"No, not after dinner," blustered the German. "No time is to be lost. We are in the midst of war, where every hour is precious; not at a Diet, where matters may be debated for years together." At this sally the Hungarian gentlemen laughed heartily, seized Wenzinger by the arm, and dragged him off to the banquet, joking all the way. "There will be lots of time after dinner!" cried they. "Well, well," said Wenzinger, half in jest and half in anger; "it is a fine thing, no doubt, to have soldiers who will do everything but obey your orders!" Not another word did he speak at table, but he drank all the more. In the midst of these table-joys, John Uzdi, the commander of the skirmishers, stepped into the Prince's pavilion with a terrified countenance, and scarce able to speak for excitement. "Your Highness! I see great clouds of dust approaching from the direction of Segesvar!" The Prince turned his head towards the messenger, and said with comic phlegm-- "If it gives you any satisfaction to stare at your clouds of dust, pray go on looking at them as long as you please!" But Wenzinger sprang from his seat. "I should like to have a look at them myself," cried he, hastily ordering his heavy charger to be saddled; "possibly the enemy has come out to entice us nearer." The others did not trouble themselves about the matter, but continued to make merry. In a few minutes, however, back came Wenzinger, unable to conceal the secret joy which a professional soldier always feels when his plan is about to succeed. "Victory, gentlemen!" cried he. "The enemy is marching against us in force. If it is not merely a diversion, and he really means business, the day is ours." Some of the gentlemen at once rose from their seats and began buckling on their swords. The Prince, however, remained sitting. "Are they still a good way off?" he indolently inquired of Wenzinger. "Scarcely half-an-hour's march!" exclaimed the latter with sparkling eyes. "Then let them come a little nearer still, and in the meantime sit down by our side." "I'll be damned if I do!" cried the general angrily. "As it is, I have scarcely time enough to marshal my forces." "But why marshal them at all? Let them advance upon the enemy _en masse_, that he may be terrified out of his life at the bare sight of them." "Yes, but I don't want to scare them away, I want rather to surround them. I shall confront them with one-half the host, the rest I shall distribute as follows: one division shall creep through the maize-fields and cut off the enemy's retreat to the town; another shall attack him in flank from above the mill-dam; a third shall remain behind in reserve. Your Highness will join the reserve with your Court." "What!" cried Kemeny, deeply offended, "I in the reserve! The proper place for an Hungarian Prince is always the fore-front of the battle!"