THE HUNT.
Early next morning the hunting-horns awoke the guests. Those who had
gone to sleep thinking of hunting, and had dreamt of hunting, at once
sprang to their feet at that joyous sound. The others, who would gladly
have compounded with themselves for an extra half-hour and allowed their
heavy eyelids just one more little snooze, were violently thwarted in
their inclinations by the ever-increasing racket which suddenly
dominated Kárpáthy Castle; for the bustling to and fro of heavy boots,
the sound of familiar voices in the halls and parlours, the baying of
dogs in the courtyard, the cracking of whips, and the neighing of horses
would have sufficed to disturb the sweet slumbers of the Seven Sleepers
themselves. But what is the use of expecting moderation or discretion
from sportsmen? The most exquisite of drawing-room dandies, when he
prepares him for the chase, puts on quite another character with his
hunting boots and cap, and considers himself justified in making as much
row as possible, and bawls in a voice that is quite different to his
own.
Day had scarcely dawned when the fully dressed guests came into the hall
to show themselves and have a look at the weather. The more original
young bucks were dressed in coats with large flapping sleeves, vests
with broad flat buttons, and velvet caps with crane's feathers; the
elegants, on the other hand, affected tightly fitting dolmans and spiral
hats; only the buffoon, Count Gregory, was got up, _à l'Anglaise_, in a
red cut-away coat, and piteously begged every one to explain to the dogs
that he was not the fox.
Most of the ladies were also in hunting attire, the close-clinging
bodices exhibiting to admiration their amazonian figures; while the long
trains had to be held up, lest the spurred and booted heroes around them
should trample ruthlessly thereon. And who so beautiful amongst all
these beauties as Flora and Fanny!
And now the bell rang inviting the guests to breakfast. Sausage and herb
pottage, dishes _à la fourchette_, and corresponding drams of strong
spirit awaited them in the dining-room. There was no affectation or
finnicking now: all alike were sportsmen. The sweetest, prettiest ladies
did not refuse, at the request of their admirers, to moisten their rosy
lips with a few drops of thirty-years old szilvorium: everything was
permissible now, and, besides, they had need of strong hearts to-day.
Even the elderly women meant to accompany the huntsmen in carriages.
It was a glorious summer morning when the imposing cavalcade issued from
the courtyard of Kárpáthy Castle. First of all came the ladies, so many
slim, supple amazons, on prancing steeds, in the midst of a circle of
noisy youths, who made their own horses dance and curvet by the side of
their chosen dames; behind them came the wags of the party, on
splendidly caparisoned rustic nags; and, last of all, the elderly ladies
and gentlemen in their carriages. Squire John himself was in the saddle,
and shewed all the world that he could hold his own with the smartest
cavalier present, and everytime he looked at his wife he seemed to be
twenty years younger, and his face beamed at the thought that she was
such a pretty woman and he was her husband.
Three prizes had been fixed for the best foxhound: the first was a
golden goblet with an inscription on it, the second was a silver
hunting-horn, and the third a beautiful bear-skin; and no doubt the
victorious foxhound would, personally, have been most grateful for the
last. Most of the competing dogs, tied together in couples, were led
along by the men-servants; but each of the favourite foxhounds was
brought on to the ground in a cart, lest any of the horses should kick
it. Naturally none of the company carried fire-arms; it is not usual to
have them at a fox-hunt.
As the whole merry company was approaching the end of the long avenue of
Italian poplars, they perceived a solitary horseman trotting towards
them from the opposite end of the avenue.
Even at a distance every one recognized him at once from his mode of
riding, and like quick fire the rumour spread amongst the company; ah,
at last he has arrived!
Who was it, then, who had arrived at last? Why, who else but the most
gallant of cavaliers, the most daring of courtiers, who had only to
come, see, and conquer--Mike Kis, the Whitsun King!
In a moment he had reached the cavalcade, and was apologizing to the
ladies for having remained away so long, conveying the impression, from
slight allusions he let drop, that some serious business, a duel
perhaps, had detained him; then he proceeded to make his excuses to the
gentlemen, allowing it to be supposed that some tender affair, a private
assignation for instance, was the cause of his delay. Then, shaking
hands right and left, and even finding time to throw a word or two to
each of the foxhounds by name, he politely begged those who thronged him
to make way, as he wished to pay his respects immediately to Madame
Kárpáthy, whom, without the slightest embarrassment, he began to call a
goddess, an angel on horseback, and other pretty names.
Unfortunately Fanny misunderstood him, and, regarding everything he said
as so many capital jokes, rewarded them with far more laughter than
their merits deserved.
"Squire John, Squire John!" cried Dame Marion, in a shrill, pointed sort
of tone, to Kárpáthy, who was trotting beside her carriage, "if I were
you I would not have a bosom friend who has the reputation of being
irresistible."
"I am not jealous, your ladyship; that is the one little wheel which is
wanting in my mechanism. I suppose it was left out of me when I was
made--ha, ha, ha!"
"Then, if I were you, I would not come to a fox-hunt, lest my dogs
should regard me as an Actæon."
"To give your ladyship cause to conduct yourself towards me like Diana,
eh?"
Dame Marion pouted, and turned her head aside; the man was such a
blockhead that he absolutely could not understand any attempt to
aggravate him.
And now the company trotted merrily on again.
The course had been chosen outside a village, and in front of it a
pleasure-house had been erected. Here the prizes were to be distributed.
Here those of the gentlemen and ladies who were not on horseback
alighted, and ascended to a terrace, in shape like a lofty tower, which
rose from the midst of the pleasure-house, and from whence the whole
plain was visible. Only here and there was a dot of forest to be seen;
everywhere else stretched a waste expanse covered with broom, coarse
grass, and sedges,--a true realm of foxes. Thus from the tower of the
pleasure-house the best possible view of the whole competition was
obtainable, and there were field-glasses provided for those who wanted
them.
A whole army of foxhounds had followed the hunters. It was a fine sight
to see how, at a single familiar whistle, the various packs of hounds
were separated from each other; how the dogs crowded round their
respective masters, for the favourites were now let down from the carts
and the rest were unleashed; and how, barking and yelping, they leaped
in the air, to reach and lick their masters' uplifted hands.
It is curious how human passions prove contagious to the very beasts.
Squire John selected from among the rest two pure snow-white hounds,
and, whistling to them between his two fingers, led them to his wife.
"They are the finest and the boldest foxhounds in the whole pack."
"I know them: one is Cziczke, and the other Rajkó."
The two dogs, hearing their names mentioned, joyously leaped and bounded
in their efforts to lick their mistress's hand as she sat on horseback.
It was very pleasant to Squire John to find that his wife knew his dogs
by name, he was equally pleased to see that the dogs knew their
mistress--ah! every one did her homage, both man and beast.
"But where, then, is Matyi?" inquired Fanny, looking about her.
"I am taking him with me."
"What, sir, are you going to take part in the race? Pray do not!"
"Why not? Don't you think me a good enough horseman?"
"I readily believe that you are; but pray, for my sake, do not proceed
to prove it!"
"For your sake I will immediately dismount."
Flora whispered to Count Gregory, who was riding by her side, "I should
like to know how many of the husbands present would give up hunting for
the sake of their wives?"
And, indeed, Squire John's affection must have been something altogether
out of the way to make him renounce his favourite pastime in the joyful
anticipation of which he had been living for months beforehand, simply
to please his wife. Fanny, deeply touched, held out her hands towards
him.
"You are not angry with me, I hope," said she; "but I feel so frightened
on your account."
John Kárpáthy pressed the extended hand to his lips, and, holding it in
his palm some little time, asked--
"And ought _I_ not to be afraid on your account also?"
Fanny involuntarily glanced at her friend, as if to ask whether she also
ought not to remain here.
Kárpáthy guessed the meaning of the look.
"No, no; I don't want you to remain here. Go and enjoy yourself! But
take care of yourself. And you young fellows there, watch over my wife
as if she were the light of your eyes."
"Oh, we'll look after her!" replied Mike Kis, twirling his moustache.
"And _I_, also, will look after her," cried Lady Szentirmay, with a
strong emphasis on the word _I_; for she had observed that Kárpáthy's
good-natured appeal had somewhat confused his wife.
And now the horns began to sound and the whips to crack, and both dogs
and horses grew unruly and impatient. The company divided into three
parts, forming a centre and rings like an army, and advanced into the
bushy plain, sending the dogs on in front. The ladies waved their
handkerchiefs, the gentlemen their caps, to the friends they had left
behind on the tower who responded in like manner, whereupon the
galloping groups scattered in every direction, disappearing here and
there among the thick brushwood. Only the heads of most of the riders
were now visible above the bushes, but the fluttering veils of the two
ladies could be plainly seen by every one, and every eye was fixed upon
them with delight. And now they came to a ditch. Lady Szentirmay boldly
raced towards it, and was over it in a trice; a moment later, Madame
Kárpáthy also leaped the ditch, her slender figure swayed and danced
during the leap; after her plunged her escort, Count Gregory, the
Whitsun King, and some other horsemen. The people on the balcony
applauded.
Only Kárpáthy felt uneasy, and did not know where to bestow himself. He
descended among the grooms, and finding old Paul there, said to him,
anxiously--
"I can't help feeling anxious lest some accident should happen to my
wife. Isn't that horse rather shy?"
"The steadiest goer in the world; but perhaps you would like me to go
after her?"
"Well, I should. You have just hit it. Mount my horse. Take care they do
not go astray near the swamp; call their attention to the fact that they
might easily come to grief there."
Palko immediately mounted Squire John's horse, and Kárpáthy returned to
the balcony to see whether he would manage to overtake them.
The hunt sped onwards tempestuously. The hounds had now started a fox,
but they were still a long way off, and the field was so scattered that
the artful beast seemed likely to throw them off his track. He kept
plunging into the bushes while his pursuers dashed past, and then, all
of a sudden, darted off side-ways. But fruitless was all his craftiness;
he only rushed into a fresh foe, and tried vainly to hide or double:
there was no refuge to be found anywhere, and the quick cracking of
whips on every side of him told him that a war of extirpation against
his whole race was on foot, so he resolved on flight, and gained the
very first hillock, where he stopped for a moment, looked round to see
from what direction the enemy was coming, and then made for the reeds
with all his might.
"Look! the fox, the fox!" cried his pursuers, when they perceived him on
the hillock: the next moment he had disappeared from it.
But they had seen enough of him to perceive that he was a splendid
beast. He was evidently an old stager, who would give the best dogs
something to do.
After him!
Off galloped the whole party in the track of the hounds, the faces of
the two ladies were aglow with the passionate ardour of the chase, and
at that instant there occurred to the mind of Fanny her vision of long
ago: what if he, her nameless ideal, were now galloping beside her on
his swift-footed steed, and could see her impetuously heading the chase
till she threw herself down before him, and died there, without anybody
knowing why! But Flora thought: "Suppose Rudolf were now to come face to
face with me, and see me"--and then she felt again how much she loved
him.
And now the fox suddenly emerged again on the open. A newly mown field,
of a thousand acres or so in extent, covered with rows of haycocks, lay
right before the huntsmen; and here the really interesting part of the
hunt began. The fox was a fine specimen, about as big as a young wolf,
but much longer in the body, and carrying behind him a provokingly big
brush. He trotted leisurely in front, not because he could not go
quicker, but because he wanted to economize his strength, and all the
time he kept dodging to and fro, backwards and forwards, in the
endeavour to tire his enemies out, and ceaselessly threw glances behind
him at his pursuers, out of half an eye, keeping about a hundred paces
in front of them, and accelerating his pace whenever he perceived that
the distance between him and them was diminishing.
And yet the very best hounds of Squire John's--Cziczke, the two white
ones, and Rajkó, Matyi, big Ordas, Michael Kis's Fecske, and Count
Gregory's Armida, to say nothing of the whole canine army behind them,
were hard upon his traces.
The fox began to go slower and slower. He seemed to regret the brushwood
from which he had leaped forth, and kept flying towards one haycock
after another; as if he fancied he could find a shelter beside it, and
then, snarling savagely, cantered on again. Even from afar he could be
seen gnashing his teeth together when he looked back.
And indeed he was in evil case, cooped up on that level ground, where
there was neither stream nor hiding-place which might shelter him from
his pursuers. Sideways, indeed, lay an arm of the river Berettyo,
well-known to crayfish catchers and summer-bathers as a broad and deep
stream, and well would it be for him now to have that water between him
and the hounds, for the foxhound will not swim if he can help it, but it
looked very much as if they would surround him, and tear his skin off
his back before he could reach it.
And now it was easy to perceive that his pace was diminishing, as he ran
in and out among the haycocks; soon he must be completely surrounded.
"Seize him, Fecske! seize him, Rajkó! seize him, Armida!" resounded from
all sides.
The dogs rushed after him with all their might.
The two white dogs were nearest to him; like the wind they rushed after
him, their long slender necks straining forward as if to let the fox
know that a few more minutes and they, would be upon him.
Suddenly the fox stood still. Sweeping his tail beneath him, and
gnashing his teeth, he faced round upon the hounds, who, taken unawares,
stopped in front of him, snarling viciously, and wagging their upturned
tails. The hunted beast took advantage of this momentary respite, and
with a side spring slipped between the two white dogs, and tried to find
a refuge more to the right.
Again they were all after him.
Now Count Gregory's Armida got nearest to him.
"Bravo Armida! The victory is yours."
Another leap. The fox suddenly crouched down, and Armida bounded over
him, only perceiving when she had run twenty paces further that the fox
had remained behind.
And now they all suddenly turned to the right.
"Seize him, Fecske!" cried Mike Kis.
And Fecske really did seize the fox; but the fox in his turn seized
Fecske, and bit his ear so savagely that the dog immediately let go
again: so that was all poor Fecske got.
And now the fox, with all his might, made straight for the Berettyo. The
crafty old fellow had succeeded in checkmating all his pursuers and
reaching his lurking-place. The hounds were now far behind him.
But now old Matyi, the wolf-grey, solitary foxhound, came to the front,
and showed what he could do. Hitherto he had not very much exerted
himself, but had let the others do what they could. He knew very well
that a single dog would never catch this fox--nay, two and even three
would be no match for him. It was an old fox, and they knew each other,
for they had often come across each other here and there. Now then, let
him show his enemy what he was made of.
Again the fox practised his old wiles, darting aside, crouching down,
gnashing his teeth: all in vain--he had now to do with a practised foe.
If only Squire John could now have seen it all! Ask an enthusiastic
fox-hunter how much he would have given for such a sight?
And now the fox stopped short again in mid career, and crouched down;
but Matyi did not leap over him as the flighty Armida had done, but, as
the fox turned towards him with gnashing teeth, he snapped suddenly at
him from the opposite side like lightning, and in that instant all that
one could see was the fox turning a somersault in the air. Matyi,
seizing him by the neck had, in fact, tossed him up, and scarcely had he
reached the ground again when he was seized again by the skin of his
back, well shaken, and then released. Let him run a little bit longer,
if he likes!
"Bravo, Matyi! bravo!" shouted everybody present.
This exclamation encouraged Matyi to show the spectators fresh specimens
of his skill. By a series of masterly manoeuvres he turned the fox back
towards the hunters, in order that they might the better see him mount
head over heels into the air again. He never held the dangerous beast in
his jaws for more than one moment, for he knew that in the next the fox
could seize him, and dogs have their own peculiar ideas of a fox's grip,
for it is the bite of all other bites they like the least. He contented
himself therefore with harrying and worrying him as much as possible
without coming to too close quarters till he should have succeeded in
wearing him out. The fox no longer defended himself, but simply ran
straight on, limping and stumbling on three legs. Every one fancied that
it was now all up with him, when, suddenly, he made another dart
sideways, and perceiving a herd of oxen on the high-road, made straight
towards them.
Here a pretty high fence confronted the hunters, which they were
obliged to take, and which gave both the ladies another opportunity of
showing their agility; both of them successfully cleared it. At that
moment they perceived a horseman coming towards them on the high-road,
whom, owing partly to the high bushes and partly to their attention
being directed elsewhere, they had not observed before.
"'Tis he!"
Flora's face that instant grew redder than ever, while Fanny's turned as
pale as death.
"'Tis he!"
Both of them recognized him at the same time. 'Tis he, the loving
husband of the one, the beloved ideal of the other.
Flora rushed towards him with a cry of joy. "Rudolf! Rudolf!" she cried.
Fanny, in dumb despair, turned her horse's head, and began to gallop
back again.
"Good God!" cried Rudolf, whose face still burned with the kisses of his
loving wife, "that lady's horse has run away with her!"
"That is Madame Kárpáthy!" cried Flora in alarm; and she whipped up her
horse in the hope of overtaking her friend.
The lady was galloping helter-skelter across the plain. Every one
fancied that her stallion had run away with her. Flora, old Palko, Mike
Kis, and Count Gregory vainly sped after her; they could not get near
her: only Rudolf was beginning to catch her up.
And now the stallion had reached the narrow dyke, and was galloping
along it; on the other side of it, six fathoms in depth, were the waters
of the Berettyo. A single stumble, and all would be over. But now Rudolf
was catching her up, and he was the best horseman of them all. And now
he was level with her. It was the first time in his life that he had
seen this woman. He had no idea that he had met her many and many a
time before, for he had never noticed her. The stallion, with foaming
mouth, rushed on, with the lady clinging to him. Her face was pale and
her bosom heaved. It was just at this moment that the young man came
abreast of her; her flying locks flapped his face: and she had a
hundredfold more reasons now than ever for wishing to die at that
moment. This youth, this ideal of her romantic dreams, was the husband
of her dearest, her noblest, her loveliest friend.
Rudolf was obliged to give up all idea of stopping the maddened steed.
Instead of that, and, just as Fanny fell back half-swooning from her
saddle, he swiftly seized her in his muscular grip, and pulled her right
on to his own saddle. The lady fainted away over his shoulder, and the
horse dashed wildly onwards.