"Aren't you coming?"
"In a day or two. There is a little business in Arad to be settled first."
So greatly had my nerves been weakened by the shock that I did not guess what the business was, and permitted him to lead me away without protest.
At one of the inns Mecsey waited with a carriage, and many of the old Honveds stood in front of the house.
Dobozy was there too, and the true-hearted kindness of my former companions brought tears of gratitude to my eyes.
"The Joyous" wrapped me up comfortably, and giving Mecsey, who was to ride inside, many injunctions, shook my hand in a parting grasp.
"Rouse yourself!" cried he. "Dobozy and I are coming in a few days, and we don't want to be entertained by an invalid."
Dobozy added some lively badinage to cheer my spirits, the two waved their hands in farewell, the coachman cracked his whip, and we were off to the lonely homestead I had not visited during the last two years.
CHAPTER XXVII.
AN AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ALLIANCE.