ast of great powers of endurance.

"To-morrow about this time you shall hear of us," she said, addressing
herself to Bodza. "Till then avoid every decisive step. Whomsoever you
may capture keep a strict watch upon them, and see that no harm befall
them. Do you take me? It is possible that the captives may attempt to
put an end to their own lives. But we shall require them all on account
of their confessions. Therefore take care of their lives. We must judge
each one of them separately. Numa! take care to be ubiquitous. Valour
and vigilance!"

Then, after pressing Thomas Bodza's hand once more, Maria put spurs to
her horse and galloped briskly along the high road. As for the horse of
her comrade it had to be almost dragged out of the courtyard, as it
showed a disposition to force its rider to return to the stable. Only
with the utmost difficulty did Hanak succeed in overtaking Maria,
pursued by the yells of encouragement and exultation of the mob he had
left behind him.

Maria pounded along the highway, glancing aside from time to time in the
direction of the burning house, the conflagration of which lit up the
overcast sky, tinging the clouds with an angry purple. The wind drove
the lurid smoke hither and thither. There was as steady a glare as if a
whole village was in flames. As they sped further and further away the
flames lit up the road and the wayside trees, and the towering masses of
clouds ever less and less. At last all that was to be seen was a large
blood-red star rising from the plain, a mere point of light far, far
away. Then even that vanished. Soon afterwards day began to dawn. The
cinder-grey sky reduced the nightly glare to ashes, and a dark grey
column of smoke, standing out against the pale yellow horizon, was the
only sign left of the conflagration.

On approaching the next _csarda_, Maria allowed Hanak to draw nearer to
her; her escort had to explain to the mob of peasants drinking in front
of the door on what errand they were speeding. He did so in his usual
boisterous bombastic fashion.

"We are going to town," bawled he. "We are going to read the
proclamation and collar the soldiers and the bigwigs, and bring back
with us guns and gunpowder, and lots of money. This is the courier."

Hoarsely bellowed "Eljens!" greeted this magnanimous resolution. A
guffawing scytheman, moreover, pressed with his horny palm the hand of
Maria, for whom shaggy Hanak, in the fervour of his enthusiasm, could
fi