ZOLTAN KARPATHY 332 XX.

SECRET VISITORS 337 XXI.

THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT 344 XXII.

LEAVE-TAKING 356 A HUNGARIAN NABOB.
CHAPTER I.
AN ODDITY, 1822.
It is nasty, dirty weather outside there on the _puszta_;[1] the sky is cloudy, the earth muddy, the rain has been falling for two weeks incessantly, as if by special command.

There are inundations and submersions everywhere; rushes are growing instead of wheat, the stork is ploughing, the duck is fishing all over the precious sea-like expanse.