A boa conscriptor indeed, was this gigantic conscriptor[96] serpent!
[96] A translation of the Hungarian word Osszeiro, which means a conscript or schedule of anything, here a schedule of debts.
At this we all three laughed again, which was rather odd, for there was nothing at all to laugh at.
The long and the short of it all was that after discharging her lover's debts, and depositing the caution-money, my ward Bessy still had twenty-five thousand florins left.
"All right," said she, "that's just why I asked you to be my guardian, for if the money remains in my hands, every bit of it will vanish by the end of the year."
"I wonder you've kept it so long."
"The wonder is owing to the fact that my mother inhibited the payment of the amount to me, and this embargo can only be removed when I am married to a man of rank and honour."
"You'll have to be very economical in your housekeeping," I said, "not to exceed your income."
"There's Kvatopil's pay, too, and as a cavalry officer he is entitled to free unfurnished quarters."
"And you'll be able to put up with an officer's free quarters?" I said.