The Washington herald., 1911-08-27
THE PURCHASE PRICE
By EMERSON HOUGH

The leader Of this mission was Gen.
Zewlinski, an officer of the patriot army
Of Hungary. who brought with him a
suite Of some dozen persons. These,
late in the winter of 1S5o-5l, arrived at
Washington and found quarters Of some
what magnificent sort in one Of the more
prominent hotels of the National Capt.
tai. At once political and journalistic
Washington was on the qui vive. The
Hungarians became the object of a solicit
tude, not to say curiosity, which must
at times have tried their souls
The first formal action Of the Hunga-
rian committee took the shape of a re-
turn reception, to b. "eld In the hotel
parlors. The invitations, liberal as they
were, were sought for quite in excess
Of the supply. and long before the doors
were open 1t was quite assured that the
affair would be a crush. The admins
tration, for which Mr.. Webster, our Sec
retary of State. had not hesitated to
write in most determined fashion to the
attache Hulsemann regarding the pre-
sumptuous Austrian demands upon our
government, none the less was much in
a funk regarding European obligations" :"
Not wishing to offend the popular fancy,
and not daring to take decisive stand,
the usual compromise was made. AL
tnOuSn no MEMBER OF tne
ton was sent officially to recognize these
unofficial ambassadors a long suffering
officer of the navy. with his wife and
one or two other ladies. were dispatched
quasi officially to lend color to the occa-
sion.
Such splendor as could be arranged
had been provided for the setting Of this
event A Hungarian orchestra, brought
with these commissioners, discoursed its
l .T o1,,,e.
and flowers. One Of the great parlors
had been prepared for those Of the young
who could not resist the temptation to
dance. At the head of the little line
Of these visitors now themselves in effect
hosts, stood the old Hungarian general,
Zewlinski, an officer over six feet in
height, with white hair and wide white
mustaches. distinguished figure
in the brilliant Hungarian uniform.
Those Of his staff near by added
additiona! vividness TO the picture. The
ladies Of the party, half Of whom spoke
English, were costumed quite in keeping.
and endeavored by the graciousness or
their manner 10 add TO the good impress
sion already formed by their mere bril-
liant companions. Here and there the
more sober uniform of an American army
or navy officer might have been seen.
brought thither on demand Of his lady.
and in their most brilliant array. The
doors had not been opened for half
hour before all prophecies were more than
fulfilled. The rooms were packed with
a struggling mass Of humanity all eager
to grasp the hand Of the representative
OF Hungary and of the members Of his
company. Patriotism, liberty. brotherly
love were in the speech of all. Never has
our country been more full Of zeal for
liberty than then. never more inconsist-
ent, never more swiftly forgetful
In these circumstances, the somewhat
bewildered commissioners did what they
could graciously TO discover to all their
friendly feeling toward this country. For
more than an hour they stood in line.
bowling, smiling. accepting bands. offer
ing greetings a little wondering, per-
haps, yet none the less we'll assured of
the attitude of this people toward their
own country. and hoping there might
later be substantial financial proof of its
sincerity.
1t was at about this time that there
entered at the door near the head of the
receiving line a young woman, for the
time apparently quite unattended. She
was brilliantly robed with jewels flashing
at neck and wrists, clad like a queen and
looking one. OF good height and splen-
did carriage, her dark hair and singularly
striking features might at first have
caused the belief that she was one Of
this party of foreigners toward whom
she now advanced. A second glance
would have shown her beauty to be of
that universal world-quality which makes
its owner difficult to classify. although as