"You might have killed him!" said Anna, reproachfully.
"And that would have been the best thing for all concerned," answered Aaron, giving his moustache a fierce pull.
"But it would have been a piece of needless cruelty," remarked Manasseh,—"and merely on account of a little hay that has not been touched, after all."
"He didn't come up here to steal hay; he is one of Diurbanu's spies."
"But what, pray, could he spy out here?"
"What could he spy out? Oh, just see how sharp my brother Manasseh is! My fortifications and armament are on the Szekler Stone. Yes, you may laugh now, but you won't laugh when you come to learn their value. I will show the ladies my cannon, but I won't let you see them, Manasseh."
"Cannon, brother?" repeated Manasseh, laughing. "How in the world did you ever get them up here?"
"My business is with the ladies now," was all Aaron would say. "You sit down on a stone and paint the beautiful view. My battery is not for you to see. Yes, I have a battery, all complete. If Aaron Gabor could fit out his Szeklers with artillery, why should not his namesake be able to do the same? You young women may see my big guns; I'll show them to you. But first promise me solemnly not to tell any mortal soul what you see—not even Manasseh."
Blanka and Anna both pledged themselves most solemnly to secrecy, whereupon Aaron led them up to a height on which stood the ruins of Szekler-Stone Castle, one of the oldest monuments to be found in all Hungary.
After a short interval the three rejoined Manasseh, the two ladies laughing and in the merriest of moods, scarcely heeding their conductor's solemnly raised forefinger and sober mien, which were meant to remind them of their promise. But they betrayed no secrets; they only laughed. Yet Aaron thought it betrayal enough for them even to laugh.