Page:Heinrich Karl Schmitt - The Hungarian Revolution - tr. Matthew Phipps Shiel (1918).djvu/24

 others called aloud to one another, while in the midst of it the telephone bell constantly rattled.

Suddenly, gun-fire from below. Some joyful news ?

No. The first victims. Victims of a mistake.

Some gendarmes were coming up on a huge motor-wagon, to take the oath of fealty to the National Council. The hated tuft-of-feathers was received as an enemy, someone cried out that they were coming against the people, and in the next instant fell the first sharp shots—well-aimed. But there were no dead, only some wounded. An explanation followed, and great bloodshed was prevented by a prompt handling of the situation. About this hour I forced my way out through the main portal of the Hotel Astoria, and saw those well-known watch-dogs which had accompanied the demonstrations, the little, almost insignificant machine-guns. They lay about the street up to the hotel—no longer directed to-day against the people, but against the misusers of power of yesterday. The long lines of weapons lay serpentine there, confident and secure, smoking soldiers played on the cartridge-boxes, jested, and lounged about their weapons.

But the threatened soldiers of the counter-revolution that were to spread panic and flight came not at all; only one lonely one-horse carriage trotted over the adjoining Rakòczistrasse, but was away at the first summons as fast as the nag could draw.

Far beautiful the windows of the Hotel Astoria into the night. The pulse of all that activity made itself felt far around.

In the first vagueness of dawn I tried to teleponetelephone [sic]; but failed.

A handful of soldiers had beset the Theresa-district Telephone Exchange which readily acquiesced, and soon after had beset the other telephone-places; from this hour till further notice only the National Council was switched on, and it alone could make calls with any success. For every other place—no connection; and it was well so: for much harm might have been done, if the reactionaries could have got their orders through. The unselfish bravery of the personnel