Before I had time to reply, the old man’s eye suddenly lighted up. He took a step towards me, uttered an amazed ejaculation, and then, before I knew what was happening, fell on his knees before me, and, seizing my right hand, respectfully kissed a ring on the little finger. At the same time the other members of the party crowded round, evidently impatient to follow his example. The ring which excited this extraordinary demonstration was one which I had worn so long that I had forgotten all about it. It had been given me seventeen years before, in Baghdad, by an old woman I had saved from the bastinado at the hands of a savage Pasha. She was a gipsy, I now remembered; she had forced the ring upon me against my will, and had urged me never to take it off night or day, assuring me in the most solemn manner that it would one day be the means of saving my life. This prophecy, which I had laughed at as a vain boast and quickly forgotten, was coming true at last. Blessing the old lady with all my heart, and inwardly apologising to her for my past scepticism, I put on the air of one who was accustomed to, and expected, the homage he was receiving. ‘That will do, my friends,’ I said, when each man had saluted the magic ring in turn--it was engraved with a pentagram. ‘Now, if I give you some money, how long will it take you to procure some bottles of good wine?’ A grunt of pleasure welcomed this inquiry. I heard a word which sounded like canteen. Then one of the men rose, in obedience to a nod from the chief. ‘Cheni will fetch it in five minutes,’ said the old man. I placed a double handful of gold in his outstretched palms. A perfect salvo of approving cries greeted this munificence. While we were waiting for the wine to appear I offered an account of myself which appeared to be quite satisfactory. I said I was a Pole, of gipsy descent through my mother, that I was engaged in a plot to bring about a general rising in the event of war between Austria and Russia, and that I was specially engaged to secure the support of the numerous gipsies along the frontier, who were to watch the movements of the two great belligerents on our behalf, a service for which they would be handsomely paid. The arrival of six bottles of first-rate Tokay gave all the confirmation to my words that was required. As the wine vanished down their throats, the gipsies laid aside all reserve, and freely imparted to me what information they possessed. They told me, in the first place, that the six batteries I was tracing were within a few yards of us, skilfully hidden among the trees. Their arrival brought the force designed for the occupation of Galicia up to a total strength of eighty thousand men and seventy-two guns, all of whom had been secretly brought across the frontier at different points during the last few days, and were now ready to move in concert as soon as the signal was given, and overrun the unprepared province.