible to get to the Waag was Sunday Street. This also was half in flames, but from where Great St. Michael Street cuts across it, it still remained untouched. Your house was the border building beyond which the fire had not yet extended, but the inn at the opposite corner was burned to the ground. Oh, that dear familiar house, with those cool corridors, and those red marble columns, on the iron cross-bars of which you, as a boy, so often used to show off your acrobatic feats before me! The thought occurred to me of seeking sanctuary there in my great extremity.
At one time I was wont to be heartily welcomed there. It is true that I had sinned grievously against that house, and the lady had reproached me with it to my face. I _had laughed at her son_, and that laughter had driven him out into the world. But in seasons of great calamity wrath is forgotten. I would seek a refuge there with your mother. Such were my thoughts when I saw your mother"s house. That sight I shall never forget. There stood the good old lady on the threshold of her house, in that very brown dress, that very frilled turban in which you painted her portrait. Whenever she recognised anybody among the flying crowd, she stopped him, and asked, "Have you not seen my son?" and when he replied, "I have not!" she would wring her hands and sob bitterly, "Oh, Holy Father! why is not my son here?""
Alas! what was the matter with my eyes? They suddenly filled with something.
The young lady continued her story:--
"When I heard your mother saying these words, I was possessed with fresh horror. It never occurred to me that you had an elder brother who was the guardian of the orphan wards of the town, and that his proper place then was in the Town Hall, with the roof blazing over his head, trying to save the property of the orphans. I dared not go along that side of the street; I crossed over to the other side. Suppose she were to seize me also and ask: "What have you done with my son? But for those accursed, colour-shifting eyes of yours, he would now be beside me, he would never have left me all alone!" I dared not, I dared not meet her eye. I would rather endure the sight of my own mother"s angry face than the tearful look of your mother. I hid my face in my hands, and hurried past."
She could say no more. She let her face fall on my breast, and sobbed aloud.
CHAPTER XIII
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT
When she again lifted up her face, her eyes were like a somnambulist"s gazing fixedly in the moonlight. They appeared absolutely dark-blue, so much were the irises distended. Her voice was quite low.
"The whole picture is still vividly before my eyes. The greater part of the town was in flames. It must have been evening. The sound of the clock in the Calvinist church tower mingled with the peal of the alarm-bells. The clock struck eight, the alarm-bells five. The people counted the strokes: exactly thirteen. The sun shone no longer, but the whole vault of heaven was alight; the fiery reflection of the thick clouds of smoke made a h.e.l.lish daylight, and in the midst of this terrible illumination, like some dread idol, rose the tower of the Calvinist church, with its large copper roof, and its spire with the great gold ball and star. Star and ball glowed like phantoms from the world beyond the grave. The crackling of the fire roared down the howling of the beasts and the cries of ten thousand terrified men. In that part of the town where the carters dwelt, carts, horses and oxen, and their owners were all huddled together in one dense ma.s.s. To move was an impossibility. Then upon this howling, cursing, blaspheming mult.i.tude came pouring that ma.s.s of men which had fought its way from the banks of the Danube through the burning town, with the terrifying cry, "The enemy has attacked the town!" By this time the alarming rumour had gained such proportions that there were those who said they had actually seen the enemy"s soldiers entering the town. "They are burning, they are plundering--fly! fly!" Some even exclaimed, "They are about to bombard the captured town from the fortress!" All at once the whole street, as far as the Waag bridge, was filled with flying vehicles. In my terror I had clutched hold of the mud-splasher of one of these vehicles as it came tearing along, and ran along after it till there was scarcely a breath left in my body. My light buskins were completely worn off my feet and full of gravel. I had no time to stop and empty them.
This particular carriage had excellent horses in it, and the coachman did not spare his whip. Two women, dressed in peasants" hoods, were sitting in this carriage. I was astonished that they should wrap themselves up so closely in their hoods, and cover their heads with big kerchiefs, when such an infernal heat was blazing all around us, from the earth, from the sky, and from every side of us.
"The coachman reached the Waag bridge safely before the other fugitive carriages had blocked up the way. At the entrance they had to stop, for there the custom-house officers demanded the bridge-tolls. That the whole town was in flames mattered not a b.u.t.ton to them, all they wanted was their tolls. One of the women handed them an Austrian bank-note for 100 florins. The toll-collector could not give change. A queer sort of peasant woman, truly, who had no smaller change than a bank-note for 100 florins! While they were haggling about it, it occurred to me that I was now wearing my genteel clothes, and that in the pockets there was sure to be a silver _tizes_[76] for any beggar I might chance to meet on my way. So I went up and said to the peasant women: "I"ve got a _tizes_ which I"ll give to the toll-collector; all that I ask is that you will take me in your carriage--there"s room for me beside the coachman. I don"t mind where you take me." At this, one of the women called to the coachman: "Don"t let that girl get up, we won"t have her." Then they told the toll-collector that he might keep the 100-florin note if he couldn"t give them change, if only he would let their coachman go on. I was horrified at such inhumanity. What a heartless woman it must be who, in such a time of peril, could refuse a fugitive girl a place in her carriage, and who, rather than do so, preferred to sacrifice a bank-note for 100 florins, peasant though she was! In my indignation I tore the big m.u.f.fling clout from the head of the peasant woman and discovered her face. And now my blood froze to ice. I recognised my own mother!
"Mother, dear mother!" I cried, "don"t you know me? I am your own little girl, Bessy!" Then my mother, pulling up the collar of her mantle over her face, said, in a simulated peasant voice: "Be off! Don"t bother us!
I don"t know the girl. I"m not your mother. Let go my kerchief!"
[Footnote 76: The tenth part of a florin.]
"I thought I was going mad. My own mother wouldn"t know me! She wouldn"t let me get into her carriage. Like lightning the thought flashed through my mind that she it was whom the people were cursing so. No doubt they were cursing her unjustly, but in such times as these that mattered little. Whomsoever the popular fury points out is condemned already. I could not betray my own mother. I hastily threw my silver coin to the toll-collector that they might let the carriage go on. I thought that if once we got beyond the bridge, and my mother had no further fear of pursuit, she would take me into the carriage. So catching hold of the back part of the vehicle, I ran on beside the carriage till we had got beyond the trenches of the fortress and out upon the highway. Then I again began to supplicate, so far as my gasping voice would allow me: "Mother, dear, good mother! take me into the carriage; I am dropping. I can go no farther." They would not hear me. They only cursed and scolded: "Be off! Decamp!" And when I still persisted in clinging on, they at last seized my fingers, which were still clutching the splasher, violently wrenched them off, and gave me a rough push so that I fell at full length into the highway. Then the carriage rolled on farther.
"I had held out till then, but now my strength failed me. I trembled so that I could no longer stand upon my legs. Utterly crushed in mind and body by the sufferings of that terrible day, I dragged myself on my knees to the edge of the wayside ditch. My instinctive fear of death told me that I must avoid the middle of the road if I didn"t want to be trampled to death. There then I lay clinging to a roadside poplar, gazing apathetically at the dreadful scene. The fugitive vehicles dashed madly along the highway in threes and fours, colliding every moment. The cursing and swearing were something awful. Every now and then one conveyance overturned another into the ditch, and the women who were sitting in them screamed and cried most piteously. One coachman hit upon the foolhardy idea of forcing his way through the ditch into the open field, and others followed his example. They came so close to me as to all but run over me, and I had not sufficient strength left to draw up my legs out of reach of their revolving wheels.
"Then the blast of trumpets mingled with the hurly-burly. A regiment of Hussars was trying to cut its way through the fugitive carriages with a convoy of hay-waggons, which, as was explained to me later on, the Commandant of the fortress was transferring from the burning town to the village of Izsa across the Waag. The commanding officer was cursing and swearing, and striking all the coachmen he met with the flat of his sword for stopping his soldiers" way. "d.a.m.ned rascals! instead of putting out the fire, you all take to your heels. What the devil is the matter with you? There"s no enemy behind you! Would that the souls of your ancestors could revivify you!"
"The voice seemed familiar to me, but the face I had never seen before.
A spiral moustache, a French beard, a Hussar uniform, and a plumed hat--I had never seen _that_ figure before.
"Thus he appeared before me like the dragon-slaying hero of a fairy tale.
"Hitherto, of all those who scurried past me, not one had noticed the wretched creature lying in the ditch. Some girl or other quite past help, they thought, perhaps. n.o.body took any notice of me.
"This officer _did_ notice me. In the midst of the greatest turmoil he perceived a woman lying beneath his horse"s feet. He hastily reined in his charger, and called me by my name. "My lady Elizabeth! how ever did you come here? In Heaven"s name, what has befallen you?"
"I recognised him by his mode of addressing me. There was only one man who used to address me in this way, the man who taught me my _role_ at those famous amateur theatricals that you remember.
""Mr. Balvanyossi! Mr. Director!" I stammered, in my joy.
""No, no! Captain Rengetegi is my name. Why, where is your mother? Run away? She did well. Get up, my lady, into my carriage, and I"ll take you now to a place of safety."
""I cannot get up."