Verhovayak Lapja, 1937. július-december (20. évfolyam, 27-53. szám)
1937-09-30 / 40. szám
PAGE 12 September 30, 1937 (Concluded from last issue) “Nonsene. They'll do nothing- of the kind. What will you have — tea or coffee?” “But it’s a curious thing that he should have vanished like this without a trace.” “Oh, I’m sure he’s alive somewhere.” “Have you bought the estate from him?” He pushed a plateful of ham under my nose. “Have some of this. I say, you live in Budapest, don’t you ? Do you often go to Club? Tell me — what points do they play for now ?” “1 really don’t konw . . .” I stammered, — “I ... I never read the Stock Exchange news . . He looked at me in surprise at this singular answer, and I felt myself blushing as I guiltily snatched my gaze from the table appointments. There were the same embroidered monograms, the same crested silver as I had seen in Charles’ time; and to complete my bewilderment, there, at that very moment, passed old Antos outside the window, treading noiselessly as a ghost in his huge felt top-boots. “You’ve got the same bailiff?” I exclaimed. ' “ Of course.” .. . . . . . “And lie’s never talked to you about Charles'?”' George Boroth. shook, his head, then said quickly, with evident distate of the subject : “I asked him, but he’ll never talk about anything !mt the battle of Piski.” I returned several times to the subject of Charles that day, but my host invariably headed me off, with something very like alarm in his face. Once the fair Maria interposed an inquiry as to who it was we were talking of, but her husband answered hastily: “No one you know, dariitig,” and left it at that. Noticing that the bride’s mother dropped her knitting and gazed at us suspiciously every time I mentioned Charles’ name, I realized at last that I had better forget about him and accept without question this substitution of one Boroth for another. This was all the easier for me as George was a most delightful person, gay and pleasantly-spoken, while his women-folk were every-VerhoiwJournal THE FAMILY NEST By—COLOMAN MIKSZÁTH t* ing that was charming and kind. I arrived as a stranger and left, next morning, as an old friend. As I was driving away in their carriage the little bride waved her handkerchief at me from her bedroom window while George ran after me shouting, “Come back soon; old man.” The four coal-black horses tore along at a smart pace and I leant back in my seat and closed my eyes. It was superfluous to keep them open since everything around me was exactly the same as the year before — the same road, the same carriage, the same horses, even the same harness, with the bells on the horses’ necks jingling to the the same merry tune . . . Third and Last Visit Soon after this I had to go abroad, and for a considerable time I heard nothing of any of my friends at home. After my return some business took me to Kassa, and it accured to me that since I was there I might as well pay a flying visit to Gerely and see w'hat had become of my old friend George and his wife. I hoped that things were going well with him, as I have had no new's of him since my last visit — no news being notoriously good news. The manor house with the bulbous turrets was evidently undergoing a thorough overhaul when I arrived. All the'windows stood open The tide of American tourists which flowed over Europe this summer is now returned to its source leaving, like the overflow of the Nile, a rich sediment. — A- mericans are the most liberal spenders in the w7orld and, in spite of inevitable exceptions, perhaps the most good natured in accepting the petty exactions practiced upon strangers in every land. Most of these exactions they realize they cannot prevent or evade, at any rate without more trouble than a hurried American is willing to take. But among these there is one which may be in reach of protest. It is the deck chair racket. Why should a passenger, who has paid for a week’s transport by sea, pay extra for a seat on the and charwomen were at work cleaning the panes; one of the wdngs was just being whitewashed, and workmen on the roof were repairing the red tiles. Old Antos was standing under the mulberry tree overseeing the work and sucking noisily at his long-stemmed pipe. “What’s going on here?” I shouted in his ear. “The usual thing. We’re making ready for the bride.” “You don’t mean to say that George’s wife is dead?” “George?” he murmured scratching his head in perplexity. “Which one was George? The one with fair hair? No — the short one? No, no, I remember — it was the dark-haired one. Goodness knows where he is by now. Who could keep them all in mind?” You mean that the house has passed into other hands? It no longer belongs to the Boroth’s ?” He raised his bushy eyebrows so high that the wrinkles made circles on his forehead, and waggled his fingers in the air as a sign that he had not understood my question. Then he trudged with slow lumbering steps into the house and brought out an ear trumpet which he placed into my hands. “I asked you,” I shouted into the instrument, — whether the house has passed from the hands of the Boroths?” deck? Happily he does not pay extra for his seat at table or in the smoking room or lounge. He doesn’t have to pay, in fact, for his deck chair. He can lean against the rail or he can stay indoors. But if he wants a comfortable seat and fresh ait he will have to see the deck steward. To the well-to-do passenger this is a small matter and if he is alert it has the advantage of securing- for him a location he approves. A vote in this class of travelers would probably approve this exaction, but there are thousands of travelloving A- mericans to whom the voyage is a luxury, obtained by some sacrifice from small incomes. To these passengers, who are an increasingly sub“No, no, it belongs to them • still.” “To which of them?” “To none.” “I don’t understand.” “It belongs to none because it belongs to all.” “Now I undertsand less then eyer.” “Let’s go into the garden,” he said and led me there picking his way carefully with large felt boots among the puddles. The garden was in a desolate state. Dock, millett and sage had overgrown the flower-beds, and thorns had gained the upper hand. The paths were a network of weeds and interlacing brambles; a foolish piglet had somehow got entangled in them and was making desperate but vain efforts to return to its mother, who was lying at ease in the dirty mud of the one-time fish pond, • luxuriously inhaling the pleasant scent of wild strawberries. Mr. Antos sighed as he shook the ashes from his pipe into the calix of a snowwhite lily. “One of the farm-hands will be glad to find it,” he said. “What were we talking of? Ah yes, I remember, you couldn’t understand. I don’t wonder. But you will in a minute. It’s like this: .This estate belonged many years ago, to an eccentric Boroth who, having no sons or near relatives, left it in its entirety, not to this or that Boroth, but to the family as" a whole. I stantial factor in the revenue of steamship companies, the deck chair racket must seem unreasonable. A passenger ship ought to provide .comfortable accomodations on deck for all its patrons as it provides chair in cabins and rooms indoors. We have a notion that companies catering to people - of small means w-ould do well to abolish the deck chair racket. Are you changing your Address ? If so, please see to it that your new home is listed with the officers of your branch so you may receive your Verhovay Journal regularly. was one of the witnesses to will. The Boroths decided not to divide up the estate between them.” “I see . . “It would have been difficult to do so, seeing how numerous they are. Why, Sir, there’s a whole village full of them, somew'here in Trencsén county. How much wmuld have fallen to the share of each? Nothing! In this way the young imposters — for they’re that, the w'hole lot of them! — found a much better use for their heritage.” “How’s that?” “They all come here to be married.” “Oh, do they? That’s a great idea.” “It is always from here that they g-o out to seek the w'ealthy girls in marriage; and it is here that they bring them after they have w'on them. They stay for a while, then they fade out, to make room for the next marriageable Boroth. For there are thousands of them still. They come pouring like w-ater from that little village in Trencsén.” “But wKat do the girls’ parents say when they find out?” “What do they.say?” repeated Mr. Antos mournfully. “That’s their lookout. But what shall I say, w'ho has to put up with a different master every three months? It’s a great trial that, Sir. No sooner have I got used to one of them than his place is taken by another. And they’re all such nice lads, that’s the trouble. One gets fond of each one in turn —and then off he goes without hearing the end of what one has to say. It’s an impossible situation, Sir, quite, quite, impossible.” I could not repress a smile at this complaint. “Yes, I know — there’s that battle of Piski to be gone into.”. He drew himself up, and a gleam came into the little grey eyes under their green shade. “I was there,” he said, w'ith a catch in his breath — “what a day it was — what a glorious day! Thirtythree years ago. Or — w'as it? Wait a minute — let me count . . .” He was off on his hobbyhorse and no efforts of mine could birng him back to the subject of the Boroths and their manor house. (The End) THE DECK CHAIR RACKET
