Evening star., 1920-02-01
Personal Sketch of Bella Kun,
Featuring 1h1ge of Romance
Better Side of Hungarian Communist as Re-
Uealed by an American Woman Who
KneW Him When He Was TWenty-One
Yes, i dare you"

Yes 1 dare you"
With one witherinC look Bella
stepped Ia the top of the railing.
caught the dangling rope and swung
far out over the sea- sliding down the
rope, with nothing to stop him at the
end. We gasIed. But Bella, with his
feet beyond the length Of the rope.
looked up and smiled. Then with
strong overland pulls he came up and
swung back over the railing as well {,
AZ only a cool. fearless sailor could. .
Bella has been accused of completely
in hangingS. tortures and countless
atrocities OF the truth regarding these
L know nothing. But j do know that he
refused to attend a bull fight in Alneria
because he could not bear 10 witness
such useless and bloody slaughter. If he
felt that compassion for the poor. 1aded.
worn-out horses and fierce, goaded bull.
il does not seem logical that even seven
or eight years later he should cruelty
lust for human suffering and human
blood.
But he was very hpt-headed and i'm
petuous, and intensely jealous. We
would have been inclined to laugh at
him il he had not been so thoroughly
sincere. When he was on duty on the
bridge If he saw the girl walking with
another man he would eeiz ethe binocu-
lars and stand morbidry watching her
as long she remained in range on
the deck below.
Terrible Scene Enacted.
One day. there was a terrible scene
when the Hungarian doctor gave the
girl a piece of sweet chocolate. Moth
ing could have been more harmless, but
Bella became very angry that the doc
tor had even dared speak TO her As
the poor little man went by, Bella
walked ur to him, clutched him. and.
shaking his fist at him. delivered a loud
harangue in Hungarian. The doctor
looked at US in astonishment, a bit of
amusement, and not a little fear. He
began Justify explaining in the same
tongue; and We stood terrified and en-
barrassed as a small crowd gathered.
The girl called to Bella Indignantly. He
dropped his man, who scurried away.
He realized that he had acted foolishly.
and was AS repentant as he had been
angry a moment before
What did you say to him?" the girl
could not resist asking.
Il told him that IL he ever spoke to
you again. I'd throw him overheard
Bella answered, grimly.
whether IL was due to the threat or
not, L do not know, but the doctor Of
fered us 10 more sweet chocolate.
Bella had the deepest respect for
women. He was devoted to his moth.
err. and the one purchase he made in
Gibraltar was a shawl for her. His
sister had died several years before.
having contracted pneumonia at a.
dduCc- htCduS6 Oh lntS bGla never
danced.
Asks the Girl to Marry Him.
The last time that we saw him was
the night he asked the girl to marry
him. That was very unexpected, as
We had all regarded the affair as
merely passing fancy-sweetly Sc
rious for the moment. but with no
thought of lasting future. And none
of us approved of international mar
riages even when founded on a firmer
foundation than a two-week voyage
over blue seas glistening with reflected
stars.
However. Bella was serious and es-
sentially dramatic to the end Seated
on a bench near the side of the ship.
with the soft breeze blowing and the
moon making path of gold direct to
them. he poured forth his love. The
girl stopped him. He thought for a
moment she was angry. She was not
angry-just very, very sad; for she.
too, took herself seriously. She told
him that in her home town a Yankee
boy was waiting for her, and she was
expecting to be married very soon.
There was a moment of silence; then
Bella rose. Standing before her, pale
but very brave, he said:
Il am very sorry, but L am proud to
be able to tell you of my love. II you
ever need me 1 shall come to you
from the ends of the earth
With his quick salute and the sug-
gestion of a choke at the end OF the
sentence robbing it of its banality, ne
swiftly disappeared. And the girl sat
alone in the moonlight. two large
SALTY tears trickling down her cheeks.
That was the last we saw of Bella Kun
ImpuIsive, But Sincere.
Perhaps you will think from these
incidents that he was continually
making e,randstand plays i have said
that his nature was essentially dra-i
matte but there was no hypocrisy IN
it He acted on impulse. but ne acted
in all sincerity.
pressed was that Hungary would
never remain subservient to Austria
after the death of Francis Joseph
That was seven years ago
Bella is now about twenty-nine years
of age He probably Will go down In
history as an assassin. an anarchist.
a gigantic blunderer who has led his
country to ruin. Perhaps he was all OF
the last.
But / cannot help believing that he
had the welfare of his beloved Hun
gary deeply at heart; that he was a
true, if mistaken, patriot His sins
were the sins of youth and inexperi-
ence. his hot dedness, his reckless
ness. his intolerance of anything
which stood between him and his goal.
Above all, his greatest crime is that
he failed. He failed because he es-
housed Il false cause, because he
builded on bolshevism rather than on
rhe true grounds of liberal democracy.
/ can picture so well that last scene
when Bella faced the council-his own
faithless supporters-demand ms
resignation. Very pale, with muscles
tense. he stood before them, beaten
but unafraid.
Very we'll, if you wish it will re-
sign. / have done the best I could
Perhaps if Bella had been bit older
=, bit wiser-a bit more tolerant he
would have achieved real greatness
like to believe in him just g. little, in
spite of rything, because. you see.
1 was the girl