_GOeRGEI TO THE RESCUE._
The noise of the battle died away as we left the town and made for the
field where the 9th Honveds were resting after their exertions. As
usual they had been pretty roughly handled; but Goergei had found time
to thank them for their bravery, and that paid for everything.
Some were eating and drinking; others, wrapped in their bundas, were
already fast asleep. The colonel was just returning from visiting the
wounded.
"Hallo!" he exclaimed; "what are you doing here? Thought you were at
Tisza-Fured. Who are those fellows?"
"They've just come from hospital to rejoin their regiments. I thought
perhaps you'd tell me what to do with them."
"All right. I'll attend to it.--Glad to see you, Dobozy.--A little bit
too late for the fight, Thurzo. We've had another turn at our old
friend Schlick. Hot while it lasted; but we carried too many guns for
him. Plucky chap, though. I'd invite you into my tent if I had one;
but you can take your choice of the ground--there's plenty to choose
from.--Any of my fellows amongst that lot, Botskay? Thanks. Let them
stand out.--Back again, my lads? Good-luck to you.--Now, George, come
along and we'll dispose of the others; they look as if they want a
rest."
The colonel rattled on in his lively strain, passed the men on to the
proper authorities, stopped here and there to joke with his friends, and
then took me back to the regiment, where we joined the other officers at
their evening meal.
"Yes," he said cheerfully, in answer to some remark, "things are shaping
well at present. If only Goergei had a free hand, the white-coats would
soon be bundling out of Pesth."
This seemed to be the general opinion, though here and there one heard a
word in praise of Vetter, and even of Dembinski, the late chief.
It was the second day after the affair at Hatvan when Stephen rode up to
the quarters of the 9th Honveds.
"I expected to find you here," he exclaimed cheerfully. "Feel all right
again?"
"Thanks, old chap; I'm as well as ever. As for you, this soldiering
seems to suit you perfectly. Haven't seen you look so smiling for
ages."
He actually laughed. "Not heard the news? Well, it will be known in an
hour or two. Vetter's resigned, and Goergei has been made chief."
"Then we can begin to pack up?"
"Yes. There won't be much rest for any one till we're in Pesth."
"And not much then."
"No. Of course, I don't claim to be in the general's secrets, but I
know him well enough to feel sure he won't stop till we get to Vienna.
By the way, that reminds me of a queer circumstance. Do you remember
Von Theyer?"
I nodded briskly.
"He's turned imperialist, and is either a captain or major in the
hussars. The fellow made a dead set at me the other day, and I should
advise you to be careful."
Thereupon I related what had happened at Kapolna, upon which Stephen
repeated his warning more seriously, saying that in Von Theyer I had, no
doubt, a special and determined enemy.
"If possible, he will do you mischief," he continued; "so be on your
guard. Plainly he is a very clever fellow, or he would not so easily
have hoodwinked the authorities, and he has courage enough for
anything."
"Yes, he makes a dashing cavalry leader; but why should he be so bitter
against us? We haven't harmed the fellow."
Stephen smiled, and made almost the same remark as Rakoczy at Kapolna.
"Have you forgotten the fraeulein?" he asked. "No, I see you have not
by the blush on your face. Well, my boy, Von Theyer wants to keep the
fraeulein's favours for himself. Understand?"
I nodded lightly, and Rakoczy coming up at the moment, the talk took a
fresh turn.
Stephen's news soon spread, and, in our part of the army at least, gave
general satisfaction.
Officers and men alike had perfect confidence in Goergei's judgment, and
the only fear expressed was that he would be hampered by the orders of
the civil government.
For a time, however, we were too busy with the work of preparation to
think much of anything else.
Exactly what was in hand, of course, we did not know; but on the night
of the third of April a rumour spread through the camp that the army
would march at daybreak.
Directly after breakfast the regiments mustered, arms were examined,
instructions issued to officers; and as soon as it was well light we
moved out in three divisions by the highroad running to Pesth.
Goergei commanded in person, and under him were Generals Klapka, Aulich,
and Damjanics.
Our regiment formed part of the first corps, which advanced by the
right, keeping in touch, however, with the two others. Goergei had left
fifteen thousand men at Hatvan, but we were still nearly thirty thousand
strong; and our object apparently was to prevent Jellachich from joining
the main army under Windischgratz.
"There's the first move," cried young Thurzo excitedly, as away on our
left one of Aulich's batteries opened fire.
"And the answer to it," said I, as the enemy responded with a terrific
storm of shot and shell. "It must be warm over there."
The battle soon developed, not reaching us, however, though occasionally
we caught glimpses of it as we marched on to take up our position near
the village of Tampio-Biscke.
From a mounted messenger sent in search of Klapka we learned that the
Croats, by a brilliant charge, had captured four guns, but were
afterwards driven back, and could now barely hold their own.
Jellachich was anxiously awaiting aid from the Austrians. Should it not
come, his army would almost certainly be destroyed.
"Rather uninteresting work this," grumbled Thurzo. "Why, we were almost
as lively down at Tisza-Fured."
"Can't make out exactly why we are here," answered a comrade. "We
aren't actors, for certain; while, as spectators, we get a very poor
view of the performance."
"Listen!" I interrupted as a thunderous roar of heavy guns broke out
apparently close upon us. "The Austrians are over the river."
"Hurrah!" cried Thurzo; "now for our share in the fight!"
Poor fellow! I have often wondered since if he would have shown such
eagerness had he known what was coming.
Rakoczy spoke a word to the men, exhorting them to be steady; then we
stood awaiting orders.
They did not come. The roar of the guns was unceasing, drowning the
rattle of musketry and the shrieks of the wounded; the blinding flashes
played perpetually round their muzzles; our advanced guard was nearly
annihilated, though that we only guessed.
We leaned on our swords and wondered, while the men fumbled impatiently
with their firearms; Rakoczy alone, smiling and genial, showed neither
uneasiness nor concern.
Suddenly an officer dashed up, hatless, bleeding, and holding his reins
in his right hand. He spoke to the colonel, who, without a moment's
delay, gave orders that the regiment should advance at the double.
From that moment the horror of the fight began for us.
Moving out from the low sand-hills that had hitherto sheltered us, we
found ourselves very shortly in the thick of it.
The Austrians had placed their batteries in such an admirable position
that not only were our guns partly silenced, but the head of the column
was blown clean away.
One battery pumped shot and shell into our flank as we went by, while
another continued to draw lines through the troops in front of us.
I concluded that we were required to support an attack on the guns, when
a loud cry from the men announced that something was happening.
I have never seen a more peculiar sight.
The remnant of the column began to bend from one side to the other, for
all the world like a boat rocking in the water. The movement was slow
at first, but it soon increased in speed, and then the column broke in
pieces.
At this the Austrians, plying the guns with renewed vigour, literally
swept the plain with their fire, which put an end to the shattered
column.
In an instant a fine body of disciplined soldiers was changed into a
fear-stricken mob flying for dear life.
Away went bayonet and rifle, cartridge-pouch, and everything that by
impeding flight might lessen the chance of safety.
A shiver of indecision passed through our regiment at the sight; but
Rakoczy's calmness stopped the mischief, at least for a time, and, under
his directions, we opened our ranks to let the runaways through.
On they came, shouting, yelling, and so blind with fear that I believe
many of them did not recognize us.
To stop them just then would have been impossible; it would be well if
they did not carry the regiment off in their wild career.
With heads bent and muscles stretched to breaking-point, they thundered
along, seeing nothing, caring for nothing, except to get away.
Young Thurzo, mad with shame and rage, shook his fist and called them
bitter names, any one of which at another time would have cost him his
life.
Now they passed unchallenged; the fugitives heard nothing but the
hissing of those terrible Austrian shells that had cost the column so
dearly.
Chiefly through the colonel's influence, the regiment stood firm, and,
directly the runaways were past, proceeded to re-form its ranks.
A moment's glance to the front, however, showed that another disaster
was in store.
Windischgratz, noticing the break-up of the column, ordered the battery
to cease firing, and immediately launched two cavalry regiments--one of
cuirassiers, one of hussars--to finish the work.
We were, as I have already said, in the very act of reforming when they
dashed at us.
With five minutes' grace we might have made somewhat of a stand, but now
they were too quick for us.
I heard the colonel's "Steady, lads, steady! Stand your ground!" and
then a blazing volley of musketry that brought down many a stalwart
trooper.
The cuirassiers were astonished by this warm reception, but they could
not turn back if they would--their speed was too great.
Helmets and cuirasses flashed in the sunlight as the horsemen sprang
into our ranks, cutting and slashing on all sides.
There are many safer places than a broken square in a cavalry charge.
Before the Honveds found a chance of running away they fought
desperately, stabbing with their bayonets at men and horses, or making
serviceable weapons of their clubbed rifles.
In such a _melee_ it was almost necessarily a case of every man for
himself; but a few of the officers stuck together, and by degrees
gathered round them the steadiest of the men.
The colonel was at their head, and I joined them with young Thurzo, who
was wild with grief. He had taken part in two battles, and each had
ended in defeat.
By this time the larger part of the regiment was in full flight, and the
cuirassiers, finding the way open, followed in pursuit.
We formed ourselves into a square, officers and privates shoulder to
shoulder, with Rakoczy on foot to lead us.
I had caught the colours as they dropped from the grasp of the man who
bore them, and they still fluttered bravely overhead.
I have said that Windischgratz sent out two cavalry regiments, and the
second now charged hotly on our poor remnant.
Amongst the officers Von Theyer showed conspicuously, and, as before, he
paid me special attention, which was flattering but uncomfortable.
However, we beat the hussars off time and again, and continued to retire
steadily, though not without great loss.
It was pitiful to see man after man drop dead or grievously wounded, but
the others closed up and ever showed an unbroken front.
Poor Thurzo, whom I had learned to like well, and who marched out so
gaily to the fight that morning, met his death here. Two troopers
dashed at him with uplifted sabres: one he shot dead with his pistol;
the other cleft him from head to chin.
Poor fellow! He had been much afraid that Aulich's corps would get all
the fighting.
There he lay dead, and his greatest friend could do no more than give
him the fleetest of passing thoughts.
Back we went steadily; and, though death was busy in our ranks, yet the
square grew larger, for many fugitives belonging both to our own and
other regiments joined us.
How the battle went elsewhere it was impossible for us to guess, but the
utter rout of our corps was painfully apparent.
Once we set up a cheer as a small party of cuirassiers went galloping
back, but the cheer changed into a cry of rage when we saw they were
dragging a captured gun.
Another and another followed. The hussars yelled exultingly, and,
nerved by the sight, made another effort to break the square.
Instantly we halted; the front rank men kneeled down; the rifles were
levelled; there was a line of light, a loud report, and once more the
hussars were thrown back.
It was just after this that a shout arose which put heart into the most
depressed.
From the throats of thousands there leaped a cry of "Goergei! Goergei!"
The runaways stopped in their headlong flight. A part of Damjanic's
division hurried to the scene, and flung themselves across the path of
the victors.
The rout was stayed. The Austrians who had followed in the wake of
their cavalry were brought to a standstill; the battle, which had passed
us, now began to return. Our eyes danced with joy as we saw the
white-coats come back at a run.
Following them closely, Goergei and his staff rode at the head of
Schwartzenberg's Hungarian regiment. Rakoczy, seizing his opportunity,
led us forward to join them.
The tide had turned with a vengeance.
Back went the Austrians--horse, foot, and field-guns--not exactly
broken, yet in extreme disorder, and seeking shelter under their two
fixed batteries.
Now we had a taste of the reception our advanced guard had met with
earlier in the day, and understood how it was they failed to hold their
ground.
Goergei quickly made up his mind what to do.
We saw him speak to his staff, and two officers darted off, one towards
us, one towards the rear.
Our messenger was Stephen, his face flushed, his eyes glowing with
excitement.
He dashed up to the colonel, saluted, pointed with his sword, delivered
his message, threw me a kindly look in passing, and was gone.
Rakoczy lost not a moment, but, pointing to the battery, exclaimed
quietly, "My lads, the general says we are to take that battery; the
sooner we reach it the better."
The men cheered in reply; but many a lip twitched nervously, and more
than one face paled, for the colonel's words were a message of death.
The colonel knew it too; and, as we started, he gave my hand a slight
pressure as in token of farewell. But his voice was firm, his face full
of quiet confidence, his glance proud and smiling. The sacrifice was
for his country: let it be made.
Then away we went, and at the same moment the veterans from Damjanic's
division started for the second battery.
Unfortunately, there was little cover on our route; and, as the colonel
had said, our best plan was to reach the sandhill where the battery was
posted in the shortest possible time.
A terrible fire opened on us at once, but the first flight of shells
passed harmlessly; the second killed a few men and smashed the flag-pole
I carried; at the third we flung ourselves into a gully of sand, Rakoczy
alone remaining upright.
Then, springing to our feet, we ran on, cheering frantically as a
regiment of hussars dashed up from the right straight at the flank of
the battery.
The horsemen were still a long way off, but they rode hard, and would
reach the guns in time to give us help.
"Forward! forward!" shouted Rakoczy; and the brave fellow, fleet of foot
as a deer, led the way several yards in advance.
Still carrying the shattered pole, I toiled on, while the great guns,
belching forth fire and flame, poured their deadly missiles into the
midst of us.
Once, tripping over a prostrate body, I fell to the ground heavily, and
lay for a moment half-stunned; the next I was on my feet, and running
with all my might to get a place in the front.
"The flag!" I gasped, overtaking the rear. "Make way for the flag!"
Everywhere now the Austrians were making a stubborn last stand. If only
they could roll us back ever so little, the day would be theirs.
Through a rift in the smoke-cloud I saw a hussar regiment ride out from
behind the battery, and guessed they intended to meet the charge of our
own horsemen half-way.
The curtain dropped again; I could see no more. Rakoczy was still
unhurt, for his voice sounded clearly above the din, and the men
responded to his cry of "Forward!" with a cheer.
Then we were there, so unexpectedly that I stared amazedly at the long,
black monsters which the gunners could not spike.
I sprang on one and waved the colours, while the men cheered madly.
Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, there went by a ragged line of
horsemen, spurring hard, and leaning over the heads of their animals
that, with foam-splashed lips, distended nostrils, and heaving sides,
strained every muscle.
We gazed open-mouthed at the apparition, and then gave ourselves up to
renewed cheering as our own hussars--Stephen riding neck by neck with
their colonel--dashed in pursuit.
Farther away on the left, the regiment of veterans, having captured the
battery, was engaged in fierce conflict with a body of infantry. Now
from all sides our friends were hurrying up, and the Austrians,
overwhelmed by numbers, fled over the Tapio River towards Koka, where
they sheltered behind the sand-hills. As for us, we halted on the
ground it had cost us so dear to win; and the colonel immediately sent
me to collect the runaways from the regiment, and bring them back.
This I did with exceeding difficulty, as the whole of Klapka's corps was
in a terrible state of confusion. Then, with Dobozy and half a dozen
soldiers, I proceeded to search for the body of the hapless Thurzo.
I picked up the sword which had dropped from the nerveless fingers,
while Dobozy cut a curl from the dead lad's raven hair.
"For his mother," he said softly, not attempting to hide the tears that
gathered in his eyes. "He was her only son, and she is a widow."
The men carried the body to a small wood nearly half a mile away, and
there, with the sweet-smelling pines swaying mournfully overhead, we
buried him, marking the place by a rude cross.
"It will comfort _her_, when the war is ended, to come and pray beside
it," said Dobozy, as we turned sorrowfully toward the spot where our
regiment was stationed.
We were not very cheerful in camp that night. We were tired out with
marching and fighting, saddened by the loss of many brave companions,
while the shame of that morning's rout hung over us like a pall.
True, the Austrians had finally been repulsed; but the credit of that
was not ours. That belonged to Goergei and the veterans of the second
division.
The runaways were sulky and ashamed; the officers--some of whom had been
literally carried off by the crowd of fugitives--were furiously angry.
For myself, I was on fatigue duty till a late hour, and Dobozy
volunteered to help me: hard work would divert his mind somewhat from
dwelling on the death of his comrade.
It was nearly midnight when we rejoined our brother-officers, who,
wrapped in their mantles, lay in a ring on the ground. Some had
forgotten the disaster in sleep, others were still chatting quietly over
the events of the day.
Rakoczy was absent; he had been sent for by the chief, who wished to
consult him, or more likely, perhaps, to give him some orders for the
morning.
Dobozy and I lay down side by side, wrapped ourselves in our mantles,
and tried to snatch an hour or two's sleep.
In this my companion happily succeeded, but I was less fortunate, being
weighed down by a sense of uneasiness as to my brother's fate.
After that momentary glimpse of him riding at the head of the hussars,
he had vanished, and no one seemed to know what had become of him.
True, he might have rejoined Goergei, and been sent with a message to
Aulich; but the general gloom of the day made me nervous and fanciful,
and I lay awake until Rakoczy returned.
"Stephen?" he said, in answer to my anxious questioning. "No, I
certainly didn't see him; but what of that? Goergei's _aides_ flit about
like ghosts in a stage-play. They aren't supposed to be like ordinary
mortals, who want food and rest. Cheer up, my boy; I really don't think
there's any reason to worry. If Stephen had come to grief, Goergei
would have known and told me, you may be sure. Clear your head of these
notions, and go to sleep. We're likely to have a hard day to-morrow."
This was sensible advice, and I tried to act on it; but after all, I
must confess, there was little sleep for me that night.