In some Hungarian villages the cottages are painted partly blue and
partly yellow, which has a very odd effect; and throughout the country
they are built with the gable-end to the road.
When I was at St Miklos there was great excitement over the recent
capture of a famous robber chief, whose band had kept the country-side
in a state of alarm for some months past. I was asked if I would like to
go and see him, and of course I was glad to get a sight at last of one
of the robbers of whom I had heard so much in my travels. I was never
more surprised than, on arriving in front of a very shaky wooden
building, to be told that this was the prison. A few resolute fellows
might have easily broken in and effected the rescue of their chief.
There was no romance about the appearance of the miserable wretch that
we found within, stretched on a rough bed with wrists and feet heavily
ironed. These manacles were hardly needed, for he was severely wounded,
and seemed incapable of rising from his pallet. I never saw so repulsive
a countenance; and the flatness of the head was quite remarkable. His
eyes were very prominent, and had the restless look of a hunted animal,
which was painful in the extreme; but there was absolutely no redeeming
expression of human feeling in the dark coarse face. Well, there was
something human about him though. I was told he had been photographed
that morning, and that he had expressed considerable satisfaction at the
idea of his portrait being preserved.
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