Page:Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz (1862).djvu/255

 we had awoke from sleep, we approached the grove, and jeered each other about the panic which that little bit of a wood had struck into us. Passing beyond the grove, and it beginning now to be daylight, we espied about thirty Turkish hussars, with lances and pennons, galloping straight towards us, who placed their lances in the rest, shouted, “''Allah! Allah!''” surrounded us, and placed the points of their lances against our breasts. At this we were greatly terrified, but our janissary recovered his self-possession as soon as he heard them shout, and saluted them in Turkish. They asked us who and whence we were, and whither we were going, and, on receiving an answer from the janissary, cried out, “Jury pre jury!” spurred their horses and darted away from us. These Turks were from the division of the Pasha of Bosnia, who had sent them forwards to ascertain where the Sultan was, and when he intended to march to Erlau. Then, at length, our guides remembered where they were, and conducted us in an oblique direction into the right road, which leads to Pesth.

When day had fully dawned we heard loud salvos of artillery from Buda, which, at so great a distance, was surprising to us. It again occurred that no one met us on our journey till it was just noon, when we saw a large number of cavalry riding towards us on the plain. When they approached us we found that it was an exceedingly fine body of about 10,000 cavalry, with which the Pasha of Bosnia was on his way to reinforce the Sultan at Erlau. They all had long lances and various-coloured pennons upon them. As soon as they espied us about a hundred of them darted forwards, and rode at full gallop towards us with their lances in the rest.