nd no more important title than that of "courier."

As the day slowly began to dawn, the sobering breath of the fresh
morning breeze blew full in the faces of the horsemen, and the towers
of the county-town stood out plainly before them in the distance. And
now Maria began to observe that her companion was lagging behind her at
a considerable distance. More than once she had to shout back to him:

"My brother! don't drop behind so!"

"My horse is tired out," stammered Hanak, and he kept on mopping up the
sweat from his towzled poll.

"Give him the spur, then!"

"I would if I had 'em."

"Then ride in front of me, and I'll whip him up from behind."

And so they went along pretty well for some time, but when the towers
and steeples of the county-town drew very much nearer, shaggy Hanak
began to complain that his saddle was nearly falling off.

"Dismount, then, and fix it tighter!"

The fellow dismounted accordingly, but he was fumbling about with it
such a long time that Maria, growing impatient, herself leaped to the
ground and tightened his saddle-girths.

"And now up you get and off again!"

Shaggy Hanak stuck all five fingers into his hairy poll and scratched
his head all round beneath his cap, then suddenly, with an artful grin,
he turned his face towards Maria.

"Hark ye! Are we really going into the town?"

"Of course we are."

"And you really intend to read out the proclamation, to seize the
General, take away the guns, and capture the barrack?"

"Yes, and much more besides, when the business has been fairly begun."

Shaggy Hanak began to scratch his head still harder, and seemed to have
a thousand and one things to put to rights in the horse's trappings. At
last he came out with the following proposition:

"Listen, comrade! Don't you think it would be better if, when you went
into the town, I remained outside and read the proclamation to all the
people coming to market?"

"You can read then?"

"Read! A pretty sort of sexton I should be if I couldn't read!"

"Very well. I rather like your idea;" whereupon Maria drew from her
side-pocket a couple of cigars wrapped up in part of an odd number of
the Leutschau county newspaper, and gave the sheet to her valiant
comrade, who glanced over it with the air of a connoisseur, and, after
declaring aloud that he quite grasped its meaning, folded it neatly up,
and stuck it in the braiding of his cap.

"I'll read it in my best style," said he, "and wil