s all till the next Carnival, they
should be married. My brother often entreated them not to wait till
the Carnival, 'for who knows,' he said, 'what may happen before then?'
and with reason did his heart misgive him, poor fellow! for at the
vintage Marcsa's father and ours went to the cellars to make the wine,
and the deadly air[34] struck them--we found them both dead!

[Footnote 34: The wine-cellars, which every peasant possesses, are not
in their cottages, but out in their vineyards; it frequently happens
that there is a malaria in the vaults, which is certain death to any
who remain in them above a certain time.]

"The mourning was very great in both houses--the two fathers cut off
at one stroke; but in Marcsa's house the distress was still greater
than in ours, for the old man, having been sacristan, had been
intrusted with certain sums, of which two hundred florins were missing
after his death. Where he had put them, or what had become of them,
was never known, for death had struck him too suddenly. The reverend
gentlemen who examined the accounts had so much consideration for the
poor widow, that they did not bring the affair to light, and even
promised to wait a whole year, during which time the family must
endeavour to make up the sum, as after that period it could no longer
be kept secret.

"Our mother was much distressed when she heard of this affair, and
there was no more said of the carnival wedding: she was a poor but an
honest woman, and how could she allow her son to marry the daughter of
a man in whose hands the public money had been lost, and whose goods
would probably be sold at the end of a year to repay the scandalous
debt? The young lovers cried and lamented loudly, but it was all in
vain; my mother said if the sum should be restored within a year she
would receive the girl, but never otherwise. She prohibited my brother
from holding personal intercourse with Marcsa during that entire
period; and in order that he might keep his word the more easily, she
bound him apprentice to a Theiss miller, and then--the water parted
them.

"Meanwhile, Marcsa's mother very soon died of grief and care, and
the girl was left alone. But love wrought wonders in her; and when
the poor girl had not a creature in the world to help her, she came
over to our mother and said: 'You will not allow your son to marry
me unless my father's debt be replaced--good, I have still a whole
year, and I will work day and night; I