“After all, it was the adherence of the police that settled the matter,” I retorted.
The two men looked at each other, but said nothing. Meanwhile we reached the house. The snow on the roof glittered against the blue sky. On the ground there were footmarks in the snow, which led to the terrace. It was obvious that the burglars had climbed the creepers on the wall and had entered the house in that way. In nearly every room a kitchen-knife was lying on the table with its handle standing out beyond the edge, so as to be easy to catch hold of, had the intruders been disturbed. In the hall a lot of things were tied up in a bundle.
“They intended to come back,” said one of the policemen.
The cupboards were open, and a lot of things had been taken away, while the floor was littered with things they had rejected when they were making their choice. The red, white and green flag was torn from its staff and bore the marks of heavy, muddy boots. The big Bible, as if shot through the heart, had a bullet hole through it.
“There are clues enough for me,” I said to my sister. “I have already found the culprits: the products of the revolution have been visiting us.”
The constables looked at each other.
When I got home I told my mother what had happened. She listened to me with a stern face, in silence.
“They carried away whatever they could. They even stripped the mattresses. They scribbled filth on the walls.”
“These times levy toll on everybody,” said she. “What about those who are driven from their homes, whose houses are burnt down, who are murdered? If only fate will be satisfied with this and ask no more from us, if this is all we have to pay, we shall have no reason to complain.” And she did not mention the matter again.
The evening papers were brought in. One name dominated them all: Gyulafehérvár.... In the town where John Hunyádi, the Hungarian paladin of Christendom against the Turks, lies buried, over his grave, on the field at the foot of the castle, the Roumanian Irredenta under the name of “Roumanian National Council” has carried a resolution: “Transylvania, the Banat and all the territories of Hungary inhabited by Roumanians are united with Roumania!”... This happened in Gyulafehérvár, and Károlyi’s Government sent the Roumanians by special train to this assembly of treason! He even armed a bodyguard for them, and has given them millions!