At the end of the month the Admiral arrived from Vienna. He was no
longer young, but he was very enterprising, and, though for many years
retired, he now offered himself to his country, which was ungrateful
enough to evince no very pressing need of his services....
The Admiral brought us all the news of Vienna, which he described
as being in a state of wild enthusiasm and satisfaction. Day by
day Italy's declaration of war on the Allies was awaited, and, as
expectancy gradually died, Vienna's rage against Italy knew no bounds.
A popular joke in the city then was:--
"Was ist der Dreibund? Ein Zweibund und ein Vagabund!"
But, the Admiral assured us, everybody knew that the Zweibund would
win without the Vagabund: Willy would see to that; he had all that was
necessary to win a war, men, munitions, and brains. No, there never was
a man so plucky as Willy. The Admiral's thoughts, from force of habit,
lingered on things naval, and his morning greeting was, invariably--
"Good morning! To-day we shall hear something from the sea!"
We all grew impatient as time passed and the Admiral's big sea-battle
failed to take place. I once dared to suggest that the German Fleet was
afraid to come out. The Admiral's remaining hairs literally stood on
end.
"Afraid! Oh, Miss Jerry! You must have patience--they will come out in
time. What do you suppose Willy built his Dreadnoughts for? To sit in
the Kiel Canal, perhaps?"
There was never even a hint in the Austrian papers of any doings at sea
at all; but the Man of Arts knew of the clearing of enemy ships from
the seas by the Allied Fleets. It was in the Slav papers.
"But how do you manage to get those papers?" I once asked.
"Na, Fräulein; don't ask me that. To have that known is as much as
my life is worth. But you can be quite certain that I'm not the only
person here who gets them."
Japan's declaration of war was the surprise of the Admiral's life,
and his rage was almost classic. It was right, though, he said, for
the Allies to welcome the yellow Japs to their rainbow collection of
soldiers!
Uncle Pista was charmingly funny about Japan one afternoon when Claire,
the Admiral, and I went to tea to Aunt Sharolta.
"Japan will regret what she has done," and in anticipation of this his
face grew rounder and redder. "There won't be much left of her by the
time that Germany's done with her."
"How is Germany going to manage it?"
"By sending ships and men there, of course," he replied, contemptuously.
"And how will Germany manage that?" asked the Admiral, greatly amused.
"How!" repeated the old gentleman. "How does any ship go anywhere? By
crossing the sea, of course."
"What about the British Navy on the way?" asked Claire.
"Why--would the German boats go near the British Navy?" and Uncle Pista
was surprised and disappointed.
"Not intentionally--but they might find the British Navy difficult to
avoid," said the Admiral.
"Then they wouldn't avoid it at all," said Uncle Pista, recovering
his spirits. "They would just smash it up, as they're smashing up the
English in Flanders just now, and then go on, and they would be in
Japan in a few days."
"Good sailing!" commented the Admiral.
"Oh, yes, there will be an end of Japan and of England, too! Willy
will teach them the lesson they need. How glad I am that no child of
mine ever learned English!" By this time we were literally roaring with
laughter, and he paused in surprise. "What are you all laughing at? Am
I not right?" He had forgotten my nationality.
"Quite," I said, hoping he would continue. But Aunt Sharolta looked up
from the chest-protector she was sewing and said--
"It is useless for you to talk like that, Pista, when we are being
annihilated in Galicia and Serbia. Oh, yes, I know the newspapers are
very encouraging, but those who know say otherwise."
"Have patience! Have patience," said the Admiral. "Trust in Willy. And
mark my words, to-morrow we shall hear something from the sea."
(This English companion to a royal Hungarian family continues to relate
her experiences until the spring of 1915, when, despite the efforts of
her kind host and hostess, she escaped from the War-cursed country. She
tells how she made her way to Switzerland, via Vienna and Innsbruck,
and arrived safely at her home in London.)