Neither of us had seen him since the meeting at Isaszeg, and we had not the faintest notion he was in Waitzen.
He shook hands with us warmly, drank a glass of wine which Rakoczy poured out, and sat down.
"Care to turn in?" asked the colonel. "My bed's doing nothing, and you look tired."
Stephen shook his head. "I'm off in a couple of hours; only waiting to rest my horse."
"There's nothing wrong, I hope?"
"Nothing wrong!" exclaimed my brother. "Everything's wrong! Haven't you heard the news from Debreczin? Here, read this!" and he drew a printed paper from his pocket.
The colonel spread it on the table, and as he read the contents aloud I began to understand the meaning of Stephen's words.
The document, signed by the members of the National Diet, proclaimed in vigorous language the independence of Hungary. The House of Hapsburg-Lorraine was deposed, its members banished from the country, and Hungary, as a free state, was to be governed by Kossuth.
"What do you think of it?" asked Stephen testily, as if we had drawn up the proclamation.
"'Twould be rather more to the point to know what Görgei thinks of it," the colonel replied in his cool way. "I suppose he wasn't consulted over this--waste paper?"