CHAPTER XXXI.
As soon as Karcsataji had finished his meal, he turned to Raby.
"Are you inclined for a chat, Mr. Raby?" he said, as he lighted hispipe. "Because if you are, this will be our chance to discuss the worldin general, and our own corner of it in particular."
"I am all attention," answered Raby coldly.
"You will be still more so when you hear my story, I fancy. We two arecompanions in adversity (only you have got over the worst of it), sincewe are both the victims of a worthless woman, curse her!"
"I will not curse her," said Raby quietly.
"No? Then you are a man out of a thousand, but I am only of veryordinary clay, I fear. And I am not the only one she has fooled. If Imistake not, Petray is also in the same boat. But the fellow can talk aswell as I can ride--which is saying a good deal. And it is that precioustongue of his which bewitches the women. Yet I have more to complain ofthan you, I consider. She took refuge under the wing of Petray, andmeantime the fatal letter she had written to me was intercepted, inconsequence of which Lievenkopp and you both challenged me to a duelnear the old Zsambek Church. The end of it was that Petray, as soon ashe heard how matters stood, let the lady know some home-truths, so thatfor sometime they lived as man and wife, though leading a cat and doglife. At last my lady became sick of this honey-mooning, and one fineday she left Petray and came to me."
Raby buried his face in his hands and groaned. How could he endure thistalk?
"You need not bear me a grudge," said the other. "Know, by that time Ihad given up robbery, and would have buried my ancient feud with thelaw. I was seriously thinking about setting my house in order, and Itold my old companions to come no more to see me, and promised, if theywere in need, I would send out supplies to them in the forest. I was notgoing to be 'Gyongyom Miska' any longer, for I had made up my mind toreform my way of life. Then it was that your runaway wife fled to myprotection. You were well rid of her, yet how many times I have cursedyou in thought. I knew it was a deadly sin to take another man's wife.Small wonder that Fruzsinka brought me nothing but ill-luck. I gave herto understand from the first, that I was changing my life, and I setabout building a church in our village, moreover I repented of my sins,fasted, and did penance and abjured my old evil ways. But easy as it isto befool women-kind, it is difficult to deceive them, if we want to getrid of them. Their suspicions are so easily aroused. If I were Emperor,I would trust the police-espionage to women. She began withintercepting my correspondence. Good heavens! what an experience I had,and I thought she would tear me to pieces. So angry was she that sheleft me, and I naturally concluded she was going to be reconciled toyou."
Raby ground his teeth.
"I know now that she was not. She began to work me further mischief. Doyou know, that to her I owed the denunciations which were shortlyafterwards, from some mysterious source, made to the ecclesiasticalauthorities against me, of blasphemy and sacrilege, and though thecharges were true enough, I am sorry to say, I did not reckon inexpiating my past sins so sharply. For it was on these very charges thatI was arrested by order of high ecclesiastical dignitaries and condemnedto two years imprisonment; and many a thaler has it cost me already toavoid being put into irons."
At these words he blew into his big pipe-bowl so energetically, that thesparks flew up and illuminated his face in the darkness with a strangelysinister light.
"And now, friend Raby, who has the greater ground of complaint, you orI?"
He did not wait for an answer to his question, but began to curse awayfuriously for some minutes with a virulence terrible to hear. When hehad finished his round of imprecations (and it was no limited one), hethrew himself on his bed and fell asleep.
As for Raby, he pondered long and deeply all he had heard about hisfaithless wife, and once more she seemed to be spinning beside him, yetthere was a grim satisfaction that others had suffered beside himself.Was he not avenged on the highwayman at last, seeing that the biter wasbitten!