"There's our army in the south," I began, but Mizvy pulled me up.
"Army in the south!" he echoed scornfully; "why, Bern, brave old fellow as he is, can hardly hold his own head above water!"
"But there's Dembinski. He'll make a big effort to join us."
Mizvy looked at me with a grin. "Dembinski's off to Szegedin with the Diet," he said. "It's a handy place to slip over into Turkey from, when the crash comes."
Several of the officers cried "Shame!" but Mizvy took this mark of displeasure with admirable coolness.
"All right," he said quietly. "But just wait till any of those fellows venture north."
"What then?" I asked, laughing.
"Why, then you can sew me up in a sack and drop me into any river that's handy!"
"We'll do that with pleasure," said Szondi. "But there's the general beckoning to you."
Mizvy took himself off, but he left an unpleasant sensation behind him.