"And," continued Miska, "this stood me in good stead; for while Mr. Samson was away we lived better, and now and then the governor sent me a draught of good wine."

"Ah, I see," said the king; "nothing much out of the ordinary way—rumour has said more than was true. But did you become acquainted with little Esther?"

"The young lady came out into the gallery more often while Mr. Samson was away. Sometimes she would walk up and down there till late in the evening, and she would bring out her harp and sing to it. She was so gentle and kind that I spoke to her one day and asked her to listen to a song of mine; I had made the verses and invented the tune myself."

"Oh!" laughed the king; "then you are a poet too, are you, Miska?"

"Only a sort of 'willow-tree verse-maker,'[6] Mr. King. But pretty Miss Esther listened to it very kindly—and what is more, she wrote it down—and after that she spoke to me every evening, and asked me many questions about Buda and Your Highness; and I[Pg 62] told her long stories of all that I had seen in the woods and fields. She wanted to hear about the trees and flowers and birds, which she remembered; and one evening, when no one was within hearing, I told her how I had met Your Highness, and how you had sent me to Visegrád, and all I had seen there, and how you promised me a horse. I had to tell her that story so often that I think she knows every step of the way. I did not tell her that Your Highness had sent me to get into the castle, for walls have ears. But one evening she stopped singing suddenly and asked me what I had come there for. So first I said, 'To be one of Mr. Samson's servants;' and then I said in a whisper, 'To set you free.'

[Pg 62]

[6] Hedge-poet.

[6]

"'Ah, Jancsi, if you only could!' she said. 'How lovely it would be! But you can't; nobody can.'

"So then I told her not to be afraid, for I would somehow; and if I couldn't, some one else would, I knew—meaning Your Highness, of course."

"And pray what did the old lady say to your talking to her charge in this way?"

"O Mr. King, she was my very good mistress; I managed to get into her good graces. And there's no denying it, Your Highness, when Mr. Samson went away for the third time, Miss Esther herself told me[Pg 63] to be very attentive to the old 

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