Arrived at the castle, a bright form flew up to the carriage. "You, lady!" cried Anton, springing out.
"Dear Wohlfart!" cried Lenore, seizing both his hands.
For a moment she hid her face on his shoulder, and her tears fell fast. Anton grasped her hand firmly, while he said, "A fearful time is coming. I have thought of you all day."
"Now that we have you again," said Lenore, "I can bear it all; but come at once to my father; he is dying with impatience." She drew him up the stairs.
The baron opened the door, and cried out, "What news do you bring?"
"News of war, baron," replied Anton, gravely; "the most hideous of all wars—war between neighbor and neighbor. The country is in open revolt."
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The baron's estate lay in a corner of the Rosmin circle. Behind the forest, to the north, was the German village of Neudorf, and farther off, to the east, that of Kunau.
Both these spots were separated by a wide expanse of sand and heath from any Polish proprietors, Herr von Tarow being the nearest. To the west and south of the estate the country was inhabited by a mixed population; but the Germans there were strong, rich freeholders and large farmers having settled among the Slavonic race. Beyond Kunau and Neudorf, to the north, there was a Polish district peopled by small freeholders, for the most part in very reduced circumstances, and over head and ears in debt.