now late; and Anton saw, with some astonishment, that the
merchant still continued with the utmost politeness to play the host,
and to evince a pleasure in every fresh experience of the Tokay not easy
to reconcile with the purpose of his journey. At last, another bottle
having been uncorked, and the captain having taken and commenced a fresh
cigar of the merchant's, the latter casually observed, "I wish to travel
to the insurgent capital to-morrow, and request your permission, if it
be necessary."

"You do!" cried all the officers round the table.

"I must!" said the merchant, gravely, and proceeded briefly to state the
reasons for his resolve.

The captain shook his head. "It is true," said he, "that the exact terms
in which my orders are couched leave it optional whether I bar the
frontier against all alike, but yet the chief aim of our occupying this
position is the closing up of the disturbed district."

"Then I must make known my wishes to the commander-in-chief; but this
will delay me more than a day, and this delay will very probably defeat
the whole object of my journey. As you have kindly informed me, there
still exists a certain degree of order among the insurgents, but it is
impossible to say how long this may last. Now it is upon the existence
of this very order that I must depend for the recovery of my property,
for I can only get the loaded wagons out of the town with the consent of
the revolutionary party."

"And do you hope to obtain it?"

"I must endeavor to do so," was the reply; "at all events, I shall
oppose might and main the plundering and destroying of my goods."

The captain mused a while. "Your plans," said he, "place me in a strait;
if any harm should befall you, which is, I fear, only too likely, I
shall be reproached for having allowed you to cross the frontier. Can
nothing persuade you to give up this undertaking?"

"Nothing," said the merchant--"nothing but the law of the land."

"Are the wagons, then, of such consequence to you, that you are willing
to risk your life for them?" asked the captain, rather morosely.

"Yes, captain, of as much consequence as the doing your duty is to you.
To me their safety involves far more than mere mercantile profit. I must
cross the frontier unless prevented by a positive prohibition. That I
should not actually resist, but I should do all in my power to have an
exception made in my favor."

"Very good," said the captain; "I will lay no hindera