222 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



ments as would enable us to attempt a coup demain. 

 In the meantime every preparation was made for ■ 

 passing the night where we were, the utmost pre- 

 caution being taken to guard the bivouac against 

 surprise. We expected the gipsy back before sun- 

 down, when it was intended that our operations 

 should commence ; but darkness set in, and hour 

 after hour passed without his reappearance, so at 

 last we concluded that he had fallen into the hands 

 of the enemy. To add to our impatience, and 

 make matters worse, several heavy shoAvers fell in 

 the course of the night, which did not serve to 

 increase our good-humour, as we had no tents with 

 us. My great chum was a young Hungarian, 

 named Fritz von Roth, but better known under the 

 Turkish cognomen of Nishan Bey, a nephew of 

 the patriot Stephen Ludwig Roth, who was shot 

 by the ultra-Magyar faction on the ramparts of 

 Clausenburg. I first fell in with him during my 

 sojourn at Kustchuk, where he was acting as 

 " yaver," or aide-de-camp, to Sied Mirza Pacha, 

 the governor of the province of Silistria ; and as our 

 tastes assimilated, we soon became boon companions, 



