The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-07-19
AN UNWILLING GUEST.

i The old Baron did not require much pressing,
4 but soon began his story l think, my friends,
4 you have all heard of the Countess Repey- the
] younger, of course-the bewitching little sprite
my little black-eyed princess. You must all
know her suspect you have all lost your
hearts to her, as have done, yet ], insignificant
as / am, have been most favored. drove in the
same carriage with her for whole night. True
there was chaperone present, but / will not
have my good luck disparaged But may the
devil fly away with such good luckl
One evening in an evil hour it occurred to her
that her presence was indispensable at ball
which was to take place at Arad on the following
night She Immediately ordered her carriage
l was the only person near at hand. Please,
dear Baron" she CRIED escort me to Arad.
t'Dear Baron, dear Baron!n What answer
could give herl
Countess; ma deesse, it is dark as Erebus;
the carriage will be upset; we have to cross
three rivers-it will be wonder if even two have
safe bridges. We shall be drowned, Countess;
our road lies through forest of vast extent,
lonely as the grave and infested with thieves
and murderers We shall be assassinated;
could not protect you alonel Besides why
should we hurry sol Let us have an early cup
of tea and set out in the morning; we shall
reach Arad by noon and you will have the whole
afternoon for your toilet. Let us start to-mor-
row. Countess"
NV representations were futile-she would
start instanter. You know how obstinate she is.
She said she ''did not wish to postpone every
thing till the last moment" she wished Ito re-
cover from the fatigue of the journey" How
can step straight out of the carriage into the
ballroom after being heated, jolted, crushed
and tumbled by the drive"
l Aalh oaf olo hao oa,nio fnr dYsiry rot
Enight-iti is $50 lovely, so romantic; the stars,
the frogs, the moonbeams." These were all
pretexts-she was determined to satisfy her
within at any cost
stay alone in the castle? A sweet alternative.
chose the former courses in her gratitude she al
lowed me the privilege Of sitting opposite her in
| the carriage.
The truth will out; it was devilish pleasant;
l was almost oppressed with marks of the
| Countesss favor. First she confded bandbox
to my care, then her muff, then her travelling
bag, lastly, pair of goloshes. Next she fell
asleep-deaf to all conversation she slumbered
soundly. Occasionally, when the carriage jolted
over stone, she would wake with start:
s'Where is the traveling-bagY Where is the
muffl Are you sure you are not sitting on the
bonnetb oxl For heavens sake take care, dear
BaronH Then she fell asleep again; then the
i chaperone, who was suffering from migraine,
began a querulous conversation, whimperlng
piteously the while. / closed my eyes feigning
to heel over on one SIDE as if it also was about
to seek repose.
The coachman jumped off the box and came to
the window.
II am almost afraid, your ladyship, that we
have lost our way
what mattersYs answered the Countess;
does not the road lie before us2 Drive on, of
course
'gThere is a road, my lady, but where does it
leadr
ut must lead somewhere"
"But am afraid it will lead us to place not
altogether safe"
.sWhat fool you are! Every place is safe
where are we nowW
sIn the forest of Szalonta.n
WELL this forest ends somewhere. If / re-
member right it only takes two hours to drive
through it either way"
s'But the coachman is afraid 1 ventured.
IFS he paid for being afaidp
'tHeis afraid, dear Countess, that something
4 disagreeable may happen to YOU"
'"lhats no affair of his
sOr that the horsesn-
'fWell that's his lookout"
ssThat there some poor devils in this forest
who try to get their living by"-
"Follyl Isn't our coachman poor devil him
selfp
tsYes, yes; but he means those poor men who
are in the habit Of relieving one of horse, and
not unfrequently of carriage, too. Countess
ma deesse, it is no joke; they might steal the
| horse, take our lives or even worse If only
had my revolver with me-"
ed the fair fend. Thereupon she opened the
carriage door, and, before could prevent her,
leaped gracefully out into the darkness. ''Oh,
what a lovely night How fragrant the forest is!
How the glow-worms sparkle! Look at them,
dear Baron!'
Look What am to look att It is pitch
dark, cannot see anything
t'Nothing9 Is not that light cleaning under
the trees yonderf
NY blood eurdled. We were close to the rob
bers' den. The coachman had also deserted the
i light; he now said in avoice that resembled that
of a man who was being hanged:
That is the inn, my lady, frequented by poor
men,
s.Capitall Drive to the inn, coachman, for we
have no other refuge for the night"
was in despair For heavens sake, Coun-
| tess what are you going to dot This is a notori-
| GUS den of thieves, where we shall all be assas
sinated; the host is a confederate; many travel
ers have already met their death. Only lately
| read in the papers,
The diabolical creature interrupted me with a
loud laugh
These are only old women's tales" she said
WHO is afraid of such imaginary bogeys2 If
there were hotel anywhere near we should of
course drive to it. AS it is, we mustput up with
| the tavern
So saying, she told thecoachman to follow her
slowly with the carriage; she meant to advance
on foot to show him the way. "Reminiscences
| were useless; she threatened to penetrate the
csarda alone, if we would not accompany her
| The little Countess would have done it, too! As
we approached the building strains of gypsy
i music became audible
i 'Strangel" TESTED the Countess, 1--WE wanted to
go to a ball, and here we have suddenly lit upon
one How very fortunatel'
With these words she walked up to the door
Fora moment reflected that it would be
wisest to leave her here, and to betake myself to
the forest; but it would not have been right to
forsake her. and besides, / had no choice, for
Mile, Cesarine the chaperon, had seized my
arm, which she would not relinqush Poor
creature, she was half dead with fright and
shook like an aspenleaf. AT some distance we
could hear the wild shouts with which those
assembled in the tavern accompanied the dance
Nothing daunted by all this, the Countess boldly
opened the door and walked in.
II ]. L.. 1870.