rriage is not
far off. Janos, you go on cutting down that tree, while we walk slowly
on."

They certainly did go slowly, for the priest could hardly lift his left
foot, and frequently stumbled over the roots of trees. The carriage was
some way off, so they had plenty of time for conversation, and every now
and then they sat down to rest on the trunk of a fallen tree.

"Tell me, your reverence, how did you come to be in this part of the
country late at night?"

And then the priest related how he had expected his sister home
yesterday, who had gone to meet her governess. As time went on, and
there were no signs of them, he began to feel anxious, and toward
evening became so restless that he did as he had often done before, and
walked to the borders of the little wood. He walked on and on, finding
the way by keeping his eye on the hills on both sides, and listened for
the sounds of wheels in the distance. All at once it occurred to him
that they might have gone round by the Pribalszky mill, which was a
longer but prettier way to Glogova, and Veronica, his sister, was fond
of the shade there. Of course that was what they had done, and they must
have arrived at home long ago while he was looking for them. So the best
way was to turn back at once, and in order to get home as soon as
possible, he unfortunately struck across a side path. In his haste he
must have stepped too near to the edge of the precipice and had fallen
in.

"My poor little sister!" he sighed. "How anxious she must be about me!"

Gyuri would have liked to turn the priest's sorrow into joy.

"We will soon reassure the young lady, and your reverence will feel all
right after a night's rest. In two or three days it will seem like an
amusing incident."

"But which might have ended in a horrible death if Divine Providence had
not sent you to help me."

"It really does seem as though Divine Providence had something to do
with it. The shaft of my carriage broke, or I should never have come
near that precipice."

"If I live to be a hundred I shall never forget your kindness to me, and
your name will always have a place in my prayers. But how thoughtless of
me! I have not even asked you your name yet."

"Gyuri Wibra."

"The well-known lawyer of Besztercebanya? And so young! I am glad to
make the acquaintance of such an honorable man, sir, who is beloved in
the whole of Besztercebanya; but I should be much more pleased if a poor
man now stood before me,