started up and went after him, with an offer of ransom
for his release. But they seized him, too, and so now they have them
both. Meanwhile the Wallachs are threatening, if we don't surrender to
them and admit them into Toroczko, to hang our two brothers before our
eyes. We on our part, however, turn a deaf ear to the rascally knaves,
and would perish to the last man before we would think of yielding. It's
no use your screaming in my ears, you won't make me change my mind. I'm
ready to treat with people that are reasonable, but when they bite me I
bite back. I agree with you it's a hateful thing to have two of our
brothers hanged; noblemen are not to be insulted with the halter; their
honour should be spared and their heads taken off decently. But what can
we do? Can we hesitate a moment between two noblemen's deaths and the
destruction of all the peasantry? One man is as good as another now. So
you may make as much rumpus as you please, it won't do any good. I am
taking you to Toroczko, and as our two brothers are as good as lost to
us, you must take the command of the Toroczko forces. You have seen the
barricade fighting in Vienna and Rome, and you understand such things.
So, then, not another word! I won't hear it."

Manasseh had not uttered a syllable, but had permitted his brother to
argue out the matter with himself.

"I don't gainsay you, brother Aaron," he calmly rejoined, "not in the
least. Take me to Toroczko, the sooner the better; but we shall not get
there by this road. Do you see that great cloud of dust yonder moving
toward us?"

"Aha! What sharp eyes you have to see it, by moonlight too! I hadn't
noticed it before. All Torda and Nagy-Enyed are coming to meet us. They
must have set out about the same time we did, to make the most of the
night. We can't get through this way, that's sure. But don't you worry.
It's a sorry kind of a fox that has only one hole to hide in. Do you see
that gorge there on our right? It leads to Olah-Fenes. The people there
are Wallachs, it is true, but they side with us; to prove it, they have
cut their hair short. Next we shall come to Szent-Laszlo, where Magyars
live. So far we can drive, though it's a frightful road and one of us
must walk beside the carriage and keep it from tipping over. We must
wake up the young lady, too, and tell her to hold on tight, or she'll
be thrown out. But never fear. The horses can be depended on, and the
carriage is Toroczko work and good for