Page:The Jail, Experiences in 1916.pdf/139

 like a woman's golden hair,—the whole room opened its eyes greedily, but the cat-like man glided alertly up to me as if he had been made of india-rubber, looked into my eyes devotedly and tenderly, and handing me the open package, he lisped: "Tessek".

I refused; "En nem szivarzok cigaretten" (It is true that I smoked cigarettes and am fond of them, but my knowledge of Magyar did not contrive to produce any other sentence).

"Tessek," he pleaded afresh.

I smiled my gratitude and shook my head. He became sad as if my refusal had really hurt him, and went away. He did not offer them to anybody else.

After a while Hedrich arrived from a shaving ramble, brought the "Extrablatt", mysteriously called me into a corner behind the straw mattresses, and pointed out to me an item of local news. The king of Magyar pickpockets had been arrested. The previous day in a tram. And this was our new colleague. As he also had a decided objection to soldiering and had demonstrated this by ostentatiously absenting himself from the Emperor's service, they had locked him up in the military prison. And put him with us. But before midday he was taken off by Warder Sponner—to a safer place, so it was said.

"Because he is a king" remarked our worthy Hedrich.

Dr. Frank again had me sent for.

On the way I once more caught sight of Josefínka,—was the girl loitering around the jail day after day?

Frank informed me that I should have a visitor at 10 o'clock; further, that there was a copy of Molière for me, which he would have sent to me in the jail during the course of the afternoon; finally, that there was an application from my wife for permission to get my food from a restaurant.