anions, much out of breath, red in the face, and without
his hat, which he had thrown away in order to run the faster. He shouted
to the fugitive to stop, and, going to the edge of the ravine, snatched
up a great stone and hurled it after him.

"Oh, heavens!" cried Anna, "what have you done? What if it should hit
him?"

"If it hits him it will help him along the faster," was Aaron's reply as
he caught up a second stone, smaller than the first, and sent it to
overtake its fellow. But the fleeing form was too far down the hill to
serve as a good target, and Aaron's stones bounded harmlessly by.

"You might have killed him!" said Anna, reproachfully.

"And that would have been the best thing for all concerned," answered
Aaron, giving his moustache a fierce pull.

"But it would have been a piece of needless cruelty," remarked
Manasseh,--"and merely on account of a little hay that has not been
touched, after all."

"He didn't come up here to steal hay; he is one of Diurbanu's spies."

"But what, pray, could he spy out here?"

"What could he spy out? Oh, just see how sharp my brother Manasseh is!
My fortifications and armament are on the Szekler Stone. Yes, you may
laugh now, but you won't laugh when you come to learn their value. I
will show the ladies my cannon, but I won't let you see them, Manasseh."

"Cannon, brother?" repeated Manasseh, laughing. "How in the world did
you ever get them up here?"

"My business is with the ladies now," was all Aaron would say. "You sit
down on a stone and paint the beautiful view. My battery is not for you
to see. Yes, I have a battery, all complete. If Aaron Gabor could fit
out his Szeklers with artillery, why should not his namesake be able to
do the same? You young women may see my big guns; I'll show them to you.
But first promise me solemnly not to tell any mortal soul what you
see--not even Manasseh."

Blanka and Anna both pledged themselves most solemnly to secrecy,
whereupon Aaron led them up to a height on which stood the ruins of
Szekler-Stone Castle, one of the oldest monuments to be found in all
Hungary.

After a short interval the three rejoined Manasseh, the two ladies
laughing and in the merriest of moods, scarcely heeding their
conductor's solemnly raised forefinger and sober mien, which were meant
to remind them of their promise. But they betrayed no secrets; they only
laughed. Yet Aaron thought it betrayal enough for them even to laugh.

"That's always th