with that.

Lorand was unlike any portrait of him I had drawn. He was a muscular,
powerful, rough country cavalier.

As he leaped out of the wagon, we hastened to each other.

The centre of the courtyard was not the place to play an impassioned
scene in. Besides neither of us like comedy playing.

"Good evening, old fellow."

"Good evening, brother."

That was all we said to each other: we shook hands, kissed each other,
and hurried in from the courtyard, straight to the room filled with
roysterers.

They received Lorand with wall-shaking "hurrahs," and Lorand greeted
them all in turn.

Some embittered county orator wished to deliver a speech in his honor,
but Lorand told him to keep that until wine was on the table: dry toasts
were not to his taste.

Then he again returned to my side and took my face in his hands.

"By Jove! old fellow, you have quite grown up! I thought you were still
a child going to school. You are half a head taller than I am. Why I
shall live to see you married without my knowing or hearing anything
about it."

I took Lorand's arm and drew him into a corner.

"Lorand, mother and grandmother are here too."

He wrenched his arm out of my hand.

"Who told you to do that?" he growled irritatedly.

"Quietly, my dear Lorand. I have committed no blunder even in
formalities. It will be ten years to-morrow since you told me I might in
ten years tell mother where you are. Then you wrote to me to be at
Szolnok to-day. I have kept my promise to mother as regards telling her
to-morrow and to you by my appearance here. Szolnok is two days distant
from our home:--so I had to bring them here in order to do justice to
both my promises."

Lorand became unrestrainedly angry.

"A curse upon every pettifogger in the world! You have swindled me out
of my most evident right."

"But, dear Lorand, are you annoyed that the poor dear ones can see you
one day earlier?"

"That's right, begin like that.--Fool, we wanted to have a jolly evening
all to ourselves, and you have spoilt it."

"But you can enjoy yourselves as long as you like."

"Indeed? 'As long as we like,' and I must go in a tipsy drunken state to
introduce myself to mother?"

"It is not your habit to be drunk."

"What do you know? I'm fairly uproarious once I begin at it. It was a
foolish idea of yours, old fellow."

"Well, do you know what? Put the meeting first, after that the
carousal."

"I have told you once for all that we