The following story, related by my friend Baroness B——­, proves that there were men amongst these outlaws who were not destitute of patriotic feeling.  In the year 1867 a band of “poor lads” surprised a country gentleman’s house by night.  It was their habit to ask for money and valuables, and woe betide those who refused, unless they were strong enough to resist the demand.  Horrible atrocities were committed by these miscreants, who have been known to torture the inhabitants of lonely dwellings, finishing their brutal work by setting fire to house and homestead.

On the occasion above named the robber band consisted of more than a dozen well-armed men, and as the household was but small, resistance was out of the question.  They made a forcible entrance, and were going the round of every room in the house, collecting all valuables of a portable nature, when it chanced that they entered the guest-chamber, that had for its occupant no less a person than the great patriot Francis Deak.  The intruders instantly pounced on a very handsome gold watch lying on a table near the bedside.  Mr Deak, thus rudely disturbed, awoke to the unpleasant fact that his much-prized watch was in the hands of the robbers.  Giving them credit for some feelings of patriotism, he simply told them who he was, adding that the watch was the keepsake of a dear departed friend, and begged they would restore it to him.  On hearing his name the chief immediately handed the watch back, apologising “very much for breaking in on the repose of honoured Mr Deak, whom they held in so much respect,” adding “that the nature of their occupation obliged them to make use of the hours of the night for their work.”

The chance of interviewing Mr Deak was not to be neglected, so the robber chief sat down by the bedside of the statesman and had a chat about political affairs, and finally took his leave with many expressions of respect.  Not an article of Mr Deak’s was touched; they even contented themselves with a very moderate amount of black-mail from the master of the house, and no one was personally injured in any way.

My next story is a very romantic one; it was related to me by an English friend who was travelling in Hungary as long ago as 1846, when the circumstance had recently occurred.  It seems that in those days a certain lady, the widow of a wealthy magnate, inhabited a lonely castle not far from the principal route between Buda and Vienna.  She received one morning a polite note requesting her to provide supper at ten o’clock that night for twelve gentlemen!  She knew at once the character of her self-invited guests, and devised a novel mode of defence.  Some people would have sent post-haste to the nearest town for help, but the chatelaine could easily divine that every road from the castle would be watched to prevent communication, so she made her own plans.