nterrupted. What an episode was mine! A
year of exaltation to high and princely rank--a year of love and
battle--and then a return to this cold and heavy occupation! Had that
interval lasted longer, gentlemen, believe me, that ere now I should
have carried the victorious banners of Wallachia to the gates of
Constantinople, plucked the abject and besotted Sultan from his throne,
and again established in more than its pristine renown the independent
Empire of the East!"

"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! Well said Mandeville!" shouted Cutts. "I like
to see the fellow who never sticks at trifles."

"No reality, sirs, could have prevented me: but I fear my preface is too
long. About two years ago I was requested by the projectors of the great
railway between Paris and Constantinople to superintend the survey of
that portion which stretches eastward from Vienna. I accepted the
appointment with pleasure, for I longed to see foreign countries, and
the field abroad appeared to me a much nobler one than that at home. I
had personal letters of introduction to the Emperor, who treated me with
marked distinction; for some collateral branches of my family had done
the Austrian good service in the wars of Wallenstein, and the heroic
charge of the Pappenheimers under Herbert Mandeville at Lutzen was still
freshly and gratefully remembered. It was in Vienna that I made the
acquaintance of our mutual kinsman, Count Ferguson, whose claims to
hereditary dignity, I trust, you will reflect on at your leisure.

"Do either of you, gentlemen, understand German?--No!--I regret the
circumstance, because you can hardly follow me out distinctly when I
come to speak of localities. But I shall endeavour to be as clear as
possible. One evening I was in attendance upon his majesty--who
frequently honoured me with these commands, for he took a vast interest
in all matters of science--at the great theatre. All the wealth, beauty,
and talent of Austria were there. I assure you, gentlemen, I never gazed
upon a more brilliant spectacle. The mixture of the white and blue
uniforms of the Austrian officers, with the national costumes of the
nobility of Hungary, Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, and the Tyrol,
gave the scene the appearance of a studied and gorgeous carnival. The
glittering of diamonds along the whole tier of the boxes was literally
painful to the eyes. Several of the Esterhazy family seemed absolutely
sheathed in jewel armour, and I was literally co