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The Baron's Sons
A Romance of the HungarianRevolution of 1848
By
Dr. Maurus JA cubedkai
Author of"Midst the Wild Carpathians," "Black Diamonds,""Pretty Michal," "The Hungarian Nabob," etc.
Translated from the Fourth Hungarian Edition byPercy Favor BicknellJoint Translator of "The Jesuit Relations."
BostonL.A C. Page and Company(Incorporated) 1900
Copyright, 1900By L.A C. Page and Company(INCORPORATED)
All Rights Reserved
Colonial PressElectrotyped and Printed by C.A H. Simonds & Co.Boston, Mass., U.S.A.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
No page of history is more crowded with thrilling interest than thatwhich records the uprising of the Hungarians, in 1848-49, in a gallantattempt to recover their constitutional rights. The events of thatstirring period, even when related by the sober pen of the annalist,read more like romance than reality; and thus they cannot fail to lendthemselves admirably to the purposes of historical fiction. More thanone of that brilliant series of novels with which the genius ofHungary's greatest story-writer has enriched the literature, not ofhis own country merely, but of the world, takes its theme from thosememorable scenes in which the author himself played no unimportantpart. Into none of these fascinating romances has the writer succeededin crowding so much of the life and colour, of the heroism andself-sacrifice, the triumph and the despair, of that nationalconvulsion, as into the pages of "The Baron's Sons" ("_A KA'szA-vA+- EmberFiai_," literally, "The Sons of the Stony-hearted Man"). Especiallyeffective is his description of the historic flight over theCarpathians of the two hundred and twenty hussars who, at the outbreakof the Revolution, deserted the Austrian army and hastened to theircountry's aid. No chapter in all the author's writings exceeds thisone in breathless interest and in the skilful handling of detail.
The necessity of abridging the author's text, while regretted by noone more than by the translator, has, it is believed, tended tocontribute to the story an element of unity and compactness which,owing to the undue elaboration of certain minor details, seemssomewhat lacking in the original. It is with extreme hesitation anddiffidence, however, that I venture, even in self-defence, to imputethe slightest blemish to a style in which so many of the author'sadmirers can see no fault. The curtailment has necessitated, in somechapters, a certain amount of adaptation, and a slight departure fromstrict literalness of rendering; but it is hoped that the spirit ofthe original has nowhere been sacrificed.
P.A F.A B.
Malden, Mass., April, 1900.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE viiI. SIXTY MINUTES 1II. THE PRAYER AT THE GRAVE 15III. TWO GOOD FRIENDS 21IV. THE TWO OTHERS 41V. ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE 59VI. THE _BACKFISCH_ 69VII. THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP 79VIII. A WOMAN'S REVENGE 95IX. THE UNDERSCORED LINES 105X. THE BETROTHAL 109XI. THE FIRST STEP 115XII. SPRING DAYS 123XIII. THE REVERSE OF THE MEDAL 129XIV. TRUE LOVE 142XV. MOTHER AND SON 165XVI. THROUGH FIRE AND WATER 189XVII. TIMELY AID 220XVIII. GREGORY BOKSA 227XIX. IN THE ROYAL FOREST 242XX. THE DYING SOLDIER'S BEQUEST 246XXI. SUNLIGHT AND MOONLIGHT 253XXII. A WOMAN'S HATRED 258XXIII. A DUEL BETWEEN BROTHERS 263XXIV. ZEBULON'S BRIGHT IDEA 278XXV. GOOD OLD FRIENDS 284XXVI. AT HOME 291XXVII. THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER 298XXVIII. THE SUMMONS ANSWERED 304XXIX. A POSTHUMOUS MESSAGE 309XXX. THE PRISON TELEGRAPH 315XXXI. A HEADACHE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 317XXXII. THE SUITOR 327XXXIII. ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 334