usband valid. Yet, if she does this she will forfeit all claim to
her property, which, by the testator's will, can descend only to Roman
Catholic heirs."

With both hands Rozina drew the prince's head down and whispered in his
ear:

"She must die before this second marriage takes place."

"I shall not meddle with destiny," returned the prince, straightening up
again. "I shall be satisfied and ask no questions if Vajdar brings back
a leaden casket containing the unhappy woman's remains. I shall render
her the last honours with princely pomp, and shall then give orders to
pursue and punish the insurgents who were responsible for her death."

Rozina burst out laughing. It is always too irresistibly funny to see
the devil trying to wash himself clean. Even Cagliari himself was forced
to smile.

"Yes," said he, "that is a joke we may laugh at, if you like. But now
hear what I have to say further. If Blanka Zboroy renounces the faith of
her fathers and marries again, it will not suffice for her only to die.
The man she marries must die also, the parson who joined their hands at
the altar, the witnesses of the ceremony, the whole family that received
her in its midst, the schoolchildren that sang the bridal hymn, the
guests who sat around the wedding-table, the people who looked out of
their windows and saw the bridal procession pass,--yes, the whole town
where this marriage took place must be destroyed, and I have it in my
power to accomplish this. Now are you satisfied?"

CHAPTER XX.

MIRTH AND MOURNING.

Meanwhile preparations were going forward in Toroczko for the
approaching nuptials. All preliminaries had been duly attended to,
Blanka had joined the Unitarian Church, and nothing now stood in the way
of her marriage to Manasseh.

In the courtyard to the rear of the Adorjan family mansion stood a
little house, containing two rooms and a kitchen, which Aaron secretly
fitted up in genuine Toroczko style, with carved hard-wood furniture, a
row of pegs running around the wall and hung with a fine array of glazed
earthenware mugs, and an old-fashioned dresser filled with pottery and a
dazzling display of bright new tinware. In the sleeping-room bedclothes,
canopy, and curtain were embroidered by peasant maidens. This little
house was not to be shown to Blanka until her wedding day.

During these preparations Aaron climbed the Szekler Stone every evening
and surveyed the horizon in search of any beacons blazi